The officers – Those who had been appointed Joh 7:32 to take him. It seems that Jesus was in the midst of the people addressing them, and that they happened to come at the very time when he was speaking. They were so impressed and awed with what he said that they dared not take him. There have been few instances of eloquence like this. His speaking had so much evidence of truth, so much proof that he was from God, and was so impressive and persuasive, that they were convinced of his innocence, and they dared not touch him to execute their commission. We have here:

1. A remarkable testimony to the commanding eloquence of Jesus.
2. Wicked men may be awed and restrained by the presence of a good man, and by the evidence that he speaks that which is true.
3. God can preserve his friends. Here were men sent for a particular purpose. They were armed with power. They were commissioned by the highest authority of the nation. On the other hand, Jesus was without arms or armies, and without external protection. Yet, in a manner which the officers and the high priests would have little expected, he was preserved. So, in ways which we little expect, God will defend and deliver us when in the midst of danger.
4. No prophet, apostle, or minister has ever spoken the truth with as much power, grace, and beauty as Jesus. It should be ours, therefore, to listen to his words, and to sit at his feet and learn heavenly wisdom.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 45. Then came the officers] They had followed him for several days, seeking for a proper opportunity to seize on him, when they might fix some charge of sedition, c., upon him but the more they listened, the more they were convinced of his innocence, purity, and consummate wisdom.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Probably the officers, Christ being amongst a multitude of the people that had a high opinion of him, durst not adventure to apprehend him. Some of them, as appeareth from what follows, were astonished at his doctrine; all of them agreed to return to their masters without him; at which they are angry, and ask them how it came to pass that they did not execute their commands, in bringing Christ before them as a malefactor, to answer what they should lay to his charge.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

45. Then came the officers“sentto take him” (Joh 7:32).

Why . . . not broughthim?already thirsting for their Victim, and thinking it aneasy matter to seize and bring Him.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees,…. Who were assembled together in council, as the great sanhedrim of the nation; who were sitting and expecting Jesus to be brought before them. The same officers they sent to take him, Joh 7:32, returned to them without him; for though they were sent on that errand which they intended to have performed, yet they were not on the side of those who were for seizing him by force, nor of those who objected to his being the Messiah; but rather took part with those who affirmed he was the Messiah; or at least looked upon him to be some extraordinary prophet:

and they said unto them; that is, the chief priests and Pharisees said to the officers; the Syriac version reads, “the priests said unto them”:

why have ye not brought him? They mention not the name of Jesus by way of contempt, and knowing that the officers would easily understand them; though the Persic version expresses it, reading the words thus, “why have ye not brought Jesus?” seeing them returned without him, they were transported with rage and fury, and fell upon them in a fierce and furious manner, for disobeying their orders, who had sat there waiting some time: and hoping, and not doubting, but they should have him in their hands, whose blood they were thirsting after: wherefore it was a great disappointment to them, and much enraged them to see them come without him.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

The Officers’ Testimony of Christ.

      45 Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him?   46 The officers answered, Never man spake like this man.   47 Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived?   48 Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him?   49 But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed.   50 Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,)   51 Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?   52 They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.   53 And every man went unto his own house.

      The chief priests and Pharisees are here in a close cabal, contriving how to suppress Christ; though this was the great day of the feast, they attended not the religious services of the day, but left them to the vulgar, to whom it was common for those great ecclesiastics to consign and turn over the business of devotion, while they thought themselves better employed in the affairs of church-policy. They sat in the council-chamber, expecting Christ to be brought a prisoner to them, as they had issued out warrants for apprehending him, v. 32. Now here we are told,

      I. What passed between them and their own officers, who returned without him, re infecta—having done nothing. Observe,

      1. The reproof they gave the officers for not executing the warrant they gave them: Why have you not brought him? He appeared publicly; the people were many of them disgusted, and would have assisted them in taking him; this was the last day of the feast, and they would not have such another opportunity; “why then did you neglect your duty?” It vexed them that those who were their own creatures, who depended on them, and on whom they depended, into whose minds they had instilled prejudices against Christ, should thus disappoint them. Note, Mischievous men fret that they cannot do the mischief they would, Psa 112:10; Neh 6:16.

      2. The reason which the officers gave for the non-execution of their warrant: Never man spoke like this man, v. 46. Now, (1.) This was a very great truth, that never any man spoke with that wisdom, and power, and grace, that convincing clearness, and that charming sweetness, wherewith Christ spoke; none of the prophets, no, not Moses himself. (2.) The very officers that were sent to take him were taken with him, and acknowledged this. Though they were probably men who had no quick sense of reason or eloquence, and certainly had no inclination to think well of Jesus, yet so much self-evidence was there in what Christ said that they could not but prefer him before all those that sat in Moses’s seat. Thus Christ was preserved by the power God has upon the consciences even of bad men. (3.) They said this to their lords and masters, who could not endure to hear any thing that tended to the honour of Christ and yet could not avoid hearing this. Providence ordered it so that this should be said to them, that it might be a vexation in their sin and an aggravation of their sin. Their own officers, who could not be suspected to be biassed in favour of Christ, are witnesses against them. This testimony of theirs should have made them reflect upon themselves, with this thought, “Do we know what we are doing, when we are hating and persecuting one that speaks so admirably well?”

      3. The Pharisees endeavour to secure their officers to their interest, and to beget in them prejudices against Christ, to whom they saw them begin to be well affected. They suggest two things:–

      (1.) That if they embrace the gospel of Christ they will deceive themselves (v. 47): Are you also deceived? Christianity has, from its first rise, been represented to the world as a great cheat upon it, and they that embraced it as men deceived, then when they began to be undeceived. Those that looked for a Messiah in external pomp thought those deceived who believed in a Messiah that appeared in poverty and disgrace; but the event declares that none were ever more shamefully deceived, nor put a greater cheat upon themselves, than those who promised themselves worldly wealth and secular dominion with the Messiah. Observe what a compliment the Pharisees paid to these officers: “Are you also deceived? What! men of your sense, and thought, and figure; men that know better than to be imposed upon by every pretender and upstart teacher?” They endeavour to prejudice them against Christ by persuading them to think well of themselves.

      (2.) That they will disparage themselves. Most men, even in their religion, are willing to be governed by the example of those of the first rank; these officers therefore, whose preferments, such as they were, gave them a sense of honour, are desired to consider,

      [1.] That, if they become disciples of Christ, they go contrary to those who were persons of quality and reputation: “Have any of the rulers, or of the Pharisees, believed on him? You know they have not, and you ought to be bound up by their judgment, and to believe and do in religion according to the will of your superiors; will you be wiser than they?” Some of the rulers did embrace Christ (Mat 9:18; Joh 4:53), and more believed in him, but wanted courage to confess him (ch. xii. 42); but, when the interest of Christ runs low in the world, it is common for its adversaries to represent it as lower than really it is. But it was too true that few, very few, of them did. Note, First, The cause of Christ has seldom had rulers and Pharisees on its side. It needs not secular supports, nor proposes secular advantages, and therefore neither courts nor is courted by the great men of this world. Self-denial and the cross are hard lessons to rulers and Pharisees. Secondly, This has confirmed many in their prejudices against Christ and his gospel, that the rulers and Pharisees have been no friends to them. Shall secular men pretend to be more concerned about spiritual things than spiritual men themselves, or to see further into religion than those who make its study their profession? If rulers and Pharisees do not believe in Christ, they that do believe in him will be the most singular, unfashionable, ungenteel people in the world, and quite out of the way of preferment; thus are people foolishly swayed by external motives in matters of eternal moment, are willing to be damned for fashion-sake, and to go to hell in compliment to the rulers and Pharisees.

