Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 7:21
Jesus answered and said unto them, I have done one work, and ye all marvel.
21. I have done ] Better, I did. Comp. Joh 7:23.
one work ] The healing of the impotent man at Bethesda: it excited the astonishment of all as being wrought on the Sabbath. Christ reminds them that on that occasion all, and not the rulers only, were offended.
Most modern editors add to this verse the words translated ‘therefore’ in Joh 7:22 [it is not S. John’s favourite particle (see on Joh 7:15), but a preposition with a pronoun = for this cause, on account of this ]; ‘and ye all marvel on account of this.’ But this is cumbrous, and unlike S. John, who begins sentences with this phrase (Joh 6:16; Joh 6:18, Joh 8:47, Joh 10:17, Joh 12:39; mistranslated ‘therefore’ in all cases) rather than ends them with it. The old arrangement is best.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
One work – The healing of the man on the Sabbath, John 5.
Ye all marvel – You all wonder or are amazed, and particularly that it was done on the Sabbath. This was the particular ground of astonishment, that he should dare to do what they esteemed a violation of the Sabbath.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 21. I have done one work] That of curing the impotent man, already referred to. See Joh 5:9.
And ye all marvel.] or, ye all marvel because of this. Some have , in connection with , which the common pointing makes the beginning of the next verse, and which, in our common version, is translated therefore; but this word conveys no meaning at all, in the connection in which it is thus placed. Proof of this construction Kypke gives from Themistius, Strabo, and AElian. All the eminent critics are on the side of this arrangement of the words.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
By the one miracle it is plain, by what followeth, that he meaneth healing the man who lay at the pool of Bethesda; at this, he saith, they marvelled, by which is to be understood offended, for so it is expounded by , Joh 7:23; and to this sense is our Saviours subsequent discourse.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
21-24. I have done one work,c.Taking no notice of the popular appeal, as there were thosethere who knew well enough what He meant, He recalls His cure of theimpotent man, and the murderous rage it had kindled (Joh 5:9Joh 5:16; Joh 5:18).It may seem strange that He should refer to an event a year and ahalf old, as if but newly done. But their present attempt “tokill Him” brought up the past scene vividly, not only to Him,but without doubt to them, too, if indeed they had ever forgotten it;and by this fearless reference to it, exposing their hypocrisy anddark designs, He gave His position great moral strength.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Jesus answered and said unto them,…. Taking no notice of their passion, reproach, and blasphemy; but proceeding upon the thing he had in view, and which he was determined to reassume, and vindicate himself in;
I have done one work; that is, on the sabbath day; meaning, his cure of the man that had had a disorder eight and thirty years, who lay at Bethesda’s pool; which single action, they charged with being a breach of the sabbath, he mentions with a view to their many, and daily violations of it:
and ye all marvel; at it, as a thing unheard of, as a most shocking piece of iniquity, as an intolerable evil; wondering that any man should have the front, to bid another take up his bed and walk, on the sabbath day: they did not marvel at the miracle that was wrought; but were amazed, offended, and disturbed, at its being done on the sabbath day.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
One work ( ). Direct allusion to the healing of the impotent man when in Jerusalem before (5:1ff.). He had wrought others before (John 2:23; John 4:45), but this one on the Sabbath caused the rulers to try to kill Jesus (5:18). Some wondered then, others had murder in their hearts. This crowd here is ignorant.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
One work [ ] . The healing on the Sabbath (v. 1 – 8).
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Jesus answered and said unto them,” (apekrithe lesous kai eipen autois) “Jesus replied and said directly and openly to them,” ardent followers of leading perverters of the law of Moses who had rejected Him as the Messiah, Mar 7:1-12; Joh 1:11-13.
2) “I have done one work,” (hen ergon epoiesa) “I did one work,” a miraculous healing at the pool of Bethesda, Joh 5:10-18.
3) “And ye all marvel.” (kai pantes thaumazete) “And you all marvel,” or are baffled about it, about both the miracle I performed and my teaching from the Father, Joh 7:15-16.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
21. I have done one work. Now, leaving their persons, he begins to speak of the fact; for he proves that the miracle which he performed is not inconsistent with the Law of God. When he says that he has done one work, the meaning is, that it is only of a single crime that he is held guilty, or that it is only for a single work that he is blamed, which is, that he cured a man on the day of Rest; (188) but that they, on every day of Rest, do many works of the same, or a similar description, and do not reckon them criminal; for not a day of Rest passed on which there were not many infants circumcised in Judea. By this example he defends his action, although he does not merely argue from what is similar, but draws a comparison between the greater and the less. There was this similarity between circumcision and the cure of the paralytic, that both were works of God; but Christ maintains that the latter is more excellent, because the benefit of it extends to the whole man. Now if he had merely cured the man of bodily disease, the comparison would not have been applicable; for circumcision would have greater excellence as to the cure of the soul. Christ, therefore, connects the spiritual advantage of the miracle with the outward benefit granted to the body; and on this account he justly prefers to circumcision the entire cure of a man.
