John 7:18–36

7:18 The person who speaks on his own authority39 desires40 to receive honor41 for himself; the one who desires42 the honor43 of the one who sent him is a man of integrity,44 and there is no unrighteousness in him. 7:19 Hasn’t Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps45 the law! Why do you want46 to kill me?”

7:20 The crowd47 answered, “You’re possessed by a demon!48 Who is trying to kill you?”49 7:21 Jesus replied,50 “I performed one miracle51 and you are all amazed.52 7:22 However, because Moses gave you the practice of circumcision53 (not that it came from Moses, but from the forefathers), you circumcise a male child54 on the Sabbath. 7:23 But if a male child55 is circumcised56 on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses is not broken,57 why are you angry with me because I made a man completely well58 on the Sabbath? 7:24 Do not judge according to external appearance,59 but judge with proper60 judgment.”

Questions About Jesus’ Identity

7:25 Then some of the residents of Jerusalem61 began to say, “Isn’t this the man62 they are trying63 to kill? 7:26 Yet here he is, speaking publicly,64 and they are saying nothing to him.65 Do the rulers really know that this man66 is the Christ?67 7:27 But we know where this man68 comes from.69 Whenever the Christ70 comes, no one will know where he comes from.”71

7:28 Then Jesus, while teaching in the temple courts,72 cried out,73 “You both know me and know where I come from!74 And I have not come on my own initiative,75 but the one who sent me76 is true. You do not know him,77 7:29 but78 I know him, because I have come from him79 and he80 sent me.”

7:30 So then they tried to seize Jesus,81 but no one laid a hand on him, because his time82 had not yet come. 7:31 Yet many of the crowd83 believed in him and said, “Whenever the Christ84 comes, he won’t perform more miraculous signs than this man did, will he?”85

7:32 The Pharisees86 heard the crowd87 murmuring these things about Jesus,88 so the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers89 to arrest him.90 7:33 Then Jesus said, “I will be with you for only a little while longer,91 and then92 I am going to the one who sent me. 7:34 You will look for me93 but will not find me, and where I am you cannot come.”

7:35 Then the Jewish leaders94 said to one another, “Where is he95 going to go that we cannot find him?96 He is not going to go to the Jewish people dispersed97 among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, is he?98 7:36 What did he mean by saying,99 ‘You will look for me100 but will not find me, and where I am you cannot come’?”

