Jesus proceeded to Jerusalem shortly after his half-brothers did because the Father led Him to go then. He did not herald His arrival with great publicity, as His brothers had recommended, but went without fanfare. If He had gone sooner, the authorities would have had more opportunities to arrest Him (John 7:1). read more
1. The controversy surrounding Jesus 7:10-13 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
Since John usually used the phrase "the Jews" to describe the Jewish authorities who were hostile to Jesus (cf. John 1:19; John 7:13; et al.), that is probably who was trying to find Him here. Their intentions seem pernicious. read more
Jesus was a controversial subject of conversation at the feast. He provoked considerable "grumbling" (Gr. goggusmos, cf. John 6:41; John 6:61). Many of the common people from Judea and pilgrims from elsewhere debated His ministry in private, however, suspecting that their leaders opposed Him. According to the Talmud, deceiving the people was a crime punishable by stoning. [Note: Blum, p. 299.] "The Jews" here clearly refers to Israel’s leaders.This pericope provides background for Jesus’... read more
The Feast of TabernaclesJohn 7:1 to John 10:21. Jesus at the Feast of Tabernacles, October, 28 a.d.After the discourse of John 6, delivered just before Passover 28 a.d., Jesus did not go up to Jerusalem (John 7:1), but devoted Himself for five or six months to active work in various parts of Galilee, of which St. John says nothing. At the close of this period He visited the country of Tyre and Sidon (Mark 7:24), made a tour through Decapolis, where He fed the 4,000 (Mark 8:1), retired to... read more
(10) But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast.—The words “unto the feast” are misplaced in the Received text, upon which our version is based. The right reading is, But when His brethren were gone up unto the feast, then went He also up; and the difference is not unimportant. We have seen that, even with the ordinary reading, there is no ground for the frequent objection (John 7:8), but it is really nowhere said that He went up to the feast at all. As a matter of... read more
(11) The Jews—i.e., as before, and as in John 7:13; John 7:15, the official representatives of the nation. They kept seeking Him at the feast, where they naturally expected that He would be, and kept asking, without naming Him, Where is He? which is almost equivalent to Where is this fellow? Their question points out that their hostility had gone as far as a definite plot against Him, and that the knowledge of this was widely spread. read more
(12) And there was much murmuring among the people.—The original word for “people” is here, and here only in St. John, in the plural, and is best rendered by multitudes. It refers to the throngs of people assembled during the various parts of the ritual of the feast, and, perhaps, specially on the one hand to the Galilean multitude, some of whom had been present at the last great work recorded in this Gospel, and some of whom had been present at other works, and influenced by other teaching of... read more
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Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - John 7:13
13. none spake openly of him—that is, in His favor, "for fear of the [ruling] Jews." read more