1
Ταῦτα ⸀ἐλάλησεν Ἰησοῦς, καὶ ⸂ἐπάρας τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν εἶπεν⸃· Πάτερ, ἐλήλυθεν ἡ ὥρα· δόξασόν σου τὸν υἱόν, ⸀ἵνα ὁ ⸀υἱὸς δοξάσῃ σέ,
Jesus spoke these things, and lifting up his eyes to heaven he said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son, so that the Son may glorify you,
Lifting up his eyes — the posture is given; the word “prayer” is never used in this chapter.
first here Jesus Ἰησοῦς Iēsous
pronoun his = Jesus
pronoun he = Jesus
pronoun your = the Father
pronoun you = the Father
Why this rendering
John.17.1 Observation
Syntactic observation
ἐλήλυθεν ἡ ὥρα is letter for letter the form of 12:23 — the perfect of ἔρχομαι with the articular ὥρα. It began at 2:4 as not yet come, repeated under a negative at 7:30 and 8:20, lost the negative at 12:23, became his hour at 13:1, and here enters the prayer. This is its last occurrence in John. δοξάζω stands twice in this verse and five times across four verses in the chapter (twice in v.1, then vv.4, 5, 10). And Father is addressed six times in the chapter (vv.1, 5, 11, 21, 24, 25), twice with an adjective — πάτερ ἅγιε at v.11 and πάτερ δίκαιε at v.25. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸀ἐλάλησεν ⸂ἐπάρας εἶπεν⸃· ⸀ἵνα ⸀υἱὸς).
Rendering options · 2
Adopted Father, the hour has come
Basis Uses the rendering of 12:23.
Father, the time has arrived
Basis Renders ὥρα as time.
Rejected One word binds the line from 2:4 to here. Changing it at the last place ends the line broken. As settled in chapter 4, only the clock readings are split off.
Lost in translation
the whole ὥρα line 2:4 to 7:30 to 8:20 to 12:23 to 13:1 to 16:21 to 17:1 is one word's line. It crosses the whole Gospel and shows only if the word is one, and no version marks it on the page. At 16:21 the word attached to the woman in labour as well.
Survives in · 개역한글† / King James 1769 / New American Standard (1995)† / English Standard Version† / New English Translation† / Vulgata Clementina / Elberfelder 1871 / Синодальный перевод / 新共同訳聖書 (1987)† / this edition — 9 of the nine carry it (this language among them)
2
καθὼς ἔδωκας αὐτῷ ἐξουσίαν πάσης σαρκός, ἵνα πᾶν ὃ δέδωκας αὐτῷ ⸀δώσῃ αὐτοῖς ζωὴν αἰώνιον.
just as you gave him authority over all flesh, so that to all you have given him he may give life eternal.
All flesh (πᾶσα σάρξ, pasa sarx) is a Semitic turn for every living person.
pronoun you = the Father
pronoun him = the Son
pronoun he = the Son
3
αὕτη δέ ἐστιν ἡ αἰώνιος ζωὴ ἵνα γινώσκωσι σὲ τὸν μόνον ἀληθινὸν θεὸν καὶ ὃν ἀπέστειλας Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν.
And this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you sent.
Jesus Christ as a full name stands only here and at 1:17 in this book.
first here Christ Χριστός Christos
pronoun this = eternal life
pronoun they = those given to the Son
pronoun you = the Father
pronoun whom = Jesus Christ
Why this rendering
John.17.3 Observation
Syntactic observation
ἀληθινός returns — the adjective of the true light at 1:9, the true bread at 6:32, the true vine at 15:1. Here it attaches to God. γινώσκωσι is present subjunctive: not a single act of knowing but a knowing that goes on. And the order is ἡ αἰώνιος ζωή, reversed from ζωὴ αἰώνιος elsewhere — the adjective stands first. Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν is one of only two places in John where the two names stand together (1:17 and here).
Rendering options · 2
Adopted this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God
Basis Renders γινώσκω as knowing.
eternal life is that they come to know you
Basis Brings out the ongoing sense of the present subjunctive.
