Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 7:35
Then said the Jews among themselves, Whither will he go, that we shall not find him? will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles?
35. Then said the Jews ] The Jews therefore said, i.e. in consequence of what Christ had said, shewing that it is to the official representatives of the nation that His words are addressed.
Whither will he go, &c.] Better, Where does this fellow intend to go, seeing that we shall not find Him? Does He intend to go unto the dispersion among the Gentiles, &c.
the dispersed ] Or, the dispersion, meaning those Jews who were dispersed among the heathen outside Palestine; the abstract for the concrete, like ‘the circumcision’ for the Jews generally. The word for ‘dispersion’ ( diaspora), occurs Jas 1:1 and 1Pe 1:1 (see notes there), and nowhere else in N.T. There were three chief colonies of these ‘dispersed’ or ‘scattered’ Jews, in Babylonia, Egypt, and Syria, whence they spread over the whole world. ‘Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him,’ Act 15:21. These opponents of Christ, therefore, suggest that He means to go to the Jews scattered among the Gentiles in order to reach the Gentiles and teach them the very mode of proceeding afterwards adopted by the Apostles. But here it is spoken in sarcasm. Christ’s utter disregard of Jewish exclusiveness and apparent non-observance of the ceremonial law gave a handle to the sneer; which would be pointless if the word translated ‘Gentiles’ (margin ‘Greeks’) were rendered ‘Hellenists,’ i.e. Grecised Jews. Hellenes, or ‘Greeks,’ in N.T. always means Gentiles or heathen. See on Joh 12:20.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The dispersed among the Gentiles – To the Jews scattered among the Gentiles, or living in distant parts of the earth. It is well known that at that time there were Jews dwelling in almost every land. There were multitudes in Egypt, in Asia Minor, in Greece, in Rome, etc., and in all these places they had synagogues. The question which they asked was whether he would leave an ungrateful country, and go into those distant nations and teach them.
Gentiles – In the original, Greeks. All those who were not Jews were called Greeks, because they were chiefly acquainted with those pagans only who spake the Greek language. It is remarkable that Jesus returned no answer to these inquiries. He rather chose to turn off their minds from a speculation about the place to which he was going, to the great affairs of their own personal salvation.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 35. The dispersed among the Gentiles] Or Greeks. By the dispersed, are meant here the Jews who were scattered through various parts of that empire which Alexander the Great had founded, in Greece, Syria, Egypt, and Asia Minor, where the Greek language was used, and where the Jewish Scriptures in the Greek version of the Septuagint were read. Others suppose that the Gentiles themselves are meant-others, that the ten tribes which had been long lost are here intended.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The Jews, not at all believing the Divine nature of Christ, notwithstanding all that Christ had said, and all the miracles he had wrought, are at a mighty loss to conclude what our Saviour spake of, and whither he would go; they thought he could go no where in the land of Jewry, but they should hear of him, and be able to come where he was; they conclude therefore that he would go into some pagan country. In the Greek it is, Will he go into the dispersion of the Grecians? There were two most famous dispersions, of which we read in history. The first was of the Jews, of which we read in sacred history, in the captivities of Assyria, whither the ten tribes were carried, 2Ki 17:6; and Babylon, whither the two tribes were carried, 2Ki 24:14. And that of the Grecians by the Macedonians; when also many of the Jews were dispersed by Alexander the Great, and his successors. Peter directeth his Epistle to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 1Pe 1:1. And James directs his Epistle to the twelve tribes scattered abroad. They fancy that our Saviour would go into some of these places, and preach; by which means the Gentiles would be taught the mysteries of the Jewish religion, which was what above all things they were impatient of hearing; and yet had reason from the prophecies of the Old Testament to fear, viz. their own rejection, and the receiving in of the Gentiles, which afterward came to pass, Rom 11:15.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
35, 36. Whither will he go,&c.They cannot comprehend Him, but seem awed by the solemngrandeur of His warning. He takes no notice, however, of theirquestions.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then said the Jews among themselves,…. That is, the unbelieving, scoffing Jews; it may be the officers, at least some of them, that were sent to take him:
whither will he go that we shall not find him? what distant, or obscure part of the world will he betake himself to, and there hide himself, that so he cannot be found?