      [2.] That they will link themselves with the despicable vulgar sort of people (v. 43): But this people, who know not the law, are cursed, meaning especially those that were well-affected to the doctrine of Christ. Observe, First, How scornfully and disdainfully they speak of them: This people. It is not laos, this lay-people, distinguished from them that were the clergy, but ochlos outos, this rabble-people, this pitiful, scandalous, scoundrel people, whom they disdained to set with the dogs of their flock though God had set them with the lambs of his. If they meant the commonalty of the Jewish nation, they were the seed of Abraham, and in covenant with God, and not to be spoken of with such contempt. The church’s common interests are betrayed when any one part of it studies to render the other mean and despicable. If they meant the followers of Christ, though they were generally persons of small figure and fortune, yet by owning Christ they discovered such a sagacity, integrity, and interest in the favours of Heaven, as made them truly great and considerable. Note, As the wisdom of God has often chosen base things, and things which are despised, so the folly of men has commonly debased and despised those whom God has chosen. Secondly, How unjustly they reproach them as ignorant of the word of God: They know not the law; as if none knew the law but those that knew it from them, and no scripture-knowledge were current but what came out of their mint; and as if none knew the law but such as were observant of their canons and traditions. Perhaps many of those whom they thus despised knew the law, and the prophets too, better than they did. Many a plain, honest, unlearned disciple of Christ, by meditation, experience, prayers, and especially obedience, attains to a more clear, sound, and useful knowledge of the word of God, than some great scholars with all their wit and learning. Thus David came to understand more than the ancients and all his teachers,Psa 119:99; Psa 119:100. If the common people did not know the law, yet the chief priests and Pharisees, of all men, should not have upbraided them with this; for whose fault was it but theirs, who should have taught them better, but, instead of that, took away the key of knowledge? Luke xi. 52. Thirdly, How magisterially they pronounce sentence upon them: they are cursed, hateful to God, and all wise men; epikatartoi—an execrable people. It is well that their saying they were cursed did not make them so, for the curse causeless shall not come. It is a usurpation of God’s prerogative, as well as great uncharitableness, to say of any particular persons, much more of any body of people, that they are reprobates. We are unable to try, and therefore unfit to condemn, and our rule is, Bless, and curse not. Some think they meant no more than that the people were apt to be deceived and made fools of; but they use this odious word, They are cursed, to express their own indignation, and to frighten their officers from having any thing to do with them; thus the language of hell, in our profane age, calls every thing that is displeasing cursed, and damned, and confounded. Now, for aught that appears, these officers had their convictions baffled and stifled by these suggestions, and they never enquire further after Christ; one word from a ruler or Pharisee will sway more with many than the true reason of things, and the great interests of their souls.

      II. What passed between them and Nicodemus, a member of their own body, v. 50, c. Observe,

      1. The just and rational objection which Nicodemus made against their proceedings. Even in their corrupt and wicked sanhedrim God left not himself quite without witness against their enmity nor was the vote against Christ carried nemine contradicente—unanimously.Observe,

      (1.) Who it was that appeared against them; it was Nicodemus, he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them, v. 50. Observe, concerning him, [1.] That, though he had been with Jesus, and taken him for his teacher, yet he retained his place in the council, and his vote among them. Some impute this to his weakness and cowardice, and think it was his fault that he did not quit his place, but Christ had never said to him, Follow me, else he would have done as others that left all to follow him; therefore it seems rather to have been his wisdom not immediately to throw up his place, because there he might have opportunity of serving Christ and his interest, and stemming the tide of the Jewish rage, which perhaps he did more than we are aware of. He might there be as Hushai among Absalom’s counsellors, instrumental to turn their counsels into foolishness. Though we must in no case deny our Master, yet we may wait for an opportunity of confessing him to the best advantage. God has his remnant among all sorts, and many times finds, or puts, or makes, some good in the worst places and societies. There was Daniel in Nebuchadnezzar’s court, and Nehemiah in Artaxerxes’s. [2.] That though at first he came to Jesus by night, for fear of being known, and still continued in his post; yet, when there was occasion, he boldly appeared in defence of Christ, and opposed the whole council that were set against him. Thus many believers who at first were timorous, and ready to flee at the shaking of a leaf, have at length, by divine grace, grown courageous, and able to laugh at the shaking of a spear. Let none justify the disguising of their faith by the example of Nicodemus, unless, like him, they be ready upon the first occasion openly to appear in the cause of Christ, though they stand alone in it; for so Nicodemus did here, and ch. xix. 39.

      (2.) What he alleged against their proceedings (v. 51): Doth our law judge any man before it hear him (akouse par autou—hear from himself) and know what he doeth? By no means, nor doth the law of any civilized nation allow it. Observe, [1.] He prudently argues from the principles of their own law, and an incontestable rule of justice, that no man is to be condemned unheard. Had he urged the excellency of Christ’s doctrine or the evidence of his miracles, or repeated to them his divine discourse with him (ch. iii.), it had been but to cast pearls before swine, who would trample them under their feet, and would turn again and rend him; therefore he waives them. [2.] Whereas they had reproached the people, especially the followers of Christ, as ignorant of the law, he here tacitly retorts the charge upon themselves, and shows how ignorant they were of some of the first principles of the law, so unfit were they to give law to others. [3.] The law is here said to judge, and hear, and know, when magistrates that govern and are governed by it judge, and hear, and know; for they are the mouth of the law, and whatsoever they bind and loose according to the law is justly said to be bound and loosed by the law. [4.] It is highly fit that none should come under the sentence of the law, till they have first by a fair trial undergone the scrutiny of it. Judges, when they receive the complaints of the accuser, must always reserve in their minds room for the defence of the accused, for they have two ears, to remind them to hear both sides; this is said to be the manner of the Romans, Acts xxv. 18. The method of our law is Oyer and Terminer, first to hear and then to determine. [5.] Persons are to be judged, not by what is said of them, but by what they do. Our law will not ask what men’s opinions are of them, or out-cries against them, but, What have they done? What overt-acts can they be convicted of? Sentence must be given, secundum allegata et probata–according to what is alleged and proved. Facts, and not faces, must be known in judgment; and the scale of justice must be used before the sword of justice.

      Now we may suppose that the motion Nicodemus made in the house upon this was, That Jesus should be desired to come and give them an account of himself and his doctrine, and that they should favour him with an impartial and unprejudiced hearing; but, though none of them could gainsay his maxim, none of them would second his motion.

