John 17:8

17:8 Jesus revealed himself widely to the world. Those who embraced his message became children of God (1:12; 11:52), and he revealed God’s word to them.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Joh 17:8. Ἔλαβον, they have received) by faith.—ἐπίστευσαν, they have believed) Thrice in this prayer faith is mentioned; that of the apostles in this place; that of those who are about to believe through their word, in Joh 17:20; that of the world, Joh 17:21.

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

Joh 17:8 . ὅτι τὰ ῥήματα … ἀπέστειλας . The result achieved, Joh 17:7 , was due to the fidelity of the messenger, τὰ ῥήματα … δέδωκα αὐτοῖς , and to the receptiveness of those prepared by God, αὐτοὶ ἔλαβον , etc. cf. Joh 16:30 . ἐγὼ περὶ αὐτῶν ἐρωτῶ . He desires solemnly to commit to the Father’s keeping those who have believed. He prays for them in distinction from the world, and for the present sets the world aside, οὐ περὶ τοῦ κόσμου . The petitions now presented are only applicable to disciples, not to the world. Melanchthon says: “vide horrendum judicium Christi de mundo, cum negat se orare pro mundo, damnatque quicquid est mundi, quantumvis speciosum”. But Luther more justly says: “To pray for the world, and not to pray for the world, must both be right and good. For soon after He says Himself: ‘Neither pray I for those alone, but for them also who shall believe on me’.” He prayed too for His crucifiers, Luk 23:34 . His reason for praying for those who have received Him is ὅτι σοί εἰσι , “because they are Thine”. God’s interest in them and work upon them have already been manifested, and are the promise of His further operation.

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

they . . . have known surely that I came out from thee--(See on Joh 16:29; Joh 16:31).

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 8. I have given - them the words] I have delivered thy doctrine to them, so that they have had a pure teaching immediately from heaven: neither Jewish fables nor fictions of men have been mingled with it.

And have known surely] Are fully convinced and acknowledge that I am the promised Messiah, and that they are to look for none other; and that my mission and doctrine are all Divine, Joh 17:7-8.

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

8. And they have received them. He expresses the manner of this knowledge. It is, because they have received the doctrine which he taught them. But that no one may think that his doctrine is human or is earthly in its origin, he declares that God is the Author of it, when he says, The words which thou gavest me I have given to them. He speaks according to his ordinary custom, in the person of the Mediator or servant of God, when he says that he taught nothing but what he had received from the Father; for, since his own condition was still mean, while he was in the flesh, and since his Divine majesty was concealed under the form of a servant, under the person of the Father he simply means God. Yet we must hold by the statement which John made at the beginning of his Gospel, that, in so far as Christ was the Eternal Word of God, he was always one God with the Father. The meaning therefore is, that Christ was a faithful witness of God to the disciples, so that their faith was founded exclusively on the truth of God, since the Father himself spoke in the Son. The receiving, of which he speaks, arose from his having efficaciously manifested to them the name of his Father by the Holy Spirit.

And have known truly. He now repeats in other words what he had formerly mentioned; for that Christ came out from the Father, and was sent by him, has the same meaning with what went before, that all things which he has are from the Father. The meaning amounts to this, that faith ought to cast its eyes direct on Christ, yet so as to form no conception of him that is earthly or mean, but to be carried upwards to his Divine power, so as to believe firmly that he has perfectly in himself God, and all that belongs to God.

And have believed. Let it be observed, also, that in the former clause he employs the verb know and now he employs the verb believe; for thus he shows that nothing which relates to God can be known aright but by faith, but that in faith there is such certainty that it is justly called knowledge.

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.

(8) For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me.—Our Lord explains in this verse how the disciples attained to the knowledge He had spoken of in Joh_17:7, and lays stress in the first place on His own work in teaching them, “I, on My part, have given unto them,” and on the matter taught as that which the Father had committed unto Him (Joh_12:49).

And they have received them.—Not less emphatic is the work of the disciples themselves. “They on their part received them.” Others had been taught, and did not receive. The teaching was the same; the varying effect was in the heart of the hearer. (Comp. Joh_1:12; Joh_1:18.)

He has spoken of the teaching and the reception. He proceeds to the two-fold result.

And have known (better, and knew) surely that I came out from thee.—Comp. Notes on Joh_3:2; Joh_16:30.

