Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 7:2
Now the Jews’ feast of tabernacles was at hand.
2. the Jews’ feast of tabernacles ] Again an indication that the Gospel was written outside Palestine: see on Joh 6:1; Joh 6:4. An author writing in Palestine would be less likely to specify it as ‘the feast of the Jews.’ Tabernacles was the most joyous of the Jewish festivals. It had two aspects; (1) a commemoration of their dwelling in tents in the wilderness, (2) a harvest-home. It was therefore a thanksgiving (1) for a permanent abode, (2) for the crops of the year. It began on the 15th of the 7th month, Tisri (about our September), and lasted seven days, during which all who were not exempted through illness or weakness were obliged to live in booths, which involved much both of the discomfort and also of the merriment of a picnic. The distinctions between rich and poor were to a large extent obliterated in the general encampment, and the Feast thus became a great levelling institution. On the eighth day the booths were broken up and the people returned home: but it had special sacrifices of its own and was often counted as part of the Feast itself. The Feast is mentioned here, partly as a date, partly to shew what after all induced Christ to go up to Jerusalem.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The Jews feast of tabernacles – Or the feast of tents. This feast was celebrated on the 15th day of the month Tisri, answering to the last half of our month September and the first half of October, Num 29:12; Deu 16:13-15. It was so called from the tents or tabernacles which on that occasion were erected in and about Jerusalem, and was designed to commemorate their dwelling in tents in the wilderness, Neh 8:16-18. During the continuance of this feast they dwelt in booths or tents, as their fathers did in the wilderness, Lev 23:42-43. The feast was continued eight days, and the eighth or last day was the most distinguished, and was called the great day of the feast, Joh 7:37; Num 29:35. The Jews on this occasion not only dwelt in booths, but they carried about the branches of palms; willows, and other trees which bore a thick foliage, and also branches of the olive-tree, myrtle, etc., Neh 8:15. Many sacrifices were offered on this occasion Num. 29:12-39; Deu 16:14-16, and it was a time of general joy. It is called by Josephus and Philo the greatest feast, and was one of the three feasts which every male among the Jews was obliged to attend.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 2. Feast of tabernacles] This feast was celebrated on the fifteenth day of the month Tisri, answering to the last half of our September, and the first half of October. This month was the seventh of the ecclesiastical, and first of the civil, year. The feast took its name from the tents which were erected about the temple, in public places, in courts, and on the flat roofs of their houses, and in gardens; in which the Jews dwelt for eight days, in commemoration of the forty years during which their fathers dwelt in the wilderness. It was one of the three solemn annual feasts in which all the males were obliged, by the law, to appear at Jerusalem.
This feast was celebrated in the following manner. All the people cut down branches of palm trees, willows, and myrtles, (and tied them together with gold and silver cords, or with ribbons,) which they carried with them all day, took them into their synagogues, and kept them by them while at prayers. On the other days of the feast they carried them with them into the temple and walked round the altar with them in their hands, singing, Hosanna! i.e. Save, we beseech thee!-the trumpets sounding on all sides. To this feast St. John seems to refer, Re 7:9-10, where he represents the saints standing before the throne, with palm branches in their hands, singing, Salvation to God, c. On the seventh day of the feast, they went seven times round the altar, and this was called Hosanna rabba, the great Hosanna. See Clarke on Mt 21:9. But the ceremony at which the Jews testified most joy was that of pouring out the water, which was done on the eighth day of the feast. A priest drew some water out of the pool Siloam, in a golden vessel, and brought it into the temple and at the time of the morning sacrifice, while the members of the sacrifice were on the altar, he went up and poured this water mingled with wine upon it, the people all the while singing, with transports of joy, Isa. 12, especially Isa 12:6: With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. To this part of the ceremony, our Lord appears to allude in ver. 37, of this chapter. See Clarke on Joh 7:37.
During this feast many sacrifices were offered. On the first day, besides the ordinary sacrifices, they offered, as a burnt-offering, thirteen calves, two rams, and fourteen lambs with the offerings of flour and the libations of wine that were to accompany them. They offered also a goat for a sin-offering. On all the succeeding days they offered the same sacrifices, only abating one of the calves each day, so that when the seventh day came, they had but seven calves to offer. On the eighth day, which was kept with greater solemnity than the rest, they offered but one calf, one ram, and seven lambs, for a burnt-offering, and one goat for a sin-offering, with the usual offerings and libations. On this day, they also offered in the temple the first fruits of their latter crops, or of those things which come latest to maturity. During the feast, the 113th, 114th, 115th, 116th, 117th, 118th, and 119th Psalms were sung. Leo of Modena says that, though Moses appointed but eight days, yet custom and the devotion of the people have added a ninth to it, which is called the joy of the law, because that on it they complete the reading of the Pentateuch. See Calmet’s Com. and Dict., and father Lamy. For the law relative to this institution, see Le 23:39-40, c., and the notes there and Nu 29:16. &c.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The feast of tabernacles was a feast which God ordained the Jews to keep the fifteenth day of the seventh month, (which some make to answer our September, others our October), Lev 23:34,39, after they had gathered in the fruits of the land. It was to be kept seven days, the first and last of which days were to be kept as sabbaths; they were all the seven days to dwell in tents, or booths, in remembrance of the forty years they so dwelt in the wilderness, passing from Egypt to Canaan, as we read there, Lev 23:43. Now this festival was near at hand; so as we must understand the things following to have happened about the September or October before Christs suffering, which was at the next passover; that is, the March or April following, as we count the months.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2. feast of tabernacles . . . athandThis was the last of the three annual festivals,celebrated on the fifteenth of the seventh month (September). (SeeLev 23:33; Deu 16:13;Neh 8:14-18).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Now the Jews’ feast of tabernacles was at hand. Which began on the fifteenth day of the month Tisri, which answers to part of our September; when the Jews erected tents or booths, in which they dwelt, and ate their meals during this festival; and which was done, in commemoration of the Israelites dwelling in booths in the wilderness; and was typical of Christ’s tabernacling in human nature; and an emblem of the saints dwelling in the earthly houses and tabernacles of their bodies, in this their wilderness and pilgrimage state. Some assign other reasons of this feast, as that it was appointed in commemoration of the divine command, for building the tabernacle; and others, that it was instituted in memory of the protection of the people of Israel under the cloud, as they travelled through the wilderness; by which they were preserved, as in a tent or booth; and to this inclines the Targum of Onkelos, on Le 23:43, which paraphrases the words thus, “That your generations may know, that in the shadow of the clouds, I caused the children of Israel to dwell, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt”: and one of the Jewish commentators a suggests, that the reason why the first place the Israelites pitched at, when they came out of Egypt, was called Succoth, which signifies “tents”, or “tabernacles”, is, because there they were covered with the clouds of glory: but the true reason of this feast is that which is first given, as is clear from Le 23:43, and because they were obliged to dwell in tents, as soon as they came out of Egypt, therefore the first place they encamped at, was called “Succoth”, or tabernacles,
