Observations from the Greek text in John's Gospel: John 7:4

John 7:4 is an interesting verse to read in Greek.  It was made by Jesus’ disciples who didn’t yet believe in him (verse 5).  Here is a literal translation:

For no one does anything in hidden and the same seeks to be in openness/boldness.  If you are doing these things, reveal yourself to the world.

Of course, something that is hidden is a “secret”.  What the disciples want Jesus to do is for him to do his signs “openly”.  Their definition of “openly” is for Jesus to perform his signs in Jerusalem.  So, a better translation would be:

For no one does anything in secret and the same seeks to be a public figure (in openness).

The big question is: Why didn’t his disciples believe in him when they had seen him do all of these signs?  Perhaps the reason is that they wanted him to openly declare himself in Jerusalem and do signs there.  In other words, perhaps they were looking for the leaders of Jerusalem to acknowledge Jesus as well.