The Meaning of John 7:41 Explained

John 7:41

KJV: Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee?

YLT: others said, 'This is the Christ;' and others said, 'Why, out of Galilee doth the Christ come?

Darby: Others said, This is the Christ. Others said, Does then the Christ come out of Galilee?

ASV: Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, What, doth the Christ come out of Galilee?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Others  said,  This  is  the Christ.  But  some  said,  Shall  Christ  come  out of  Galilee? 

What does John 7:41 Mean?

Context Summary

John 7:40-53 - The Blindness Of Prejudice
These short descriptions of the impressions made on His hearers by the discourses of Jesus indicate the double development which was resulting from His ministry. Those in favor spoke of the Prophet and the Christ. Compare John 1:21; John 6:14. Others raised objections, John 7:41-42. Others again desired to take action, John 7:44.
Though it was a holy day, the Sanhedrin was in session to receive the report of their officers. These, by their candid statement, unconsciously passed a strange criticism on the religious speakers to whom they were wont to listen. Compare John 7:48 with John 7:50 and John 3:1-36.
How greatly Nicodemus had grown since his night-visit to Jesus! And he was to advance still further, John 19:39. The appeal to history was apparently true. Jonah is the only prophet who might have been quoted as an apparent exception, but he may only have been a resident in Galilee when the summons came to him. The reasoning of John 7:52, however, was not conclusive. Even if none had arisen, it was the more likely that the Divine Spirit should choose the most humble origin; and the one most in keeping with the peasant-birth of the manger-bed. [source]

Chapter Summary: John 7

1  Jesus reproves the ambition and boldness of his kinsmen;
10  goes up from Galilee to the feast of tabernacles;
14  teaches in the temple
40  Various opinions of him among the people
45  The Pharisees are angry that their officers took him not,
50  and chide with Nicodemus for taking his side

Greek Commentary for John 7:41

This is the Christ [ουτος εστιν ο Χριστος]
These went further and dared to call Jesus the Messiah and not merely the prophet who might not be the Messiah. They said it openly. What These denied that Jesus was the Messiah and gave as their reason (γαρ — gar for) the fact that he came from Galilee. The use of μη — mē expects a negative answer. [source]
Shall Christ, etc. [μὴ γὰρ ὁ Χριστός]
The Rev. gives better the force of the interrogative particle with γὰρ , for: What, doth the Christ come, etc. The idea in full is, “you cannot ( μὴ ) say that, for ( γὰρ ) doth the Christ, etc.” [source]
Shall - come [ἔρχεται]
The present tense. Rev., rightly, doth - come. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for John 7:41

