Bible Strands
John 10:11
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus speaks in the middle of a contrast: against the thief who destroys (v.10) and the hired hand who flees (v.12), he stakes his own identity.
The words — καλός (kalos) is not the moral "good" of ἀγαθός but the "fine, excellent" of quality — a shepherd whose excellence is measured by what he gives.
The thread — The shepherd image runs from Psalms 23:1 through John 10:14 (mutual knowing) to John 15:13, where laying down one's life for friends is called the greatest love.
Why it lands — The verse is a claim about identity, not a general statement about sacrifice; it asks the reader to accept that the shepherd's worth is defined by the cost he pays, not by the comfort he provides.
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
I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
Cross-references
- Psalms 23:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
- John 10:14 I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me,
- John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
- Revelation 7:17 For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. ‘He will lead them to springs of living water,’ and ‘God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”
- Isaiah 40:11 He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. He gently leads the nursing ewes.
- 1 Peter 2:24 He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. “By His stripes you are healed.”
- 1 John 3:16 By this we know what love is: Jesus laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
- Ezekiel 34:23 I will appoint over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them. He will feed them and be their shepherd.
- Hebrews 13:20 Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep,
- 2 Samuel 24:17 When David saw the angel striking down the people, he said to the LORD, “Surely I, the shepherd, have sinned and acted wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please, let Your hand fall upon me and my father’s house.”