And they have believed (better, and they believed) that thou didst send me.—The addition of this clause is in part to be explained as the Hebrew fulness of expression, and in part as an advance on the truth, “I came out from Thee.” That He came from God they knew by the harmony of His doctrine with the voice of God, which was already speaking in their consciences. But more than this, they believed Him to be the sent One, the Messiah, whom they expected (Joh_17:3).

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

8. the words] Or, the sayings (see on Joh_5:47). This is not the plural of ‘word’ (logos) in Joh_17:6; but the other noun (rhemata), the singular of which is not used by S. John. It means the separate utterances as distinct from the doctrine as a whole.

they have received … have known … have believed] Better, they received … recognised … believed. See on Joh_17:4.

came out from] Better, came forth from (see on Joh_16:28). They recognised that His mission was Divine: they believed that He was sent as the Messiah. They had proof of the first point; the second was a matter of faith.

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.

For I have given unto them the words,.... Not commands, but doctrines; and these not the doctrines of men; nor any of the divers and strange doctrines; but what are called in Scripture the doctrine of God, of Christ, of the apostles, are agreeably to the Scriptures, and according to godliness; and are styled the word of truth, of faith, of righteousness, of peace and reconciliation, of life and salvation, and of the Gospel; and which Christ gave to his disciples, and gifts along with them to preach them, and abilities to help them:

which thou gavest me; for the words and doctrines which Christ, as the great prophet in Israel spoke, were not his own, but his Father's; and these were given him to speak and deliver to others, and in which he was faithful; so Jonathan ben Uzziel (l) paraphrases the text in Deu 18:18; concerning that prophet, the Messiah, God would raise up, after this manner;

"a prophet will I raise up unto them from among their brethren, in whom the Holy Spirit shall be, like unto thee; , "and I will give the words", of my prophecy into his mouth, and he shall speak with them all that I have commanded.''

And so the Messiah Jesus did:

and they have received them; willingly and gladly, with reverence and meekness, with love, and thankfulness; so as to understand them and believe them, and so as to be affectionately and closely attached to them:

and have known surely that I came out from thee; which is meant, not of his eternal filiation, but of his constitution and commission, as Mediator by his Father: of which they had certain knowledge, full assurance of faith, and sincerely owned and confessed being fully persuaded he was the true Messiah, and no impostor:

and they have believed that thou didst send me; into this world, to seek and to save lost sinners, to redeem all the chosen ones, and perform everything necessary to their salvation.

(l) Targum Jon. in Deut. xviii. 18.

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

8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.

Ver. 8. For I have given unto them] A sweet and precious gift. It was the Jews’ primary privilege that unto them were committed the oracles of God. There is a "chiefly" set upon it, Rom 3:2, πρωτον, Primarium quiddam et res magni momenti.

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.

The words - The doctrines. Christ often represented himself as instructed and sent to teach certain great truths to men. Those he taught, and no others. See the notes at Joh 5:30.

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

Our Lord here doth both justify himself, and commend those whom in this former part of his prayer he is commending to his Father. He justifieth himself that he had not delivered any thing to them but what he had from his Father; thereby teaching all those who claim the name of his ministers what is their duty, viz. to give to their hearers no word but what God hath given them. If Christ confined his discourses to words which his Father had given him, certainly we ought to do so also. We are not to speak what we list, nor what men would have us we are tied up to God’s word. He commendeth these his disciples, that they had

received them; not only the sound of them in their ears, not only the notion of them in their understandings, but they had embraced and believed them; and had, from the force and, authority of them, given credit to him as the true Messias, who came out and was sent from God. Though they were not yet come up to a perfect faith in him as the eternal Son of God, yet they believed him one that came from God, and was sent of God as the promised Messiah; which seemeth to have been that degree of faith which Christ most insisted upon as to his disciples, until by his resurrection from the dead he declared himself to be the Son of God with power; though all along this Gospel, his discourses, and the miracles which he wrought, had a particular tendency to prove himself one with the Father, and the eternal Son of God; and the disciples had some weak persuasion of this also.

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

8. They have believed—They were selected and given by God with full foreknowledge that they would believe. The final taking of effect, both of their election and the giving, was conditioned on their faith and perseverance as free agents.

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

They have received them - By faith.

