Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary

Adam Clarke Commentary

Before the world was - That is, from eternity, before there was any creation - so the phrase, and others similar to it, are taken in the sacred writings; see John 17:24; Psalm 90:2; Ephesians 1:4. See John 1:1. Let the glory of my eternal divinity surround and penetrate my humanity, in its resurrection, ascension, and in the place which it is to occupy at thy right hand, far above all creatures, Philippians 2:6, Philippians 2:9.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

With thine own self - In heaven, granting me a participation of the same honor which the Father has. He had just said that he had glorified God on the earth, he now prays that God would glorify him in heaven.

With the glory - With the honor. This word also includes the notion of happiness, or everything which could render the condition blessed.

Before the world was - There could not be a more distinct and clear declaration of the pre-existence of Christ than this. It means before the creation of the world; before there was any world. Of course, the speaker here must have existed then, and this is equivalent to saying that he existed from eternity. See John 1:1-2; John 6:62; John 3:13; John 16:28. The glory which he had then was that which was proper to the Son of God, represented by the expression “being in the bosom of the Father” John 1:18, denoting intimacy, friendship, united felicity. The Son of God, by becoming incarnate, is represented as “humbling himself” (Greek: he “emptied himself”), Philippians 2:8. He laid aside for a time the external aspect of honor, and consented to become despised, and to assume the form of a servant. He now prays that God would raise him up to the dignity and honor which he had before his incarnation. This is the state to which he is now exalted, with the additional honor of having made atonement for sin, and having opened the way to save a race of rebels from eternal death. The lowest condition on earth is frequently connected with the highest honors of heaven. Man looks on the outward appearance. God looks to him that is humble and of a contrite spirit.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self,.... Not with his perfections, these he had, they dwelt bodily in him; or with his nature, in which he was one with him; but as Mediator, with his glorious presence in heaven, by setting him at his right hand, and crowning him with glory and honour. The Jews have a notion that God will give to the King Messiah, מן הכבוד של מעלה, "of the supreme glory"^F7Midrash Tillim in Psal. 20 apud Galatin. de Arcan. Cathol. Ver. l. 3. c. 9. : the glory Christ prays for is, as he says,

the glory which I had with thee before the world was; the same phrase with לעולם, or קודם העולם, used by the Jews^F8Gloss in T. Bab Pesachim, fol. 54. 1. . This is not to be understood of the glory of the human nature of Christ, abstractly considered; for that is no person of itself, but what is taken up into personal union with the Son of God; and therefore cannot be intended by this personal character I; nor did it exist from eternity; it was indeed written in God's book of predestination, even all its members, when as yet there were none of them in actual being; it was set up in God's thoughts and counsel, as the pattern and exemplar of human nature; it had a federal union with the Son of God, or a covenant subsistence with him; and in the Old Testament Christ was often spoken of as man, because of his frequent appearances in an human form, and because of the certainty of his incarnation; but he did not really and actually exist as man, until he took flesh of the virgin; for Christ, as man, is the seed of the woman, the son of David, Abraham, and Adam; he is called the last and second Adam, and was not as man before the first: the Old Testament speaks of his incarnation as future, nor is it possible that a creature can exist before time; for as soon as a creature exists, time begins, which is nothing else than the measure of a creature's duration; nor was the human nature of Christ with the Father from eternity; nor had it a glory before the world began, neither in whole, nor in part: nor is the glory of the divine nature abstractly considered here meant; this glory indeed Christ had from everlasting; he had it with his Father, in common with him, being in union to him; and it is true that it was in some measure veiled and covered in his state of humiliation; for though there were some breakings forth of it in that state, these were seen but by a few; wherefore he is thought by some, to pray here for the manifestation of this glory; but this glory was essential to him, was his natural right, and not to be prayed for, and which he then had as much as ever, and of which there could be no suspension: but this designs the glory of him as Godman, and Mediator; he was not only predestinated to be a Mediator, but was really set up as such from everlasting, and had a mediatorial fulness of grace put into his hands, and had the honour and glory of that office given unto him by the other two persons; and now that he might appear to be what he was, to be made, that is, made manifest that he was both Lord and Christ, he here prays; which was to be done, upon his ascension to heaven, and session at the right hand of God, by the pouring down of the Holy Ghost.

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And now — in return.

glorify thou me — The “I Thee” and “Thou Me” are so placed in the original, each beside its fellow, as to show that A PERFECT RECIPROCITY OF SERVICES of the Son to the Father first, and then of the Father to the Son in return, is what our Lord means here to express.

with the glory which I had with thee before the world was — when “in the beginning the Word was with God” (John 1:1), “the only-begotten Son in the bosom of the Father” (John 1:18). With this pre-existent glory, which He veiled on earth, He asks to be reinvested, the design of the veiling being accomplished - not, however, simply as before, but now in our nature.

Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament

With thine own self (παρα σεαυτωι — para seautōi). “By the side of thyself.” Jesus prays for full restoration to the pre-incarnate glory and fellowship (cf. John 1:1) enjoyed before the Incarnation (John 1:14). This is not just ideal pre-existence, but actual and conscious existence at the Father‘s side (παρα σοι — para soi with thee) “which I had” (ηι ειχον — hēi eichon imperfect active of εχω — echō I used to have, with attraction of case of ην — hēn to ηι — hēi because of δοχηι — doxēi), “before the world was” (προ του τον κοσμον ειναι — pro tou ton kosmon einai), “before the being as to the world” (cf. John 17:24). It is small wonder that those who deny or reject the deity of Jesus Christ have trouble with the Johannine authorship of this book and with the genuineness of these words. But even Harnack admits that the words here and in John 17:24 are “undoubtedly the reflection of the certainty with which Jesus himself spoke” (What Is Christianity, Engl. Tr., p. 132). But Paul, as clearly as John, believes in the actual pre-existence and deity of Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:5-11).

Vincent's Word Studies

With Thyself ( παρὰ σεαυτῷ )

In fellowship with Thyself. So with Thee ( παρὰ σοί ).

I had

Actually possessed.

Wesley's Explanatory Notes

And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

The glory which I had — He does not say received - He always had it, till he emptied himself of it in the days of his flesh.

The Fourfold Gospel

And now, Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was¹.

1. And now, Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. As he had finished that for which he had emptied himself of his glory and entered the world, he asks that now, on his departure from the world, he may be reinstated and permitted to assume again that which he had laid aside. Paul's words are commentary on these two verses (Philippians 2:5-11). Thus Jesus ends the first division of his prayer which is a petition for himself, for the glory of the Father, and the good of the world. The second division which follows is a fourfold plea for the disciples which he then had, followed by petitions in their behalf.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

Славою, которую Я имел у Тебя. Христос хочет прославления у Отца не так, чтобы Отец внутренне и без свидетелей Его прославил, но так, чтобы, вознесшись на небо, явить оттуда Свое величие и силу, дабы перед Ним преклонилось всякое колено. Посему слова «у Тебя» в первой части предложения противопоставляются земной и тленной славе. Подобно тому, как сказал Павел (Рим.6:10): Христос, однажды умерев для греха, ныне живет для Бога. Этим он несомненно означает блаженное бессмертие. Затем Христос заявляет, что не хочет ничего незаслуженного, но только явиться во плоти таким, каким был прежде основания мира. Или же, выражаясь яснее, чтобы Его божественное величие, которое Он всегда имел, ныне воссияло в лице Посредника, то есть – в принятой Им человеческой плоти. Замечательное место, научающее нас, что Христос вовсе не новый и не временный Бог. Ведь если Его слава вечна, Он также должен быть вечным. Добавь к этому, что здесь полагается явное различие между Его лицом и лицом Отца. Отсюда вы выводим, что вечен не только Бог, но и Слово Божие, прежде веков рожденное от Отца.

 

 

 

Frédéric Louis Godet - Commentary on Selected Books

Ver. 5. The most potent means of action of which He has need in order to continue this task, He can only obtain by recovering His state anterior to the incarnation. And this is the purpose for which He asks it again. There cannot be any temerity on His part in doing this, since this state of divine glory appertains to His nature, and He has voluntarily renounced it in order to serve God here on earth.

By the words: with thyself, Jesus opposes the divine sphere to that in which He is at present living (on the earth, John 17:4.), John 13:32.— The expression: the glory which I had, is opposed to His present humiliation. No doubt, in His human state He has also a glory, even a glory "as that of the only begotten Son having come from the Father" (John 1:14). But it differs from His heavenly glory as the dependent form of the human existence differs from the autonomous form of the divine existence. This filial position in relation to God, which He has as man, is only a reflection of the filial position which He has had as God. Reuss thinks that this verse does not imply absolute pre- existence, eternity, but only a certain priority with relation to the world. But from the biblical point of view, the world embraces all that appertains to the sphere of becoming, and beyond this sphere there is only being, eternity. Comp. the opposition between γίνεσθαι and εἶναι, John 1:1; John 1:3, John 8:58, and Psalms 90:2.— παρὰ σοί, with thee, cannot have the purely ideal sense which the Socinians give to it, and which now again Beyschlagand Sabatier endeavor to maintain in somewhat different forms. This theory does violence to John"s terms no less than to those of Paul (Philippians 2:6-11). He who says, I had...with thee, emphasizes His own personality previous to the incarnation, no less than that of God (John 17:24). The I who asks for the glory is the one who has had it. It is equally impossible to find here the least trace of the idea which Sabatier finds in the passage of Paul (Phil.),—that of a progress from the glory of Christ before His earthly life to His glory afterwards. The only difference between these two conditions is that this latter glory is possessed by Him even in His humanity, elevated to the sphere of the divine existence (Acts 7:55, Matthew 26:64, where the term Son of man is still applied to the glorified Christ). See on John 8:58.