Ex 12:37. This feast was not kept at the time of year the people came out of Egypt; for that was at the time of the passover; but was put off, as it seems, to a colder season of the year; and which was not so convenient for dwelling in booths; lest it should be thought they observed this feast for the sake of pleasure and recreation, under the shade of these bowers; which, as appears from Ne 8:15, were made of olive, pine, myrtle, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees; and were fixed, some on the roofs of their houses, others in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God; and others in the streets: an account of the sacrifices offered at this feast, is given in Nu 29:13, in which may be observed, that on the first day thirteen young bullocks were offered; on the second, twelve; on the third, eleven; on the fourth, ten; on the fifth, nine; on the sixth, eight; and on the seventh, seven; and on the eighth, but one. The Jews, in their Misna, have a treatise called “Succa”, or the “Tabernacle”, in which they treat of this feast; and which contains various traditions, concerning their booths, their manner of living in them, and other rites and usages observed by them, during this festival: they are very particular about the measure and form, and covering of their booths; a booth might not be higher than twenty cubits, nor lower than ten hands’ breadth; and its breadth might not be less than seven hands’ breadth by seven; but it might he carried out as wide as they pleased b, provided it had three sides: they might not cover their booths with anything, but what grew out of the earth, or was rooted up from thence; nor with anything that received uncleanness, or was of an ill smell, or anything that was fallen and faded c: into these booths they brought their best goods, their best bedding, and all their drinking vessels, c. and left their houses empty for here was their fixed dwelling; they only occasionally went into their houses d; for here they were obliged to dwell day and night, and eat all their meals, during the seven days of the feast; and however, it was reckoned praiseworthy, and he was accounted the most religious, who ate nothing out of his booth e; they were indeed excused when it was rainy weather, but as soon as the rain was over, they were obliged to return again f and besides, their dwelling and sleeping, and eating and drinking, in their booths, there were various other rites which were performed by them; as particularly, the carrying of palm tree branches in their hands, or what they call the “Lulab”; which was made up of branches of palm tree, myrtle, and willow, bound up together in a bundle, which was carried in the right hand, and a pome citron in the left; and as they carried them, they waved them three times towards the several quarters of the world; and every day they went about the altar once, with these in their hands, saying the words in Ps 118:25: “Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord, O Lord I beseech thee, send now prosperity”: and on the seventh day, they went about the altar seven times g: also there were great illuminations in the temple; at the going out of the first day of the feast, they went down to the court of the women; they made a great preparation (i.e. as Bartenora explains it, they set benches round it, and set the women above, and the men below); and there were golden candlesticks there, and at the head of them four golden basins, and four ladders to every candlestick; and four young priests had four pitchers of oil, that held a hundred and twenty logs, which they put into each basin; and of the old breeches and girdles of the priests, they made wicks, and with them lighted them; and there was not a court in Jerusalem, which was not lighted with that light; and religious men, and men of good works, danced before them, with lighted torches in their hands, singing songs and hymns of praise h; and this continued the six nights following i: there was also, on everyone of these days, another custom observed; which was that of fetching water from the pool of Siloah, and pouring it with wine upon the altar, which was attended with great rejoicing; of which, see Gill “Joh 7:37”: to which may be added, the music that was used during the performance of these rites; at the illumination in the court of the women, there were harps, psalteries, cymbals, and other instruments of music, playing all the while; and two priests with trumpets, who sounded, when they had the signal; and on every day, as they brought water from Siloah to the altar, they sounded with trumpets, and shouted; the great “Hallel”, or hymn, was sung all the eight days, and the pipe was blown, sometimes five days, and sometimes six k; and even on all the eight days; and the whole was a feast of rejoicing, according to
Le 23:40.
a Baal Hatturim in Numb. xxxiii. 5. b Misn. Succa, c. 1. sect. 1. Maimon. Hilch. Succa, c. 4. sect. 1. c Misn. Succa, sect. 4, 5, 6. Maimon. ib. c. 5. sect. 1, 2, &c. d Maimon. ib. c. 6. sect. 5. e Misn. ib. c. 2. sect. 5, 6. Maimon. ib. sect. 6, 7. f Maimon. ib. sect. 10. g Misn. ib. c. 4. sect. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Maimon. Hilch. Lulab, c. 7. sect. 5, 6, 9, 23. h Misn. Succa, c. 5. sect 2, 3, 4. i Maimon. ib. c. 8. sect. 12. k Misn. ib. c. 4. sect. 8, 9. & c. 5. 1, 4, 5. & Eracin, c. 2. sect. 3.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The feast of tabernacles ( ). Only New Testament example of this word (, tent, , to fasten as in Heb 8:2). Technical name of this feast (Deut 16:13; Lev 23:34; Lev 23:43). It began on the 15th of the month Tisri (end of September) and lasted seven days and finally eight days in post-exilic times (Ne 8:18). It was one of the chief feasts of the Jews.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “Now was at hand,” (en de engus) “Then was near,” the time or period of His renewed presenting of Himself as the Redeemer or Messiah sent from God, but His time was not fully come, Joh 6:6.
2) “The Jew’s feast of tabernacles.” (he heorte ton loudaion he skenopegia) “The feast of the tabernacles of the Jews,” observed in October, or feast of the tents, Lev 23:34; Neh 8:14; Neh 8:18. It had been a year and a half since He had been there. It was now six months before His death.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
2. Now a feast of the Jews was at hand. Though I do not affirm it, yet it is probable that this happened during the second year after Christ’s baptism. As to this feast, which the Evangelist mentions, it is not necessary at present to say much. For what purpose and use it was enjoined, Moses shows, (Lev 23:34.) It was, that by this annual ceremony the Jews might call to remembrance, that their fathers lived forty years in tabernacles, when they had no houses, that they might thus celebrate the grace of God displayed in their deliverance. We have formerly said that there were two reasons why Christ came to Jerusalem during this feast. One was, that, being subject to the Law, in order to redeem us all from its bondage, he wished to omit no part of the observation of it; and the other was, that, amidst a numerous and extraordinary assemblage of people, he had a better opportunity of advancing the Gospel. But now the Evangelist relates that Christ kept himself in retirement at Galilee, as if he did not intend to come to Jerusalem.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(2) The Jews feast of tabernacles.This began on the fifteenth day of the seventh month (Lev. 23:34), i.e., the 15th of Tishri, which answers to our September. The interval, then, from Passover to Tabernacles is one of about five months. The feast continued for seven days, during which all true Israelites dwelt in booths, in remembrance of their dwelling in tabernacles when they came out of the land of Egypt. Like the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover) and the Feast of Harvest (Pentecost), this Feast of In-gathering was one of the three times in the year when every male Jew was required to appear before the Lord God (Exo. 23:14). Josephus speaks of it as the holiest and greatest of the feasts. It was at once a thankful memorial of the national deliverance, and a yearly rejoicing at the close of each succeeding harvest (Deu. 16:13-16).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2. Jews Note on Joh 1:19.
Feast of tabernacles This was one of the three great annual feasts which every Jew was required to attend at Jerusalem. It took place early in October, and was a celebration of the sojourn of Israel in the wilderness. The wilderness residence was imitated by the building of tabernacles, that is, booths or wig-wams made of autumnal bushes and boughs, so that the vacant grounds were occupied with a sudden rural city, in which the people held their temporary residence. It was held during seven days, yet an eighth was added, which finally became the great day of the feast, (Joh 7:37.) Within the temple grounds there was no well or water spring; and each morning, after the early sacrifice, a priest went with a large golden pitcher and drew water from the fount of Siloam, at the side of the temple mount, and thence returned in joyous procession to the grand altar, behind which he poured the water forth to descend to the subterranean watercourses beneath. This ceremony at once commemorated the miraculous furnishing of water to famishing Israel, and prefigured the higher impartation of the Holy Spirit to Israel’s thirsting nation. So festal was this rite that the rabbins say that he who has not seen this Joy of the waters knows not what rejoicing is. In process of time, and, doubtless, in our Saviour’s day, this feast had degenerated into profane revelry; so disgracefully, indeed, that a pagan writer, Plutarch, honestly records that it was a feast of Bacchus! Fully to understand the transactions and discourses at this visit to the metropolis, the whole passage as far as Joh 10:21, with its brief appendix of the Feast of Dedication, to Joh 10:40, should be read.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Now the Jew’s Feast of Tabernacles was at hand’.
