John 11:48 (GNV)

Passage

If we let him thus alone, all men will beleeue in him, and the Romanes will come and take away both our place, and the nation.

Nearby Context

John 11:46 But some of them went their way to the Pharises, and told them what things Iesus had done.

John 11:47 Then gathered the hie Priests, and the Pharises a councill, and said, What shall we doe? For this man doeth many miracles.

John 11:48 If we let him thus alone, all men will beleeue in him, and the Romanes will come and take away both our place, and the nation.

John 11:49 Then one of them named Caiaphas, which was the hie Priest that same yere, said vnto them, Ye perceiue nothing at all,

John 11:50 Nor yet doe you consider that it is expedient for vs, that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thus", "alone", "beleeue", "romanes", "come", "take", "away", and "both". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thus" and "alone", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 47's "Then gathered the hie Priests and the..." into verse 49's "Then one of them named Caiaphas which...", so "thus" and "alone" belong inside that flow. In John context, the local focus is the identity of Jesus, new birth, eternal life, and belief and unbelief.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "thus" and "alone" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.