will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles? or Greeks; and so may design the Jews, who were scattered abroad in the times of the Grecian monarchy, under the successors of Alexander, and particularly Antiochus, in distinction from the Babylonish dispersion; or the strangers scattered through Pontus Galatia, c. to whom Peter writes, 1Pe 1:1. The Arabic version renders it, “the sect of the Greeks” by which the Hellenistic Jews seem to be meant: or the Jews in general, wherever, and by whomsoever scattered, who might be thought to be more ignorant than the Jews in Judea, and therefore more easily to be imposed upon: hence, in a flouting manner, they inquire, whether he will go to those when he is rejected by them. The Syriac and Ethiopic versions read, “will he go into the countries, or country of the Gentiles” into Heathen countries, not to the Jews there, but to the Gentiles themselves:
and teach the Gentiles? suggesting, that he was more fit to be a teacher of them, than of the Jews, and might meet with more encouragement and success among them, who would not be able to detect him.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Among themselves ( ). These Jewish leaders of verse 32 talk among themselves about what Jesus said in a spirit of contempt (this man or fellow, ).
That (). Almost result like in Mt 8:27.
Will he go? ( ;). Negative answer expected in an ironical question, “Is he about to go?”
Unto the Dispersion among the Greeks ( H). Objective genitive H (of the Greeks) translated here “among,” because it is the Dispersion of Jews among the Greeks. is from , to scatter apart (Acts 8:1; Acts 8:4). It occurs in Plutarch and is common in the LXX, in the N.T. only here, Jas 1:1; 1Pet 1:1. There were millions of these scattered Jews.
And teach the Greeks ( H). Confessing his failure to teach the Jews in Palestine, “thus ignorantly anticipating the course Christianity took; what seemed unlikely and impossible to them became actual” (Dods).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Will He go [ ] . Literally, whither does this man intend to go, or whither is He thinking of going? The A. V. misses the contemptuous insinuation in this man (Rev.).
We shall not find him [] . The pronoun is emphatic; we, the religious leaders, the wise men, who scrutinize the claims of all professed teachers and keep a watchful eye on all impostors.
The dispersed among the Gentiles [ ] . Literally, the dispersion of the Greeks. The Jews who remained in foreign lands after the return from the Captivity were called by two names :
1. The Captivity, which was expressed in Greek by three words, viz., ajpoikia, a settlement far from home, which does not occur in the New Testament; metoikesia, change of abode, which is found in Mt 1:11, 12, 17, and always of the carrying into Babylon; aijcmalwsia, a taking at the point of the spear; Eph 4:8; Rev 13:10.
2. The Dispersion [] . See on 1Pe 1:1; Jas 1:1. The first name marks their relation to their own land; the second to the strange lands.
The Gentiles (%Ellhnav). Literally, the Greeks. So Rev. See on Act 6:1.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Then said the Jews among themselves,” (eipon oun hoi loudaioi pros heautous) “Then said the Jews to themselves, to one another;” Confounded and confused by His words as He spoke there in the holy temple, while they as leaders connived and plotted, with murder in their hearts, Joh 7:28; Joh 5:16; Joh 5:18.
2) “Whither will he go, that we shall not find him?” (pou houtos mellei poreuesthai hoti hemeis ouch heuresomen auton) “Where is this one about to go that we will not find him?”
3) ”Will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles,” (me eis ten diasporan ton hellenon mellei poreuesthai) “He is not about to go to the dispersion among the Greeks, is he?” to the Jews scattered among the Gentiles of the Grecian states or territories, is He? Deu 28:25; Isa 11:12, Jas 1:1; 1Pe 1:1.
4) “And teach the Gentiles?” (kai didaskein tous hellenas) “And to teach the Greeks, is he?” Those Jews who have become nationals in Grecian territories as well as the Gentiles there; is it possible that is what He is saying? It was not. He simply was speaking of returning to His Father in heaven, a thing they could not grasp, having rejected Him as Divine, as the Son of God, Joh 1:11-12; In spite of: 1) His prophetic fulfillments, 2) His miracles, and 3) His teachings done before their blinded eyes and ignorant minds, 1Co 2:14; 2Co 3:3-4.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
35. Whither will he go? This was added by the Evangelist, for the express purpose of showing how great was the stupidity of the people. Thus not only are wicked men deaf to hear God’s instruction, but even dreadful threatenings are allowed by them to pass by in mockery, as if they were listening to a fable. Christ spoke expressly of the Father, but they remain fixed on the earth, and think of nothing else than a departure to distant countries.
