John 7:23
New International Version
Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath?

New Living Translation
For if the correct time for circumcising your son falls on the Sabbath, you go ahead and do it so as not to break the law of Moses. So why should you be angry with me for healing a man on the Sabbath?

English Standard Version
If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well?

Berean Standard Bible
If a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses will not be broken, why are you angry with Me for making the whole man well on the Sabbath?

Berean Literal Bible
If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses might not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man entirely sound on the Sabbath?

King James Bible
If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day?

New King James Version
If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?

New American Standard Bible
If a man receives circumcision on a Sabbath so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry at Me because I made an entire man well on a Sabbath?

NASB 1995
“If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath?

NASB 1977
“If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath that the Law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath?

Legacy Standard Bible
If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath?

Amplified Bible
If, to avoid breaking the Law of Moses, a man undergoes circumcision on the Sabbath, why are you angry with Me for making a man’s whole body well on the Sabbath?

Christian Standard Bible
If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses won’t be broken, are you angry at me because I made a man entirely well on the Sabbath?

Holman Christian Standard Bible
If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses won’t be broken, are you angry at Me because I made a man entirely well on the Sabbath?

American Standard Version
If a man receiveth circumcision on the sabbath, that the law of Moses may not be broken; are ye wroth with me, because I made a man every whit whole on the sabbath?

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
“And if a son is circumcised on the Sabbath day because The Written Law of Moses should not be broken, do you complain about me because I have completely healed a man on the Sabbath day?”

Contemporary English Version
in order to obey the Law of Moses. Why are you angry with me for making someone completely well on the Sabbath?

Douay-Rheims Bible
If a man receive circumcision on the sabbath day, that the law of Moses may not be broken; are you angry at me because I have healed the whole man on the sabbath day?

English Revised Version
If a man receiveth circumcision on the sabbath, that the law of Moses may not be broken; are ye wroth with me, because I made a man every whit whole on the sabbath?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
If you circumcise a male on the day of worship to follow Moses' Teachings, why are you angry with me because I made a man entirely well on the day of worship?

Good News Translation
If a boy is circumcised on the Sabbath so that Moses' Law is not broken, why are you angry with me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?

International Standard Version
If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I made a man perfectly well on the Sabbath?

Literal Standard Version
if a man receives circumcision on a Sabbath that the Law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with Me that I made a man all whole on a Sabbath?

Majority Standard Bible
If a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses will not be broken, why are you angry with Me for making the whole man well on the Sabbath?

New American Bible
If a man can receive circumcision on a sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I made a whole person well on a sabbath?

NET Bible
But if a male child is circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses is not broken, why are you angry with me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?

New Revised Standard Version
If a man receives circumcision on the sabbath in order that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I healed a man’s whole body on the sabbath?

New Heart English Bible
If a boy receives circumcision on the Sabbath, that the Law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me, because I made a man completely healthy on the Sabbath?

Webster's Bible Translation
If a man on the sabbath receiveth circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have restored a man to sound health on the sabbath?

Weymouth New Testament
If a child is circumcised even on a Sabbath day, are you bitter against me because I have restored a man to perfect health on a Sabbath day?

World English Bible
If a boy receives circumcision on the Sabbath, that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I made a man completely healthy on the Sabbath?

Young's Literal Translation
if a man doth receive circumcision on a sabbath that the law of Moses may not be broken, are ye wroth with me that I made a man all whole on a sabbath?

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Jesus Teaches at the Feast
22But because Moses gave you circumcision, you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath (not that it is from Moses, but from the patriarchs.) 23If a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses will not be broken, why are you angry with Me for making the whole man well on the Sabbath? 24Stop judging by outward appearances, and start judging justly.”…

Cross References
Exodus 31:14
Keep the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Anyone who profanes it must surely be put to death. Whoever does any work on that day must be cut off from among his people.

Matthew 12:2
When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, "Look, Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath."

Matthew 12:10
and a man with a withered hand was there. In order to accuse Jesus, they asked Him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"

John 5:9
Immediately the man was made well, and he picked up his mat and began to walk. Now this happened on the Sabbath day,

John 5:10
so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "This is the Sabbath! It is unlawful for you to carry your mat."

John 7:21
Jesus answered them, "I did one miracle, and you are all amazed.

John 9:16
Because of this, some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for He does not keep the Sabbath." But others said, "How can a sinful man perform such signs?" And there was division among them.


Treasury of Scripture

If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are you angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day?

Matthew 12:5
Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?

I have made.

John 5:8,9,14-16
Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk…

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Angry Bitter Body Boy Broken Child Circumcised Circumcision Completely Entire Healing Health Healthy Law Moses Receive Receives Receiveth Restored Sabbath Sound Whit Whole
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John 7
1. Jesus reproves the ambition and boldness of his kinsmen;
10. goes up from Galilee to the feast of tabernacles;
14. teaches in the temple.
40. Various opinions of him among the people.
45. The Pharisees are angry that their officers took him not,
50. and chide with Nicodemus for taking his side.














