Commentaries:
Robertson's Word Pictures (NT)
Howbeit (alla). Clearly adversative here.
This man (touton). Possibly contemptuous use of outov as may be true in John 7:25-26.
Whence he is (poqen estin). The Galilean Jews knew the family of Jesus (John 6:42), but they knew Jesus only as from Nazareth, not as born in Bethlehem (verse John 7:42).
When the Christ cometh (o Xristov otan erxhtai). Prolepsis of o Xristov and indefinite temporal clause with otan and the present middle subjunctive erxhtai rather than the more usual second aorist active elqh as in verse John 7:31, a trifle more picturesque. This is a piece of popular theology. "Three things come wholly unexpected—Messiah, a godsend, and a scorpion" (Sanhedrin 97a). The rulers knew the birthplace to be Bethlehem (John 7:42; Matthew 2:5 f.), but some even expected the Messiah to drop suddenly from the skies as Satan proposed to Jesus to fall down from the pinnacle of the temple. The Jews generally expected a sudden emergence of the Messiah from concealment with an anointing by Elijah (Apoc. of Bar. XXIX. 3; 2Esdr. 7:28; 13:32; Justin Martyr, Tryph. 110).
Other Robertson's Word Pictures (NT) entries containing John 7:27:
Matthew 16:1
John 7:31
John 9:29
DISCLAIMER: Church of the Great God (CGG) provides these resources to aid the individual in studying the Bible. However, it is up to the individual to "prove all things, and hold fast to that which is good" (I Thessalonians 5:21). The content of these resources does not necessarily reflect the views of CGG. They are provided for information purposes only.