John 7:6

7:6 So Jesus replied, ¹  “My time ²  has not yet arrived, ³  but you are ready at any opportunity! ⁴ 

John 7:8

7:8 You go up ⁵  to the feast yourselves. I am not going up to this feast ⁶  because my time ⁷  has not yet fully arrived.” ⁸ 

John 7:44-46

7:44 Some of them were wanting to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him. ⁹ 

Lack of Belief

7:45 Then the officers ¹⁰  returned ¹¹  to the chief priests and Pharisees, ¹²  who said to them, “Why didn’t you bring him back with you?” ¹³  7:46 The officers replied, “No one ever spoke like this man!”

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¹ tn Grk “Then Jesus said to them.”

² tn Or “my opportunity.”

³ tn Or “is not yet here.”

⁴ tn Grk “your time is always ready.”

⁵ 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.

⁶ tc Most mss (Ì^66,75 B L T W Θ Ψ 070 0105 0250 Ë^1,13 Ï sa), including most of the better witnesses, have “not yet” (οὔπω, oupw) here. Those with the reading οὐκ are not as impressive (א D K 1241 al lat), but οὐκ is the more difficult reading here, especially because it stands in tension with v. 10. On the one hand, it is possible that οὐκ arose because of homoioarcton: A copyist who saw oupw wrote ouk. However, it is more likely that οὔπω was introduced early on to harmonize with what is said two verses later. As for Jesus’ refusal to go up to the feast in v. 8, the statement does not preclude action of a different kind at a later point. Jesus may simply have been refusing to accompany his brothers with the rest of the group of pilgrims, preferring to travel separately and “in secret” (v. 10) with his disciples.

⁷ 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.

⁸ 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.”

⁹ sn Compare John 7:30 regarding the attempt to seize Jesus.

¹⁰ tn Or “servants.” The “chief priests and Pharisees” is a comprehensive term for the groups represented in the ruling council (the Sanhedrin) as in John 7:45; 18:3; Acts 5:22, 26. As “servants” or “officers” of the Sanhedrin, their representatives should be distinguished from the Levites serving as temple police (perhaps John 7:30 and 44; also John 8:20; 10:39; 19:6; Acts 4:3). Even when performing ‘police’ duties such as here, their “officers” are doing so only as part of their general tasks (See K. H. Rengstorf, TDNT 8:540).

¹¹ tn Grk “came.”

¹² sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

¹³ tn Grk “Why did you not bring him?” The words “back with you” are implied.