John 17 - Introduction

The Prayer of the Great High Priest

"The prayer which follows the last discourse as its fit crown and conclusion has been designated by an old tradition the Prayer of the High Priest, now about to take upon Him His office, and to offer atonement for the sins of the people." S. p. 235. It is unique in the Gospels. The other Evangelists, especially S. Luke, mention the fact of Christ praying (Matthew 14:23; Mark 1:35; Luke 3:21; Luke 5:16; Luke 6:12; Luke 9:18, &c.), and give some words of His prayer at Gethsemane; but here the substance of a long act of devotion is preserved. S. John never mentions the fact of Christ praying, but in John 12:27 he perhaps gives us a few words of prayer, and in John 11:41 a thanksgiving which implies previous prayer. There is an approach to the first portion of this prayer in the thanksgiving in Matthew 11:25-26.

This Oratio Summi Sacerdotis falls naturally into three portions; 1. for Himself(1 5); 2. for the disciples(6 19); 3. for the whole Church(20 26), the last two verses forming a summary, in which the relations of Christ to the Father and to His own, and of His own to both Father and Son are gathered up.

The prayer was spoken aloud (John 17:1), and thus was not only a prayer, but a source of comfort to those who heard it (John 17:13), and by its preservation a means of faith and life to all (John 20:31). No doubt it was spoken in Aramaic, and we have here also, as in the discourses, no means of determining how far the Greek version preserves the very words, how far only the substance of what was spoken. We must take it reverently as it has been given to us, and we shall find abundant reason for believing that on the one hand it quite transcends even the beloved disciple's powers of invention; on the other that there is nothing in it to make us doubt that this report of it is from his pen. "It is urged that the triumphant elevation of this prayer is inconsistent with the Synoptic account of the Agon===9'>Exo 21:9; Exodus 22:18 [omit linenwith LXX.: the ephod is here -borne"; see Kennedy's note], Exodus 23:6; Exodus 23:9; Exodus 30:7); (c) the -ephod" made by Gideon, Judges 8:27; and (d) in conjunction with the oracular (Ezekiel 21:21) -teraphim," Judges 17:5; Judges 18:14; Judges 18:17-18; Judges 18:20; Hosea 3:4. In 1 Samuel 21:9, (c) and (d) -ephod" has often been taken to be a plated image(cf. the cognate "ăphuddâh, which clearly means the gold casingof an image in Isaiah 30:12): in 1 Samuel 14:3, &c. (b) it is clearly used in some way in obtaining an oracle, and the same is doubtless the case with (d), if not with (c). But though we thus learn the use to which the ephod is put, we do not learn whatthe ephod was. On the whole, however, it seems probable that at least in (b) and (d) the ephod was a more decorated garment than the -linen ephod" (a), worn at this time by the priest in his ordinary ministrations, and was one specially put on by him, as a mark of respect, when consulting the oracle (Sellin, pp. 712, 716; cf. Livy, xxiii. 11). As years went on, the dress of the priests, and especially of the high priest, became more elaborate and ornate; and the high-priestly ephod, as described by P, will be the form which this vestment ultimately assumed. The sacred lots were kept in a pouch attached to the high priest's ephod; it seems probable that this was already the case with the ephod mentioned in (b) and (d). This may explain why in (b) the ephod is spoken of, not as worn, but as -borne": it was not regularly -worn" by the priest; it was carried about by the priest from place to place, especially on a campaign, and only -brought near," and put on, when occasion required: it was not only a garment, but had also attached to it a receptacle for the sacred lots: it thus provided the means of consulting them; and to -bear," or carry, it was a highly prized prerogative of the priests (1 Samuel 2:28; 1 Samuel 22:18). See further DB.and EB.s.v., DB.iv. 840 a, v. 641 f.; Kennedy, Sam.p. 49; Holz., with ill., pp. 135 9; Benzinger, Arch.2 347 f., 359 (a skirt); and esp. Sellin, as cited).