Will he go to the dispersion of the Greeks? It is well known that the Jews gave the name of Greeks to all nations beyond the sea; but they do not mean that Christ will go to the uncircumcised nations, but to the Jews, who were dispersed through the various countries of the world. For the word dispersion would not apply to those who are natives of the place, and who inhabit their native soil, but applies well to the Jews, who were fugitives and exiles. Thus Peter inscribes his First Epistle παρεπιδήμοις διασπορᾶς, to the strangers of the dispersion, that is, to the strangers who are scattered (194) through Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, (1Pe 1:1😉 and James salutes the twelve tribes ἐν τὣ διασπορᾷ, in the dispersion, that is, scattered abroad, (Jas 1:1.) The meaning of the words therefore is, “Will he cross the sea, to go to Jews who dwell in a world unknown to us?” And it is possible that they intended to teaze Christ by this mockery. “If this be the Messiah, will he fix the seat of his reign in Greece, since God has assigned to him the land of Canaan as his own habitation?” But however that may be, we see that the severe threatening which Christ had uttered did not at all affect them.
(194) “ Aux estrangers qui estes espars.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(35) Whither will he go that we shall not find him?He had said in Joh. 7:33, I go unto Him that sent Me, and in Joh. 7:28. He had declared that they knew not Him that sent Him. There is, then, no contradiction between these verses, and their question, strange as it seems, is but another instance of their total want of power to read any meaning which does not lie upon the surface. He is going away, and they will not be able to find Him, and they can only think of distant lands where other Jews had gone, as of Babylon, or of Egypt, or of Greece. Will He join some distant colony of Jews where they cannot follow Him? They have no thought of His death and return to His Fathers home.
Will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles?Better, Will He go unto the dispersion among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles? The word for dispersion (, diaspora) occurs again, in the New Testament, only in the opening verses of the Epistle of St. James and of the First Epistle of St. Peter, and is in both these passages represented by the English word scattered. The only other instance of its occurrence in the Bible, is in the Greek version (LXX.) of Psa. 146:2. (In Authorised version, Psa. 147:2, He gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.) It is also found in 2Ma. 1:27, Gather those together that are scattered from us. (Comp. Jos. Wars, vii. 3, 3; Ant. xii. 1-3; 15:3, 1.) The abstract word is used like the circumcision, e.g., as a comprehensive title for the individuals included in it. These were the Jews who did not dwell within the limits of the Holy Land, but spreading from the three chief centres, Babylonia, Egypt, and Syria, were found in every part of the civilised world. The Babylonian Diaspora owed its origin to the vast number of exiles who preferred to remain in the positions they had acquired for themselves in their new homes, and did not return to Palestine after the Captivity. They were by far the greater part of the nation, and were scattered through the whole extent of the Persian empire. Of the origin of the Egyptian Diaspora, we find traces in the Old Testament, as in Jer. 41:17; Jer. 42:18. Their numbers were greatly increased under Alexander the Great and his successors, so that they extended over the whole country (Jos. Ant. xvi. 7, 2). Much less numerous than their brethren of Babylonia, and regarded as less pure in descent, they have, through their contact with Western thought and the Greek language, left a deeper and wider influence on after ages. To them we owe the LXX. translation of the Old Testament Scriptures, and the Alexandrian school of Jewish philosophers, two of the most important influences which first prepared the way for, and afterwards moulded the forms of, Christianity. The Syrian Diaspora is traced by Josephus (Ant. vii. 3, 1) to the conquests of Seleucus Nicator (B.C. 300). Under the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes, they spread over a wider area, including the whole of Asia Minor, and thence to the islands and mainland of Greece. It was less numerous than either that of Babylonia or that of Egypt, but the synagogues of this Diaspora formed the connecting links between the older and the newer revelation, and were the first buildings in which Jesus was preached as the Messiah.
But though thus scattered abroad, the Jews of the Diaspora regarded Jerusalem as the common religious centre, and maintained a close communion with the spiritual authorities who dwelt there. They sent liberal offerings to the Temple, and were represented by numerous synagogues in the city, and flocked in large numbers to the chief festivals. (Comp. Notes on Act. 2:9-11.) The Diaspora, then, was a network of Judaism, spreading to every place of intellectual or commercial importance, and linking it to Jerusalem, and a means by which the teaching of the Old Testament was made familiarly known, even in the cities of the Gentiles. Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day (Act. 15:21).
Such was the dispersion among the Gentiles of which these rulers of the Jews speak. They ask the question in evident scorn. Will this Rabbi, leaving Jerusalem, the centre of light and learning, go to those who dwell among the heathen, and become a teacher of the very heathen themselves? We feel that there is some fact which gives point to their question, and is not apparent in the narrative. We shall find this, it may be, if we remember that He Himself had before this crossed the limits of the Holy Land, and had given words to teach and power to save, in the case of the Greek woman who was a Syro-Phnician by nation. (Comp. Notes on Mat. 15:21-28; Mar. 7:24-30.) More fully still do the words find their interpretation in the after history. They are, like the words of Caiaphas (Joh. 11:49-51), an unconscious prophecy, and may be taken as summing up in one sentence the method of procedure in the earliest mission-work of the church. The great high-roads of the Diaspora were those which the Apostles followed. Every apostolic church of the Gentiles may be said to have grown out of a synagogue of the Jews. There is a striking instance of the irony of history, in the fact that the very words of these Jews of Palestine are recorded in the Greek language, by a Jew of Palestine, presiding over a Christian church, in a Gentile city.
