John 10 — Clausal Layout (English)

independentrelativepurposecausecomparativecontentconditionaldashed = verbless / suspended

Flush-left = a main (independent) clause. Each dependent line begins directly beneath the word it attaches to in the line above — the anchor word is dotted-underlined, and lights up when you hover its dependent clause; each tag also names the attachment. A dashed border marks verbless, elliptical, or suspended lines. Where a long sentence's staircase runs wider than the page, the diagram scrolls sideways. (In print, or without JavaScript, lines fall back to stepped indent columns.)

The figure of the sheepfold 10:1–6

vv. 1–5 — the paroimia: the door, the voice, the stranger

Truly, truly, I say to you,independent — the double-amen formula, uniquely Johannine — the speech-frame; the discourse flows straight out of ch. 9

the one who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in some other way —content — casus pendens — the contrasted double participle (entering / climbing) suspended; ἀλλαχόθεν a NT hapax

that one is a thief and a robber.content — resumptive ἐκεῖνος, emphatic and distancing — stealth and violence paired

But the one who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.content — the contrast — legitimate entry marks the shepherd (Ezek 34 behind the whole figure)

To this one the gatekeeper opens,content — fronted τούτῳ — the doorkeeper's authorization

and the sheep hear his voice,content — ἀκούω + genitive — responsive hearing; the discourse's key relational verb

and he calls his own sheep by namecontent — κατ' ὄνομα — personal knowledge; ἴδια against ἀλλότριος (v. 5)

and leads them out.content — the exodus-verb ἐξάγει — out of the fold behind the shepherd

When he has brought out all his own,conditional — temporal ὅταν + aor. subj. (typed cnd; no temporal key) — leans forward on πορεύεται; πάντα: none left behind

he goes before them,content — the shepherd leads from the front, not driving from behind

and the sheep follow him,content — ἀκολουθέω — the discipleship verb

because they know his voice.cause — οἴδασιν — settled recognition grounds following

But a stranger they will by no means follow;content — fronted ἀλλοτρίῳ; οὐ μή + future — the strongest negation

rather they will flee from him,content — the opposite action — flight from the unknown voice

because they do not know the voice of strangers.cause — the negative mirror of v. 4 — non-recognition grounds flight

v. 6 — the narrator: the figure not understood

Jesus spoke this figure of speech to them;independent — παροιμία — John's word for veiled speech (16:25, 29), not the Synoptic παραβολή

but they did not understandindependent — Johannine miscomprehension — the note that triggers the re-explanation of v. 7

what it was that he was saying to them.content — indirect question with internal relative — the imperfect ἐλάλει, the discourse still sounding

The door and the good shepherd 10:7–18

vv. 7–10 — I am the door: salvation, pasture, abundant life

So Jesus said again:independent — οὖν + πάλιν — the re-start prompted by v. 6; one frame carries the speech through v. 18

Truly, truly, I say to you,content — the double-amen formula repeated — the whole exposition hangs beneath it

I am the door of the sheep.content — first ἐγώ εἰμι of the chapter, with recitative ὅτι; ἡ θύρα printed — ὁ ποιμήν in a few witnesses is assimilation to v. 11

All who came before me are thieves and robbers;content — πάντες ὅσοι — the unauthorized claimants (not the prophets), echoing v. 1

but the sheep did not hear them.content — the sheep's discernment — the negative of v. 3's hearing

I am the door;content — the saying repeated absolutely, now without the genitive

if anyone enters through me,conditional — third-class protasis, δι' ἐμοῦ fronted before the ἐάν — leans forward on the futures

he will be saved, and will go in and go out and find pasture.content — four coordinate futures — going in and out, the idiom of secure freedom (Num 27:17; Ps 121:8)

The thief does not comecontent — gnomic present — the thief of v. 1 returns for the final antithesis

except to steal and kill and destroy;purpose — εἰ μή + triple ἵνα-purpose — θύω, slaughter; the thief's whole errand

I camecontent — emphatic ἐγώ — the mission-aorist (cf. 6:38) against the thief's coming

so that they may have life,purpose — one purpose against three — ζωή, the Johannine gift

and have it abundantly.purpose — adverbial περισσόν — not survival but excess; the clinch of the door-unit

vv. 11–13 — I am the good shepherd: shepherd against hireling

I am the good shepherd.content — second ἐγώ εἰμι — καλός: noble, morally beautiful, more than ἀγαθός; double-article emphatic