From the fact that Jesus says: before the world was, and not "before I came into the world," Schelling concluded that the humiliation of the Logos began from the time of the creation, and not only with the incarnation. This conclusion is not well founded exegetically. For Jesus only means here to oppose this glory to a glory which may have had some sort of beginning in time.

John Trapp Complete Commentary

5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

Ver. 5. With the glory which I had, &c.] Our Saviour then is no upstart God, and of a later standing, as the Arians and Mahometans would make of him. Mahomet speaks very honourably of Christ, except only in two things. First, he denied that he was crucified, but that some other was crucified for him. Secondly, he took up the opinion of the Arians, to deny his Divinity. Arius at Constantinople, sitting upon the close stool, purged out his guts. Mahometism is now there in that place, as it were the excrements of Arius.

Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

From the connection of this with the former verse learn, 1. That whoever expects to be glorified of God in heaven, must glorify him first here upon earth.

2. That, after we have glorified him, we may expect to be glorified with him and by him. I have glorified thee, and now, O Father, glorify thou me; it follows, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

Here note, 1. That Christ as God, had an essential glory with God the Father before the world was: he had this glory not in the purpose and decree of God only, as the Socinians would have it; for he doth not say, "Glorify me with the glory which thou didst purpose and prepare for me before the world was:" but "which I had and enjoyed with thee before the world was:" by which words our Lord plainly asserts his own existence and being from eternity, and prays for a re-exaltation to that glory which he enjoyed with his Father before his incarnation.

Note, 2. That Christ, as Mediator, did so far humble himself, that he needed to pray for his Father to bestow upon him the glory which he wanted; namely, the glory of his ascension and exaltation: Now, O Father, Glorify me with thine own self.

As if Christ had said, "Father, glorify me, embrace and honour me as thy Son, who have been, in the eyes of the world, handled disgracefully as a servant." It is an actual glory that Christ speaks of, not in decree and purpose only, for that believers had as well as he; but this was a glory when no creature was in being.

Greek Testament Critical Exegetical Commentary

5. δόξασόν με] Notice the correlation, which Meyer has pointed out, between ἐγώ σε before and με σύ now. The same Person ( ἐγώ) who had with the Father glory before the world, also glorified the Father in the world, and prays to be again received into that glory. A decisive proof of the unity of the Person of Christ, in His three estates of eternal præ-existence in glory, humiliation in the flesh, and glorification in the Resurrection Body.

This direct testimony to the eternal præ-existence of the Son of God has been evaded by the Socinian and also the Arminian interpreters, by rendering εἶχον,—“habebam destinatione tua,” Grot., Wets⁽²³²⁾. On the identity of the δόξα in John 17:22 with this δόξα, see note there.

εἶχον] “Hic non dicit accepi. Semper habebat: nunquam cœpit habere.” Bengel.

πρὸ τοῦ τ. κ. εἶν., before the καταβολὴ κόσμου, John 17:24;—‘before all creation.’ “Antequam fieret mundus, gloriam illam habebat Filius; sed cum fieret mundus, gloria illa se cœpit (?) exserere.” Bengel.

παρὰ σοί = πρὸς τὸν θεόν, ch. John 1:1; εἰς τὸν κόλπον τοῦ πατρός, ch. John 1:18.

Johann Albrecht Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament

John 17:5. εἶχον, I had) Here He does not say, I received. He always was having it, was in possession of it; He never began to have it.— πρὸ τοῦ τὸν κόσμον εἶναι, before that the world was) In the appellation, “the world,” in this place angels also are included. Even before that the world was made, the Son was having that glory; John 17:24, “Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world;” but when the world was made, that glory began to put itself forth. Herein is implied the eternity of the Son of God. The beginning of the world and of time were coincident. Whatever is before the world is before time. Whatever is before time is eternal.— παρὰ σόι, with Thee) because there was then nothing external to God. Construe the words with εἶχον, “I was having with Thee.”

