John 11:51
New International Version
He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation,

New Living Translation
He did not say this on his own; as high priest at that time he was led to prophesy that Jesus would die for the entire nation.

English Standard Version
He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation,

Berean Standard Bible
Caiaphas did not say this on his own. Instead, as high priest that year, he was prophesying that Jesus would die for the nation,

Berean Literal Bible
Now he did not say this from himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation,

King James Bible
And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation;

New King James Version
Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation,

New American Standard Bible
Now he did not say this on his own, but as he was high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation;

NASB 1995
Now he did not say this on his own initiative, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation,

NASB 1977
Now this he did not say on his own initiative; but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation,

Legacy Standard Bible
Now he did not say this from himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation,

Amplified Bible
Now he did not say this [simply] on his own initiative; but being the high priest that year, he [was unknowingly used by God and] prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation,

Christian Standard Bible
He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation,

Holman Christian Standard Bible
He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation,

American Standard Version
Now this he said not of himself: but, being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation;

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
But this he said not of his own accord, but because he was The High Priest that year, he prophesied that Yeshua was going to die for the nation.

Contemporary English Version
Caiaphas did not say this on his own. As high priest that year, he was prophesying that Jesus would die for the nation.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And this he spoke not of himself: but being the high priest of that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation.

English Revised Version
Now this he said not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation;

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Caiaphas didn't say this on his own. As chief priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation.

Good News Translation
Actually, he did not say this of his own accord; rather, as he was High Priest that year, he was prophesying that Jesus was going to die for the Jewish people,

International Standard Version
Now he did not say this on his own initiative. As high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation,

Literal Standard Version
And he did not say this of himself, but being chief priest of that year, he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation,

Majority Standard Bible
Caiaphas did not say this on his own. Instead, as high priest that year, he was prophesying that Jesus would die for the nation,

New American Bible
He did not say this on his own, but since he was high priest for that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation,

NET Bible
(Now he did not say this on his own, but because he was high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the Jewish nation,

New Revised Standard Version
He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation,

New Heart English Bible
Now he did not say this of himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation,

Webster's Bible Translation
And this he spoke not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation;

Weymouth New Testament
It was not as a mere man that he thus spoke. But being High Priest that year he was inspired to declare that Jesus was to die for the nation,

World English Bible
Now he didn’t say this of himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation,

Young's Literal Translation
And this he said not of himself, but being chief priest of that year, he did prophesy that Jesus was about to die for the nation,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Plot to Kill Jesus
50You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” 51 Caiaphas did not say this on his own. Instead, as high priest that year, he was prophesying that Jesus would die for the nation, 52and not only for the nation, but also for the scattered children of God, to gather them together into one.…

Cross References
John 11:49
But one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all!

John 18:13
They brought Him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year.

1 John 2:2
He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.


Treasury of Scripture

And this spoke he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation;

being.

Exodus 28:30
And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron's heart, when he goeth in before the LORD: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the LORD continually.

Judges 20:27,28
And the children of Israel inquired of the LORD, (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, …

1 Samuel 23:9
And David knew that Saul secretly practised mischief against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring hither the ephod.

he prophesied.

Numbers 22:28
And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?

Numbers 24:2,14-25
And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; and the spirit of God came upon him…

Matthew 7:22,23
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? …

that Jesus.

John 10:15
As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.

Isaiah 53:5-8
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed…

Daniel 9:26
And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

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John 11
1. Jesus raises Lazarus, four days buried.
45. Many Jews believe.
47. The high priests and Pharisees gather a council against Jesus.
49. Caiaphas prophesies.
54. Jesus hides himself.
55. At the Passover they enquire after him, and lay wait for him.














(51) And this spake he not of himself.--There is a moral beauty in the Words, in spite of the diabolical intent with which they are uttered; and St. John adds the explanation that they had an origin higher than him who spake them. Writing after the events, he has seen them fulfilled, and regards them as an unconscious prophecy. Like another Balaam, Caiaphas was the oracle or God in spite of himself, and there is in his words a meaning far beyond any that he had intended.

Being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation.--He stood, therefore, in a relation which made him the official representative of God to the people, and gave him an official capacity to convey God's truth. This was represented in the days of Samuel by the Urim and Thummim; and John, himself a Jew, still thinks of the high priest's breast as bearing the oracle which declared the will of God, whatever unworthy human thoughts may have filled the heart beneath. It may be that another reference to the high priest's office is present in these thrice-written words. It was the high priest's duty to "enter within the veil," and "make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year" (Leviticus 16). In that year the veil was rent, and the first step taken by which the holy place was destroyed, and the high priest's office ceased to exist. With the destruction of the holy place the Jewish day of Atonement lost its significance, but the high priest that year, by his counsel and action in the Sanhedrin, was causing the sacrifice which should be presented by another high priest, in the Holy of Holies as an Atonement for the world--"Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption" (Hebrews 9:11-12).

