VII. [(2) JESUS IS TRUTH AND LIGHT AND LOVE (7:1- 10:42). (_a_) _Jesus is Truth_ (John 8). (_α_) The Feast of Tabernacles (John 7:1). (_β_) The teaching of Jesus (John 7:14): His doctrine is from the Father (John 7:15). He is Himself from the Father (verses (25-31); He will return to the F... [ Continue Reading ]
AFTER THESE THINGS... — Denoting not immediate sequence, but covering the interval included in this verse — _i.e.,_ the Galilean ministry of Matthew 15-18. (Comp. Note on John 21:1.) It would have been natural for Him to have gone up to the Passover of that year (John 6:4), but He did not do so on a... [ Continue Reading ]
THE JEWS’ FEAST OF TABERNACLES. — This began on “the fifteenth day of the seventh month” (Leviticus 23:34), _i.e.,_ the 15th of Tishri, which answers to our September. The interval, then, from Passover to Tabernacles is one of about five months. The feast continued for seven days, during which all t... [ Continue Reading ]
HIS BRETHREN... — Comp. Note on Matthew 13:55. They are excluded here by their own words from the band of disciples, as they are by St. John’s from the believers (John 7:5), and inferentially (John 7:7) by the words of Christ Himself from the Twelve. (Comp. John 15:18.) THAT THY DISCIPLES ALSO MAY S... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THERE IS NO MAN. — His course of action seems to them to contradict His personal claim. It is opposed, they think, to the common-sense conduct of mankind. IF THOU DO THESE THINGS. — The emphasis is on _these things._ There is no doubt that He does them; but if the acts themselves are such as th... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR NEITHER DID HIS BRETHREN BELIEVE. — Comp. Note on John 7:3. The words do not admit of any other meaning than the obvious one that even His brethren did not at this time believe Him to be the Messiah. That they are found in the very first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles joining with the Apost... [ Continue Reading ]
MY TIME IS NOT YET COME. — Comp. Note on John 2:4. Here, as there, He regards the events of life as marked out by divinely-ordered seasons. There is for Him a time for solemnly entering Jerusalem with a throng of pilgrims going up to a feast, and in a few months it will have come; but it has not com... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WORLD CANNOT HATE YOU. — Because they were of the world. To have hated them, would have been to have hated itself. (Comp. John 3:19.) BUT ME IT HATETH, BECAUSE I TESTIFY... — He had placed Himself in a position of antagonism to it, and must necessarily do so. His words and acts must be a witnes... [ Continue Reading ]
GO YE UP UNTO THIS FEAST. — This should be, rather, _Go ye up unto the feast,_ with the stress on the pronoun “ye,” and the article instead of the demonstrative “this.” I GO NOT UP YET UNTO THIS FEAST. — The “yet” is of doubtful authority, though it is found in some early MSS. and versions, and the... [ Continue Reading ]
HE ABODE STILL IN GALILEE. — We find Him in Jerusalem between the 16th and 20th of Tishri (John 7:14), and He could not therefore have remained behind them more than three or four days. We have no record of any companion with Him until John 9:2; but it is probable that some at least of the Apostolic... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT WHEN HIS BRETHREN WERE GONE UP, THEN WENT HE ALSO UP UNTO THE FEAST. — The words “unto the feast” are misplaced in the Received text, upon which our version is based. The right reading is, _But when His brethren were gone up unto the feast, then went He also up_; and the difference is not unimpo... [ Continue Reading ]
THE JEWS — _i.e.,_ as before, and as in John 7:13; John 7:15, the official representatives of the nation. They kept seeking Him at the feast, where they naturally expected that He would be, and kept asking, without naming Him, Where is He? which is almost equivalent to Where is this fellow? Their qu... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THERE WAS MUCH MURMURING AMONG THE PEOPLE. — The original word for “people” is here, and here only in St. John, in the plural, and is best rendered by _multitudes._ It refers to the throngs of people assembled during the various parts of the ritual of the feast, and, perhaps, specially on the on... [ Continue Reading ]
