John 7:40

40 Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, "Truly this is the Prophet."

John 7:40 Meaning and Commentary

John 7:40

Many of the people therefore
Of the common people, and it may be chiefly those that came out of the country:

when they heard this saying;
or discourse of Christ, on the last and great day of the feast, relating to the large measure of grace, and the effusion of the Spirit on him, that believed:

said, of a truth this is the prophet;
spoken of in ( Deuteronomy 18:15 ) , which some understood not of the Messiah, but of some extraordinary prophet distinct from him, who should come before him, or about the same time; or they imagined he was one of the old prophets raised from the dead, whom they also expected about the times of the Messiah: or their sense might only be, that he was a prophet, which was true, though not all the truth; they had some knowledge, though but small; and they spake of him, though but as children in understanding.

John 7:40 In-Context

38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."

39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

40 Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, "Truly this is the Prophet."

41 Others said, "This is the Christ." But some said, "Will the Christ come out of Galilee?

42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?"

Footnotes

• [a]. NU-Text reads some.