took (compare vii. 30). The inconsistency of the A. V. in the renderings of the same word, of which this is only one of many instances, is noteworthy here from the fact that in the only two passages in which John uses the phrase latd hands on (vii. 30 ; vii. 44), he employs the common formula, éwtSdArew Tas yelpas, or THv xelpa, and in both these passages the word mudoau is rendered take. The use of this latter word is confined almost exclusively to John, as it is found only three times elsewhere (Acts iii. 7; xii.4; 2 Cor. xi. 32).
21. Then (ovv). Properly, therefore, connecting the fact of Jesus’ continuing to speak with His freedom from arrest.
Said Jesus. Omit Jesus, and read, He said therefore.
Go away (imdyo). Withdraw myself from you; this sense being emphasized by the succeeding words, ye shall seek me. In expressing one’s departure from men or from surrounding ob- jects, we may emphasize merely the fact of removal, in which case amépyoua, to go away, would be appropriate; or we may emphasize the removal as affecting some relation of the person to that from which he removes, as in vi. 67, where Jesus says to the disciples, ‘‘ well ye also go away, or withdraw from me,” in which case v7rdyw is the proper word.*
In your sin (€v 77 duaptia tuav). See on Matt. i.21. Note the singular, st, not sims. It is used collectively to express the whole condition of estrangement from God.
22. Will He kill Himself (ze damoxteve? éavtov)? The mockery in these words is alike subtle and bitter. The inter- rogative particle, ru, signifies swrely He will not by any chance kill Himself ; and the sense of the whole clause is, He will not surely go where we cannot reach Him, unless perchance He should kill Himself; and as that would insure His going to
* T am inclined, however, to think that the distinction between these two, and also between these and wopevoua, which Canon Westcott claims is observed by John, will not bear too strict pressing. See his commentary on John vii. 33.
We WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.
Gehenna, of course we could not go to Him there. The remark displays alike the scorn and the self-righteousness of the speakers.
23. Ye are from beneath (é« Tav Katw éoré). A phrase peculiar to John and to his Gospel. Jesus states the radical ‘antagonism between His opposers and Himself, as based upon difference of origin and nature. They spring from the lower, sensual, earthly economy ; He from the heavenly. Compare Jas, iii. 15 sqq.
From above (é« tov dvw). Also peculiar to John’s Gospel. Compare Col. iii. 1. On the phrase to be of (eivas éx) see on i. 46.
Ve are of this world (é« Tod xécpov TovTou éore). Peculiar to John, and occurring in the First Epistle. On KOo Lov, world, see oni. 9. Ye are of this earthly order or economy.
24. lam he (éyo ecus). He is inserted in the versions and is not in the text. By retaining it, we read, J am the Messiah. But the words are rather the solemn expression of His absolute divine being, as in ver. 58: “If ye believe not that / am.” See Deut. xxxii. 39; Isa. xliii. 10; and compare vv. 28, 58 of this chapter, and xiii. 19.
25. Even the same that | said unto you from the be- ginning (tiv apxynv 6 tt Kal AadN@ vyiv). A very difficult pas- sage, on which the commentators are almost hopelessly divided. There are two main classes of interpretations, according to one of which it is to be read tnterrogatively, and according to the other, affirmatively. The two principal representatives of the former class are Meyer, who renders “ Do you ask that which all along (rHv apynv) I am even saying to you?” and West- cott, “ How is it that I even speak to you at all (thy apynv)” ? So also Milligan and Moulton. This latter rendering requires the ata of 6 tu, the relative, that which, into the conjunction ort, that.