John 7:15

And the Jews marvelled According to the best MSS., The Jews therefore marvelled. -Therefore" should also be inserted in John 7:16; Jesus therefore answered them. S. John's extreme fondness for this particle in narrative is worth keeping in view.

How knoweth this man letters Or, this fellow, as in John 6:42. Their question is so eminently characteristic, that it is very unlikely that a Greek writer of the second century would have been able to invent it for them; he would probably have made them too cautious to commit themselves to any expression of astonishment about Him. The substance of His doctrine excites no emotion in them, but they are astounded that He should possess learning without having got it according to ordinary routine. He had never attended the schools of the Rabbis, and yet His interpretations of Scripture shewed a large amount of biblical and other knowledge. That doesexcite them. In Acts 26:24, -much learning doth make thee mad," the word there translated -learning" is the same as the one here translated -letters."