John 7:45-52

Context

Lack of Belief

7:45 Then the officers¹ returned² to the chief priests and Pharisees,³ who said to them, “Why didn’t you bring him back with you?”⁴ 7:46 The officers replied, “No one ever spoke like this man!” 7:47 Then the Pharisees answered,⁵ “You haven’t been deceived too, have you?⁶ 7:48 None of the rulers⁷ or the Pharisees have believed in him, have they?⁸ 7:49 But this rabble⁹ who do not know the law are accursed!”

7:50 Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus¹⁰ before and who was one of the rulers,¹¹ said,¹² 7:51 “Our law doesn’t condemn¹³ a man unless it first hears from him and learns¹⁴ what he is doing, does it?”¹⁵ 7:52 They replied,¹⁶ “You aren’t from Galilee too, are you?¹⁷ Investigate carefully and you will see that no prophet¹⁸ comes from Galilee!”

[7:45] ¹tn 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).

[7:45] ²tn Grk “came.”

[7:45] ³sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[7:45] ⁴tn Grk “Why did you not bring him?” The words “back with you” are implied.

[7:47] ⁵tn Grk “answered them.”

[7:47] ⁶tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “have you?”).

[7:48] ⁷sn The chief priests and Pharisees (John 7:45) 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. Likewise the term ruler here denotes a member of the Sanhedrin, the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews. Note the same word (“ruler”) is used to describe Nicodemus in John 3:1, and Nicodemus also speaks up in this episode (John 7:50).

[7:48] ⁸tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “have they?”).

[7:49] ⁹tn Grk “crowd.” “Rabble” is a good translation here because the remark by the Pharisees is so derogatory.

[7:50] ¹⁰tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:50] ¹¹tn Grk “who was one of them”; the referent (the rulers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:50] ¹²tn Grk “said to them.”

[7:51] ¹³tn Grk “judge.”

[7:51] ¹⁴tn Grk “knows.”

[7:51] ¹⁵tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “does it?”).

[7:52] ¹⁶tn Grk “They answered and said to him.”

[7:52] ¹⁷tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “are you?”).

[7:52] ¹⁸tc At least one early and important ms (Ì^66*) places the article before “prophet” (ὁ προφήτης, Jo profhths), making this a reference to the “prophet like Moses” mentioned in Deut 18:15.