CHAPTER VII. _Jesus continues in Galilee_, 1. _He is desired to go to the feast of tabernacles_, 2-5. _His answer_, 6-9. _He goes up, and the Jews seek him at the feast_, 10-13. _He teaches in the temple_, 14-24. _The Jews are confounded by his preaching_, 25-27. _He continues to teach; they... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 7:2. _FEAST OF TABERNACLES_] This feast was celebrated on the fifteenth day of the month _Tisri_, answering to the last half of our September, and the first half of October. This month was the _seventh_ of the _ecclesiastical_, and _first_ of the _civil_, year. The feast took its name fro... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 7:3. _HIS BRETHREN - SAID_] It is generally supposed that these were the children of the _sisters_ of his mother Mary; but some of the ancients have stated that Joseph had several children by a former wife. See the account of the evangelist prefixed to this Gospel. No solid proof can be... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 7:4. _NO MAN THAT DOETH ANY THING IN SECRET_, c.] They took it for granted that Christ was influenced by the same spirit which themselves felt and that therefore he should use every opportunity of exhibiting himself to the public, that he might get into repute; and they hoped that a part... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 7:5. _NEITHER DID HIS BRETHREN BELIEVE IN HIM._] They did not receive him as the promised _Messiah_; but, having seen so many of his miracles, they could not but consider him as an eminent prophet. They supposed that, if he were the Messiah, he would wish to manifest himself as such to th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 7:6. _MY TIME IS NOT YET COME_] It is probable our Lord meant no more than this, that _he_ had some business to transact before he could go to Jerusalem; but his brethren, having nothing to hinder _them_ might set off immediately. Others think he speaks of his passion: My time of sufferin... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 7:7. _THE WORLD CANNOT HATE YOU_] The Jews will not persecute you, because ye are in their sentiments and interests. Ye also expect a _worldly_ Messiah. _BUT ME IT HATETH_] Because I condemn its injustice, its pride, its ambition, and its maxims, by my life and doctrine. It is very likel... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 7:8. _I GO NOT UP YET UNTO THIS FEAST_] Porphyry accuses our blessed Lord of falsehood, because he said here, I will not go to this feast, and yet afterwards he went; and some interpreters have made more ado than was necessary, in order to reconcile this seeming contradiction. To me the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 7:10. _BUT WHEN HIS BRETHREN WERE GONE UP_] Having despatched his business, and the concourse of people being now past, _he went_ _up also_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 7:11. _THEN THE JEWS SOUGHT HIM_] By Jews here are to be understood the scribes, Pharisees, and _rulers_ of the people, and not the inhabitants of the province of Judea. It appears, from the following verses, that many of the people were prejudiced in his favour, but they dared not to own... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 7:12. _SOME SAID, HE IS A GOOD MAN_] The multitude were divided in their opinions concerning him: those who knew him best said, _He is a good man_. Those who spoke according to the character given him by the priests, c., said, _Nay but he deceiveth the_ _people_. Those who spoke evil of h... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 7:14. _THE MIDST OF THE FEAST_] Though the canons required him to be there on the _first_ day, for the performance of a great variety of rites, yet, as these were in general the invention of their doctors, he might think it very proper neither to attend nor perform them.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 7:15. _HOW KNOWETH THIS MAN LETTERS, HAVING NEVER LEARNED?_] The Jewish learning consisted in the knowledge of their own scriptures, and the traditions of their elders. In this learning our blessed Lord excelled. No person ever spoke with more grace and dignity, or knew better how to make... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 7:16. _MY DOCTRINE IS NOT MINE_] Our blessed Lord, in the character of Messiah, might as well say, _My doctrine is not mine_, as an ambassador might say, I speak not my own words, but his who sent me: and he speaks these words to draw the attention of the Jews from the teaching of man to... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 7:17. _IF ANY MAN WILT DO HIS WILL_, c.] I will give you a sure rule by which ye may judge of my doctrine: If you really wish to do the will of God, begin the practice of it and take my doctrine, and apply it to all that you know God requires of man; and if you find one of my precepts co... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 7:18. _HE THAT SPEAKETH OF HIMSELF_, c.] I will give you another rule, whereby you shall know whether I am from God or not: If I speak so as to procure my own glory, to gratify vanity, or to secure and promote my secular interests, then reject me as a deceiver and as a false prophet. But... