John 7:40

40 When they heard these words, some in the crowd said, "This is really 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 and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, "Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water.' "

39 Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

40 When they heard these words, some in the crowd said, "This is really the prophet."

41 Others said, "This is the Messiah." But some asked, "Surely the Messiah does not come from Galilee, does he?

42 Has not the scripture said that the Messiah is descended from David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?"