      2. What was said to this objection. Here is no direct reply given to it; but, when they could not resist the force of his argument, they fell foul upon him, and what was to seek in reason they made up in railing and reproach. Note, It is a sign of a bad cause when men cannot bear to hear reason, and take it as an affront to be reminded of its maxims. Whoever are against reason give cause to suspect that reason is against them. See how they taunt him: Art thou also of Galilee? v. 52. Some think he was well enough served for continuing among those whom he knew to be enemies to Christ, and for his speaking no more on the behalf of Christ than what he might have said on behalf of the greatest criminal-that he should not be condemned unheard. Had he said, “As for this Jesus, I have heard him myself, and know he is a teacher come from God, and you in opposing him fight against God,” as he ought to have said, he could not have been more abused than he was for this feeble effort of his tenderness for Christ. As to what they said to Nicodemus, we may observe,

      (1.) How false the grounds of their arguing were, for, [1.] They suppose that Christ was of Galilee, and this was false, and if they would have been at the pains of an impartial enquiry they would have found it so. [2.] They suppose that because most of his disciples were Galileans they were all such, whereas he had abundance of disciples in Judea. [3.] They suppose that out of Galilee no prophet had risen, and for this appeal to Nicodemus’s search; yet this was false too: Jonah was of Gath-hepher, Nahum an Elkoshite, both of Galilee. Thus do they make lies their refuge.

      (2.) How absurd their arguings were upon these grounds, such as were a shame to rulers and Pharisees. [1.] Is any man of worth and virtue ever the worse for the poverty and obscurity of his country? The Galileans were the seed of Abraham; barbarians and Scythians are the seed of Adam; and have we not all one Father? [2.] Supposing no prophet had risen out of Galilee, yet it is not impossible that any should arise thence. If Elijah was the first prophet of Gilead (as perhaps he was), and if the Gileadites were called fugitives, must it therefore be questioned whether he was a prophet or no?

      3. The hasty adjournment of the court hereupon. They broke up the assembly in confusion, and with precipitation, and every man went to his own house. They met to take counsel together against the Lord and his Anointed, but they imagined a vain think; and not only he that sits in heaven laughed at them, but we may sit on earth and laugh at them too, to see all the policy of the close cabal broken to pieces with one plain honest word. They were not willing to hear Nicodemus, because they could not answer him. As soon as they perceived they had one such among them, they saw it was to no purpose to go on with their design, and therefore put off the debate to a more convenient season, when he was absent. Thus the counsel of the Lord is made to stand, in spite of the devices in the hearts of men.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

Why did ye not bring him? ( ;). Second aorist active indicative of . Indignant outburst of the Sanhedrin (both Sadducees and Pharisees) at the failure of the (, note article here referring to verse 32) temple police to arrest Jesus. “Apparently they were sitting in expectation of immediately questioning him” (Dods). They were stunned at this outcome.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

1) “Then came the officers,” (elthon oun hoi huperetai) “Then the attendant officers came,” returned to their senders, without Jesus in custody.

2) “To the chief priests and Pharisees;” (pros tous archiereis kai Pharisaious) “To the administrative priests and the Pharisees,” to those who had sent them to the temple to arrest Jesus, Joh 7:32. The chief priests and Pharisees had acted as one sending body.

3) “And they said unto them,” (kai eipon autois) “And they inquired directly to them;” The blood thirsty, cowing, snake hearted, murderous Pharisees and administrative priests, from the council of the Sanhedrin, quizzed the returning officers.

4) “Why have ye not brought him?” (ekeinoi dia ti ouk egagete auton) “Why did you all not bring him?” lay hands on Him, seize Him, which they had an opportunity to do, as Jesus later reminded them, when they finally seized Him in a night-time raid, Joh 7:25-26; Joh 7:44; Mat 26:55; Mar 14:48-49; Luk 22:52-53.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

45. So the officers came. Here we may see how blind is the arrogance of men. To such an extent do they admire and adore the greatness which renders them eminent, that they have no hesitation in trampling under foot morality and religion. If any thing happen contrary to their wish, they would willingly mingle heaven and earth; for when these haughty and wicked priests (202) ask, why Christ was not brought, they magnify their power so greatly as if nothing ought to oppose their command.

(202) “ Ces orgueilleur et mechans sacrificateurs.”

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(45) Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees.(Comp. Note on Joh. 18:3.) They had been sent (Joh. 7:32), not with a definite warrant to bring Him by force, but to watch their opportunity, and seize any pretext for doing so which may arise. The chief priests and Pharisees are the Sanhedrin who met (Joh. 7:32), and, though it was a festival, seemed to have continued in session, expecting the return of their servants.

Why have ye not brought him?Their question shows the object of the mission. It is asked in the bitterness of disappointed craft. In the presence of the multitude they dared not proceed by open force, and the influence they feared was every hour gaining ground. If their officers could have brought Him on some technical charge away from the people and into their own chamber, all would then have been in their own hands.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

Disappointment of the authorities that Jesus is not taken, Joh 7:45-53.

45. Then came the officers Who were dispatched, as narrated in Joh 7:32, by the rulers sitting in Gazith.

Brought him He was clearly to be arraigned for trial. These men would, if possible, have anticipated the hour of his death.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘The officers therefore came to the Chief Priests and Pharisees, and they said to them, “Why did you not bring him?”. The officers answered, “Never did man speak in such a way”.’

The officials returned to the people who had sent them and informed them of what was happening. And when they were asked why they had not arrested Him they replied, ‘No man ever spoke like this man’ (v. 46). They had been impressed by the words of Jesus, and they had also been impressed by the impact the words had made on the crowds. That they were partly thinking of the support Jesus had from the crowds as a result of such speaking comes out in the reply of the authorities. The officials were mixed in their feelings, but they had been sufficiently aware of the situation not to act prematurely.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The Chief Priests And Pharisees Dismiss Belief In Him As Ridiculous ( Joh 7:45-52 ).

Sitting waiting in their quarters the leading religious authorities were seething. The last thing that they wanted was a popular uprising in support of Jesus, for it would both undermine their own status, and bring the wrath of Pilate on them. Thus when their officials returned without carrying out Jesus’ arrest they treated them with angry disdain. We note that the Chief Priests and the Pharisees were still together. Both wanted to see that their plan was successfully carried through. Such was their hatred and fear of Jesus that they were willing to put up with each other for a time.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The report of the guard:

v. 45. Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought Him?

v. 46. The officers answered, Never man spake like this man.

v. 47. Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived?

v. 48. Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on Him?

v. 49. But this people, who knoweth not the Law, are cursed.

v. 50. Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,)

v. 51. Doth our Law judge any man before it hear him and know what he doeth?

v. 52. They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search and look; for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.

v. 53. And every man went unto his own house.

The Temple-guards that had been commissioned with the arrest of the Lord had been willing enough to perform their task. They had kept a close watch upon Jesus these four days. But the very fact that they were in the neighborhood of Jesus and thus heard much of His teaching had a powerful effect upon them. They returned to their masters without having carried out their commission. They were received with the reproachful question: Why brought ye Him not! The guards gave no direct answer, but tried to evade the question with the excuse that no mere man had ever spoken like this man Jesus. It was, in a way, a confession of His divinity. They were not yet openly won for His cause, but they also could no longer take the part of His adversaries. The Word of God is mighty in the midst of its enemies. They had felt the force, the divine power of His words. But their apology only rouses the wrath of the Jewish rulers. Was it possible, they ask, that even these trusted henchmen were deluded and deceived? What right have these subordinates to have a mind of their own? They should simply accept what their leaders tell them and not be influenced by the opinion of the masses. For that low crowd, in the opinion of the Pharisees, that did not know the Law and all the traditions as they themselves did, were a cursed lot, an execrable rabble. Note: The arguments here advanced by the Jewish leaders sound exactly like those of the so-called fashionable Christians in our days that have thrown the Bible overboard as the inspired Word of God and have only pity for the poor deluded, unlearned Lutherans and their like that insist upon accepting Jesus as the Savior of the world, through the atonement made by His blood.

