John 17:23 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
John 17:23
I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
to "know" (absolutely) in a great variety of applicatio… · verb — present active subjunctive, 3rd person singular
that
ὅτιhoti
G3754
demonstrative · conjunction
thou
σύsu
G4771
thou · personal pronoun — 2nd person nominative singular
hast sent
ἀπέστειλαςapesteilas
G649
set apart · verb — aorist active indicative, 2nd person singular
me
μεme
G3165
me · personal pronoun — 1st person accusative singular
and
καίkaí
G2532
and
hast loved
ἠγάπησαςēgapēsas
G25
to love (in a social or moral sense) · verb — aorist active indicative, 2nd person singular
them
αὐτοὺςautous
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative plural masculine
as
καθὼςkathōs
G2531
just (or inasmuch) as · conjunction
thou hast loved
ἠγάπησας.¶ēgapēsas
G25
to love (in a social or moral sense) · verb — aorist active indicative, 2nd person singular
me
ἐμέemé
G1691
me
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 17:21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou h…
John 16:27 For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.
1 John 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not,…
John 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
1 John 4:12-16 No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
John 17:26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
Colossians 3:14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
John 14:10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on John 17:20-23
Next to their purity he prays for their unity; for the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable; and amity is amiable indeed when it is like the ointment on Aaron's holy head, and the dew on Zion's holy hill. Observe,
I. Who are included in this prayer (Joh 17:20): "Not these only, not these only that are now my disciples" (the eleven, the seventy, with others, men and women that followed him when he was here on earth), "but for those also who shall believe on me through their word, either preached by them in their own day or written by them for the generations to come; I pray for them all, that they all may be one in their interest in this prayer, and may all receive benefit by it."…
I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one--(See on Joh 17:21).
Adam Clarke on John 17:23
That the world may know - That the Jewish people first, and secondly the Gentiles, may acknowledge me as the true Messiah, and be saved unto life eternal.
John Gill on John 17:23
I in them,.... Christ is in his saints; not as he is in all the world, being the omnipresent God; or as he is in every man, communicating the light of nature as Creator; or as he is in the human nature, which is united to his divine person; or circumscriptively to the exclusion of him elsewhere; for he is in heaven, his blood is within the veil, and his righteousness without us: but he is in them, in a gracious manner, in regeneration; when he is revealed to them, formed in them, enters into them, takes possession of them, communicates his grace, grants fellowship with himself, and dwells in them; not only by his Spirit and grace, but in person, as the head in the members, as the master of t…
"I in them, and Thou in Me." "How gave He the glory?" By being in them, and having the Father with Him, so as to weld them together. But in another place He speaketh not so; He saith not that the Father cometh by Him, but, "that He and the Father come, and take up their abode with him," "there" removing the suspicion of Sabellius, "here" that of Arius.
But that God is good, all willingly admit; and that the same God is just, I require not many more words to prove, after adducing the evangelical utterance of the Lord; He speaks of Him as one, "That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us: that the world also may believe that Thou hast sent Me. And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given them; that they may be one, as We are one: I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one." God is one, and beyond the one and above the Monad itself.
"That they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me." He saith these latter words immediately after the other, to show that peace hath more power to attract men than a miracle; for as it is the nature of strife to separate, so it is that of agreement to weld together. "And I have loved them as Thou hast loved Me." Here again the "as" means, as far as it is possible for a man to be loved; and the sure proof of His love is His giving Himself for them. After having told them that they shall be in safety, that they shall not be overturned, that they shall be holy, that many shall believe through them, that they shall enjoy great glory, that not He alone loved them, but the Father also; He next telleth them of what shall be after their sojourning here, concerning the prizes and crowns laid up for them.
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
Adoption — The giving to any one the name and place and privileges of a son who is not a son by birth. (1.) Natural. Thus Pharaoh’s daughter adopted Moses (Ex. 2:10), and Mordecai Esther (Esther 2:7). (2.)…
Lord’s Prayer — The name given to the only form of prayer Christ taught his disciples (Matt. 6:9-13). The closing doxology of the prayer is omitted by Luke (11:2-4), also in the R.V. of Matt. 6:13. This prayer…
Divisions · Are contrary to the: Desire of Christ — Are contrary to the: Desire of Christ
Fellowship · WITH GOD — WITH GOD
Holiness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Love Of God, The · Manifested towards: His saints — Manifested towards: His saints
Perfection · The Church shall attain to — The Church shall attain to
Prayer, Intercessory · Christ set an example of — Christ set an example of
Union With Christ · Christ prayed that all saints might have — Christ prayed that all saints might have
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).
on John 17:20-23
John 17:20-23
20. And I ask not for these only, but for those also who shall believe on me through their word; 21. That all may be one; as thou, rather, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22. And I have given to them the glory which thou gavest to me; that they may be one, as we are one: 23. I in them, and thou in me, that they may be perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, [122] as thou hast loved me.
20. And I ask not for these only. He now gives a wider range to his prayer, which hitherto had included the apostles alone; for he extends it to all the disciples of th…
that the world will know: If the church lives in the Spirit, reflects God’s glory and love, and shows unity sustained by a shared knowledge of God, then its testimony will astonish the world.