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

As if Christ had said, "The message by thee my Father committed to me, I have communicated to them my disciples, and they have received it, and will communicate it from thee to the world; being sufficiently assured that my coming and preaching was all by commission from thee."

Hence learn, 1. That the doctrine of the gospel, which was revealed by Christ, was received from the Father.

2. That faith is a receiving of the word of Christ, and of Christ in and by the word. Receiving is a relative term, and presupposes an offer. God offers on his part, and we receive on our part, the whole word with the whole heart. That the ministers of the gospel are to preach that, and only that, which they have out of the word of God: I have given them the word which thou gavest me.

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

8. ἔγνωσαν … ἐπίστευσαν. They recognised that His mission was Divine (see on Joh 16:28): they believed that He was sent as the Messiah. They had proof of the one; the other was a matter of faith.

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.

8.] Notice particularly here, as indeed throughout, the marked difference between the aorists and the perfects.

τὰ ῥ.… δέδ. αὐτοῖς, and the similar sayings ch. 15:15 ., seem to be a reference to Deu 18:18, Deu 18:19, where it is said that the Prophet “shall speak unto them all that I shall command Him.” The imparting to them of these ῥήματα was the efficient cause of their faith:—see their confession ch. 6:68, 69, where πεπιστεύκαμεν and ἐγνώκαμεν are connected as here.

On the two last clauses we may notice that παρὰ σοῦ ἐξῆλθον is more a matter of conviction from inference (see ch. 3:2),—ἔγνωσαν:—whereas the other side of the same truth, σύ με ἀπέστειλας, the act of the Father unseen by us, is more a matter of pure faith,—ἐπίστευσαν. In the first, the ἔγνωσαν ἀληθῶς stamps our Lord’s approval on their knowledge, and distinguishes it from such knowledge as the bare οἴδαμεν [ch. 3:2] of Nicodemus and his colleagues.

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

8. ὅτι τὰ ῥήματα κτλ., “that the words which Thou gavest me I have given unto them.” For ῥήματα, see on 3:34: cf. 5:47, 6:63, 68.

These “words” of Jesus were “given” Him by the Father, as has been said before. See on 12:49, and cf. 15:15, 17:14.

καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔλαβον. The chosen disciples had received and appropriated His words, which “abode” in them (cf. 15:7). Here was the token that the disciples were, indeed, ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ (cf. 8:47).

The rec. has δέδωκας (so אLNΓΔΘ) for ἔδωκας (ABCDW), but the sense requires the aorist here (see on v. 4). The ῥήματα of Jesus were “given” to Him by the Father, when He entered on His mission (see on 3:35).

καὶ ἔγνωσαν … καὶ ἐπίστευσαν. Here, again, we have the aorist tense. The disciples recognised, “knew of a truth,” i.e. inferred from what they saw and heard, that Jesus had come from God (cf. 3:2); and, further, they believed (for this was not a matter of merely intellectual inference) that God had sent Him. But perhaps we must not lay stress on the distinction between ἔγνωσαν and ἐπίστευσαν here; for at 16:27 Jesus has already said to the Eleven, πεπιστεύκατε ὅτι ἐγὼ παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς ἐξῆλθον. And at 8:42 οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀπʼ ἐμαυτοῦ ἐλήλυθα, ἀλλʼ ἐκεῖνός με ἀπέστειλεν is a single sentence, the “sending” by the Father being the only possible alternative to Jesus having come “of Himself.” Cf. 11:42 ἵνα πιστεύσωσιν ὅτι σύ με ἀπέστειλας, and for the “sending” of the Son by the Father, see on 3:17. For the combination of πεπιστεύκαμεν and ἐγνώκαμεν, see on 6:69.

σύ με ἀπέστειλας is found five times in this Prayer of Christ (cf. vv. 18, 21, 23, 25), the phrase being repeated like a kind of solemn refrain (see on 15:21)

The Prayer of Jesus for the Eleven—(1) that They May Be Divinely Guarded (vv. 9-16) and (2) that They May Be Consecrated Men (vv. 17-19)

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

The words [τα ρηματα] . Compare thy word [λογον] , ver. 6. That signified the gospel message in its entirety. This, the message considered in its constituent parts. See on Luk 1:37. Compare Joh 5:38, 47; Joh 6:60, 63, 68; Joh 8:43, 47, 51; Joh 12:47, 48; Joh 14:3, 7.

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