There might also be another reason for the comparison, namely, that the sacraments are not always attended by power and efficacy, while Christ wrought efficaciously in curing the paralytic. But I prefer the former exposition, that the Jews maliciously and slanderously blame a work, in which the grace of God shines more illustriously than in circumcision, on which they bestow so much honor that they think the Sabbath is not violated by it. And you all wonder The wonder, of which he speaks, means that what Christ had done caused this murmur, because they thought that he had ventured to do more than was lawful.
(188) “ An jour de Repos.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(21) I have done one worki.e., the one conspicuous work of healing the infirm man on the Sabbath day, which He did at His last visit to Jerusalem. We have already had a reference to other works in Joh. 2:23, and He Himself refers to His many good works in Joh. 10:32.
Ye all marvel.This answer is addressed to the multitude who said Thou hast a devil, when He spoke of the intention to kill Him. This work on the Sabbath day, which provoked the deadly hostility of the hierarchy (Joh. 5:16; Joh. 5:18), was cause of wonder to them all. They, too, though not in the same degree, were led by it to take a hostile position.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
21. Jesus answered He disregards the interruption, and prosecutes his argument to show how they break the law of Moses while he does the will of God, (21-24.) In his miracle at Bethesda, he argues, he as truly did the will of God by healing on the Sabbath day as they observe the law of Moses in circumcising on the Sabbath day. The law of the Sabbath is truly broken in neither case. For both were religious and holy acts on the Sabbath day, in accordance with God’s will and law.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Jesus answered and said to them, ‘I did one work and you all wonder at it’.
This looks back to the man at the pool who was healed on the Sabbath (Joh 5:2-9). This was the incident that above all had turned the Judaisers against Him. By it He was seen not only as a Sabbath-breaker but also as One Who had encouraged others to break the Sabbath. And to make matters worse, in His defence He had claimed God as His own Father.
‘You all wonder at it.’ This could refer to the Judaisers and mean that they constantly thought about it and considered its implications. Or it may have the crowd in mind, reminding them of the effect the wonder had had on them. The context on the whole suggests that the Judaisers are in mind.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Joh 7:21-22. I have done one work, &c. It is plain, that the miracle of Bethesda, here referred to, was wrought a year and a half before this feast; but they made use of it as a pretence to destroy him, because he had done it on the sabbath-day. The words , at the beginning of Joh 7:22 should be joined with the last words of Joh 7:21 if we may trust the judgment of some of the most learned critics. I have done one work, and ye all marvel at it. And it must be acknowledged, that we have precisely the same construction Mar 6:6. All the versions, however, retain the common pointing; and if we do so, the translation of Joh 7:22 must run thus: Because that Moses gave you the precept concerning circumcision, ye circumcise a man even on the sabbath-day. But the pointing just proposed makes the sense more clear and elegant thus: Moses gave you the law of circumcision, and on the sabbath ye circumcise a man, not because it is a precept of Moses only, but of the fathers. Jesus, being charged by the Jews as a transgressor of the law of Moses for having cured a man on the sabbath-day, thus expostulates with his accusers: “You wonder and object that I should cure a man, and order him to carry his couch, on the sabbath day; yet a little reflection might convince you, that your cavil is very unreasonable, even on your own principles; for to instance in circumcision, which Moses enjoined you to observe, and not to omit the performance of it on the eighth day; now if this happen to fall on the sabbath, you interrupt its holy rest, by performing the rite without scruple on this day, because you will not break the law of Moses, which has marked out a certain day for this work of charity; are you therefore angry atme for performing a work of equal charity on the sabbath day, Joh 7:23 and that with far less bodily labour than you perform the ceremony of circumcision.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Joh 7:21-22 . ] The reply of Jesus, not to the (Ebrard), but to the (for it is really addressed to them, not in appearance merely, and through an inaccurate account of the matter on John’s part, as Tholuck unnecessarily assumes), contains, indeed, no direct answer to the question put, but is intended to make the people feel that all had a guilty part in the murderous designs against Him, and that none of them are excepted, because that one work which He had done among them was unacceptable to them all , and had excited their unjustifiable wrath. Thus He deprives the people of that assurance of their own innocence which had prompted them to put the question to Him; “ostendit se profundius eos nsse et hoc radio eos penetrat,” Bengel.