It was at this point that Nicodemus, who had gotten his information concerning heavenly things directly from Jesus and knew what he was talking about, interfered. Though he was a member of the Pharisees, he did not share their views in this matter. He demanded whether it was in accordance with the Law of which they were continually boasting to condemn a man without giving him a fair hearing. It is characteristic of the hypocrites in high places that they refuse to accept any opinion but their own. Their conceit is equaled only by their denseness. But the objection of Nicodemus took them aback somewhat. They had not expected opposition in their own midst. Angrily they tell him that he himself seems to be becoming a Galilean, a follower of this hated Nazarene. They meant to say that despised Galilee was not the true country of the prophets, that most of them were from Judea and Jerusalem. But their assertion was too strong. There were one or two exceptions to the rule which they state so arbitrarily. The Prophet Jonah came from Galilee. And there was a prophecy stating that the light of the Messiah would shine upon that northern country in a most marvelous manner, Isa 9:1-2. And so the meeting of the Sanhedrin ended in a deadlock; it broke up without further action against Jesus. The guiding hand of God is plainly seen in all the circumstances of this incident.

Summary. Jesus reproves the unbelief of His brothers, journeys to the Feast of Tabernacles at Jerusalem, and testifies concerning His person and office, gaining some adherents and confounding even the servants of the Sanhedrin.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

Joh 7:45-46 . ] therefore , seeing that no one, not even they themselves, had ventured to lay hands on Jesus.

] In accordance with the orders they had received (Joh 7:32 ), they had kept close to Jesus, in order to apprehend Him. But the divine power and majesty of His words, which doubtless hindered the in Joh 7:44 from laying hands on Him, made it morally impossible for the officers of justice to carry out their orders, or even to find any pretext or justification for so doing; they were overpowered . Schleiermacher, therefore, was wrong in inferring that they had received no official orders to take Him.

. . .] by the non-repetition of the article, construed as one category, i.e . as the Sanhedrim, who must be supposed to have been assembled in session. When first mentioned, Joh 7:32 , both divisions are distinguished with logical emphasis. See Dissen, ad Dem. de cor . p. 373 f.

] the . . .; of the nearest subject, though remote to the writer. Winer, p. 148 [E. T. p. 196], and Ast, ad Plat. Polit . p. 417; Lex Plat . pp. 658, 659.

Joh 7:46 . There is a solemnity in the words ., in themselves unnecessary. “It is a weighty statement, a strong word, that they thus meekly use,” Luther. “Character veritatis etiam idiotas convincentis prae dominis eorum,” Bengel. It is self-evident that Jesus must have said more after Joh 7:32 than John has recorded.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

II
Fermentation And Pmarties In The High Council

Joh 7:45-53

45Then came the officers [The officers therefore came] to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought [did ye not bring] 46, 47him? The officers answered, Never man spake [spoke] like this man.55 Then56 answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived [led astray]? 48Have any of the rulers, or of the Pharisees believed on [in] him?57 49But this people [this multitude, rabble]58 who knoweth not the law59 are cursed.60

50Nicodemus saith unto them (he that [formerly]61 came to Jesus by night [omit by night],62 being one of them,) 51Doth our law judge any [a] man before it hear him [unless it first hear from him], and know [learn] what he doeth? 52They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of [from] Galilee? Search, and look [see]: for out of Galilee ariseth63 no prophet.

53And every man went64 unto his own house.65

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Joh 7:45. Then came the officers, [].The inference is: As, in general, no one ventured to lay hands on Jesus, so, in particular, the officers did not.

To the chief priests and Pharisees.The latter without the article. The two are here viewed in the Sanhedrin as a unit.

Joh 7:46. Like this man.A well-founded addition, expressive of surprise and astonishment. Augustine: Cujus vita est fulgur, ejus verba tonitrua.

Joh 7:47. Are ye also deceived?Even ye officers of the supreme spiritual college?

Joh 7:48. In this view the continuation is characteristic: Have any of the rulers, etc.For them the authority and example of the rulers must be everything. We should not fail to notice that the testimony of the officers makes not the slightest wholesome impression upon the rulers; or rather, it extremely disturbs and excites them.

Or of the Pharisees.As if they added this out of an evil conscience. Lest ye should not trust your governors alone, see how the whole great orthodox, aristocratic Jewish party is against Him! How inaccurate they are in both points, is immediately afterwards proved by the example of Nicodemus.

Joh 7:49. But this multitude.As heroes let themselves out before their valets, so the hierarchical rulers with their ecclesiastical servants. The venerable fathers give themselves up to a fit of rage, and curse. They curse the people intrusted to them; they curse the devout among the people. But their curse is at the same time a threat of excommunication. This is, however, a cunning means of intimidating the officers, and of seducing them to exalt themselves likewise in hierarchical haughtiness above the people.

Who knoweth not the law.What genuine hierarchs always think, judge, and in fact expect of the people in all casesa laic ignorancethat in special cases they cast up against them as a reproach. These are here on the way to put Christ to death, as they pretend according to law, as a false prophet, while the people are on the way to acknowledge Christ as the Messiah.

Are cursed.Not a formula of excommunication (Kuinoel), but an intimation that the ban is impending, which in Joh 9:22 is hypothetically decreed against the followers of Jesus. The threat is intentionally equivocal. The emphasis assists in this: The people who know nothing, i.e., so far as they know nothing, of the law; or, what is the same, who acknowledge Jesus to be the Messiah. To put the people in general under the ban, could not enter the mind of the chief priests. The hierarchical insolence and theological self-conceit here bears a genuine historical character (comp. Gfrer, Das Jahrhundert des Heils, 1 Abthlg. p. 240). The Sanhedrists and the bigoted party of the Pharisees would pass for the supreme authority as to the truth. The common people were called even , even , vermin; even among the nobler sentences in Pirke Aboth, 2, 5, it is said. The illiterate man is not godly. Tholuck. The Talmudists went so far in their folly as to assert that none but the learned would rise from the dead. See Lcke II. p. 339.

[The aristocratic contempt of the people is found everywhere in Church and State. The pride of priestcraft, kingcraft, and schoolcraft is deeply seated in the human heart. The rabies theologorum also reappears in all Christian churches and sects in times of heated controversy (e.g., the trinitarian, Christological, and sacramentarian controversies in the fourth, fifth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries). Theological passions are the deepest and strongest, as religious wars (think of the Thirty Years War) are the fiercest.P. S.]

