John 7:14
in John 7About halfway through the feast, Jesus went up to the temple courts and began to teach.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But when it was now the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught.
KJV
Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught.
⋯
This verse in John 7
Commentary
16 notes on this verseThe midst of the feast - Though the canons required him to be there on the first day, for the performance of a great variety of rites, yet, as these were in general the invention of their doctors, he might think it very proper neither to attend nor perform them.
This site's exposition
About halfway through the feast
on John 7:14-15
About halfway through the feast is the fourth day of eight. He teaches in the temple courts, the most public place in the city. The question put to Him is about schooling, and a teacher then took his authority from the rabbi he had sat under.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
Then afterwards the Lord went up to the feast, "about the middle of the feast, and taught." He who was in secret taught, He was speaking openly and was not restrained. For that hiding of Himself was for the sake of example; this showing Himself openly was an intimation of His power.
(Tract. xxviii. s. 8.) The feast seems, as far as we can judge, to have lasted several days. And therefore it is said, "about the middle of the feast day:" i. e. when as many days of that feast had passed, as were to come. So that His assertion, I go not up yet to this feast day, (i. e. to the first or second day, as you would wish me,) was strictly fulfilled. For He went up afterwards, about the middle of the feast. (de Quaest. Nov. et Vet. Test. 2. 78) In going there too, He went up, not to the feast day, but to the light. They had gone to enjoy the pleasures of the festival, but Christ's feast day was that on which by His Passion He redeemed the world. (super Joan. Tract. xxix. 2) He who had before concealed Himself, taught and spoke openly, and was not laid hold on. The one was intended for an example to us, the other to testify His power.
"Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up and taught." By the delay He made them more attentive; for they who had sought Him on the first days and said, "Where is He?" when they saw Him suddenly present, observe how they drew near, and were like to press upon Him as He was speaking, both those who said that He was a good man, and those who said that He was not such; the former so as to profit by and admire Him, the latter to lay hold on and detain Him. One party then said, "He deceiveth the people," by reason of the teaching and the doctrines, not understanding His meaning; the other on account of the miracles said, "He is a good man." He therefore thus came among them when He had slackened their anger, so that they might hear His words at leisure, when passion no longer stopped their ears.
A commentator
Cyril of AlexandriaCommentary on the Gospel of John, Book 4 · Written before 444.
proposed
Temple-befitting is the teaching of our Saviour: for where else should we rather hear the Divine Voice, save in the places where the Divinity is believed to dwell? For God tendeth all things, and will not be conceived of as circumscribed by space, in respect of His Own Nature, but is wholly uncontained by things that are, yet is it more meet that we should suppose that He dwells in the holy places, and we most reasonably deem that the will of the Divine Nature will specially be heard by us in sacred places.
The Medieval Church1 voice
At the commencement of the feast, men would be attending more to the preachings of the festival itself; and afterwards would be better disposed to hear Christ.
9 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church3 voices
Why did He come in the middle of the feast? In order to soften their anger and so that they would listen to His words with greater diligence and attention, when the feast was not blocking their hearing. For at the beginning of the feast …
After the concealment has been treated, the discussion turns to the manifestation of our Teacher. "Now about the midst of the feast," and this was "the fourth day of the feast," as the Gloss says, which is the middle of the seven days: "Jesus went …
Next we see the second opportunity Christ had to present his teaching, that is, the amazement of the people. First, we see the object of their amazement; secondly, their amazement itself, and thirdly, the reason why they were amazed. The object of their amazement is …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Now at the middle of the feast - Which lasted eight days. It is probable this was on the Sabbath day. Jesus went up into the temple - Directly, without stopping any where else.
Now about the midst of the feast,....
His business was to preach the gospel of the kingdom, and he did it in every place of concourse. His sermon is not recorded, because, probably, it was to the same purport with the sermons he had preached in Galilee, which were recorded by the other evangelists. For the gospel is the same to the plain and to the polite.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1869)
proposed
Teaching in the Temple When the feast was half over, Jesus went up to the temple and began to teach. Then the Jewish authorities were astonished and said, "How does this man know so much when he has never had formal instruction?" So Jesus replied, "My teaching is not from me, but from the one who sent me. If anyone wants to do God’s will, he will know about my teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak from my own authority.
