John 7:36-37

7:36 What did he mean by saying, ¹  ‘You will look for me ²  but will not find me, and where I am you cannot come’?”

Teaching About the Spirit

7:37 On the last day of the feast, the greatest day, ³  Jesus stood up and shouted out, ⁴  “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and

[7:36]  ¹ tn Grk “What is this word that he said.”

[7:36]  ² tn Grk “seek me.”

[7:37]  ³ sn There is a problem with the identification of this reference to the last day of the feast, the greatest day: It appears from Deut 16:13 that the feast went for seven days. Lev 23:36, however, makes it plain that there was an eighth day, though it was mentioned separately from the seven. It is not completely clear whether the seventh or eighth day was the climax of the feast, called here by the author the “last great day of the feast.” Since according to the Mishnah (m. Sukkah 4.1) the ceremonies with water and lights did not continue after the seventh day, it seems more probable that this is the day the author mentions.

[7:37]  ⁴ tn Grk “Jesus stood up and cried out, saying.”