For Gentiles, the margin reads Greeks, and this is the more exact translation, but the almost constant New Testament use of the word is in distinction from Jews, and our translators felt rightly that this is better conveyed to the reader by the word Gentiles. (Comp. Notes on Mar. 7:26 and Act. 11:20.) We must be careful to avoid the not unfrequent mistake of rendering the word as though it were Hellenist, which means a Grcised Jew. This is to miss the point of their scorn, which is in the idea of His teaching those outside the pale of Judaism.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
35. Said the Jews This comes from, not the people, nor the Jerusalemites; but from the hostile Judaists, who are speculating how to take him and what course he will pursue.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
35. That we shall not find him They seem to think that if he remains within the limits of Israel they would be able to find him. It must be, therefore, that he means to go to the
Gentiles. The dispersed The diaspora or dispersion; that is, the locality or countries of the Gentiles wherever the Jews are scattered.
Teach the Gentiles Here was uttered an unconscious prophecy. Christ did, through his apostles, go to the Jews, as scattered through Gentile lands, and evangelize the Gentiles.
‘The Judaisers therefore said among themselves, “Where will this man go such that we will never find him? Will he go to the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? What is this word that he said, ‘You will seek me and will not find me, and where I am you cannot come’?” ’
The Judaisers were quite upset and puzzled. ‘What on earth did He mean? Where could He go so they could not find Him?’ they asked themselves. ‘Was He going to the Dispersion (the Jews spread among the nations) among the Greeks to teach the Greeks? What did His words mean?’ This is probably not intended to be taken literally. It was a bout of sarcasm. No prospective Messiah would consider such an action. As has occurred throughout his Gospel John outlines questions to which his readers will know the correct answers.
Yet paradoxically the Judaisers were right. In the end that was where His message would find favour. The ‘Dispersion’ were the Jews and Proselytes (circumcised Gentile converts) who were scattered over the known world and lived outside Palestine. And many Gentiles had found the ethical teaching of these Jews attractive and had joined them as ‘God-fearers’, without being circumcised and becoming wholly Jews. It was among these especially that the Gospel would find a firm welcome.
Joh 7:35-36. Will he go unto the dispersed, &c. , of the Greeks, by whom we are to understand here idolatrous Gentiles, and not Hellenists, or Jews who used the Greek language; for these were the dispersed among them. There appears therefore a sarcasm in these words beyond what has been commonly observed. They insinuate, that if he were to go into foreign countries, to address himself to the Jews there, who might be supposed not so well instructed as those who lived in Judea and at Jerusalem, he would not be able to make any proselytes even among these; but would be constrained to apply himself to the ignorant and stupid Gentiles, to seek disciples among them; which to be sure appeared to these haughty scorners one of themost infamous circumstances that could be imagined, and most incompatible with the character of the true Messiah.
Joh 7:35-36 . An insolent and scornful supposition, which they themselves, however, do not deem probable (therefore the question is asked with ), regarding the meaning of words to them so utterly enigmatical. The bolder mode of teaching adopted by Jesus, His universalistic declarations, His partial non-observance of the law of the Sabbath, would lead them, perhaps, to associate with the unintelligible statement a mocking thought like this, and all the more because much interest was felt among the heathen, partly of an earnest kind, and partly (comp. St. Paul in Athens) arising from curiosity merely, regarding the oriental religions, especially Judaism; see Ewald, Gesch. Chr . p. 110 f. Exo 3 .
] the same as , yet so that the conversation was confined to one party among the people, to the exclusion of the others. See Khner, ad Xen. Mem . ii. 6. 20.
] contemptuously, that man!
] not to be arbitrarily supplemented by a supposed put before it, or in some other way (Buttmaim, N. T. Gr . p. 305 [E. T. p. 358]); but the simple because : “Where will this man go, because, or seeing, that we are not (according to his words) to find him?” It thus states the reason why the is unknown .