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 7:19. _DID NOT MOSES GIVE YOU THE LAW_, c.] The scribes and Pharisees announced our Lord to the multitude as a deceiver and they grounded their calumny on this, that he was not an exact observer of the law, for he had healed a man on the Sabbath day, John 5:9; and consequently must be a f... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 7:20. _THOU HAST A DEVIL_] The crowd, who made this answer, were not in the secret of the chief priests. They could not suppose that any person desired to put him to death for healing a diseased man; and therefore, in their brutish manner, they say, _Thou hast a demon_-thou art beside th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 7:21. _I HAVE DONE ONE WORK_] That of curing the impotent man, already referred to. See John 5:9. _AND YE ALL MARVEL._] or, _ye all marvel because of this_. Some have δια τουτο, in connection with θαυμαζετε, which the common pointing makes the beginning of the next verse, and which, in o... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 22. _BUT OF THE FATHERS_] That is, it came _from the_ _patriarchs_. Circumcision was not, properly speaking, one of the laws of the Mosaic institution, it having been given at first to Abraham, and continued among his posterity till the giving of the law: Genesis 17:9-1, c. _YE - CIRCUMCISE... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 23. _EVERY WHIT WHOLE_] The law of circumcision required the removal of a small _portion_ of flesh, which was considered a _blot_ and _reproach_ among the Hebrews, because it confounded them with the nations who were not in covenant with God. Christ, to this, opposes the _complete_ cure of the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 24. _JUDGE NOT ACCORDING TO THE APPEARANCE_] Attend to the law, not merely in the _letter_, but in its _spirit_ and _design_. Learn that the law which commands men to rest on the Sabbath day is subordinate to the law of mercy and love, which requires them to be ever active to promote God's glo... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 26. _THAT THIS IS THE VERY CHRIST?_] In most of the common printed editions αληθως is found, the VERY Christ; but the word is wanting in BDKLTX, twenty-two others, several editions; all the _Arabic_, Wheelock's _Persic_, the _Coptic, Sahidic, Armenian,_ _Slavonic, Vulgate_, and all the _Itala_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 27. _NO MAN KNOWETH WHENCE HE IS._] The generality of the people knew very well that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, in the city, and of the family, of David; see John 7:42. But, from Isaiah Isaiah 53:8, _Who shall declare his generation_? they probably thought that there should be so... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 28. _YE BOTH KNOW ME, AND YE KNOW WHENCE I AM_] Perhaps they should be read interrogatively: _Do ye both know me, and know_ _whence I am_? Our Lord takes them up on their own profession, and argues from it. Since you have got so much information concerning me, add this to it, to make it comple... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 29. _BUT I KNOW HIM: FOR I AM FROM HIM_] Instead of ειμ, _I_ _am_, some editions, the _Syriac_ Hieros. read ειμι, _I came_, according to the Attics. _Nonnus_ confirms this reading by paraphrasing the word by εληλυθα, _I came_. As the difference between the two words lies only in the _accents_,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 31. _WILL HE DO MORE MIRACLES_] It was the belief of the Jews, and they founded it upon Isaiah 35:5, that, when the Messiah came, he would do all kinds of miracles; and, in order that they might have the fullest proof of the Divine mission of Christ, it had pleased God to cause miracles to cea... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 32. _THE PEOPLE MURMURED SUCH THINGS_] The people began to be convinced that he was the Messiah; and this being generally _whispered_ about, the Pharisees, c., thought it high time to put him to death, lest the people should believe on him therefore they _sent officers to take him_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 33. _YET A LITTLE WHILE AM I WITH YOU_] As he knew that the Pharisees had designed to take and put him to death, and that in about _six_ months from this time, as some conjecture, he should be crucified, he took the present opportunity of giving this information to the common people, who were... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 34. _YE SHALL SEEK ME, AND SHALL NOT FIND ME_] When the Roman armies come against you, you will vainly seek for a deliverer. But ye shall be cut off in your sins, because ye did not believe in me; and _where I am_-in the kingdom of glory, _ye_ _cannot come_; for nothing that is unholy shall en... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 35. _THE DISPERSED AMONG THE GENTILES_] Or _Greeks_. By the _dispersed_, are meant here the _Jews_ who were scattered through various parts of that empire which Alexander the Great had founded, in Greece, Syria, Egypt, and Asia Minor, where the Greek language was used, and where the Jewish Scr... