What did Jesus mean by ‘thieves’ in Jn 10:8? [duplicate]

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In John 10:8 we hear Jesus saying that all those who came before him were thieves. Of course, he was not referring to prophets like Isaiah or John the Baptist. But to whom was he referring to? Is it that there had been Jewish leaders who claimed themselves as the Messiah but who later proved to be false claimants of the position?

My question, therefore, is: what did Jesus mean by ‘thieves’ in John 10:8? Inputs from any denomination are welcome.