The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep;content — τιθέναι τὴν ψυχήν — the Johannine idiom (13:37–38; 15:13); futuristic present; ὑπέρ with substitutionary shading

the hired hand, not being a shepherd,content — the long subject suspended before its verb — the hireling defined by what he is not

to whom the sheep do not belong,relative — possessive οὗ — no ἴδια, no stake; the second disqualification

sees the wolf comingcontent — θεωρεῖ + supplementary participle — he watches, and does nothing but run

and abandons the sheep and flees — and the wolf snatches them and scatters them —content — the wolf clause kept with the flight as parenthetical result, so v. 13's ὅτι can reach φεύγει; ἁρπάζει anticipates vv. 28–29

because he is a hired hand, and the sheep are no concern to him.cause — the ground of the flight across the wolf-parenthesis — impersonal μέλει: no care, because no ownership

vv. 14–16 — mutual knowledge, and the other sheep

I am the good shepherd,content — the saying repeated — now expounded by knowledge rather than death

and I know my owncontent — γινώσκω — relational knowledge; τὰ ἐμά, the neuter of the flock

and my own know me,content — the reciprocal — knowledge answered by knowledge

just as the Father knows me and I know the Father;comparative — the shepherd–flock knowledge measured by the Father–Son knowledge — the discourse's highest analogy

and I lay down my life for the sheep.content — the refrain of v. 11 now in the first person — knowledge issues in self-giving

And I have other sheepcontent — the other sheep — the Gentile mission in figure (cf. 11:52)

which are not of this fold;relative — singular ἔστιν with neuter plural — outside the αὐλή of Israel (v. 1)

those also I must bring,content — the Johannine δεῖ of divine necessity — crasis κἀκεῖνα fronted

and they will hear my voice,content — the mark of v. 3 extended to the others — future now, not gnomic present

and there will be one flock, one shepherd.content — μία ποίμνη, εἷς ποιμών — one flock (not the Vulgate's one fold), asyndetic climax; Ezek 34:23; 37:24

vv. 17–18 — the authority to lay down and take again

For this reason the Father loves me:content — διὰ τοῦτο pointing forward — unpacked by the ὅτι that follows

because I lay down my life,cause — epexegetic of διὰ τοῦτο — emphatic ἐγώ; the laying-down is willed, not suffered

so that I may take it up again.purpose — death aimed at resurrection — the ἵνα makes the taking-again the purpose of the laying-down

No one takes it from me,content — present αἴρει printed (ἦρεν 'took' in P66 ℵ*) — the cross is no defeat

but I lay it down of my own accord.content — ἀπ' ἐμαυτοῦ — sovereign self-disposal; emphatic ἐγώ again

I have authority to lay it down,content — ἐξουσία + complementary infinitive — the first of the balanced pair

and I have authority to take it up again;content — the matching colon — authority over death in both directions

this command I received from my Father.content — fronted ταύτην τὴν ἐντολήν — sovereign freedom and filial obedience held together; the discourse's last word

Division again over his words 10:19–21

Again there was a division among the Judeans because of these words.independent — σχίσμα πάλιν — the third split (7:43; 9:16); the word divides its hearers

And many of them were saying:independent — iterative imperfect — the hostile majority's speech-frame

'He has a demon and is out of his mind;content — the old charge (7:20; 8:48) sharpened by μαίνεται — demon-possession as madness

why do you listen to him?'content — ἀκούετε + genitive — the discourse's own verb turned to dissuasion

Others were saying:independent — the counter-voice — the division embodied in two imperfects

'These are not the words of one who is demon-possessed.content — predicate genitive δαιμονιζομένου — the words themselves acquit the speaker

Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?'content — μή expecting 'no' — the argument from ch. 9's sign still doing its work

The Feast of Dedication: 'I and the Father are one' 10:22–30

vv. 22–24 — winter at Hanukkah: the demand for plain speech

At that time the Feast of Dedication took place in Jerusalem;independent — τὰ ἐγκαίνια — Hanukkah, the Maccabean rededication of 164 BC; the true Consecrated One walks the temple

it was winter.independent — the narrator's terse season-note — literal, and in John rarely only literal

And Jesus was walking in the temple, in Solomon's Portico.independent — descriptive imperfect — the colonnade on the temple mount's east wall, shelter in winter

So the Judeans surrounded himindependent — ἐκύκλωσαν — they ring him in; the verb carries menace

and were saying to him:independent — iterative imperfect speech-frame — the pressing demand

