John 14: 1-14
14:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.
14:2 In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.
14:4 And you know the way to the place where I am going.”
14:5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”
14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
14:7 If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
14:8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”
14:9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
14:10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works.
14:11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves.
14:12 Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.
14:13 I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14:14 If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.
1 Μὴ ταρασσέσθω ὑμῶν ἡ καρδία· πιστεύετε εἰς τὸν Θεόν, καὶ εἰς ἐμὲ πιστεύετε.
2 Ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ τοῦ πατρός μου μοναὶ πολλαί εἰσιν· εἰ δὲ μή, εἶπον ἂν ὑμῖν· πορεύομαι ἑτοιμάσαι τόπον ὑμῖν·
3 καὶ ἐὰν πορευθῶ καὶ ἑτοιμάσω ὑμῖν τόπον, πάλιν ἔρχομαι καὶ παραλήψομαι ὑμᾶς πρὸς ἐμαυτόν, ἵνα ὅπου εἰμὶ ἐγώ, καὶ ὑμεῖς ἦτε.
4 Καὶ ὅπου ἐγώ ὑπάγω οἴδατε, καὶ τὴν ὁδὸν οἴδατε.
5 Λέγει αὐτῷ Θωμᾶς· Κύριε, οὐκ οἴδαμεν ποῦ ὑπάγεις· καὶ πῶς δυνάμεθα τὴν ὁδὸν εἰδέναι;
6 Λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς· ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδὸς καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἡ ζωή· οὐδεὶς ἔρχεται πρὸς τὸν πατέρα εἰ μὴ δι’ ἐμοῦ.
7 Εἰ ἐγνώκειτέ με, καὶ τὸν πατέρα μου ἐγνώκειτε ἄν. Καὶ ἀπ’ ἄρτι γινώσκετε αὐτὸν καὶ ἑωράκατε αὐτόν.
8 Λέγει αὐτῷ Φίλιππος· Κύριε, δεῖξον ἡμῖν τὸν πατέρα καὶ ἀρκεῖ ἡμῖν.
9 Λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς· τοσοῦτον χρόνον μεθ’ ὑμῶν εἰμι, καὶ οὐκ ἔγνωκάς με, Φίλιππε; Ὁ ἑωρακὼς ἐμὲ ἑώρακε τὸν πατέρα· καὶ πῶς σὺ λέγεις, δεῖξον ἡμῖν τὸν πατέρα;
10 Οὐ πιστεύεις ὅτι ἐγὼ ἐν τῷ πατρὶ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἐν ἐμοί ἐστι; τὰ ρήματα ἃ ἐγὼ λαλῶ ὑμῖν, ἀπ’ ἐμαυτοῦ οὐ λαλῶ· ὁ δὲ πατὴρ ὁ ἐν ἐμοὶ μένων αὐτὸς ποιεῖ τὰ ἔργα.
11 Πιστεύετέ μοι ὅτι ἐγὼ ἐν τῷ πατρὶ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἐν ἐμοί· εἰ δὲ μή, διὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτὰ πιστεύετέ μοι.
12 Ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ὁ πιστεύων εἰς ἐμέ, τὰ ἔργα ἃ ἐγὼ ποιῶ κἀκεῖνος ποιήσει, καὶ μείζονα τούτων ποιήσει, ὅτι ἐγὼ πρὸς τὸν πατέρα μου πορεύομαι,
13 καὶ ὅ,τι ἂν αἰτήσητε ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί μου, τοῦτο ποιήσω, ἵνα δοξασθῇ ὁ πατὴρ ἐν τῷ υἱῷ.
14 Ἐάν τι αἰτήσητε ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί μου, ἐγὼ ποιήσω.
Comments
The two crisscross patterns (chiasmata) interlinking Jesus and the Father in vv. 3 and 10 are to my mind among the most telling and effective examples of this figure of speech. Syntax here expresses consubstantiality through image and sound (AB ~ BA). Jesus is the way, ἡ ὁδὸς; had he said simply ἐγώ εἰμι ὁδὸς, the sense would be ‘I am a way.’ Cyril of Alexandria (c. 379- 444), in his Commentary on John, Book ix, ch. 14 (on vv. 5-6) states that Jesus is the way, ‘for the Son is in nature and essence an Image of God the Father.’ (Cyril offers the most systematic treatment of John 14:1-14 in his comments.)
[1] πιστεύετε εἰς τὸν Θεόν, καὶ εἰς ἐμὲ πιστεύετε: πιστεύω, ‘trust, put faith in’ is construed with dat. in cl. Greek; in koine the dat. is still possible, as in v. 11, but πιστεύω + εἰς (‘to’) + acc. seems more usual.
The two sentences form a chiaston, a crisscross pattern, ‘Believe in God~ in me believe’, which interlaces God and Jesus. A similar pattern occurs in v. 11, interlocking the Father and Jesus.
[2] Ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ τοῦ πατρός μου μοναὶ πολλαί εἰσιν· εἰ δὲ μή, εἶπον ἂν ὑμῖν· πορεύομαι ἑτοιμάσαι τόπον ὑμῖν: the asyndeton, i.e. absence of a conjunction or particle linking the second and third sentences, suggests that the statement πορεύομαι, etc. has a causal force (‘for I am going …’). Πορεύομαι + another vb is a Hebraism attested in the LXX, suggesting ‘determined and deliberate action’ (Muraoka s.v. πορεύομαι, 3); hence the construction here means ‘I am set to prepare…’
As it stands, the Greek text reads differently from the English translation: ‘In my father’s house there are many apartments; if it were otherwise, I would have told you; for I am set to prepare a place for you.’
