Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

John 17:25

Πάτερ δίκαιε, “Righteous Father”. The appeal is now to God's justice; “ut tua bonitas me miserat servandsn si qua fieri potuisset, omnibus; ita tui, justitia non patietur ob quorundam iacredulitatem frustrari vota credentium”. Erasmus. The Father's justice is appealed to, that the believing may not share the fate of the unbelieving world καὶ ὁ κόσμος Elsner translates “quamvis,” and Lampe says all difficulty thus disappears. But Elsner's examples are irrelevant. Meyer renders “Righteous Father (yea, such Thou art!) and (and yet) the world knew Thee not.” Simcox suggests that the first καί is correlative not to the immediately following δέ, but to the second καί, the effect being something like: “While the world knew Thee not, though I knew Thee, these on their part knew”.… Similarly Westcott; “it serves to coordinate the two main clauses.… The force of it is as if we were to say: Two facts are equally true; it is true that the world knew Thee not; it is true that these knew that Thou didst send me.” May the καί not be intended to connect this clause with the preceding ὅτι … κόσμου, and to mark the contrast between the love that was in God before the foundation of the world and the world's ignorance of Him, and especially of His love? But “I knew Thee and these knew,” etc. They did not know God directly as Christ did, but they knew they could accept Him as the Revealer of God. And to them who were willing to receive my message, because they knew I was sent by Thee, I made known Thy name and will make it known by my death (Weiss) and by sending the Spirit of truth (Westcott). The end in view in this manifestation by Christ was that the love with which the Father had loved the Son might rest on the disciples. ἵνα ἡ ἀγάπη ἣν ἠγάπησάς με. The construction is found in Ephesians 2:4, and is frequent in the classics; ἡ κρίσις ἣν ἐκρίθη, Lysias; τῇ νίκῃ ἣν ἐνίκησε, Arrian. See Kypke. κἀγὼ ἐν αὐτοῖς. This is the end and crown of all. That He should desire this intimate communion with men, and should seek above all else to live in and through His disciples, is surprising proof of His love.

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Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

John 17:25

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