Does Jesus Draw All People to Himself? A Brief Examination of John 12:32

John 12:32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." (ESV)

There are some who would say that this verse means that Jesus will literally draw all men to Himself and that the word "all" here literally means "all." However, this begs several questions including the question to whom the word "all" refers? Just stating matter of factly that "all" means "all" here is a meaningless statement unless we identify precisely what the Apostle John meant here.

In doing this study I want first of all to deal with this verse in isolation from its context and then I will briefly consider the immediate context. However, my real intention here is to compare the verse with other verses in the Gospel of John which deal with the term "draw."

The first problem we must engage is the fact that the word "people" does not occur in the verse at all. In the NIV, KJV, and NASB the word supplied is "men" rather than "people" but in both cases the word is not in the Koine Greek but is supplied by inference in the English translation to make the verse make sense. In Greek John 12:32 reads as follows:

John 12:32 κἀγὼ ἐὰν ὑψωθῶ ἐκ τῆς γῆς, πάντας ἑλκύσω πρὸς ἐμαυτόν. (John 12:32 TISCHENDORF)


[Cf.  John 12:32 Biblos Interlinear Bible].

(Note: You will need the Athena font to view this verse in Greek. Or go to this page and follow the instructions there: Greek Bible.)

First, let us give you a transliterated Greek version:

John 12:32 kago ean hupsotho ek teys geys, pantas helkuso pros emauton.

Rather than go into a lengthy explanation of the Greek words and their parts of speech I will go straight to the point here. In this case I have put the word which is not in the original Greek in italics.


John 12:32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." (ESV)

John 12:32 But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." (NIV)

John 12:32 And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself." (NKJV)

John 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. (KJV)

The Greek word for "all" here is "pantas" which is an adjective from the root word, pas. When pas is used without an article it usually has a distributive significance as in "each" or in "all." Since the word pantas or pas has no article, we can then take it in the distributive sense. Also, since the adjective here has no noun to modify, most translations supply a noun which is implied in the original Greek. Since the word "pantas" is in the masculine plural form, the supplied word is "mankind" or "people." If it were in the neuter, then the word "pantas" would imply "everything" rather than "people." (See page 291, An Online Textual Commentary on the Greek Gospels, "John," by Wieland Willker, 2007).


Also, it might be helpful to consider what Bruce Metzger says in A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament:

12:32 πάντας ἑλκύσω {D} Since the reading πάντα, supported by p66 aleph* D it vg syr.s.p.pal, cop.sa.bo.ach.2, goth, eth, geo.1, al, is ambiguous ("everyone," "all things," "all"), it is possible that copyists, desiring to remove the ambiguity, added a sigma. A majority of the Committee, however, favored the reading πάντας because of the weight of its external attestation and because it appears to be more congruent with Johannine theology. The reading πάντα, which suggests ideas of a cosmic redemption, may have arisen under the influence of Col. 1.16-17 and/or Gnostic speculation. [Bruce Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament. (Germany: United Bible Societies, 1971. Corrected edition, 1975.), p. 238.)

So now we have two exegetical problems with which we must deal. There is no noun supplied for the adjective "pantas" or "all". And we have a textual problem. Some manuscripts had the word "panta" which would indeed mean there is a universal redemption or a "cosmic" redemption. Some scholars could read a universalist salvation of every single individual here. Others would want to read a "hypothetical" redemption into the text, implying that Jesus "potentially" draws all men to himself. Since the majority of scholars go with "pantas" and not "panta," the universalist reading and the hypothetical universalist reading are cancelled out from the beginning.


Thus, John's intention here is not to say that every single individual in the entire world (universalism) would be drawn to Jesus. Rather "all" is to be understood here in a distributive sense. In grammar the term "distributive" has a specific meaning: Grammar. referring to the members of a group individually, as the adjectives each and every. (From Dictionary.com). Thus in John 12:32 the text is saying that particular individuals out of the total number of individuals within the group will be drawn to Jesus. Since the context and the rest of the Scriptures clearly show that not every single individual is actually drawn to Jesus, in this case "all" means only those who are actually drawn. Thus, "all" is to be taken in the distributive sense of individuals within the group or "all" but not necessarily "all" as in every single one of the individuals included in the group or in the "all."

The Expositor's Bible Commentary offers a helpful comment here:

"All men" does not imply that all men will ultimately be saved; instead, it means that Christ draws men to himself indiscriminately, without regard to nationality, race, or status. Jesus' utterance was prompted by the presence of the Greek Gentiles and should be evaluated by the setting of the occasion. There is, however, a clear differentiation between believers and unbelievers, between the saved and the lost, in all the Johannine writings (John 1:11; 3:18, 36; 5:29; 6:40, 53, 64; 8:44; 1 John 3:10, 15; 5:12).

[John 12:32. Expositor's Bible Commentary, New Testament. Frank E. Gaebelein, Gen. Ed. J. D. Douglas, Assoc. Ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976-1992). Electronic Edition.]

It is particularly irritating when dogmatic statements are made without qualification regarding the meaning of "all" in John 12:32. It is simply unjustified to assert that "all" always means "all" when careful exegesis in different contexts clearly shows that "pas" or "all" has different meanings depending on the grammar and syntax and context of its use in a given verse of the Bible. Anyone who consults a basic Greek lexicon can see this. Even Strong's Concordance has a basic lexicon which shows this sort of information.

The short of it is that John 12:32 does not give a blanket endorsement to the Arminian view or the Amyraldian view where there is some sort of hypothetical election or general election of all men. In fact John 6:37, 44, 65 shows that the drawing is particularized to those who actually do come and not to every single individual without exception. Clearly the Bible as a whole points toward a particular election of individuals who are called out of the whole of humankind.  (Cf. John 12:38-39).

In the future I will deal with other verses that are claimed by the Arminian and Amyraldian side but which are not in agreement with the teaching of Scripture as a whole. While those who oppose Calvinism on the basis that Calvinist arguments are more "logical" than biblical, I intend to show that not only are the Reformed readings of the text the most biblical but that they are also the most natural and logical readings. The Arminian/Amyraldian views fail on both counts. They are unbiblical and they are logically inconsistent.

The real irony is that the Amyraldian view falsely claims to be "Calvinist," while at the same time opposing Calvinism on several points. Calvin's view of "all" in John 12:32 clearly shows his commitment to unconditional and particular election:

I will draw all men to myself. The word "all", which he employs, must be understood to refer to the children of God, who belong to his flock. Yet I agree with Chrysostom, who says that Christ used the universal term, "all", because the Church was to be gathered equally from among Gentiles and Jews, according to that saying, "There shall be one shepherd, and one sheepfold, (John 10:16.)" The old Latin translation has, "I will draw all things to me"; and Augustine maintains that we ought to read it in that manner; but the agreement of all the Greek manuscripts ought to have greater weight with us. [Calvin's Commentary on the Gospel of John, 12:32]

Amazingly, even in Calvin's day the textual critics were aware that this was not a universalist verse. Theologically speaking, God is primary in our reading of Scripture. Genesis 1:1 lays out the theological approach we should all observe: "In the beginning God..."

Peace!