John 12:22

Joh 12:22. Καὶ λέγει, and telleth) Philip, from a feeling of reverence, feared alone [by himself] to introduce the Greeks: in company with a friend, he ventures to do so. [He deemed it a matter worthy of being well-weighed.—V. g.]

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Philip . . . telleth Andrew--As follow townsmen of Bethsaida (Joh 1:44), these two seem to have drawn to each other.

Andrew and Philip tell Jesus--The minuteness of these details, while they add to the graphic force of the narrative, serves to prepare us for something important to come out of this introduction.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 22. Andrew and Philip tell Jesus.] How pleasing to God is this union, when the ministers of his Gospel agree and unite together to bring souls to Christ. But where self-love prevails, and the honour that comes from God is not sought, this union never exists. Bigotry often ruins every generous sentiment among the different denominations of the people of God.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(22) Philip cometh and telleth Andrew.—It is a striking coincidence, and perhaps more than this, that the Greeks thus came into connection with the only Apostles who bear Greek names; and may themselves have had some special connection by birth, or residence, or culture with Greek civilisation. The names have occurred together before (Joh_1:44; Joh_6:7-8): they were fellow-townsmen and friends. But Andrew was also brother of Simon Peter, and is one of the first group of four in the apostolic band. (Comp. Mar_13:3.) The Greeks then naturally come to Philip, and Philip consults his friend Andrew, who is in a position of greater intimacy with the Lord than he himself is, and they come together and tell Jesus.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22. telleth Andrew] Another Apostle with a Greek name. They were both of Bethsaida (Joh_1:44), and possibly these Greeks may have come from the same district. S. Philip seems to shrink from the responsibility of introducing Gentiles to the Messiah, and applies in his difficulty to the Apostle who had already distinguished himself by bringing others to Christ (Joh_1:41, Joh_6:8-9).

and again] The true reading is Andrew cometh, and Philip, and they tell Jesus.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Jesus answered them,.... Not directly and particularly; he did not in plain terms signify what was his will, whether these Greeks should be admitted or not; and yet expressed himself in such a manner as shows he was not averse to it, but was pleased with it, and takes notice of it, as an evidence of the near approach of his glorification:

saying, the hour is come, that the son of man should be glorified; by rising from the dead, ascending to heaven, sitting at the right hand of God, and from thence pouring forth the Spirit upon his disciples, who should go and preach the Gospel to the Gentiles, as well as Jews; and which would issue in the conversion of many of them, and so in his glory, of which the coming of these Greeks was an earnest. But he intimates, in the next verse, that he must first die.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

22 Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus.

Ver. 22. Andrew and Philip tell Jesus] Therefore we may desire the saints departed to mediate for us to Christ, say the Papists. A pitiful poor argument. Illi sic garriant, nos aliter credamus. (Augustine.)

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Telleth Andrew - Why he did not at once tell Jesus is not known. Possibly he was doubtful whether Jesus would wish to converse with Gentiles, and chose to consult with Andrew about it.