NO MAN cannot fairly be limited, as it generally has been, to the multitude who believed in Him. It discloses to us rather a reign of terror, in which opinion was stifled, and men dared not speak openly on either side until authority had determined what they should say.... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW ABOUT THE MIDST OF THE FEAST. — Better, _But now, when it was the middle of the feast._ (Comp. John 7:8.) This was the technical _Chôl Mô’çd_ or _Mô’çd Katôn, “_the Middle of the Feast,” or “the Lesser Feast.” He had taken no part in the greater festival itself, and now He appears in the Temple,... [ Continue Reading ]
HOW KNOWETH THIS MAN LETTERS? — Their spirit is seen in that at which they marvel. It is not the substance of His teaching that excites their attention, but the fact that He who has never been technically trained as a Rabbi is acquainted with the literature of the schools. (See Acts 26:24, “much lea... [ Continue Reading ]
MY DOCTRINE IS NOT MINE, BUT HIS THAT SENT ME. — The answer carries them once more to the words uttered by Him. (Comp. John 5:19; John 5:30.) Then he had again and again referred to the Father who sent Him (John 7:24; John 7:36), and claimed as His own work the doing of the Father’s will (John 7:30)... [ Continue Reading ]
IF ANY MAN WILL DO HIS WILL, HE SHALL KNOW OF THE DOCTRINE. — Better, _If any man willeth to do His will, he shall know of the teaching._ The stress is upon “willeth,” which in our version reads as if it were only the auxiliary verb. It is not deed, which is the outcome of faith; but will, which pre... [ Continue Reading ]
HE THAT SPEAKETH OF HIMSELF. — Again the words repeat the thoughts of the earlier discourse. (See Notes on John 5:41.) They contrast His position and that of His hearers. Professional teachers, they sought glory one from another, and regarded their teaching as of themselves, the special honour of th... [ Continue Reading ]
DID NOT MOSES ...? — The note of interrogation should be placed at the end of the first clause. The verse would then read, _Did not Moses give you the Law? and none of you doeth the Law. Why seek ye to kill Me?_ So far from the will to do God’s will, without which they could not know His teaching, t... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PEOPLE. — They know that the rulers have sought for Him (John 7:11), but are not aware of their intention to kill Him. When this is referred to, it is “by some of them of Jerusalem” (John 7:25). These pilgrims know how far from their own thoughts is any such idea, and they think that its presenc... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE DONE ONE WORK — _i.e.,_ the one conspicuous work of healing the infirm man on the Sabbath day, which He did at His last visit to Jerusalem. We have already had a reference to other works in John 2:23, and He Himself refers to His many good works in John 10:32. YE ALL MARVEL. — This answer is... [ Continue Reading ]
MOSES THEREFORE GAVE UNTO YOU CIRCUMCISION. — Some MSS., and many editors, place the “therefore,” or, _on this account,_ at the close of the last verse, reading, “Ye all marvel on this account,” and then the present verse, “Moses gave unto you circumcision...” The reading of our version is, however,... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT THE LAW OF MOSES SHOULD NOT BE BROKEN. — The text here is to be preferred to the marginal reading, though the latter has still the support of considerable authority. In the one case, the law which may not be broken is the law directing circumcision on the eighth day. In the other, “without brea... [ Continue Reading ]
JUDGE NOT ACCORDING TO THE APPEARANCE. — He has put the case before them in its true light, I and from their own point of view. There was another Positive Precept of Moses which these judges were forgetting, though it, too, formed part of the first section of the Law read at Tabernacles (Deuteronomy... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN SAID SOME OF THEM OF JERUSALEM. — These Jerusalemites are distinct from the multitude of John 7:20, and are acquainted with the intention which seemed so impossible to the latter.... [ Continue Reading ]
But they, too, have reason for wonder. They hear Him speaking openly, and those who sought His death listen to Him without reply. Are they, then, convinced of the truth of His claim? DO THE RULERS KNOW INDEED ...? — Read, _Have the rulers come to know indeed that this Man is the Christ?_ The word “... [ Continue Reading ]