'How long will you keep our soul in suspense?content — the idiom αἴρειν τὴν ψυχήν — hold in suspense (or: provoke); ironic beside vv. 11–18's ψυχή

If you are the Christ,conditional — first-class protasis with emphatic σύ — leans forward on the imperative

tell us plainly.'content — παρρησίᾳ — openly, without figure; the demand the paroimia provoked

vv. 25–30 — the answer: the sheep, the two hands, the one

Jesus answered them:independent — the frame for the whole reply of vv. 25–30

'I told you,content — the telling has already happened — in word and figure both

and you do not believe;content — the fault is not obscurity but unbelief — present tense, a standing state

the works that I do in my Father's name —content — casus pendens — the works suspended, with their internal relative, before the resumptive ταῦτα

these bear witness about me.content — resumptive ταῦτα — μαρτυρέω, the forensic verb of John's trial-motif (5:36)

But you do not believe,content — emphatic ὑμεῖς — the refrain of unbelief repeated before its ground

because you are not of my sheep.cause — the figure turned diagnostic — not believing because not of the flock, not vice versa

My sheep hear my voice,content — the paroimia's marks re-listed: hearing (v. 3)

and I know them,content — knowing (v. 14) — crasis κἀγώ

and they follow me,content — following (v. 4) — the triad complete

and I give them eternal life,content — the gift answering v. 10 — present δίδωμι, already being given

and they will by no means perish, ever,content — οὐ μή + aorist subjunctive with εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα — the strongest promise of the Gospel

and no one will snatch them out of my hand.content — ἁρπάζω — the wolf's verb (v. 12) denied to every assailant; the first hand

My Father — what he has given me is greater than all;content — the neuter crux printed: ὃ … μεῖζόν ('what he has given is greater') against ὃς … μείζων ('he who gave is greater'); either way the flock's security is the Father's

and no one is able to snatch out of the Father's hand.content — the second hand — my hand and the Father's hand hold the same sheep, setting up v. 30

I and the Father are one.content — neuter ἕν with plural ἐσμεν — one thing, not one person: unity of being and work, not identity; the claim that draws the stones

The blasphemy charge and the argument from Psalm 82 10:31–39

vv. 31–33 — the stones and the charge

The Judeans took up stones againindependent — πάλιν — as at 8:59; βαστάζω, they carry the stones ready

in order to stone him.purpose — the penalty for blasphemy (Lev 24:16) — the verdict already passed

Jesus answered them:independent — the counter-question's frame

'Many good works I have shown you from the Father;content — ἔργα καλά — the shepherd's adjective (vv. 11, 14) now on the works; ἐκ τοῦ πατρός their source

for which work of them are you stoning me?'content — conative present λιθάζετε — the irony: stoned for which good deed?

The Judeans answered him:independent — the charge made explicit

'Not for a good work are we stoning you, but for blasphemy —content — the only NT occurrence of βλασφημία on Jewish lips against Jesus in John — the legal ground named

and because you, being a man, make yourself God.'cause — the concessive participle ἄνθρωπος ὤν — the exact inverse of the Prologue: they see a man making himself God; John, God become man

vv. 34–36 — the argument from Psalm 82

Jesus answered them:independent — the frame for the scriptural rejoinder, vv. 34–38

'Is it not written in your lawcontent — νόμος in the wide sense (the Psalter counted in); ὑμῶν — your own authority turned on you

'I said,content — Ps 82:6 (81:6 LXX) — God's own ἐγὼ εἶπα, cited verbatim

you are gods'?content — the psalm's address to the judges (or Israel at Sinai) — 'gods' by the word's own warrant

If he called those godsconditional — the a-fortiori (qal wa-homer) premise — leans forward on the λέγετε-question of v. 36

to whom the word of God came —relative — mere recipients of the word were 'gods'; the one who IS the Word stands before them

and the Scripture cannot be broken —conditional — coordinate premise under the εἰ (often printed as parenthesis) — λυθῆναι: annulled; the axiom that seals the argument

of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world —content — fronted headless relative, casus pendens resumed by λέγετε; ἡγίασεν — consecrated, the Hanukkah word (ἐγκαίνια) applied to the true temple

do you say,content — the apodosis of the a-fortiori — emphatic ὑμεῖς against God's ἐγὼ εἶπα

