John 17:6-19

Context

Jesus Prays for the Disciples

17:6 “I have revealed¹ your name to the men² you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you,³ and you gave them to me, and they have obeyed⁴ your word. 17:7 Now they understand⁵ that everything⁶ you have given me comes from you, 17:8 because I have given them the words you have given me. They⁷ accepted⁸ them⁹ and really¹⁰ understand¹¹ that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 17:9 I am praying¹² on behalf of them. I am not praying¹³ on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those you have given me, because they belong to you.¹⁴ 17:10 Everything¹⁵ I have belongs to you,¹⁶ and everything you have belongs to me,¹⁷ and I have been glorified by them.¹⁸ 17:11 I¹⁹ am no longer in the world, but²⁰ they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them safe²¹ in your name²² that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one.²³ 17:12 When I was with them I kept them safe²⁴ and watched over them²⁵ in your name²⁶ that you have given me. Not one²⁷ of them was lost except the one destined for destruction,²⁸ so that the scripture could be fulfilled.²⁹ 17:13 But now I am coming to you, and I am saying these things in the world, so they may experience³⁰ my joy completed³¹ in themselves. 17:14 I have given them your word,³² and the world has hated them, because they do not belong to the world,³³ just as I do not belong to the world.³⁴ 17:15 I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but that you keep them safe³⁵ from the evil one.³⁶ 17:16 They do not belong to the world³⁷ just as I do not belong to the world.³⁸ 17:17 Set them apart³⁹ in the truth; your word is truth. 17:18 Just as you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world.⁴⁰ 17:19 And I set myself apart⁴¹ on their behalf,⁴² so that they too may be truly set apart.⁴³

[17:6] ¹tn Or “made known,” “disclosed.”

[17:6] ²tn Here “men” is retained as a translation for ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") rather than the more generic “people” because in context it specifically refers to the eleven men Jesus had chosen as apostles (Judas had already departed, John 13:30). If one understands the referent here to be the broader group of Jesus’ followers that included both men and women, a translation like “to the people” should be used here instead.

[17:6] ³tn Grk “Yours they were.”

[17:6] ⁴tn Or “have kept.”

[17:7] ⁵tn Or “they have come to know,” or “they have learned.”

[17:7] ⁶tn Grk “all things.”

[17:8] ⁷tn Grk And they.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[17:8] ⁸tn Or “received.”

[17:8] ⁹tn The word “them” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[17:8] ¹⁰tn Or “truly.”

[17:8] ¹¹tn Or have come to know.”

[17:9] ¹²tn Grk “I am asking.”

[17:9] ¹³tn Grk “I am not asking.”

[17:9] ¹⁴tn Or “because they are yours.”

[17:10] ¹⁵tn 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.

[17:10] ¹⁶tn Or “Everything I have is yours.”

[17:10] ¹⁷tn Or “everything you have is mine.”

[17:10] ¹⁸tn Or “I have been honored among them.”

[17:11] ¹⁹tn 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.

[17:11] ²⁰tn The context indicates that this should be translated as an adversative or contrastive conjunction.

[17:11] ²¹tn Or “protect them”; Grk “keep them.”

[17:11] ²²tn Or “by your name.”

[17:11] ²³tn The second repetition of “one” is implied, and is supplied here for clarity.

[17:12] ²⁴tn Or “I protected them”; Grk “I kept them.”

[17:12] ²⁵tn Grk “and guarded them.”

[17:12] ²⁶tn Or “by your name.”

[17:12] ²⁷tn 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.

[17:12] ²⁸tn Grk “the son of destruction” (a Semitic idiom for one appointed for destruction; here it is a reference to Judas).

[17:12] ²⁹sn A possible allusion to Ps 41:9 or Prov 24:22 LXX. 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 LXX, where in the Greek text the phrase “son of destruction” appears.

[17:13] ³⁰tn Grk “they may have.”

[17:13] ³¹tn Or “fulfilled.”

[17:14] ³²tn Or “your message.”

[17:14] ³³tn Grk “because they are not of the world.”

[17:14] ³⁴tn Grk “just as I am not of the world.”

[17:15] ³⁵tn Or “that you protect them”; Grk “that you keep them.”

[17:15] ³⁶tn 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] ³⁷tn 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] ³⁸tn Grk “just as I am not of the world.”

[17:17] ³⁹tn Or “Consecrate them” or “Sanctify them.”

[17:18] ⁴⁰sn 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] ⁴¹tn Or “I sanctify.”

[17:19] ⁴²tn Or “for their sake.”

[17:19] ⁴³tn Or “they may be truly consecrated,” or “they may be truly sanctified.”