John 7

After this, Jesus traveled around Galilee. He did not want to travel in Judea, because the Jewish leaders there were trying to kill him.

1After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him.

NoteKJV "Jewry" is simply an older English word for Judea, the southern region around Jerusalem, as opposed to Galilee in the north, roughly eighty miles away. Also, when John writes "the Jews" in passages like this he normally means the ruling authorities in Jerusalem rather than Jewish people in general; Jesus, his brothers, his followers and the crowds here are all Jewish.

2The Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was coming soon.

2Now the Jews’ feast of tabernacles was at hand.

NoteThe Feast of Tabernacles, Sukkot, was one of three festivals at which Jewish men were expected to come to Jerusalem. It ran a week in the autumn, at the end of the harvest, and families lived for it in temporary shelters roofed with branches, recalling the years their ancestors spent camping in the wilderness after leaving Egypt. It filled the city with pilgrims.

3So Jesus' brothers said to him, "Leave here and go to Judea, so your followers there can see the works you are doing.

3His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest.

Note"Go up" is the standard idiom for traveling to Jerusalem, which sits high in the hill country; people went up to it from any direction and came down from it. KJV "brethren" here means brothers in the ordinary family sense.

4No one who wants to be known publicly does things in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world."

4For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world.

5They said this because even his own brothers did not believe in him.

5For neither did his brethren believe in him.

6Jesus told them, "My time has not come yet. For you, any time is fine.

6Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready.

Note"My time" translates a term John uses throughout the book for the appointed moment of Jesus' death and what follows it. The contrast is between a fixed moment he is waiting for and his brothers, for whom no moment is fixed. KJV "alway" is simply "always."

7The world cannot hate you, but it hates me, because I tell it plainly that what it does is evil.

7The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.

8You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast yet, because my time has not fully come."

8Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast: for my time is not yet full come.

NoteAncient copies of John differ here: some read "I am not going up to this feast," others add "yet," as the King James does. The difference is one small word in Greek, and translations still divide over which reading is original.

9After he said this to them, he stayed in Galilee.

9When he had said these words unto them, he abode still in Galilee.

10But once his brothers had gone up to the feast, he went up too, not openly, but quietly.

10But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.

11At the feast the Jewish leaders were looking for him and asking, "Where is he?"

11Then the Jews sought him at the feast, and said, Where is he?

12The crowds were talking about him in low voices. Some said, "He is a good man." Others said, "No, he fools the people."

12And there was much murmuring among the people concerning him: for some said, He is a good man: others said, Nay; but he deceiveth the people.

NoteIn 1611 "murmuring" meant muttering or talking privately under the breath, not necessarily complaining. The picture is of people discussing him quietly so as not to be overheard.

13Still, no one talked about him openly, because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders.

13Howbeit no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jews.

14About halfway through the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach.

14Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught.

Note"The midst of the feast" means around the third or fourth day of the seven. Teaching took place in the temple's open outer courts, a large public space where recognized teachers gathered listeners and where questions and arguments from the crowd were normal.

15The Jewish leaders were amazed. They said, "How does this man know so much, when he never studied under a teacher?"

15And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?

Note"How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?" is not a charge of illiteracy. "Letters" means formal schooling in the scriptures, and the objection is that Jesus never studied under a recognized teacher, so he cannot cite a master's authority for what he says, as trained teachers routinely did.

16Jesus answered them, "What I teach is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me.

16Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.

NoteKJV "doctrine" means simply "teaching," what he says, not a fixed body of beliefs. The same word appears in verse 17.

17If anyone is willing to do God's will, he will know whether this teaching comes from God or whether I am speaking on my own.

17If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.

18A man who speaks on his own is looking for praise for himself. But the man who seeks honor for the one who sent him is telling the truth, and there is nothing false in him.

18He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.

19Didn't Moses give you the law? Yet not one of you keeps it. Why are you trying to kill me?"

19Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?

Note"The law" means the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, received through Moses and the foundation of Jewish life and legal practice. It is also the shared ground of the argument: both sides accept it, so the dispute is over who is actually keeping it.

20The crowd answered, "You have a demon in you. Who is trying to kill you?"