The Feast of Tabernacles was the feast celebrating the end of the year’s harvests, and took place around September/October. It was one of the main feasts celebrated by the Jews, being one of the three that were commanded to be celebrated at their central Sanctuary (initially The Tabernacle, and then the Temple) from ancient times (Exo 23:14-17). In Exo 23:16 it is called the Feast of Ingathering, while in Lev 23:3 and Deu 16:13 it is called the Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths).
The other two main feasts were the Feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread (celebrated in March/April), and the Feast of Weeks, also called the Feast of Harvest and Pentecost, which was celebrated 50 days after Passover. The former celebrated the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, and was distinctive in that every household would sacrifice a lamb at the Temple, and partake of it in the place in which they were staying in Jerusalem, in memory of that deliverance, but it was almost certainly a feast before that for it was during this week that the reaping of the standing grain commenced (Deu 16:9) and a sheaf of the firstfruits was waved before the Lord (Lev 23:10-11). It was thus both a memorial of the deliverance from Egypt and an acknowledgement by the nation of their dependence on God for their harvest. It was accompanied by numerous sacrifices (e.g. Num 28:16-25).
From the day on which the firstfruits were offered in March/April, 49 days were counted (a week of weeks, hence the name the Feast of Weeks) during which the grain harvest would be gathered in (Deu 16:9-12). Then the Feast of Weeks (or Harvest) would be celebrated (May/June) and a cake of the firstfruits of the gathered harvest presented to God (Deu 16:10; Exo 23:16; Exo 34:22). This was later called the Feast of Pentecost.
Following this the grapevines would be pruned, the figs (summer fruit) gathered in, and this would be followed by the general ingathering of grapes, olives and citrus fruits. Finally around September/October the Feast of Tabernacles or Ingathering would celebrate the complete gathering in of the years harvest. It was a feast of thanksgiving for a good harvest (Deu 16:15), and was especially associated with fruitfulness, with the ‘fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook’ (Lev 23:40).
During the feast the people would live in booths or ‘tents’, remembering how the people who had followed Moses out of Egypt had lived in tents in the wilderness, and a huge flaming lampstand would be set up in the Temple as a symbol of the pillar of fire that had gone before them then, and had protected them, and been their guide.
The feast, which was now approaching, was a joyful one (Deu 16:15), and had become especially associated with the expected coming age of plenty (Zec 14:16-19), so that at this time the minds of people would be directed towards thoughts of the coming age. The celebration of it was also looked on as a way of seeking to guarantee the pouring out of rain in the coming months (Zec 14:17). This was presumably why Jesus chose it for the purpose of proclaiming the coming ‘rain’ of the Holy Spirit.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
IV
SEASON OF RETIREMENT PART IV THE CLOSING INCIDENTS
Harmony, pages 94-103 and Mat 17:14-18:35 ; Mat 8:19-22 ; Mar 9:9-50 ; Luk 9:37-62 ; Joh 7:2-10 .
When Christ and the three disciples who were with him at the transfiguration returned from the Mount they saw a great multitude gathered about the nine and the scribes questioning with them. Then follows the story of the failure of the nine to cast out the evil spirit of a demoniac boy and Jesus’ rebuke of their little faith, upon which our Lord healed the boy and restored him to his father. This story is interesting from several points of view. First, the case was an exceptional One and so difficult that the nine were unable to cast the Evil spirit out. Second, this is the only case of demonical epilepsy in the New Testament, the description of which by Mark is very vivid and much more in detail than that of either of the other evangelists. Third, Christ’s momentary impatience at dwelling amid such an environment is nowhere else so expressed, perhaps the more distressing from the contrast with the scene of the transfiguration, a few hours before. Fourth, the rebuke of the boy’s father is a fine lesson. He said, “If thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us.” Jesus answered, “If thou canst!” We see here the point of the rebuke. Herefore we have found the form of faith that said, “If thou wilt, thou canst,” but this man reversed it: “If thou canst do anything, help us.” But the rebuke of Jesus set him right in his faith and then healed the boy. What a lesson for us! So often the Lord has to set us right in our faith before he can consistently give us the blessing. Fifth, the explanation which Jesus gave of their failure and the possibilities of God through the children of faith are a most helpful encouragement to the Christian of today. All difficulties may be removed by the power of faith. Sixth, the prescription of prayer as a means to the strengthen- ing of faith is a valuable suggestion as to the mans of our overcoming. Prayer is the hour of victory for the child of God. This is the winning point for every worker in the kingdom. All victories for God are won in the closet before the day of battle. Let us heed the lesson.
While on the way from Caesarea Philippi Jesus revealed again to his disciples that he must suffer and die and rise again, but they did not understand and were afraid to ask him. They were very slow to comprehend the idea of a suffering Messiah. This they did not understand fully until after his resurrection. This thought is more fully developed in connection with his submitted test of his messiahship which is discussed elsewhere in this INTERPRETATION OF THE GOSPELS.
When they came to Capernaum an event occurred which made a lasting impression on Peter. This was the incident of the half-shekel for the Temple. When asked if his Lord was accustomed to pay the Temple tax, Peter said, “Yes.” But Peter did not have the money to pay it with, and our Lord, after showing Peter that he (Jesus) was exempt, told him to go to the sea and take the piece of money from the mouth of a fish and pay the Temple tax for Peter and himself, in order that there might be left to the Jews no occasion of stumbling with reference to him as the Messiah.
In section 70 (Mat 18:1-14 ; Mar 9:33-50 ; Luk 9:46-50 ) we have the lesson on how to be great, which arose from their dispute as to who among them should be the greatest. To this Jesus replied that the greatest one of all was to be servant of all, and illustrated it by the example of a little child. The characteristic of the little child to be found in the subjects of his kingdom is humility.. Then he goes on to show that to receive one of such little children was to receive him. Here John, one of the “sons of thunder,” interrupted him with a question about one whom he saw casting out demons, yet he was not following with them. Then Jesus, after setting John right, went on with his illustration of the little child, showing the awful sin of causing a little one who believes on him to stumble, and pronounces a woe unto the world because of the occasion of stumbling, saying that these occasions must come, but the woe is to the man through whom they come. The occasions of stumbling arise from the sin of man and the domination of the devil, but that does not excuse the man through whom they come.
