Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

John 12:31

νῦν … νῦν. With prophetic certainty He speaks of the victory as already won: comp. ὄπου εἰμί (John 12:26). Κρίσις τ. κόσμου τ. is the sentence passed on this world (John 3:17; John 5:29) for refusing to believe. The Cross is the condemnation of those who reject it.

ὁ ἄρχων τ. κ. τ. The ruler of this world. This is one of the apparently Gnostic phrases which may have contributed to render this Gospel suspicious in the eyes of the Alogi (Introduction, Chap. II. 1): it occurs again John 14:30; John 16:11, and nowhere else. It was a Gnostic view that the creator and ruler of the material universe was an evil being. But in the Rabbinical writings ‘prince of this world’ was a common designation of Satan, as ruler of the Gentiles, in opposition to God, the Head of the Jewish theocracy. Yet just as the Messiah is the Saviour of the believing world, whether Jew or Gentile, so Satan is the ruler of the unbelieving world, whether Gentile or Jew. He ‘shall be cast out’ (comp. John 6:37; John 9:34-35), by the gradual conversion of sinners, a process which will continue until the last day.

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

John 12:31

Old Testament

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