John 17 is the seventeenth chapter of the

Gospel of John The Gospel of John ( grc, Εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ Ἰωάννην, translit=Euangélion katà Iōánnēn) is the fourth of the four canonical gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "sig ...

in the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

of the Christian

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts o ...

. It portrays a prayer of Jesus Christ addressed to his Father, placed in context immediately before his betrayal and

crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Cartha ...

, the events which the gospel often refers to as his glorification. Halley, Henry H. ''Halley's Bible Handbook'': an Abbreviated Bible Commentary. 23rd edition. Zondervan Publishing House. 1962.

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

writer David Chytraeus entitled Jesus' words "the prayer of the high priest".Kieffer, R., ''59. John'', in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001)
The Oxford Bible Commentary
p. 990-1

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

theologian Joseph Benson calls this prayer "Our Lord’s Intercessory Prayer", because "it is considered as a pattern of the intercession he is now making in heaven for his people".Benson, J.
Benson Commentary
on John 17, accessed 6 June 2019 The New King James Version divides this chapter into three sections: *: Jesus Prays for Himself *: Jesus Prays for His Disciples *: Jesus Prays for All Believers. The book containing this chapter is

anonymous Anonymous may refer to: * Anonymity, the state of an individual's identity, or personally identifiable information, being publicly unknown ** Anonymous work, a work of art or literature that has an unnamed or unknown creator or author * Anonym ...

, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that John composed this

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

.Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012.

Text

The original text was written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

. This chapter is divided into 26 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are: * Papyrus 108 (2nd/3rd century; extant verses 23–24) *

Papyrus 66 Papyrus 66 (also referred to as 𝔓66) is a near complete codex of the Gospel of John, and part of the collection known as the Bodmer Papyri. Description The manuscript contains John 1:1–6:11, 6:35b–14:26, 29–30; 15:2–26; 16:2–4, 6– ...

(~200; complete) * Papyrus 107 (3rd century; extant verses 1–2,11) *

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

(325-350) *

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus ( Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts ...

(330-360) *

Codex Bezae The Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis, designated by siglum D or 05 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 5 (in the von Soden of New Testament manuscript), is a codex of the New Testament dating from the 5th century wri ...

(~400) *

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

(400-440) *

Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus The Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (Paris, National Library of France, Greek 9) designated by the siglum C or 04 {in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 3 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a m ...

(~450; complete) * Papyrus 84 (6th century; extant verses 3, 7–8) * Papyrus 60 (~700; complete). * Papyrus 59 (7th century; extant verses 24–26).

Jesus' Prayer

Jesus refers to his Father six times in this chapter, calling God "Father" ( gr, πατηρ, ''pater''), "Holy Father" ( gr, πατηρ ἅγιε, ''pater hagie'', ) and "Righteous Father" ( gr, πατηρ δικαιε, ''pater dikaie'', ). These are the only occurrences in the New Testament of the vocative forms αγιε and δικαιε, used in direct address to God.

Verse 1

:''Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You".'' Alternatively, "After Jesus had spoken these words ..." (to his

disciples A disciple is a follower and student of a mentor, teacher, or other figure. It can refer to: Religion * Disciple (Christianity), a student of Jesus Christ * Twelve Apostles of Jesus, sometimes called the Twelve Disciples * Seventy disciples in ...

, in chapter 16), namely: :''"These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."'' Benson suggested that "these words" refers to "the words recorded in the three preceding chapters" (chapters 14 to 16).

Verse 2

:''"As You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.'' "Over all flesh" (σαρκός, ''sarkos''), from the noun σὰρξ (''sarx''), becomes "all people" in the

New International Version The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The ''NIV'' was created as a modern translation, by Bible scholars using the earliest a ...

and the Good News Translation. Alfred Plummer argues that " fallen man, man in his frailty, is specially meant".Plummer, A. (1902)
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
on John 17, accessed 29 November 2020

Verse 11

:''Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.'' Swedish-based commentator René Kieffer distinguishes chapter 17 from the rest of Jesus'

farewell discourse In the New Testament, chapters 14–17 of the Gospel of John are known as the Farewell Discourse given by Jesus to eleven of his disciples immediately after the conclusion of the Last Supper in Jerusalem, the night before his crucifixion.''Joh ...

, referring to "a kind of timeless aspect" denoted by the words "I am no longer in the world".

Verse 12

New King James Version : ''While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.'' The words "in the world" are omitted by the best authorities. Judas' actions fulfill the words of : :''Even my close friend, someone I trusted, one who shared my bread, has turned against me.''

Verse 21

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of K ...

: ''that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.''

References

External links

* King James Bible - Wikisource
English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
Multiple bible versions at ''Bible Gateway''
(NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.) {{Gospel of John John 17