Bible Strands
John 8:59
At this, they picked up stones to throw at Him. But Jesus was hidden and went out of the temple area.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The scene takes place in the temple precincts immediately after Jesus declares His pre-existence in John 8:58. Jewish listeners respond by attempting to stone Him, but Jesus evades them and leaves the area.
The words — ἦραν (ēran) means they took up, and λίθους (lithous) denotes stones. The construction ἵνα βάλωσιν ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸν specifies their purpose to cast those stones at Him.
The thread — This stoning attempt aligns with the recorded hostility in John 10:31, John 10:39, and John 11:8. The repeated pattern tracks the escalating conflict triggered by His claims of unity with the Father.
Why it lands — The text records that divine self-disclosure provokes lethal opposition. It requires the reader to acknowledge Jesus’s sovereign control over His timing and withdrawal before the violence concludes.
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
Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
Cross-references
- John 11:8 “Rabbi,” they replied, “the Jews just tried to stone You, and You are going back there?”
- John 10:30 I and the Father are one.”
- John 10:39 At this, they tried again to seize Him, but He escaped their grasp.
- Leviticus 24:16 Whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD must surely be put to death; the whole assembly must surely stone him, whether he is a foreign resident or native; if he blasphemes the Name, he must be put to death.
- Luke 4:29 They got up, drove Him out of the town, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw Him over the cliff.
- Genesis 19:11 And they struck the men at the entrance, young and old, with blindness, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the door.
- 2 Kings 6:18 As the Arameans came down against him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, “Please strike these people with blindness.” So He struck them with blindness, according to the word of Elisha.
- Luke 24:31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Jesus—and He disappeared from their sight.
- John 5:13 But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while the crowd was there.
- John 8:5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such a woman. So what do You say?”