. . . .] to the dispersion among the Greeks . Comp. Winer, p. 176 [E. T. p. 234]; and upon the thing referred to, Schneckenburger, N. T. Zeitgesch . p. 94 ff. The subjects of the are the Jews , [268] who lived beyond Palestine dispersed among the heathen , and these latter are denoted by the genitive . Comp. 1Pe 1:1 , and Steiger and Huther thereon. Differently in 2Ma 1:27 ; LXX. Psa 146:2 . The abstract is simply the sum-total of the concretes, like and other words. See 2Ma 1:27 . in the N. T. invariably means the heathen , Gentiles, not the Hellenists (Graecian Jews), so even in Joh 12:20 ; and it is wrong, therefore, to understand . of the latter , and to take these words as the subject of the (Scaliger, Lightfoot, Hammond, B. Crusius, Ammon), and render . . .: “teach the Hellenists .” The thought is rather: “Will Jesus go to the Jews scattered among the Gentiles, in order to unite there with the Gentiles , and to become their teacher?” This was really the course of the subsequent labours of the apostles.
Joh 7:36 . ] Their scornful conjecture does not even satisfy themselves; for that they should seek Him , and not be able to come to Him they know not what the assertion can mean ( , . . .).
[268] Not the heathen , as if . . . were the same as Dispersi Graeci (Chrysostom and his followers, Rupertius, Maldonatus, Hengstenberg, and most). Against this Beza well says: “Vix conveniret ipsis indigenis populis nomen .”
35 Then said the Jews among themselves, Whither will he go, that we shall not find him? will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles?
Ver. 35. Teach the Gentiles ] Which the Jews could not endure to think on. They profess to this day, that rather than the heathen bastards should have benefit by their Messiah, they would crucify him over and over, Luk 4:25-29 . The rustics of Nazareth understood our Saviour of preaching to the Gentiles, which put them into an anger, and him into a danger.
35, 36. ] The Jews understood not his death to be meant, but some journey which he would take in the event of their rejecting him.
The . . . must not be interpreted ‘the Hellenistic Jews,’ for the are always distinguished from the Jews; and this would convey hardly any meaning. The sense of is, see reff. James, 1 Pet., ‘the country where Jews lay scattered,’ as qualified by the succeeding genitive, where one occurs, as here. So here . . . means ‘ the dispersed in the Gentile world; ’ and their intent is, to convey contempt and mockery. They do not however believe the hypothesis; but ask again, ;
Joh 7:35 . This was quite unintelligible to the Jews, . The only meaning they could put upon His words was that, finding no reception among the Jews of Judaea and Galilee, He intended to go to the Jews of the Dispersion and teach them and the Greeks among whom they lived. The does not mean, as Chrysostom and Euthymius suppose, the Gentiles , but the Jews dispersed among the Gentiles, see Deu 28:25 , Jer 34:17 , 1Pe 1:1 , Jas 1:1 ( cf. Schrer, Div. II., vol. ii., and Morrison, Jews under Roman Rule ). But the following clause, , indicates that they supposed He might teach the Greeks themselves: thus ignorantly anticipating the course Christianity took; what seemed unlikely and impossible to them became actual. The saying has impressed itself on their memory, though they find it unintelligible. How they could not go where He could, they could not fathom. Cf. Peter’s “Lord, why can I not follow Thee now?” and the whole conversation, chap. Joh 13:33 to Joh 14:6 , “No one comes to the Father but through me”.
among = to. Greek pros. App-104.
will he go? = is He about to go? (Two verbs.)
the dispersed. Greek Diaspora = the Dispersion. Occurs three times; here, 1Pe 1:1 (“scattered “), and Jam 1:1 (“which are scattered abroad”; literally “in the Dispersion”).
among = of:
Gentiles. So called from the Latin yentas = nations (as distinguished by race); hence, used of nations, as distinct from the one nation Israel (Gen 12:2. Compare Joh 14:1, s); Hebrew = goyim: rendered in Authorized Version “nations” 371 times, “heathen “143 times, “Gentiles” 30 times, and “people “11 times. In N.T. days, Greece being the great dominating nation in arms, literature, and language, the word Hellenes became the N.T. word for all non-Jews, Hellen, the son of Deucalion, being the legendary ancestor of the Greek nation (Homer, Iliad, ii. 684). Hellen had been already used in the Septuagint Version, of the “Philistines” (Isa 9:12), and of “the sons of Javan” (Zec 9:13. Zec 9:1 Macc. 8.18. 2 Macc. 4.36. Josephus (Antiquities I. vi. 1). Hellenes in the N.T. never means Jews, but is always distinguished from them. See Joh 12:20. Act 14:1; Act 16:1, Act 16:3; Act 18:4; Act 19:10, Act 19:17; Act 20:21. Rom 1:16; Rom 2:9, Rom 2:10; Rom 8:9; Rom 10:12. 1Co 1:24; 1Co 10:32. Gal 1:2, Gal 1:3; Gal 3:28. Col 8:11. On the other hand, the Greek Hellenistes = Hellenized, and speaking Greek, is used of those who were Jews by birth, but spoke Greek. It occurs three times, and is rendered “Grecians”. See Act 6:1; Act 9:29; Act 11:20.