Now follows a pointed address in the second person singular, showing the cases in which we become stumbling blocks, in which he also shows the remedy, indeed a desperate remedy for a desperate case. This passage needs to be treated more particularly. Then, briefly, what the meaning of the word “offend”? If thy hand offend thee, if thine eye offend thee, if thy foot offend thee; what is the meaning of this word? We find it in the English in the word “scandal,” that is, “scandal” is the Anglicized form of the Greek word here used. But the word “scandalize,” as used in the English, does not express the thought contained in this text, since that is a modern derived meaning of the word. Originally it meant the trigger of a trap, that trigger which being touched caused the trap to fall and catch one, and from that of its original signification it came to have four well-known Bible meanings. An instance of each one of the four meanings, fairly applicable to this passage here, will be cited. First, it means a stumbling block, that which causes any one to fall, and in its spiritual signification, that which causes any one to fall into a sin. If thy hand causeth thee to fall into a sin, if thine eye causeth thee to fall into a sin, if thy foot causeth thee to fall into a sin, cut it off, pluck it out. It is more profitable to enter heaven maimed than to have the whole body cast into hell. The thought is as we see it in connection with a stumbling block, that we fall unexpectedly into the sin, as if we were going along not looking down and should suddenly stumble over something in our regular path, where we usually walk. Now, “if thine eye causeth thee, in the regular walk of life, to put something in that pathway that, when you were not particularly watching, will cause you to stumble and fall into a sin” that is the first thought of it.
Its second meaning is an obstacle or obstruction that causes one to stop. He does not fall over this obstacle, but it blocks his way and he stops. He does not fall, but he does not go on. To illustrate this use of the word, John the Baptist, in prison, finding the progress of his faith stopped by a doubt, sent word to Christ to know, “Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?” Evidently showing that some unbelief had crept into his heart that had caused him to stop. He was not going on in the direction that he had been going, and hence, when Jesus sent word to John of the demonstrations of his divinity, He added this expression, using this very word, “Blessed is the man who is not offended in me.” “Blessed is the man who in me does not find an obstacle that stops him.” Anything that is an occasion of unbelief fulfils this meaning of the word. If thine eye causes something to be put in thy path that suggests a doubt as to the Christian religion, and by that doubt causeth thee that had been going steadily forward, to stop, pluck it out. Let me give another illustration: In the parable of the sower, our Saviour, in expounding why it was that the grain that had fallen upon the rock and came up and seemed to promise well for awhile, afterward, under the hot sun, withered away and perished, says, “There are some people that hear the word of God and, for awhile, seem to accept it, but when tribulation or persecution cometh they are offended they are stopped.” That is the meaning of the word strictly. Persecution and tribulation cometh and an obstacle is put in their path that causes them to stop. Now, if thine eye causes an obstacle to be put in thy Christian path, that causeth thee to stop and not go forward, pluck it out. Yet another illustration: Our Saviour, who had announced a great many doctrines that people could easily understand and accept, suddenly, on one occasion, announced a hard doctrine, very hard, and from that time it is said that many of his disciples followed him no more. They stopped. Now, there was something in them, in the eye or the hand or the foot, that found an occasion of unbelief in the doctrine he announced, and they stopped. I remember a very notable instance, where a man, deeply impressed in a meeting, and giving fair promise of having passed from death to life, happened to be present when the scriptural law of the use of money was expounded, and he stopped. Some obstacle stretched clear across his path. It was the love of money in his heart. He couldn’t recognize God’s sovereignty over money. As if he had said, “If you want me to cry; if you want me to say I am sorry, I will say it; if you want me to join the church, I will join it; if you want me to be baptized, I will be baptized; but if you want me to honor God with my money, I stop.”
Now, the third use of the word. It is sometimes used to indicate, not something over which one stumbles and falls into a sin, and not an obstacle that blocks up his pathway, but in the sense of something that he runs up against and hurts himself and so becomes foolishly angry. As when one, at night, trying to pass out of a dark room, strikes his head against the door, and in a moment flies into a passion. “Now, if thine eye causeth thee to run up against an object that when you strike it offends you, makes you mad, pluck it out and cast it from thee.”
These three senses of this word have abundant verifications in the classical Greek and a vast number of instances in the Bible, in the Old and New Testaments. But there is a fourth use of the word. That is where the eye has caused a man to turn aside from the right path and to reject the wise counsel of God, and to indulge in sin until God has given him up; then God sets a trap for him right in the path of his besetting sin. In Rom 11:9 we find that use of the word: “Let their table be made a trap for them.” That is to say, God, after trying to lead a man to do right, if he persists in doing wrong, the particular sin, whatever hat may be, whether it be of pride, or lust, or pleasure, whatever it may be, that particular, besetting sin which has caused him to reject God, will make the occasion of his ruin, and in the track of it God will set the trap, and the man is certain to fall into it and be lost. Now, these are the four Bible uses of this term “offend.” Greek: Scandalon , the noun, and skandalizo, the verb. “If thine eye causeth thee to offend,” that is, “If your eye causeth you to put something in your path over which you will unexpectedly fall into a sin; if thine eye causeth thee to put an obstacle clear across your path, so that you stop; if thine eye causeth thee to put some object against which you will unthoughtedly run and hurt yourself and become incensed; if thine eye causeth thee to go into a sin that shall completely alienate you from God, and in the far distant track of which God sets a trap that will be sure to catch your soul pluck it out.”
The next thing needing explanation: People who look only at the shell of a thing may understand this passage to mean mutilation of the body. They forget that the mutilation of the body is simply an illustration of spiritual things. Take a case: One of the most beautiful and sweet-spirited girls I ever knew, before whom there seemed to stretch a long and bright and happy future, was taken sick, and the illness, whatever the doctors may call it, was in the foot, and the blood would not circulate. The doctors could not bring about the circulation and that foot finally threatened the whole body. Then the doctors said, “This foot must be amputated.” And they did amputate it. They amputated it to save her life. They cut off that member because it offered the only possible means of saving the other foot and both hands and the whole body and her life. It was sternness of love, resoluteness of affection, courage of wisdom that sacrificed a limb to save the body. Now using that necessity of amputation, as an illustration, our Saviour says, “If thy hand offend thee, cut it off; if thy foot offend thee, cut it off. If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out.” But that he does not mean bodily mutilation is self-evident from this: that if we were to cut off our hand we could not stop the spiritual offense; if we were to pluck out the eye we could not stop the spiritual offense on the inside, in the soul; no lopping off to external branches would reach that. But what our Saviour means to teach is this: That as a wise physician, who discovers, seated in one member of the body, a disease that if allowed to spread will destroy the whole body, in the interest of mercy cuts off that diseased limb, so, applying this to spiritual things, whatever causes us to fall into sin, we should cut loose from it at every cost.
One other word needs to be explained, the word “Gehenna.” It is a little valley next to Jerusalem that once belonged to the sons of Hinnom. It came to pass that in that valley was instituted an idol worship, and there the kings caused their children to pass through the fire to Moloch, and because of this iniquity a good king of Israel defiled that valley, made it the dumping ground of all refuse matter from the city. The excrement, the dead things, the foul and corrupt matter was all carried out and put in that valley. And because of the corruption heaped there, worms were always there, and because of the burning that had been appointed as a sanitary measure, the fire was always there. Now that was used as an illustration to indicate the spiritual condition of a lost soul; of a soul that had become as refuse matter; of a soul that had become entirely cut loose from God and given up to its own devices; that had become bad through and through; that had become such a slave to passion, or lust or crime, that it was incorrigible, and the very nature of the sin which possessed it was like a worm that never dies. There was a gnawing, a ceaseless gnawing going on, referring to conscience, and there was a burning and a thirst going on. Now those images our Saviour selected were to represent the thought of hell.
