John 8 - Introduction
CHAPTER 8.... [ Continue Reading ]
CHAPTER 8.... [ Continue Reading ]
καὶ ἐπορεύθη ἕκαστος … The position of these words almost necessitates the understanding that the members of the Sanhedrim are referred to. But in this case the contrast conveyed in the next clause, Ἰησους δὲ ἐπορεύθη, is pointless. εἰς τὸ ὄρος τῶν ἐλαιῶν, to the Mount of Olives. _Cf._ Matthew 24:3;... [ Continue Reading ]
ἄγουσι δὲ οἱ γραμματεῖς … κατειλημμένην. The scribes and the Pharisees, who in the synoptics regularly appear as the enemies of Jesus, bring to Him a woman taken in adultery. In itself an unlawful thing to do, for they had a court in which the woman might have been tried. Obviously it was to find oc... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐν δὲ τῷ νομῷ … λιθοβολεῖσθαι. In Leviticus 20:10 and Deuteronomy 22:22 death is fixed as the penalty of adultery; but “stoning” as the form of death is only specified when a betrothed virgin is “violated, Deuteronomy 22:23-24. And the Rabbis held that where death simply was spoken of, strangling wa... [ Continue Reading ]
τοῦτο δὲ … αὐτοῦ. “And this they said tempting Him,” hoping that His habitual pity would lead Him to exonerate the woman. [“Si Legi subscriberet, videri poterat sibi quodammodo dissimilis,” Calvin. προσεδόκων ὅτι φείσεται αὐτῆς, καὶ λοιπὸν ἕξουσι κατηγορίαν κατʼ αὐτοῦ ὡς παρανόμως φειδομένου τῆς ἀπὸ... [ Continue Reading ]
The scribes, however, did not accept the silence of Jesus as an answer, but “went on asking Him”. For this use of ἐπιμένω with a participle _cf._ Acts 12:16, ἐπέμενεν κρούων; and see Buttmann's _N.T. Gram._, 257, 14. And at length Jesus lifting His head, straightening Himself, said to them: Ὁ ἀναμάρ... [ Continue Reading ]
Having shot this arrow Jesus again stooped and continued writing on the ground, intimating that so far as He was concerned the matter was closed.... [ Continue Reading ]
οἱ δὲ … ἐσχάτων. “And they when they heard it went out one by one, beginning from the elders until the last.” [The words which truly describe the motive of this departure, καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς συνειδήσεως ἐλεγχόμενοι, are deleted by Tr. W.H.R.] πρεσβυτέρων refers not to the elders by office but by age. They... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀνακύψας … Jesus, lifting His head and seeing that the woman was left alone, says to her: Ἡ γυνή … κατέκρινεν; “Woman,” nominative for vocative, as frequently, but see critical note, “where are they? Did no man condemn thee?” That is, has no one shown himself ready to begin the stoning?... [ Continue Reading ]
And she said: “No one, Lord”. Εἶπε … ἁμάρτανε. “Neither do I condemn thee,” that is, do not adjudge thee to stoning. That He did condemn her sin was shown in His words μηκέτι ἁμάρτανε. Therefore Augustine says: “Ergo et Dominus damnavit, sed peccatum, non hominem”.... [ Continue Reading ]
Πάλιν οὖν. “Again therefore Jesus spake to them”; “again” refers us back to John 7:37. Lücke and others suppose that the conversation now reported took place on some day after the feast: but there is no reason why it should not have been on the same day as that recorded in chap. 7. The place, as we... [ Continue Reading ]
_Jesus proclaims Himself the Light of the World_.... [ Continue Reading ]
To this the Pharisees, seeing only self-assertion, reply: Σὺ … ἀληθής. A formal objection; _cf._ John 5:31. But the attempt to apply it here only shows how far the Pharisees were from even conceiving the conditions of a true revelation. They were still in the region of pedantic rules and external te... [ Continue Reading ]
Jesus replies: κἂν … ὑπάγω, “even if I witness of Myself, My witness is true”. The difference between καὶ εἰ and εἰ καί is clearly stated by Hermann on Viger, 822; Klotz on Devarius, 519; and is for the most part observed in N.T. On the law regulating testimony, which was meant merely for courts of... [ Continue Reading ]
καὶ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ … πατήρ. He returns from “judging” to “witnessing,” and He maintains that His witness (John 8:18) satisfies the Mosaic law (Deuteronomy 17:6; Deuteronomy 19:15) because what He witnesses of Himself is confirmed by the Father that sent Him. The nature of this witness was given fully at... [ Continue Reading ]
Εἶπεν οὖν πάλιν. On another occasion, but whether the same day (Origen) or not we do not know, although, as Lücke points out, the αὐτοῖς favours Origen's view, Jesus said: Ἐγὼ ὑπάγω … ἐλθεῖν. This repeats John 7:34, with the addition “and ye shall die in your sin”; _i.e._, undelivered by the Messiah... [ Continue Reading ]
_Further conversation with the Jews, in which Jesus warns them that He will not be long with them, and that unless they believe they will die in their sins. They will know that His witness is true after they have crucified Him_.... [ Continue Reading ]