35, 36.] The Jews understood not his death to be meant, but some journey which he would take in the event of their rejecting him.
The . . . must not be interpreted the Hellenistic Jews, for the are always distinguished from the Jews; and this would convey hardly any meaning. The sense of is,-see reff. James, 1 Pet.,-the country where Jews lay scattered, as qualified by the succeeding genitive, where one occurs, as here. So here . . . means the dispersed in the Gentile world;-and their intent is, to convey contempt and mockery. They do not however believe the hypothesis; but ask again, ;
Joh 7:35. , whither) More unseasonably they afterwards say, Whether will He kill Himself? ch. Joh 8:22-) So the Septuag., Deu 28:25 [ , thou shalt be a dispersion-a dispersed remnant-among all the kingdoms of the earth] Deu 30:4.- , of the Greeks) in other words, the Jews outside of Palestine. They think that they will drag Him forth to the light by means of letters, wherever throughout the world He may take His dwelling among Jews.
Joh 7:35
Joh 7:35
The Jews therefore said among themselves, Whither will this man go that we shall not find him? will he go unto the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks?-Many Jews were scattered from Judea among the Gentiles, and it was either in ignorance or to ridicule him that they ask this question. [Would he teach them and the Greeks, as well as the Jews of Judea, and the Galileans?]
the dispersed: Isa 11:12, Isa 27:12, Isa 27:13, Zep 3:10, Act 21:21, Jam 1:1, 1Pe 1:1
Gentiles: or, Greeks
teach: Psa 67:1, Psa 67:2, Psa 98:2, Psa 98:3, Isa 11:10, Isa 49:6, Mat 12:21, Luk 2:32, Act 11:18, Act 13:46-48, Act 22:21, Eph 3:8, Col 1:27, 1Ti 2:7, 2Ti 1:11
Reciprocal: Est 3:8 – scattered abroad Hos 9:17 – and Mat 10:5 – Go Joh 12:20 – Greeks Act 11:19 – to none Act 14:1 – Greeks Act 17:20 – strange
5
Since these Jews did not believe that Jesus came from the presence of God in the first place, they now would not grasp the thcught that, he was going back to Him. They wondered, therefore, if he meant he was going to disappear among some people that were beyond their visible association. Dispersed refers to the Jews who were scattered throughout various Gentile countries. Smith’s Bible Dictionary says the following on the subject: “The Dispersion was the general title applied to those Jews who remained settled in foreign countries after the return from the Babylonian exile, and during the period of the second temple.”
Then said the Jews among themselves, Whither will he go, that we shall not find him? will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles?
[To the dispersed among the Gentiles, etc.] i confess Gentiles; in the apostle’s writings, does very frequently denote the Gentiles; to which that of the Rabbins agrees well enough, the wisdom of the Greeks; i.e. the wisdom of the Gentiles. But here I would take Gentiles in its proper signification for the Greeks. It is doubtful, indeed, whether by the dispersed among the Gentiles ought to be understood the dispersed Greeks; or the Jews dispersed amongst the Greeks. There was no nation under heaven so dispersed and diffused throughout the world as both Greeks and Jews were.
In the very heart of all the barbarous nations the Greeks had their cities, and their language spoken amongst the Indians and Persians; etc.
And into what countries the Jews were scattered, the writings, both sacred and profane, do frequently instance. So that if the words are to be taken strictly of the Greeks; they bear this sense with them; “Is he going here and there amongst the Greeks; so widely and remotely dispersed in the world?”
That distinction between the Hebrews and the Hellenists explains the thing. The Jews of the first dispersion, viz. into Babylon, Assyria, and the countries adjacent, are called Hebrews; because they used the Hebrew; or Transeuphratensian language: and how they came to be dispersed into those countries we all know well enough, viz. that they were led away captive by the Babylonians and Persians. But those that were scattered amongst the Greeks used the Greek tongue, and were called Hellenists; and it is not easy to tell upon what account, or by what accident, they came to be dispersed amongst the Greeks; or other nations about. Those that lived in Palestine, they were Hebrews indeed as to their language, but they were not of the dispersion; either to one place or another, because they dwelt in their own proper country. The Babylonish dispersion was esteemed by the Jews the more noble, the more famous, and the more holy of any other. “The land of Babylon is in the same degree of purity with the land of Israel.” “The Jewish offspring in Babylon is more valuable than that among the Greeks; even purer than that in Judea itself.” Whence for a Palestine Jew to go to the Babylonish dispersion, was to go to a people and country equal, if not superior, to his own: but to go to the dispersion among the Greeks; was to go into unclean regions, where the very dust of the land defiled them: it was to go to an inferior race of Jews, and more impure in their blood; it was to go into nations most heathenized.