Rejected It carries the aspect but lengthens the sentence and blurs that the verse is a definition. The aspectual loss is recorded below.
Lost in translation
the ongoing sense of the present subjunctive The knowing is continuous, not a single act. English know does not mark aspect, and the layer goes.
Survives in · this edition — 1 of the nine carry it (not this language)
4
ἐγώ σε ἐδόξασα ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, τὸ ἔργον ⸀τελειώσας ὃ δέδωκάς μοι ἵνα ποιήσω·
I glorified you on the earth, having completed the work you have given me to do;
Completed (τελειόω, teleioō) is the root of the cry at 19:30.
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun you = the Father
pronoun me = Jesus
5
καὶ νῦν δόξασόν με σύ, πάτερ, παρὰ σεαυτῷ τῇ δόξῃ ᾗ εἶχον πρὸ τοῦ τὸν κόσμον εἶναι παρὰ σοί.
and now, Father, glorify me alongside yourself with the glory I had alongside you before the world was.
Alongside renders παρά (para) with the dative — at the side of, in company with.
pronoun me = Jesus
pronoun yourself = the Father
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun you = the Father
6
Ἐφανέρωσά σου τὸ ὄνομα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις οὓς ⸀ἔδωκάς μοι ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου. σοὶ ἦσαν κἀμοὶ αὐτοὺς ⸁ἔδωκας, καὶ τὸν λόγον σου τετήρηκαν.
I made your name manifest to the people you gave me out of the world. They were yours and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.
Name here is not a sound but the whole of who God is; the chapter returns to it at verse 26.
pronoun your = the Father
pronoun you = the Father
pronoun me = Jesus
pronoun They = those given
pronoun yours = the Father
pronoun them = those given
pronoun they = those given
7
νῦν ἔγνωκαν ὅτι πάντα ὅσα ⸀δέδωκάς μοι παρὰ σοῦ ⸀εἰσιν·
Now they have known that all you have given me is from you;
The knowing is about the source, not about the gift.
pronoun they = those given
pronoun you = the Father
pronoun me = Jesus
8
ὅτι τὰ ῥήματα ἃ ⸀ἔδωκάς μοι δέδωκα αὐτοῖς, καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔλαβον καὶ ἔγνωσαν ἀληθῶς ὅτι παρὰ σοῦ ἐξῆλθον, καὶ ἐπίστευσαν ὅτι σύ με ἀπέστειλας.
because the words you gave me I have given them, and they received them and knew truly that I came out from you, and they believed that you sent me.
Words here is ῥήματα (rhēmata), not λόγος (logos). English uses “word” for both, so the two head-words fall together — recorded as a loss.
pronoun you = the Father
pronoun me = Jesus
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun them = those given
pronoun they = those given
9
ἐγὼ περὶ αὐτῶν ἐρωτῶ· οὐ περὶ τοῦ κόσμου ἐρωτῶ ἀλλὰ περὶ ὧν δέδωκάς μοι, ὅτι σοί εἰσιν,
I ask concerning them; I do not ask concerning the world but concerning those you have given me, because they are yours.
I do not ask concerning the world — set beside 3:16, where the world is what is loved.
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun them = those given
pronoun you = the Father
pronoun me = Jesus
pronoun they = those given
pronoun yours = the Father
10
καὶ τὰ ἐμὰ πάντα σά ἐστιν καὶ τὰ σὰ ἐμά, καὶ δεδόξασμαι ἐν αὐτοῖς.
And all that is mine is yours and yours mine, and I have been glorified in them.
Mine and yours are exchanged in one line; the second half could not be said of anyone else in this book.
pronoun mine = Jesus
pronoun yours = the Father
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun them = those given
11
καὶ οὐκέτι εἰμὶ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ, καὶ ⸀αὐτοὶ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ εἰσίν, κἀγὼ πρὸς σὲ ἔρχομαι. πάτερ ἅγιε, τήρησον αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί σου ᾧ δέδωκάς μοι, ἵνα ὦσιν ἓν ⸀καθὼς ἡμεῖς.
