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John 7:36

in John 7

What does He mean by saying, ‘You will look for Me, but you will not find Me,’ and, ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

What is this word that he said, Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me; and where I am, ye cannot come?

KJV

What manner of saying is this that he said, Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come?

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This verse in John 7

Commentary

10 notes on this verse
We see in these verses, the obstinate blindness of the unbelieving Jews. We find them defending their denial of our Lord's Messiahship, by saying, "But we know where this man comes from. Whenever the Christ comes, no one will know where he comes from." And yet in both these assertions they were wrong! They were wrong in saying that they "knew where our Lord came from." They meant no doubt to say that He was born at Nazareth, and belonged to Nazareth, and was therefore a Galilean.

This site's exposition

the Jews are dispersed among the Greeks

on John 7:35-36

They guess at the diaspora, the Jews dispersed among the Greeks in the cities of the empire. The guess lands near a truth they cannot see, and the word does reach the Greeks, carried by the men He leaves behind. The question stays open in their mouths.

This site's exposition

What does He mean by saying

They repeat His words exactly and still ask what He means. John Wesley reads where I am as the Son's constant presence in heaven, so they will look for Him and never find Him.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers3 voices

A commentator

Augustine of Hippo

Tractates on John 31 · Written before 430.

proposed

"Then said the Jews," not to Him, but "to themselves, Whither will this man go, that we shall not find him? will he go unto the dispersion among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles?" For they knew not what they said; but, it being His will, they prophesied. The Lord was indeed about to go to the Gentiles, not by His bodily presence, but still with His feet. What were His feet? Those which Saul desired to trample upon by persecution, when the Head cried out to him, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" What is this saying that He said, "Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come?" Wherefore the Lord said this they knew not, and yet they did predict something that was to be without knowing it. For this is what the Lord said that they knew not the place, if place however it must be called, which is the bosom of the Father, from which Christ never departed; nor were they competent to conceive where Christ was, whence Christ never withdrew, whither He was to return, where He was all the while dwelling. How was it possible for the human heart to conceive this, least of all to explain it with the tongue? This, then, they in no wise understood; and yet by occasion of this they foretold our salvation, that the Lord would go to the dispersion of the Gentiles, and would fulfill that which they read but did not understand. "A people whom I have not known served me, and by the hearing of the ear obeyed me." They before whose eyes He was, heard Him not; those heard Him in whose ears He was sounded. For of that Church of the Gentiles which was to come, the woman that had the issue of blood was a type: she touched and was not seen; she was not known and yet was healed. It was in reality a figure what the Lord asked: "Who touched me?" As if not knowing, He healed her as unknown: so has He done also to the Gentiles. […]

A commentator

Augustine of Hippo

Catena Aurea by Aquinas · Written before 430.

proposed

(Tract. xxxi. 10) Whither I go, i. e. to the bosom of the Father. This they did not at all understand: and yet even their mistake is an unwitting prophecy of our salvation; i. e. that our Lord would go to the Gentiles, not in His own person, but by His feet, i. e. His members. He sent to us those whom He had made His members, and so made us His members.

A commentator

John Chrysostom

Catena Aurea by Aquinas · Written before 407.

proposed

(Hom. l. 3) They did not mean, that our Lord was going to the Gentiles for their hurt, but to teach them. Their anger had subsided, and they believed what He had said. Else they would not have thought of asking each other, What manner of saying is this that He said, Ye shall seek Me, and shall not find Me: and whither I am, ye cannot come.

The Medieval Church2 voices

A commentator

Bonaventure

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

proposed

"What is this saying that he said: You will seek me and will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come?" Therefore they do not deserve to understand, because they were unwilling to humble themselves to believe.

A commentator

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on John · Written before 1274.

proposed

Finally, they saw an objection to their own opinion when they said: What does he mean by saying...? As if to say: If he had said only, You will look for me, and you will not find me, we could think that he was going …
2 more voices on this verse

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

What manner of saying is this that he said,.... It is not easy to be understood; and if that is not meant, which is suggested, what should he mean by saying, ye shall seek me, and shall not find me, and where I am, thither ye cannot come? repeating the words of Christ just now expressed by him.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

We see in these verses, the obstinate blindness of the unbelieving Jews. We find them defending their denial of our Lord's Messiahship, by saying, "But we know where this man comes from. Whenever the Christ comes, no one will know where he comes from." And yet in both these assertions they were wrong! They were wrong in saying that they "knew where our Lord came from." They meant no doubt to say that He was born at Nazareth, and belonged to Nazareth, and was therefore a Galilean. Yet the fact was, that our Lord was born at Bethlehem, that He belonged legally to the tribe of Judah, and that His mother and Joseph were of the house and lineage of David. It is incredible to suppose that the Jews could not have found this out, if they had honestly searched and inquired. It is notorious that pedigrees, genealogies, and family histories were most carefully kept by the Jewish nation. Their ignorance was without excuse. They were wrong again in saying, "Whenever the Christ comes, no one will know where he comes from." There was a well-known prophecy, with which their whole nation was familiar, that Christ was to come out of the town of Bethlehem. (Micah 5:2; Matt. 2:5; John 7:42.) It is absurd to suppose that they had forgotten this prophecy. But apparently they found it inconvenient to remember it on this occasion. Men's memories are often sadly dependent on their wills. The Apostle Peter, in a certain place, speaks of some as "willingly ignorant." (2 Pet. 3:5.) He had good reason to use the expression. It is a sore spiritual disease, and one most painfully common among men. There are thousands in the present day just as blind in their way as the Jews. They shut their eyes against the plainest facts and doctrines of Christianity. They pretend to say that they do not understand, and cannot therefore believe the things that we press on their attention, as needful to salvation.

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

21 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

10 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 3:9“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.4 worksJohn 7:34You will look for Me, but you will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.”3 worksJohn 6:41At this, the Jews began to grumble about Jesus because He had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”2 worksJohn 6:60On hearing it, many of His disciples said, “This is a difficult teaching. Who can accept it?”2 worksJohn 6:52At this, the Jews began to argue among themselves, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”2 worksJohn 12:34The crowd replied, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ will remain forever. So how can You say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?”2 works
The other 4 cross-references, with their words ▾
John 16:17–18Then some of His disciples asked one another, “Why is He telling us, ‘In a little while you will not see Me, and then after a little while you will see Me’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?”2 works1 Corinthians 2:14The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.2 worksJohn 3:4“How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time to be born?”2 worksJohn 10:6Jesus spoke to them using this illustration, but they did not understand what He was telling them.1 works

The walk

8 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 3:9

    “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

    it leads to

    • John 6:60

      On hearing it, many of His disciples said, “This is a difficult teaching. Who can accept it?”

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Isaiah 42:16

      I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on unfamiliar paths. I will turn darkness into light before them and rough places into level ground. These…

    • John 6:52

      At this, the Jews began to argue among themselves, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”

  • Through

    John 6:60

    On hearing it, many of His disciples said, “This is a difficult teaching. Who can accept it?”

    it leads to

    • John 6:66

      From that time on many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him.

    • John 8:43

      Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you are unable to accept My message.

    • John 8:31

      So He said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples.

  • Through

    John 6:52

    At this, the Jews began to argue among themselves, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”

    it leads to

    • John 9:16

      Because of this, some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for He does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a sinful man perform such signs?” And there…

    • John 10:19

      Again there was division among the Jews because of Jesus’ message.

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 11 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Gospels; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Tractates on John 31; Augustine of Hippo, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Bonaventure, Commentary on John, Chapter 7; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); John Chrysostom, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on John.

Read on in John 7 →