Daily Bible Nugget #229, John 7:52

The Nugget:

John 7:52 They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.

My Comment

The Scriptures should be searched. I think John had a subtle sense of humor here. He reports that the Pharisees and perhaps the Sadducees told Nicodemus that he ought to search the Scriptures. If he were to do so, he would learn that no prophet arises from Galilee in Bible prophecy.

Just before this these Jewish leaders asked the question, “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him? But this people who know not the law are cursed.”

Sometimes when we criticize others we reveal our own flaws. Like the familiar childhood playground taunt, “It takes one to know one,” the faults we find in others may reveal our own because we may be unconsciously sensitive to those particular issues.

Someone in this account raised the question earlier, “Shall Christ come out of Galilee?” (John 7:41). Had they known their own Scriptures they would have known that Christ was indeed predicted to come out of Galilee (Isaiah 9:1, 2).

The whole account is filled with irony, for the Jewish leaders, critical of Nicodemus, did not know that several of their great Old Testament prophets did arise from Galilee. Nothing like sticking your foot in your mouth!

It really doesn’t hurt to search the Scriptures. Searching the Scriptures will do you much good. We should search the Scriptures to (1) avoid sticking foot in mouth, John 7:52; (2) become better informed about Bible prophecy; (3) equip ourselves to more adequately defend the truth, Jude 1:3; (4) become more accurately informed about Bible doctrine; (5) receive guidance for daily living, Psalm 32:8; (6) discern the times, 1 Chronicles 12:32; (7) equip ourselves to comfort others, 2 Corinthians 1:4; (8) know where to turn in Scripture to find the comfort it offers, Romans 15:4; (9) be able to share the comfort of the Scriptures with others, Romans 15:4; (10) know the promises of God and how to both find and apply or claim them, (11) be equipped to ground others in the faith, Col 1:23; (12) train others to teach others, 1 Timothy 4:16; 2 Timothy 2:2.

Now, just what tools are needed to search the Scriptures? I suggest at a minimum a complete concordance like Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to find the precise word you are looking for, and the New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge or Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible to find verses related to a verse you want to understand more deeply. The Cross Reference Guide can do what no concordance can do–it can help you locate a verse you want to find even when you cannot remember any of the words in the verse. I just had occasion to use it for this very purpose right now to locate the reference given above to 1 Chronicles 12:32.

Usually the way that works is I think of a verse that might be related to the verse I cannot find and follow the cross references at that verse to find the passage I am looking for. But this time I couldn’t even think of a related verse. So, I made use of the Subject Index in the New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and found the verse that way.

Do you know how to use cross references? It is not hard to learn how to use them. Shame on pastors and Sunday school teachers for not teaching their congregation or class how to use them! I learned how to use them while baby-sitting a neighbor’s children one evening. I discovered they had several Bibles on the shelf in their living room. One of those Bibles had a center column which contained cross references. I studied them for a time that evening, and learned in a matter of minutes how they worked and how interesting they were. If you have a study Bible that has cross references you can easily do the same. But if you don’t have such a Bible, you can try out the cross references I have posted here every day with each Daily Bible Nugget. Just hover your computer mouse pointer over each reference and the text of that reference will appear for you to read.

Let other people know about this site so they can learn to enjoy Real Bible Study for themselves. There is much valuable free information on this website, and I trust you have appreciated that there are no advertisements here!

For those who desire to DIG DEEPER into this subject:

(1) Consult the cross references given in Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible on page 1180 for John 7:52.

(2) Consult the cross references given in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on page 1201 or in Logos 5 Bible software for John 7:52.

(3) Lacking access to those two resources, consult the cross references for this passage as I have developed them as given below:

John 7:52. Art thou also. ver. Jn 7:41. Jn 9:34. Ge 19:9. Ex 2:14. 1 K 22:24. Pr 9:7, 8. Mt 12:32. of Galilee. Mt 2:22. 26:69. Mk 3:7. Lk 23:5. 24:19. Ac 2:7. Search. ver. Jn 7:41. Jn 1:46. +**Jn 5:39. **Is 9:1, 2. Mt 4:15, 16. 1 P 1:10. and look. FS108A6. Idiom F/S 824: idiomatic usages of verbs. Two imperatives are sometimes united, so that the first expresses a condition or limitation in regard to the second; by which the latter becomes a future. Here, “search and thou wilt see.” For other instances of this idiom see 1 C 15:34. 1 T 6:12. If they had looked, they would have found that Jonah and Hosea arose out of Galilee, and perhaps Elijah, Elisha, and Amos (CB). See Isaiah 9:2 where the Messiah as the great light arises in all likelihood out of Galilee (Is 9:1). for out of. 1 K 17:1. %2 K 14:25n with Jsh 19:13. Am 1:1. Mic 1:1n. Ac 3:17. ariseth. Mt 11:11. Lk 7:16. Ac 13:22.

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2 Responses to Daily Bible Nugget #229, John 7:52

  1. ken sagely says:

    jn 7.52 They answered and said unto him, art thou also of Galilee? Search, and look
    for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.

    encouraging cross refs(the best commentary on the bible is the bible)
    1. acts 28.25 And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after
    that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Spirit by Esaias the prophet
    unto our fathers.
    2. 1 co 14.37 If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him
    acknowledge that the things that i write unto you are the commandments of
    the Lord.
    3. 1 pe 1.10 Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently,
    who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
    4. 1 pe 1.11 Searching what, or what manner of the time the Spirit of Christ which
    was in them did signify, when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and
    the glory that should follow.
    5. 2 pe 3.2 That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the
    holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Savior.
    6. 2 pe 3.15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our
    beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto
    you;
    7. 2 pe 3.16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are
    some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest,
    as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

  2. Pingback: Daily Bible Nugget #643, John 7:52 explained | Real Bible Study

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