Makest thyself God? (John 10:33)

The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.

All Jews were strict Unitarian monotheists and would not have imagined the Supreme God in the Trinitarian view as three persons in one God.  In the Greek text it does not have the definite article before the word “God” as in the Supreme God, the LORD God.  In Western mind of thought that whenever we see the word “God,” we automatically think of the Supreme God.  This is not the case in the Hebrew mind.


Jesus can be called god in the "representative sense," like Moses was to Pharoah. "See, I have made thee a god [ELOHIM] to Pharaoh,” but both Jesus and Moses were not the supreme God. There is also nothing in the word (Elohim) that identifies a "plurality of individuals.”

We should note that elohim in the plural means “gods” — not persons. Thus the argument that its plural usage means a Trinity would tend to mean that there are three gods, not three persons in one God, as is claimed for the Trinity doctrine.

As noted by Greg S. Deuble in his book, They Never Told me THIS in Church! states,

We could cite many more examples where context determines which “God/god” is intended.  Evidently the Bible, reflecting the common idiom of its day and age, calls several beings “God/god.”  Whenever the Bible speaks of the one Supreme Deity who is the uncreated God it usually uses the definite article.  The Father of Jesus is normally called “the God” (Greek: ho theos).  In fact, some 1350 times in the NT whenever the Supreme Deity, the Father, is referred to He is called “the God” with the definite article.”

Jesus never claimed to be God nor did the Jews ever think Jesus was actually claiming he was the Supreme God (Yahweh).  Jesus was  ‘god’ but only in the sense of being the perfect representative of the only true God, his Father, and his God. (Thus the comment by Jesus in 10:34-35)

They all very well knew that the Messiah was to be a man, but they hated Jesus so much that they refused to believe that he was that man.

So the Jews were not seeking to kill Jesus because they thought he was claiming to be the Supreme God (as Trinitarian doctrine claims), but wanted to kill him because he was claiming to be the Son of God, the Messiah.  This is well stated before they accused him of blasphemy, because they did not want to be kept in suspense any longer as to whether he was the Christ (the Messiah) and wanted Jesus to tell them plainly.

“The Jews therefore came round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou hold us in suspense? If thou art the Christ, tell us plainly.” (v. 24)

They didn’t ask him if he were God as in the Supreme God!  Jesus missed another great opportunity to set the record straight if he were God, the second member of the Trinity as Trinitarians suppose.

Jesus no longer kept them is suspense, but did tell them plainly,

“Do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, You blaspheme, because I said, I am the Son of God?” (v. 36)

And that is why the Jews wanted to kill him, not because he claimed to be the Supreme God, but claimed to be the Son of God, the Messiah.