John 12:31

31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.

John 12:31 in Other Translations

KJV
31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
ESV
31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.
NLT
31 The time for judging this world has come, when Satan, the ruler of this world, will be cast out.
MSG
31 At this moment the world is in crisis. Now Satan, the ruler of this world, will be thrown out.
CSB
31 Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out.

John 12:31 Meaning and Commentary

John 12:31

Now is the judgment of this world
That is, in a very short time will be the judgment either of the Jewish world, when that shall be reproved, convinced, and condemned for their sin of rejecting Christ, and crucifying him, by the Spirit, in the ministration of the Gospel; and they still continuing in their impenitence and unbelief, in process of time wrath will come upon them, upon their nation, city, and temple, to the uttermost; or of the Gentile world, when there shall be a discrimination, and separation made in it, of the chosen of God, who shall be called by special grace, and with the converted and believing Jews, shall form a Gospel church state, separate from the world of the ungodly; or of the world of God's elect among Jews and Gentiles, whose cause, being undertook by Christ, he will now vindicate it, and redeem them from sin and Satan, who have usurped a power and dominion over them: hence it follows,

now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
The phrase, (Mlweh) (rv) , "the prince of the world", is much used by Jewish writers F4, by whom an angel is meant; and they seem to design the angel of death, which is the devil: and it is certain, that he is here intended, and is so called, not because he has any legal power and authority over the world; but because he has usurped a dominion over it, and has great power and efficacy in the hearts of the children of disobedience, who yield a voluntary subjection to him, as if he was their proper lord and sovereign: now the time was at hand, when he should be cast out of the empire of the world he had assumed, and out of the temples of the Gentiles, and out of the hearts of God's elect among them.


FOOTNOTES:

F4 T. Bab. Yebamot, fol. 16. 2. & Sanhedrin, fol. 94. 1. & Cholin, fol. 60. 1.

John 12:31 In-Context

29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.
30 Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine.
31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.
32 And I, when I am lifted upfrom the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.

Cross References 2

  • 1. John 16:11
  • 2. John 14:30; John 16:11; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:2; 1 John 4:4; 1 John 5:19
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