John 20:22

And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
And	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
said	εἰπὼν eipōn	G2036	to speak or say (by word or writing) · verb — second aorist active participle, nominative singular masculine
this	τοῦτο toûto	G5124	that thing
on	ἐνεφύσησεν enephusēsen	G1720	to blow at or on · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
saith	λέγει legei	G3004	properly · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
them	αὐτοῖς· autois	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative plural masculine
Receive ye	λάβετε labete	G2983	while G138 (αἱρέομαι) is more violent · verb — second aorist active imperative, 2nd person plural
the Holy	ἅγιον. hagion	G40	sacred (physically · adjective — accusative singular neuter
Ghost	πνεῦμα pneuma	G4151	a current of air · noun — accusative singular neuter

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

Job 33:4 The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.
Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
John 7:39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus wa…
Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall rece…
Psalms 33:6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
Ezekiel 37:9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds,…
Acts 8:15 Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost:
Acts 19:2 He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be…

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on John 20:19-25

The infallible proof of Christ's resurrection was his showing himself alive, Act 1:3. In these verses, we have an account of his first appearance to the college of the disciples, on the day on which he rose. He had sent them the tidings of his resurrection by trusty and credible messengers; but to show his love to them, and confirm their faith in him, he came himself, and gave them all the assurances they could desire of the truth of it, that they might not have it by hearsay only, and at second hand, but might themselves be eye-witnesses of his being alive, because they must attest it to the world, and build the church upon that testimony. Now observe here, I. When and where this appearance…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 20:22

he breathed on them--a symbolical conveyance to them of the Spirit. and saith, Receive ye the Holy Ghost--an earnest and first-fruits of the more copious Pentecostal effusion.

Adam Clarke on John 20:22

He breathed on them - Intimating, by this, that they were to be made new men, in order to be properly qualified for the work to which he had called them; for in this breathing he evidently alluded to the first creation of man, when God breathed into him the breath of lives, and he became a living soul: the breath or Spirit of God (רוח אלהים ruach Elohim) being the grand principle and cause of his spiritual and Divine life. Receive ye the Holy Ghost - From this act of our Lord, the influences of the Holy Spirit on the souls of men have been termed his inspiration; from in, into, and spiro, I breathe. Every word of Christ which is received in the heart by faith comes accompanied by this Divine…

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John Gill on John 20:22

And when he had said this,.... That is, declared he sent them forth in like manner as his Father sent him: he breathed on them; in allusion to God's breathing the breath of life into man, at his creation; or rather, to the Spirit himself, who is the breath of God, and proceeds from him, as from the Father; and who breathes both upon persons in regeneration, and in qualifying for ministerial service, at the instance and influence of Christ: and such an opinion the Jews have of the Spirit of the Messiah, who say (p), that "the Spirit went from between the wings of the cherubim, "and breathed upon him" (Menasseh) by the decree, or order of the word of the Lord.'' And saith unto them, receiv…

The Church Fathers

Whose soever sins ye remit, are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained."
— Pope Urban I,

"And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost." By breathing on them He signified that the Holy Spirit was the Spirit, not of the Father alone, but likewise His own.
— Augustine of Hippo, Tractates on John 121

(iv. de Trin. c. xx) That corporeal breath was not the substance of the Holy Ghost, but to show, by meet symbol, that the Holy Ghost proceeded not only from the Father, but the Son. For who would be so mad as to say, that it was one Spirit which He gave by breathing, and another which He sent after His ascension?
— Augustine of Hippo ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

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

John, Gospel of — The genuineness of this Gospel, i.e., the fact that the apostle John was its author, is beyond all reasonable doubt. In recent times, from about 1820, many attempts have been made to impugn its…
Sabbath — (Heb. verb shabbath, meaning “to rest from labour”), the day of rest. It is first mentioned as having been instituted in Paradise, when man was in innocence (Gen. 2:2). “The sabbath was made for…
Apostles, The · The Holy Spirit given to — The Holy Spirit given to
Gift Of The Holy Spirit, The · By the Son — By the Son
Trinity · THE HOLY — THE HOLY

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).

John 20:22

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on John 20:19-25

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 20:22

Adam Clarke on John 20:22

John Gill on John 20:22

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John 20:22

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on John 20:19-25

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 20:22

Adam Clarke on John 20:22

John Gill on John 20:22

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on John 20:19-23

Tyndale Open Study Notes on John 20:22