Bible Strands
John 11:50
You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Caiaphas, the high priest that year, addresses the Jewish council immediately after Lazarus’s resurrection, arguing that sacrificing Jesus would prevent national collapse.
The words — λογίζεσθε (logizesthe) means “consider” or “calculate,” and συμφέρει (sumpherei) translates literally to “it is profitable” or “it is better.”
The thread — The same counsel reappears in John 18:14 as a recalled statement during Jesus’ trial, while Luke 24:46 notes the broader scriptural pattern of the Messiah’s suffering and resurrection.
Why it lands — The verse states that a single substitution averts collective destruction, requiring the reader to weigh political survival against the text’s claim that one death preserves the whole nation.
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
Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.
Cross-references
- John 18:14 Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it would be better if one man died for the people.
- Luke 24:46 And He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,
- John 19:12 From then on, Pilate tried to release Him, but the Jews kept shouting, “If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who declares himself a king is defying Caesar.”
- Romans 3:8 Why not say, as some slanderously claim that we say, “Let us do evil that good may result”? Their condemnation is deserved!
- 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.”