John 10:10 (YLT)

Passage

`The thief doth not come, except that he may steal, and kill, and destroy; I came that they may have life, and may have <FI>it<Fi> abundantly.

Nearby Context

John 10:8 all, as many as came before me, are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them;

John 10:9 I am the door, through me if any one may come in, he shall be saved, and he shall come in, and go out, and find pasture.

John 10:10 `The thief doth not come, except that he may steal, and kill, and destroy; I came that they may have life, and may have <FI>it<Fi> abundantly.

John 10:11 `I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd his life layeth down for the sheep;

John 10:12 and the hireling, and not being a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, doth behold the wolf coming, and doth leave the sheep, and doth flee; and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep;

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thief", "doth", "come", "except", "steal", "kill", "destroy", and "came". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thief" and "doth", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 9's "I am the door through me if..." into verse 11's "I am the good shepherd the good...", so "thief" and "doth" 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 "thief" and "doth" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.