20The people answered and said, Thou hast a devil: who goeth about to kill thee?

Note"Thou hast a devil" means "you have a demon," and in this period the accusation carried the everyday sense of "you are out of your mind." The crowd speaking here appears to be festival pilgrims who know nothing of any plot by the authorities.

21Jesus answered them, "I did one work, and you are all amazed by it.

21Jesus answered and said unto them, I have done one work, and ye all marvel.

NoteThe "one work" points back to the healing of the disabled man at the pool in Jerusalem on a Sabbath, told in John 5, which had started the earlier quarrel.

22Moses gave you circumcision (it did not really start with Moses, but with the fathers before him), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath day.

22Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers;) and ye on the sabbath day circumcise a man.

NoteCircumcision, the cutting away of the foreskin, was the physical sign of the covenant given to Abraham long before Moses, which is why the text says it came "of the fathers." The law set it on the eighth day after birth, and it was carried out on that day even when it fell on the Sabbath, which otherwise forbade work. That accepted exception is the pivot of the argument.

23If a man can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses is not broken, why are you angry at me for making a man completely well on the Sabbath?

23If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day?

Note"Every whit whole" means completely well, the whole man rather than one part of him, set against circumcision, which affects only one small part of the body.

24Stop judging by how things look. Judge fairly instead."

24Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

25Then some of the people who lived in Jerusalem said, "Isn't this the man they are trying to kill?

25Then said some of them of Jerusalem, Is not this he, whom they seek to kill?

26Yet here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him. Have the rulers really decided that this is the Christ, the promised king God said he would send?

26But, lo, he speaketh boldly, and they say nothing unto him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is the very Christ?

Note"Christ" is the Greek word Christos, translating the Hebrew Messiah, "anointed one": a title, not a surname, for the promised king from David's line. "The rulers" means the members of the Sanhedrin, the council of chief priests, elders and legal experts that governed Jewish affairs in Jerusalem.

27But we know where this man comes from. When the Christ comes, no one will know where he comes from."

27Howbeit we know this man whence he is: but when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is.

NoteThis reflects a strand of popular expectation that the Messiah would appear suddenly and unannounced, with his origins unknown. The objection is that Jesus' hometown and family are common knowledge, which to these speakers rules him out.

28So Jesus, still teaching in the temple, called out, "You know me, and you know where I am from. But I have not come on my own. The one who sent me is true, and you do not know him.

28Then cried Jesus in the temple as he taught, saying, Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am: and I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not.

29I know him, because I come from him, and he sent me."

29But I know him: for I am from him, and he hath sent me.

30So they tried to grab him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.

30Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come.

31Still, many in the crowd believed in him. They said, "When the Christ comes, will he do more miracles than this man has done?"

31And many of the people believed on him, and said, When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these which this man hath done?

NoteKJV "miracles" translates the Greek word for "signs," the term John uses for Jesus' works throughout the book. It points to an act that means something, not simply a wonder.

32The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering these things about him, so the Pharisees and the chief priests sent temple officers to arrest him.

32The Pharisees heard that the people murmured such things concerning him; and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take him.

NoteThe Pharisees were a lay movement known for exact observance of the law and widely respected by ordinary people. The chief priests were the temple hierarchy, a different and often rival group. The "officers" they send are the temple guard, a police force under the council's authority, not Roman soldiers.

33Then Jesus said, "I am with you only a little while longer, and then I go to the one who sent me.

33Then said Jesus unto them, Yet a little while am I with you, and then I go unto him that sent me.

34You will look for me, but you will not find me. And where I am, you cannot come."

34Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come.

35The Jewish leaders said to one another, "Where does he plan to go that we will not find him? Will he go to our people who are scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks?

35Then said the Jews among themselves, Whither will he go, that we shall not find him? will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles?

Note"The dispersed among the Gentiles" is the Diaspora, the large Jewish population living scattered outside the homeland in cities across the Greek speaking world. The word the King James renders "Gentiles" here is literally "Greeks," meaning Greek speaking non Jews. The speakers are guessing sarcastically at some far off destination.

