Chapter VII: 1. *Christ remains in Galilee

2‐10. *His brethren urge Him to go up to Jerusalem to the Feast of
Tabernacles with them; this He declines to do, but goes afterwards
privately.*

11‐13. *The chief men among the Jews look out for Him at the
Feast, and express different opinions regarding Him.*

14‐24. *In the middle of the festival Christ goes up to the temple
and teaches.*

25‐29. *Comments of some of the people of Jerusalem; Christ’s
reply.*

30, 31. *Different opinions of the people regarding Him.*

32‐36. *Jealously of the Sanhedrim, which sends officers to arrest
Him.*

37‐39. *Christ’s words on the eighth day of the feast, and St.
John’s authentic interpretation.*

40, 41. *Different opinions among the people regarding Him.*

44‐49. *Though some were anxious to arrest Him, no one durst, not
even the officers who had been sent for that purpose; consequent
indignation of the Priests and Pharisees.*

50‐52. *Nicodemus interposes in Christ’s favour; reply of the
other members of the Sanhedrim.*

1. Post haec autem ambulabat 1. After these things Jesus Iesus in Galilaeam, non enim walked in Galilee, for he volebat in Iudaeam ambulare, would not walk in Judea, quia quaerebant eum Iudaei because the Jews sought to interficere. kill him.

1. Instead of “Galilaeam,” “Judaeam,” read “Galilea,” “Judaea” (Abl.) in the Vulgate. The sense is that Christ continues to remain in Galilee.

2. Erat autem in proximo dies 2. Now the Jews’ feast of festus Iudaeorum scenopegia. tabernacles was at hand.

2. See note on verse 1.

3. Dixerunt autem ad eum 3. And his brethren said to fratres eius: Transi hinc, et him: Pass from hence and go vade in Iudaeam, ut et into Judea: that thy disciples discipuli tui videant opera also may see thy works which tua, quae facis. thou dost.

3. *His brethren said to him: Pass from hence, and go into Judea, that thy disciples also may see thy works which thou dost.*

Who are these brethren of Jesus?

(1) Not the children of Joseph and Mary, born to them after the birth of our Lord, for this opinion of Helvidius was condemned as _heretical_ in the Council of Lateran (649 A.D.), and is opposed to the universal and constant tradition of the Church.(61)

(2) Not the children of Joseph by a previous marriage; for this opinion too, though not heretical, and though held by some of the fathers, is opposed to the common opinion of Catholics, according to which St. Joseph lived and died a virgin.

(3) These brethren were _cousins_ of our Lord. The term “fratres” (ἀδελφοὶ) is used in the Sacred Scriptures of many who are not children of the same parents. Thus it is used of fellow‐countrymen, Rom. ix. 3, 4; (2) of co‐religionists, Rom. i. 13; (3) of relations who were not, however, members of the same family, Gen. xiii. 8, xiv. 4. In these verses of Genesis, Abraham and Lot are referred to as _brethren_, though the former was uncle to the latter (Gen. xii. 5).

In Matthew xiii. 55, Mark vi. 3, James, Joseph, Simon, and Jude, are named as brethren of our Lord; but whether they are the same cousins who are referred to here by St. John, is disputed. Of those mentioned by SS. Matthew and Mark, James, Jude, and probably Simon, were Apostles;(62) and hence, on account of verse 5, some say it is not these, but other cousins of our Lord, who are here referred to by St. John. However, there need be no difficulty about admitting that the faith of the Apostles was still imperfect, especially if we adopt what seems the more probable reading in vi. 70. See Matthew xvii. 19, 20; Mark xvi. 15.

These brethren of the Lord say to Him, that He ought to go up to Jerusalem, where there would be a concourse of people to witness His miracles.

4. Nemo quippe in occulto quid 4. For there is no man that facit, et quaerit ipse in doth anything in secret, and palam esse: si haec facis, he himself seeketh to be known manifesta teipsum mundo. openly. If thou do these things, manifest thyself to the world. 5. Neque enim fratres eius 5. For neither did his credebant in eum. brethren believe in him.