And I am no longer in the world, and they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name which you have given me, so that they may be one as we are.
Keep them in your name which you have given me — the manuscripts differ over what the relative attaches to.
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun they = those given
pronoun you = the Father
pronoun them = those given
pronoun your = the Father
pronoun me = Jesus
pronoun we = the Father and Jesus
Why this rendering
John.17.11 Observation
Syntactic observation
ἕν is neuter. It occurs five times in this chapter and all are neuter — vv.11, 21, twice in 22, and 23. It is the form of 10:30, ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἕν ἐσμεν. As established there, the predicate is neuter ἕν and not masculine εἷς, so it is one thing and not one person. Here the neuter extends to the disciples: that they may be ἕν as we are. τηρέω occurs four times in the chapter (vv.6, 11, 12, 15), and ὄνομα four times (vv.6, 11, 12, 26). SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸀αὐτοὶ ⸀καθὼς).
Rendering options · 2
Adopted that they may be one, as we are
Basis Korean and English have no gender, so simply one.
that they may be one body, as we are
Basis Takes one as vague and supplies a noun.
Rejected This was set aside at 10:30. The neuter predicate is neither one person nor one body; it stands with no noun supplied. Supplying one closes what the text left open.
Lost in translation
the neuter of the predicate Latin unum is neuter and carries the information. English one has no gender. The loss of 10:30 repeats five more times.
Survives in · Vulgata Clementina / Elberfelder 1871 / Синодальный перевод / this edition — 3 of the nine carry it (not this language)
12
ὅτε ἤμην μετ’ ⸀αὐτῶν ἐγὼ ἐτήρουν αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί σου ⸀ᾧ δέδωκάς μοι, ⸀καὶ ἐφύλαξα, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀπώλετο εἰ μὴ ὁ υἱὸς τῆς ἀπωλείας, ἵνα ἡ γραφὴ πληρωθῇ.
While I was with them I was keeping them in your name which you have given me; and I guarded them, and none of them perished except the son of perishing, so that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
The son of perishing keeps the Greek turn; perished and perishing are one root, which English can hold here.
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun them = those given
pronoun your = the Father
pronoun you = the Father
pronoun me = Jesus
Why this rendering
John.17.12 Observation
Syntactic observation
ἀπώλετο and ἀπωλείας are cognate — the first the aorist middle of ἀπόλλυμι, the second its noun ἀπώλεια. So it reads: none of them ἀπόλλυμι-ed except the son of ἀπώλεια — one root laid down twice, as verb and as noun. And two verbs of keeping stand in this verse: ἐτήρουν from τηρέω and ἐφύλαξα from φυλάσσω. τηρέω occurs four times in the chapter, while φυλάσσω occurs in only 3 place(s) in all of John (12:25, 12:47, 17:12). SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸀αὐτῶν ⸀ᾧ ⸀καὶ).
Rendering options · 2
none has been lost except the son of destruction
Basis Renders verb and noun with different words.
Rejected Lost and destruction share no stem, so the doubling of one root disappears. 개역한글's 멸망치 않고 and 멸망의 자식, the Vulgate's periit and perditionis, the Synodal's погиб and погибели, and the Japanese 滅び and 滅び keep it. Most English versions lose it.
Adopted While I was with them I was keeping them in your name which you have given me; and I guarded them, and none of them perished except the son of perishing, so that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
Basis Renders verb and noun from one stem so the doubling stands. 개역한글 already does this.
Lost in translation
the ἀπόλλυμι / ἀπώλεια doubling One root laid down as verb and noun. Of the six English versions in our columns, four split it — lost/perdition, perished/perdition, lost/destruction — and lose the doubling; two (YLT and LSV) keep it with destroyed and destruction. Latin keeps it, and so does this edition — perish and perdition on one root. The same direction as δακρύω at 11:35.
