{Howbeit} (alla). Clearly adversative here. {This man}
(	outon). Possibly contemptuous use of houtos as may be true
in  25,26 . {Whence he is} (pothen estin). The Galilean Jews
knew the family of Jesus ( 6:42 ), but they knew Jesus only as
from Nazareth, not as born in Bethlehem (verse  42 ). {When the
Christ cometh} (ho Christos hotan erch(8874)ai). Prolepsis of ho
Christos and indefinite temporal clause with hotan and the
present middle subjunctive erch(8874)ai rather than the more usual
second aorist active elth(8869) as in verse  31 , a trifle more
picturesque. This is a piece of popular theology. "Three things
come wholly unexpected--Messiah, a godsend, and a scorpion"
(_Sanhedrin_ 97a). The rulers knew the birthplace to be Bethlehem
( 7:42  Mt 2:5f. ), but some even expected the Messiah to drop
suddenly from the skies as Satan proposed to Jesus to fall down
from the pinnacle of the temple. The Jews generally expected a
sudden emergence of the Messiah from concealment with an
anointing by Elijah (_Apoc. of Bar_. XXIX. 3; 2Esdr. 7:28; 13:32;
Justin Martyr, _Tryph_. 110).