John 7:27

New American Standard Bible (1995)

"However, we know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
But we know where this man is from. When the Messiah comes, nobody will know where he is from.”

King James Version (1611)
Howbeit wee know this man whence he is: but when Christ commeth, no man knoweth whence he is.

King James Version
Howbeit we know this man whence he is: but when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is.

English Standard Version
But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from."

New American Standard Bible
"However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from."

New Century Version
But we know where this man is from. Yet when the real Christ comes, no one will know where he comes from."

Amplified Bible
"But we know where this Man is from; whenever the Christ comes, no one will know where He is from."

Legacy Standard Bible
However, we know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from."

Berean Standard Bible
But we know where this man is from. When the Christ comes, no one will know where He is from."

Contemporary English Version
But how could that be? No one knows where the Messiah will come from, but we know where this man comes from."

Complete Jewish Bible
Surely not — we know where this man comes from; but when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he comes from."

Darby Translation
But [as to] this [man] we know whence he is. Now [as to] the Christ, when he comes, no one knows whence he is.

Easy-to-Read Version
But when the real Messiah comes, no one will know where he comes from. And we know where this man's home is."

Geneva Bible (1587)
Howbeit we know this man whence he is: but when that Christ commeth, no man shall knowe whence he is.

George Lamsa Translation
Howbeit we know whence he comes; but when the Christ comes, no man will know whence he comes.

Good News Translation
But when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from. And we all know where this man comes from."

Lexham English Bible
Yet we know where this man is from, but the Christ, whenever he comes—no one knows where he is from!"

Literal Translation
But we know this One, from where He is. But when the Christ comes, no one knows from where He is.

American Standard Version
Howbeit we know this man whence he is: but when the Christ cometh, no one knoweth whence he is.

Bible in Basic English
However, it is clear to us where this man comes from: but when the Christ comes no one will have knowledge where he comes from.

Hebrew Names Version
However we know where this man comes from, but when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he comes from."

International Standard Version
We know where this man comes from. But when the Christ[fn] comes, no one will know where he comes from."Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3; Luke 4:22;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
Yet of this we know from whence he is; but when the Meshicha cometh, no man knoweth from whence he is.

Murdock Translation
Yet we know this man, whence he is; the Messiah, when he shall come, no one knoweth whence he is.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Howbeit, we know this man whence he is: but when Christe cometh, no man knoweth whence he is.

English Revised Version
Howbeit we know this man whence he is: but when the Christ cometh, no one knoweth whence he is.

World English Bible
However we know where this man comes from, but when the Christ comes, no one will know where he comes from."

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
Howbeit, we know this man, whence he is: but when Christ cometh, none knoweth whence he is.

Weymouth's New Testament
And yet we know this man, and we know where he is from; but as for the Christ, when He comes, no one can tell where He is from."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
But we knowun this man, of whennus he is; but whanne Crist schal come, no man woot of whennus he is.

Update Bible Version
Nevertheless we know this man from where he is: but when the Christ comes, no one knows from where he is.

Webster's Bible Translation
But we know this man, whence he is: whereas when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is.

New English Translation
But we know where this man comes from. Whenever the Christ comes, no one will know where he comes from."

New King James Version
However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from."

New Living Translation
But how could he be? For we know where this man comes from. When the Messiah comes, he will simply appear; no one will know where he comes from."

New Life Bible
We know where this Man came from. When the Christ comes, no one will know where He comes from."

New Revised Standard
Yet we know where this man is from; but when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
But, as for this one, we know whence he is; The Christ, however, whensoever he shall come, no one, getteth to know whence he is.

Douay-Rheims Bible
But we know this man, whence he is: but when the Christ cometh, no man knoweth, whence he is.

Revised Standard Version
Yet we know where this man comes from; and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from."

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
How be it we knowe this man whence he is: but when Christ cometh no man shall knowe whence he is.

Young's Literal Translation
but this one -- we have known whence he is; and the Christ, when he doth come, no one doth know whence he is.'

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Howbeyt we knowe, whence this is. But wha Christ commeth, no man shal knowe whence he is.

Mace New Testament (1729)
however, we know from what quarter this man comes: but when Christ comes it will be unknown whence he came.

Simplified Cowboy Version
But how can that be? We know this cowboy and where he comes from. The Messiah is supposed to show up, but nobody will know where he came from."

Contextual Overview

¹⁴ But when it was now the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and began to teach. ¹⁵ The Jews then were astonished, saying, "How has this man become learned, having never been educated?" ¹⁶ So Jesus answered them and said, "My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me. ¹⁷ "If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself. ¹⁸ "He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. ¹⁹ "Did not Moses give you the Law, and yet none of you carries out the Law? Why do you seek to kill Me?" ²⁰ The crowd answered, "You have a demon! Who seeks to kill You?" ²¹ Jesus answered them, "I did one deed, and you all marvel. ²² "For this reason Moses has given you circumcision (not because it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and on the Sabbath you circumcise a man. ²³ "If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath?