Having explained its words, look now at the passage itself: “If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out.” What is the principle involved in that exhortation? First, that it is a man’s chief concern to see that he does not miss the mark; that he does not make shipwreck; that he does not ruin himself. That is the chief concern of every boy, of every girl, of every man and woman, to see to it that he does not miss the mark of his being; that he does not make shipwreck; that he does not go to utter ruin.
The next thought involved in it is that in case we do miss the mark; in case we do make shipwreck; in case our soul is lost, then there is no profit and no compensation to us in any thing we ever had. “For what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?” If he misses the main thing, if he makes shipwreck of his own soul, then wherein does the compensation come to him that in his life he had this or that treasure, this pleasure or that; that he was able to attain to this ambition or that; that he for such a while, no matter how long, was on top in society or fashion in the world? What has it profited him if the main thing worthy of supreme concern, is lost?
The next thought is this: Whatever sacrifice is necessary to the securing of the main thing, that we must make. That is what this passage means, and no matter how dear a treasure may be to us; no matter how much we esteem it, if it be necessary that we should give it up or that our soul should be lost, this passage calls on us to give it up. A man may have in a ship a vast amount of money which he idolizes, but in the night he is alarmed by the cry of fire; he rushes upon the deck and he finds that the ship is hopelessly in flames and that the only way of escape is to swim to the shore. Now he stands there for a moment and meditates: “I have here a vast amount of money, in gold. If I try to take this gold with me in this issue in which the main thing, my life, is involved, it will sink me. My life is more than this money. O glittering gold, I leave you. I strike out, stripped of every weight and swim for my life.” It means that he ought to leave behind everything that would jeopardize his gaining the shore. A ship has a valuable cargo. It has been acquired by toil and anxiety and industry. It may be that the cargo in itself is perfectly innocent, but in a stress of weather, with a storm raging and with a leak in the vessel and the water rising, it becomes necessary to lighten that ship. Now whatever is necessary to make it float, to keep it above water, that must be done. If there be anything which, if permitted to remain in that ship, will sink it, throw it out. They that do business in great waters know the wisdom of this. Why? It is a question of sacrificing the inferior to the greater and better.
The next thought involved is this: Whenever it says, “If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out,” I venture to say that it is a demonstration, by the exhortation addressed to us personally, that if ruin comes to us it comes by our own consent. I mean to say that no matter what is the stress of outside seduction, nor how cunningly the devil may attempt to seduce and beguile us, all the devils in hell and all the extraneous temptations that may environ a man can never work his shipwreck if he does not consent.
The next point involved is, that whenever one does consent to temptation, whenever the ruin comes to him, it comes on account of some internal moral delinquency. Out of the heart are the issues of life. Out of the heart proceed murder, lust, blasphemy, and every crime which men commit. I mean to say that as the Bible declares that no murderer shall inherit eternal life, that external incentives to murder amount to nothing unless in him, in the man, in the soul, there be a susceptibility or a liability or moral weakness that shall open the door to the tempter and let in the destroyer.
Now if that be true we come naturally to the next thought in this text, that is, God saves a man, and if God can save a man, he must save him in accordance with the laws of his own nature. That is to say, that God must, in order to the salvation of that man, require truth in the inward part; that nothing external will touch the case; that God’s requirements must take hold, not of the long delayed overt act, but of the lust in the heart which preceded the act and made the act. And therefore, while a human court can take jurisdiction only of murder actually committed, God goes inside of the man and says, “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer.” From hate comes murder. If God saves you he must save you from the internal hate. Human law takes hold of a case of adultery. God’s law goes to the eye: “Whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her hath already committed adultery with her in his heart.” God requireth truth in the inward part. And if one is saved he must be saved internally; he must be saved, not only from the guilt and penalty of sin, but he must be saved from the love of it and from the dominion of it.
The next point: With that law looking inside, looking at our thoughts, looking at the springs of action, the question comes up, “How shall one save his soul? How shall one so attain to the end of his being as that in the main thing he shall not miss the mark?” He has to look at it as an exceedingly sober question. There is no child’s play about it. He must not rely upon the quack remedies of philosophers and impostors, or rely upon any external rite, upon joining the church or being baptized, or partaking of the Lord’s Supper. The awful blasphemy of calling that the way to heaven! God requireth truth in the inward part, and if we are saved, we must be saved inside. As a wise man, having my chief business to save my soul, I must scrupulously look at everything with which I come in contact. Some men’s weaknesses are in one direction and some in another, but the chief thing for me is to find out my weakness, what is my besetting sin, where is the weak point in my line of defense, where am I most susceptible to danger, where do I yield most readily? And if I find that the ties of blood are making me lose my soul, I must move out of my own family, and therefore in the Mosaic law it is expressly said, “If thine own son, if the wife of thy bosom, shall cause thee to worship idols and turn away from the true God, thou shalt put thine own hand on the head as the first witness, that they may be stoned. Thou shalt not spare.” It is a question of our life, and if our family ties are such that they are dragging us down to death, we must strike out for our life. And that is why marriage is the most solemn and far-reaching question that ever came up for human decision. More souls are lost right there, more women go into hopeless bondage, more men are shipwrecked by that awful tie, than by anything else.
Then he goes on to show that these little believers must not be despised, because their angels are always before their heavenly Father, just as the angels of more highly honored Christians. This thought he illustrates with the parable of the ninety and nine, the interpretation of which might be considered as follows: (1) If there are many worlds and but one is lost, (2) if there are many creatures and only man is lost, (3) if there were many just persons, and only one is lost, then we find the lost world, the lost race, the one lost man is near the heart of the Saviour, the principle being that the weakest, the most needy, the most miserable are nearest the Shepherd’s heart. “Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish,” is the conclusion of the Saviour.
In section 71 (Mat 18:15-35 ) we have our Lord’s great discussion on forgiveness, i.e., man’s forgiveness of man. This subject is amply treated in volume 1, chapter xvi of this INTERPRETATION and also in my sermon on “Man’s Forgiveness of Man.” (I refer the reader to these discussions for a full exposition of this great passage.)
In section 72 (Mat 8:19-22 ; Luk 9:57-62 ) we have a very plain word on the sacrifices of discipleship. Here three different ones approached Christ asking permission to be his disciples. The first one that came proposed to go with him anywhere. Jesus told him that he had no abiding place; that he was a wanderer without any home, which meant there were many hardships in connection with discipleship. The second one that came to him wanted to wait till he could bury his father, which according to Oriental customs, might have been several years, or at least, thirty days, if his father was dead when he made the request, including the time of mourning. Luke tells of one who wanted first to bid farewell to them of his own house. But Jesus said, “No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” The import of all this is that Christ will not permit his disciples to allow anything to come between them and him. He must have the first place in their affections. The expression, “No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God,” means that the man who is pretending to follow Christ and is looking back to the things he left behind is not fit for his kingdom. This is a strict test, but it is our Lord’s own test.
Then, following the Harmony, we have, in the next section, the counsel of the unbelieving brothers that Jesus go into Judea and exhibit himself there. But he declined to follow their counsel and remained in Galilee. This incident shows that the brothers of Jesus had not at this time accepted him, which was about six months before his death and thus disproves the theory that the brothers of Jesus were apostles.
