John 7:40

40 Therefore of that company, when they had heard these words of him, they said, This is verily a 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 that believeth in me, as the scripture saith, Rivers of quick water shall flow out of his womb [Floods of quick water shall flow of his womb].

39 But he said this thing of the Spirit [Soothly he said this thing of the Holy Ghost], which men that believed in him should take; for the Spirit was not yet given, for Jesus was not yet glorified.

40 Therefore of that company, when they had heard these words of him, they said, This is verily a prophet.

41 Others said, This is Christ. But some said, Whether Christ cometh from Galilee?

42 Whether the scripture saith not, that of the seed of David, and of the castle of Bethlehem, where David was, Christ cometh?