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

Let the glory which, as to my Divine nature, I had with thee before the foundation of the world, be communicated also to my human nature, that my whole person may be made glorious. From hence is easily concluded, against those who deny the Godhead of Christ, that Christ was glorified with his Father before the world was, which he could not have been if he had not been eternal God. He here begs of his Father, that that glory might shine upon his person as Mediator.

Alexander MacLaren's Expositions of Holy Scripture

прославь Меня’ у Тебя Самого Совершив Свое дело (ст. 4), Иисус взирает на последствия креста и просит о возвращении в славу, которую Он имел вместе с Отцом до начала мира (см. пояснения к 1:1; 8:58; 12:41). В возгласе «совершилось!» (19:30) Христос констатирует, что принятие гнева и наказания за грешников действительно завершилось.

Justin Edwards' Family Bible New Testament

Before the world was; Philippians 2:6.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

5.With thine own self—In blessed and eternal society with thy own nature.

Glory which I had’ before the world—That is, the glory which I, as eternal Logos, had with the eternal God. See note on John 1:1. Into that glory admit me, the incarnate Logos, so that the God-man shall be eternally recognized as eternally divine. The eternal Logos and the incarnate Logos are the same person in different eras of existence. So that the incarnate Logos could claim on earth that as Logos he possessed an eternal glory in heaven, to which he might ascend and therewith be invested.

Before the world was—The term world here includes the entire universe of worlds. Some have affirmed that God has eternally been creating worlds after worlds. In that case the priority of the glory of the Logos would be rather priority in the order of nature than of time, as regards the absolute universe.

 

Schaff's Popular Commentary on the New Testament

John 17:5. And now glorify thou me, O Father, with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. The glory prayed for is distinguished by two particulars: (1) It is ‘with Thine own Self’ (comp. chap, John 13:31-32), in contrast with the words ‘on earth’ of John 17:4. (2) It is a glory that Jesus had possessed ‘before the world was;’ that is, from eternity. Thus the prayer is that the clouds which during His earthly life had obscured the glory of His Divine Sonship may be rolled back, and that as Son of man (as well as Son of God) it may now appear that He possesses that glory in all the brightness with which it encompassed Him before He came into the world (comp. on chap, John 13:32). The word ‘glory,’ in short, is to be understood in the sense of glory to be manifested as well as in a sense expressing the contents of the glory; and the petition is for a bestowal of the manifested glory rather than of the original real glory considered in itself. Thus the unity of thought in the whole passage is preserved. Not the Son’s personal exaltation, but the Father’s glory through the Son’s, is still the keynote; for, when the glory of the Son is seen the glory of the Father is seen also, and the less the obscurity resting on the former the less also that resting on the latter. With this petition the first section of the prayer closes.

The Expositor's Greek Testament

John 17:5_{. ’ . The precise character of the glorification He looks for is here presented. It is , and it is a restoration to the glory He had enjoyed . By it is rendered impossible to understand of an “ideal” pre-existence; because these two expressions are here equivalents, and Christ cannot be supposed to have prayed for an “ideal” glory when He asked that God would glorify Him . “There is, consequently, here, as in} John 6:62_, John 8:58_{, a continuity of the consciousness of the historical Christ with the Logos.” Tholuck. On this verse Beyschlag remarks (i. 254): “The possibility of such a position was first won by Jesus through His life and death on earth, so that, in point of fact, it forms the divine reward of that life and death; how then could He have possessed it realiter before the world was?” But the representation given by Paul in Philippians 2 is open to the same objection. Christ is represented as leaving a glory He originally enjoyed and returning to it when His work on earth was done and as the result of that work. The humanity was now to share in and to be in some way the organ of that divine glory; and this it could not be until it had been perfected by the experience of a human life. Wendt (Teaching of Jesus, ii. 169) says: “According to the mode of speech and conception prevalent in the N.T., a heavenly good, and so also a heavenly glory, can be conceived and spoken of as existing with God, and belonging to a person, not because this person already exists, and is invested with glory, but because the glory of God is in some way deposited and preserved for this person in heaven”. The passages, however, on which he depends for this principle do not sustain it. Such expressions as} John 1:14_, John 2:11_{, which indicate that already while on earth a divine glory was manifest in Christ, in no degree contradict but rather confirm such statements as the present.}

 

 

George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

And now, glorify thou me, O Father, with thyself, with the glory which I had with thee, before the world was. Glorify me, is the same as make me known to men; so that the sense may be, make men know, that I had the same glory with thee, before the world was created, and from all eternity. Others understand, that Christ as man, here prays that his eternal Father would make known to men, that glory, which it was decreed from eternity should be given him: that is, that all creatures should be made subject to him, even as he was man, and appointed to be judge of the living and the dead. See 1 Corinthians xv. 26; Ephesians i. 22. (Witham)

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

now. Greek. nun, as in John 13:31.

with = beside. Greek. para. App-104.

glory. Greek. doxa. See p. 1511.

before. Greek. pro. App-104.

world. App-129.

