John 14:17 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
John 14:17
Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
to "know" (absolutely) in a great variety of applicatio… · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
him
αὐτό,auto
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular neuter
but
δέdé
G1161
but
ye
ὑμεῖςhymeîs
G5210
you (as subjective of verb)
know
γινώσκετεginōskete
G1097
to "know" (absolutely) in a great variety of applicatio… · verb — present active indicative, 2nd person plural
him
αὐτόςautós
G846
the reflexive pronoun self
for
ὅτιhoti
G3754
demonstrative · conjunction
he dwelleth
μένειmenei
G3306
to stay (in a given place · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
with
παρ᾽par᾽
G3844
properly · preposition
you
ὑμῖνhymîn
G5213
to (with or by) you
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
shall be
ἔσομαιésomai
G2071
will be
in
ἐνen
G1722
"in · preposition
you
ὑμῖνhymîn
G5213
to (with or by) you
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
Ezekiel 36:27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall…
1 John 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth y…
John 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he sh…
1 John 4:6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of e…
1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they…
1 Corinthians 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
2 Timothy 1:14 That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on John 14:15-17
Christ not only proposes such things to them as were the matter of their comfort, but here promises to send the Spirit, whose office it should be to be their Comforter, to impress these things upon them.
I. He premises to this a memento of duty (Joh 14:15): If you love me, keep my commandments. Keeping the commandments of Christ is here put for the practice of godliness in general, and for the faithful and diligent discharge of their office as apostles in particular. Now observe, 1. When Christ is comforting them, he bids them keep his commandments; for we must not expect comfort but in the way of duty. The same word (parakaleō) signifies both to exhort and to comfort. 2. When they were in…
whom the world cannot receive, &c.--(See Co1 2:14).
he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you--Though the proper fulness of both these was yet future, our Lord, by using both the present and the future, seems plainly to say that they already had the germ of this great blessing.
Adam Clarke on John 14:17
The Spirit of truth - The Spirit, or Holy Ghost, whose essential office is to manifest, vindicate, and apply the truth. The Gospel of Christ may be thus called, because it exposes falsity, removes error, and teaches the knowledge of the true God - shows the way to him, saves from vanity and illusive hopes, and establishes solid happiness in the souls of those who believe.
The world cannot receive - By the world, St. John means those who are influenced only by the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eye, and the pride of life, Jo1 2:16. Now these cannot receive the Spirit of the truth, because they see him not, have no spiritual discernment, attend to nothing but the dictates of their corr…
Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive,.... These words explain who is meant by the Comforter, "even the Spirit of truth"; the true Spirit of God, the dictator of the Scriptures of truth, who leads men into the truths of the Gospel, confirms them in them, and gives boldness and freedom to own, and confess them before men:
whom the world cannot receive; the men of the world, who are as they came into the world, carnal and natural men, can neither receive the Spirit nor the things of the Spirit, the truths and doctrines of the Gospel; they can neither receive them into their understandings, nor into their affections; and indeed, because they cannot understand them, therefore…
The Church Fathers
Note too, that when He calls the Holy Spirit the Spirit of truth, He shows that the Holy Spirit is His Spirit: then when He says He is given by the Father, He declares Him to be the Spirit of the Father also. Thus the Holy Ghost proceeds both from the Father, and from the Son.
He calls "the world" the inhabitants of this world who are given over to love of it. In contrast, the saints are on fire with a desire for heavenly things.… And so, anyone who is searching for consolation outwardly in the things of the world is not capable of being reformed inwardly by the favor of divine consolation. Whoever yearns after lowly delight cannot receive the Spirit of truth. The Spirit of truth flees from a heart it discerns is subject to vanity and restores by the light of his coming only those it beholds carrying out the commandments of truth out of love.
Again he said to me, "Love the truth, and let nothing but truth proceed from your mouth, that the spirit which God has placed in your flesh may be found truthful before all men; and the Lord, who dwelleth in you, will be glorified, because the Lord is truthful in every word, and in Him is no falsehood. They therefore who lie deny the Lord, and rob Him, not giving back to Him the deposit which they have received. For they received from Him a spirit free from falsehood. If they give him back this spirit untruthful, they pollute the commandment of the Lord, and become robbers."
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
Apostle — A person sent by another; a messenger; envoy. This word is once used as a descriptive designation of Jesus Christ, the Sent of the Father (Heb. 3:1; John 20:21). It is, however, generally used as…
Holy Ghost — The third Person of the adorable Trinity. His personality is proved (1) from the fact that the attributes of personality, as intelligence and volition, are ascribed to him (John 14:17, 26; 15:26; 1…
Affliction, Consolation Under · The Holy Spirit is the Author and Giver of — The Holy Spirit is the Author and Giver of
Communion · WITH GOD — WITH GOD
Communion With God · Saints: Should always enjoy — Saints: Should always enjoy
Depravity Of Man · 7:17;12:34,35;15:19; — 7:17;12:34,35;15:19;
Holy Spirit, The Comforter, The · As such he: Dwells with, and in saints — As such he: Dwells with, and in saints
Holy Spirit, The Personality Of · He dwells with saints — He dwells with saints
Holy Spirit, The, Is God · As dwelling in saints — As dwelling in saints
Titles And Names Of The Holy Spirit · Spirit of truth — Spirit of truth
John 14:15-18
15. If you love me, keep my commandments. 16. And I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17. The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, and knoweth him not; but you know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 18. I will not leave you orphans; I come to you. [67]
15. If you love me. The love with which the disciples loved Christ was true and sincere, and yet there was some superstition mixed with it, as is frequently the case with ourselves; for it was very foolish in them to wish to keep him in the world. To correct this fault, he bids them direct their love to ano…
The Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth (literally the Spirit of truth; see also 15:26; 16:13), communicates the truth about God. The Spirit maintains Jesus’ presence in the world, duplicating and sustaining Jesus’ work.
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).
