John 17:15-26

17:15 I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but that you keep them safe ¹  from the evil one. ²  17:16 They do not belong to the world ³  just as I do not belong to the world. ⁴  17:17 Set them apart ⁵  in the truth; your word is truth. 17:18 Just as you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. ⁶  17:19 And I set myself apart ⁷  on their behalf, ⁸  so that they too may be truly set apart. ⁹ 

Jesus Prays for Believers Everywhere

17:20 “I am not praying ¹⁰  only on their behalf, but also on behalf of those who believe ¹¹  in me through their testimony, ¹²  17:21 that they will all be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. I pray ¹³  that they will be in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me. 17:22 The glory ¹⁴  you gave to me I have given to them, that they may be one just as we are one – 17:23 I in them and you in me – that they may be completely one, ¹⁵  so that the world will know that you sent me, and you have loved them just as you have loved me.

17:24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, ¹⁶  so that they can see my glory that you gave me because you loved me before the creation of the world ¹⁷ . 17:25 Righteous Father, even if the world does not know you, I know you, and these men ¹⁸  know that you sent me. 17:26 I made known your name to them, and I will continue to make it known, ¹⁹  so that the love you have loved me with may be in them, and I may be in them.”

[17:15]  ¹ tn Or “that you protect them”; Grk “that you keep them.”

[17:15]  ² tn The phrase “the evil one” is a reference to Satan. The genitive noun τοῦ πονηροῦ (tou ponhrou) is ambiguous with regard to gender: It may represent the neuter τὸ πονηρόν (to ponhron), “that which is evil,” or the masculine ὁ πονηρός (Jo ponhro"), “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. BDAG 851 s.v. πονηρός 1.b.β and 1.b.γ.

[17:16]  ³ tn Grk “they are not of the world.” This is a repetition of the second half of v. 14. The only difference is in word order: Verse 14 has οὐκ εἰσὶν ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου (ouk eisin ek tou kosmou), while here the prepositional phrase is stated first: ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου οὐκ εἰσίν (ek tou kosmou ouk eisin). This gives additional emphasis to the idea of the prepositional phrase, i.e., origin, source, or affiliation.

[17:16]  ⁴ tn Grk “just as I am not of the world.”

[17:17]  ⁵ tn Or “Consecrate them” or “Sanctify them.”

[17:18]  ⁶ sn Jesus now compared the mission on which he was sending the disciples to his own mission into the world, on which he was sent by the Father. As the Father sent Jesus into the world (cf. 3:17), so Jesus now sends the disciples into the world to continue his mission after his departure. The nature of this prayer for the disciples as a consecratory prayer is now emerging: Jesus was setting them apart for the work he had called them to do. They were, in a sense, being commissioned.

[17:19]  ⁷ tn Or “I sanctify.”

[17:19]  ⁸ tn Or “for their sake.”

[17:19]  ⁹ tn Or “they may be truly consecrated,” or “they may be truly sanctified.”

[17:20]  ¹⁰ tn Or “I do not pray.”

[17:20]  ¹¹ tn Although πιστευόντων (pisteuontwn) is a present participle, it must in context carry futuristic force. The disciples whom Jesus is leaving behind will carry on his ministry and in doing so will see others come to trust in him. This will include not only Jewish Christians, but other Gentile Christians who are “not of this fold” (10:16), and thus Jesus’ prayer for unity is especially appropriate in light of the probability that most of the readers of the Gospel are Gentiles (much as Paul stresses unity between Jewish and Gentile Christians in Eph 2:10-22).

[17:20]  ¹² tn Grk “their word.”

[17:21]  ¹³ tn The words “I pray” are repeated from the first part of v. 20 for clarity.

[17:22]  ¹⁴ tn Grk And the glory.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[17:23]  ¹⁵ tn Or “completely unified.”

[17:24]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “the ones you have given me, I want these to be where I am with me.”

[17:24]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “before the foundation of the world.”

[17:25]  ¹⁸ tn The word “men” is not in the Greek text but is implied. The translation uses the word “men” here rather than a more general term like “people” because the use of the aorist verb ἔγνωσαν (egnwsan) implies that Jesus is referring to the disciples present with him as he spoke these words (presumably all of them men in the historical context), rather than to those who are yet to believe because of their testimony (see John 17:20).

[17:26]  ¹⁹ tn The translation “will continue to make it known” is proposed by R. E. Brown (John [AB], 2:773).