We now come to the close of this division of the Harmony in section 74 (Luk 9:51-56 ; Joh 7:10 ), which tells of Jesus setting his face toward Jerusalem in view of the approach of the end of his earthly career. This going up to Jerusalem, John says, was after his brothers had gone, and it was not public, but as it were in secret. He sent James and John, the “sons of thunder,” ahead to Samaria to make ready for him, but the Samaritans rejected him because he was going toward Jerusalem, which exemplifies the old, deep-seated hatred between the Jews and the Samaritans. This section closes with a rebuke to James and John for wanting to call down fire upon these Samaritans. The next chapter of this INTERPRETATION connects with this section and gives the results of this trip to Jerusalem and his ministry in all parts of the Holy Land.
QUESTIONS
1. What was the incident immediately following the transfiguration?
2. What are the points of interest in the story of the epileptic boy?
3. What revelation did Jesus again make to his disciples while on the way from Caesarea Philippi, how did the disciples receive it and why?
4. Tell the story of Peter and the Temple tax and give its lesson.
5. What was the lesson on “greatness” here and what its occasion?
6. What was the point in the illustration of the little child?
7. What is the lesson from John’s interruption of our Lord here?
8. How does Jesus show the awfulness of the sin of causing a little child who believes on him to stumble?
9. From what do the occasions of stumbling arise and upon whom rests the responsibility for them?
10. What would you give as the theme of Mat 18:8-9 ; and Mar 9:43 ; Mar 9:45 ; Mar 9:47-50 ?
11. What are the several meanings of the word “offend” in these passages? Illustrate each.
12. What is the application of all these meanings? Illustrate.
13. Explain the word “Gehenna” as used here.
14. Looking at the passage as a whole, what is principle involved the exhortation? Give details.
15. What reason does Christ assign for the command not to despise one of these little ones and what does it mean?
16. How does he illustrate this
17. In a word what is the author’s position on the subject of man’s forgiveness of man?
18. What is Christ’s teaching here on discipleship and what is the meaning of his language addressed to each of the three, respectively, who approached him here on the subject?
19. What advice here given Jesus by his brothers, how did Jesus regard it, and what the lesson of this incident?
20. What are the closing incidents of this division of our Lord’s ministry and what are their lessons?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
2 Now the Jews’ feast of tabernacles was at hand.
Ver. 2. The feast of tabernacles ] The Jews at this feast dwelt without doors, in booths and bowers, in remembrance of their wandering of old through the wilderness. This gave occasion to Plutarch, and other profane heathens, to devise and broach so many base lies of the Jews, as if they were worshippers of Bacchus. Florus calls the temple of Jerusalem, impiae gentis arcanum. Another tells us that the Jews were forced to rest every seventh day, for an evil disease they had cleaving unto them.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2. ] See Deu 16:13-17 . Josephus, Antt. viii. 4. 1, calls this . It began on the 15th (evening of 14th) of Tisri [Sept. 28], and lasted till the evening of the 22nd [Oct. 6].
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Joh 7:2 . But occasion arose for His abandoning His purpose to remain in Galilee. . In Hebrew (Lev 23:34 ), the Feast of Succoth, or Booths, in Greek , the fixing of tents; so called because in this Feast the Jews commemorated how their fathers had dwelt in tents, and been fed and cared for as if in a settled condition. It was one of the great Feasts, and as it fell in October and Jesus had not attended the previous Passover, it might seem desirable that He should go up to Jerusalem now.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
the Jews’ feast. See note on Joh 2:13.
of tabernacles = of booths. Not sleaze, as in Septuagint. (Lev 23:34. Deu 16:13. 2Ch 8:13. Ezr 3:4); but skenopegia = booth-making, as in Deu 16:16; Deu 31:10. Zec 14:16, Zec 14:18, Zec 14:19. Only direct reference to this feast in N.T. See App-179.
at hand = near.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
2.] See Deu 16:13-17. Josephus, Antt. viii. 4. 1, calls this . It began on the 15th (evening of 14th) of Tisri [Sept. 28], and lasted till the evening of the 22nd [Oct. 6].
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 7:2
Joh 7:2
Now the feast of the Jews, the feast of tabernacles, was at hand.-The feast of tabernacles commemorated the camping out of the Jews in their journey from Egypt to Canaan. It was combined with the feast of ingathering and began on the fifteenth day of the seventh month and continued seven days.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Exo 23:16, Exo 23:17, Lev 23:34-43, Num 29:12-38, Deu 16:13-16, 1Ki 8:2, 1Ki 8:65, 2Ch 7:9, 2Ch 7:10, Ezr 3:4, Neh 8:14-18, Zec 14:16-19
Reciprocal: Exo 34:22 – feast of weeks Jdg 21:19 – a feast 2Ch 7:8 – kept Eze 45:25 – In the seventh Hos 12:9 – as in Joh 7:14 – the midst
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2
This feast is described in Lev 23:34-43. It brought many Jews to Jerusalem, hence the risk to his life caused Jesus to remain in Galilee for a while.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Now the Jews’ feast of tabernacles was at hand.
[The Jews’ feast of Tabernacles.] Tisri. Let us draw down this month from its beginning to this feast of Tabernacles:
1. “The first day of the month Tisri was the beginning of the year, for stating the years, the intermissions of the seventh year, and the jubilees.”
Upon this day was the ‘blowing of trumpets,’ Lev 23:24; and persons were sent out to give notice of the beginning of the year. On this day began the year of the world 3960, in the middle of which year Christ was crucified.
2. The second day; observed also as holy by the Jews that were in Babylon, that they might be sure not to miss the beginning of the year.
3. A fast for the murder of Gedaliah: for so they expound those words, (Zec 8:19) “the fast of the seventh month.”
4. This day was the high priest in the apartment to which he then betook himself from his own house, that he might inure himself by exercise to the rites of the day of Atonement approaching, and be ready and fitted for the service of that day. “Seven days before the day of Expiation they sequestered the chief priest from his own house, and shut him up into an apartment, substituting to him another priest, lest accidentally there should some sort of uncleanness befall him.”
5-8. All those seven days, after he betook himself from his own house to this chamber until the day of atonement, he sprinkles the blood of the daily sacrifice; offers the incense; snuffs the lamps; and brings the head and legs of the sacrifice to the altar, that he may be the more handy in his office upon the Expiation-day. In those seven days they send him some of the elders of the Beth Din; that they may read before him the office of that day. And at length those elders deliver him to the elders of the priesthood, who instruct him in handling the incense; and lead him into the apartment abtines; where they swear him, that he shall perform the service of that day according to rule, and not according to the Sadducees.
9. Whereas for the whole seven days they permitted him to eat according to his usual custom; the evening of this day approaching, they diet him more sparingly, lest a full stomach should occasion sleep. They spend the whole night waking; and when they find him nodding or inclining to sleepiness, then, either by words or some noise, they rouse and waken him.
10. The day of Expiation, a solemn fast. On this day began the year of jubilee, when it came about, Lev 25:9. And indeed this year, which is now under our consideration, was the twenty-eighth jubilee, reckoning from the seventh year of Joshua, wherein the land as subdued and rested from war, Jos 11:23.
11-13. The multitude now gather together towards the feast of Tabernacles, that they might purify themselves before the feast, and prepare necessaries for it, viz. little tents, citrons, bundles of palms and willows, etc. But if any were defiled by the touch of a dead body, such were obliged to betake themselves to Jerusalem, before the feast of Expiation, that they might undergo seven days’ purification before the feast of Tabernacles.
