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JOHN 7:10 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
John 7:9John 7:11
“But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.”
But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret — after his brothers leave, Jesus goes up to the feast 'not openly' (phaneros, not manifestly/visibly), suggesting he arrives quietly without announcement. The word translated 'as it were in secret' (hōs en kryptō) indicates stealth or hiddenness. This is the paradox of John's narrative: Jesus, about to make the most public and stunning claims, enters Jerusalem in secrecy. His coming revelation will be neither the public triumph the brothers imagined nor the hidden powerlessness the fearful might expect, but something far more radical.

Church Fathers on John 7:10

Our Lord at first declares that He will not go up to the feast, (I go not up with you,) in order not to expose Himself to the rage of the Jews; and therefore we read, that, When He had said these words to them, He abode still in Galilee. Afterwards, however, He goes up; But when His brethren were gone up, then went He also up to the feast.

Theophylact · 11th century

He went up, however, not to get temporary glory, but, to teach wholesome doctrine, and remind men of the eternal feast.

Augustine · 4th century

He goes up, not to suffer, but to teach. And He goes up secretly; because, though He could have gone openly, and kept the violence and impetuosity of the Jews in check, as He had often done before; yet to do this every time, would have disclosed His divinity; and he wished to establish the fact of His incarnation, and to teach us the way of life. And He went up privately too, to show us what we ought to do, who cannot check our persecutors. It is not said, however, in secret,…

Chrysostom · 4th century
Read all 11 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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John 7:10 — Community Reflections | HolyStudy