7:1–10:42. Tabernacles and Hanukkah

Chapters 7 and 8 form a unit, with Jesus teaching in Jerusalem on the Feast of Tabernacles.⁶³⁰⁰ This is part of a larger chronological unit concerning this visit to Jerusalem that runs through 10:21. Because 10:22–39 develops some themes introduced in 10:1–21, one could also include that material in this section, which would have the virtue of avoiding a smaller, detached unit (10:22–39), if John is concerned with symmetry.⁶³⁰¹ As in the shorter Jerusalem units in 2:13–3(esp. 2:13–23) and 5:1–47, Jesus encounters primarily hostility (or, in 3:1–21, misunderstanding), paving the way for his final rejection in Jerusalem (with minor exceptions) in the closing third of the Gospel (11:18; 12:10–19:42).