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1869)
proposed
Teaching in the Temple When the feast was half over, Jesus went up to the temple and began to teach. Then the Jewish authorities were astonished and said, "How does this man know so much when he has never had formal instruction?" So Jesus replied, "My teaching is not from me, but from the one who sent me. If anyone wants to do God’s will, he will know about my teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak from my own authority. The person who speaks on his own authority desires to receive honor for himself; the one who desires the honor of the one who sent him is a man of integrity, and there is no unrighteousness in him. Hasn’t Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law! Why do you want to kill me?" The crowd answered, "You’re possessed by a demon! Who is trying to kill you?" Jesus replied, "I performed one miracle and you are all amazed. However, because Moses gave you the practice of circumcision (not that it came from Moses, but from the forefathers), you circumcise a male child on the Sabbath. But if a male child is circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses is not broken, why are you angry with me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath? Do not judge according to external appearance, but judge with proper judgment." We learn first in this passage, that honest obedience to God's will is one way to obtain clear spiritual knowledge. Our Lord says, "If anyone wants to do God’s will, he will know about my teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak from my own authority." The difficulty of finding out "what is truth" in religion is a common subject of complaint among men. They point to the many differences which prevail among Christians on matters of doctrine, and profess to be unable to decide who is right.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
About the midst - Or about the middle of the feast. It continued eight days. The temple - See the notes at Mat 21:12. And taught - Great multitudes were assembled in and around the temple, and it was a favorable time and place to make known his doctrine.
How the passage was read
On John 7:1-53On John 7:1-53
The water ceremony He interrupted
“The Feast of Booths” is Tabernacles, in Hebrew Sukkot: the autumn week when Israel lived (and Jewish families still eat) in leafy shelters remembering the wilderness. In Temple times each morning of the feast a priest carried water in gold from the pool of Siloam up to the altar and poured it out, praying for the year's rain, while the crowds sang: the Mishnah calls it the Rejoicing at the Place of the Water-Drawing, and the Talmud says whoever never saw it “has never seen rejoicing in his life” (Sukkah 51a).
That is the scene on “the last day of the feast, the great day,” when Jesus stood and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink”: a claim staged inside the feast's own ceremony, at the moment all Jerusalem was thinking about water from God.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Sources: Mishnah Sukkah 4:9 (the water-drawing rite) · Sukkah 51a (“has never seen rejoicing”)
The words behind it
12 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ἤδη | ede | Now | G2235 → | 61 times |
| δὲ | de | also | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| τῆς | tes | of the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἑορτῆς | he'ortes | feast | G1859 → | 25 times |
| μεσούσης | mesouses | being in the middle | G3322 → | |
| ἀνέβη | anebe | went up | G305 → | 82 times |
| Ἰησοῦς | iesous | Jesus | G2424 → | 908 times |
| εἰς | eis | into | G1519 → | 1755 times |
| τὸ | to | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἱερὸν | hi'eron | temple | G2411 → | 70 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἐδίδασκεν. | edidasken | was teaching. | G1321 → | 96 times |
ἬδηNow
edeG2235 →61 times
δὲalso
deG1161 →2765 times
τῆςof the
tesG3588 →19766 times
ἑορτῆςfeast
he'ortesG1859 →25 times
μεσούσηςbeing in the middle
mesousesG3322 →
ἀνέβηwent up
anebeG305 →82 times
ἸησοῦςJesus
iesousG2424 →908 times
εἰςinto
eisG1519 →1755 times
τὸthe
toG3588 →19766 times
ἱερὸνtemple
hi'eronG2411 →70 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἐδίδασκεν.was teaching.
edidaskenG1321 →96 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
John 8:2Early in the morning He went back into the temple courts. All the people came to Him, and He sat down to teach them.
it leads to
- Matthew 26:55
At that time Jesus said to the crowd, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me as you would an outlaw? Every day I sat teaching in the temple courts, and…
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 26:55
Through
John 18:20“I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus answered. “I always taught in the synagogues and at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret.
it leads to
- Luke 21:37
Every day Jesus taught at the temple, but every evening He went out to spend the night on the Mount of Olives.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 48:16
Come near to Me and listen to this: From the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time it happened, I was there.” And now the Lord GOD has sent me, accompanied…
- John 7:26
Yet here He is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying anything to Him. Have the rulers truly recognized that this is the Christ?
- Matthew 4:23
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.
- Luke 21:37
Through
John 7:28Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “You know Me, and you know where I am from. I have not come of My own accord, but He who sent Me is…
it leads to
Through
Luke 19:47Jesus was teaching at the temple every day, but the chief priests, scribes, and leaders of the people were intent on killing Him.
it leads to
- Mark 11:18
When the chief priests and scribes heard this, they looked for a way to kill Him. For they were afraid of Him, because the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching.
- Mark 11:18
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About John
This page draws on 16 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Tractates on John 29; Augustine of Hippo, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Bonaventure, Commentary on John, Chapter 7; Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 4; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of John 49; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Lightfoot, Horae Hebraicae et Talmudicae on John; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theophylact of Ohrid, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on John and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on John.