As before, so now, the Jews fail to understand Him, and ask: Μήτι … ἐλθεῖν; “Will He kill Himself, etc.?” They gathered from the ὑπάγω that the departure He spoke of was His own action, and thought that perhaps He meant to put Himself by death beyond their reach. Many interpreters, even Westcott and... [ Continue Reading ]
But disregarding the interruption, and wishing more clearly to show why they could not follow Him, and what constituted the real separation in destiny between Him and them, He says: Ὑμεῖς … τούτου, “You belong to the things below, I to the things above: you are of this world, I am not of this world”... [ Continue Reading ]
εἶπον οὖν … ὑμῶν. “Therefore said I unto you, ye shall die in your sins.” The emphatic word is now ἀποθανεῖσθε (_cf._ John 8:12); the destruction is itself put in the foreground (Meyer, Holtzmann). “For unless ye believe that I am He, ye shall, etc.” What they were required to believe is not explici... [ Continue Reading ]
This only adds bewilderment to their mind, and they, not “pertly and contemptuously” (Meyer, Weiss, Holtzmann), but with some shade of impatience, ask: Σὺ τίς εἶ; “Who art Thou?” To this Jesus replies: τὴν ἀρχὴν ὅ τι καὶ λαλῶ ὑμῖν. These words are rendered in A.V [65] “Even _the same_ that I said un... [ Continue Reading ]
πολλὰ ἔχω … “many things have I to speak and to judge about you,” some of which are uttered in the latter part of this chapter. ἀλλʼ ὁ πέμψας … But however hard for you to receive these things are what are given me to say by Him that sent me, and therefore I must speak them; and not to you only but... [ Continue Reading ]
His hearers did not identify “Him that sent me” with “the Father”: Οὐκ ἔγνωσαν … ἔλεγεν.... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore (οὖν) Jesus said to them, Ὅταν … εἰμι, “when ye have lifted up the Son of Man, them shall ye know that I am He”. ὑψώσητε has the double reference of elevation on the cross and elevation to the Messianic throne, _cf._ John 3:14. The people were thus to elevate Him and then they would recogn... [ Continue Reading ]
καὶ ὁ πέμψας … πάντοτε. His fidelity to the purpose of the Father that sent Him secured His perpetual presence with Him. By His entire self-abnegation and freedom from self-will He gave room to the Spirit of the Father. Or, as Westcott supposes, the ὅτι clause may give the evidence or sign of the pr... [ Continue Reading ]
ταῦτα … αὐτόν. “As He spake these things many believed on Him,” not only believed what He said, but accepted Him as the Messenger of God. The statement closes one paragraph and prepares for the next, in which it is shown what this faith amounted to (Holtzmann).... [ Continue Reading ]
To those who have just been described as believing on Him Jesus went on to say, Ἐὰν ὑμεῖς … ὑμᾶς. “If you” ὑμεῖς emphasised in distinction from those who had not believed “abide in my word” not content with making this first step towards faith and obedience “then” but not till then “are ye really my... [ Continue Reading ]
_Discussion between Jesus and the Jews regarding their paternity_.... [ Continue Reading ]
καὶ γνώσεσθε … ὑμᾶς. By abiding in Christ's word, making it the rule of their life and accepting Him as their Guide and Teacher, they would come to that knowledge of the truth which only experimental testing of it can bring; and the truth regarding their relation to Him and to God would turn all ser... [ Continue Reading ]
But this announcement, instead of seeming to the Jews the culmination of all bliss, provokes even in the πεπιστευκότες (John 8:31) a blind, carping criticism: Σπέρμα … γενήσεσθε; we are the seed of Abraham, called by God to rule all peoples, and to none have we ever been slaves. “The episodes of Egy... [ Continue Reading ]
The answer is: ἀμὴν … ἁμαρτίας [τῆς ἁμαρτίας is bracketed by W.H [68]]. The liberty meant is inward, radical, and individual. “Every one who lives a life of sin is a slave.” _Cf._ Romans 6:16; Romans 6:20; 2 Peter 2:19; Xen., _Mem._, iv. 5, 3; Philo's tract “Quod omnis probus sit liber,” and the Sto... [ Continue Reading ]
οἶδα … ὑμῖν. “I know that you are Abraham's seed; it is your moral descent which is in question, and your conduct shows that my word, which gives true liberty (John 8:31-32), does not find place in you.” οὐ χωρεῖ ἐν ὑμῖν. The Greek Fathers all understand these words in the sense of A.V [69], “hath n... [ Continue Reading ]
“And yet the word of Christ justly claimed acceptance, for it was derived from immediate knowledge of God,” Westcott. ἐγὼ ὃ [or ἃ ἐγὼ, as recent editors read] … ποιεῖτε. “What I have seen with my Father I speak; and what ye have seen with your father ye do.” He makes the statement almost as if it we... [ Continue Reading ]