5. As already explained, if we regard the three Apostles as included among the brethren, we may understand here that their faith was still _imperfect_; if other cousins of our Lord are meant, they may have been wholly without faith.

6. Dicit ergo eis Iesus: 6. Then Jesus said to them: My Tempus meum nondum advenit: time is not yet come; but your tempus autem vestrum semper time is always ready. est paratum.

6. There are many opinions as to what is meant by _His time_, here referred to by Christ. Some say it is the time of His passion; others, the time for manifesting Himself to the world; and others, the time for going up to Jerusalem. The latter opinion seems to us the most natural and most probable.

7. Non potest mundus odisse 7. The world cannot hate you; vos: me autem odit, quia ego but me it hateth: because I testimonium perhibeo de illo give testimony of it, that the quod opera eius mala sunt. works thereof are evil.

7. His brethren might go up to Jerusalem at any time, for they, even if some of them were Apostles, had not yet incurred the odium of the _wicked_ world (John xv. 18, 19).

8. Vos ascendite ad diem 8. Go you up to this festival festum hunc: ego autem non day, but I go not up to this ascendo ad diem festum istum, festival day: because my time quia meum tempus nondum is not accomplished. impletum est. 9. Haec cum dixisset, ipse 9. When he had said these mansit in Galilaea. things, he himself staid in Galilee. 10. Ut autem ascenderunt 10. But after his brethren fratres eius, tunc et ipse were gone up, then he also ascendit ad diem festum non went up to the feast, not manifeste, sed quasi in openly, but as it were in occulto. secret.

8‐10. Christ here seems to say that He will not go up to Jerusalem for the feast, and yet He went. Various answers to this difficulty have been given:—(1) Many ancient MSS. and versions, instead of “Non (οὐκ) ascendo” read “_Nondum_ (οὔπω) ascendo;” _i.e._, I go not up _yet_. However, as this is the easier reading to explain, and as the other is equally well supported by ancient authority, we are inclined to believe that the more difficult (οὐκ) is the true reading. Hence (2) others say that our Lord used an ambiguous phrase: I go not up, meaning I go not up _now_ (but shall go afterwards). (3) The correct explanation seems to be that insinuated by our Evangelist. Christ said: I go not up (as you desire, in your company, and publicly); then when He went up, it was not publicly, but, as it were, in secret.

11. Iudaei ergo quaerebant eum 11. The Jews therefore sought in die festo, et dicebant: Ubi him on the festival day and est ille? said: Where is he?

11. The leaders of the Jews seek Him at the feast, but, through contempt, do not name Him.

12. Et murmur multum erat in 12. And there was much turba de eo. Quidam enim murmuring among the multitude dicebant: Quia bonus est. Alii concerning him. For some said: autem dicebant: Non, sed He is a good man. And others seducit turbas. said: No, but he seduceth the people. 13. Nemo tamen palam 13. Yet no man spoke openly of loquebatur de illo, propter him, for fear of the Jews. metum Iudaeorum.

13. *Openly* (_palam_) does not fully express the force of the Greek word, which seems to mean here _with open approval_.

14. Iam autem die festo 14. Now about the midst of the mediante, ascendit Iesus in feast, Jesus went up into the templum, et docebat. temple, and taught.

14. The festival lasted for eight days, so that this would be the fourth or fifth day.

15. Et mirabantur Iudaei, 15. And the Jews wondered, dicentes: Quomodo hic litteras saying: How doth this man know scit, cum non didicerit? letters, having never learned?

15. From this verse it is plain that Christ had never attended any of the Jewish schools, where the _Scriptures_ (γράμματα) were explained.

16. Respondit eis Iesus, et 16. Jesus answered them and dixit: Mea doctrina non est said: My doctrine is not mine, mea, sed eius qui misit me. but his that sent me.

16. The sense is: The doctrine I preach has not been excogitated by Me; I have received it from My Father. As man, Christ had received His knowledge through the beatific vision, and by infusion into His human soul, and as God, He had received it from the Father from all eternity.