HOWBEIT WE KNOW THIS MAN. — They at once supply a corrective answer to their own question. They know this Man whence He is. He is the carpenter’s son, and His mother, and brethren, and sisters, are well known (Matthew 13:55). His brothers, indeed, are part of that multitude (John 7:10). They know th... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN CRIED JESUS IN THE TEMPLE AS HE TAUGHT. — The word rendered “cried,” implies always an elevation of voice answering to the intensity of the speaker’s feeling. (Comp. in this Gospel John 1:15; John 7:37; John 12:44.) Here this feeling has been roused by another instance of their misapprehension,... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT I KNOW HIM. — In contrast with their ignorance is His own full knowledge, which belonged to One only. (See Note on John 1:18.) The pronoun “I” here, as “ye” immediately before, is emphatic. FOR I AM FROM HIM, AND HE HATH SENT ME. — This knowledge is here based upon His oneness of essence, and u... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN THEY SOUGHT TO TAKE HIM. — The tense is imperfect, marking the continuance of a series of efforts to take Him. The persons who thus sought to take Him are, of course, the members of the Sanhedrin. The people are mentioned in contrast in the next verse. For the present their efforts are confined... [ Continue Reading ]
AND MANY OF THE PEOPLE BELIEVED ON HIM. — This verse shows an advance in their faith. In John 7:12 we found “some” asserting that “He is a good man.” Now “many” accept Him as the Messiah, for this is the force of the words, “believed in Him.” (Comp. John 7:5, and Note there.) WHEN CHRIST COMETH, WI... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PHARISEES HEARD THAT THE PEOPLE MURMURED. — Or, more exactly, _the Pharisees heard the multitude murmuring._ In the second clause of the verse, the Authorised version follows the order of the Received text, but almost all the better MSS. read, “the chief priests and the Pharisees.” We have to th... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN SAID JESUS UNTO THEM. — It should rather be, _Therefore said Jesus._ He said this because they sent to take Him. The better MSS. omit “unto them,” and it is clear, from John 7:35, that the words are addressed to the hierarchy generally. YET A LITTLE WHILE AM I WITH YOU. — Their action is the f... [ Continue Reading ]
YE SHALL SEEK ME, AND SHALL NOT FIND ME. — These words are to be interpreted in connection with John 8:21, where they are repeated, and with John 13:33, where they are quoted and applied to the disciples. This will exclude any special reference, such as to the destruction of Jerusalem and to the see... [ Continue Reading ]
WHITHER WILL HE GO THAT WE SHALL NOT FIND HIM? — He had said in John 7:33, “I go unto Him that sent Me,” and in John 7:28. He had declared that they knew not Him that sent Him. There is, then, no contradiction between these verses, and their question, strange as it seems, is but another instance of... [ Continue Reading ]
WHAT MANNER OF SAYING IS THIS ...? — We get a better sense by omitting the words in italics, and reading, “What saying is this...?” Their scorn does not solve their difficulty, and gives place to wonder. They feel His words cannot mean what they have said. “What, then, do they mean? What is the forc... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE LAST DAY, THAT GREAT DAY OF THE FEAST. — The question whether the seventh or the eighth day of the feast is intended here, is one of antiquarian rather than of practical interest. The words commanding the observance in Deuteronomy 16:13, and Numbers 29:12, mention only seven days; but this la... [ Continue Reading ]
There can be little doubt that our English version rightly gives the meaning of the original here; though representatives of both the earliest and the latest schools of interpretation have tried so to read the verse as to avoid its difficulties. Some would attach the first clause to the preceding ve... [ Continue Reading ]
The word “given” is omitted in nearly all MSS. except the Vatican. “Holy” before Ghost is also probably an insertion, though it is found in some of the oldest MSS. and versions. These are additions of copyists who were anxious to preserve from all possibility of misinterpretation the doctrine concer... [ Continue Reading ]
MANY OF THE PEOPLE THEREFORE, WHEN THEY HEARD THIS SAYING... — The reading of the best MSS. is, “Some of the people therefore, when they heard these sayings.” OF A TRUTH THIS IS THE PROPHET — i.e., the Prophet foretold by Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15. (Comp. Notes on John 1:21; John 6:14.)... [ Continue Reading ]
