Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

John 12:28

ἦλθεν οὖν. There came therefore, i.e. in answer to Christ’s prayer. There can be no doubt what S. John wishes us to understand;—that a voice was heard speaking articulate words, that some could distinguish the words, others could not, while some mistook the sounds for thunder. To make the thunder the reality, and the voice and the words mere imagination, is to substitute an arbitrary explanation for the Evangelist’s plain meaning. For similar voices comp. that heard by Elijah (1 Kings 19:12-13); by Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4:31); at Christ’s Baptism (Mark 1:11) and Transfiguration (Mark 9:7); at S. Paul’s Conversion (Acts 9:4; Acts 9:7; Acts 22:9), where it would seem that S. Paul alone could distinguish the words, while his companions merely heard a sound (see on Acts 9:4); and the mixed φωναὶ καὶ βρονταί of the Apocalypse (John 4:5; John 8:5; John 16:18). One of the conditions on which power to distinguish what is said depends is sympathy with the speaker.

ἐδόξασα. In all God’s works from the Creation onwards, especially in the life of Christ; δοξάσω, in the death of Christ and its results.

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

John 12:28

Old Testament

New Testament