John 7:40
in John 7On hearing these words, some of the people said, “This is truly the Prophet.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Some of the multitude therefore, when they heard these words, said, This is of a truth the prophet.
KJV
Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet.
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This verse in John 7
Commentary
13 notes on this verseOf a truth this is the Prophet - The great prophet, or teacher, spoken of by Moses, Deu 18:15, which they improperly distinguished from the Messiah, Joh 7:41. Some no doubt knew that by the prophet, the Messiah was meant; but others seem to have thought that one of the ancient prophets should be raised from the dead, and precede the appearing of the Messiah.
This site's exposition
This is truly the Prophet
on John 7:40-41
The crowd splits three ways over one saying. Some name Him the Prophet, others the Christ, and others object on a point of geography, how the Christ can come from Galilee. These are the highest titles the crowd has, and both belong to Him.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
(Tract. xxxiii. 1) Our Lord having invited those, who believed in Him, to drink of the Holy Spirit, a dissension arose among the multitude: Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet.
You remember, my beloved, that in the last discourse, by occasion of the passage of the Gospel read, we spoke to you concerning the Holy Spirit. When the Lord had invited those that believe on Him to this drinking, speaking among those who meditated to lay hold of Him, and sought to kill Him, and were not able, because it was not His will: well, when He had spoken these things, there arose a dissension among the multitude concerning Him; some thinking that He was the very Christ, others saying that Christ shall not arise from Galilee.
A commentator
Cyril of AlexandriaCommentary on the Gospel of John, Book 5 · Written before 444.
proposed
Astonishment-stricken are they at His confidence as being God-befitting, and seeing that His words no longer suit the measures of man, they betake themselves to memory of the Law, as having already fore-declared of Christ, and saying that a Prophet should be raised up like to the all-wise Moses who should interpret to Israel the words from God.
The Medieval Church2 voices
Shamed by the boldness of His speech, some from the people — not from the rulers (for the rulers out of envy were always against Him) — confess that He is that Prophet whom they await.
The one, that is, who was expected. Others, i. e. the people said, This is the Christ.
6 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church2 voices
Here the dissension of the multitude on account of the teaching of Christ is intimated: wherefore he says: "From that crowd, when they had heard these words of his," some, enlightened on account of hearing the teaching of Christ, "were saying: This is truly the …
The Evangelist, having shown us Christ's invitation to a spiritual drink, now presents the disagreement of the people. First, the disagreement among the people themselves; secondly, that of their leaders (v 45). He does two things about the first. First, he states what those who …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Many of the people therefore,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1869)
These verses show us, for one thing, how useless is knowledge in religion, if it is not accompanied by grace in the heart. We are told that some of our Lord's hearers knew clearly where Christ was to be born. They referred to Scripture, like men familiar with its contents. "Has not the Scripture said that Christ comes of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?" And yet the eyes of their understanding were not enlightened. Their own Messiah stood before them, and they neither received, nor believed, nor obeyed Him.
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1869)
proposed
These verses show us, for one thing, how useless is knowledge in religion, if it is not accompanied by grace in the heart. We are told that some of our Lord's hearers knew clearly where Christ was to be born. They referred to Scripture, like men familiar with its contents. "Has not the Scripture said that Christ comes of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?" And yet the eyes of their understanding were not enlightened. Their own Messiah stood before them, and they neither received, nor believed, nor obeyed Him. A certain degree of religious knowledge, beyond doubt, is of vast importance. Ignorance is certainly not the mother of true devotion, and helps nobody toward heaven. An "unknown God" can never be the object of a reasonable worship. Happy indeed would it be for Christians if they all knew the Scriptures as well as the Jews seem to have done, when our Lord was on earth! But while we value religious knowledge, we must take care that we do not overvalue it. We must not think it enough to know the facts and doctrines of our faith, unless our hearts and lives are thoroughly influenced by what we know. The very devils know the creed intellectually, and "believe and tremble," but remain devils still. (James 2:19.) It is quite possible to be familiar with the letter of Scripture, and to be able to quote texts appropriately, and reason about the theory of Christianity, and yet to remain dead in trespasses and sins. Like many of the generation to which our Lord preached, we may know the Bible well, and yet remain faithless and unconverted. Heart-knowledge, we must always remember, is the one thing needful. It is something which schools and universities cannot confer. It is the gift of God.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The Prophet - That is, the prophet whom they expected to precede the coming of the Messiah - either Elijah or Jeremiah. See Mat 16:14.
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
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἐκ | ek | from | G1537 → | 911 times |
| τοῦ | tou | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ὄχλου | ochlou | crowd | G3793 → | 175 times |
| οὖν | oun | therefore | G3767 → | 497 times |
| ἀκούσαντες | akousantes | having heard | G191 → | 425 times |
| τῶν | ton | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| λόγων | logon | words | G3056 → | 329 times |
| τούτων | touton | these | G3778 → | 1381 times |
| ἔλεγον | elegon | were saying | G3004 → | 1325 times |
| οὗτός | houtos | This | G3778 → | 1381 times |
| ἐστιν | estin | is | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| ἀληθῶς | alethos | truly | G230 → | 18 times |
| ὁ | ho | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| προφήτης. | prophetes | Prophet. | G4396 → | 144 times |
ἐκfrom
ekG1537 →911 times
τοῦthe
touG3588 →19766 times
ὄχλουcrowd
ochlouG3793 →175 times
οὖνtherefore
ounG3767 →497 times
ἀκούσαντεςhaving heard
akousantesG191 →425 times
τῶνthe
tonG3588 →19766 times
λόγωνwords
logonG3056 →329 times
τούτωνthese
toutonG3778 →1381 times
ἔλεγονwere saying
elegonG3004 →1325 times
οὗτόςThis
houtosG3778 →1381 times
ἐστινis
estinG1510 →2333 times
ἀληθῶςtruly
alethosG230 →18 times
ὁthe
hoG3588 →19766 times
προφήτης.Prophet.
prophetesG4396 →144 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 6:14When the people saw the sign that Jesus had performed, they began to say, “Truly this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 18:15–18
The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to him.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Acts 7:37
This is the same Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.’
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 21:11
The crowds replied, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
- Matthew 11:3
to ask Him, “Are You the One who was to come, or should we look for someone else?”
- Deuteronomy 18:15–18
Through
Matthew 21:11The crowds replied, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
it leads to
Through
John 1:21“Then who are you?” they inquired. “Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.”
it leads to
- Malachi 4:5
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD.
- Matthew 11:14
And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.
- Malachi 4:5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About John
This page draws on 13 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, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Augustine of Hippo, Tractates on John 33; Bonaventure, Commentary on John, Chapter 7; Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 5; J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, John; 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 Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on John; Theophylact of Ohrid, Catena Aurea by Aquinas and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on John.