Joh 7:50-51. Nicodemus saith unto them.The ground seems more and more to sway under their feet. First the officers spoke in favor of Jesus. Now a colleague does so. It is noted that he had come to Jesus, though he was a member of their Christ-hating body. His words are the first public utterance of his courage to testify, though couched only in an impartial admonition from a judicial point of view. Yet they are not without an edge. The other members had cast up to the people their want of knowledge of the law; Nicodemus reminds their fanatical zeal, that it is conducting itself illegally in condemning the accused under passionate prejudice without a hearing. This was contrary to the law, Exo 23:1 (against false accusation); Deu 1:16; Deu 19:15 (the insufficiency of a single witness). They have assured the officers that no one of the rulers or Pharisees believes in Jesus; he intimates the possibility of this being untrue, at least as concerns himself.Doth our law judge a man, unless, etc.Does the law do as ye do? This is an ordinance of the law: First hearing, then judgment. The law itself is here designated as the authority which is to hear the case; and probably with a purpose. Nicodemus wishes to bring out the objective nature of a pure judgment.

Joh 7:52. Art thou also from Galilee?A contemptuous designation of the followers of Jesus; for most of them were from Galilee.66 The angry humor of the council is not calmed but only further inflamed. A striking picture of fanaticism. Calmness and gentleness, admonition of truth and righteousness, admonition of the word of God itself,all inflame it, because its zeal (being carnal) includes just the suppression of the sense of truth, the sense of justice, and reverence for the word of God, and is on the path of a wilful diabolical blindness and hardness.From Galilee.Mockery and threat combined: We should take thee for a countryman and follower of the Galilean, and not for our honorable colleague. Galilee was despised for its remoteness from the centre of Jewish cultureThe Galilean is a blockhead, says the Talmud authorityand for its mixture of heathen population.

Search, and see: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.These words again are characteristic of the blind, rushing unconscionable zeal, which despises everything divine and human [and does violence to history]. Not only Jonah, but Elijah of This be also, and [perhaps] Hosea and Nahum were of Galilee. Tholuck: It is possible, however, that they followed a divergent tradition respecting the origin of the former two prophets. [Comp. Winer, Herzog, Smith, etc. sub Elias and Jonas.] Heubner: According to the tradition Elijah and Elisha, Hosea and Amos were Galileans; it is certain that Nahum and Jonah were. In Tiberias even a seminary was (afterwards) founded, in which were renowned Rabbins like Hakkadosh, etc. The Talmud also came from that quarter, so that the Jews now are ashamed of this proverb (see Olearius: Jesus the true Messiah, p. 223).

This gross error, the modern skeptical criticism (since the time of Bretschneider) has absurdly endeavored to use as a mark of the spuriousness of the fourth Gospel. How could the Sanhedrists, with their Scriptural learning, blunder in such fashion? But how often has this criticism held the Gospels responsible for the violent blindness of fanaticism, for the mistakes of Herod, for the stupidity of the devil himself. We must not fail to notice, besides this feature of unconscious or intentional falsification of history in the mouth of the Sanhedrists, the other fact that they make an utterly irreligious point when they say: Out of Galilee ariseth no prophet. They deny, in the first place, the Galilean Israel, and in the second place, the freedom of God; and in particular the promise in Isa 9:1-2. To these add the third reproach, that they take not the slightest pains to ascertain the real origin of Jesus.

Joh 7:53. And every man went, etc.This is usually connected with the first section of John 8. But it is a closing word, of great significance, intended to say that the Sanhedrin, after an unsuccessful attempt against the life of Jesus, found themselves compelled to separate and go home, without having accomplished their purpose. For the idea that the words refer to the return of the festal pilgrims, is unworthy of notice. Probably the Sanhedrists were in full session, expecting that Jesus would be brought before them for their condemnation. If this was so, this breaking up of their session was the more mortifying.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. The two methods which the members of the council adopted with their officers and with their colleague Nicodemus, a type of obdurate hierarchical fanaticism in its fundamental features: (1) Perfect insensibility to the voice of truth and the dictates of conscience, and a corresponding perfectly fixed prejudice. (2) Haughtiness, rising even to crazy contempt of the people and of an entire division of the country, joined with crafty fawning upon subordinates. (3) Abusive vulgarity, arraying itself in the robe of sacerdotal and judicial dignity in execution of the judgment of God (cursing excommunicators). (4) Browbeating rejection and derision of impartial judgment, joined with impudent, intentional, or half-intentional perversion and falsification of historical fact. Bringing the voice of justice under suspicion of being a prejudiced partisan voice inflamed by partisan hatred. (5) Perpetual frustrations alternating with orders of arrogance.

2. Even in a circle so degenerate as this the Lord has His witnesses. The officers shame their superiors. The minority of one or two voices (Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea) outweighs the large majority of fanatical prejudice, and yet a while delays the judgment of God over the high council.
3. Nicodemus. The voice of impartiality and justice in defence of Christ, a prelude of the act and confession of faith.

4. As the Sanhedrin appeals to the Pharisean party as an authority, so the officers refer to their experience, and Nicodemus appeals to the law.
5. Never man spake like this man: the testimony of the bailiffs to the superhuman power of the word of Jesus. The victory of His word over the official order of His enemies.67

6. After victoriously withstanding the Jewish taunt, that the Christians were Galileans, and Christ was a Nazarene, Christianity afterwards again triumphs over the heathen taunt (of Celsus), that it was a vulgar religion.

7. The falsification of fact by the chief priests, continued in Mat 28:13. The Talmudic imitation of this example. Similar frauds of the medival hierarchy [e.g. the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals].

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

An hour of helplessness, as an hour of visitation: 1. In itself considered: (a) The helplessness. Unmanageable officers. Opposing colleagues. Impotent adjournment, (b) The call to repentance in this situation. The officers: Never man spake, etc. Even ye yourselves and the Pharisees speak not like Him. His word is mightier than your order over us. Nicodemus: Ye condemn the people as not knowing the law, and ye yourselves despise the precepts of the law. (c) The impenitency in the helplessness: in the utterance to the officers, in the utterance to Nicodemus. By these their helplessness becomes a deeper inquisition and advising with hell. 2. As a historical type. Similar occurrences in the history of Christian martyrdom, and in the persecution of the Reformation.The portrait of fanaticism. Contemptuous and fawning towards men. Hypocritical and cursing. Casting suspicion and lying. Threatening and taking cowardly refuge. Helpless and obstinate to the last.Carnal zeal degenerates. It sinks gradually from intentional ignoring and falsification into actual ignorance. It condemns itself with every word: Are ye also deceived? etc.They went home to their houses, but Christ went to the Mount of Olives. They went, to recover themselves in the selfish comfort of their estates; He prepared Himself for self-sacrifice.Witnesses of the truth in the camp of Christs enemies.The testimony of the officers concerning the words of Christ: 1. As their own excuse. 2. As an accusation against their superiors. 3. As a glorification of the superhuman innocence of Jesus.According to the divine appointment, spiritual and temporal despots in the end fail of instruments.The passive resistance of the officers.The double measure of the Jewish rulers: 1. To the sound popular judgment of the officers they oppose the authority of their party faith. 2. To the sound regard of Nicodemus for authority, appealing to law, they oppose the grossest popular judgment.Have any of the Pharisees believed on Him? A despotic ecclesiastical government supports itself upon a despotic party.Out of Galilee ariseth no prophet. Falsifications of sacred history: (a) The Talmud. (b) The medival tradition (Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals, etc.).

