John 7:5

For neither did his brethren believe in him.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
For	γὰρ gar	G1063	properly · conjunction
neither	οὐδὲ oude	G3761	not however · conjunction — negative
did	ἐπίστευον episteuon	G4100	to have faith (in · verb — imperfect active indicative, 3rd person plural
his	αὐτοῦ autou	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine
brethren	ἀδελφοὶ adelphoi	G80	a brother (literally or figuratively) near or remote (m… · noun — nominative plural masculine
believe	πιστεύω pisteúō	G4100	to have faith (in
in	εἰς eis	G1519	to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
him	αὐτόν.¶ auton	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular masculine

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Mark 3:21 And when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself.
John 1:11-13 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
Micah 7:5-6 Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.
John 7:3 His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judæa, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest.
John 7:10 But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on John 7:1-13

We have here, I. The reason given why Christ spent more of his time in Galilee than in Judea (Joh 7:1): because the Jews, the people in Judea and Jerusalem, sought to kill him, for curing the impotent man on the sabbath day, Joh 5:16. They thought to be the death of him, either by a popular tumult or by a legal prosecution, in consideration of which he kept at a distance in another part of the country, very much out of the lines of Jerusalem's communication. It is not said, He durst not, but, He would not, walk in Jewry; it was not through fear and cowardice that he declined it, but in prudence, because his hour was not yet come. Note, 1. Gospel light is justly taken away from those that end…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 7:3

His brethren said--(See on Mat 13:54-56). Depart . . . into Judea, &c.--In Joh 7:5 this speech is ascribed to their unbelief. But as they were in the "upper room" among the one hundred and twenty disciples who waited for the descent of the Spirit after the Lord's ascension (Act 1:14), they seem to have had their prejudices removed, perhaps after His resurrection. Indeed here their language is more that of strong prejudice and suspicion (such as near relatives, even the best, too frequently show in such cases), than from unbelief. There was also, probably, a tincture of vanity in it. "Thou hast many disciples in Judea; here in Galilee they are fast dropping off; it is not like one who advan…

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Adam Clarke on John 7:5

Neither did his brethren believe in him - They did not receive him as the promised Messiah; but, having seen so many of his miracles, they could not but consider him as an eminent prophet. They supposed that, if he were the Messiah, he would wish to manifest himself as such to the world; and, because he did not do so, they did not believe that he was the salvation of Israel.

John Gill on John 7:5

For neither did his brethren believe in him. At first they might take to him, and embrace him as the Messiah, and expect he would set up a temporal kingdom; in which they might hope, on account of their relation to him, according to the flesh to enjoy great honours and privileges; but finding that he was not inclined to anything of that nature, and talked in a quite different way, they grew sick of him, and rejected him, as the Messiah; so, little regard is to be had, or confidence placed, in carnal descent from, or alliance to the best of men; as to Abraham, or any other true believer, if they have not the same grace, or the same faith as such have; and which comes not by blood, or natural…

The Church Fathers

But there is some ground for thinking that Christ's answer denies His mother and brethren for the present, as even Apelles might learn. "The Lord's brethren had not yet believed in Him." So is it contained in the Gospel which was published before Marcion's time; whilst there is at the same time a want of evidence of His mother's adherence to Him, although the Marthas and the other Marys were in constant attendance on Him.
— Tertullian, On the Flesh of Christ

But observe, I pray you, the power of Christ. Of those who said these things, one became first Bishop of Jerusalem, the blessed James, of whom Paul saith, "Other of the Apostles saw I none, save James, the Lord's brother"; and Judas also is said to have been a marvelous man. And yet these persons had been present also at Cana, when the wine was made, but as yet they profited nothing. Whence then had they so great unbelief? From their evil mind, and from envy; for superiority among kindred is wont somehow to be envied by such as are not alike exalted.
— John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of John 48

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Unbelief · Exemplified: Brethren of Christ — Exemplified: Brethren of Christ

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

John 7:5

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on John 7:1-13

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 7:3

Adam Clarke on John 7:5

John Gill on John 7:5

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John 7:5

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on John 7:1-13

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 7:3

Adam Clarke on John 7:5

John Gill on John 7:5

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on John 7:1-8

Tyndale Open Study Notes on John 7:3-5