| Geneva Study Bible {19} And every man went unto his own house. (19) There is no counsel against the Lord. Wesley's Notes 7:53 And every man went to his own house - So that short plain question of Nicodemus spoiled all their measures, and broke up the council! A word spoken in season, how good it is! Especially when God gives it his blessing. Scofield Reference Notes [1] and every man Jn 7:53-8:11 is not found in some of the most ancient manuscripts. Augustine declares that it was stricken from many copies of the sacred story because of a prudish fear that it might teach immorality! But the immediate context Jn 7:12-46 beginning with Christ's declaration, "I Amos the light of the world." seems clearly to have its occasion in the conviction wrought in the hearts of the Pharisees, as recorded in Jn 7:9; as also, it explains the peculiar virulence of the Pharisee's words (Jn 7:41). Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary 53. every man went unto his own home-finding their plot could not at that time be carried into effect. Is your rage thus impotent, ye chief priests? Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary 7:40-53 The malice of Christ's enemies is always against reason, and sometimes the staying of it cannot be accounted for. Never any man spake with that wisdom, and power, and grace, that convincing clearness, and that sweetness, wherewith Christ spake. Alas, that many, who are for a time restrained, and who speak highly of the word of Jesus, speedily lose their convictions, and go on in their sins! People are foolishly swayed by outward motives in matters of eternal moment, are willing even to be damned for fashion's sake. As the wisdom of God often chooses things which men despise, so the folly of men commonly despises those whom God has chosen. The Lord brings forward his weak and timid disciples, and sometimes uses them to defeat the designs of his enemies. | 