Joh 7:35. The Jews therefore said among themselves, Whither is this man about to go, that we not find him? Our Lords words were mysterious, but yet were so closely linked with His earlier teaching, as related in this very chapter, that their general meaning would be clear to every patient listener. Joh 7:16-17 were alone sufficient to show that to Him that sent me could only mean to God. But this impression the Jews must at all hazards avert: chap. Joh 8:22 shows how eagerly they sought to blunt the edge of such words as Jesus has now spoken. There they suggest that only by seeking death can He escape their search: here that it is on exile amongst Gentiles that He has now resolved. His teaching has seemed to them a complete reversal of Jewish modes of thought. No learning of the schools prepared Him for His self-chosen office (Joh 7:15): He accuses all Israel of having broken the law of Moses (Joh 7:19): He sets at naught the most rigid rules of Sabbath observance: all things show that He has no sympathy with, no tolerance for, the most firmly established laws and usages of the Jewish people. And now He is going, not to return. Where?
Is he about to go to the Dispersion of the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? Can it be that He has cast off Jews altogether and is going to Gentiles? This is said in bitter scorn, but it may have been suggested by words of Jesus not expressly recorded. In answering His brethren just before the feast (Joh 7:7) He had spoken of the world; before the end of the same feast (Joh 8:12) He says, I am the light of the world. Even if we were not to accept the Jewish tradition which records that in the offering of the seventy bullocks at the feast of Tabernacles there was distinct reference to the (seventy) nations of the Gentile worlda tradition deeply interesting and probably truewe can have no difficulty in supposing that in His teaching during the festival Jesus had repeatedly used words regarding the world which enemies might readily pervert. His interest, they say in effect, is not with Jews but with the world: is he leaving us?then surely He is going to the world, to the heathen whom He loves.The great difficulty of this verse is the use of such a phrase as the Dispersion of the Greeks. An explanation is furnished by the thought already suggested,that the Jews, with irony and scorn, would show forth Jesus as reversing all their cherished instincts, beliefs, and usages. If a true Israelite must depart from the Holy Land, he resorts to the Dispersion of his brethren. Not so with this man: He too is departing from us, but it is a Dispersion of Gentiles, not of Israelites, that He will seek,it is Gentiles whom He will teach. As in the case of Caiaphas (chap. Joh 11:50-51), so here: words spoken in hate and scorn are an unconscious prophecy. He will teach and gather together the children of God that are scattered abroad,this is the very purpose of His coming. The book which is the companion to this Gospel, the Apocalypse, contains many examples of this new and (so to speak) converse application of familiar words. Thus in Rev 1:7, we find mankind designated as tribes of the earth. It is right to say that the explanation of Dispersion of the Greeks which we have given is not that generally received. The common view is that the Jews represent Jesus as going to the Dispersion amongst the Gentiles, and, from this as a point of departure (like the apostles of Jesus afterwards), becoming a teacher of the Gentiles. We can only briefly give our reasons for dissenting from this view. (1) The meaning can hardly be obtained without straining the original words. (2) As probably many of the multitude themselves belonged to the Dispersion, the added words of the Greeks would be useless if intended as explanatory, insulting if used for depreciation. (3) The first clause becomes almost superfluous: why should they not say at once, Is He about to go amongst the Greeks? (4) The introduction of a point of departure or connecting link is most unsuitable to the present state of feeling of our Lords enemies, the Jews.
Joh 7:35-36. Then said the Jews, Whither will he go Jesus spake concerning his death, resurrection, and ascension, but the Jews did not understand him; for they imagined that he threatened to leave them, and go among their brethren of the dispersion. Will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles Greek, , of the Greeks, that is, the Jews scattered abroad in different nations, Greece particularly; and teach the Gentiles , the Greeks, the heathen themselves. By Greeks, we are here to understand idolatrous Gentiles, and not Hellenists, or Jews, who used the Greek language; for these were the dispersed among them. There is, therefore, says Dr. Doddridge, a sarcasm in these words, beyond what commentators have observed. They insinuate that if he was to go into foreign countries, to address himself to the Jews there, who might be supposed not so well instructed as those who lived in Judea and at Jerusalem, he would not be able to make any proselytes, even among these; but would be constrained to apply himself to the ignorant and stupid Gentiles, to seek disciples among them; which, to be sure, appeared to these haughty scorners one of the most infamous circumstances that could be imagined, and most incompatible with the character of the true Messiah. What manner of saying is this This saying is unintelligible and absurd: for though his meaning be, that he is going to preach among the Gentiles, surely it is possible for us to follow him thither.
