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John 7:40-52

Context
Differing Opinions About Jesus

7:40 When they heard these words, some of the crowd 1  began to say, “This really 2  is the Prophet!” 3  7:41 Others said, “This is the Christ!” 4  But still others said, “No, 5  for the Christ doesn’t come from Galilee, does he? 6  7:42 Don’t the scriptures say that the Christ is a descendant 7  of David 8  and comes from Bethlehem, 9  the village where David lived?” 10  7:43 So there was a division in the crowd 11  because of Jesus. 12  7:44 Some of them were wanting to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him. 13 

Lack of Belief

7:45 Then the officers 14  returned 15  to the chief priests and Pharisees, 16  who said to them, “Why didn’t you bring him back with you?” 17  7:46 The officers replied, “No one ever spoke like this man!” 7:47 Then the Pharisees answered, 18  “You haven’t been deceived too, have you? 19  7:48 None of the rulers 20  or the Pharisees have believed in him, have they? 21  7:49 But this rabble 22  who do not know the law are accursed!”

7:50 Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus 23  before and who was one of the rulers, 24  said, 25  7:51 “Our law doesn’t condemn 26  a man unless it first hears from him and learns 27  what he is doing, does it?” 28  7:52 They replied, 29  “You aren’t from Galilee too, are you? 30  Investigate carefully and you will see that no prophet 31  comes from Galilee!”

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[7:40]  1 tn Or “The common people” (as opposed to the religious authorities like the chief priests and Pharisees).

[7:40]  2 tn Or “truly.”

[7:40]  3 sn The Prophet is a reference to the “prophet like Moses” of Deut 18:15, by this time an eschatological figure in popular belief.

[7:41]  4 tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).

[7:41]  5 tn An initial negative reply (“No”) is suggested by the causal or explanatory γάρ (gar) which begins the clause.

[7:41]  6 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]  7 tn Grk “is from the seed” (an idiom for human descent).

[7:42]  8 sn An allusion to Ps 89:4.

[7:42]  9 sn An allusion to Mic 5:2.

[7:42]  10 tn Grk “the village where David was.”

[7:43]  11 tn Or “among the common people” (as opposed to the religious authorities like the chief priests and Pharisees).

[7:43]  12 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:44]  13 sn Compare John 7:30 regarding the attempt to seize Jesus.

[7:45]  14 tn Or “servants.” The “chief priests and Pharisees” is a comprehensive term for the groups represented in the ruling council (the Sanhedrin) as in John 7:45; 18:3; Acts 5:22, 26. As “servants” or “officers” of the Sanhedrin, their representatives should be distinguished from the Levites serving as temple police (perhaps John 7:30 and 44; also John 8:20; 10:39; 19:6; Acts 4:3). Even when performing ‘police’ duties such as here, their “officers” are doing so only as part of their general tasks (See K. H. Rengstorf, TDNT 8:540).

[7:45]  15 tn Grk “came.”

[7:45]  16 sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[7:45]  17 tn Grk “Why did you not bring him?” The words “back with you” are implied.

[7:47]  18 tn Grk “answered them.”

[7:47]  19 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 “have you?”).

[7:48]  20 sn The chief priests and Pharisees (John 7:45) is a comprehensive term for the groups represented in the ruling council (the Sanhedrin) as in John 7:45; 18:3; Acts 5:22, 26. Likewise the term ruler here denotes a member of the Sanhedrin, the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews. Note the same word (“ruler”) is used to describe Nicodemus in John 3:1, and Nicodemus also speaks up in this episode (John 7:50).

[7:48]  21 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 “have they?”).

[7:49]  22 tn Grk “crowd.” “Rabble” is a good translation here because the remark by the Pharisees is so derogatory.

[7:50]  23 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:50]  24 tn Grk “who was one of them”; the referent (the rulers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:50]  25 tn Grk “said to them.”

[7:51]  26 tn Grk “judge.”

[7:51]  27 tn Grk “knows.”

[7:51]  28 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 it?”).

[7:52]  29 tn Grk “They answered and said to him.”

[7:52]  30 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 “are you?”).

[7:52]  31 tc At least one early and important ms (Ì66*) places the article before “prophet” (ὁ προφήτης, Jo profhths), making this a reference to the “prophet like Moses” mentioned in Deut 18:15.



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