John 7:48-52

7:48 None of the rulers ¹  or the Pharisees have believed in him, have they? ²  7:49 But this rabble ³  who do not know the law are accursed!”

7:50 Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus ⁴  before and who was one of the rulers, ⁵  said, ⁶  7:51 “Our law doesn’t condemn ⁷  a man unless it first hears from him and learns ⁸  what he is doing, does it?” ⁹  7:52 They replied, ¹⁰  “You aren’t from Galilee too, are you? ¹¹  Investigate carefully and you will see that no prophet ¹²  comes from Galilee!”

[7:48]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ tn Grk “crowd.” “Rabble” is a good translation here because the remark by the Pharisees is so derogatory.

[7:50]  ⁴ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:50]  ⁵ tn Grk “who was one of them”; the referent (the rulers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:50]  ⁶ tn Grk “said to them.”

[7:51]  ⁷ tn Grk “judge.”

[7:51]  ⁸ tn Grk “knows.”

[7:51]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “They answered and said to him.”

[7:52]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tc At least one early and important ms (Ì^66*) places the article before “prophet” (ὁ προφήτης, Jo profhths), making this a reference to the “prophet like Moses” mentioned in Deut 18:15.