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John 7:45

in John 7

Then the officers returned to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring Him in?”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

The officers therefore came to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why did ye not bring him?

KJV

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

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This verse in John 7

Commentary

15 notes on this verse
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 record, by era

The Church Fathers5 voices

A commentator

Augustine of Hippo

Tractates on John 33 · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

But they who had been sent to take Him returned clear of the crime and full of admiration. For they even gave witness to His divine doctrine, when those by whom they had been sent asked, "Why have ye not brought him?" They answered that they had never heard a man so speak: "For not any man so speaks." But He spake thus, because He was God and man. But the Pharisees, repelling their testimony, said to them: "Are ye also deceived?" We see, indeed, that you also have been charmed by his discourses. "Hath any one of the rulers or the Pharisees believed on him? But this multitude who know not the law are cursed." They who knew not the law believed on Him who had sent the law; and those men who were teaching the law despised Him, that it might be fulfilled which the Lord Himself had said, "I am come that they who see not may see, and they that see may be made blind." For the Pharisees, the teachers of the law, were made blind, and the people that knew not the law, and yet believed on the author of the law, were enlightened.

A commentator

Augustine of Hippo

Catena Aurea by Aquinas · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

(Tract. xxxiii. 1) They however who were sent to take Him, returned guiltless of the offence, and full of admiration: Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought Him?

A commentator

John Chrysostom

Homily on the Gospel of John 52 · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

"The officers," saith the Evangelist, "came, and the Pharisees said unto them, Why have ye not brought him?" To "come" was a far greater deed than to have remained, for in the latter case they would have been rid of the annoyance of these men, but now they become heralds of the wisdom of Christ, and manifested their boldness in greater degree. And they say not, "We could not become of the multitude, for they gave heed unto Him as unto a prophet"; but what? "Never man spake as this Man." Yet they might have alleged that, but they show their right feeling. For theirs was the saying not only of men admiring Him, but blaming their masters, because they had sent them to bind Him whom it behooved rather to hear.

A commentator

Cyril of Alexandria

Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 5 · Written before 444.

proposed

They who had been sent to hunt our Lord, availing to accomplish nought of what had been commanded them took themselves again to the rulers. And they are troubled exceedingly at the arrival of the officers, not seeing them bring Him Who was sought. And believing that what they suspected had already happened, they are smitten with no small fear.

A commentator

John Chrysostom

Homily on the Gospel of John 52 · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

There is nothing clearer, nothing simpler than the truth, if we deal not perversely; just as (on the other hand) if we deal perversely, nothing is more difficult. For behold, the Scribes and Pharisees, who seemed forsooth to be wiser than other men, being ever with Christ for the sake of plotting against Him, and beholding His miracles, and reading the Scriptures, were nothing profited, but were even harmed while the officers, who could not claim one of these privileges, were subdued by one single sermon, and they who had gone forth to bind Him, came back bound themselves by wonder. We must not only marvel at their understanding, that they needed not signs, but were taken by the teaching alone; (for they said not, "Never man wrought miracles thus," but, "Never man spake thus";) we must not, I say, merely marvel at their understanding, but also at their boldness, that they spake thus to those that had sent them, to the Pharisees, to His enemies, to men who were doing all with a view to gratify their enmity.
9 more voices on this verse

The Medieval Church5 voices

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Commentary on John · Written before 1107.

proposed

Let us see what the officers, sent to bring Him, answer the Pharisees. They are very sensible. The Pharisees considered themselves wise, read the Scripture, and saw miracles, yet they rise up against the Lord and, like robbers, ask: "Why have you not brought Him?" …

A commentator

Bonaventure

Commentary on John, Chapter 7 · Written in the 13th century.

proposed

Here the rebuke of the returning officers is noted, because they had done nothing of what they had been sent to do; therefore the Pharisees demand the reason from them, so as to reproach them. Therefore he says: "The officers therefore came to the chief …

A commentator

Alcuin of York

Catena Aurea by Aquinas · Written before 804.

proposed

They who wished to take and stone Him, reprove the officers for not bringing Him.

A commentator

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on John · Written before 1274.

proposed

Then we see the dissension of the leaders of the people: first, their disagreement with their officers; and secondly, the disagreement among themselves (v 50). He does three things about the first: first, he shows the leaders rebuking their officers; secondly, the testimony the officers …

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Catena Aurea by Aquinas · Written before 1107.

proposed

Not among the rulers; for they were resolved one way, viz. not to acknowledge Him as Christ. The more moderate of them only used malicious words, in order to oppose Christ's path to glory; but the more malignant wished to lay hands on Him: And some of them would have taken Him.

The Nineteenth Century4 voices

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.
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.
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

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

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, etc., upon him; but the more they listened, the more they were convinced of his innocence, purity, and consummate wisdom.

How the passage was read

On John 7:1-53

On 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

18 Greek words

Every 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.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

4 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

John 7:32When the Pharisees heard the crowd whispering these things about Jesus, they and the chief priests sent officers to arrest Him.3 worksLuke 22:53Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on Me. But this hour belongs to you and to the power of darkness.”3 worksMatthew 26:58But Peter followed Him at a distance, right up to the courtyard of the high priest. And he went in and sat down with the guards to see the outcome.3 worksActs 5:21–27At daybreak the apostles entered the temple courts as they had been told and began to teach the people. When the high priest and his associates arrived, they convened the Sanhedrin—the full assembly of the elders of Israel—and sent to the jail for the apostles.2 works

The walk

5 stops

Each 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 7:32

    When the Pharisees heard the crowd whispering these things about Jesus, they and the chief priests sent officers to arrest Him.

    it leads to

    • Acts 5:26

      At that point, the captain went with the officers and brought the apostles—but not by force, for fear the people would stone them.

    • John 18:3

      So Judas brought a band of soldiers and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees. They arrived at the garden carrying lanterns, torches, and weapons.

    • John 7:45–53

      Then the officers returned to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring Him in?”

    • Matthew 12:23–24

      The crowds were astounded and asked, “Could this be the Son of David?”

    • John 12:19

      Then the Pharisees said to one another, “You can see that this is doing you no good. Look how the whole world has gone after Him!”

Where this verse is studied

About John

Nicodemus Visiting Jesus, Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1899. Public domain.
Nicodemus Visiting Jesus, Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1899. Public domain.
John: the study guide →Read John 7 →
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); Alcuin of York, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Augustine of Hippo, Tractates on John 33; Augustine of Hippo, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; 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 (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of John 52; 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.

Read on in John 7 →