7:30 So then they tried to seize Jesus, 14 but no one laid a hand on him, because his time 15 had not yet come. 7:31 Yet many of the crowd 16 believed in him and said, “Whenever the Christ 17 comes, he won’t perform more miraculous signs than this man did, will he?” 18
1 tn Or “sea.” See the note on “lake” in the previous verse.
2 map For location see Map1-D2; Map2-C3; Map3-B2.
3 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
4 sn One always speaks of “going up” to Jerusalem in Jewish idiom, even though in western thought it is more common to speak of south as “down” (Jerusalem lies south of Galilee). The reason for the idiom is that Jerusalem was identified with Mount Zion in the OT, so that altitude was the issue.
5 tc Most
6 tn Although the word is καιρός (kairos) here, it parallels John’s use of ὥρα (Jwra) elsewhere as a reference to the time appointed for Jesus by the Father – the time of his return to the Father, characterized by his death, resurrection, and ascension (glorification). In the Johannine literature, synonyms are often interchanged for no apparent reason other than stylistic variation.
7 tn Or “my time has not yet come to an end” (a possible hint of Jesus’ death at Jerusalem); Grk “my time is not yet fulfilled.”
8 tn Or “accomplishes”; Grk “does.”
9 tn Grk “seek.”
10 tn Or “speaking openly.”
11 sn They are saying nothing to him. Some people who had heard Jesus were so impressed with his teaching that they began to infer from the inactivity of the opposing Jewish leaders a tacit acknowledgment of Jesus’ claims.
12 tn Grk “this one.”
13 tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).
sn See the note on Christ in 1:20.
14 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
sn Here the response is on the part of the crowd, who tried to seize Jesus. This is apparently distinct from the attempted arrest by the authorities mentioned in 7:32.
15 tn Grk “his hour.”
16 tn Or “The common people” (as opposed to the religious authorities).
17 tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).
sn See the note on Christ in 1:20.
18 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 it is “will he?”).
19 tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
20 tn The term γαζοφυλάκιον (gazofulakion) can be translated “treasury” or “treasure room” in this context. BDAG 186 s.v. 1 notes, “It can be taken in this sense J 8:20 (sing.) in (or at) the treasury.” BDAG 186 s.v. 2 argues that the occurrences of this word in the synoptic gospels also refer to the treasury: “For Mk 12:41, 43; Lk 21:1 the mng. contribution box or receptacle is attractive. Acc. to Mishnah, Shekalim 6, 5 there were in the temple 13 such receptacles in the form of trumpets. But even in these passages the general sense of ‘treasury’ is prob., for the contributions would go [into] the treasury via the receptacles.” Based upon the extra-biblical evidence (see sn following), however, the translation opts to refer to the actual receptacles and not the treasury itself.
sn The offering box probably refers to the receptacles in the temple forecourt by the Court of Women used to collect freewill offerings. These are mentioned by Josephus, J. W. 5.5.2 (5.200), 6.5.2 (6.282); Ant. 19.6.1 (19.294); and in 1 Macc 14:49 and 2 Macc 3:6, 24, 28, 40 (see also Mark 12:41; Luke 21:1).
21 tn Grk “the temple.”
22 tn Grk “his hour.”
23 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
24 tn Grk “The man answered and said to them.” This has been simplified in the translation to “The man replied.”
25 tn Grk “For in this is a remarkable thing.”
26 tn Grk “and he opened my eyes” (an idiom referring to restoration of sight).
27 tn Or “expel you from.”
28 sn See the note on synagogue in 6:59.
29 tn Grk “an hour.”
30 sn Jesus now refers not to the time of his return to the Father, as he has frequently done up to this point, but to the disciples’ time of persecution. They will be excommunicated from Jewish synagogues. There will even be a time when those who kill Jesus’ disciples will think that they are offering service to God by putting the disciples to death. Because of the reference to service offered to God, it is almost certain that Jewish opposition is intended here in both cases rather than Jewish opposition in the first instance (putting the disciples out of synagogues) and Roman opposition in the second (putting the disciples to death). Such opposition materializes later and is recorded in Acts: The stoning of Stephen in 7:58-60 and the slaying of James the brother of John by Herod Agrippa I in Acts 12:2-3 are notable examples.
31 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
32 sn See the note on Crucify in 19:6.
33 tn Or “an orchard.”
34 tn Or “orchard.”
35 tn Grk “been placed.”
36 tn Grk “are those.”
37 tn Some translations treat πιστεύσαντες (pisteusante") as a gnomic aorist (timeless statement) and thus equivalent to an English present tense: “and yet believe” (RSV). This may create an effective application of the passage to the modern reader, but the author is probably thinking of those people who had already believed without the benefit of seeing the risen Jesus, on the basis of reports by others or because of circumstantial evidence (see John 20:8).