Nicodemus: the silent, sure advances of a true disciple of Jesus: 1. A timid but honest inquirer after truth (John 3). 2. A calm but decided advocate of justice (John 7). 3. A heroic confessor of the Lord, bringing his grateful offerings (John 19).How Nicodemus meets their boastful bluster with the words of calmness and justice: (1) The boast, that no ruler believes in Jesus. (2) The beast, that they were zealous for the law.Carnal zeal runs deeper and deeper into blindness and obduracy: 1. To shameless reviling of the justice it professes to administer. (2) To shameless denial of the truth and history, for which it imagines itself contending.And every man went unto his own house. Most of them went from a wandering assembly to a wandering house and a wandering heart, not to commune with the Lord upon their beds.How differently they went home: 1. The enemies. 2. Nicodemus.They went home, but Christ went unto the Mount of Olives.

Starke: Canstein: So the wise God deals with His enemies in the dispensation of grace: He often makes friends among their own people, children, households and servants; and therein the masters may see and should see the finger of God.Zeisius: No man, however great he may be in the world, is to be obeyed contrary to the word of God and a good conscience.Quesnel: Those who issue unjust commands from the necessity and demand of their office, without knowing the unrighteousness which pervades them, are not so far from the kingdom of God as those who issue the same from envy, hatred, or other wicked affections.Zeisius: Unlettered, honest simplicity is much better fitted to know the truth of God, than the swelling, conceited wisdom of the schools.Hedinger: O wonderful power of a word, which can stop deluded hearts in the current of their wickedness, and convert them. Act 9:5-6.Even the means which are intended for an utterly base end, God can turn to the wholesome use of souls.Bibl. Wirt.: How strangely God works with His enemies; how He makes their schemes miscarry, and confuses the game so curiously that often those who are commissioned to do evil, are compelled to do well to a good man. Num 23:11; Pro 16:7.Masters ought to set their servants a good example for imitation, but they are often so ungodly that they rather lead them astray than aright. O what will become of them!Majus: True conversion and confession of the truth the world calls delusion. Mat 27:63; 2Co 6:8.Quesnel: The world is so corrupt that it even hates those who will not join with it in persecuting the good.Hedinger: Diabolical pride! Fear of men is less than nothing in matters of faith. Poor souls, which have no other rule of faith than the decrees of blind bishops, etc. The worst is when the state policy prescribes rules of faith.Shame on the teachers of the law that they have left the people in such ignorance.Lampe: It is a very small thing to be cursed by men who are themselves under the curse, when God blesses.Majus: One man may set himself against a whole wicked assembly if only he is equipped with the whole word and Spirit of God.Zeisius: God still always has His own even among apostate masses.

Braune: Have any of the rulers believed on Him? In the haughty exaltation of their own persons there lies a frightful contempt of others.This is Pharisaism, which holds the external knowledge of the letter and the law of the Scripture, or theology, above religion.Art thou also of Galilee? As a disgrace they add the falsehood: Search, and look, etc.The fiendish joy that no ruler or Pharisee had believed in Jesus, here comes to nought.

Heubner: The humblest servants shame their masters. Those who are sent to take Jesus are themselves taken. The rulers could here see the finger of God. The Lord reigned in the midst of His enemies. To be deceived here means, to give honor to the truth. So living, simple Christians are always considered deceived.The judgment of men is set up as the rule of faith: Courts, colleges are to decide concerning the truth. But the truth has not always been laid down by them, as we have seen in the councils.The first trace of the gentle and timid announcement of adhesion to Jesus. Nicodemus merely insists on fair dealing with Jesus: It is unjust to begin the Processus ab exsecutione.The opponents of revelation act substantially like these Pharisees. They begin with this: There is no revelation, and can be none; whereas they ought to suppose and investigate at least the possibility of a true revelation.No tribunals have proceeded more unrighteously than spiritual tribunals.

Gossner: They freely confess against their masters, in whose pay they were and whose song therefore (according to the way of the world) they should have sungit was not the sound which so struck the people, as if He spoke vehemently, thundered and lightened; but a divine authority always lay in His gentle address. His word, in fact His very presence, struck as lightning to the heart. In this no man could speak like Him.

Schleiermacher (the officers): This is the first beginning. The ground must first be laid in the soul in a holy awe before the doctrine and the person of the Lord.

[The preaching of the gospel sometimes restrains the violence of the hand when it works no change in the heart.When Christ appeared, the great ones of the world not only refused to believe in Him, but boasted of their unbelief as an argument of their wisdom.Great in honor and wise in understanding, are a sweet couple, but seldom seen together.There is no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel against the Lord. (From Burkitt.)Nicodemus an example of the slow but sure work of grace, from the timid seeking of the Lord by night to this manly confession, Different ways to the same Christ, short and long direct and circuitousEven in high places Christ may have friends of whom we know nothing.Majorities in counsel may be wrong as well as minorities.One man with God on his side is stronger than any majority.One little word spoken in season may avert a persecution.P. S.]

Footnotes:

[55]Joh 7:46.[Codd. .3 a B. L. T., etc., Origen, etc., Lachmann, Tischendorf (in former edd.), Westcott and Hort. read only: . , never man spoke thus, omitting ., like this man. Tregelles and Alford retain the last words, but in brackets. Tischendorf, in his eighth ed., adopts the reading of .* in this form: . Omission is more easily accounted for (by homotel.) than insertion. Meyer and Lange retain the clause.P. S.]

[56]Joh 7:47.[The of the text. rec. after is sustained by B. T. Vulg., but omitted by .D. Alf. Tischend.P. S]

[57]Joh 7:48.[According to the more lively order of the Greek: Hath any of the rulers believed in Him, or of the Pharisees ?P. S.]

[58]Joh 7:49.[, multitude (Pbelhaufe), is here used evidently with great contempt, not only to designate the persons, but to indicate their character.P. S.]

[59]Ibid.[Some put a comma after , some a semicolon, the English V. has no stop. Dr. Lange, in his rendering of the text, adopts the semicolon, and construes thus: But only this rabble who know nothing of the law (believe in Him); cursed are they!] Meyer also makes ! an exclamation. The whole sentence is certainly a passionate outburst of the rabbinical rabies theologica, but no decree of excommunication (Kuinoel) which was inapplicable to the mass of the people.P. S.]

[60]Ibid.Instead of , Lachmann and Tischendorf, after [.] B. T., Origen, etc., read .

[61]Joh 7:50.[, according to B. L. T. and others, Lachmann, Alford. But Tischendorf, ed. 8., with Cod. Sin.* (prima manu) omits the clause , and reads simply: . Lachm., Alf., Mey. retain the clause with the exception of ; comp. Joh 19:39.P. S.]

[62]Ibid. is only in minuscules [and in .*]; supplied from John 3.

[63]Joh 7:52.Codd. B. D. K. S. [. Vulg.] read . So Lachmann, Tischendorf [Alford]. The Coptic and Sahidic Versions have even the future. Meyer: An inverted attempt to correct a historical error. Yet [text. reel.] seems not sufficiently accredited. It makes no material difference in the sense of the passage; because the word search points to the past.

[64]Joh 7:53.The reading is preferable to the reading in D. M. S.

[65]Joh 7:53.[This verse is usually connected with the following section, Joh 8:1-11, and subject to the same critical doubts (see Text. and Gram. in John 8); hence I have italicized it.P. S]

[66][Julian the Apostate, in the fourth century, contemptuously called Christ the Galilean, and the Christian Galileans.P. S.]

