Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 7:34
Ye shall seek me, and shall not find [me]: and where I am, [thither] ye cannot come.
34. Ye shall seek me ] From Joh 13:33 it seems almost certain that these words are not to be understood of seeking His life: rather of seeking for help at His hands. Comp. Joh 8:21. It is best, however, not to limit their application to any particular occasion, such as the destruction of Jerusalem, the great hour of Jewish need.
where I am, thither ye cannot come ] ‘Thither’ is not in the Greek and is perhaps better omitted, so as to bring out the emphatic opposition between ‘I’ and ‘ye.’
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Ye shall seek me – This probably means simply, Ye shall seek the Messiah. Such will be your troubles, such the calamities that will come on the nation, that you will earnestly desire the coming of the Messiah. You will seek for a Deliverer, and will look for feign that he may bring deliverance. This does not mean that they would seek for Jesus and not be able to find him, but that they would desire the aid and comfort of the Messiah, and would be disappointed. Jesus speaks of himself as the Messiah, and his own name as synonymous with the Messiah. See the notes at Mat 23:39.
Shall not find me – Shall not find the Messiah. He will not come, according to your expectations, to aid you. See the notes at Matt. 24.
Where I am – This whole clause is to be understood as future, though the words AM and cannot are both in the present tense. The meaning is, Where I shall be you will not be able to come. That is, he, the Messiah, would be in heaven; and though they would earnestly desire his presence and aid to save the city and nation from the Romans, yet they would not be able to obtain it – represented here by their not being able to come to him. This does not refer to their individual salvation, but to the deliverance of their nation. It is not true of individual sinners that they seek Christ in a proper manner and are not able to find him; but it was true of the Jewish nation that they looked for the Messiah, and sought his coming to deliver them, but he did not do it.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 34. Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me] When the Roman armies come against you, you will vainly seek for a deliverer. But ye shall be cut off in your sins, because ye did not believe in me; and where I am-in the kingdom of glory, ye cannot come; for nothing that is unholy shall enter into the new Jerusalem. In this, and the thirty-sixth verse, , I am, is read by several , I came, as in the twenty-ninth verse; and in these two last places the AEthiopic, Arabic, three copies of the Itala, Nonnus, and Theophylact, agree. See Clarke on Joh 7:29.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Some think the meaning is, Ye shall seek me to execute your malice upon me, but to no purpose, for you
shall not find me. Or, You shall seek me to destroy me in my church, and to root out my name; but to no purpose. But the most probable sense is this: You wicked Jews, that now contemn the means of grace by me offered to you, shall one day be in distress and calamity enough; and when you are so, then you will wish I were again amongst you; but I shall be ascended to my Father, and as deaf to your prayers as above the reach of your malice. There is much the same thing said in Mat 23:39. That he here speaketh of his ascension is plain from Joh 13:33. He speaketh of heaven as a place where he was at that time, for so he was as to his Divine nature. It is , whither I go, which makes some think it should not here be , but , vado. But others reject it, because it is a poetical word, hardly used in the New Testament.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Ye shall seek me,…. That is, the Messiah, who he was; meaning, that after his departure they should be in great distress, and be very much on the inquiry after, and solicitous for the coming of the Messiah, to be a Redeemer and Deliverer of them out of their troubles:
and shall not find [me]; no Messiah will appear, no Saviour will be sent, no Redeemer will come to relieve them; they shall inquire, and look for one in vain, as they did.
And where I am, [thither] ye cannot come; intimating hereby, that not only their temporal estate and condition would be very distressed and miserable, but also their eternal estate; since they should not be able to come where he would be in his human nature, and where he now was as a divine person, namely, in heaven.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
And shall not find me ( ). Future active indicative of . Jesus had said: “Seek and ye shall find” (Mt 7:7), but this will be too late. Now they were seeking (verse 30) to kill Jesus, then they will seek deliverance, but too late.
Where I am ( ). No conflict with verse 33, but the essential eternal spiritual home of Christ “in absolute, eternal being and fellowship with the Father” (Vincent).
