John 7:23

Joh 7:23. Ἴνα μή, that not) but that,[184] so that the law may not be broken; or else, without the law being broken thereby.—ὁ νόμος Μωσέως, the law of Moses) the law concerning the Sabbath, which is not violated by circumcision being performed on it.—ἐμοὶ, at me) as if I have broken the law concerning the Sabbath.—χολᾶτε, are ye angry) Χόλος in Homer, as Eustathius observes, denotes also a lasting anger. This anger of the Jews had lasted now for sixteen months; but it blazed out with a new paroxysm, when they saw Jesus.—ὅλον, the whole [man, body and soul. Eng. Vers. differently “every whit whole,” ὄλον ὑγιῆ]) It is not the whole body of the man, which is opposed to that part, which is circumcised; for a consequence, in the case of an admission, does not proceed from less to greater, in this way, It is lawful to circumcise a part, therefore it is lawful to cure the whole body. But it is the whole man, body and soul, ch. Joh 5:14,[185] whose healing is a benefit much greater, and, so much more becoming the Sabbath and sanctioned by the law, than the external act of circumcision regarded by itself, or even circumcision, even though it should be regarded as a sacrament. For circumcision is a mean: healing of the soul is an end. [Besides circumcision is accomplished not without a wound; healing therefore is more in accordance with the Sabbath.—V. g.]—ἐποίησα, I have made) αὐτοκρατορικῶς, by supreme power.

[184] Quin, “whereby not;” to prevent the law being broken.—E. and T.

[185] “Behold thou art made whole; sin no more.” Implying a healing of the soul as well as body.—E. and T.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh_7:23. Περιτομήν] Circumcision, without the article, but placed emphatically first, corresponding with ὅλον ἄνθρωπον in the apodosis.

ἵνα μὴ λυθῇ, κ.τ.λ.] in order that so the law of Moses be not broken (by the postponement of the rite), seeing that it prescribes circumcision upon the eighth day. Jansen, Bengel, Semler, Paulus, Kuinoel, Klee, Baeumlein, wrongly render ἵνα μή without, and take ὁ νόμ. Μωϋσ. to mean the law of the Sabbath.

ἐμοὶ χολᾶτε] towards me how unjust! On χολᾶν, denoting bitter, violent anger (only here in the N. T.), comp. 3Ma_3:1; Artemid. i. 4; Beck, Anecd. p. 116.

ὅτι ὅλον ἄνθρ. ὑγ. ἐπ. ἐν σαββ.] The emphasis of the antithesis is on ὅλον ἄνθρ., in contrast with the single member in the case of circumcision. We must not, therefore, with Kling in the Stud. u. Krit. 1836, p. 157 f., find here the antithesis between wounding and making whole; nor, with B. Crusius, that between an act for the sake of the law, on account of which circumcision was performed, and one for the sake of the man himself; similarly Grotius. In ὑγ. ἐποίησα, further, there must necessarily be expressed an analogy with what is done in circumcision, which is therefore equally regarded as a cure, and a healing, not with reference to the subsequent healing of the wound (Cyril, Lampe), for περιτ. is circumcision itself, not its healing; nor with reference to the supposed medical object of circumcision (Rosenmüller, Kuinoel, Lücke, Lange; comp. Philo, de Circumcis. II. 210 f.; see, on the contrary, Keil, Archaeol. I. 309 f.), no trace of which was contained either in the law or in the religious ideas of the people; but with reference to the purification and sanctification wrought upon the member by the removal of the foreskin.[265] In this theocratic sense, a single member was made whole by circumcision; but Christ, by healing the paralytic, had made an entire man whole, i.e. the whole body of a man. The argument in justification, accordingly, is one a minori ad majus; if it was right not to omit the lesser work on the Sabbath, how much more the greater and more important! To take ὅλον ἄνθρ., with Euthymius Zigabenus 2, Beza, Cornelius a Lapide, Bengel, and Olshausen, as signifying body and soul, in contrast with the σάρξ, on which circumcision was performed, is alien to the connection, which shows that the Sabbath question had to do only with the bodily healing, and to the account of the miracle itself, according to which Jesus only warned the man who had been made whole, Joh_5:14.

