John 17:9–15

Footnotes

1. 25 Grk “I am asking.”
2. 26 Grk “I am not asking.”
3. 27 Or “because they are yours.”
4. 28 Grk And all things.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.
5. 29 Or “Everything I have is yours.”
6. 30 Or “everything you have is mine.”
7. 31 Or “I have been honored among them.” The theme of glory with which Jesus began this prayer in 17:1–5 now recurs. Jesus said that he had been glorified by his disciples, but in what sense was this true? Jesus had manifested his glory to them in all of the sign-miracles which he had performed, beginning with the miracle at the wedding feast in Cana (2:11). He could now say that he had been glorified by them in the light of what he had already said in vv. 7–8, that the disciples had come to know that he had come from the Father and been sent by the Father. He would, of course, be glorified by them further after the resurrection, as they carried on his ministry after his departure.
8. 32 Grk And I.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.
9. 33 The context indicates that this should be translated as an adversative or contrastive conjunction.
10. 34 Or “protect them”; Grk “keep them.”
11. 35 Or “by your name.”
12. 36 The second repetition of “one” is implied, and is supplied here for clarity.
13. 37 Or “I protected them”; Grk “I kept them.”
14. 38 Grk “and guarded them.”
15. 39 Or “by your name.”
16. 40 Grk And not one.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.
17. 41 Grk “the son of destruction” (a Semitic idiom for one appointed for destruction; here it is a reference to Judas). The one destined to destruction refers to Judas. Clearly in John’s Gospel Judas is portrayed as a tool of Satan. He is described as “the devil” in 6:70. In 13:2 Satan put into Judas’ heart the idea of betraying Jesus, and 13:27 Satan himself entered Judas. Immediately after this Judas left the company of Jesus and the other disciples and went out into the realm of darkness (13:30). Cf. 2 Thess 2:3, where this same Greek phrase (“the son of destruction”; see above) is used to describe the man through whom Satan acts to rebel against God in the last days.
18. 42 A possible allusion to Ps 41:9 or Prov 24:22 . The exact passage is not specified here, but in John 13:18, Ps 41:9 is explicitly quoted by Jesus with reference to the traitor, suggesting that this is the passage to which Jesus refers here. The previous mention of Ps 41:9 in John 13:18 probably explains why the author felt no need for an explanatory parenthetical note here. It is also possible that the passage referred to here is Prov 24:22 , where in the Greek text the phrase “son of destruction” appears.
19. 43 Grk “they may have.”
20. 44 Or “fulfilled.”
21. 45 Or “your message.”
22. 46 Grk “because they are not of the world.”
23. 47 Grk “just as I am not of the world.”
24. 48 Or “that you protect them”; Grk “that you keep them.”
25. 49 The phrase “the evil one” is a reference to Satan. The genitive noun τοῦ πονηροῦ (tou ponērou) is ambiguous with regard to gender: It may represent the neuter τὸ πονηρόν (to ponēron), “that which is evil,” or the masculine ὁ πονηρός (ho ponēros), “the evil one,” i.e., Satan. In view of the frequent use of the masculine in 1 John 2:13–14, 3:12, and 5:18–19 it seems much more probable that the masculine is to be understood here, and that Jesus is praying for his disciples to be protected from Satan. Cf. πονηρός 1.b.β and 1.b.γ.