Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 5:12
Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?
12. What man is that which ] Better, Who is the man that, ‘man’ being contemptuous, almost = ‘fellow.’ Once more they ignore the miracle, and attack the command. They ask not, ‘Who cured thee, and therefore must have Divine authority?’ but, ‘Who told thee to break the Sabbath, and therefore could not have it?’ Christ’s command was perhaps aimed at these erroneous views about the Sabbath.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
What man is he … – In this verse there is a remarkable instance of the perverseness of men, of their want of candor, and of the manner in which they often look at a subject. Instead of looking at the miracle, and at the mans statement of the manner in which he was healed, they look only at what they thought to be a violation of the law. They assumed it as certain that nothing could make his conduct, in carrying his bed on the Sabbath day, proper; and they meditated vengeance, not only on the man who was carrying his bed, but on him, also, who had told him to do it. Thus men often assume that a certain course or opinion is proper, and when anyone differs from them they look only at the difference, but not at the reasons for it. One great source of dispute among men is that they look only at the points in which they differ, but are unwilling to listen to the reasons why others do not believe as they do. It is always enough to condemn one in the eyes of a bigot that he differs from him, and he looks upon him who holds a different opinion, as the Jews did at this man, as certainly wrong; and such a bigot looks at the reasons why others differ from him just as the Jews did at the reason why this man bore his bed on the Sabbath – as not worth regarding or hearing, or as if they could not possibly be right.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
The impotent man that was healed seemed to oppose the authority of God (by virtue of which he believed himself healed) to the authority of man, which made it unlawful for him on the sabbath day to take up his bed and walk. The Jews, taking no notice of Christs being God, or so much as a prophet sent from God, do not ask, Who was he? But,
What man is that which said, & c.? opposing the command of God to the command of man. It is as much as if they had said; The law of God hath commanded that no burdens should be carried on the sabbath day; now, what is that man that dare teach thee or any one to do what is contrary to the law of God?
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Then asked they him,…. Suspecting who had made him whole, and gave him this order:
what man is that which said unto thee, take up thy bed and walk? they take no notice of the cure, being unwilling to give any glory to Christ, and still less to spread it; but chose rather that it should be obscured, hid, and unobserved; but they laid hold on that, which they thought might be improved to his reproach and scandal; and they call him a man, as supposing him to be a mere man, and a wicked man too, for giving orders to transgress a tradition of the elders, though no mere man could work such a cure as this was. And so the Jews since, though they cannot find fault with the cure, which they put an “if” upon, yet are highly displeased with the order, to take up his bed and carry it:
“if (say they a) he wrought a cure, lo, that is good, but why did he bid him take up his bed?”
the answer may be, to show that he was cured.
a Vet. Nizzachon, p. 207.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Who is the man? ( ;). Contemptuous expression, “Who is the fellow?” They ask about the command to violate the Sabbath, not about the healing.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Then. Omit.
What man is he, etc. “See the cunning of malice. They do not say, ‘Who is he that healed thee?’ but, ‘Who bade thee take up thy bed ?'” (Grotius, in Trench, ” Miracles. “) Take up thy bed. Omit bed. Literally, take up and walk.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Then asked they him; (erotesan auton) “Then they quizzed him,” the former invalid now made whole, obeying the Lord, walking with his bed upon his back or person, Joh 5:9.
2) “What man is that which said unto thee,” (tis estin ho anthropos ho eipon soi) “Just who is the man who told you?” Isn’t it strange that they did not deny the cure? They were “dead bent” and “mortar set” on punishing the violator of their sabbath law, determined and inflexible to punish him, though they themselves repeatedly broke their own general law, Luk 14:3-6; Joh 19-26.