17. Si quis voluerit 17. If any man will do the voluntatem eius facere, will of him: he shall know of cognoscet de doctrina utrum ex the doctrine, whether it be of Deo sit, an ego a meipso God, or whether I speak of loquar. myself. 18. Qui a semetipso loquitur, 18. He that speaketh of gloriam propriam quaerit: qui himself, seeketh his own autem quaerit gloriam eius qui glory: but he that seeketh the misit eum, hic verax est, et glory of him that sent him, he iniustitia in illo non est. is true, and there is no injustice in him.

17, 18. In proof that His doctrine is from God, He appeals to two arguments:—(1) If they will only follow the will of God, and believe, _experience_ will teach them that His doctrine is divine. (2) The fact that He seeks not His own glory, but the glory of the Father, is a proof that His doctrine is the doctrine of the Father, and, therefore a proof that He is veracious, and does not deceive (_injustitia_ in illo non est). This second argument, as Mald. points out, is based upon what does, not upon what should, happen among men. When men preach doctrines of their own invention, they generally seek their own glory.

19. Nonne Moyses dedit vobis 19. Did not Moses give you the legem: et nemo ex vobis facit law, and _yet_ none of you legem? keepeth the law? 20. Quid me quaeritis 20. Why seek you to kill me? interficere? Respondit turba, The multitude answered and et dixit: Daemonium habes: said: Thou hast a devil; who quis te quaerit interficere? seeketh to kill thee?

19, 20. Most probably Christ begins here to defend Himself against the charge of violating the Sabbath, which the Jews had brought against Him on a former occasion (v. 16, 18), and which they still remembered against Him.

He uses an “argumentum ad hominem”: You do not keep the law yourselves, why then seek to kill Me, even for what you allege to be a violation of it? Some among the crowd were even then anxious to kill Jesus, as His words prove, and to these He directs His words; but there were many present who had no such intention, and some of these reply, *Thou hast a devil*. They may have meant that He was possessed, or simply that He was raving, out of His senses.

21. Respondit Iesus, et dixit 21. Jesus answered and said to eis: Unum opus feci, et omnes them: One work I have done; miramini. and you all wonder: 22. Propterea Moyses dedit 22. Therefore Moses gave you vobis circumcisionem: (non circumcision (not because it quia ex Moyse est, sed ex is of Moses, but of the patribus) et in sabbato fathers); and on the sabbath‐ circumciditis hominem. day you circumcise a man. 23. Si circumcisionem accipit 23. If a man receive homo in sabbato, ut non circumcision on the sabbath‐ solvatur lex Moysi: mihi day, that the law of Moses may indignamini quia totum hominem not be broken; are you angry sanum feci in sabbato? at me because I have healed the whole man on the sabbath‐ day?

21‐23. He proceeds to show by sober reasoning, that they ought not to blame Him for having healed the man on the Sabbath.

The *one work* of verse 21 is the healing of the man on the Sabbath day (v. 9, 16). Some prefer to connect “propterea” with verse 21: “and you all wonder on account of it.” But it is better to connect it, as in the Vulgate, with what follows. The sense is: it was on this account Moses gave you circumcision; namely, because it had been handed down from the Patriarchs (Gen. xvii. 10), not because it was properly a part of the law. If then a man may receive circumcision on the Sabbath, _and yet_ the law regarding the observance of the Sabbath is not violated thereby, are you angry with Me because, doing the will of God, I made a man whole, both body and soul, on the Sabbath? In this explanation, “ut” (ἵνα) is ecbatic, denoting a consequence. See Gen. xxii. 14; John x. 17; Apoc. xiii. 13. Others, however, give the particle its ordinary telic force, and explain thus: If then a man may receive circumcision on the Sabbath, _in order that_ the law commanding circumcision to be performed on the eighth day be not violated, are you angry, &c.? Both explanations are probable, and leave the argument unchanged.

24. Nolite iudicare secundum 24. Judge not according to the faciem, sed iustum iudicium appearance, but judge just iudicate. judgment.