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

we know: John 7:15, John 6:42, Matthew 13:54-57, Mark 6:3, Luke 4:22

no man: John 7:41, John 7:42, Isaiah 11:1, Isaiah 53:8, Jeremiah 23:5, Jeremiah 30:21, Micah 5:2, Matthew 2:5, Matthew 2:6, Acts 8:33

Reciprocal: 2 Chronicles 7:8 - kept John 8:14 - but John 9:29 - we know not Acts 3:17 - through

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Howbeit, we know this man whence he is,.... They signify, that if the rulers had altered their minds, and had gone into the belief of Jesus of Nazareth being the Messiah, they should not follow them in it, for this reason; because they knew from whence he came; meaning not so much the place of his birth, which they supposed was Galilee, and Nazareth in Galilee, in which they were mistaken, as the manner of his birth, which they could account for: they pretended to know his extract, that he was the son of Joseph and Mary, that he was begotten in wedlock, and was born as other persons are; there was no difficulty with them in accounting for his coming into the world, no more than any other ordinary person; his descent from Joseph and Mary was well known to them, and to be accounted for in a rational way, and therefore concluded he could not be the Messiah:

but when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is; they knew the place from whence he was to come; so the chief priests and Scribes did, Matthew 2:4; and so did these Jews, John 7:42. They knew he would come from Bethlehem, and they knew that he would come out of the seed of David; but then he was to be born of a virgin, according to Isaiah 7:14, and such a coming into the world was not to be known, reasoned upon, and accounted for: wherefore since Jesus, according to the notion of these men, came into the world in the common and ordinary way, they thought they had an invincible argument against his being the Messiah; and therefore, let their rulers do what they would, for their parts, they were determined to reject him: and because it could not be known from whence the Messiah should come; hence the ancient Jews used to call him the seed which comes from another place; not from the place from whence seed ordinarily comes, from the loins of men, but from some other place they knew not where: their words are very remarkable on that passage in Genesis 4:25: "and she called his name Seth, for God hath appointed me another seed", c. This observation is made by R. Tanchuma, in the name of R. Samuel d says he,

"she has respect to that seed, which is he that comes, אהר

ממקום, "from another place", and what is this? this is the King Messiah.''

And elsewhere e, the same Rabbi observes on those words in

Genesis 19:32: "that we may preserve seed of our father": it is not written, "that we may preserve a son of our father", but "that we may preserve seed of our father"; that seed which is he that comes from "another place"; and what is this? this is the King Messiah. The modern Jews f endeavour to explain away the sense of this phrase, "another seed", as if it regarded strange seed; and that the sense of the expression is only, that the Messiah should spring from the family of Moab, and from Ruth the Moabitess: nor is their sense what Aquinas g at tributes to the Jewish Rabbins,

"that the more noble part of that mass, of which Adam was made, remained untouched (by sin), and was afterwards transfused into Seth; and so through all descending from him, unto Joakim, or Eliakim, or Heli, the father of the virgin, out of which the body of the blessed Virgin was made:''

which is no other than a Popish device, fathered upon the Jews, and made for the sake of the, Virgin Mary, rather than for the sake of Christ. But their meaning is, that Christ should not be gotten of man, or come into the world in the ordinary way of generation, but should be born of a virgin; and so it could not be known, and accounted for from whence he was, or from whence that seed was of which he was made. The angel gives the best account of this in Luke 1:35: a body was prepared for Christ by the Lord; it was conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost; his birth of a virgin was miraculous; it is beyond the comprehension of men, and cannot explained by any mortal; from whence he is it cannot be said; no man can be pointed to as his father; all that can be said is, he was made of a woman, a virgin.

d Bereshit Rabba, sect. 23. fol. 20. 4. Midrash Ruth, fol. 36. 1. e Bereshit Rabba, sect. 51. fol. 46. 1. Midrash Ruth, fol. 35. 4. f Mattanot Cehunah & Jade Moseh in ib. g In 3 sent distinct. 3. art. 2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Howbeit - But. They proceeded to state a reason why they supposed that he could not be the Messiah, whatever the rulers might think.

We know this man whence he is - We know the place of his birth and residence.

No man knoweth whence he is - From Matthew 2:5, it appears that the common expectation of the Jews was that the Messiah would be born at Bethlehem; but they had also feigned that after his birth he would be hidden or taken away in some mysterious manner, and appear again from some unexpected quarter. We find allusions to this expectation in the New Testament, where our Saviour corrects their common notions, Matthew 24:23; “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not.” And again John 7:26, “If they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert, go not forth; behold, he is in the secret chambers, believe it not.” The following extracts from Jewish writings show that this was the common expectation: “The Redeemer shall manifest himself, and afterward be hid. So it was in the redemption from Egypt. Moses showed himself and then was hidden.” So on the passage, Song of Solomon 2:9 - “My beloved is like a roe or a young hart” - they say: “A roe appears and then is hid; so the Redeemer shall first appear and then be concealed, and then again be concealed and then again appear.” “So the Redeemer shall first appear and then be hid, and then, at the end of 45 days, shall reappear, and cause manna to descend.” See Lightfoot. Whatever may have been the source of this opinion, it explains this passage, and shows that the writer of this gospel was well acquainted with the opinions of the Jews, however improbable those opinions were.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 27. No man knoweth whence he is. — The generality of the people knew very well that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, in the city, and of the family, of David; see John 7:42. But, from Isaiah Isaiah 53:8, Who shall declare his generation? they probably thought that there should be something so peculiarly mysterious in his birth, or in the manner of his appearing, that no person could fully understand. Had they considered his miraculous conception, they would have felt their minds relieved on this point. The Jews thought that the Messiah, after his birth, would hide himself for some considerable time; and that when he began to preach no man should know where he had been hidden, and whence he had come. The rabbins have the following proverb: Three things come unexpectedly:

1. A thing found by chance.

2. The sting of a scorpion: and,

3. The Messiah.

It was probably in reference to the above that the people said, No man knoweth whence he is. However, they might have spoken this of his parents. We know that the Messiah is to be born in Bethlehem, of the family of David; but no man can know his parents: therefore they rejected him: John 6:42, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?