John 17:7

Joh 17:7. Πάντα, all things) This is taken up in the following verse, “the words, which Thou gavest Me.”—παρὰ σοῦ, of or from Thee) and therefore true and solid.

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

Joh 17:7 . As the result of this keeping of God’s truth, νῦν ἔγνωκαν … ἐστιν , “they have now” in presence of this final revelation “known that all things whatsoever Thou hast given me are from Thee”. The object of the manifestation in Christ has been attained: the Father has been seen in and through Him. All the wisdom and power of Christ have been recognised as from God.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7. Now they have known. Here our Lord expresses what is the chief part in faith, which consists in our believing in Christ in such a manner, that faith does not rest satisfied with beholding the flesh, but perceives his Divine power. For when he says, They have known that all things which thou hast given me are from thee, he means, that believers feel that all that they possess is heavenly and divine. And, indeed, if we do not perceive God in Christ, we must remain continually in a state of hesitation.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(7) Now they have known . . .—Better, Now they do know. The word means “They have come to know, and do know.” (Comp. Note on Joh_16:30.) This is the result of their spiritual training—in its fulness, indeed, still future, but regarded as in the immediate present.

All things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.—We ought to assign no limit to the extent of these words. The lesson He had been teaching them, and which they were about fully to know, was that the whole life of Christ—the words He had spoken (Joh_12:49), the works He had done (Joh_5:36)—was a manifestation of the Father.

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

7. they have known] Rather, they know: literally, ‘they have recognised, come to know.’ Comp. Joh_5:42, Joh_6:69, Joh_8:52; Joh_8:55, Joh_14:9.

whatsoever thou hast given] Both His doctrine and His mission, as the next verse explains. The whole of Christ’s work of redemption in word and act was in its origin and still is (present tense) of God.

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.

Now they have known,.... The Syriac version reads it "I have known"; and so the Persic and Gothic versions, contrary to most copies and other versions, which read, as we render, "they have known", that is, the disciples and apostles of Christ:

that all things whatsoever thou hast given me; all temporal things, the world and the fulness of it; all power in heaven, and in earth, or a power of disposing of all things for his own service, as Mediator; all spiritual things, the covenant of grace, with all its blessings and promises, the Spirit of God, with all his, gifts and graces, a fulness of all grace for his people, yea, eternal life and glory; and everything relating to his mediatorial office and character, power to perform miracles, knowledge and wisdom to preach the Gospel, strength to procure the salvation of his people; every thing to qualify him for the government of church and the judgment of the world:

are of thee; owing to his good will and pleasure, by his appointment and constitution, as an instance of love to him, and that he might, as man, and Mediator, be honoured, and in all things have the pre-eminence, and all for the good of his chosen ones: now the knowledge of this by his disciples, must greatly confirm the mission of Christ, render him very suitable to them, cause them to entertain a greater esteem for him, lead them into some admiring views of the grace of God, in giving so much into Christ's hands for them, and engage them the more cheerfully to obey his commands.

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

7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.

Ver. 7. Now they have known, &c.] That the gospel is a plot of God’s own contriving, and no device of man, as that Evangelium regni Gospel of power, was, set out by the family of love; and those fanatics mentioned by Irenaeus, that were besotted with an opinion of themselves, that they accounted their own writings to be gospels. In the year 1220, certain monks at Paris set out a gospel full of all filthiness and blasphemy, naming it Evangelium aeternum, the eternal Gospel. And in the book called Conformitates S. Francisci, made in the year 1389, it is written, that the same book is better than the gospel, and St Francis set in Lucifer’s chair above angels. The Council of Constance comes in with a non obstante against Christ’s institution, withholding the cup from the laity. And when the pope sets forth any bulls, commonly he concludes thus; Non obstantibus coustitutionibus et ordinationibus Apostolicis, caeterisque contrariis quibuscunque, and the pope’s interpretation of Scripture, be it what it will, seem it never so contrary to the Scripture, is ipsissimum Dei verbum, the very word of God, saith Hosius.

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.

They have known - They have been taught that and have believed it.

Hast given me - This refers, doubtless, to the doctrine of Christ, Joh 17:8. They are assured that all my instructions are of God.

