John 7:44

44 Some wanted to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him.

John 7:44 Meaning and Commentary

John 7:44

And some of them would have taken him
Some of the latter sort, who did not believe he was the Messiah; who were the most averse to him, and hot and furious against him; these were for seizing him at once in a violent manner, and for carrying him before the sanhedrim, as an impostor and blasphemer to be examined and tried, and judged by them, to whom it belonged to judge and determine concerning such persons:

but no man laid hands on him;
though they had a good will to it, no man had power to do it; they were held back and restrained by the providence of God; and were diverted from it upon one consideration or another; either fearing the people, or being awed by the majesty of Christ's countenance, or words; the true reason of which was, that which is before given, that his hour was not yet come.

John 7:44 In-Context

42 Doesn't the Tanakh say that the Messiah is from the seed of Davidf and comes from Beit-Lechem,g the village where David lived?"
43 So the people were divided because of him.
44 Some wanted to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him.
45 The guards came back to the head cohanim and the P'rushim, who asked them, "Why didn't you bring him in?"
46 The guards replied, "No one ever spoke the way this man speaks!"
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.