John 7:34 kjv
Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come.
John 7:34 nkjv
You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come."
John 7:34 niv
You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come."
John 7:34 esv
You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come."
John 7:34 nlt
You will search for me but not find me. And you cannot go where I am going."
John 7 34 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Prov 1:28 | "Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;" | Seeking wisdom too late |
| Isa 55:6 | "Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;" | Urgency to seek God's grace |
| Hos 5:6 | "They shall go with their flocks... to seek the LORD, but they will not find him;" | Futility of seeking without true repentance |
| Amos 8:12 | "They shall wander from sea to sea... to seek the word of the LORD, but they shall not find it." | Famine of the word due to rejection |
| Zech 7:13 | "Just as he called, and they would not listen, so when they called, I would not listen," | Reciprocity of divine hearing |
| Lk 13:24-27 | "Many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able... I do not know where you come from." | Inability to enter the kingdom |
| Matt 7:23 | "And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me,’" | Separation from the Lord |
| Jn 1:11 | "He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him." | Israel's rejection of Christ |
| Jn 3:13 | "No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven," | Jesus' unique heavenly origin and destiny |
| Jn 3:19-20 | "men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil." | Spiritual inability due to love of sin |
| Jn 6:44 | "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him." | Divine enablement to come to Christ |
| Jn 6:65 | "no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father." | Emphasizes spiritual inability to come |
| Jn 8:21 | "So he said to them again, ‘I am going away, and you will seek me and die in your sin.’" | Repetition of the warning with added consequence |
| Jn 13:33 | "Where I am going, you cannot come now, but you will follow me afterward." | Similar warning to disciples, but with future hope |
| Jn 14:3 | "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself," | Promise for believers to be with Christ |
| Jn 16:16 | "A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me." | Foreshadowing of departure and return |
| Rom 8:7-8 | "For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God... it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God." | Carnal mind's inability to please God |
| Rom 11:7-8 | "The rest were hardened... God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see" | Divine hardening due to unbelief |
| 1 Cor 2:14 | "The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them" | Spiritual inability of the unregenerate mind |
| 2 Thes 2:9-12 | "because they did not receive the love of the truth... God sends them a strong delusion" | Strong delusion for rejecting truth |
| Heb 9:24 | "For Christ has entered, not into temples made with hands... but into heaven itself," | Christ's heavenly dwelling place |
| 1 Pet 3:22 | "who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God," | Christ's exaltation to God's right hand |
John 7 verses
John 7 34 Meaning
This verse is a profound warning from Jesus to the Jewish leaders and those hostile to Him, during the Feast of Booths. It signifies that a time will come when they will seek Him, possibly in distress or when facing divine judgment, but will be unable to find Him in a saving capacity. The "place" where He is refers to His divine presence with the Father in heaven, a destination spiritually inaccessible to those who reject Him due to their persistent unbelief and hostility.
John 7 34 Context
John chapter 7 unfolds during the Jewish Feast of Booths (Sukkot), a pilgrimage festival marked by rejoicing and special water rituals. Jesus attends secretly at first, then publicly teaches in the Temple courts. His teaching sparks heated debate and division among the crowds and leaders. Some wonder if He is the Christ, while others dismiss Him as coming from Galilee, asserting His illegitimacy or even plotting His arrest. This verse (John 7:34) is part of Jesus' response to those who are trying to seize Him or challenge His authority, spoken right after His declaration that He will soon return to "him who sent me." It carries an urgent prophetic tone, foreshadowing His ascension and the judgment awaiting those who continue in their unbelief. The spiritual blindness and hardened hearts of many of the Jewish leaders are central to the dramatic tension of this chapter.
John 7 34 Word analysis
- You will seek me (ζητήσετε με - zētēsete me): "Seek" is in the future tense, indicating a definite future action. It implies a earnest, diligent searching, not merely a casual inquiry. The Jewish leaders would eventually face overwhelming Roman power, and perhaps then, in distress, seek the Messiah for political salvation, but by then it would be too late for genuine spiritual finding of Jesus as Lord.
- and not find me (καὶ οὐχ εὑρήσετε - kai ouch heurēsete): This is an absolute negation. Despite their seeking, they will fail to apprehend Him. This "finding" refers to a saving, redemptive knowledge and relationship with Jesus. Their seeking would be external or out of desperation, but not true faith, thus leading to failure.
- Where I am (ὅπου εἰμὶ ἐγώ - hopou eimi egō): This phrase points to Jesus' divine origin and ultimate destination. "I Am" (εἰμὶ - eimi) subtly echoes the divine name of God (Ex 3:14), reinforcing His co-existence and unity with the Father. It refers to His being in the presence of the Father in heaven, a realm of divine glory.
- you cannot come (οὐ δύνασθε ἐλθεῖν - ou dynasthe elthein): "Cannot" (δύνασθε - dynasthe) signifies an inherent inability, not merely a lack of permission. This inability is not a physical one, but a profound spiritual one, rooted in their unbelief, unrepentance, and spiritual deadness (John 8:43-47). Their rejection of the Light means they cannot enter the presence of the Father to which the Son returns.
- "You will seek me and not find me": This phrase expresses the judicial consequence of rejecting Jesus during His earthly ministry. There will be a future point of no return for those who harden their hearts.
- "Where I am, you cannot come": This emphasizes the stark spiritual separation between Jesus and His rejecters. His realm is divine life and communion with God; their realm, by choice, is spiritual darkness and separation.
John 7 34 Bonus section
The identical phrase in John 8:21 (spoken a day later during the same Feast) reinforces the grave nature of this warning. In John 8:21, Jesus adds, "and die in your sin," which clarifies the ultimate consequence of their inability to come to Him – eternal separation and judgment. This stands in stark contrast to Jesus' promises to His disciples in John 13:33 ("Where I am going, you cannot come now, but you will follow me afterward") and John 14:3 ("I will come again and will take you to myself"), signifying that true believers will indeed be brought into His presence, revealing a clear dichotomy between those who believe and those who reject Him.
John 7 34 Commentary
John 7:34 serves as a stern warning from Jesus regarding the critical juncture His ministry presented. His impending departure (Ascension) would mean a permanent spiritual separation for those who actively resisted and rejected His divine claims and redemptive offer. Their future "seeking" would be in vain because their hearts remained hardened, clinging to their own righteousness and earthly expectations of the Messiah. The "place" where Jesus is, God's presence, is inherently inaccessible to the unholy and unbelieving. This is not an arbitrary decree but a spiritual consequence of their persistent sin and unbelief, rendering them spiritually incapable of entering into the life that Jesus offers and represents. It underlines the eternal consequences of rejecting Christ and highlights that the opportunity to accept Him is finite.