John 7:9
in John 7Having said this, Jesus remained in Galilee.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And having said these things unto them, he abode still in Galilee.
KJV
When he had said these words unto them, he abode still in Galilee.
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This verse in John 7
Commentary
12 notes on this verseA commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1869)
The chapter we now begin is divided from the preceding one by a wide interval of time. The many miracles which our Lord wrought, while He "walked in Galilee," are passed over by John in comparative silence. The events which he was specially inspired to record are those which took place in or near Jerusalem. We should observe in this passage the desperate hardness and unbelief of human nature. We are told that even our Lord's "brethren did not believe in Him."
This site's exposition
Go up to the feast on your own
on John 7:8-9
Go up on your own releases the brothers to their own plan. He declines their manner and their moment, and verse 10 shows Him going up later and quietly. Jesus remained in Galilee.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
The things done by Christ after the manner of men, are not so done only to establish the Incarnation, but also to educate us for virtue. For had He done all as God, how could we have known, on falling in with such things as we wished not, what we must do? As, for instance, when He was in this very place, and the Jews would have killed Him, He came into the midst of them, and so appeased the tumult. Now had He done this continually, how should we, not being able to do so, and yet falling into the like case, have known in what way we ought to deal with the matter, whether to perish at once, or even to use some contrivance in order that the word might go forward? Since, therefore, we who have no power could not have understood what to do on coming into the midst of our foes, on this account we are taught this very thing by Him.
A commentator
Cyril of AlexandriaCommentary on the Gospel of John, Book 4 · Written before 444.
proposed
Christ dwells gladly in Galilee, and banished from the country of Judaea, takes up His Abode more peaceably and securely, that again the multitude of the Gentiles albeit exceedingly uninstructed, by reason of the error that yet holdeth them, might be shown to be nobler than those who seemed to be skilled in the law. By this He showed both His just love for thorn, and most reasonable hatred of them of Judaea.
The Medieval Church3 voices
Our Lord at first declares that He will not go up to the feast, (I go not up with you,) in order not to expose Himself to the rage of the Jews; and therefore we read, that, When He had said these words unto them, He abode still in Galilee. Afterwards, however, He goes up; But when His brethren were gone up, then went He also up unto the feast.
"When he had said these things," that is, had excused himself before his brethren, "he remained in Galilee," namely, until his brethren had gone up.
(non occ.) The mystical meaning is, that to all those carnal persons who seek human glory, the Lord remains in Galilee; the meaning of which name is, "passing over;" applying to those his members who pass from vice to virtue, and make progress in the latter. And our Lord Himself delayed to go up, signifying that Christ's members seek not temporal but eternal glory. And He went up secretly, because allb glory is from within: that is, (Ps. 45:14.) from a pure heart and good conscience, and faith unfeigned. (1 Tim. 1:5)
5 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
After the Evangelist mentioned how our Lord's relatives urged him to go to Judea, and what Christ replied to them, he then tells us of his journey. First, of his delay in going into Judea; secondly, of the order of the events; and thirdly, the …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
But he went up after them. We may lawfully join in the same religious worship with those with whom we should yet decline an intimate acquaintance and converse; for the blessing of ordinances depends upon the grace of God, and not upon the grace of our fellow-worshippers.
When he had said these words unto them,.... Had exhorted them to go up to the feast, and told them that he should not go yet, and the reason of it: he abode still in Galilee; and went not up with his brethren, nor at all at present; showing hereby a firmness and resolution of mind, not using lightness of speech; and his words being not yea, and nay, but all of a piece, and by which he abode.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
My time is not yet come--that is, for showing Himself to the world. your time is always ready--that is, "It matters little when we go up, for ye have no great plans in life, and nothing hangs upon your movements.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1869)
proposed
The chapter we now begin is divided from the preceding one by a wide interval of time. The many miracles which our Lord wrought, while He "walked in Galilee," are passed over by John in comparative silence. The events which he was specially inspired to record are those which took place in or near Jerusalem. We should observe in this passage the desperate hardness and unbelief of human nature. We are told that even our Lord's "brethren did not believe in Him." Holy and harmless and blameless as He was in life, some of his nearest relatives, according to the flesh, did not receive Him as the Messiah. It was bad enough that His own people, "the Jews sought to kill Him." But it was even worse that "His brethren did not believe." That great Scriptural doctrine, man's need of preventing and converting grace, stands out here, as if written with a sunbeam. It becomes all who question that doctrine to look at this passage and consider. Let them observe that seeing Christ's miracles, hearing Christ's teaching, living in Christ's own company, were not enough to make men believers. The mere possession of spiritual privileges never yet made any one a Christian. All is useless without the effectual and applying work of God the Holy Spirit. No wonder that our Lord said in another place, "No man can come to me, except the Father who has sent me draw him." (John 6:44.) The true servants of Christ in every age will do well to remember this. They are often surprised and troubled to find that in religion they stand alone. They are apt to fancy that it must be their own fault that all around them are not converted like themselves. They are ready to blame themselves because their families remain worldly and unbelieving. But let them look at the verse before us. In our Lord Jesus Christ there was no fault either in temper, word, or deed.
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
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ταῦτα | tauta | These things | G3778 → | 1381 times |
| δὲ | de | now | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| εἰπὼν | eipon | having said | G2036 → | 925 times |
| αὐτὸς | autos | He himself | G846 → | 5565 times |
| ἔμεινεν | emeinen | He remained | G3306 → | 118 times |
| ἐν | en | in | G1722 → | 2738 times |
| τῇ | tea | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| Γαλιλαίᾳ.¶ | galilaia | Galilee. | G1056 → | 61 times |
ταῦταThese things
tautaG3778 →1381 times
δὲnow
deG1161 →2765 times
εἰπὼνhaving said
eiponG2036 →925 times
αὐτὸςHe himself
autosG846 →5565 times
ἔμεινενHe remained
emeinenG3306 →118 times
ἐνin
enG1722 →2738 times
τῇ<the>
teaG3588 →19766 times
Γαλιλαίᾳ.¶Galilee.
galilaiaG1056 →61 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
About John
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, 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); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theophylact of Ohrid, Catena Aurea by Aquinas and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on John.