(23) That the law of Moses should not be broken.--The text here is to be preferred to the marginal reading, though the latter has still the support of considerable authority. In the one case, the law which may not be broken is the law directing circumcision on the eighth day. In the other, "without breaking the law of Moses," refers to the law of the Sabbath. The rule of circumcision on the eighth day (Genesis 17:12; Genesis 21:4) was adopted in the Mosaic law (Leviticus 12:3), and strictly adhered to--we have examples in the New Testament, in Luke 1:59; Luke 2:21, and Philippians 3:5--and if the eighth day fell on the Sabbath, then, according to Rabbinic precept, "circumcision vacated the Sabbath." The school of Hillel the Great--and disciples of this school were at the time of our Lord the chief teachers at Jerusalem (comp. Note on John 5:39)--gave as a reason for this that the "Sabbath Law was one of the Negative and the Circumcision Law one of the Positive Precepts, and that the Positive destroys the Negative." His appeal, then, is an example of His knowledge of their technical law, at which they wondered in John 7:15. Indeed, the argument itself is an example of Hillel's first great law of interpretation--"that the Major may be inferred from the Minor." If circumcision be lawful on the Sabbath, much more is it lawful to restore the whole man. For other instances in which our Lord used this famous Canon of Interpretation, comp. Matthew 7:11; Matthew 10:29-31. . . . Verse 23. - If a man on (a) sabbath receive circumcision, which was the removal by surgical means of what was regarded as a cause and sign of physical impurity, as well as the seal of the covenant made with the family of Abraham, that his seed should be heir of the world, and that in that seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed, in order that the law of Moses might not be broken. It is not without difficulty that, in the previous verse, the law of circumcision on the eighth day is declared to be older than Moses, to have come down from the fathers of the consecrated race: how, then, does he call it the law of Moses? Clearly he refers to the fact that this particular law was embodied by Moses and made part of his own code, even though in one respect it was obviously older than the particular form of the fourth commandment, and must frequently clash with the letter of that commandment. The law of Moses, then, as much as the law of the Abrahamic covenant, would have been broken by any infraction of the rule which made circumcision incumbent on the eighth day. The common custom of the people was to adminster this rite on that day, even if it fell on a sabbath. "None of you keepeth the Law" in its Strict integrity, said Jesus. Nay, it is certain that the older laws, which Moses endorsed and embodied in his own code, do themselves demand such violation from you. This appeal to the spirit of the Law - the closest approach that a Jew could make to the will of God - is reproduced in Paul's Epistles (Colossians 2:11; Ephesians 2:11). Are ye then wroth with me (χολᾶτε, χολᾶν (from χολῆ, bile, gall) - to be bitter with wrath, and even mad with rage (Aristoph., 'Nub.,' 833), is found in 3Macc. 3:1, but not elsewhere in the New Testament) - because I made an entire man - i.e. the whole frame of the paralyzed man (not his spirit or mind in contrast with his body) - sound - or, healthy - on a sabbath day? The antithesis is not between healing the wound of circumcision and healing the paralytic. Of the former there does not seem the faintest trace, notwithstanding the conjecture of Lampe. Circumcision was the removal of an offending portion of the human body, the sanitary purpose of which rite was strenuously believed in, but it was a partial cleansing and actual excision of one member of the body. To accomplish this purpose Moses, by his enactment, regarded even the sabbatic law as subsidiary. Why, then are the Jews wrathful with Jesus for making an entire man - a whole physical frame - healthful on the sabbath? The stress laid on the Authorized Version and R.T. translations, "every whit whole," by some commentaries is unfortunate; for it would throw discredit on circumcision altogether, which was far from our Lord's contention here, and would reduce the force of his argument. Christ does not in this argument take up the great line of defence pursued in ch. 5. Nor does he call the healing of the paralytic more than an ἔργον, a "work;" but it must be remembered that he had spoken on the previous occasion of his great miracles as "works," the like to which he saw the Father ever doing.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
If
εἰ (ei)
Conjunction
Strong's 1487: If. A primary particle of conditionality; if, whether, that, etc.

a boy
ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 444: A man, one of the human race. From aner and ops; man-faced, i.e. A human being.

can be circumcised
περιτομὴν (peritomēn)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 4061: Circumcision. From peritemno; circumcision.

on
ἐν (en)
Preposition
Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.

[the] Sabbath
σαββάτῳ (sabbatō)
Noun - Dative Neuter Singular
Strong's 4521: The Sabbath, a week.

so that
ἵνα (hina)
Conjunction
Strong's 2443: In order that, so that. Probably from the same as the former part of heautou; in order that.

the
(ho)
Article - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

Law
νόμος (nomos)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3551: From a primary nemo; law, genitive case, specially, (including the volume); also of the Gospel), or figuratively.

of Moses
Μωϋσέως (Mōuseōs)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 3475: Or Moses, or Mouses of Hebrew origin; Moseus, Moses, or Mouses, the Hebrew lawgiver.

{will} not
μὴ (mē)
Adverb
Strong's 3361: Not, lest. A primary particle of qualified negation; not, lest; also (whereas ou expects an affirmative one) whether.

be broken,
λυθῇ (lythē)
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Passive - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 3089: A primary verb; to 'loosen'.

[why] are you angry
χολᾶτε (cholate)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 5520: To be angry with. From chole; to be bilious, i.e. irritable.

with Me
ἐμοὶ (emoi)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.

for
ὅτι (hoti)
Conjunction
Strong's 3754: Neuter of hostis as conjunction; demonstrative, that; causative, because.

making
ἐποίησα (epoiēsa)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular
Strong's 4160: (a) I make, manufacture, construct, (b) I do, act, cause. Apparently a prolonged form of an obsolete primary; to make or do.

[the] whole
ὅλον (holon)
Adjective - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3650: All, the whole, entire, complete. A primary word; 'whole' or 'all', i.e. Complete, especially as noun or adverb.

man
ἄνθρωπον (anthrōpon)
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 444: A man, one of the human race. From aner and ops; man-faced, i.e. A human being.

well
ὑγιῆ (hygiē)
Adjective - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 5199: (a) sound, healthy, pure, whole, (b) wholesome. From the base of auzano; healthy, i.e. Well; figuratively, true.

on
ἐν (en)
Preposition
Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.

the Sabbath?
σαββάτῳ (sabbatō)
Noun - Dative Neuter Singular
Strong's 4521: The Sabbath, a week.


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