[67][Involuntary witnesses of the innocence or even divinity of Christ, and the truth of the Gospel: Pontius Pilate and his wife, the centurion under the cross, Judas the traitor, Tacitus (in his account of the Neronian persecution), Celsus, Lucian, Porphyry, J. J. Rousseau, Napoleon, Strauss, Renan, etc. A collection of such testimonies to the character of Christ from the mouth or pen of enemies or skeptics see in the Appendix to my book on the Person of Christ, Boston and New York, 1865.P. S.]

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him? (46) The officers answered, Never man spake like this man. (47) Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived? (48) Have any of the rulers, or of the Pharisees, believed on him? (49) But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed. (50) Nicodemus saith unto them, (He that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,) (51) Doth our law judge any man before it hear him, and know what he doeth? (52) They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet. (53) And every man went unto his own house.

Every word here is so plain as to need no comment. I only think it necessary to detain the Reader to enquire, whether he hath so heard the words of the Lord Jesus, as to say, as those men were compelled to say, Never man spake like this man! Every truly regenerated child of God feels constrained to say so. For, when a man is brought from the Adam-nature of sin and corruption, in which he, and every son of Adam was born, into a state of adoption and grace in Christ, he then knows the joyful sound, and is led to walk in the light of God’s countenance. He will be the first to join in the same conviction, never man spake like the God-Man Christ Jesus. And he will enter into an heartfelt enjoyment of what the Lord hath said, for he knows the truth by his own personal experience, the words that I speak unto you, (saith Jesus,) they are Spirit, and they are Life. Joh 6:63 . Reader! the grand question, as it concerns yourself, is, are they so to you? Oh! the blessedness of knowing and enjoying the quickening, life-giving, soul-renewing, soul-strengthening grace of God the Spirit, in daily, hourly communications from the Lord Jesus, and living to Jesus, by a life of faith on the Son of God! Our need of Christ will become a sweet and sanctified mercy, constraining to go to Christ for the supply of all that we need, and giving continual cause for running on errands to the Lord, to his mercy seat and pardon office, that we may be unceasingly receiving out of his fulness and grace for grace!

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

45 Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him?

Ver. 45. Why have you not brought him? ] Out of the pride of their power they wonder what should hinder. But the Lord knoweth how to deliver his, 2Pe 2:9 ; and wherein the enemies deal proudly, he is above them, Exo 18:11 .

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

45 52. ] Return of the officers to the Sanhedrim; consultation on their report .

Either these officers had been watching Jesus for some days, or the present section goes back a little from what has preceded. The latter is more probable.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Joh 7:45-52 . Anger of the Sanhedrim on receiving the report of their officers .

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Joh 7:45 . . It now appears that the of the preceding clause applies even to the officers sent by the Sanhedrim. They returned empty-handed , that is, as the single article shows, to the Sanhedrim, or at any rate to these parties acting together and officially. What follows indicates rather that they were met as a court. They [ regularly refers to the more remote noun; but here, although in the order of the sentence the are more remote, they are nearer in the writer’s mind, and he uses of the priests and Pharisees] at once demand the reason of the failure, ; “Why have ye not brought Him?” Apparently they were sitting in expectation of immediately questioning Him.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Joh 7:45-52

45The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them. “Why did you not bring Him?” 46The officers answered, “Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks. 47The Pharisees then answered them, “You have not also been led astray, have you? 48No one of the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he? 49But this crowd which does not know the Law is accursed.” 50Nicodemus (he who came to Him before, being one of them) said to them, 51″Our Law does not judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?” 52They answered him, “You are not also from Galilee, are you? Search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.”

Joh 7:46 “The officers answered, ‘Never did a man speak the way this man speaks'” John’s irony again! This is a very startling testimony.

1. they did not mention their fear of the crowd which would have been a good excuse for them

2. these Temple Police were unanimous in their opinion about Jesus, while the crowd was divided

3. these men were accustomed to following orders, not giving their opinions.

Joh 7:48 “No one of the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he” The Greek grammatical construction in both Joh 7:47-48 expects a “no” answer. The term “rulers” refers to the Sanhedrin. Here we have the Sadducees and Pharisees (the entire Sanhedrin), who normally were very hostile to one another, uniting in their oppositions against Jesus (cf. Joh 11:47; Joh 11:57; Joh 18:3).

Joh 7:49 “But this crowd which does not know the Law is accursed” This refers to “the people of the land” (‘am h’res) who were looked down on by the religious leaders because they did not perform all the Oral Traditions (cf. Deu 27:26). John’s irony continues to be seen in Joh 7:51, where Nicodemus points out to them that they are also breaking the Law by their treatment of Jesus.

Oh, the tragedy of religiosity. The very ones who curse (eparatos, found only here in the NT) the common people are cursed themselves! If light has become darkness, how great is the darkness! Be warned, modern, conservative, educated religionists!

Joh 7:51″Our Law does not judge a man, unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it” The Greek grammatical construction expects a “no” answer (cf. Exo 23:1; Deu 1:16).

Joh 7:52 “You are not also from Galilee, are you” This shows the emotional opposition of the Sanhedrin against Jesus.

“Search and see” Search had the connotation within Judaism of studying the Scriptures (cf. Joh 5:39). This again shows John’s use of irony. What about Elijah (cf. 1Ki 17:1) and Jonah (cf. 2Ki 14:25), Hosea and Nahum? They must have meant “the” prophet of Deu 18:15; Deu 18:19; Gen 49:10; 2 Samuel 7.

Joh 7:53 to Joh 8:11 See note at beginning of chapter 8.

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

came. “Sent”, in Joh 7:32.

to. Greek pros. App-104.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

45-52.] Return of the officers to the Sanhedrim; consultation on their report.

Either these officers had been watching Jesus for some days, or the present section goes back a little from what has preceded. The latter is more probable.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Joh 7:45. , they the [former]) the chief priests, whom at Joh 7:47 the Pharisees interrupt.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Joh 7:45

Joh 7:45

The officers therefore came to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why did ye not bring him?-The Pharisees had evidently sent officers to arrest Jesus. While waiting their opportunity to do it privately, they had listened to him and in common with the people were surprised and pleased with his preaching.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

the officers: Joh 7:32, Act 5:21-27

Reciprocal: 1Sa 19:20 – sent messengers Psa 55:9 – divide Mat 3:7 – the Pharisees Luk 22:53 – I was Act 26:12 – with

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

5

The officers who were sent to arrest Jesus returned without him. The chief priests and Pharisees doubtless were disappointed, and called for an explanation.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Joh 7:45. The officers therefore came to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him? The sending of the officers is mentioned in Joh 7:32. From Joh 7:37 we may gather that they had been lingering near Him for a day or more: His last words seem to have deprived them of all power to lay hands on Him. There is a minute difference between the senders as described in Joh 7:32 (the chief priests and the Pharisees) and here, where the second article is dropped. The slight change serves to emphasize the union of the two elements (so to speak) into one for the purpose in hand, but is not sufficient to suggest that here reference is made to the Sanhedrin as a body. It does not appear that there is formal action of the Sanhedrin earlier than the record in chap. Joh 11:47.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Observe here, 1. How God restrained the rage and malice of Christ’s enemies, till his hour was come: the officers of the chief priests, who were sent forth with a commission to apprehend him, returned without him: but with this honourable mention of him in their mouths, Never man spake like this man. Such is the power of Christ’s doctrine, that even those that come unto it with prejudice and with a persecuting purpose, may be surprized by it, and though not converted, yet bridled and restrained: the preaching of the gospel doth sometimes restrain the violence of the hand, when it works no change in or upon the heart. Thus it was with these poor officers.

