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A Mixed Crowd — John 8:33

A Mixed Crowd — John 8:33

April 5, 2018 by Kenneth Yates in Blog

Question. Can you elaborate on what you mean when you say that the speakers are not the new believers in John 8:33? I still do not get it.

Answer. In chapter 8 Jesus is talking to a large group of people. There are many unbelievers in the crowd (see v 19 and v 23). But as Jesus is preaching/teaching, some come to believe in Him (v 30). So the crowd is made up of both believers and unbelievers.

In vv 31-32, Jesus is talking to those who believed in Him (as it clearly states in v 31). But the unbelievers are still there and hearing what is being said.

The question is, who is speaking in v 33? Do the “they” refer to those who have believed or to the unbelievers that are there.

John Niemelä wrote a great article about the Greek in the Gospel of John. Whenever new speakers are introduced, the Apostle introduces them with some kind of description.

So, if v 33 was talking about the new believers of vv 30-31, the Apostle John would have introduced them with a description, something like “those who believed in Him said…..”

But when John writes that a speaker speaks again, he simply uses the pronouns “they” or “he.”

That is what we have here.

The “they” are people who have already spoken. And we see in chapter 8 the unbelievers have already spoken (v 22, 25). The unbelievers are the “they.”

Jesus’ response to them in vv 34-47 also tells us that He is speaking to the unbelievers in the crowd.

In other words, in chapter 8 here Jesus is speaking and addressing a mixed crowd that has both believers and unbelievers in it. He can address the believers in one place (vv 31-32) and unbelievers in another (vv 34ff).

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by Kenneth Yates

Ken Yates (ThM, PhD, Dallas Theological Seminary) is the Editor of the Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society and GES’s East Coast and International speaker. His latest book is Hebrews: Partners with Christ.

If you wish to ask a question about a given blog, email us your question at ges@faithalone.org.

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