Discovery BoxJohn 7:28
Context7:28 Then Jesus, while teaching in the temple courts, 1 cried out, 2 “You both know me and know where I come from! 3 And I have not come on my own initiative, 4 but the one who sent me 5 is true. You do not know him, 6
John 6:59
Context6:59 Jesus 7 said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue 8 in Capernaum. 9
[7:28] 2 tn Grk “Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying.”
[7:28] 3 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] 4 tn Grk “And I have not come from myself.”
[7:28] 5 tn The phrase “the one who sent me” refers to God.
[7:28] 6 tn Grk “the one who sent me is true, whom you do not know.”
[6:59] 7 tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) is specified in the translation for clarity.
[6:59] 8 sn A synagogue was a place for Jewish prayer and worship, with recognized leadership (cf. Luke 8:41). Though the origin of the synagogue is not entirely clear, it seems to have arisen in the postexilic community during the intertestamental period. A town could establish a synagogue if there were at least ten men. In normative Judaism of the NT period, the OT scripture was read and discussed in the synagogue by the men who were present (see the Mishnah, m. Megillah 3-4; m. Berakhot 2).
