John 17 is the seventeenth chapter of the Gospel of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. 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, Carthagin ...

, 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 writer

David Chytraeus David Chytraeus or Chyträus (26 February 1530 – 25 June 1600) was a German Lutheran theologian, reformer and historian. He was a disciple of Melancthon. He was born at Ingelfingen. His real surname was Kochhafe, which in Classical Greek is χ� ...

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 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 * Anony ...

, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that John composed this Gospel.Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012.

Text

The original text was written in Koine Greek. 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 (~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 writt ...

(~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 man ...

(~450; complete) *

Papyrus 84 Papyrus 84 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), designated by 𝔓84, is a copy of the New Testament in Greek. It is a papyrus manuscript of the four Gospels. The surviving texts of Gospels are verses Mark 2:2-5,8-9; 6:30-31,33-34,36-37,39-41; John ...

(6th century; extant verses 3, 7–8) *

Papyrus 60 Papyrus 60 (in the Gregory- Aland numbering), signed by 𝔓60, is a copy of the New Testament in Greek. It is a papyrus manuscript of the Gospel of John, it contains John 16:29-19:26. The manuscript paleographically has been assigned to the s ...

(~700; complete). *

Papyrus 59 Papyrus 59 (in the Gregory- Aland numbering), signed by 𝔓59, is a copy of the New Testament in Greek. It is a papyrus manuscript of the Gospel of John. The manuscript has been palaeographically assigned to the seventh century. ; Contents Gos ...

(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, 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 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 : ''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