some or any person or object · indefinite pronoun — nominative plural masculine
Greeks
ἝλληνέςHellēnes
G1672
a Hellen (Grecian) or inhabitant of Hellas · noun — nominative plural masculine, a people or place name
among
ἐκek
G1537
literal or figurative · preposition
up
ἀναβαινόντωνanabainontōn
G305
to go up (literally or figuratively) · verb — present active participle, genitive plural masculine
worship
προσκυνήσωσινproskunēsōsin
G4352
to fawn or crouch to · verb — aorist active subjunctive, 3rd person plural
at
ἐνen
G1722
"in · preposition
feast
ἑορτῇ.he'ortēa
G1859
a festival · noun — dative singular feminine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
John 7:35 Then said the Jews among themselves, Whither will he go, that we shall not find him? will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles, and t…
Isaiah 11:10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest s…
Acts 17:4 And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.
1 Kings 8:41-43 Moreover concerning a stranger, that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name’s sake;
Mark 7:26 The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter.
Acts 8:27 And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charg…
Galatians 2:3 But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised:
Isaiah 60:2-14 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be s…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on John 12:20-26
Honour is here paid to Christ by certain Greeks that enquired or him with respect. We are not told what day of Christ's last week this was, probably not the same day he rode into Jerusalem (for that day was taken up in public work), but a day or two after.
I. We are told who they were that paid this honour to our Lord Jesus: Certain Greeks among the people who came up to worship at the feast, Joh 12:20. Some think they were Jews of the dispersion, some of the twelve tribes that were scattered among the Gentiles, and were called Greeks, Hellenist Jews; but others think they were Gentiles, those whom they called proselytes of the gate, such as the eunuch and Cornelius. Pure natural religion me…
SOME GREEKS DESIRE TO SEE JESUS--THE DISCOURSE AND SCENE THEREUPON. (John 12:20-36)
Greeks--Not Grecian Jews, but Greek proselytes to the Jewish faith, who were wont to attend the annual festivals, particularly this primary one, the Passover.
The same came therefore to Philip . . . of Bethsaida--possibly as being from the same quarter.
saying, Sir, we would see Jesus--certainly in a far better sense than Zaccheus (Luk 19:3). Perhaps He was then in that part of the temple court to which Gentile proselytes had no access. "These men from the west represent, at the end of Christ's life, what the wise men from the east represented at its beginning; but those come to the cross of the King, ev…
Certain Greeks - There are three opinions concerning these:
1. That they were proselytes of the gate or covenant, who came up to worship the true God at this feast.
2. That they were real Jews, who lived in Grecian provinces, and spoke the Greek language.
3. That they were mere Gentiles, who never knew the true God: and hearing of the fame of the temple, or the miracles of our Lord, came to offer sacrifices to Jehovah, and to worship him according to the manner of the people of that land. This was not an unfrequent case: many of the Gentiles, Romans, and others, were in the habit of sending sacrifices to the temple at Jerusalem. Of these opinions the reader may choose; but the first seems be…
The Church Fathers
The temple at Jerusalem was so famous, that on the feast days, not only the people near, but many Gentiles from distant countries came to worship in it; as that eunuch of Candace, Queen of the Ethiopians, mentioned in the Acts. The Gentiles who were at Jerusalem now, had come up for this purpose: And there were certain Gentiles among them who came to worship at the feast.
(Tr. li. 8) Lo! the Jews wish to kill Him, the Gentiles to see Him. But they also were of the Jews who cried, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord. So behold them of the circumcision, and them of the uncircumcision, once so wide apart, coming together like two walls, and meeting in one faith of Christ by the kiss of peace. Philip cometh and telleth Andrew.
"And there were certain Gentiles among them that had come up to worship at the feast: the same came therefore to Philip, who was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus." Let us hearken to the Lord's reply. See how the Jews wish to kill Him, the Gentiles to see Him; and yet those, too, were of the Jews who cried, "Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel." Here, then, were they of the circumcision and they of the uncircumcision, like two house walls running from different directions and meeting together with the kiss of peace, in the one faith of Christ.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Philip — Lover of horses. (1.) One of the twelve apostles; a native of Bethsaida, “the city of Andrew and Peter” (John 1:44). He readily responded to the call of Jesus when first addressed to him (43), and…
Curiosity · And to see Jesus — And to see Jesus
Desire · SPIRITUAL — SPIRITUAL
Greece · . — .
Philip · .Brings certain Greeks to Jesus who — .Brings certain Greeks to Jesus who
Proselytes · Later called devout Greeks — Later called devout Greeks
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
And there were certain Greeks,.... "Hellenes", so called, from Hellen, a king of that name, as Pliny says (r) These were not Graecizing Jews, or Jews that dwelt in Greece, and spoke the Greek language; for they were called not Hellenes, but Hellenists; but these were, as the Vulgate Latin and Syriac versions render it, Gentiles; and were either mere Gentiles, and yet devout and religious men, who were allowed to offer sacrifice, and to worship, in the court of the Gentiles; or they were proselytes, either of righteousness, and so were circumcised, and had a right to eat of the passover, as well as to worship at it; or of the gate, and so being uncircumcised, might not eat of the passover, ye…
John 12:20-26
20. Low there were some Greeks among these who had come up to worship at the feast. 21. These therefore went to Philip, who was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, Sir, we wish to see Jesus. 22. Philip cometh and telleth, Andrew, and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. 23. And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, when the Son of man must be glorified. 24. Verily, verily, I say to you, Unless a grain of wheat, having fallen into the ground, die, it remaineth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. 25. He who loveth his soul shall destroy it; and he who hateth his soul in this world shall keep it to eternal life. 26. If any man serves me, let hi…
Among the people drawn to Jesus (12:19) were some Greeks, God-fearing Gentiles who had come to Passover to worship. Jesus’ mission was not simply to Israel but encompassed the entire world (10:16; 11:52). Following Jesus’ resurrection, the church’s mission was to go beyond Judea to Samaria, and ultimately to the ends of the earth (Matt 28:19; Acts 1:8).