[265] Comp. Bammidbar, R. xii:i. 203. 2 : praeputium est vitium in corpore. With this view, which regards the foreskin as impure,a view which does not appear till a late date (Ewald, Alterth. p. 129 f.),corresponds the idea of the circumcision of the heart, which we find in Lev_26:41, Deu_10:16; Deu_30:6, and often in the prophets and the N. T., Rom_2:29, Col_2:11, Act_7:51.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That is to say, if the law of circumcision which Moses gave, be of so great accompt amongst you, that you doubt not to circumcise upon the Sabbath, do you rightly reprove me for healing a man thoroughly?

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 23. Every whit whole] The law of circumcision required the removal of a small portion of flesh, which was considered a blot and reproach among the Hebrews, because it confounded them with the nations who were not in covenant with God. Christ, to this, opposes the complete cure of the infirm man, who was diseased throughout his whole body: if the one was permitted on the Sabbath day, for the reason already alleged, surely the other had stronger reasons to recommend it.

Some think that the original words, ολον ανθρπον, should be translated, the whole man; and that the meaning is, that the blessed Saviour made him whole both in body and soul. This makes the miracle the greater, and shows still more forcibly the necessity of doing it without delay.

Battier ap. Wets. supposes that, instead of ολον, χωλον should be read - I have made a MAIMED man whole; but there is no countenance for this reading in any of the MSS., versions, or fathers.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(23) That the law of Moses should not be broken.—The text here is to be preferred to the marginal reading, though the latter has still the support of considerable authority. In the one case, the law which may not be broken is the law directing circumcision on the eighth day. In the other, “without breaking the law of Moses,” refers to the law of the Sabbath. The rule of circumcision on the eighth day (Gen_17:12; Gen_21:4) was adopted in the Mosaic law (Lev_12:3), and strictly adhered to—we have examples in the New Testament, in Luk_1:59; Luk_2:21, and Php_3:5—and if the eighth day fell on the Sabbath, then, according to Rabbinic precept, “circumcision vacated the Sabbath.” The school of Hillel the Great—and disciples of this school were at the time of our Lord the chief teachers at Jerusalem (comp. Note on Joh_5:39)—gave as a reason for this that the “Sabbath Law was one of the Negative and the Circumcision Law one of the Positive Precepts, and that the Positive destroys the Negative.” His appeal, then, is an example of His knowledge of their technical law, at which they wondered in Joh_7:15. Indeed, the argument itself is an example of Hillel’s first great law of interpretation—“that the Major may be inferred from the Minor.” If circumcision be lawful on the Sabbath, much more is it lawful to restore the whole man. For other instances in which our Lord used this famous Canon of Interpretation, comp. Mat_7:11; Mat_10:29-31.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

23. that the law of Moses should not be broken] i.e. the law about circumcision on the eighth day (Lev_12:3), which was a re-enactment of the patriarchal law (Gen_17:12). Some adopt the inferior rendering in the margin; ‘without breaking the law of Moses,’ or ‘without the law of Moses being broken;’ in which case ‘the law of Moses’ means the law about the Sabbath.

are ye angry] The word occurs nowhere else in N.T. It signifies bitter and violent resentment.

because I have made] Better, because I made. Comp. Joh_7:21.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Judge not according to the appearance,.... Or through respect of persons, and so as to please men, the Scribes and Pharisees; who had condemned the action of Christ, in curing the diseased man on the sabbath day, and sought to kill him for it:

but judge righteous judgment; give your sense and judgment of things, according to the truth and evidence of them; and do not find fault with that, which you yourselves allow of, and which Moses and his law, and your own practices, justify.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

23 If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day?

Ver. 23. That the law of Moses should not be broken] Gr. loosened, shattered. The law is one entire copulative; so that he that offendeth in any point is guilty of all, Jas 2:10. Hence when the sabbath was broken, the Lord said to Moses, "How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?" Exo 16:28.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That the law of Moses should not be broken - In order that the law requiring it to be done at a specified time, though that might occur on the Sabbath, should be kept.