] i.e . the healing on the Sabbath, Joh 5:2 ff., the only miraculous work which He had done in Jerusalem (against Weisse [262] ) (not, indeed, the only work at all, see Joh 2:23 , comp. also Joh 10:32 , but the only one during the last visit), for the remembrance of which the fact of its being so striking an instance of Sabbath-breaking would suffice.
] is correlative with , “and ye all wonder” (Act 3:12 ), i.e . how I could have done it as a Sabbath work (Joh 5:16 ); it is the object of your universal astonishment! An exclamation ; taken as a question (Ewald), the expression of disapprobation which it contains would be less emphatic. To put into the idea of alarm (Chrysostom), of blame (Nonnus), of displeasure (Grotius), or the like, would be to anticipate; the bitterness of tone does not appear till Joh 7:23 .
] connected with by Theophylact, and most moderns (even Lcke, Tholuck, Olshausen, De Wette, B. Crusius, Maier, Lange, Lachmann, Hengstenberg, Ewald, Baeumlein, Ebrard, Godet; among earlier expositors, Beza, Casaubon, Homberg, Maldonatus, Wolf, Mill, Kypke, etc.; see on Mar 6:6 ); but Syr. Goth. Codd. It., Cyril, Chrysostom, Nonnus, Euthymius Zigabenus, Luther, Castalio, Erasmus, Aretius, Grotius, Cornelius a Lapide, Jansen, Bengel, Wetstein, and several others, also Luthardt, and already most of the Codices, with true perception, place the words at the beginning of Joh 7:22 (so also Elzevir); for, joined with , they are cumbrous and superfluous, [263] and contrary to John’s method elsewhere of beginning, not ending, with (Joh 5:16 ; Joh 5:18 , Joh 6:65 , Joh 8:47 , Joh 10:17 , al .; see Schulz on Griesbach , p. 543). Only we must not take them either as superfluous (Euthymius Zigabenus) or as elliptical : “therefore hear ,” or “ know ” (Grotius, Jansen, even Winer, p. 58 [E. T. p. 68]); the former is inadmissible, the latter is neither Johannean nor in keeping with what follows, which does not contain a declaration, but a deduction of a logical kind. We ought rather, with Bengel (“ propterea , hoc mox declaratur per , nempe non quia ”) and Luthardt, following Cyril, to regard them as standing in connection with the following . With this anticipatory , Jesus begins to diminish the astonishment which His healing on the Sabbath had awakened, showing it to be unreasonable , and this by the analogy of circumcision , which is performed also on the Sabbath. Instead of simply saying, “ because it comes from the fathers ,” He puts the main statement, already introduced by , and so important in the argument, both negatively and positively , and says, “ Therefore Moses gave you circumcision, not because it originated with Moses, but (because it originated) with the fathers , and so ye circumcise” ( consecutive), etc.; that is, this , on to , serves to show that circumcision, though divinely commanded by Moses in the law, and thus given to the Jews as a ritualistic observance, was not Mosaic in its origin, but was an old patriarchal institution dating back even from Abraham. The basis of its historic claim to validity lies in the fact that the law of circumcision precedes the law of the Sabbath, and consequently the enjoined rest of the Sabbath must give way to circumcision. [264] Even the Rabbins had this axiom: “ Circumcisio pellit sabbatum ,” and based it upon the fact that it was “ traditio partum .” See Wetstein on Joh 7:23 . The anger of the people on account of the healing on the Sabbath rested on a false estimate of the Sabbath; comp. Mat 12:5 . From this explanation it is at the same time clear that is not of the nature of a parenthesis (so usually, even Lachmann). Of those who so regard it, some rightly recognise in the words the authority of circumcision as outweighing that of the Sabbath; while others, against the context, infer from them its lesser sanctity as being a traditional institution (Paulus, B. Crusius, Ewald, Godet). Others, again, take them as an (objectless) correction (De Wette, Baeumlein), or as an historical observation (equally superfluous) of Jesus (Tholuck, Hengstenberg, and earlier expositors) or of John (Lcke, cf. Ebrard). Above all, it would have been very strange and paltry to suppose (with Hengstenberg) that Jesus by this remark was endeavouring, with reference to Joh 7:15 , to do away with the appearance of ignorance .
] Lev 12:3 .
] not as in Joh 6:46 , but as in Joh 12:6 .
] Instead of saying , Jesus repeats the name , thus giving more emphasis to the thought. See Khner, ad Xen. Mem . i. 6. 1, ad Anab . i. 6. 11.
