Vv. 12-20. Fesus proclaims Himself the Light of the World.—Ver. 12. Πάλιν
οὖν. ‘Again therefore Jesus spake to them”; ‘‘ again” refers us back to vii. 37- Liicke and others suppose that the
conversation now reported took place on some day after the feast: but there is no reason why it should not have been on the same day as that recorded in chap. vii. The place, as we read in ver. 20, was ἐν τῷ γαζοφυλακίῳ, “in the Treasury,” which probably was identical with the colonnade round the “' Court of the Women,” or yuvatkwvis, ‘in which the receptacles for charitable contribu- tions, the so-called Shopharoth or ‘trumpets,’ were placed’? (Edersheim, Life of Christ, ii. 165). Edersheim sup- poses that here the Pharisees would alone venture to speak. This seems
7—16.
12. Πάλιν οὖν 6 "Ingots αὐτοῖς ἐλάλησε λέγων, “Eye εἰμι TO φῶς A , Aine’ A > ‘ 3 Sy UZ 1 ~ , τοῦ κόσμου 6 ἀκολουθῶν ἐμοὶ, οὗ py περιπατήσει} ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ,
GAN ἕξει τὸ φῶς τῆς ζωῆς.”
13. Εἶπον οὖν αὐτῷ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι,
“FO περὶ σεαυτοῦ μαρτυρεῖς' ἡ μαρτυρία σου οὐκ ἔστιν ἀληθής. I A ίθ Ἰ A ἃ 9. > la) «ς δη, a ‘ 4. ‘AmexptOn ᾿Ιησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, “Kav ἐγὼ μαρτυρῶ περὶ ἐμαυτοῦ, ἀληθής ἐστιν ἡ μαρτυρία µου: ὅτι οἶδα πόθεν ἦλθον, καὶ ποῦ ὑπάγω: ὑμεῖς δὲ οὐκ οἴδατε πόθεν ἔρχομαι, καὶ Tod ὑπάγω"
15, ὑμεῖς "κατὰ τὴν σάρκα κρίνετε’ ἐγὼ οὐ κρίνω οὐδένα.
ς
NIN ή ΑΦ καὶ ἐὰν κρίνω δὲ ἐγὼ, ἡ
16. 0 2 Cor. xi 8,
κρίσις ἡ ἐμὴ ἀληθής 2 ἐστιν: ὅτι µόνος οὐκ
1 περιπατηση in SBFGKL; T.R. in DEHM.,
Σαληθινη in BDL 33; αληθης in N.
scarcely consistent with the narrative. The announcement made by Jesus was, ᾿Εγώ εἰμι τὸ φῶς τοῦ κόσμον. Notwith- standing Meyer and Holtzmann it seems not unlikely that this utterance was prompted by the symbolism of the feast. According to the Talmud, on every night of the feast the Court of the Women was brilliantly illuminated, and the night, according to Wetstein and others, was spent in dancing and festivity. This brilliant lighting was perhaps a memorial of the Pillar of Fire which led the Israelites while dwelling in tents. This idea is favoured by the words which follow and which describe how the in- dividual is to enjoy the light inherent in Jesus: 6 ἀκολονθῶν ἐμοί, “he that follows me”. Like the basket of fire hung from a pole at the tent of the chief, the pillar of fire marked the camp- ing ground and every movement of the host. And those who believe in Christ have not a chart but a guide; not a map in which they can pick out their own route, but a light going on before, which they must implicitly follow. Thus ov μὴ περιπατήσει ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ, ‘shall not walk in the dark”; cf. Mt. iv. 16. The Messiah was expected to scatter the darkness of the Gentiles, ‘‘ Lux est nomen Messiae” (Lightfoot), ἀλλ᾽ ἕξει τὸ φῶς τῆς ζωῆς, but shall have light sufficient for the highest form of life. The analogous 6 ἄρτος τῆς ζωῆς, τὸ ὕδωρ τ. ζ. show that the light of life means the light which is needful to maintain spiritual life.—Ver. 13. Το this the Pharisees, seeing only self-assertion, reply: Σὺ .. . ἀληθής. A formal objec- tion; cf. v. 31. But the attempt to apply it here only shows how far the Pharisees were from even conceiving the conditions of a true revelation They
were still in the region of pedantic rules and external tests.—Ver. 14. Jesus replies: Kav... ὑπάγω, ‘‘even if I witness of Myself, My witness is true”. The difference between καὶ εἰ and εἰ καί is clearly stated by Hermann on Viger, 822; Klotz on Devarius, 519; and is for the most part observed in N.T. On the law regulating testimony, which was meant merely for courts of law, see ver. 31. The expressed ἐγώ indicates that He is an exception to the rule; the reason being because He knows whence He comes and whither He goes, ὅτι οἶδα