Are ye angry ... - The argument of Jesus is this: “You yourselves, in interpreting the law about the Sabbath, allow a work of necessity to be done. You do that which is necessary as an ordinance of religion denoting separation from other nations, or external purity. As you allow this, you ought also, for the same reason, to allow that a man should be completely restored to health - that a work of much more importance should be done.” We may learn here that it would be happy for all if they would not condemn others in that thing which they allow. People often accuse others of doing things which they themselves do in other ways.

Every whit whole - Literally, “I have restored the whole man to health,” implying that the man’s whole body was diseased, and that he had been entirely restored to health.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The strength of this whole argument seemeth to be this: If a ritual law (such was that for observation of the sabbath, given in Mount Sinai, Exo 20:1-17) may give place to another ritual law which is more ancient, (such was that of circumcision, given to Abraham long before), much more ought it to give place to a law of nature written in every man’s heart, viz. that it is our duty to help those that are in great degrees of misery and affliction; which is what I paid obedience to in curing the impotent man that lay at the pool of Bethesda. Do you yield this in your daily practice, that a man may be circumcised, yea, and ought to be circumcised, on the eighth day, though it happeneth to be the sabbath day; and not to do it were a violation of the law of Moses about circumcision, which was a law given you by Moses, though, before him, to Abraham also? What reason then have you to be angry with me, who on the sabbath day have only healed a man, and made him

every whit whole? That is, (as some think), I have not only cured him as to his body, but as to his soul; but that hardly seemeth probable; for if it were so, the Jews could have no evidence of the spiritual cure. Others therefore think that the term ολον ανθρωπον, signifieth no more than perfectly, or completely whole, as to his body.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

23. Circumcision… every whit whole—There is here, no doubt, an allusion to the physical contrast, Circumcision is mutilation; the healing was making whole. The exertion of physical power in both cases is equally palpable and strong; so that, physically, they would equally be work, and both would break the Sabbath were they not both and equally religious acts. The miracle was a religious act, as being an organic part of the scheme of God in man’s redemption, as truly as the Sabbath itself.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

If a man on (a) sabbath receive circumcision, which was the removal by surgical means of what was regarded as a cause and sign of physical impurity, as well as the seal of the covenant made with the family of Abraham, that his seed should be heir of the world, and that in that seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed, in order that the law of Moses might not be broken. It is not without difficulty that, in the previous verse, the law of circumcision on the eighth day is declared to be older than Moses, to have come down from the fathers of the consecrated race: how, then, does he call it the law of Moses? Clearly he refers to the fact that this particular law was embodied by Moses and made part of his own code, even though in one respect it was obviously older than the particular form of the fourth commandment, and must frequently clash with the letter of that commandment. The law of Moses, then, as much as the law of the Abrahamic covenant, would have been broken by any infraction of the rule which made circumcision incumbent on the eighth day. The common custom of the people was to adminster this rite on that day, even if it fell on a sabbath. "None of you keepeth the Law" in its Strict integrity, said Jesus. Nay, it is certain that the older laws, which Moses endorsed and embodied in his own code, do themselves demand such violation from you. This appeal to the spirit of the Law the closest approach that a Jew could make to the will of God is reproduced in Paul"s Epistles Col_2:11 Eph_2:11). Are ye then wroth with me (colate, colan (from colh , bile, gall) to be bitter with wrath, and even mad with rage (Aristoph., "Nub.," 833), is found in RAPC 3Ma 3:1, but not elsewhere in the New Testament)because I made an entire mani.e. the whole frame of the paralyzed man (not his spirit or mind in contrast with his body)sound or, healthyon a sabbath day? The antithesis is not between healing the wound of circumcision and healing the paralytic. Of the former there does not seem the faintest trace, notwithstanding the conjecture of Lampe. Circumcision was the removal of an offending portion of the human body, the sanitary purpose of which rite was strenuously believed in, but it was a partial cleansing and actual excision of one member of the body. To accomplish this purpose Moses, by his enactment, regarded even the sabbatic law as subsidiary. Why, then are the Jews wrathful with Jesus for making an entire man a whole physical frame healthful on the sabbath? The stress laid on the Authorized Version and R.T. translations, "every whit whole," by some commentaries is unfortunate; for it would throw discredit on circumcision altogether, which was far from our Lord"s contention here, and would reduce the force of his argument. Christ does not in this argument take up the great line of defence pursued in ch. 5. Nor does he call the healing of the paralytic more than an ergon , a "work;" but it must be remembered that he had spoken on the previous occasion of his great miracles as "works," the like to which he saw the Father ever doing.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses is not broken

