John 7:27-28

7:27 But we know where this man ¹  comes from. ²  Whenever the Christ ³  comes, no one will know where he comes from.” ⁴ 

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 

John 9:29-30

9:29 We know that God has spoken to Moses! We do not know where this man ¹¹  comes from!” 9:30 The man replied, ¹²  “This is a remarkable thing, ¹³  that you don’t know where he comes from, and yet he caused me to see! ¹⁴ 

[7:27]  ¹ tn Grk “this one.”

[7:27]  ² 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.

[7:27]  ³ tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).

[7:27]  ⁴ 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.

[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.”

[9:29]  ¹¹ tn Grk “where this one.”

[9:30]  ¹² tn Grk “The man answered and said to them.” This has been simplified in the translation to “The man replied.”

[9:30]  ¹³ tn Grk “For in this is a remarkable thing.”

[9:30]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “and he opened my eyes” (an idiom referring to restoration of sight).