Howbeit we know this man whence he is: but when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is.
Howbeit we know this man whence he is: but when [`the'] Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is. This seems to refer to some current opinion that Messiah's origin would be mysterious-not altogether wrong-from which they concluded that Jesus could not be he, since they knew all about his family at Nazareth.