raculous actions tbrougliout His ministry, in all of which, as it is said of the miracle of Cana, He " maniftsted forth his glory," and His disciples saw it. — Others think tliat they aj^iply especially to our Lord's transfiguration, when He put on for a little season His glory, in the presence of John, James, and Peter. I am on the whole mclined to think that this is the true view, and the more so, because of Peter's words in speaking of the transfigura- tion, (2 Pet. i. 16, 18,) and the words which immediately follow in the verse we are now considering.
[The glory as of the only begotten of the Father.] This sen- tence means " such glory as became and was suitable to one who is the only begotten Son of Grod the Father." These words will hardly apply to Christ's miracles. They seem to confine the glory which John says " we beheld," to the vision of glory which he and his two companions saw when Christ was transfigured, and they heard the Father saying, " This is my beloved Son."
Lightfoot's paraphrase of this expression is w^orth reading though he does not apply the passage to the transfiguration " We saw His glory as what was worthy, as became, the only be- gotten Son of God. He did not glisten in any worldly pomp or grandeur, according to what the Jewish nation fondly dreamed their Messiah would do. But He was dressed with the glory of holiness, grace, truth, and the power of miracles."
We must carefully remember that the adverb " as " in this place, does not imply comparison, or similitude, as if John only meant that the Word's glory was like that of the only begotten Son of God. Chrysostom says, " The expression ' as ' in this place does not belong to similarity or comparison, but to con- firmation and unquestionable definition, as though he said, we beheld glory such as it was becoming and likely that He should possess, who is the only begotten and true Son of God and King of all." He also remarks that it is a common manner of speak- ing, when people are describing the appearance of a king in state, to say that " he was like a king," meaning only that he was a real king.
Glassius, in his Philologia, makes the saT,e comment on the expression, and quotes as parallel cases of the use of ths adverb ''as," 2 Pet. j. 3; 1 Pet. i. 19; Philem. 9; Rom. ix. 32; Matt, xiv. 5; 2 Coi. iii. 18. He thinks it a Hebraism, denoting not the similitude, but the reality and truth of a thing, and quotes Psalm cxxii. 3, and Hosea iv. 4, as Old Testament instances.
[The only degoften of the Father.] This remarkable expression describes our Lord's eternal generation, or Sonship. He is that Person who alone has been begotten of the Father from all eternity, and from all eternity has been His beloved Son.