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John 7:31
ESV Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, "When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?"
NIV Still, many in the crowd believed in him. They said, "When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs than this man?"
NASB But many of the crowd believed in Him; and they were saying, 'When the Christ comes, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has done, will He?'
CSB However, many from the crowd believed in him and said, "When the Messiah comes, he won’t perform more signs than this man has done, will he?"
NLT Many among the crowds at the Temple believed in him. 'After all,' they said, 'would you expect the Messiah to do more miraculous signs than this man has done?'
KJV And many of the people believed on him, and said, When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these which this man hath done?
NKJV And many of the people believed in Him, and said, “When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?”

What does John 7:31 mean?

This passage describes a wide variety of opinions about Jesus. Even before He made an appearance at this festival, the people were split over what Jesus' ministry meant (John 7:12).

The religious authorities intend to kill Jesus at their first good opportunity (John 5:18). Even though they know more about the Scriptures than anyone else, they reject Christ because they are stubborn (John 5:39–40). Disobedience, not a lack of knowledge, is what prevents these well-educated men from seeing Jesus for who He really is (John 7:17).

Those who are less informed than the Pharisees are still confused. Some look to Jewish traditions which suggest Messiah will be an anonymous figure (John 7:27). Based on this, many think that a common man such as Jesus cannot be the Promised One. This, it seems, includes many members of Jesus' own family (John 7:5).

And then there are those who follow all the evidence exactly where it leads. The gospel of John uses the term "signs" in reference to the miracles Jesus performs to prove Himself (John 20:30–31). These are specifically mentioned by Christ as one of the reasons people ought to accept His words (John 5:36). As shown here, some of the people look at the miraculous works of Jesus in the same way Nicodemus did in chapter 3 (John 3:1–2); how could someone do more than this—isn't that enough to prove He is the Christ?
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