Verses 51, 52. - The evangelist discerned the presence of a deeper meaning in his words not intended by himself. As Balaam and Nebuchadnezzar and even Pharaoh had uttered unconscious or unwilling prophecies, and as in all genuine prophecies there are meanings meant by God beyond what the utterer of them at all conceived possible. So here. This he spake not from himself: but being high priest that awful, critical year, he prophesied. The high priest was believed in ancient times to have the power of drawing from Urim and Thummim the Divine decisions as to future events (Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21, and Caiaphas, as priest-prophet, may thus have conveyed an awful and sublime truth through base and evil dispositions. Curious instances occur elsewhere (John 7:27, 35): "He saved others; himself he cannot save!" (Mark 15:31); when the people said, "His blood be upon us" (Matthew 27:25); when Pilate, by unconscious prophecy, ironically declared him to be "King of the Jews" (Matthew 27:37). Wunsche quotes a curious case of unconscious prophecy, which the rabbinical writers attributed to Pharaoh's daughter, when she forecast the future legislator in the infant derelict. The substance of the prophetic word extracted from his saying was that Jesus should die for the nation. Hengstenberg wisely says, "Caiaphas could not have spoken other than of the λαός." When John wrote, the difference between the λαός and the ἔθνη had vanished away. Israel had become an ἔθνος, like the rest. And not for the nation only, but that he might also gather together into one (λαόν) the children of God scattered abroad - constitute a new center, life-giving and sacred in the covenant of his blood (cf. 1 John 2:2, a very remarkable parallelism). Who are the τέκνα τοῦ Θεοῦ διεσκορπισμένα? According to some, the dispersed Israelites, but surely the passage corresponds with the "other sheep," of John 10:16, and refers to all who enter by living faith in him into the full realization of the Divine Fatherhood (see John 1:12 and Ephesians 2:14) and their own sonship. Christ is the true Union of Jew and Gentile.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
[Caiaphas] did not say
εἶπεν (eipen)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2036: Answer, bid, bring word, command. A primary verb; to speak or say.

this
Τοῦτο (Touto)
Demonstrative Pronoun - Accusative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3778: This; he, she, it.

on
ἀφ’ (aph’)
Preposition
Strong's 575: From, away from. A primary particle; 'off, ' i.e. Away, in various senses.

his own.
ἑαυτοῦ (heautou)
Reflexive Pronoun - Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1438: Himself, herself, itself.

Instead,
ἀλλὰ (alla)
Conjunction
Strong's 235: But, except, however. Neuter plural of allos; properly, other things, i.e. contrariwise.

[as]
ὢν (ōn)
Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 1510: I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.

high priest
ἀρχιερεὺς (archiereus)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 749: High priest, chief priest. From arche and hiereus; the high-priest; by extension a chief priest.

that
ἐκείνου (ekeinou)
Demonstrative Pronoun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 1565: That, that one there, yonder. From ekei; that one (neuter) thing); often intensified by the article prefixed.

year,
ἐνιαυτοῦ (eniautou)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 1763: A year, cycle of time. Prolongation from a primary enos; a year.

he was prophesying
ἐπροφήτευσεν (eprophēteusen)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 4395: From prophetes; to foretell events, divine, speak under inspiration, exercise the prophetic office.

that
ὅτι (hoti)
Conjunction
Strong's 3754: Neuter of hostis as conjunction; demonstrative, that; causative, because.

Jesus
Ἰησοῦς (Iēsous)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2424: Of Hebrew origin; Jesus, the name of our Lord and two other Israelites.

would
ἔμελλεν (emellen)
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 3195: A strengthened form of melo; to intend, i.e. Be about to be, do, or suffer something.

die
ἀποθνήσκειν (apothnēskein)
Verb - Present Infinitive Active
Strong's 599: To be dying, be about to die, wither, decay. From apo and thnesko; to die off.

for
ὑπὲρ (hyper)
Preposition
Strong's 5228: Gen: in behalf of; acc: above.

the
τοῦ (tou)
Article - Genitive Neuter Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

nation,
ἔθνους (ethnous)
Noun - Genitive Neuter Singular
Strong's 1484: Probably from etho; a race, i.e. A tribe; specially, a foreign one.


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