14. They were generally cut or trimmed on the vespers of the feast for the honour of it.
15. The first day of the feast of Tabernacles, a feast-day. Thirteen young bullocks offered, etc. Num 29:13; and so on. The preparation of the Chagigah. They lodge that night in Jerusalem.
16. The second day of the feast. Twelve young bullocks offered. The appearance of all the males in the court.
17. The third day. Eleven young bullocks.
18. The fourth day. Ten.
19. The fifth day. Nine.
20. The sixth day. Eight.
21. The seventh day. Seven.
22. The eighth day. One young bullock offered.
Upon all these days there was a pouring out of water upon the altar with wine (a thing not used at any other time); and for the sake of that, great joy, and singing, and dancing; such as was not all the year besides.
“At the close of the first day of the feast, they went down into the Court of the Women, and there prepared a great stage.” [That is, benches on which the women stood above, and the men below.] “Golden candlesticks were there” fixed to the walls: “over these were golden cups, to which were four ladders set; by which four of the younger priests went up, having bottles in their hands that contained a hundred and twenty logs, which they emptied into every cup. Of the rags of the garments and girdles of the priests, they made wicks to light those lamps; and there was not a street throughout all Jerusalem that did not shine with that light.”
“The religious and devout danced before them, having lighted torches in their hands, and sang songs and doxologies. The Levites with harps, psalteries, cymbals, and other instruments of music without number, stood upon those fifteen steps by which they went down from the Court of the Women, according to the fifteen psalms of degrees, and sang. Two priests also stood in the upper gate, which goes down from the Court of Israel to the Court of the Women, with two trumpets in their hands. When the cock crew [or the president gave his signal], the trumpets sounded: when they came to the tenth step, they sounded again: when they came to the court they sounded: when they came to the pavement they sounded: and so went on sounding the trumpets till they came to the east gate of the court. When they came thither, they turned their faces from the east to west, and said, ‘Our fathers in this place, turning their backs upon the Temple, and their faces towards the east, worshipped the sun; but we turn our faces to God,’ ” etc.
“The Rabbins have a tradition. Some of them while they were dancing said, ‘Blessed be our youth, for that they have not made our old men ashamed.’ These were the religious, and men of good works. And some said, ‘Blessed be our old men, that have made atonement for our youth.’ And both one and the other said, ‘Blessed be he who hath not sinned; and he who hath, let it be forgiven him.’ ”
As to the reason of this mirth and pleasantness, we shall see more in our notes on Joh 7:38.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Joh 7:2. And the feast of the Jews, the feast of was at hand. This annual festival, the last of the three at which the men of Israel were required to present themselves before the Lord in Jerusalem, began on the 15th of Tizri, that is, either late in September or early in October. It had a twofold significance, being at once a harvest festival and a historical memorial of the earliest days of the nation. At the feast of Ingathering (Exo 23:16) the people gave thanks for the harvest, now safely gathered in: the feast of Tabernacles, during the seven days of which they dwelt in booths or huts, recalled the years which their fathers spent in the desert (Lev 23:39-43). The mode in which the feast was celebrated must be noticed in connection with later verses (see note on Joh 7:38): here we need only add that this festival, spoken of by Josephus as the holiest and greatest of all, was a season of the most lively rejoicing (see Neh 8:16-18), and was associated at once with the most precious recollections of the past and the most sacred hopes for the future of the nation. In particular, as we shall see more fully hereafter, the feast had come to be regarded as the type and emblem of the glory of the latter day, when the Spirit of God should be poured out like floods upon the ground (Isaiah 35). On the expression feast of the Jews, see the notes on chap. Joh 2:13, Joh 6:4. To what extent the joyous and holy feast of the Lord could be perverted by the malice and hatred of the Jews this chapter will clearly show.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
There were three great feasts which the Jews celebrated every year; namely, the feast of the passover, the feast of pentecost, and the feast of tabernacles; this last was observed in the month of September, after they had gathered in the fruits of the earth; whence it was also called the feast of ingathering: at this feast they went out of their houses, and dwelt in booths seven days, in remembrance of their living in tents or booths in the wilderness for forty years together, before they came to Canaan. Now the institution of this feast, being to call the Israelites to the remembrance of their former condition in the wilderness, teaches us how prone and ready we are to forget our troubles, and the mercies wherewith our troubles have been sweetened, when once they are past and over. The Jews, when settled in Canaan, going out of their houses yearly, and dwelling in booths, did thereby testify, that present mercies had not made them forget former trials and troubles.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Joh 7:2-9. Now the Jews feast of tabernacles was at hand Instituted in commemoration of the Israelites dwelling in tents in the wilderness, and celebrated in booths erected for that purpose, with great solemnity and joy. For a particular account of the time, manner, and reason of this feast, see Lev 23:34-43. His brethren, therefore So called, according to the Jewish way of speaking: namely, his near kinsmen, probably his cousins, the sons of his mothers sister; said unto him, Depart hence From this obscure place; and go into Judea As they did not believe on him, they condemned him in their own minds, and intimated that he acted altogether absurdly in passing so much of his time in Galilee, and the other remote corners of the country, while he pretended to so public a character as that of the Messiah; that it would be much more for his interest to make disciples in Jerusalem and Judea, the seat of power; and that he ought to work his miracles there as publicly as possible, before the great and learned men of the nation, whose decision in his favour would have great influence to induce others to believe on him. Then Jesus said, My time is not yet come Either to manifest myself or go up to Jerusalem. Jesus, knowing the malice of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, did not incline to be among them longer than was absolutely necessary, lest they should take away his life prematurely. But your time is always ready You may go up with safety any time you please, since you have done nothing to make the Jews unfriendly to you as I have done; who by the strictness of my doctrine, and the freedom of my reproofs, have provoked their malice to the highest pitch. The world cannot hate you Because you are of the world; but me it hateth And all who bear the same testimony. Go ye up unto this feast Whenever it suits you to go without waiting for me. I go not up yet He does not say, I will not go up at all, but not yet. There may be reason for deferring a particular duty, which yet must not be wholly omitted. My time is not yet full come Namely, the time of his sufferings, which the evangelist calls his hour; (chap. Joh 8:20;) or the time of his going up to the feast. When he had said these words, he abode still in Galilee Namely, a few days longer.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Ver. 2. But the feast of the Jews, called that of Tabernacles, was at hand.
This feast was celebrated in October: six full months, therefore, according to John himself, separate this story from the one preceding, without his mentioning a single one of the facts which we have just enumerated, and which filled this entire half-year. His intention, then, is certainly not to relate a complete history, and his silence with respect to any fact whatever cannot be interpreted as a proof of ignorance or as an implicit denial of it. The feast of Tabernacles, called in Maccabees and in Josephus, as here, , was celebrated for eight days, reckoning from the fifteenth day of the seventh month (Tisri). During this time, the people dwelt in tents, made of leafy branches, on the roofs of the houses, in the streets and squares, and even on the sides of the roads around Jerusalem. The Jews thus renewed every year the remembrance of the forty years during which their fathers had lived in tents in the wilderness. The city and its environs resembled a camp of pilgrims. The principal ceremonies of the feast had reference to the miraculous blessings of which Israel had been the object during that long and painful pilgrimage of the desert.
