John 16:17

Then said some of his disciples among themselves, What is this that he saith unto us, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me: and, Because I go to the Father?

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
Then	οὖν oun	G3767	(adverbially) certainly · conjunction
said	εἶπαν eipan	G2036	to speak or say (by word or writing) · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
of	ἐκ ek	G1537	literal or figurative · preposition
his	αὐτοῦ autou	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine
disciples	μαθητῶν mathētōn	G3101	a learner · noun — genitive plural masculine
among	πρὸς pros	G4314	a preposition of direction · preposition
themselves	ἀλλήλους· allēlous	G240	one another · reciprocal pronoun — accusative plural masculine
What	τί ti	G5101	an interrogative pronoun · interrogative pronoun — nominative singular neuter
is	ἐστί estí	G2076	he (she or it) is
this	τοῦτο toûto	G5124	that thing
that	ὃ ho	G3739	the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun · relative pronoun — accusative singular neuter
saith	λέγει legei	G3004	properly · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
us	ἡμῖν hēmîn	G2254	to (or for
while	μικρόν mikrón	G3397	a small space of time or degree
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
shall	θεωρεῖτέ theōreite	G2334	to be a spectator of · verb — present active indicative, 2nd person plural
not	οὐ ou	G3756	the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverb · particle — negative
see	θεωρέω theōréō	G2334	to be a spectator of
me	ἡμῖν· hēmin	G3165	me · personal pronoun — 1st person dative plural
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
again	πάλιν palin	G3825	(adverbially) anew · adverb
while	μικρόν mikrón	G3397	a small space of time or degree
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
see	ὄψεσθέ opsesthe	G3700	to gaze (i.e. with wide-open eyes · verb — future middle deponent indicative, 2nd person plural
me	με, me	G3165	me · personal pronoun — 1st person accusative singular
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
Because	ὅτι hoti	G3754	demonstrative · conjunction
I	ἐγώ egṓ	G1473	I
go	ὑπάγω hupagō	G5217	to lead (oneself) under · verb — present active indicative, 1st person singular
to	πρὸς pros	G4314	a preposition of direction · preposition
Father	πατέρα; patera	G3962	a "father" (literally or figuratively · noun — accusative singular masculine, a title

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 16:16 A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.
Mark 9:32 But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.
John 16:5 But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou?
John 14:5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?
John 16:19 Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, Do ye enquire among yourselves of that I said, A little while, and ye…
Mark 9:10 And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean.
Luke 18:34 And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.
John 12:16 These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on John 16:16-22

Our Lord Jesus, for the comfort of his sorrowful disciples, here promises that he would visit them again. I. Observe the intimation he gave them of the comfort he designed them, Joh 16:16. Here he tells them, 1. That they should now shortly lose the sight of him: A little while, and you that have seen me so long, and still desire to see me, shall not see me; and therefore, if they had any good question to ask him, they must ask quickly, for he was now taking his leave of them. Note, It is good to consider how near to a period our seasons of grace are, that we may be quickened to improve them while they are continued. Now our eyes see our teachers, see the days of the Son of man; but, perhaps…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 16:16

A little while, and ye shall not see me; and again a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father--The joy of the world at their not seeing Him seems to show that His removal from them by death was what He meant; and in that case, their joy at again seeing Him points to their transport at His reappearance amongst them on His Resurrection, when they could no longer doubt His identity. At the same time the sorrow of the widowed Church in the absence of her Lord in the heavens, and her transport at His personal return, are certainly here expressed.

Adam Clarke on John 16:16

A little while - He had but a few hours to live. And ye shall not see me - I shall be hidden from your view in the grave. Again a little while - In three days after my death: Ye shall see me - I will rise again, and show myself to you. Or, As I am going by my ascension to the Father, in a short time, ye shall see me personally no more; but in a little while I shall pour out my Spirit upon you, and others through your ministry; and ye shall see me virtually in the great and wonderful work which shall then take place in the hearts and lives of men. This may also refer to his coming again to destroy the Jewish state, and also to judge the world; but how can this latter be said to be in a little…

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The Church Fathers

"If," saith one of them, "we shall see Thee, whither goest Thou? And if Thou goest, how shall we see Thee?" Therefore they say, "We cannot tell what He saith." That He was about to depart, they knew; but they knew not that He would shortly come to them. On which account He rebuketh them, because they did not understand His saying.
— John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of John 79

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

John 16:17

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on John 16:16-22

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 16:16

Adam Clarke on John 16:16

The Church Fathers

John 16:17

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on John 16:16-22

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 16:16

Adam Clarke on John 16:16

The Church Fathers

John Gill on John 16:17

John Calvin on John 16:16-20

Tyndale Open Study Notes on John 16:16-33