John 7:26

7:26 Yet here he is, speaking publicly, ¹  and they are saying nothing to him. ²  Do the rulers really know that this man ³  is the Christ? ⁴ 

John 7:28

7:28 Then Jesus, while teaching in the temple courts, ⁵  cried out, ⁶  “You both know me and know where I come from! ⁷  And I have not come on my own initiative, ⁸  but the one who sent me ⁹  is true. You do not know him, ¹⁰ 

[7:26]  ¹ tn Or “speaking openly.”

[7:26]  ² 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.

[7:26]  ³ tn Grk “this one.”

[7:26]  ⁴ tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).

[7:28]  ⁵ tn Grk “the temple.”

[7:28]  ⁶ tn Grk “Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying.”

[7:28]  ⁷ 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.

[7:28]  ⁸ tn Grk “And I have not come from myself.”

[7:28]  ⁹ tn The phrase “the one who sent me” refers to God.

[7:28]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “the one who sent me is true, whom you do not know.”