24. *According to the appearance*; _i.e._, take no account of persons, but judge according to the merits of the case.

25. Dicebant ergo quidam ex 25. Some therefore of Ierosolymis: Nonne hic est Jerusalem said: Is not this he quem quaerunt interficere? whom they seek to kill? 26. Et ecce palam loquitur, et 26. And behold he speaketh nihil ei dicunt. Numquid vere openly, and they say nothing cognoverunt principes quia hic to him. Have the rulers known est Christus? for a truth that this is the Christ?

25, 26. Some of the people of Jerusalem (the correct reading is Ἱεροσολυμιτῶν) said: can it be that they have discovered that He is really Christ?

27. Sed hunc scimus unde sit: 27. But we know this man Christus autem cum venerit, whence he is: but when the nemo scit unde scit. Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is.

27. And yet this cannot be, for we know this man whence he is; but when the Christ cometh no man knoweth whence He is. This erroneous opinion of theirs may have arisen from Micheas, v. 2: “His going forth is from the beginning from the days of eternity;” and Mal. iii. 2: “And who shall be able to think of the day of His coming?”

28. Clamabat ergo Iesus in 28. Jesus therefore cried out templo docens, et dicens: Et in the temple, teaching and me scitis, et unde sim scitis: saying: You both know me, and et a meipso non veni, sed est you know whence I am, and I am verus qui misit me, quem vos not come of myself; but he nescitis. that sent me is true, whom you know not.

28. The meaning is: You know Me as man, and you know My parents, and yet I come not of My own authority, but sent by My Father, who therein shows Himself true to His promises.

29. Ego scio eum: quia ab ipso 29. I know him, because I am sum, et ipse me misit. from him, and he hath sent me.

29. He declares His Divine knowledge of the Father, His eternal generation, and mission in time.

30. Quaerebant ergo eum 30. They sought therefore to apprehendere: et nemo misit in apprehend him: and no man laid illum manus, quia nondum hands on him, because his hour venerat hora eius. was not yet come.

30. They rightly understand Him to claim to be Divine, and as a consequence seek to apprehend Him; but the time for His sufferings had not yet arrived, and so they were powerless.

31. De turba autem multi 31. But of the people many crediderunt in eum, et believed in him, and said: dicebant: Christus cum When the Christ cometh, shall venerit, numquid plura signa he do more miracles than these faciet quam quae hic facit? which this man doth?

31. Many of the multitude—in contrast with their leaders—believed in Him. *When the Christ cometh, shall he*, &c. The question, expecting, as it does, a negative answer (numquid), suggests that Jesus must be the Christ.

32. Audierunt pharisaei turbam 32. The Pharisees heard the murmurantem de illo haec: et people murmuring these things miserunt principes et concerning him: and the rulers pharisaei ministros, ut and Pharisees sent ministers apprehenderent eum. to apprehend him.

32. *Rulers*, rather chief priests (ἀρχιερεῖς). The *ministers* were officers attendant upon the Sanhedrim, or engaged about the temple. See verses 45, 46; xiii. 3, 18, 22; xix. 6; Acts v. 22, 26. As the Sanhedrim was made up of chief priests, Pharisees, and Scribes, probably it was the Sanhedrim that sent these ministers to apprehend Christ.

33. Dixit ergo eis Iesus: 33. Jesus therefore said to Adhuc modicum tempus vobiscum them: Yet a little while I am sum: et vado ad eum qui me with you: and _then_ I go to misit. him that sent me.

33. Omit “eis” (to them). Christ’s words were probably directed not merely to the ministers, but to all the people. *Yet a little while I am with you*, _i.e._, almost six months more after this feast of Tabernacles, and then He would go to the Father.

34. Quaeretis me, et non 34. You shall seek me, and invenietis: et ubi ego sum vos shall not find me: and where I non potestis venire. am, _thither_ you cannot come.

34. *You shall seek me, and shall not find me.* Some think these words were fulfilled at the siege of Jerusalem, when many of the Jews must have looked in vain for help from Him whom they had put to death.

