Chapter 8
TEACHING IN THE TEMPLE ON THE OCTAVE OF THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES.
(St. John 8:12-59.)
The startling teaching on 'the last, the Great Day of the Feast' was not the only one
delivered at that season. The impression left on the mind is, that after silencing, as they
thought, Nicodemus, the leaders of the Pharisees had dispersed.1 The addresses of
Jesus which followed must, therefore, have been delivered, either later on that day, or,
what on every account seems more likely, chiefly, or all, on the next day, 2 which was
the Octave of the Feast, when the Temple would be once more thronged by
worshippers.
1. This, although St. John vii. 53 must be rejected as spurious. But the whole context
seems to imply, that for the present the auditory of Jesus had dispersed.
2. It is, however, not unlikely that the first address (vv. 12-19) may have been delivered
on the afternoon of the 'Last Day of the Feast,' when the cessation of preparations for the
Temple -illumination may have given the outward occasion for the words: 'I am the light of
the World.' The παλιν of vv. 12 and 21 seems in each case to indicate a fresh period of
time. Besides, we can scarcely suppose that all from vii. 37 to viii. 59 had taken place the
same day. For this and other arguments on the point, see Lücke, vol. ii. pp. 279-281.
On this occasion we find Christ, first in 'The Treasury,'3 and then4 in some unnamed part
of the sacred building, in all probabilities one of the 'Porches,' Greater freedom could be
here enjoyed, since these 'Porches,' which enclosed the Court of the Gentiles, did not
form part of the Sanctuary in the stricter sense. Discussions might take place, in which
not, as in 'the Treasury,' only 'the Pharisees,'5 but the people generally, might propound
questions, answer, or assent. Again, as regards the requirements of the present
narrative, since the Porches opened upon the Court, the Jews might there pick up
stones to cast at Him (which would have been impossible in any part of the Sanctuary
itself), while lastly, Jesus might easily pass out of the Temple in the crowd that moved
through the Porches to the outer gates.6
3. St. John viii. 20.
4. ver. 21.
5. ver. 13.
6. The last clauses of ver. 59, 'going through the midst of them went His way, and so
passed by,' must be omitted as spurious.
But the narrative first transports us into 'the Treasury,' where 'the Pharisees' - or leaders
- would alone venture to speak. It ought to be specially marked, that if they laid not
hands on Jesus when He dared to teach in this sacred locality, and that such
unwelcome doctrine, His immunity must be ascribed to the higher appointment of God:
'because His hour had not yet come.'7 An archĉ logical question may here be raised as
o
to the exact localisation of 'the Treasury,' whether it was the colonnade around 'the
Court of the Women,' in which the receptacles for charitable contributions - the so-called
Shopharoth , or 'trumpets' - were placed,8 or one of the two 'chambers' in which,
respectively, secret gifts9 and votive offerings10 were deposited.11 12 The former seems
the most likely. In any case, it would be within 'the Court of the Women,' the common