John 5 · Verse 10

John 5:10

The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.
John 5:10, King James Version

John 5:10 in other translations

BSBso the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath! It is unlawful for you to carry your mat.”
WEBSo the Jews said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath. It is not lawful for you to carry the mat.”
ASVSo the Jews said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath, and it is not lawful for thee to take up thy bed.
YLTthe Jews then said to him that hath been healed, ‘It is a sabbath; it is not lawful to thee to take up the couch.'
DARBYThe Jews therefore said to the healed man, It is sabbath, it is not permitted thee to take up thy couch.
BBESo the Jews said to the man who had been made well, It is the Sabbath; and it is against the law for you to take up your bed.
WebsterThe Jews therefore said to him that was cured, it is the sabbath; it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.

What does John 5:10 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 5:10-16
10-16. The Jews--that is, those in authority. (See on Joh 1:19.) it is not lawful to carry thy bed--a glorious testimony to the cure, as instantaneous and complete, from the lips of the most prejudiced! (And what a contrast does it, as all our Lord's miracles, present to the bungling miracles of the Church of Rome!) In ordinary circumstances, the rulers had the law on their side (Ne 13:15; Jr 17:21). But when the man referred them to "Him that had made him whole" (Joh 5:11) as his authority, the argument was resistless. Yet they ingeniously parried the thrust, asking him, not who had "made him whole"--that would have condemned themselves and defeated their purpose--but who had bidden him "take up his bed and walk," in other words, who had dared to order a breach of the sabbath? It is time we were looking after Him--thus hoping to shake the man's faith in his Healer.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Barnes' Notes
Verse 10. Not lawful. It was forbidden, they supposed, in the Old Testament. The Jews were very strenuous in the observation of the external duties of religion.

(i) "It is the sabbath day" Jer 17:21, Mt 12:2

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on John 5:10-16
Those eased of the punishment of sin, are in danger of returning to sin, when the terror and restraint are over, unless Divine grace dries up the fountain. The misery believers are made whole from, warns us to sin no more, having felt the smart of sin. This is the voice of every providence, Go, and sin no more. Christ saw it necessary to give this caution; for it is common for people, when sick, to promise much; when newly recovered, to perform only something; but after awhile to forget all. Christ spoke of the wrath to come, which is beyond compare worse than the many hours, nay, weeks and years of pain, some wicked men have to suffer in consequence of their unlawful indulgences. And if such afflictions are severe, how dreadful will be the everlasting punishment of the wicked!

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

John 5:10 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

ἔλεγονelegonWere sayingG3004
οὖνounthereforeG3767
οἱhoitheG3588
ἸουδαῖοιIoudaioiJewsG2453
τῷtōto the [one]G3588
τεθεραπευμένῳ·tetherapeumenōhealed;G2323
σάββατόνsabbatonSabbathG4521
ἐστιν,estinit is,G1510
οὐκouknotG3756
ἔξεστίνexestinit is lawfulG1832
σοιsoifor youG4771
ἆραιaraito take upG142
τὸνtontheG3588
κράβαττόνkrabattonmatG2895
σου.¶souof you.G4771

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for John 5:10

  • Jeremiah 17:21

    Thus saith the Lord; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem;

  • Luke 6:2

    And certain of the Pharisees said unto them, Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days?

  • John 9:16

    Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them.

  • Mark 3:4

    And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.

  • Luke 13:14

    And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day.

  • Mark 2:24

    And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?

  • Nehemiah 13:15-21

    In those days saw I in Judah some treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses; as also wine, grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath day: and I testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals. There dwelt men of Tyre also therein, which brought fish, and all manner of ware, and sold on the sabbath unto the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem. Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the sabbath day? Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the sabbath. …

  • John 5:16

    And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.

  • Matthew 12:2-8

    But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day. But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? …

  • Luke 23:56

    And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.

  • John 7:23

    If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day?

  • Isaiah 58:13

    If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
it is not.
Ex 20:8-11; 31:12-17; Ne 13:15-21; Isa 58:13; Jer 17:21,27
Mt 12:2-8; Mr 2:24; 3:4; Lu 6:2; 13:14; 23:56

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • John 5:9

    And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.

  • John 5:10

    The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.

  • John 5:11

    He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk.

Read all of John 5

John 5:10 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Entonces los Judíos decían á aquel que había sido sanado: Sábado es: no te es lícito llevar tu lecho.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Les Juifs donc dirent à celui qui avait été guéri: C’est un jour de sabbat; il ne t’est pas permis de prendre ton petit lit.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Es sagten nun die Juden zu dem Geheilten: Es ist Sabbath, es ist dir nicht erlaubt, das Bett zu tragen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Dicebant ergo Judæi illi qui sanatus fuerat: Sabbatum est, non licet tibi tollere grabatum tuum.