Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

John 7:34

ζητήσετέ με. In spite of John 7:1; John 7:19-20; John 7:25; John 7:30; John 5:18; John 8:37; John 8:40; John 10:39; John 11:8, it seems clear from John 13:33 that these words are not to be understood of seeking His life: no infinitive is added here; in all the other cases we have ἀποκτεῖναι, πιάσαι, or λιθάσαι. Nor can repentance be meant; repentance could not be in vain. Rather distress is meant; they will seek for help at His hands and not find it (comp. John 8:21). But it is best not to limit the application to any particular occasion, such as the destruction of Jerusalem, the great hour of Jewish need.

ὅπου εἰμὶ ἐγώ, ὑμεῖς. The pronouns are again in emphatic opposition as in John 7:28-29; comp. John 7:7-8. Εἰμί, not εἶμι, which does not occur in N.T. Winer, p. 61. The present tense implies His continual presence with the Father; ‘where I am,’ not ‘where I shall be.’

οὐ δύνασθε. It is morally impossible: see on John 7:7.

Ποῦ οὗτος μέλλει. Where is this fellow (John 3:26; John 6:42; John 6:52) about to (John 6:71) go, seeing that we shall not find Him. Is He about to go unto the Dispersion among the Gentiles? Ἡ διασπορά τ. Ἑλλ. means those Jews who were dispersed among the heathen outside Palestine; the abstract for the concrete, like ἡ περιτομή for the Jews generally. Διασπορά occurs James 1:1 and 1 Peter 1:1 (see notes there), and nowhere else in N.T. There were three chief colonies of these ‘dispersed’ or ‘scattered’ Jews, in Babylonia, Egypt, and Syria, whence they spread over the whole world. ‘Moses from generations of old hath in every city them that preach him,’ Acts 15:21. These opponents of Christ, therefore, suggest that He means to go to the Jews scattered among the Gentiles in order to reach the Gentiles and teach them—the very mode of proceeding afterwards adopted by the Apostles; so that their saying, like that of Caiaphas (John 11:50), was an involuntary prophecy. But here it is spoken in sarcasm. Christ’s utter disregard of Jewish exclusiveness and apparent non-observance of the ceremonial law gave a handle to the sneer; which would be pointless if Ἑλλήνων were rendered ‘Hellenists,’ i.e. Grecised Jews. Ἕλληνες in N.T. always means Gentiles or heathen. see on John 12:20.

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

John 7:34

Old Testament

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