Mark 12:35 How say the scribes [Πως λεγουσιν οι γραμματεις]
The opponents of Jesus are silenced, but he answers them and goes on teaching They no longer dare to question Jesus, but he has one to put to them “while the Pharisees were gathered together” (Matthew 22:41). The question is not a conundrum or scriptural puzzle (Gould), but “He contents himself with pointing out a difficulty, in the solution of which lay the key to the whole problem of His person and work” (Swete). The scribes all taught that the Messiah was to be the son of David (John 7:41). The people in the Triumphal Entry had acclaimed Jesus as the son of David (Matthew 21:9). But the rabbis had overlooked the fact that David in Psalm 110:1 called the Messiah his Lord also. The deity and the humanity of the Messiah are both involved in the problem. Matthew 22:45 observes that “no one was able to answer him a word.” [source]
1 Timothy 3:16 Was received up into glory [ἀνελήμφθη ἐν δόξῃ]
Better, received or taken up in glory. Ἁναλαμβάνειν is the formal term to describe the ascension of Christ (see Acts 1:2, Acts 1:22), and the reference is most probably to that event. Comp. lxx, 2 Kings 2:11, of Elijah, and Matthew href="/desk/?q=mt+16:27&sr=1">Matthew 16:27; Matthew 25:31; Mark 8:38; Luke 9:31; Luke 12:27; 1 Corinthians 15:43; 2 Corinthians 3:7, 2 Corinthians 3:8, 2 Corinthians 3:11.Additional Note on 1 Timothy 3:16Christ's existence before his incarnation was purely spiritual ( ἐν πνεύματι ). He was in the form of God (Philemon 2:6): He was the effulgence of God's glory and the express image of his substance (Hebrews 1:3), and God is spirit (John 4:24). From this condition he came into manifestation in the flesh ( ἐν σαρκί ). He became man and entered into human conditions (Philemon 2:7, Philemon 2:8). Under these human conditions the attributes of his essential spiritual personality were veiled. He did not appear to men what he really was. He was not recognised by them as he who “was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1, John 1:2); as “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15); as one with God (John 10:30; John 14:9); as he who had all power in heaven and earth (Matthew 28:18); who was “before all things and by whom all things consist” (Colossians 1:17); who was “the king of the ages” (1 Timothy 1:17). On the contrary, he was regarded as an impostor, a usurper, and a blasphemer. He was hated, persecuted, and finally murdered. He was poor, tempted, and tried, a man of sorrows. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
The justification or vindication of what he really was did not therefore come out of the fleshly sphere. He was not justified in the flesh. It came out of the sphere of his spiritual being. Glimpses of this pneumatic life ( ἐν πνεύματι ) flashed out during his life in the flesh. By his exalted and spotless character, by his works of love and power, by his words of authority, in his baptism and transfiguration, he was vindicated as being what he essentially was and what he openly claimed to be. These justifications were revelations, expressions, and witnesses of his original, essential spiritual and divine quality; of the native glory which he had with the Father before the world was. It was the Spirit that publicly indorsed him (John 1:32, John 1:33): the words which he spake were spirit and life (John 6:63): he cast out demons in the Spirit of God (Matthew 12:28): his whole earthly manifestation was in demonstration of the Spirit. These various demonstrations decisively justified his claims in the eyes of many. His disciples confessed him as the Christ of God (Luke 9:20) some of the people said “this is the Christ” (John 7:41): others suspected that he was such (John 4:29). Whether or not men acknowledged his claims, they felt the power of his unique personality. They were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority (Matthew 7:28, Matthew 7:29). -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
Then followed the more decisive vindication in his resurrection from the dead. Here the work of the Spirit is distinctly recognised by Paul, Romans 1:4. See also Romans 8:11. In the period between his resurrection and ascension his pneumatic life came into clearer manifestation, and added to the vindication furnished in his life and resurrection. He seemed to live on the border-line between the natural and the spiritual world, and the powers of the spiritual world were continually crossing the line and revealing themselves in him. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
In the apostolic preaching, the appeal to the vindication of Christ by the Spirit is clear and unequivocal. The spiritual nourishment of believers is “the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ” (Philemon 1:19): the Holy Spirit is called “the Spirit of Christ” (Romans 8:9; Galatians 4:6): Paul identifies Christ personally with the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:17); and in Romans 8:9, Romans 8:10, “Spirit of God,” “Spirit of Christ,” and “Christ” are used as convertible terms. The indwelling of the Spirit of Christ is the test and vindication of belonging to Christ (Romans 8:9). Thus, though put to death in the flesh, in the Spirit Christ is vindicated as the Son of God, the Christ of God, the manifestation of God. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
[source]

What do the individual words in John 7:41 mean?

Others were saying This is the Christ Others however Not indeed out of - Galilee Christ comes
Ἄλλοι ἔλεγον Οὗτός ἐστιν Χριστός Οἱ δὲ Μὴ γὰρ ἐκ τῆς Γαλιλαίας Χριστὸς ἔρχεται

Ἄλλοι  Others 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: ἄλλος  
Sense: another, other.
ἔλεγον  were  saying 
Parse: Verb, Imperfect Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: λέγω  
Sense: to speak, say.
Οὗτός  This 
Parse: Demonstrative Pronoun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: οὗτος  
Sense: this.
Χριστός  Christ 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: Χριστός  
Sense: Christ was the Messiah, the Son of God.
Οἱ  Others 
Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
δὲ  however 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: δέ  
Sense: but, moreover, and, etc.
γὰρ  indeed 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: γάρ  
Sense: for.
ἐκ  out  of 
Parse: Preposition
Root: ἐκ 
Sense: out of, from, by, away from.
τῆς  - 
Parse: Article, Genitive Feminine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
Γαλιλαίας  Galilee 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Feminine Singular
Root: Γαλιλαία  
Sense: the name of a region of northern Palestine, bounded on the north by Syria, on the west by Sidon, Tyre, Ptolemais and their territories and the promontory of Carmel, on the south by Samaria and on the east by the Jordan.
Χριστὸς  Christ 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: Χριστός  
Sense: Christ was the Messiah, the Son of God.
ἔρχεται  comes 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Middle or Passive, 3rd Person Singular
Root: ἔρχομαι  
Sense: to come.