Others, like Maldonatus, say the statement is conditional: even if you sought me, you should not find me, after a little while.

Since the same words: “You shall seek me,” were afterwards addressed to the Apostles (xiii. 33), it is not likely that the reference is to seeking Him at the destruction of Jerusalem, for the Apostles did not seek Him then. It would also seem from xiii. 33 that the view of Maldonatus just stated is not probable, for in xiii. 33 there is not a conditional statement, but simply a prediction that the Apostles would seek Him. Hence we take it that in the text before us also, there is a prediction that the Jews after His departure would, when in distress and tribulation, desire to see Him once more among them. Doubtless, many Jews afterwards had such a desire, but it was in vain, for He had gone to Him that sent Him.

*And where I am* (= shall be) *thither you cannot come*.

These words too were afterwards addressed to the Apostles (xiii. 33), and we believe in the same sense as here. The meaning is that until death at least the separation would be complete, for He would be no longer here, and where He would be they could not join Him. Some take the words: “You cannot come,” as meaning here that the Jews on account of their sins could _never_ enter heaven. But since, as we have said, the same words were afterwards addressed to the Apostles, the view we have adopted seems more probable.

35. Dixerunt ergo Iudaei ad 35. The Jews therefore said, semetipsos: Quo hic iturus among themselves: Whither will est, quia non inveniemus eum? he go, that we shall not find numquid in dispersionem him? will he go unto the gentium iturus est, et dispersed among the gentiles, docturus gentes? and teach the gentiles?

35. *The dispersed among the Gentiles*, _i.e._, the Jews scattered among the Gentiles, or more probably the Gentiles themselves (Ἑλλήνων, not Ἑλληνιστῶν) scattered over the world. The concluding words of the verse: “and teach the Gentiles” render the latter view the more probable.

36. Quis est hic sermo, quem 36. What is this saying that dixit: Quaeretis me, et non he hath said: You shall seek invenietis: et ubi sum ego, me, and shall not find me; and vos non potestis venire? where I am, you cannot come? 37. In novissimo autem die 37. And on the last _and_ magno festivitatis, stabat great day of the festivity, Iesus, et clamabat, dicens: Si Jesus stood and cried, saying: quis sitit, veniat ad me, et If any man thirst, let him bibat. come to me, and drink. 38. Qui credit in me, sicut 38. He that believeth in me, dicit scriptura, flumina de as the scripture saith, _Out ventre eius fluent aquae of his belly shall flow rivers vivae. of living water_.

37, 38. On the last day, the great day of the feast, that is, the eighth day, Jesus cried aloud to the people assembled at the temple. His words mean: If anyone thirst spiritually, let him come to Me by faith, and grace shall be abundantly poured into his soul. The words: *Out of his belly*, &c., are nowhere to be found in the Old Testament; but, as signifying the abundance of grace in the new dispensation, they convey the sense of many passages of the Old Testament. See Is. xli. 18, xliv. 3.; Ezech. xxxvi. 25; Joel ii. 28.

39. Hoc autem dixit de 39. Now this he said of the Spiritu, quem accepturi erant Spirit which they should credentes in eum: nondum enim receive who believed in him: erat Spiritus datus, quia for as yet the Spirit was not Iesus nondum erat given, because Jesus was not glorificatus. yet glorified.

39. The Evangelist gives an authentic interpretation of our Lord’s words: *For as yet the Spirit was not given*. These words explain why our Lord spoke of the abundant outpouring of the Spirit as _still to come_, for the Holy Ghost was not yet given, inasmuch as Christ was not yet glorified (xvi. 7). When it is said that the Holy Ghost was not yet given, the meaning is, that He was not yet given so _abundantly_, so _manifestly_, or so _universally_, as He has been since the first Pentecost. It is not meant that the Holy Ghost had not been given to the just of the Old Testament. They, as well as we, had the grace of the Holy Ghost in their souls; moreover, according to the common teaching of the fathers and theologians, they, like the just now, had the Holy Ghost united to their souls, not merely by His grace, but also by a substantial union. This union is not, however, peculiar to the Holy Ghost, but is common to the Three Divine Persons, by reason of their unity of nature, and is only by appropriation attributed to the Holy Ghost. See Franz., _De Trin., last Disp._; Corl., pp. 198, 199.

