John 11:48

If we let Him go on like this, everyone will believe in Him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The chief priests and Pharisees address the convened Sanhedrin during a crisis meeting about Jesus’ growing influence. They speak this warning immediately after acknowledging that Jesus is performing many signs.

The words — The phrase ἀφῶμεν αὐτόν (aphōmen auton) literally means “we shall let him alone” or “we shall leave him unchecked.” It conveys a deliberate institutional decision to cease intervention.

The thread — The fear of losing political standing and national destruction runs through Daniel 9:26, Zechariah 14:1, and 1 Thessalonians 2:15. These passages trace a pattern where religious authorities prioritize earthly preservation over divine action.

Why it lands — The text states that political calculation will drive leaders to oppose a divine figure. It requires the reader to identify moments where institutional survival overrides observable truth.

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

If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.

Cross-references

1 Thessalonians 2:15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets and drove us out as well. They are displeasing to God and hostile to all men,
Daniel 9:26 Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing. Then the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood, and until the end there will be war; desolations have been decreed.
Zechariah 14:1 Behold, a day of the LORD is coming when your plunder will be divided in your presence.
Matthew 23:35 And so upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
Matthew 27:25 All the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”
Acts 5:28 “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us responsible for this man’s blood.”
Deuteronomy 28:50 a ruthless nation with no respect for the old and no pity for the young.
Zechariah 13:7 Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the man who is My Companion, declares the LORD of Hosts. Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn My hand against the little ones.
Matthew 21:40 Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard returns, what will he do to those tenants?”
Matthew 22:7 The king was enraged, and he sent his troops to destroy those murderers and burn their city.