Bible Strands
John 1:11
He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — John the Evangelist writes to an unnamed community, pivoting from the cosmic scope of verse 10 ("the world") to the specific: Israel, "His own." The moment is the hinge between universal and particular rejection.
The words — ἴδια (idia, neuter plural) and ἴδιοι (idioi, masculine plural) both derive from the same root meaning "one's own," but the Greek distinguishes the place or thing (neuter) from the people (masculine). The BSB flattens both to "His own," but the original marks a shift from location to persons.
The thread — The pattern of insiders rejecting the one who belongs to them recurs in Luke 19:14 (subjects refuse their king's rule) and John 3:32 (no one accepts His testimony); Isaiah 53:2 supplies the backdrop of a figure with no compelling appearance to compel acceptance.
Why it lands — The verse states a fact, not a lament: "did not receive" is a completed action, a choice already made. It places the reader on the same side of the divide as those who did or did not receive, with no neutral ground offered.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
Cross-references
- Luke 19:14 But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We do not want this man to rule over us.’
- Isaiah 53:2 He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no stately form or majesty to attract us, no beauty that we should desire Him.
- John 3:32 He testifies to what He has seen and heard, yet no one accepts His testimony.
- Acts 7:51 You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.
- Luke 20:13 ‘What shall I do?’ asked the owner of the vineyard. ‘I will send my beloved son. Perhaps they will respect him.’
- Matthew 15:24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
- Acts 3:25 And you are sons of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers when He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed.’
- Romans 15:8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs,
- Acts 13:46 Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “It was necessary to speak the word of God to you first. But since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.
- Romans 9:5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them proceeds the human descent of Christ, who is God over all, forever worthy of praise! Amen.