Bible Strands
John 1:38
Jesus turned and saw them following. “What do you want?” He asked. They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are You staying?”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus turns to two disciples who have just begun following Him after hearing John the Baptist. He asks them directly what they want, to which they respond by addressing Him as Rabbi and asking where He is staying.
The words — Στραφεὶς (Strapheis) denotes a deliberate turning, and θεασάμενος (theasamenos) indicates a focused, beholding gaze. These terms frame Jesus’ response as an intentional observation of those who are following.
The thread — The title Rabbi appears again when Nicodemus approaches Jesus at night (John 3:2) and when Nathanael acknowledges His identity (John 1:49). Jesus uses a similar direct question in John 18:7 when He asks His interrogators whom they are seeking.
Why it lands — The text records a direct inquiry into motive followed by a question about location, requiring a concrete answer rather than abstract theology. It demands that a reader identify what they seek in Christ and where He is actively present to be known.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou?
Cross-references
- John 18:7 So He asked them again, “Whom are you seeking?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered.
- John 3:2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs You are doing if God were not with him.”
- John 1:49 “Rabbi,” Nathanael answered, “You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
- Psalms 27:4 One thing I have asked of the LORD; this is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and seek Him in His temple.
- Proverbs 8:34 Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at the posts of my doorway.
- John 18:4 Jesus, knowing all that was coming upon Him, stepped forward and asked them, “Whom are you seeking?”
- John 3:26 So John’s disciples came to him and said, “Look, Rabbi, the One who was with you beyond the Jordan, the One you testified about—He is baptizing, and everyone is going to Him.”
- John 6:25 When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they asked Him, “Rabbi, when did You get here?”
- John 12:21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and requested of him, “Sir, we want to see Jesus.”
- Matthew 23:7 the greetings in the marketplaces, and the title of ‘Rabbi’ by which they are addressed.