Then asked he them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.

Again therefore he asked them, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.

He demanded of them therefore again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus the Nazaraean.

Again, therefore, he questioned them, 'Whom do ye seek?' and they said, 'Jesus the Nazarene;'

Again therefore He asked them, "Who are you looking for?" "For Jesus the Nazarene," they said.

So again he put the question to them, Who are you looking for? And they said, Jesus the Nazarene.

Then again he questioned them: "Who are you seeking?" And they said, "Jesus the Nazarene."

So he again asked for whom they were looking, and they answered, "Jesus of Nazareth."

He therefore asked them again. Hence it appears what is the powerful effect of that blindness with which God strikes the minds of wicked men, and how dreadful is their stupidity, when, by a just judgment of God, they have been bewitched by Satan. Oxen and asses, if they fall, are touched with some kind of feeling; but those men, after having had an open display of the divine power of Christ, proceed as fearlessly as if they had not perceived in him even the shadow of a man; nay, Judas himself remains unmoved. Let us learn, therefore, to fear the judgment of God, by which the reprobate, delivered into the hands of Satan, become more stupid than brute beasts. Nor can it be doubted that Satan hurried them on, with wild fury, to such a desperate hardihood; for there is no insanity that drives a man with such viohnee as this kind of blindness; Wicked men, after having been given over to a reprobate mind, (Romans 1:28,) care no more about rushing against God than if they had only to do with a fly. They feel his power, indeed, but not so as to be disposed to obey; for sooner will they be broken a hundred times than they will yield. In short, their malice is a veil to hinder them from observing the light of God; their obstinacy renders them harder than stones, so that they never suffer themselves to be subdued.

Then asked he them again, whom seek ye?.... This supposes them to be risen up again and on their feet; no hurt being done to them; for Christ always did good, and not hurt, to the bodies of men; he never disabled any, or took away life, or limb: he only did this to show his power, and not to do them any real damage; and the same divine person that struck them down, suffered them to rise, and gave them power and strength to get up; which showed his great clemency and goodness: but they, on the contrary, persisted in their wicked intentions, and were still seeking after him; a plain proof of that judicial hardness of heart, under which they were; and that even miracles wrought will not bring hardened sinners to repentance without powerful and efficacious grace. When Christ, as fearless of them, and to show that this action he had no design to make his escape them, though he could easily have done it, and that he was willing to be apprehended by them, puts the question a second time, and asks them who they were seeking for. Something like this Josephus (b) reports concerning Elisha the prophet, though not repeated as here, nor attended with the like effect: he relates that Elisha having requested of God that he would smite his enemies with blindness, and that being granted he went into the midst of them, and asked them, , "whom do ye come to seek?" they say Elisha the prophet: he promised them to deliver him to them, if they would follow him into the city, where he was; and so they being blinded by God, both in their sight and in their mind, followed the prophet.
They said Jesus of Nazareth; having recovered their spirits, and being hardened in desperate malice and wickedness, impudently make this reply to him; nor would they, notwithstanding this instance of his power, own him to be the Messiah; but still contemptuously style him Jesus of Nazareth.
(b) Antiqu. l. 9. c. 4. sect. 3.

Then asked he them again, Whom seek ye?--Giving them a door of escape from the guilt of a deed which now they were able in some measure to understand.
Jesus of Nazareth--The stunning effect of His first answer wearing off, they think only of the necessity of executing their orders.