The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 1 — Section 396

our Lord uttorerl tbceo verses (3i-40) to has hore introduced an o.mplification which tho innermost circle of bis followers. The belongs to e. totally different connection. first discourse closes with ver. SG. 'fbo dis- Is not thie Jeeue, the Son of Joseph-(cf. ob. i. •1~; Luke iv. 22). Wo cann0t ~rguo ciples looked with ongor nnd inquisitivo fr'?m this passa~e whether Joseph was living glBnoes o,t co.oh other e.ncl o.t tboir Lor,l, still or he.cl died. The murmnrinoo is cx- and reccivod these tenchings of the Lord plicablo on either hypothesis. The t~~dition- concerning the rolation he wo.s suste.ining o.ry impre,s!on i~ that" Jo~cph '' had fo.l!ca to the Father, o.nd the claim he ma.de to be asleep. Either hypothesis is compatible with the le.ngue.gc-whoae father and mother tho Almoner of the mercy and minister of we know l They may have merely meant the judgment of him that sent him. '.rhis "whose reputed parentage is well understood," grent utterance corresponds with the cele- without implying that either one or other brated eynoptio recital (Mntt. xi. 26, 27). no longer lived. 'fhe fact of bis parentaooc Vere. 41-51.-(c) The murmur of the we.s admitted._ '~his is an appn.ren t poin°t- blank contracl1ct10n to the descent of his Jews met by additional claim that ltis "flesh" humanity from heaven. The supposition of is the " living bread." The passnge here the truth of the immaculate and supernatural following resumes tho ne.rre.ti ve of th!'l im- birth of Jesus is perfocLly compatible with pression produced by the extroordinnry dil- the ignorance of the" Jews" about it. This course the.t hod preceded. Th1J question of deep mystery of love coulu. not be mnde matter of public discourse, nor do our narra- " the Jews " does not turn at o.11 npon the tives suggest that the fact itself was pro- exple.nation ho ho.d just given to his dis- mulgated until e.fter the Resurrection. ciple~ in vers. 36-10, but goes be.ck to the Whatever was apprehended by the sacred theme of vers. 29-3G. " The J cws " need society of the bill country of J ndmn, or le.id not be restricted to the Jewish or the aristo- up in the brea.sta of Joseph o.nd :i\Io.ry and of the few who pondered these strnnge things cratic or bigoted portion of the Galilman in their holy circle a.t Ne.za.reth, we know lix71.os, but rather to the Jewish authorities not. The synoptic narrntives, though they of the towns of Bethsaida and Capernnum, assert the mystery, do not give the smnllest who had been stirred up into active opposi- indication that it wo.s ever referred to, or sition by the report of the miracles and ma.de o.n article of faith, by Jesus himself. The difficulty that besets this pnssn.ge is of the explanation which the Lord had put rather the silence of John, both here and else- upon them. where, concerning the mo.nner of the Lord's Ver. 41.-The J'ews therefore murmured birth. He, who knew the mother of Jesus, .ionoerning him. Perhaps in eh. vii. 32 and must have been acquainted with the ')'oyyo(etv means simply "whisper;" but langnn~e of Matthew e.nd Luke, e:i.ys nothing throughout the Now Testament (1 Cor. x. in vindication of the words of the Lord. 10; Luke v. 30, with ..-p&s; Matt. :u:. 11, H~re was o.n opportunity for putting the with Kem~.; cf. Acts vi. 1 ; Phil. ii. H; 1 "Jews" in the wrong, by endorsing the Pot. iv. 9 ; Wied. i. 10) it he.s tbe malevolent synoptio account which he did not embrace. meaning conveyed in the LXX. It is used to We have already seen (cf. notes, eh. i. H: denote very rebellious feelings age.inst God iii. 1-6) thnt the underlying pre,,--upposition (Exod. xvi. 7-9; Numb. xi. 1; xiv. 27). of the miraculous birth is the best explana- '.rhe Attic writers used -rov9opCC.,, :Because tion of his own words. Still his silence ii he said, I e.m the :Bread whioh oometh down remarkable. It is best accounted for by the from heaven. This was o. reasono.ble putting fact that he was evermore looking to the together of the threA nssc1-tions : "I o.m the morol,spiritua.l sigui.ficunee ofnll the miracles Bread of life" (ver. 35); " I have come down he records, as well a.s of those to which he from heaven" (vcr. 38); and " The bread vaguely refers. He is content with the of God is that which oometh down from words of Jesus. They a.re the surest ex- heaven" (ver. 83). "The Jews" did not planation of the synoptio no.rrative. The misunderstand his meaning. They under- Jews, on the be.sis of their general know- etood it perfectly, o.nd reboiled ago.inst it. ledge, are struck with consternation. How Ver.42.-They were saying (l'.\e1·011)-the (now) therefore 1 doth he say, I have ooma one to the other, murmuriog in critico.l and angry mood, and not necessarily in his hen.r- 1 R.T., Tiaohendorf (8th edit.), Westcott ing; for he 1id not reply to their expross and Hort, Alfor,l, Tregelles, have accepted o.ssortion, e.ni proceeded rather to enlarge vuv instead of o~v, on the authority of B, C, T, and reitemte the groo.t theme which he had although T.R. rends oiiv, with Lachma.nn, on o.lreo.dy deduced in the hen.ring of his dis- the authority of ~. A, D, L, r, .o., othe1 ci~les. Weiss (vol. iii. 6) thinks that John unoie.ls nnd oursives, and the Italic V ersioo.  264 THE GOSPEL AC'CORDING TO S'l', JOUN. [cu. vr. 1-71.