Survives in · 개역한글† / Young's Literal 1898 / Vulgata Clementina / Elberfelder 1871 / Синодальный перевод / 新共同訳聖書 (1987)† / this edition — 9 of the nine carry it (this language among them)
the τηρέω / φυλάσσω distinction Two verbs of keeping, easily collapsed into keep. The first is imperfect, keeping all along; the second aorist, having guarded.
Survives in · Delitzsch Hebrew NT (1877) / Vulgata Clementina / this edition — 9 of the nine carry it (this language among them)
13
νῦν δὲ πρὸς σὲ ἔρχομαι, καὶ ταῦτα λαλῶ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ἵνα ἔχωσιν τὴν χαρὰν τὴν ἐμὴν πεπληρωμένην ἐν ⸀ἑαυτοῖς.
But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made full in themselves.
My joy made full in themselves takes up 15:11 and 16:24.
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun you = the Father
pronoun they = those given
pronoun my = Jesus
pronoun themselves = those given
14
ἐγὼ δέδωκα αὐτοῖς τὸν λόγον σου, καὶ ὁ κόσμος ἐμίσησεν αὐτούς, ὅτι οὐκ εἰσὶν ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου καθὼς ἐγὼ οὐκ εἰμὶ ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου.
I have given them your word, and the world hated them, because they are not of the world just as I am not of the world.
Not of the world is said of the disciples and of Jesus in the same breath.
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun them = those given
pronoun your = the Father
pronoun they = those given
15
οὐκ ἐρωτῶ ἵνα ἄρῃς αὐτοὺς ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου ἀλλ’ ἵνα τηρήσῃς αὐτοὺς ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῦ.
I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.
From the evil one may also be read “from evil” — Greek does not settle which.
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun you = the Father
pronoun them = those given
16
ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου οὐκ εἰσὶν καθὼς ἐγὼ ⸂οὐκ εἰμὶ ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου⸃.
They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
Verse 14 is repeated with nothing added — the repetition is the point.
pronoun They = those given
pronoun I = Jesus
17
ἁγίασον αὐτοὺς ἐν τῇ ⸀ἀληθείᾳ· ὁ λόγος ὁ σὸς ἀλήθειά ἐστιν.
Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
Sanctify (ἁγιάζω, hagiazō) is the verb of 10:36, said there of the Son.
pronoun them = those given
pronoun your = the Father
Why this rendering
John.17.17 Observation
Syntactic observation
ἁγιάζω stands at v.17 and v.19, where Jesus ἁγιάζω-es himself — the same verb for the disciples and for himself. And the verse closes with ἀλήθειά ἐστιν, the predicate anarthrous. ὁ λόγος ὁ σός carries two articles while the predicate has none. This is the construction of 1:1c, θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος, and of 4:24, πνεῦμα ὁ θεός. The qualitative reading fixed in chapter 1 applies here too. πάτερ ἅγιε at v.11 shares a root with ἁγίασον here. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸀ἀληθείᾳ·).
Rendering options · 2
Adopted your word is truth
Basis Renders the anarthrous predicate without an article.
your word is the truth
Basis Supplies the definite article.
Rejected This was set aside at 1:1c. Supplying a definite article turns a statement of quality into one of identity. That the English versions omit the here is the same judgement as avoiding “a God” at 1:1c.
Lost in translation
the recurrence of the anarthrous predicate 1:1c, 4:24 and 17:17 share one construction. English can mark it by omitting the article, but that the omission is a mark does not appear on the page.
Survives in · King James 1769 / New American Standard (1995)† / English Standard Version† / New English Translation† / this edition — 5 of the nine carry it (this language among them)
18
καθὼς ἐμὲ ἀπέστειλας εἰς τὸν κόσμον, κἀγὼ ἀπέστειλα αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸν κόσμον·
As you sent me into the world, I also sent them into the world.
The sending of the disciples is measured by the sending of the Son.
pronoun you = the Father
pronoun me = Jesus
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun them = those given
19
καὶ ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ἐγὼ ἁγιάζω ἐμαυτόν, ἵνα ⸂ὦσιν καὶ αὐτοὶ⸃ ἡγιασμένοι ἐν ἀληθείᾳ.