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged

And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

And now - `the whole purpose I am here for being accomplished,'

O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, [ para (Greek #3844) seautoo (Greek #4572)] - or 'beside Thine own Self (apud Teipsum, or Temetipsum, as the Vulgate, Calvin, and Beza render it). The nearest, strictest, Personal conjunction is beyond doubt meant, as in John 1:1, "The Word was with God" [ pros (Greek #4314) ton (Greek #3588) Theon (Greek #2316)], and John 17:18, The Only begotten Son who is in" - `on' or 'into' - "the bosom of the Father" [ eis (Greek #1519) ton (Greek #3588) kolpon (Greek #2859) tou (Greek #3588) Patros (Greek #3962)]. Compare Zechariah 13:7, "The Man that is My Fellow," or 'My Associate' [ `

The Bible Study New Testament

5. Father! Give me glory. John 17:4-5 are explained by Philippians 2:5-11. This shows the continuity of the historical Christ with the Logos (see John 8:58).

 

 

 

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(5) And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self.—These words are exactly parallel with the commencement of the previous verse. “I,” “Thou,” “Thee—Me,” “on earth,” “with Thine own self.” (Comp. John 13:31-32.)

With the glory which I had with thee before the world was.—This clause admits of but one meaning—viz., that Jesus claimed for Himself the possession of the divine glory in His pre-existent state before the world was; and that He claimed this in personality distinct from, but in essence one with God. (Comp. John 1:1; John 1:18, and on the whole passage, Notes on Philippians 2:4-9.) The special importance of the thought here is that it is uttered in the words of Christ Himself, and that these words are a prayer to the Father. There can be no explanation of John 17:1-5 of this chapter, which denies that our Lord Jesus Christ claimed for Himself that He was divine, and co-eternal with the Father.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

glorify

24; 1:18; 3:13; 10:30; 14:9; Proverbs 8:22-31; Philippians 2:6; Colossians 1:15-17; Hebrews 1:3,10; 1 John 1:2; Revelation 5:9-14

before

1:1-3; Matthew 25:34; 1 Peter 1:20; Revelation 13:8

Reciprocal: Numbers 6:20 - and after;  1 Samuel 2:30 - them;  2 Kings 2:5 - thy master;  Psalm 2:8 - Ask;  Psalm 21:5 - glory;  Psalm 73:24 - receive;  Isaiah 42:4 - shall not;  Isaiah 42:21 - it;  Isaiah 49:4 - yet;  Mark 16:19 - he was;  Luke 10:22 - and no;  Luke 13:32 - I shall;  John 1:15 - he was;  John 6:62 - General;  John 7:18 - seeketh his glory;  John 7:39 - glorified;  John 8:54 - it is;  John 8:58 - Before;  John 10:17 - General;  John 10:36 - sent;  John 11:4 - that;  John 12:16 - when;  John 13:1 - depart;  John 13:3 - and that;  John 14:13 - that;  John 16:16 - because;  John 16:28 - I leave;  John 17:1 - glorify;  John 20:17 - I ascend;  Acts 2:33 - by;  Romans 8:6 - to be spiritually minded;  Philippians 2:9 - God;  Colossians 1:17 - he;  1 Timothy 3:16 - received;  Hebrews 5:7 - and

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

5.The glory which I had with thee. He desires to be glorified with the Father, not that the Father may glorify him secretly, without any witnesses, but that, having been received into heaven, he may give a magnificent display of his greatness and power, that every knee may bow to him, (Philippians 2:10.) Consequently, that phrase in the former clause, with the Father, is contrasted with earthly and fading glory, as Paul describes the blessed immortality of Christ, by saying that

he died to sin once, but now he liveth to God, (Romans 6:10.)

The glory which I had with thee before the world was. He now declares that he desires nothing that does not strictly belong to him, but only that he may appear in the flesh, such as he was before the creation of the world; or, to speak more plainly, that the Divine majesty, which he had always possessed, may now be illustriously displayed in the person of the Mediator, and in the human flesh with which he was clothed. This is a remarkable passage, which teaches us that Christ is not a God who has been newly contrived, or who has existed only for a time; for if his glory was eternal, himself also has always been. Besides, a manifest distinction between the person of Christ and the person of the rather is here expressed; from which we infer, that he is not only the eternal God, but also that he is the eternal Word of God, begotten by the rather before all ages.