The Meaning of John 10:35 Explained

John 10:35

KJV: If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;

YLT: if them he did call gods unto whom the word of God came, (and the Writing is not able to be broken,)

Darby: If he called them gods to whom the word of God came (and the scripture cannot be broken),

ASV: If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came (and the scripture cannot be broken),

KJV Reverse Interlinear

If  he called  them  gods,  unto  whom  the word  of God  came,  and  the scripture  cannot  be broken; 

What does John 10:35 Mean?

Context Summary

John 10:31-42 - The Works Of The Father
In the strongest terms known to the Jews, our Lord insisted on His oneness with God; and they understood His claims, threatening Him with the penalty of blasphemy. This quotation from Psalms 82:6 was originally addressed to magistrates, and our Lord argued that if unjust judges were described by this phrase, because they exercised the divine prerogative of judgment, surely His opponents had no right to stone Him, when, as the Sent of God and sanctioned by God's witness in His works, He spoke of Himself as the Father's equal and fellow. See Zechariah 13:7; and Philippians 2:6. But their vindictive hate would brook no parley; and as His hour was not yet come, Jesus deemed it better to go beyond Jordan into hiding, until the minute-hand should reach the exact figure on the dial.
There was a special reason why He was attracted to the region beyond Jordan. It was the place of John's early appearance. That ground had been black with crowds, those waters had witnessed countless baptisms. All that wonderful past trooped back to memory, and the people remembered John's word as they saw in Christ their precise fulfillment. We may work no miracle, but let us speak true words about Jesus Christ. [source]

Chapter Summary: John 10

1  Jesus is the door, and the good shepherd
19  Diverse opinions of him
23  He proves by his works that he is Jesus the Son of God;
31  escapes the Jews;
39  and goes again beyond Jordan, where many believe on him

Greek Commentary for John 10:35

If he called them gods [ει εκεινους ειπεν τεους]
Condition of first class, assumed as true. The conclusion (John 10:36) is υμεις λεγετε — humeis legete (Do ye say?). As Jews (and rabbis) they are shut out from charging Jesus with blasphemy because of this usage in the O.T. It is a complete ad hominem argument. To be sure, it is in Psalm 82:6 a lower use of the term τεος — theos but Jesus did not call himself “Son of Jahweh,” but “υιος τεου — huios theou ” which can mean only “Son of προς ους ο λογος του τεου εγενετο — Elohim It must not be argued, as some modern men do, that Jesus thus disclaims his own deity. He does nothing of the kind. He is simply stopping the mouths of the rabbis from the charge of blasphemy and he does it effectually. The sentence is quite involved, but can be cleared up. To whom the word of God came The relative points to τεοι — ekeinous before. These judges had no other claim to the term και ου δυναται λυτηναι η γραπη — theoi And the scripture cannot be broken A parenthesis that drives home the pertinency of the appeal, one that the Pharisees had to accept. Luthēnai is first aorist passive infinitive of luō to loosen, to break. [source]
The Scripture [ἡ γραφή]
The passage of scripture. See on John 2:22; see on John 5:47. [source]
Broken [λυθῆναι]
Literally, loosened. Wyc., undone. The word is characteristic of John. He uses it of the destruction of the temple (John 2:19); the breaking of the Sabbath (John 5:18); the violation of the law (John 7:23); the destruction of Satan's works (1 John 3:8), besides elsewhere in the physical sense. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for John 10:35

Luke 8:11 The seed is the word of God [ο σπορος εστιν ο λογος του τεου]
The article with both subject and predicate as here means that they are interchangeable and can be turned round: The word of God is the seed. The phrase “the word of God” does not appear in Matthew and only once in Mark (Mark 7:13) and John (John 10:35), but four times in Luke (Luke 5:1; Luke 8:11, Luke 8:21; Luke 11:28) and twelve times in Acts. In Mark 4:14 we have only “the word.” In Mark 3:31 we have “the will of God,” and in Matthew 12:46 “the will of my Father” where Luke 8:21 has “the word of God.” This seems to show that Luke has the subjective genitive here and means the word that comes from God. [source]
John 10:36 The Son of God []
There is no article. Its absence directs us to the character rather than to the person of Jesus. The judges, to whom the quotation in John 10:35refers, were called gods, as being representatives of God. See Exodus 21:6; Exodus 22:8, where the word rendered judges is elohim gods. In Exodus 22:28, gods appears in the A.V. Jesus' course of reasoning is, if these judges could be called gods, how do I blaspheme in calling myself Son of God, since the Father has consecrated me and sent me on a special mission to the world? [source]
John 5:38 And [και]
“And yet” as in John 1:10 and John 5:40 below. His word abiding in you But God‘s word had come to them through the centuries by the prophets. For the phrase see John 10:35; John 15:3; John 17:6; 1 John 1:10; 1 John 2:14. Him ye believe not “This one” Jesus has given them God‘s word, but they reject both Jesus and God‘s word (John 14:9). [source]
John 5:39 Ye search [εραυνατε]
Proper spelling as the papyri show rather than ερευνατε — ereunāte the old form (from ερευνα — ereuna search) as in John 7:52. The form here can be either present active indicative second person plural or the present active imperative second person plural. Only the context can decide. Either makes sense here, but the reason given “because ye think” The plural with the article refers to the well-known collection in the Old Testament (Matthew 21:42; Luke 24:27). Elsewhere in John the singular refers to a particular passage (John 2:22; John 7:38; John 10:35). In them ye have eternal life Indirect assertion after δοκειτε — dokeite without “ye” expressed either as nominative Bernard holds that in John δοκεω — dokeō always indicates a mistaken opinion (John 5:45; John 11:13, John 11:31; John 13:29; John 16:20; John 20:15). Certainly the rabbis did make a mechanical use of the letter of Scripture as a means of salvation. These are they The true value of the Scriptures is in their witness to Christ (of me, περι εμου — peri emou). Luke (Luke 24:27, Luke 24:45) gives this same claim of Jesus, and yet some critics fail to find the Messiah in the Old Testament. But Jesus did. [source]

What do the individual words in John 10:35 mean?

If them he called gods to whom the word - of God came and not is able to be broken the Scripture
εἰ ἐκείνους εἶπεν θεοὺς πρὸς οὓς λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐγένετο καὶ οὐ δύναται λυθῆναι γραφή

εἶπεν  he  called 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: λέγω  
Sense: to speak, say.
θεοὺς  gods 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Plural
Root: θεός  
Sense: a god or goddess, a general name of deities or divinities.
οὓς  whom 
Parse: Personal / Relative Pronoun, Accusative Masculine Plural
Root: ὅς 
Sense: who, which, what, that.
λόγος  word 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: λόγος  
Sense: of speech.
τοῦ  - 
Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
Θεοῦ  of  God 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: θεός  
Sense: a god or goddess, a general name of deities or divinities.
ἐγένετο  came 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Middle, 3rd Person Singular
Root: γίνομαι  
Sense: to become, i.
δύναται  is  able 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Middle or Passive, 3rd Person Singular
Root: δύναμαι  
Sense: to be able, have power whether by virtue of one’s own ability and resources, or of a state of mind, or through favourable circumstances, or by permission of law or custom.
λυθῆναι  to  be  broken 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Infinitive Passive
Root: λύω  
Sense: to loose any person (or thing) tied or fastened.
γραφή  Scripture 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root: γραφή  
Sense: a writing, thing written.