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 37. _IN THE LAST DAY, THAT GREAT_ DAY _OF THE FEAST_] This was the _eighth_ day, and was called the _great day_, because of certain _traditional_ observances, and not on account of any excellence which it derived from the original institution. On the seven days they professed to offer sacrifi... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 38. _HE THAT BELIEVETH ON ME, AS THE SCRIPTURE HATH SAID_] He who receives me as the Messiah, according to what the Scripture has said concerning me; my person, birth, conduct, preaching, and miracles, being compared with what is written there as ascertaining the true Messiah. _Out of his bell... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 39. _WAS NOT YET_ given] δεδομενον, _given_ is added by the _Codex Vaticanus_, (B.) the _Syriac_, all the _Persic_, later _Syriac_ with an asterisk, three copies of the _Slavonic, Vulgate_, and all the _Itala_ but three; and several of the primitive fathers. The word seems necessary to the com... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 40. _OF A TRUTH THIS IS THE PROPHET._] The great _prophet_, or _teacher_, spoken of by Moses, Deuteronomy 18:15, which they improperly distinguished from the _Messiah_, John 7:41. Some no doubt knew that by the prophet, the Messiah was meant; but others seem to have thought that one of the anc... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 41. _SHALT CHRIST COME OUT OF GALILEE?_] As the prophets had declared that the Messiah was to come from the _tribe of Judah_, and from the _family of David_, and should be born in the _city of_ _Bethlehem_, these Jews, imagining that Christ had been born in _Galilee_, concluded that he could n... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 42. _WHERE DAVID WAS?_] That is, where he was born, 1 Samuel 16:1; 1 Samuel 16:4, and where he was before he became king in Israel.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 43. _THERE WAS A DIVISION_] σχισμα, a _schism_; they were divided in sentiment, and separated into parties. This is the true notion of _schism_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 44. _WOULD HAVE TAKEN HIM_] Or, _they wished to seize him_. And this they would have done, and destroyed him too at that time, had they been _unanimous_; but their being _divided_ in opinion, John 7:43, was the cause, under God, why his life was at that time preserved. How true are the words o... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 45. _THEN CAME THE OFFICERS_] They had followed him for several days, seeking for a proper opportunity to seize on him, when they might fix some charge of sedition, c., upon him but the more they listened, the more they were convinced of his innocence, purity, and consummate wisdom.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 46. _NEVER MAN SPAKE LIKE THIS MAN._] Though these officers had gone on the _errand_ of their masters, they had not entered into their spirit. They were sent to apprehend a seditious man, and a false prophet. They came where Jesus taught; they found him to be a different person to the descrip... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 48. _HAVE ANY OF THE RULERS - BELIEVED ON HIM?_] Very few. But is this a proof that he is not of God? No, truly. If he were of the _world_, the world would _love_ its own. The religion of Christ has been in general rejected by the rulers of this world. A life of mortification, self-denial, and... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 49. _THIS PEOPLE_] Ὁ οχλος, _This rabble_. The common people were treated by the Pharisees with the most sovereign contempt: they were termed עם הארץ _am ha-arets, people of the_ _earth_; and were not thought worthy to have a resurrection to eternal life. _Wagenseil_ and _Schoettgen_ have giv... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 7:50. _NICODEMUS - BEING ONE OF THEM_] That is, a Pharisee, and a ruler of the Jews: John 3:1.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 7:51. _DOTH OUR LAW JUDGE ANY MAN_] τον ανθρωπον, _the man_, i.e. who is _accused_. Perhaps Nicodemus did not refer so much to any thing in the law of Moses, as to what was commonly practiced among them. Josephus says, Ant. b. xiv. c. 9. s. 3, _That the law_ _has forbidden any man to be p... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 7:52. _ART THOU ALSO OF GALILEE?_] They knew very well that he was not; but they spoke this by way of reproach. As if they had said, thou art no better than he is, as thou takest his part. Many of the Galileans had believed on him, Which the Jews considered to be a reproach. Art thou his... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 7:53. _AND EVERY MAN WENT_, C.] The authority and influence of Nicodemus, in this case, was so great that the Sanhedrin broke up without being able to conclude any thing. As the feast was now ended, they were not obliged to continue any longer in or about Jerusalem and therefore all retur... [ Continue Reading ]