3) “Take up thy bed, and walk?” (aron kai peripatei) “Take this mattress and walk?” with it. It was Jesus the Savior, Joh 5:8. And frankly, the healed man did not know who Jesus was at this time. Joh 5:13-15.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(12) What man is that which said unto thee . . .?They pass over the giving of the power, and quote only the command which comes under their technical prohibition. The life and strength of once-palsied limb is as nothing; the fact that this man was breaking their tradition is secondary. The real motive is a charge against Him whose power the body of the Jewish people was feeling as a life-current, quickening deadened energies, and rousing men to a sense of Gods presence in their midst. Aye, and these Jews of Judaism feel the thrill of this current all around them, though their will tries to isolate them by the coldness of unbelief from a power which they have not directed, and which they refuse to be directed by. Men and women who have been all their lives lying in moral helplessness, waiting and looking for God, yet never helped by Gods priests and rulers, are now standing and moving in the strength that their new Teacher gives. They cannot deny it, but can they prevent it? This spirit is life, but there is still the letter which killeth. It cuts them to the heart to see His power in their midst, but there is the body of Rabbinic precept and oral law. He has now crossed that. They will apply it to stamp out His work and kill Him.
Take up thy bed, and walk.Omit thy bed, with the best MSS. It is inserted from the previous verse. Their passionate question expresses itself in the fewest words.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12. What man said Take The man describes Jesus, gratefully, as the one who made him whole; the Jews specify him, maliciously, as the one who made him break the Sabbath. He remembers the benefaction: they can only think of the crimination. It is clear that they suspect the author of the cure to be Jesus.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Joh 5:12. What man is that which said, &c. The malignity of the Jews appears most flagrantly in this question. They take no notice of the miracle, which demanded their most serious examination; they do not ask him who it was that healed him; but they ask him with a malicious sneer, who bade him take up his bed? Had they inquired into the miracle, it might have appeared an action which deserved applause; but this was contrary to their intention.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
12 Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?
Ver. 12. What man is he ] Not that made thee whole, but that bade thee take up thy bed, &c. They dissembled the former, and insisted only upon the latter, which shows the naughtiness of their hearts.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
12. ] Not, ‘who is he that healed thee? ’ but they carefully bring out the unfavourable side of what had taken place, as malicious persons always do.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Joh 5:12 . As the healed man transferred the blame to another, . “Who is the man,” rather, “the fellow?” used contemptuously. As Grotius says: “Quaerunt non quod mirentur, sed quod calumnietur”.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
asked. Greek. erotao. App-134.
What man . . . ? = Who is the man . . . ?
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
12.] Not, who is he that healed thee? but they carefully bring out the unfavourable side of what had taken place, as malicious persons always do.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 5:12
Joh 5:12
They asked him, Who is the man that said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?-They were somewhat incredulous about the healing and asked who had done it. It is a little singular that the man did not find out when Jesus healed him
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
What: Jdg 6:29, 1Sa 14:38, Mat 21:23, Rom 10:2
Reciprocal: Luk 5:24 – power Joh 5:15 – which
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2
We are not told whether the Jews suspected who the man’s benefactor was, but it is reasonable to suppose they did, in view of their hatred for Him.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joh 5:12. They asked him, Who is the man which said unto thee, Take up, and walk? The mention of the cure has no effect in leading them to suspend their judgment. It would indeed present to them a new transgression of the law; but they content themselves with passing it by, and laying stress on what they consider an undeniable breach of the very letter of the commandment. This complete indifference to the work of mercy plainly illustrates the hard-hearted malice of the Jews.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Joh 5:12-13. Then asked they, What man is that, &c. Dropping all mention of the cure, they only fix on what seemed liable to exception. They do not ask, Who made thee well? but, Who bade thee take up this bed on the sabbath day? that is, as they interpreted it, Who bade thee profane the sabbath? Though he had just told them it was the author of his cure that gave him that command; for all that they proposed was, not to hear of any good that had been done to engage their admiration and applause; but to lay hold on some occasion to find fault, to gratify the pride and malice of a censorious temper. And he that was healed wist not Did not know at that time; who it was That had cured him; for Jesus had conveyed himself away Greek, , had slipped away. The word, as Casaubon observes, is an elegant metaphor borrowed from swimming, and well expresses the easy, unobserved manner in which Christ, as it were, glided through the multitude, leaving no trace behind of the way he had taken.