Tell Jesus - Whether the Greeks were with them cannot be determined. From the following discourse if would seem probable that they were, or at least that Jesus admitted them to his presence and delivered the discourse to them.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The news of their coming, and their errand, is brought to Christ by Philip and Andrew, who possibly might stumble at it, because they were Gentiles, and Christ had forbidden them to go into the way of the Gentiles; they therefore first acquaint him with the desire of those Greeks, before they bring them to Christ.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The slight modification of text preferred by the Revised Version gives great vivacity to the picture (see below, note 1). Philip receives the respectful request of the Greeks, "Sir my lord, we would see Jesus," i.e. "converse with." They probably sought to bring some proposal before him. Surely they must have had, if they wished it, many opportunities of merely seeing Jesus, when he crossed the Mount of Olivet during those three days, or tarried in the court of the Gentiles; now they pressed for an interview. Philip cometh and telleth Andrew. Andrew was the earliest of the disciples, who brought his own brother Simon to Jesus. (Joh_1:40-42) He is mentioned as in close association with Simon, James, and John, as partners with them in the fishing-trade on the lake of Galilee. (see Mar_1:16, 29, and Mar_3:18, compared with Luk_5:10) There is some hint that Andrew and John, after the first call to become followers of Christ, clung to him, and went with him to Jerusalem, and then returned with him through Samaria, after which occurred the second call of the brothers Simon and James. The frequent references to Andrew and Philip in this Gospel correspond with the tradition preserved in the Muratorian Fragment on the Canon, touching Andrew"s part in the composition of this Gospel. These two disciples are represented as consulting with each other on previous occasions, as though peculiarly related in sympathy. Philip sees certain difficulties, and Andrew has a practical mind, and proposes a way out of them. (see Joh_6:7, Joh_6:8) There was something now to be said on both sides. Their ancient prophecies anticipated a world-wide aspect of the Messianic kingdom. (Isa_55:4, 5 56:3, 7; as well as Gen_49:10) Now, if this incident occurred after Jesus had claimed the hundred and tenth psalm as an oracle which described his own Divine claims and his universal victory as the Lord and Son of David and royal Warrior-Priest, (Mat_22:41-46, and parallel passages) Philip may have felt this moment to be a most critical one in his history; for he may have been perfectly aware of the outbreak of peril which converse with Greek proselytes might at that moment have provoked in the minds of the turbulent Populace. andrew cometh and Philip, and they (together) tell Jesus. Jesus alone could solve the difficulty at that time, and Jesus himself is the just and reasonable Source of all enlightenment. Jesus is at this hour the highest Expression of man and his destiny, and he is also the perfect Manifestation of the Father, the only Mediator between God and man, absolutely one with both. We still go to him to know what God is and what God would have us to think and to be, and to learn what man may become. We take to him the puzzles of our logic, the accusations of our conscience, and the burdens of our heart. Additional interest is thrown round this narrative by a suggestion of Archdeacon Watkins, that, in the course of this week, our Lord had cleansed the temple and courts of its profane traffic, and declared it to be a house of prayer for all nations. Such grand revolutionary conceptions as those of our Lord must have deeply stirred the souls of the susceptible Greeks. Aliens were, as we know from Josephus ("Ant.," 15:11.5), forbidden to pass beyond the balustrade round the ieron . M. Ganneauhas found among the ruins of Jerusalem one of the slabs of stone which recorded this exclusion.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22. Philip cometh and telleth Andrew. Andrew was also of Bethsaida, and he and Philip seem to have been inseparable friends.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

22. τῷ Ἀνδρέᾳ] Another Apostle with a Greek name. They were both of Bethsaida (Joh 1:44), and possibly these Greeks may have come from the same district. S. Philip seems to shrink from the responsibility of introducing Gentiles to the Messiah, and applies in his difficulty to the Apostle who had already distinguished himself by bringing others to Christ (Joh 1:41, Joh 6:8-9).

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22.] Andrew (ch. 1:45) was of the same city as Philip: and this reason of Philip conferring with him is perhaps implied in the τῷ ἀπὸ Β. τ. Γ. Bengel remarks on this touch of nature: “cum sodali, audet.”

ἔρχεται—so ἔπεμψέ με Ἀριαῖος κ. Ἀρτάοζος, Xen. Anab. ii. 4. 16.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22. ἔρχεται ὁ φίλιππος καὶ λέγει τῷ Ἀνδρέᾳ. For the close association between Philip and Andrew, and for the vivid characterisation of each which is apparent in Jn., see on 6:8. Philip is cautious, perhaps a little dull; Andrew is the practical man to whom others appeal in a difficulty. Andrew is one of the inner circle of the Twelve (Mar 13:3), and perhaps might venture to proffer an unusual request to Jesus, where Philip would hesitate.

For the second ἔρχεται the rec. text has καὶ πάλιν, omitting καί before λέγουσι. But the best-attested reading is ἔρχεται Ἀνδρέας καὶ φίλιππος καὶ λέγουσιν τῷ Ἰησοῦ. The singular ἔρχεται followed by the plur. λέγουσιν is quite a classical usage in a sentence like this.

Jesus Announces His Impending Passion (V. 23); Here is the Supreme Exemplification of the Law of Life Through Death (vv. 24-26)

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Philip - Andrew. They appear together in Joh 1:45; Joh 6:7, 8. Compare Mr 3:18.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.