John 7:27

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 

John 7:41-42

7:41 Others said, “This is the Christ!” ⁵  But still others said, “No, ⁶  for the Christ doesn’t come from Galilee, does he? ⁷  7:42 Don’t the scriptures say that the Christ is a descendant ⁸  of David ⁹  and comes from Bethlehem, ¹⁰  the village where David lived?” ¹¹ 

[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.

[7:41]  ⁵ tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).

[7:41]  ⁶ tn An initial negative reply (“No”) is suggested by the causal or explanatory γάρ (gar) which begins the clause.

[7:41]  ⁷ tn 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 he?”).

[7:42]  ⁸ tn Grk “is from the seed” (an idiom for human descent).

[7:42]  ⁹ sn An allusion to Ps 89:4.

[7:42]  ¹⁰ sn An allusion to Mic 5:2.

[7:42]  ¹¹ tn Grk “the village where David was.”