Observe, 2. That the Pharisees being more enraged at the reason which the officers gave for neglecting their office, than for the neglect itself, upbraid them, that they should suffer themselves to be so deceived, whereas none of the grandees, or learned rabbies, had owned him: only an accursed crew of ignorant people followed him, and doated on him.

Here note, That when Christ came into the world, the great ones of the world not only refused to believe on him, but boasted of their unbelief, as an argument of their wisdom. Have any of the rulers believed on him? Oh no, they were too wise to believe! Faith is left to fools, and accounted folly by those wise men. Nay, farther, they count the common people cursed, who did believe on Christ. Oh prodigious stupidity! to account them accursed who receive Jesus Christ, the chiefest blessing: great men have not always the wisdom of a man, but more seldom have they the wisdom of a real Christian. Great in honour, and wise in understanding, are a sweet couple, but seldom seen together.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Joh 7:45-49. Then came the officers to the chief priests, &c. Namely, without accomplishing the purpose for which they were sent; and they The chief priests and other members of the sanhedrim, perceiving the officers had not executed their commission; said, Why have ye not brought him According to the orders you received from us? The officers answered, Never man spake like this man Surely no man living ever addressed his hearers in so engaging and irresistible a manner. They seem to have intended to intimate, that, had the chief priests and Pharisees heard him themselves, his discourse must have disarmed their resentment against him. Then answered the Pharisees Far from being softened by the account the officers gave; Are ye also deceived Ye, who have the advantage of knowing our sentiments concerning this man? Have any of the rulers Men of rank or eminence; or of the Pharisees Men of learning or religion; believed on him? But this people , this populace; who knoweth not the law This ignorant rabble; so they affected to call Christs friends; are cursed Are, by that ignorance, exposed to the curse of being thus seduced.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Vv. 45-49. The officers therefore returned to the chief-priests and Pharisees. And they said to them, Why have you not brought him? 46. The officers answered, Never man spake like this man. 47. The Pharisees answered them, Are you also led astray? 48. Has any one of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him? 49. But this multitude, who know not the law, are accursed!

Although this was a holy day, the Sanhedrim or at least a part of this body held a meeting, no doubt awaiting the result of the mission of the officers (Joh 7:42). The union of the two substantives under the force of one and the same article indicates strongly community of action (comp. Joh 7:32). The pronoun , properly those there, is surprising, since it refers to the nearest persons.

Weiss and Westcott try to explain it by saying that the priests and Pharisees were morally farther removed from the author than were the officers, as if the moral distance could take the place of grammatical remoteness. We find here again, more evidently than elsewhere, the pregnant sense of this pronoun in John; not:those there (in contrast to these here), but: those and not others; those, always the same, the eternal enemies of Jesus. By their frank reply (Joh 7:46) the officers, unintentionally, pay a strange compliment to these doctors whom they were accustomed every day to hear. Tischendorf has rightly restored, in his later editions, the last words of Joh 7:46; the omission of these words in the Alexandrian authorities arises from the confounding of the two .

By the you also (Joh 7:47), the rulers appeal to the vanity of their servants. John takes pleasure, in Joh 7:48, in again maliciously recalling one of these sayings of the adversaries of Jesus on which the contradiction made by facts impressed the stamp of ridicule (comp. the conduct of Nicodemus in Joh 7:50). The commentators recall, on the suggestion of Joh 7:49, the contemptuous expressions contained in the Rabbinical writings with reference to those who are uneducated. The ignorant man is not pious; the learned only will be raised from the dead. We must also recall the expressions: people of the earth, vermin, etc., applied by the learned Jews to the common people. By the words: who know not the law, the rulers insinuate that for themselves they have unanswerable reasons derived from the law for rejecting Jesus. Sacerdotal wrath willingly assumes an esoteric mien. The reading belongs to the classical style; the LXX. and the New Testament (Gal 3:10-13) use the form .

But there is one present who calls them to order in the name of that very law which they claim alone to know:

Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)

REPORT OF THE OFFICERS SENT TO ARREST HIM

Joh 7:45-49. Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them, Why did you not lead Him along? The officers responded, Never did a man speak as this Man is speaking. The Sanhedrin were in session in the Hall of Caiaphas on Mount Zion, in the west end of the city, while Jesus was preaching on the Temple Campus in the east end. These officers came for the express purpose of arresting and leading Him away to the Sanhedrin for trial. You see their excuse is utterly silly, no plausibility in it whatever. The simple solution of the matter was, they could not put their hands on Him; an unseen Power simply disqualifying them to touch Him. When they did their utmost, they signally failed to lay a solitary hand on His person. Hence, after much delay and endeavor to arrest Him, they are forced to give up in despair, and go back without Him. He was intangible and immortal till His work was done a grand consolation, substantially true in case of His faithful followers.

HUMAN LEADERSHIP

The Pharisees responded to them, Whether are you also deceived? They now turn the tantalizing reproach on the officers, doing their utmost to intimidate everybody from following Him. Whether has any one of the rulers of the Pharisees believed on Him? But this rabble, not knowing the law, are accursed. Here you see they pertinaciously condemn everybody who does not follow their leaders. This has always been the case with fallen Churches. Nothing but the full sanctification of the Holy Ghost ever does save people from human leadership, which is all wrong, as no really godly person wants to lead; but all such do their utmost, by instruction, exhortation, and prayer, to prevail on the people to follow Jesus only. Human leadership is a trick of the devil, by which he has populated hell with millions; as the leader, getting out of kilter by Satanic maneuver or human intrigue, he and all his followers will plunge headlong into hell. Gods leaders dont want any following; but all do their utmost to get the people to follow the Lord. You are in awful danger of perdition when following a human leader, as none are infallible, and the best are liable to make mistakes which would prove fatal. I have been presiding elder and pastor frequently, yet I never wanted any human following.

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

7:45 {17} Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him?

(17) God scorns from heaven those who are his Son’s enemies.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

3. The unbelief of the Jewish leaders 7:45-52

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

When the officers of the temple guard returned to the Sanhedrin without Jesus, the Sanhedrin members asked why they had not arrested Him (cf. Joh 7:32). The officers replied that no man (Gr. anthropos, emphatic in the Greek text) had ever spoken as Jesus did (cf. Joh 7:15). They, too, spoke more truly than they knew. Jesus was more than a man. Jesus’ authority and wisdom obviously impressed them as well as the other people. They had gone to arrest Jesus with their weapons, but Jesus had arrested them with His words.

It may seem unusual that these officers would so weakly admit that they had failed in their mission, but they were not hardened Roman soldiers who carried out their orders as automatons. They were Levites whose interests were mainly religious. Their statement is another witness to the true identity of Jesus.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)



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