'You are blaspheming,'content — recitative ὅτι — their one-word verdict quoted back

because I said,cause — the second ὅτι causal — the whole offense reduced to a sentence

'I am the Son of God'?content — less than they alleged (v. 33 'God'), more than they grasp — anarthrous υἱός, the relation itself

vv. 37–39 — believe the works — and the escape

If I am not doing the works of my Father,conditional — first-class protasis with οὐ negating the verb — leans forward on the prohibition

do not believe me;content — the startling concession — unbelief licensed if the works fail

but if I am doing them,conditional — the matching protasis — and the works stand in evidence (v. 32)

even if you do not believe me,conditional — concessive κἄν (typed cnd) — a second forward-leaning premise stacked on the first

believe the works,content — the apodosis-imperative — dative τοῖς ἔργοις fronted: let the evidence speak

so that you may know and keep knowingpurpose — aorist then present of the same verb — come to know, and go on knowing

that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.'content — verbless mutual indwelling — the content of v. 30's ἕν ἐσμεν, restated as reciprocal ἐν

So they were seeking again to seize him;independent — conative imperfect + πιάσαι — arrest now, not stoning; the third attempt (7:30, 44)

and he went out of their hand.independent — ἐκ τῆς χειρός — their hand cannot hold the one out of whose hand none can snatch (vv. 28–29); his hour is not yet

Beyond the Jordan: many believe 10:40–42

And he went away again beyond the Jordan, to the placeindependent — withdrawal to Bethany-beyond-Jordan (1:28) — the Gospel circles back to its opening ground

where John had first been baptizing,relative — periphrastic ἦν βαπτίζων with τὸ πρῶτον — the Baptist's earlier ministry recalled

and he stayed there.independent — μένω — John's loaded verb of abiding; a pause before Lazarus

And many came to him,independent — the crowds follow him even out of Judea

and they were sayingindependent — iterative imperfect — the verdict repeated among them

that John performed no sign,content — μέν … δέ — the Baptist wrought no σημεῖον; his greatness lay elsewhere

but everything John said about this man was true.content — the witness vindicated (1:29–34; 3:27–30) — ἀληθῆ, John's key predicate

And many believed in him there.independent — πιστεύειν εἰς — full Johannine faith; ἐκεῖ closes the chapter where the Gospel began, an inclusio with 1:28

Analysis. John 10 is two long speeches with riots between them, and the layout shows both as blue catenae hanging at constant depth from a single verb of saying. In vv. 1–5 the paroimia hangs one step under the opening λέγω — coordinate present-tense clauses, the door against the ladder, the voice known against the voice unknown — with only genuine subordination stepping deeper (the two ὅτι-grounds on knowing the voice, the forward-leaning ὅταν). The narrator's v. 6 drops back to the purple margin: they did not understand. From v. 7 one frame (Εἶπεν οὖν πάλιν) carries twelve verses: the Ἀμὴν-formula at depth 1 and the whole double exposition — door (vv. 7–10), good shepherd (vv. 11–18) — as a catena at depth 2, so the discourse's real hierarchy stands out against the flat flow: the thief's triple ἵνα against the single ἵνα of abundant life (v. 10), the καθώς that measures the flock's knowledge by the Father's (v. 15), and the chain of v. 17 (loves — because I lay down — in order to take again). In vv. 12–13 the wolf clause is kept on the line of the hireling's flight so the ὅτι of v. 13 can ground φεύγει, its true referent, across the parenthetical wolf. Protases lean forward without anchors throughout: ἐάν τις εἰσέλθῃ (v. 9), εἰ σὺ εἶ ὁ Χριστός (v. 24), the double premise of the a-fortiori (v. 35 — καὶ οὐ δύναται λυθῆναι ἡ γραφή taken as a coordinate premise under the εἰ, not a mere aside), and the εἰ … εἰ δέ pair of vv. 37–38. Cruxes the layout inherits or takes a side on: v. 7 prints ἡ θύρα (the ὁ ποιμήν of a few witnesses is assimilation to v. 11); v. 16 μία ποίμνη is one flock, not the Vulgate's one fold; v. 29 prints the neuter crux ὃ … μεῖζόν ('what he has given me is greater than all'), tagged against ὃς … μείζων; v. 30's ἕν is neuter — one thing, not one person — which the mutual-indwelling clause of v. 38 unpacks; and v. 36 is laid out as a fronted casus pendens (ὃν ὁ πατὴρ ἡγίασεν …) resumed by ὑμεῖς λέγετε.