"If you circumcise a male baby on the Sabbath so that you do not break the law of Moses"

why are you angry with me because I made a man completely healthy on the Sabbath?

This remark appears in the form of a question to add emphasis. AT: "you should not be angry with me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath!" (See: Rhetorical Question)

on the Sabbath

"on the Jewish Day of Rest?"

Do not judge according to appearance, but judge righteously

Jesus implies that the people should not decide what is right, based only on what they can see. Behind the action is a motive that cannot be seen. AT: "Stop judging people according to what you see! Be more concerned with what is right according to God" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

translationWords

receive

judge

righteous

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

23. ἵνα μὴ λ. ὁ ν. Μ. The law about circumcision on the eighth day (Lev 12:3), which was a re-enactment of the patriarchal law (Gen 17:12). Some adopt the inferior rendering in the margin; ‘without breaking the law of Moses,’ or ‘without the law of Moses being broken;’ in which case ‘the law of Moses’ means the law about the Sabbath. But this is not the natural meaning of ἵνα μή. Comp. Joh 5:18, and see on Joh 10:35.

χολᾶτε. Here only in N.T. It signifies bitter resentment.

ὅτι … σαββάτῳ. Because I made a whole man sound on a Sabbath, whereas circumcision purified one part only.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

23.] ἵνα μὴ λυθῇ—not,—“ita ut non solvatur”—“salva lege;” which is ungrammatical;—but in order that the Law of Moses may not be broken, viz. that which (after the fathers) ordains circumcision on the eighth day.

ὅλον ἄνθρ.] The distinction is between circumcision, which purified only part of a man, by which he received (ἔλαβεν) ceremonial cleanness,—and that perfect and entire healing which the Lord bestowed on the cripple. Stier (after Bengel) thinks the ὅλον refers to body and soul,—see ch. 5:14,—whose healing is a much greater benefit than circumcision, even viewed as a sacrament: “nam circumcisio est medium, sanatio animæ finis.” But this is perhaps too subtle. The Jews could not have appreciated this meaning, and the argument is especially addressed to them. Besides, it is by no means certain from that passage that such was the case.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

23. εἰ περιτομήν κτλ. “If a man receives circumcision on a sabbath, in order that the law of Moses (sc. the law relating to circumcision, Lev 12:3) may not be broken, are you angry with me because on a Sabbath I made the whole man healthy?” A somewhat similar idea appears in the Rabbinical writings: “Circumcision, which has to do with one member only, breaks the Sabbath; how much more the whole body of a man?”2 The contrast is between the treatment of one member, and of the whole body (ὅλον ἄνθρωπον). If the lesser thing is permitted, why not the greater? The argument is comparable with that of Mat 12:11, Luk 13:15, by which a technical breach of the Sabbath is defended, but is unlike that of 5:17, where see the note.

For λύειν, of “breaking” a law, see on 5:18.

ὁ νόμος Μωϋσέως is a comprehensive term for the whole Jewish law, or for a particular enactment: cf. Luk 2:22, Luk 24:44, Act 15:5 (this passage referring to the law of circumcision), 1Co 9:9 etc. λύειν is used at 5:18 of breaking the law of the Sabbath. The word ὑγιής goes back to 5:9, 14.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Are ye angry [χολατε] . Only here in the New Testament. From colh, gall. Strictly, the verb means to be full of bile, hence to be melancholy mad.

Every whit whole [ολον υγιη] . Strictly, I made a whole man sound, in contrast with the rite of circumcision which affects only a single member, but which, nevertheless, they practice on the Sabbath.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.