Ye cannot come ( ). This fellowship was beyond the comprehension of these hostile Jews. See the same idea in 7:36 by the Jews; 8:21 to the Jews and then to the disciples with the addition of “now” (, 13:33, in 13:36).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Ye shall seek me. Not as now, for disputation or violence, but for help.
Where I am. In absolute, eternal being and fellowship with the Father. I am [ ] is the formula of the divine existence (viii. 58). The phrase carries a hint of the essential nature of Jesus, and thus prepares the way for ye cannot come (see on ver. 7). The difference in character will make it essentially impossible.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: (zetesete me kai ouch heuresete) “You all will seek or search for me and will not find me,” as the Messiah, none of these rejecters of Him, inclusive of those of the Sanhedrin council, the chief priests, the Pharisees, and the arresting officers who had come to seize him, Joh 7:32; Hos 5:6; Joh 8:21. It is a solemn thought that man may reject the love of God and His call until it is too late, but they may, Pro 1:28; Isa 1:15; Jer 11:11; Jer 11:14; Eze 8:18; Mic 3:4.
2) “And where I am, thither ye cannot come.” (kai hopou eimi ego humeis ou dunasthe elthein)” nowhere I exist you all are not able to come,” Joh 8:24; Luk 13:3; Luk 13:5. One who passes through this life, having rejected Jesus Christ as Savior, is destined for separation from Him, from heaven, and from all who are in heaven forever. Such shall not only be separated, as garbage from a good household forever, but they shall have an accountable, conscious destiny of torments in a place called hell, with the devil, his demons, and those who forget God, Psa 9:17; Mat 10:28.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
34. You shall seek me. They sought Christ, to put him to death. Here Christ alludes to the ambiguous signification of the word seek, for soon they shall seek him in another manner; as if he had said, “My presence, which is now irksome and intolerable to you, will last for a short time; but ere long you shall seek me in vain, for, far removed from you, not only by my body, but also by my power, I shall behold from heaven your destruction.” But here a question may be put, of what nature was this seeking of Christ? For it is plain enough that Christ speaks of the reprobate, whose obstinacy in rejecting Christ had reached the utmost point. Some refer it to doctrine, because the Jews, by foolishly pursuing the righteousness of works, did not obtain what they desired, (Rom 9:31.) Many understand it as referring to the person of the Messiah, because the Jews, reduced to extremities, in vain implored a Redeemer. But for my own part, I explain it as merely denoting the groans of distress uttered by the wicked, when, compelled by necessity, they look in some manner towards God.
And shall not find me. When they seek him, they do not seek him; for unbelief and obstinacy — by shutting up their hearts, as it were — hinders them from approaching to God. They would desire, indeed, that God should aid them, and should be their Redeemer, but, by impenitence and hardness of heart, they obstruct their path. We have a very striking example (192) in Esau, who, on account of having lost his birthright, not only is oppressed with grief, but groans and gnashes his teeth, and breaks out into furious indignation, (Gen 27:38; Heb 12:17.) But yet so far is he from the right way of seeking the blessing, that, at the very time when he is seeking it, (193) he renders himself more unworthy of it. In this manner God usually punishes the contempt of his grace in the reprobate, so that, either afflicted by severe punishments, or oppressed by a conviction of their misery, or reduced to other extremities, they complain, and cry, and howl, but without reaping any advantage; for, being always like themselves, they nourish within their hearts the same cruelty which they formerly displayed, and do not go to God, but rather wish that he were changed, since they cannot destroy him. Hence let us learn that we ought to receive Christ without delay, while he is still present with us, that the opportunity of enjoying him may not pass away from us; for if the door be once shut, it will be vain for us to try to open it.
Seek the Lord, says Isaiah, while he may be found; call upon him, while he is near, (Isa 55:6.)
We ought therefore to go to God early, while the time of his good pleasure lasts, as the prophet speaks, (Isa 49:8😉 for we know not how long God will bear with our negligence. In these words, where I am, you cannot come, he employs the present tense instead of the future, where I shall be, you shall not be able to come
(192) “ Un fort bel exemple.”