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39	tn Grk “who speaks from himself.”
40	tn Or “seeks.”
41	tn Or “praise”; Grk “glory.”
42	tn Or “seeks.”
43	tn Or “praise”; Grk “glory.”
44	tn Or “is truthful”; Grk “is true.”
45	tn Or “accomplishes”; Grk “does.”
46	tn Grk “seek.”
47	tn Or “The common people” (as opposed to the religious authorities mentioned in 7:15).
48	tn Grk “You have a demon!”
49	tn Grk “Who is seeking to kill you?” sn Who is trying to kill you? Many of the crowd (if they had come in from surrounding regions for the feast) probably were ignorant of any plot. The plot was on the part of the Jewish leaders. Note how carefully John distinguishes between the leadership and the general populace in their respective responses to Jesus.
50	tn Grk “Jesus answered and said to them.”
51	tn Grk “I did one deed.”
52	sn The “one miracle” that caused them all to be amazed was the last previous public miracle in Jerusalem recorded by the author, the healing of the paralyzed man in John 5:1–9 on the Sabbath. (The synoptic gospels record other Sabbath healings, but John does not mention them.)
53	tn Grk “gave you circumcision.”
54	tn Grk “a man.” While the text literally reads “circumcise a man” in actual fact the practice of circumcising male infants on the eighth day after birth (see Phil 3:5) is primarily what is in view here.
55	tn Grk “a man.” See the note on “male child” in the previous verse.
56	tn Grk “receives circumcision.”
57	sn If a male child is circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses is not broken. The Rabbis counted 248 parts to a man’s body. In the Talmud (b. Yoma 85b) R. Eleazar ben Azariah (ca. a.d. 100) states: “If circumcision, which attaches to one only of the 248 members of the human body, suspends the Sabbath, how much more shall the saving of the whole body suspend the Sabbath?” So absolutely binding did rabbinic Judaism regard the command of Lev 12:3 to circumcise on the eighth day, that in the Mishnah m. Shabbat 18.3; 19.1, 2; and m. Nedarim 3.11 all hold that the command to circumcise overrides the command to observe the Sabbath.
58	tn Or “made an entire man well.”
59	tn Or “based on sight.”
60	tn Or “honest”; Grk “righteous.”
61	map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
62	tn Grk “Is it not this one.”
63	tn Grk “seeking.”
64	tn Or “speaking openly.”
65	sn They are saying nothing to him. Some people who had heard Jesus were so impressed with his teaching that they began to infer from the inactivity of the opposing Jewish leaders a tacit acknowledgment of Jesus’ claims.
66	tn Grk “this one.”
67	tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”). sn See the note on Christ in 1:20.
68	tn Grk “this one.”
69	sn We know where this man comes from. The author apparently did not consider this objection worth answering. The true facts about Jesus’ origins were readily available for any reader who didn’t know already. Here is an instance where the author assumes knowledge about Jesus that is independent from the material he records.
70	tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”). sn See the note on Christ in 1:20.
71	sn The view of these people regarding the Messiah that no one will know where he comes from reflects the idea that the origin of the Messiah is a mystery. In the Talmud (b. Sanhedrin 97a) Rabbi Zera taught: “Three come unawares: Messiah, a found article, and a scorpion.” Apparently OT prophetic passages like Mal 3:1 and Dan 9:25 were interpreted by some as indicating a sudden appearance of Messiah. It appears that this was not a universal view: The scribes summoned by Herod at the coming of the Magi in Matt 2 knew that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. It is important to remember that Jewish messianic expectations in the early 1st century were not monolithic.
72	tn Grk “the temple.”
73	tn Grk “Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying.”
74	sn You both know me and know where I come from! Jesus’ response while teaching in the temple is difficult—it appears to concede too much understanding to his opponents. It is best to take the words as irony: “So you know me and know where I am from, do you?” On the physical, literal level, they did know where he was from: Nazareth of Galilee (at least they thought they knew). But on another deeper (spiritual) level, they did not: He came from heaven, from the Father. Jesus insisted that he has not come on his own initiative (cf. 5:37), but at the bidding of the Father who sent him.
75	tn Grk “And I have not come from myself.”
76	tn The phrase “the one who sent me” refers to God.
77	tn Grk “the one who sent me is true, whom you do not know.”
78	tn Although the conjunction “but” is not in the Greek text, the contrast is implied (an omitted conjunction is called asyndeton).
79	tn The preposition παρά (para) followed by the genitive has the local sense preserved and can be used of one person sending another. This does not necessarily imply origin in essence or eternal generation.
80	tn Grk “and that one.”
81	tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. sn Here the response is on the part of the crowd, who tried to seize Jesus. This is apparently distinct from the attempted arrest by the authorities mentioned in 7:32.
82	tn Grk “his hour.”
83	tn Or “The common people” (as opposed to the religious authorities).
84	tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”). sn See the note on Christ in 1:20.
85	tn Questions prefaced with μή (mē) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here it is “will he?”).
86	sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.
87	tn Or “The common people” (as opposed to the religious authorities like the Pharisees).
88	tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
89	tn Or “servants.” The “chief priests and Pharisees” is a comprehensive term for the groups represented in the ruling council (the Sanhedrin) as in John 7:45; 18:3; Acts 5:22, 26. As “servants” or “officers” of the Sanhedrin their representatives should be distinguished from the Levites serving as temple police (perhaps John 7:30 and 44; also John 8:20; 10:39; 19:6; Acts 4:3). Even when performing “police” duties such as here, their “officers” are doing so only as part of their general tasks (see K. H. Rengstorf, TDNT 8:540).
90	tn Grk “to seize him.” In the context of a deliberate attempt by the servants of the chief priests and Pharisees to detain Jesus, the English verb “arrest” conveys the point more effectively.
91	tn Grk “Yet a little I am with you.”
92	tn The word “then” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.
93	tn Grk “seek me.”
94	tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” In NT usage the term Ἰουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory, the authorities in Jerusalem, or merely those who were hostile to Jesus. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “ ‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401–9.) Here the phrase is understood to refer to the Jewish authorities or leaders, since the Jewish leaders are mentioned in this context both before and after the present verse (7:32, 45).
95	tn Grk “this one.”
96	tn Grk “will not find him.”
97	sn The Jewish people dispersed (Grk “He is not going to the Diaspora”). The Greek term diaspora (“dispersion”) originally meant those Jews not living in Palestine, but dispersed or scattered among the Gentiles.
98	tn Questions prefaced with μή (mē) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “is he?”). sn Note the Jewish opponents’ misunderstanding of Jesus’ words, as made clear in vv. 35–36. They didn’t realize he spoke of his departure out of the world. This is another example of the author’s use of misunderstanding as a literary device to emphasize a point.
99	tn Grk “What is this word that he said.”
100	tn Grk “seek me.”

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