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Selected Verse: John 7:34 - King James

Verse	Translation	Text
Joh 7:34	King James	Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come.

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

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Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
Ye shall seek me - This probably means simply, Ye shall seek the Messiah. Such will be your troubles, such the calamities that will come on the nation, that you will earnestly desire the coming of the Messiah. You will seek for a Deliverer, and will look for feign that he may bring deliverance. This does not mean that they would seek for Jesus and not be able to find him, but that they would desire the aid and comfort of the Messiah, and would be disappointed. Jesus speaks of himself as the Messiah, and his own name as synonymous with the Messiah. See the notes at Mat 23:39. Shall not find me - Shall not find the Messiah. He will not come, according to your expectations, to aid you. See the notes at Matt. 24. Where I am - This whole clause is to be understood as future, though the words AM and cannot are both in the present tense. The meaning is, Where I shall be you will not be able to come. That is, he, the Messiah, would be in heaven; and though they would earnestly desire his presence and aid to save the city and nation from the Romans, yet they would not be able to obtain it - represented here by their not being able to come to him. This does not refer to their individual salvation, but to the deliverance of their nation. It is not true of individual sinners that they seek Christ in a proper manner and are not able to find him; but it was true of the Jewish nation that they looked for the Messiah, and sought his coming to deliver them, but he did not do it.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]

Ye shall seek me - This probably means simply, Ye shall seek the Messiah. Such will be your troubles, such the calamities that will come on the nation, that you will earnestly desire the coming of the Messiah. You will seek for a Deliverer, and will look for feign that he may bring deliverance. This does not mean that they would seek for Jesus and not be able to find him, but that they would desire the aid and comfort of the Messiah, and would be disappointed. Jesus speaks of himself as the Messiah, and his own name as synonymous with the Messiah. See the notes at Mat 23:39.

Shall not find me - Shall not find the Messiah. He will not come, according to your expectations, to aid you. See the notes at Matt. 24.

Where I am - This whole clause is to be understood as future, though the words AM and cannot are both in the present tense. The meaning is, Where I shall be you will not be able to come. That is, he, the Messiah, would be in heaven; and though they would earnestly desire his presence and aid to save the city and nation from the Romans, yet they would not be able to obtain it - represented here by their not being able to come to him. This does not refer to their individual salvation, but to the deliverance of their nation. It is not true of individual sinners that they seek Christ in a proper manner and are not able to find him; but it was true of the Jewish nation that they looked for the Messiah, and sought his coming to deliver them, but he did not do it.

Vincent's Word Studies, by Marvin R. Vincent [1886]
Ye shall seek me Not as now, for disputation or violence, but for help. Where I am In absolute, eternal being and fellowship with the Father. I am (ἐγω εἰμι) is the formula of the divine existence (Joh 8:58). The phrase carries a hint of the essential nature of Jesus, and thus prepares the way for ye cannot come (see on Joh 7:7). The difference in character will make it essentially impossible.

Vincent's Word Studies, by Marvin R. Vincent [1886]

Ye shall seek me

Not as now, for disputation or violence, but for help.

Where I am

In absolute, eternal being and fellowship with the Father. I am (ἐγω εἰμι) is the formula of the divine existence (Joh 8:58). The phrase carries a hint of the essential nature of Jesus, and thus prepares the way for ye cannot come (see on Joh 7:7). The difference in character will make it essentially impossible.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Ye shall seek me - Whom ye now despise. These words are, as it were, the text which is commented upon in this and the following chapter. Where I am - Christ's so frequently saying while on earth, where I am, when he spake of his being in heaven, intimates his perpetual presence there in his Divine nature: though his going thither was a future thing, with regard to his human nature.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]

Ye shall seek me - Whom ye now despise. These words are, as it were, the text which is commented upon in this and the following chapter. Where I am - Christ's so frequently saying while on earth, where I am, when he spake of his being in heaven, intimates his perpetual presence there in his Divine nature: though his going thither was a future thing, with regard to his human nature.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me - When the Roman armies come against you, you will vainly seek for a deliverer. But ye shall be cut off in your sins, because ye did not believe in me; and where I am - in the kingdom of glory, ye cannot come; for nothing that is unholy shall enter into the new Jerusalem. In this, and the thirty-sixth verse, εἰμὶ, I am, is read by several εἷμι, I came, as in the twenty-ninth verse; and in these two last places the Ethiopic, Arabic, three copies of the Itala, Nonnus, and Theophylact, agree. See the note on Joh 7:29.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826

Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me - When the Roman armies come against you, you will vainly seek for a deliverer. But ye shall be cut off in your sins, because ye did not believe in me; and where I am - in the kingdom of glory, ye cannot come; for nothing that is unholy shall enter into the new Jerusalem. In this, and the thirty-sixth verse, εἰμὶ, I am, is read by several εἷμι, I came, as in the twenty-ninth verse; and in these two last places the Ethiopic, Arabic, three copies of the Itala, Nonnus, and Theophylact, agree. See the note on Joh 7:29.

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