And for their sake I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.
I sanctify myself — the verb of verse 17 turned on himself.
pronoun their = those given
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun myself = Jesus
pronoun they = those given
20
Οὐ περὶ τούτων δὲ ἐρωτῶ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ τῶν πιστευόντων διὰ τοῦ λόγου αὐτῶν εἰς ἐμέ,
And I do not ask concerning these only, but also concerning those who believe in me through their word,
The asking widens past those in the room to those who will hear them.
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun these = those given
pronoun me = Jesus
pronoun their = those given
21
ἵνα πάντες ἓν ὦσιν, καθὼς σύ, ⸀πάτερ, ἐν ἐμοὶ κἀγὼ ἐν σοί, ἵνα καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐν ⸀ἡμῖν ὦσιν, ἵνα ὁ κόσμος ⸀πιστεύῃ ὅτι σύ με ἀπέστειλας.
that they may all be one; just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me.
That they may all be one — the oneness is grounded on the Father and the Son, and its purpose is the world's believing.
pronoun they = all who believe
pronoun you = the Father
pronoun me = Jesus
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun us = the Father and Jesus
22
κἀγὼ τὴν δόξαν ἣν δέδωκάς μοι δέδωκα αὐτοῖς, ἵνα ὦσιν ἓν καθὼς ἡμεῖς ⸀ἕν,
And the glory you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one as we are one —
The glory you have given me I have given them — what was asked for in verse 5 is here passed on.
pronoun you = the Father
pronoun me = Jesus
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun them = those given
pronoun they = those given
pronoun we = the Father and Jesus
23
ἐγὼ ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ σὺ ἐν ἐμοί, ἵνα ὦσιν τετελειωμένοι εἰς ἕν, ⸀ἵνα γινώσκῃ ὁ κόσμος ὅτι σύ με ἀπέστειλας καὶ ἠγάπησας αὐτοὺς καθὼς ἐμὲ ἠγάπησας.
I in them and you in me, that they may be completed into one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them as you loved me.
Completed into one uses the verb of verse 4.
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun them = those given
pronoun you = the Father
pronoun me = Jesus
pronoun they = those given
24
⸀πάτερ, ⸀ὃ δέδωκάς μοι, θέλω ἵνα ὅπου εἰμὶ ἐγὼ κἀκεῖνοι ὦσιν μετ’ ἐμοῦ, ἵνα θεωρῶσιν τὴν δόξαν τὴν ἐμὴν ἣν ⸀δέδωκάς μοι, ὅτι ἠγάπησάς με πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου.
Father, as for those you have given me, I want them also to be with me where I am, so that they may see my glory which you have given me, because you loved me before the founding of the world.
I want (θέλω, thelō) is stronger than a request — the only place in this chapter where it stands.
pronoun you = the Father
pronoun me = Jesus
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun them = those given
pronoun they = those given
pronoun my = Jesus
25
⸀Πάτερ δίκαιε, καὶ ὁ κόσμος σε οὐκ ἔγνω, ἐγὼ δέ σε ἔγνων, καὶ οὗτοι ἔγνωσαν ὅτι σύ με ἀπέστειλας,
Righteous Father, the world did not know you, but I knew you, and these knew that you sent me;
Righteous Father — the address changes, as Holy Father did at verse 11.
pronoun you = the Father
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun these = those given
pronoun me = Jesus
26
καὶ ἐγνώρισα αὐτοῖς τὸ ὄνομά σου καὶ γνωρίσω, ἵνα ἡ ἀγάπη ἣν ἠγάπησάς με ἐν αὐτοῖς ᾖ κἀγὼ ἐν αὐτοῖς.
and I made your name known to them and will make it known, so that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
The chapter closes on the name it opened with, and on the love — and I in them.
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun your = the Father
pronoun them = those given
pronoun it = your name
pronoun you = the Father
pronoun me = Jesus