] Gen 17:10 ; Gen 21:4 ; Act 7:8 ; Rom 4:11 .
.] if it be the eighth day. Comp. the Rabbinical quotations in Lightfoot. Being emphatic, it takes the lead.
[262] How does he make out the ? It is the one miracle which Christ came to accomplish (Mat 12:38 ; Mat 16:1 sqq.; Luk 11:29 ff.), described by Him metaphorically as a Sabbath healing; this the evangelist has taken for a single miraculous act. See Evangelienfr . p. 249.
[263] This accounts for the omission of in Tisch. deletes it, and with * reads . (with the article).
[264] The patriarchal period wag indeed that of promise , but this is not made prominent here, and we cannot therefore say with Luthardt: “Jesus puts the law and the promise over-against one another, like Paul in Gal 3:17 .” There is no hint of this in the text. Judging from the text, there rather lies in , . . ., the proof that, in the case of a collision between the two laws, that of circumcision and that of the Sabbath, the former must have the precedence, because, though enjoined by Moses , it already had a patriarchal origin, and on account of this older sanctity it must suffer no infringement through the law of the Sabbath. Nonnus well describes the argumentation by the words .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
21 Jesus answered and said unto them, I have done one work, and ye all marvel.
Ver. 21. And ye all marvel ] i.e. ye all murmur: but he speaks the best of them, as not willing to enrage them.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
21. ] The one work was the sabbath-healing in ch. 5.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Joh 7:21 . Jesus prefers to expose the unjustifiable character of the hostility which pursued Him (Joh 7:16 ). Referring to the miracle wrought at Bethesda, and which gave occasion to this hostility, He says . One single work I did and ye all marvel [are horrified or scandalised]; for this same object, of imparting health, Moses gave you circumcision, an ordinance that continues through all the generations and regularly sets aside the Sabbath law. If circumcision is performed, lest the law of Moses be broken, are ye angry at me for making a man every whit whole [or rather, for making an entire or whole man healthy] on the Sabbath day? The argument is obvious; and its force is brought out by the antithetical form of the sentence: the of the healing of the impotent man is contrasted with the continuous ordinance of circumcision, and so the aorist is used of the one, the perfect of the other. In Joh 7:23 is contrasted with , the partial and symbolic with the complete and actual soundness. The argument is all the more telling because a “vis medicatrix,” as well as a ceremonial purity (but vide Meyer), was ascribed to circumcision [“praeputium est vitium in corpore”]. Wetstein quotes from a Rabbi a singularly analogous argument: “Si circumcisio, quae fit in uno membrorum 248 hominis, pellit Sabbatum, quanto magis verum est, conservationem vitae Sabbatum pellere?” The parenthesis in Joh 7:22 , , is apparently thrown in for accuracy’s sake, lest some captious persons should divert attention from the argument by objecting to the statement that Moses had “given” them circumcision. The reference of in the same verse is obscure. Some editors join these words with ; but although in Mar 6:6 follows , this construction does not occur in John. Besides, John frequently begins his sentences with ; and if Joh 7:22 begins with , such a commencement is certainly abrupt. Retaining as part of Joh 7:22 , the words might be understood thus: “I have done one work and ye all marvel: therefore (be it known unto you) Moses has given you,” etc., i.e. , “I will remove your astonishment: you yourselves perform circumcision,” etc. See Winer, p. 68. So Holtzmann, and Weizscker, who renders: “Darum: Moses hat euch,” etc. This gives a good sense, but surely the ellipsis is too severe. Holtzmann’s reference to Joh 6:65 tells rather against it, for there is added. May not mean, “on this account,” i.e. , for the same reason as I had in healing the impotent man, did Moses give you circumcision? I did one work of healing and ye marvel. But with a similar object Moses gave you circumcision. This seems best to suit the words and the context. He adds to His argument the comprehensive advice of Joh 7:24 . . “Judge not according to appearance:” , according to what presents itself to the eye; the Pharisaic vice. In appearance the healing of the impotent man was a breach of the Sabbath-law. No righteous judgment can be come to if appearances decide. For , cf. Plato Rep. , 360 E; and cf. , , , etc.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
have done = did.
