Howbeit = But, or And yet. this man = this one. when = whenever. cometh = may come. whence He is : i.e. how He may come. The Rabbis taught that He would come from Bethlehem and then be hid, but none knew where. See Lightfoot, vol. xii, pages 303-4. read more
Howbeit we know whence this man is: but when the Christ cometh, no one knoweth whence he is.The evil rulers made many arguments against the Messianic claims of Jesus: (1) Here they argued that the Messiah would have some mysterious origin; and, of course, they pretended to know all about the origin of Christ, although they did not. (2) They insisted that no prophet could come out of Galilee, because none ever had come from Galilee; but, in their arrogance, they were wrong on both counts, Jonah... read more
John 7:25-28. Then said some of them, &c.— The inhabitants of Jerusalem, always Christ's bitter enemies, asked with surprize, if our Lord's boldness, and the silence of the rulers, proceeded from their having acknowledged him as the Messiah; at the same time, in derision of his pretensions they added, howbeit, we know this man whence he is, that is, we know his parents and relations, (ch. John 6:42.) but then Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is; alluding to the popular sense of Isa... read more
27. Howbeit we know this man, &c.—This seems to refer to some current opinion that Messiah's origin would be mysterious (not altogether wrong), from which they concluded that Jesus could not be He, since they knew all about His family at Nazareth. read more
H. Jesus’ third visit to Jerusalem 7:10-10:42This section of the text describes Jesus’ teaching in Jerusalem during the feast of Tabernacles and the feast of Dedication. John evidently included it in His narrative because it contains important revelations of Jesus’ identity and explains the mounting opposition to Jesus that culminated in His crucifixion. read more
2. Jesus’ ministry at the feast of Tabernacles 7:14-44John presented this occasion of Jesus’ teaching ministry as consisting of three emphases: Jesus’ authority, His origin and destiny, and the promise of the Holy Spirit. read more
Jesus’ origin and destiny 7:25-36 read more
The people of Jerusalem felt inclined to disbelieve that Jesus was the Messiah because they believed that their human Messiah’s origins would be unknown. This belief was a tradition. [Note: Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, 8:7.] It was certainly not scriptural since the Old Testament clearly predicted that Messiah’s birthplace would be Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). The common understanding of Jesus’ origin was that He grew up and had evidently been born in Nazareth. Not only did they fail to... read more
7:27 know (f-7) Oida . 'conscious knowledge.' see Note, 1 Corinthians 8:1 . knows (g-21) Ginosko . objective knowledge. read more
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Bridgeway Bible Commentary - John 7:14-44
86. Jesus teaches in the temple (John 7:14-44)The Feast of Tabernacles lasted a week. After the excitement of the first two or three days had died down, Jesus began to teach in the temple. People were impressed with his teaching, though he taught not to gain honour for himself but to bring glory to God who had sent him. If people loved God and wanted to do his will, they would see that what Jesus taught was the truth of God (John 7:14-18). The Jews accused Jesus of breaking the law, because on... read more