A libation which was made every morning in the temple, recalled to mind the waters which Moses had caused to spring forth from the rock. Two candelabra, lighted at evening in the court, represented the luminous cloud which had given light to the Israelites during the nights. To the seven days of the feast, properly so called, the law added an eighth, with which was perhaps connected, according to the ingenious supposition of Lange, the remembrance of the entrance into the promised land. Josephus calls this feast the most sacred and greatest of the Israelitish festivals. But, as it was also designed to celebrate the end of all the harvestings of the year, the people gave themselves up to rejoicings which easily degenerated into license, and which caused it to be compared by Plutarch to the feasts of Bacchus. It was the last of the great legal feasts of the year; as Jesus had not gone, this year, either to the Passover-feast or to that of Pentecost, it might be presumed that He would go to this feast. For it was assumed that every one would celebrate at least one of these three principal feasts at Jerusalem. Hence the therefore of the following verse.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
LXXV.
JESUS’ BROTHERS ADVISE HIM TO GO TO JERUSALEM.
(Galilee, probably Capernaum.)
dJOHN VII. 2-9.
d2 Now the feast of the Jews, the feast of tabernacles, was at hand. [The Joh 7:1 tells us that Jesus kept away from Juda because the Jews sought for his life. See page 393. This keeping away or seclusion began at the Passover season, and led Jesus not only to keep away from Juda, but even to hover upon the outskirts of Galilee itself. This seclusion is described in Sections LXV.-LXXI. We now turn back to take up with John the narrative which tells how, after his six months’ retirement, Jesus prepared to appear once more in Juda. The Feast of Tabernacles began on the 15th day of the month Tisri, which answers to our September-October, and consequently came six [439] months after and six months before the Passover. It was the most joyous of the two great feasts, and not only commemorated the time when Israel dwelt in the wilderness in tents, but also celebrated the harvest home. It was, therefore, a thanksgiving both for permanent abodes and for the year’s crops. As the people dwelt in booths, the feast partook much of the form and merriment of a picnic.] 3 His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may behold thy works which thou doest. 4 For no man doeth any thing in secret, and himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou doest these things, manifest thyself to the world. [When we consider how Jesus had withdrawn into the regions of Tyre, Sidon, Decapolis, and Csarea Philippi, and with what assiduity he had avoided crowds and concealed miracles, these words become very plain. The twelve had been instructed sufficiently to confess his Messiahship, but thousands of his disciples had not seen a miracle in six months. To his brothers such secrecy seemed foolish on the part of one who was ostensibly seeking to be known. They were not disposed to credit the miracles of Jesus, but insisted that if he could work them he ought to do so openly.] 5 For even his brethren did not believe on him. [This verse explodes the idea that the parties known in the New Testament as our Lord’s brothers were the sons of Alphus and cousins to Jesus. The sons of Alphus had long since been numbered among the apostles, while our Lord’s brothers were still unbelievers. As to his brothers, see pp. 224-226, 360.] 6 Jesus therefore saith unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is always ready. [Jesus is answering a request that he manifest himself. The great manifestation of his cross and resurrection could not properly take place before the Passover, which was still six months distant. But his brothers, having no message and no manifestation, could show themselves at Jerusalem any time.] 7 The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that its works are evil. [The world can [440] not hate you because you are in mind and heart a part of it, and it can not hate itself. It hates those who are not of it, and who rebuke its sins and oppose its ways.] 8 Go ye up unto the feast: I go not up unto this feast; because my time is not yet fulfilled. 9 And having said these things unto them, he abode still in Galilee. [He did go to the feast, but he did not go up to manifest himself, as his brothers asked, and hence, in the sense in which they made the request, he did not go up. Six months later, at the Passover, he manifested himself by the triumphal entry somewhat as his brothers wished.]
[FFG 439-441]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
FINAL DEPARTURE FROM GALILEE
Joh 7:2-10. And the feast of the Jews, called Tabernacles, was nigh. (Lev 23:34.) This great annual solemnity was held in September, commemorative of their sojourn in the wilderness forty years, dwelling in tents. Therefore all Israel, beginning on the Sabbath and closing on the following Sabbath, dwelt in tents eight days, in the enjoyment of what we would now call a holiness camp-meeting. As the Temple Campus contains thirty-five acres, there all of their great national feasts were held.
Then His brothers said to Him, Depart thence, and go into Judea, in order that Thy disciples shall see the works which Thou art doing; for no one doeth anything in secret and himself seeketh to be public. If You do these things, manifest Yourself to the world; for His brothers did not yet believe on Him. Jesus says to them, My time is not yet, but your time is always ready. The world is not able to hate you; but it hateth Me, because I testify concerning it that its works are evil. You go up to the feast; I do not go up to this feast. Speaking these things, He remained in Galilee; but when His brothers went up to the feast, then He also went up; not publicly, but in secret. Six months previously He had declined to go to the Passover, having attended the two preceding, at the first of which He began His ministry; evidently because He saw they were determined to crown Him. King. Though He goes to this Feast of Tabernacles, after it gets under headway, He declined to go at the first with the crowd, as they were intent on His royal coronation. He says, I do not go to this feast; not saying He did mot intend to go at a later date. Here we see that even at this late period of His ministry, two and one-half years having rolled away, His brothers i.e., James, Judas, Joses, and Simon did not believe on Him. They believed that He was a mighty prophet, and in all probability entertained vague hopes that He might prove to be the Christ who was to redeem Israel. As He had hitherto spent nearly all of the time of His ministry in the comparatively obscure regions of Galilee, they were anxious to get Him off to Jerusalem, where He would meet the vast multitudes at the feast, and come in contact with the thronging population of South Palestine, that they might witness His mighty works. His brothers thought He needed pushing out, and were trying to do it. None of His four younger brothers were among the original Twelve; James and Judas (called Jude in E.V.) falling in about the time of His resurrection the latter becoming the apostle of Tartary; and the former, the pastor of the Apostolic Church at Jerusalem, a signal compliment paid him because of his brotherhood to the Lord.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 2
Feast of tabernacles; an annual celebration commemorative of the dwelling of the Israelites in tents or tabernacles. It was held in the autumn, the passover occurring in the spring. It continued several days, (John 7:37,) during which time the people assembled at Jerusalem, and lived in tents and booths, and imitated the modes of life and usages of their fathers in the wilderness, as particularly described in Nehemiah 8:13-18. For other allusions to this feast in the Old Testament, see Deut. 16:13-15.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
7:2 Now the Jews’ {a} feast of tabernacles was at hand.
(a) This feast was so called because of the booths and tents which they made out of different types of boughs, and sat under them seven days altogether; and during this entire time the feast went on.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The feast of Tabernacles occurred six months after Passover (Joh 6:4). That year it fell on September 10-17, A.D. 32. [Note: Hoehner, p. 143.] It was a fall grape and olive harvest festival (Exo 23:16; Lev 23:33-36; Lev 23:39-43; Deu 16:13-15). In Jesus’ day it was the most popular of the three required Jewish feasts. [Note: Josephus, Antiquities of . . ., 8:4:1.] It commemorated the Israelites’ sojourn in the wilderness. Many devout Jews built temporary shelters out of branches and lived in them for the week to simulate the wilderness conditions in which their forefathers had lived.