one. A Hebrew idiom for “a”. See Joh 1:3.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
21.] The one work was the sabbath-healing in ch. 5.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 7:21. , one) out of countless works, which ye know not [viz. the miracle in the case of the man at the pool of Bethesda.-V. g.]-, I have done) on the Sabbath, Joh 7:23.-, and) Involves a relative force; I have done one work, which ye all wonder at. Since in the case of none other work of Mine ye perceive anything to censure; ye ought to have formed a favourable opinion of this one work also.-, ye marvel) accompanied with doubt. Such a marvelling, as in Act 2:7; Act 2:12, They were all amazed and marvelled, saying-Behold, are not all these which speak Galilans? And-they were in doubt.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 7:21
Joh 7:21
Jesus answered and said unto them, I did one work, and ye all marvel because thereof.-Jesus referred to the healing of the impotent man on the Sabbath day.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
I have: Joh 5:9-11
Reciprocal: Mat 12:2 – Behold Luk 13:15 – doth not Joh 9:14 – General Act 8:13 – and wondered Phi 3:5 – Circumcised
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1
Jesus was soon to remind them of the occasion when they sought to kill him. He first comments on the case by referring to their astonishment at the one work that he had done, while they also would do something even on the sabbath day that was as certainly a work as curing a sick man would be.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joh 7:21. Jesus answered and said unto them, did one work, and ye all marvel. This answer seems to have been addressed to the multitude, or rather to the whole body of those present including the Jews, not to the Jews alone (as is supposed by some who make Joh 7:20 a parenthesis): hence the calmness of the tone. One work, viz. that recorded in chap. Joh 5:1-8,the miracle, with all its attendant circumstances. Many other miracles had Jesus wrought in Jerusalem (chap. Joh 2:25), but this one had caused all the amazement and repulsion of feeling of which He is here speaking.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Joh 7:21-24. Jesus answered, I have done one good work, and ye all marvel I have done a miracle of an extraordinary kind on the sabbath day, an action which ye think inconsistent with the character of a good man, and therefore ye wonder that I should have performed it. But I can easily vindicate my character, by an argument which it is not in your power to gainsay. Moses therefore gave you circumcision That is, the law of circumcision. Dr. Campbell joins the words , here rendered therefore, to the end of the former verse, following Theophylact, and some whom he terms our best authors, observing, that nothing can be more incongruously connected than the words are in the English, and most other modern translations; where our Lords performing a miracle is represented as the cause why Moses gave them circumcision. Thus also Doddridge, Wesley, Wynne, and Worsley, who translate the last clause of the preceding verse, I have done one work, and ye all marvel at it, or, on account of it. If we retain the common pointing, as all the versions do, the interpretation of this verse (Joh 7:22) must be, Because that Moses gave you the precept concerning circumcision, ye even circumcise a man on the sabbath day. But the correction just now proposed makes the sense more clear and elegant, thus: Moses gave you the law of circumcision, (though indeed it was far more ancient than he, being a precept enjoined to and observed by, the patriarchs,) and on the sabbath day ye circumcise a man. If a man receive circumcision on the sabbath day, that the law of Moses may not be broken The precept of circumcision required, that every male should be circumcised the eighth day from his birth. Though the eighth day happened on the sabbath, this ceremony was not deferred: and the law of circumcision vacated the law of the sabbath. Are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole Or, have made a whole man sound; on the sabbath day? Since you think yourselves bound to dispense with the strict observation of the sabbath for the sake of another precept, which is only of a ceremonial nature, how can ye be angry with me, because, in pursuance of the great end of all the divine laws, I have cured a man who was infirm in all his members, and that with far less bodily labour than that with which you perform the ceremony of circumcision, and cure the wound that is made by it? Judge not according to the appearance, &c. Consider the nature of the things, and judge impartially, without regard to your own prejudices, or the superstition of your teachers. Dr. Campbell renders the clause, Judge not from personal regards, thinking that translation gives more exactly the sense of the original expression, . There can be no question, says he, that this precept is of the same import with those which enjoin strict impartiality between the parties, or to have no respect of persons in judgment. The application of it is obvious on this occasion. If the Jews had been strictly impartial and equitable, they would have seen that they could not vindicate Moses for enjoining such a violation of the sabbatical rest as was occasioned by circumcising, while they condemned Jesus for his miraculous cures, which required less labour, and were not less evidently calculated for promoting a good end. Nay, they could not excuse themselves for the one practice, if Jesus was blameable for the other.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Verse 21
Marvel; express surprise and displeasure.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
7:21 {8} Jesus answered and said unto them, I have done one work, and ye all marvel.
(8) The sabbath day (which is here set before us as a standard of all ceremonies) was not appointed to hinder, but to further and practise God’s works, amongst which the main one is the love of our neighbour.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The one deed (lit. work, Gr. ergon, i.e., a miraculous work) that He had done to which Jesus referred was evidently the healing of the paralytic at the Bethesda pool (Joh 7:23; Joh 5:1-9). It had caused all who heard of it to marvel (Joh 5:10-18). It had begun the controversy about Jesus in Jerusalem.