To this ambiguous but ominous utterance the Jews reply: Ὁ πατὴρ ἡμῶν Ἀβραάμ ἐστι, thereby meaning to clear themselves of the suspicion of having learned anything evil from their father. To which Jesus retorts: Εἰ τέκνα … ἐποιεῖτε ἄν. “If ye were Abraham's children ye would do the works of Abraham”;... [ Continue Reading ]
ὑμεῖς … ὑμῶν. You do not the works of Abraham: you do the works of your father. And yet (John 8:37) He had acknowledged them to be the children of Abraham. The only possible conclusion was that besides Abraham some other father had been concerned in producing them. This idea they repudiate with indi... [ Continue Reading ]
But this claim Jesus explodes by the same argument: Εἰ ὁ θεὸς … ἀπέστειλε. Were God your Father you would love me, for I am from God. ἐξῆλθον ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ expresses “the proceeding forth from that essential pre-human fellowship with God, which was His as the Son of God, and which took place through t... [ Continue Reading ]
This was the result and evidence of their paternity: ὑμεῖς … [τοῦ πατρὸς is read by all recent editors]. “Ye are of the father who is the devil.” The translation, “of the father of the devil,” _i.e._, the (Gnostic) God of the Jews, is, as Meyer says, thoroughly un-Johannine. Perhaps a slight pause b... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐγὼ δὲ. “But I” in contrast to the devil “because I speak the truth you do not believe me.” Had I spoken falsehood you would have believed me, because it is your nature to live in what is false (_cf._ Euthymius).... [ Continue Reading ]
τίς … ἁμαρτίας; Alford, who represents a number of interpreters, says: “The question is an appeal to His _sinlessness of life_, as evident to them all, as a pledge for His truthfulness of word”. Calvin is better: “Haec defensio ad circumstantiam loci restringi debet, ac si quicquam sibi posse obiici... [ Continue Reading ]
He is believed by those who have another moral parentage, ὁ ὢν … ἐστέ. “He that is of God listens to the words of God,” implying that the words He spoke were God's words. Their not listening proved that they were not of God. At this point the Jews break in: Οὐ … ἔχεις; “Say we not well that Thou art... [ Continue Reading ]
δαιμόνιον ἔχεις, possessed, or crazed. _Cf._ John 10:20. To this Jesus replies: Ἐγὼ … αἰῶνα. The ἐγώ is emphatic in contrast to the expressed ὑμεῖς of the last clause; “I am not out of my mind, but all I do and say springs from my desire to honour my Father, while you for your part and on this very... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore the emphasis in the next verse, precisely as in John 8:24 of chap. 5, is on “ _my_ word”. ἐάν τις … αἰῶνα, “if any one keeps my word, he shall never see death”. For τηρεῖν see John 14:15-23; John 15:10-20; John 17:6; John 17:1 John and Rev. _passim_; it is exactly equivalent to “keep”. θεω... [ Continue Reading ]
This confirms the Jews in their opinion that He is not in His right mind, Νῦν ἐγνώκαμεν … they seem to have now got proof of what they had suspected; “antea cum dubitatione aliqua locuti erant,” Bengel. Their proof is that whereas Jesus says that those who keep His word shall never die, Abraham died... [ Continue Reading ]
What did He expect them to take Him for? τίνα σεαυτὸν σὺ ποιεῖς; For the μὴ σὺ μείζων _cf._ John 4:12.... [ Continue Reading ]
To their question Jesus, as usual, gives no categorical answer, but replies first by repelling the insinuation contained in their question and then by showing that He was greater than Abraham (see Plummer). Ἐὰν ἐγὼ δοξάζω. “If I shall have glorified myself, my glory is nothing; my Father is He who g... [ Continue Reading ]
And as regards The connection they claim with Abraham, this reflects discredit on their present attitude towards Jesus; for Ἀβραὰμ ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν, “Abraham in whose parentage you glory,” ἠγαλλιάσατο ἵνα ἴδῃ τὴν ἡμέραν τὴν ἐμήν, “rejoiced to see my day”. The day of Christ is the time of His earthly man... [ Continue Reading ]
This, however, the Jews completely misunderstand. They think that by asserting that Abraham saw His day, Jesus means to say that His day and the life of Abraham on earth were contemporaneous. Πεντήκοντα … ἑώρακας; “Fifty years” may be used as a round number, sufficiently exact for their purpose and... [ Continue Reading ]
The misunderstanding of His words elicits from Jesus the statement: πρὶν Αβραὰμ γενέσθαι, ἐγώ εἰμι. “Before Abraham was born I am.” “Antequam Abraham fieret, Ego sum,” Vulgate. Plummer aptly compares Psalms 90:2, πρὸ τοῦ ὄρη γενηθῆναι … σὺ εἶ. Before Abraham came into existence I am, eternally exist... [ Continue Reading ]
What the Jews thought of the assertion appeared in their action: ἦραν … αὐτόν. Believing that He was speaking sheer blasphemy and claiming equality with the great “I Am,” they sought to stone Him. For this purpose there was material ready to hand even in the Temple court, for, as Lightfoot reminds u... [ Continue Reading ]