Paragraph 10:31–33

The religious authorities wanted to kill Jesus because he said that he was one with God the Father. They said that this was blasphemy (speaking against God).

10:31

At this, the Jews again picked up stones to stone Him: Jesus’ opponents wanted to kill Jesus for saying that he was one with God. They felt that he was just a human being and should not make himself equal with God. They believed that that was blasphemy, the sin of speaking against God.

the Jews: This phrase here probably refers to Jesus’ opponents as it did in 10:24a. You can refer to Jesus’ opponents in your translation or use a more general term. For example:

his Jewish opponents (New International Version)
-or-
the people (Good News Translation)

again: The word again means that the Jews have done this before, as seen in 8:59a. Place this word where it is natural in your language. For example:

Again some of the people picked up stones to kill Jesus. (New Century Version)

picked up stones to stone Him: This was a method of killing someone as punishment. It was the punishment for blasphemy. See the notes on “picked up stones to throw at him” in 8:59a. In some languages it may be natural to make it explicit that the purpose of stoning was to kill Jesus. For example:

brought some rocks to stone Jesus to death (God’s Word)
-or-
picked up rocks…to stone Jesus to death (NET Bible Bible)

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