Vv. 35, 36. Then the Jews said among themselves, Whither will he go then, that we shall not find him? Does he mean to go to those who are scattered among the Greeks and to teach the Greeks? 36. What means this word which he has said: You shall seek me and shall not find me;and where I am you cannot come.
These words are, of course, ironical. Rejected by the only Jews who are truly worthy of the name, those who live in the Holy Land and speak the language of the fathers, will Jesus go and try to play His part as Christ among the Jews who are dispersed in the Greek world, and, through their agency, exercise His function as Messiah among the heathen? A fine Messiah, indeed, He who, rejected by the Jews, should become the teacher of the Gentiles! The expression , literally: dispersion of the Greeks, designates that portion of the Jewish people who lived outside of Palestine, dispersed through Greek countries. , the Greeks, refers to the Gentiles properly so called. The dispersed Jews will be for this Messiah the means of passing from the Jews to the Gentile peoples! They themselves, however, do not seriously regard this supposition as well founded; and they mechanically repeat the word of Jesus, as if not discovering any meaning in it. Meyer has asserted that this course of action would be impossible, if in Joh 7:33 Jesus really expressed Himself as the evangelist makes Him speak: I go to Him who sent me.
These last words would have explained everything. They would have understood that a return to God was the thing in question. According to Reuss also, Joh 7:35 contains a too flagrant misapprehension to be conceivable. But either these words: to Him who sent me had left in their minds only a vague idea, or more probably, regarding Jesus as an impostor, they see in them only a vain boast designed to cover a plan of exile, as at Joh 8:22, a plan of suicide. We cannot form a sufficiently accurate idea of the gross materialism of the contemporaries of Jesus, so as to fix the limits of possibility in their misapprehensions. After having passed years with Jesus, the apostles still interpreted a bidding to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees as a reproof for having neglected to provide themselves with breadit is they themselves who relate this misunderstanding in the Synoptical Gospels; how then should the Jews, to whom the idea of the departure of the Messiah was as strange as would be to us, at the present hour, that of His visible reign (comp. Joh 12:34), have immediately understood that, in the preceding words, Jesus was speaking to them of entering into the perfect communion with His Father?
The evangelist takes a kind of pleasure in reproducing in extenso this derisive supposition. Why? Because, like the saying of Caiaphas in chap. 12, it seemed at the time and in the regions in which John was writing and in which it was read, like an involuntary prophecy. Indeed, had not Jesus really become the Messiah of the Greeks? Was not John composing this Gospel in the country, and even in the language, of the Gentiles at the same time that the prophecy of Jesus contained in the preceding verses, and turned into ridicule by the Jews, was finding its accomplishment with respect to them in a striking and awful manner before the eyes of the whole world?
7:35 Then said the Jews among themselves, Whither will he go, that we shall not find him? will he go unto the {h} dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles?
(h) Literally, “to the dispersion of the Gentiles” or “Greeks”, and under the name of the Greeks he refers to the Jews who were dispersed among the Gentiles.
Again Jesus’ hearers thought that He was speaking of physical matters and earthly places. The Dispersion was the term that described the Jews who had scattered from Palestine and were living elsewhere in the world. They thought Jesus was referring to ministering to Jews or perhaps Gentile proselytes who were living outside Palestine. In the New Testament the word "Greek" is synonymous with Gentiles (cf. Col 3:11). This seemed too fantastic to be a messianic activity.
"Here, as more than once in this Gospel, the Jews are unconsciously prophesying. The departure of Jesus in death would indeed be beneficial, but not because it would remove from the earth a false Messiah, as they supposed, but because, as a result of the proclamation of the gospel which would follow His death and resurrection, Gentiles would be brought into the people of God." [Note: Tasker, p. 106.]
These Jews did not understand where Jesus was going any more than they understood where He had come from (Joh 7:27). They were so exclusive in their thinking that they thought it very improbable that Jesus would leave Palestine. Ironically the Christian apostles did go to those very areas and people to preach the Christ whom the Jews rejected.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)