John 10:35

If he called them gods. — The argument is another example of Hillel’s famous First Canon of Interpretation — that the greater may be inferred from the less. The pronoun “he” (He) refers probably to God (see Note on John 10:34, Acts 20:13, where a compound form of it is rightly rendered “for so he had appointed,” and might have been translated for so he was disposed. It lies in the nature of the case that belief was followed by a public profession of faith, but the word “believed” does not, as some have said, involve such a profession.