40. Ex illa ergo turba cum 40. Of that multitude audissent hos sermones eius, therefore, when they had heard dicebant: Hic est vere these words of his, some said: propheta. This is the prophet indeed. 41. Alii dicebant: Hic est 41. Others said: This is the Christus. Quidam autem Christ. But some said: Doth dicebant: Numquid a Galilaea the Christ come out of venit Christus? Galilee? 42. Nonne scriptura dicit: 42. Doth not the scripture Quia ex semine David, et de say: That Christ cometh out of Bethlehem castello, ubi erat the seed of David, and from David, venit Christus? Bethlehem the town where David was? 43. Dissensio itaqua facta est 43. So there arose a in turba propter eum. dissension among the people because of him. 44. Quidam autem ex ipsis 44. And some of them would volebant apprehendere eum: sed have apprehended him: but no nemo misit super eum manus. man laid hands upon him.

40‐44. The Evangelist notes the difference of opinion among the crowd. Some believed Him to be _the Prophet_ promised to Moses (Deut. xviii. 18); others (wrongly distinguishing between the Prophet and the Messias) held Him to be the Messias; others doubted (verse 41); others remained wholly incredulous (verse 44). In verse 42, three different passages of Sacred Scripture are combined: “of the seed of David” (Is. xi. 1); “from Bethlehem” (Mich. v. 2); “the town where David was” (1 Kings xvii. 12).

45. Venerunt ergo ministri ad 45. The ministers therefore pontifices et pharisaeos. Et came to the chief priests and dixerunt eis illi: Quare non the Pharisees. And they said adduxistis illum? to them: Why have you not brought him? 46. Responderunt ministri: 46. The ministers answered: Numquam sic locutus est homo, Never did man speak like this sicut hic homo. man. 47. Responderunt ergo eis 47. The Pharisees therefore pharisaei; numquid et vos answered them: Are you also seducti estis? seduced? 48. Numquid ex principibus 48. Hath any one of the rulers aliquis credidit in eum, aut believed in him, or of the ex pharisaeis? Pharisees? 49. Sed turba haec, quae non 49. But this multitude that novit legem maledicti sunt. knoweth not the law, are accursed.

45‐49. The officers, who had been sent a few days before to apprehend Christ (see above, 14, 32), or perhaps other officers, return and bear favourable testimony to Him, for which they are rebuked by the Pharisees.

50. Dixit Nicodemus ad eos, 50. Nicodemus said to them, he ille qui venit ad eum nocte, that came to him by night, who qui unus erat ex ipsis. was one of them. 51. Numquid lex nostra iudicat 51. Doth our law judge any hominem nisi prius audierit ab man, unless it first hear him, ipso, et cognoverit quid and know what he doth? faciat? 52. Responderunt, et dixerunt 52. They answered and said to ei: Numquid et tu Galilaeus him: Art thou also a Galilean? es? Scrutare scripturas, et Search the scriptures, and see vide quia a Galilaea propheta that out of Galilee a prophet non surgit. riseth not.

50‐52. Nicodemus (iii. 1, 2) interposes in Christ’s favour; to whom the members of the Sanhedrim impatiently reply that no prophet had ever arisen in Galilee, thus disposing, as they thought, of Christ’s claim to be a prophet. But they were wrong in their assumption that Christ had been born in Galilee (see Luke ii. 4‐7), and equally wrong in the conclusion they drew that, being a Galilean, He could not be a prophet. For the Sacred Scriptures had nowhere said that a prophet could not arise in Galilee; nay, they prove that the prophet Jonas was a Galilean, 4 Kings, xiv. 25.

53. Et reversi sunt 53. And every man returned to unusquisque in domum suam. his own house.

53. See next chapter.