36What does he mean by saying, 'You will look for me, but you will not find me,' and, 'Where I am, you cannot come'?"

36What manner of saying is this that he said, Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come?

37On the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.

37In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

NoteOn each morning of this feast a priest carried water in a golden pitcher from the pool of Siloam and poured it out at the altar, with prayers for the rains of the coming year. Jesus' call about thirst and drinking was spoken against that ceremony. Sources differ over whether the "last day, that great day" is the seventh day of the feast or the closing assembly held the day after.

38Whoever believes in me, as the Scriptures have said, will have rivers of living water flowing out from inside him."

38He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

Note"Belly" translates a Greek word for the innermost part of a person, not the stomach specifically. The sentence is genuinely ambiguous in Greek and can be read either as water flowing out of the believer or out of Jesus himself, depending on where the punctuation falls. No single Old Testament passage reads exactly this way; the words echo several places that speak of water flowing out from God's presence or from his people.

39He was talking about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him would receive later. The Spirit had not been given yet, because Jesus had not yet entered his glory.

39(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

Note"Holy Ghost" is the King James wording for the Holy Spirit; "ghost" simply meant spirit in 1611 English. "Glorified" is John's term for the whole movement of Jesus' death, rising and return to the Father, not for fame or acclaim.

40When many in the crowd heard this, they said, "This really is the Prophet."

40Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet.

Note"The Prophet" is a specific figure, the prophet like Moses promised in Deuteronomy 18, whom many expected before or alongside the Messiah. Some held him to be a separate person from the Messiah, which is why the crowd splits into competing identifications in the next verse.

41Others said, "This is the Christ." But some asked, "How can the Christ come out of Galilee?

41Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee?

42Doesn't Scripture say that the Christ comes from the family line of David, and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?"

42Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?

Note"The seed of David" means a descendant of King David, the line from which the promised king was expected. Bethlehem, a small town about five miles south of Jerusalem, was David's home town, and the prophet Micah named it as the place the ruler would come from. The speakers assume Jesus is a Galilean by birth.

43So the crowd was divided over him.

43So there was a division among the people because of him.

44Some of them wanted to grab him, but no one laid a hand on him.

44And some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him.

45Then the officers went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, "Why didn't you bring him in?"

45Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him?

46The officers answered, "No one has ever spoken the way this man does."

46The officers answered, Never man spake like this man.

47The Pharisees said to them, "Have you been fooled too?

47Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived?

Note"Deceived" here means led astray, taken in, the same charge the crowd was making in verse 12.

48Has any one of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in him?

48Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him?

49But this crowd, who does not know the law, is under a curse."

49But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed.

NoteThis is a phrase of contempt. Those who prided themselves on exact observance used it of ordinary working people, who could not keep the detailed rules about purity and tithing, and "cursed" invokes the curses the law pronounces on those who fail to keep it.

50Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus at night and who was one of them, said to them,

50Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,)

NoteNicodemus appears in John 3, where he comes to Jesus after dark. "Being one of them" means he is himself a member of the ruling council now debating what to do.

51"Does our law condemn a man without first hearing from him and finding out what he has done?"

51Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?

NoteHe is appealing to a recognized principle of Jewish legal procedure, drawn from the law's instructions to judges: a case is heard from the accused before it is decided.

52They answered him, "Are you from Galilee too? Look into it, and you will see that no prophet comes out of Galilee."

52They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.

Note"Art thou also of Galilee?" is a sneer; Galilee was regarded in Jerusalem as a backward province. The sweeping claim that follows is loose as history, since prophets including Jonah had come from the north, and a few early copies of John read "the prophet" here rather than "a prophet," which would make it a denial about the promised figure of verse 40 rather than about prophets generally.

53Then everyone went home.

53And every man went unto his own house.

ManuscriptsThis account of the woman caught in adultery is missing from the earliest manuscripts, and some later ones place it elsewhere in the Gospels. Most modern Bibles keep it and mark it.

NoteThis verse begins the account of the woman caught in adultery, which runs through 8:11. It is missing from the earliest surviving copies of John, appears at different places in later ones, and is widely printed with a note for that reason. That is why the chapter breaks off here with everyone simply going home.