(193) “ Quand il la cherche.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(34) Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me.These words are to be interpreted in connection with Joh. 8:21, where they are repeated, and with Joh. 13:33, where they are quoted and applied to the disciples. This will exclude any special reference, such as to the destruction of Jerusalem and to the seeking Him in the miseries which should follow, which most expositors have found here. The words refer rather to the more general truth now present to His mind, and applicable to all alike, that the time was at hand when He would return to the Father, and His bodily presence would be unapproachable, alike by those who should seek in hatred, or those who should seek in love.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
34. Seek me But not seek him aright. Their day of revelation having been abused, in the day of their desolation they would seek the Messiah’s aid in blindness that none but the Messiah they reject can relieve.
Where I am Am at the time of your desolation.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
34 Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me : and where I am, thither ye cannot come.
Ver. 34. Ye shall seek me, &c. ] Because ye shall die in your sins, which is worse than to die in a ditch.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Joh 7:34 . In Joh 7:34 He views with pity ( cf. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,” etc.) their too late awakening to a sense of their need: . “The tragic history of the Jewish people since their rejection of Jesus as Christ is condensed into these words,” Reith. Cf. Luk 17:22 , “The days will come when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and ye shall not see it”; also Luk 19:43-44 ; and Isa 55:6 . , Euthymius. Even though they may then know where He has gone, they cannot follow Him, , “where I am” [not , “I will go”], i.e. , in the presence of Him that sent me, “ye cannot,” as ye now are and by your own strength, “come”. For the full meaning see chap. Joh 8:21-24 .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
shall = will.
I am. The formula of Divine and eternal existence. See note on Joh 6:35, and p. Joh 8:58.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Joh 7:34. [203] , ye shall seek Me) Me, whom ye now see, and despise. These words are a kind of text, on which the discourses of this and the following chapter are built as a superstructure; ch. Joh 8:21, I go My way, and ye shall seek Me, and shall die in your sins; whither I go, ye cannot come, etc. Such a text occurs also, ch. Joh 16:16, A little while, and ye shall not see Me, and again a little while and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.- , and ye shall not find Me) Afterwards He speaks more sternly, ye shall die in your sin, ch. Joh 8:21.-, whither) namely, to heaven: ch. Joh 3:13, No man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man, which is in heaven. The Lord sometimes put forth a discourse of such a nature, as that a meaning of it, in some degree, was, for the time being, apparent to His hearers: the deeper meaning became so subsequently. Comp. with this passage ch. Joh 13:33, Yet a little while, I am with you. Ye shall seek Me; and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come, so now I say to you. Such a discourse also occurs, ch. Joh 13:16, The servant is not greater than his lord. Comp. ch. Joh 15:20.
[203] , a little time) It proved to be truly so; for hardly the half of a year elapsed from this discourse to the time of His passion.-Harm., p. 355.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 7:34
Joh 7:34
Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, ye cannot come.-After a time evil would call upon them and then they would seek him. He would be with God and to him they could never come. [This is plain to use in the light of divine history, but it is not strange that his audience on the other side of the cross did not understand his saying.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Joh 8:21-24, Joh 13:33-36, Joh 14:3, Joh 14:6, Joh 17:24, Pro 1:24-31, Hos 5:6, Mat 23:39, Luk 13:24, Luk 13:25, Luk 13:34, Luk 13:35, Luk 17:22, Luk 17:23
Reciprocal: Psa 32:6 – pray Isa 55:6 – Seek Mar 2:20 – be taken Joh 7:36 – Ye shall
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
4
As Jesus expected to return to his Father, he meant those unbelievers would not be able to follow him, even though curiosity might prompt them to desire to.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joh 7:34. Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me. The frequent occurrence of the seeking in this chapter suggests as the first meaning of these words, Ye will seek to lay hands on me, but shall not find me. That was the only seeking of which the Jews wished to think. Rut the eye of Jesus rested on the calamities from which at a future time they would seek to be delivered by the Christ, but would seek in vain. His enemies have refused to recognise in His words the teaching of Him that sent Him (Joh 7:16): when He has returned to His Father their eyes will be opened to their madness and folly.
And where I am, ye cannot come. Where I am, He says, not where shall be: here, as elsewhere, the simple expression of continuous existence is most befitting for Him who is one with the Father. Into that Fellowship, that Presence, no enemies of the Son shall come.