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

Now they have known that all things which thou gavest men, are from thee. That is, says St. Augustine,[3] they now know, and will know more perfectly hereafter, that I myself am from thee, or proceed from thee, and am sent by thee to redeem the world. (Witham)

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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

Quia omnia quæ dedisti mihi, abs te sunt. That is, says St. Augustine, (tract. 106. p. 767.) cognoverunt, quia abs te sum, &c.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

They have thus far made proficiency in the doctrine which I have taught them; that though the Pharisees say, that I cast out devils by Beelzebub the prince of devils, yet they believe, and are persuaded, that the doctrine which I have taught them is from thee, and that it is by a Divine power that I have wrought those miracles which I have wrought; and so I have manifested thy name unto them, and they have received the manifestation and revelation of thy name unto them.

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

7. All things—The entire furnishings for his divine mission. The apostles had learned and recognized that they were not fabricated by Jesus, but given from God.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Now they know that all things - Which I have done and spoken, are of thee - And consequently right and true.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Observe here, 1. The faithfulness of Christ in revealing the whole will of his Father to his disciples.

2. The proficiency of his disciples in the school of Christ: They knew all the things which Christ had told them; namely, that whatsoever he had, was given him of the Father, and that he had these things from him to be a mediator.

Learn hence, that Christ hath approved himself a faithful prophet to his church; a faithful messenger from his Father to his people, in that he hath added nothing to his message, nor taken nothing from it.

2. That it is our duty to know and believe on Christ, as the only messenger and mediator sent of God: Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7. ἔγνωκαν. They have recognised and therefore know (Joh 5:42, Joh 6:69, Joh 8:52; Joh 8:55, Joh 14:9) that the whole of Christ’s work of redemption in word and act was in its origin and still is (εἰσίν) of God.

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.

7.

οὓς δέδ.] The Father gave them to Christ, by leading them to Christ, see ch. 6:37, 44, 45.

σοὶ ἦσαν] Thine (σοί, from σός) they were—Israelites—Thy people, before:—not only outwardly, but Israelites indeed, see ch. 1:48, and thus prepared to receive Christ (so Stier, v. 411 ff., edn. 2). And thus the ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου answers to λαβεῖν ἑαυτῷ ἔθνος ἐκ μέσου ἔθνους, Deu 4:34. But see the fuller sense below, on ver. 9.

τὸν λ. σου τετήρηκαν] They have observed Thy word—walked in the path of Thy commandments;—for so λόγον τηρεῖν means: see ch. 14:23—and reff.

Stier understands their walking in the O.T. ordinances blameless, as Luk 1:6,—and thus (compare ch. 1:42, 46) recognizing Christ as the Messiah when He came. But this is perhaps hardly likely to have been set at the end of the sentence, after ἐμοὶ αὐτοὺς δέδωκας. It is more likely that τὸν λόγον σου = τὰ ῥήματα ἃ δέδωκάς μοι, ver. 8, and is proleptically spoken.

7.] πάντα ὅσα δέδ. μοι, ‘My whole words and works:’ εἰσίν, as contemplated in their separate meanings and testimonies: q. d. ‘are all from Thee:’—the collective assertion see at ver. 10.

On this their conviction, which however had not reached its ripeness yet, see ch. 16:30.

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

7. νῦν ἔγνωκαν κτλ. The disciples had said (16:30) νῦν οἴδαμεν ὄτι οἶδας πάντα κτλ., but their confidence was not so deep-rooted as they had supposed. Yet they had come to recognise (ἔγνωκαν expressing the gradual growth of their spiritual insight) that His words were divine (v. 8), or (as it is expressed in this verse) that “all things which Thou hast given me are from Thee” (see on 3:35).

Godet calls attention to the apparent scantiness of the spiritual harvest for which Jesus gives thanks in these verses. “Eleven Galilæan peasants after three years’ labour ! But it is enough for Jesus, for in these eleven He beholds the pledge of the continuance of God’s work upon earth.”

For ἔγνωκαν, there is a Western variant, ἔγνων (א latt. syrr.), the mistaken correction of a scribe who returns to the first person of v. 6.

For δέδωκας (see on v. 4), AB have ἔδωκας. And for εἰσίν (אBCLNW) the rec. has ἐστίν, with ADΓΔΘ.

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