OTHERS SAID THIS IS THE CHRIST. — The Messiah is distinguished from the Prophet in the words of the multitude there, as in the question of the legates of the Sanhedrin, John 1:20. SHALL CHRIST COME OUT OF GALILEE? — The answer “No” is expected, and the tense is present — _Surely the Messiah cometh... [ Continue Reading ]
HATH NOT THE SCRIPTURE SAID... — Comp. the prophecies in Micah 5:1; Isaiah 11:1; Jeremiah 23:5. WHERE DAVID WAS. — Comp. the history in 1 Samuel 16. It has often been asked, sometimes in the spirit of objection, sometimes in the spirit of inquiry, how the Apostle, if he really knew the history of o... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE WAS A DIVISION AMONG THE PEOPLE. — The word for division is our word “schism.” It is found in the earlier Gospels in one instance only, “the rent is made worse” (Matthew 9:16; Mark 2:21). This is nearer to the older meaning of the word, which is used, for example, of the hoofs of animals, and... [ Continue Reading ]
AND SOME OF THEM WOULD HAVE TAKEN HIM — _i.e.,_ those who asked “Doth the Christ, then, come out of Galilee?” (John 7:41.) The officers of the Sanhedrin were present all this time (John 7:32), and are immediately mentioned as distinct from the “some” of this verse. NO MAN LAID HANDS ON HIM. — Comp.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN CAME THE OFFICERS TO THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND PHARISEES. — (Comp. Note on John 18:3.) They had been sent (John 7:32), not with a definite warrant to bring Him by force, but to watch their opportunity, and seize any pretext for doing so which may arise. “The chief priests and Pharisees” are the San... [ Continue Reading ]
NEVER MAN SPAKE LIKE THIS MAN. — Some of _the_ oldest MSS., including the Vatican, have a shorter text, “Never man spake thus”; but the longer reading is to be preferred. The very officers acknowledged His power, and tell the professed teachers, whose opinions and words were the rule of all Jewish l... [ Continue Reading ]
ARE YE ALSO DECEIVED? — The emphasis is upon the _ye._ “Ye whose duty it is simply to obey, who were sent to bring Him captive before us — do ye also yield to His power?” It is the Pharisees who ask this, and their spirit is shown in the matter of their question. They make no inquiry as to what He h... [ Continue Reading ]
THE RULERS were the Sanhedrin, among whose official duties it was to prevent the introduction of false doctrines. (Comp. Note on Johnm 1:19.) “The Pharisees” were the orthodox party of the day, and they are the persons who ask the question. The matter was to be decided by authority, and not by truth... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THIS PEOPLE WHO KNOWETH NOT THE LAW... — The words express “Those people there, among whom you have been, and with whose opinion you have been coinciding, instead of holding the authoritative opinion which we have declared, and which we alone can declare. We are the interpreters of the Law, and... [ Continue Reading ]
On the character of Nicodemus, see Notes on John 3. His position here is that of a friend of Jesus, who still does not dare to declare himself His open follower. HE THAT CAME TO JESUS BY NIGHT. — Comp. Note on John 3:2. The better reading here is, probably, _he that came to Him before._ BEING ONE... [ Continue Reading ]
DOTH OUR LAW JUDGE ANY MAN? — He identifies Himself with them. He, like they, is an expounder of the Law. The force of the question is in the word “Law,” which they had used but the moment before in their scorn for the people who knew not the Law. “Well, this Law, which we do know and understand, do... [ Continue Reading ]
ART THOU ALSO OF GALILEE? — They seek to avoid his question, to which there could have been but one answer, by a counter-question expressing their surprise at the position he is taking: “Surely thou art not also of Galilee?” “Thou art not His countryman, as many of this multitude are?” They imply th... [ Continue Reading ]
The section which follows (John 7:53 to John 8:11) is one of the most striking instances of an undoubted addition to the original text of the Gospel narratives. We shall find reason to believe that it belongs to the Apostolic age, and preserves to us the record of an incident in the life of our Lord... [ Continue Reading ]