μοναὶ: μονή (< μένω, ‘lodge, stay’) means ‘apartment’ (for the first time in John); it can also be mean ‘quarters’ (for soldiers) in later Greek.
τόπον: τόπος (m.), ‘place’ ‘district’ (cl. Gk.); ‘room in a house’ (2nd c. AD). Cf. Engl. topography.
[3] πάλιν ἔρχομαι καὶ παραλήψομαι ὑμᾶς πρὸς ἐμαυτόν: πάλιν ἔρχομαι, in effect, ‘I shall return’, the pres. tense being prophetic since it express an absolutely certain futurity. (This can be matched in cl. Gk, as I have noted in previous comments.)
παραλήψομαι ὑμᾶς πρὸς ἐμαυτόν: παραλαμβάνω, c. acc. pers., ‘to take along to some place (LXX: Muraoka s.v., 2). πρὸς ἐμαυτόν, ‘to myself’, virtually refers to a place, and implies an intimate relationship between Jesus and his addressees.
[4] τὴν ὁδὸν οἴδατε: οἶδα, a more general term than γιγνώσκω, means ‘to know’; properly it means ‘know by reflection’ (LSJ). In cl. Gk. the 2n pers. pl. is ἴστε.
ὁδὸν: ὁδὸς = ‘way, road’. The word, already in Homer and in cl. Gk., can denote direction esp. when combined with a prep. phrase, e.g. εἰς (‘to’) + acc.
[5] οὐκ οἴδαμεν: if Thomas were speaking cl. Gk he would have said ἴσμεν.
τὴν ὁδὸν εἰδέναι: εἰδέναι, inf. of οἶδα, shows that οἶδα (a perfective form) is etymologically related to εἶδον, ‘I saw, have seen’. οἶδα/cognition suggests mental vision. τῆς ἀληθείας ὁδός (‘the way to the truth’) occurs in a Eurpides fr. (LSJ). See on v. 6 immed. below.
[6] ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδὸς καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἡ ζωή: The assertion in this verse is a ‘revelation formula’ (EDNT s.v. ὁδὸς, p. 492).
ἐγώ, not being grammatically necessary in Greek, is an emphatic subject of the sentence, ‘I am…’ The definite article ἡ preceding each of the three nouns expresses a specific notion: Jesus is the way, etc., not a way. He is the way towards or to what? The juxtaposition of ‘way’, ‘truth’, and ‘life’ is a polysyndeton, and may (in my opinion) in effect mean ‘the way to the truth and life’.
ἡ ἀλήθεια: In its root sense in Archaic Greek poetry, the ‘truth’, ἡ ἀλήθεια (< privative ἀ-/ ‘non’ + λήθη, forgetting, oblivion), is the preserve of the Muses and poets, and is immune to oblivion. As G. Nagy remarks, ‘one must not be unmindful of whatever is true, and such truth must be not only memorable but also absolutely unforgettable.’ See https://classical-inquiries.chs.harvard.edu/about-greek-aletheia-truth-marcel-detienne-challenges-martin-heidegger/
ἡ ζωή: ‘life’, ‘way of life’ (cl. Gk). It can refer to the life of animals, human beings, and plants. I leave the theological meaning of ‘life’ in this passage to specialists.
οὐδεὶς ἔρχεται πρὸς τὸν πατέρα: πρὸς + acc. denotes motion or direction towards or to (LSJ).
δι’ ἐμοῦ: διά + genetive = ‘through’, ‘by means of’.
[7] Καὶ ἀπ’ ἄρτι γινώσκετε αὐτὸν καὶ ἑωράκατε αὐτόν: ἀπ’ ἄρτι = ‘now, just now’; ἄρτι without the prep. ἀπ(ό) would have sufficed.
γινώσκω (koine for γιγνώσκω) = ‘know, perceive’, c. acc. obj. The vb means ‘know by observation’, cf. ‘discern’. Thus in Greek you can say, οἶδ’ ὅτι γιγνώσκετε τοῦτον ἅπαντες, ‘I know by reflection that all of you know him by observation’ (Demosthenes 18. 276). The connection of γινώσκω with perception/ sensation is confirmed by ἑωράκατε αὐτόν, ‘you have seen him’.
[8] δεῖξον ἡμῖν τὸν πατέρα: δεῖξον, 2nd pers. sg., aor. imper. < δείκνυμι, alternative form δεικνύω, ‘show, point out’; ‘make known’ (cl. Gk).
[10] ἐγὼ ἐν τῷ πατρὶ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἐν ἐμοί ἐστι: ἐν ‘is by far the most frequent prep. in the NT’ (EDNT s.v., p.448). It always governs a dat., and can be spatial (‘in, at or on’) or instrumental.
ἐγὼ is emphatic; εἰμί is understood. Not only are the two sentences parallel to one another, but they also form a chiasma i.e., a neat interlacing of ‘I’ and ‘the father’: ‘I in the father’ ~ ‘father in me’ (AB ~ BA). This crosswise pattern mirrors the mutuality between, and interlocking—the very consubstantiality of— Son and Father. Cf. v. 11.
ἀπ’ ἐμαυτοῦ: ἀπό + gen. = ‘from, of’. Here the phrase = ‘of myself, of my own accord’.
[12] ἐγὼ πρὸς τὸν πατέρα μου πορεύομαι: πορεύομαι = ‘go, walk, journey’; cf. v. 6, ἔρχεται (‘come, go’). The prep. phrase πρὸς τὸν πατέρα μου designates the destination (so also Exeg. Dict. NT s.v. πορεύομαι, p. 136).
[13] ὅ,τι ἂν αἰτήσητε ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί μου: the phrase ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί μου is instrumental. The preoccupation with a divine name in prayer does not appear to be Greek.
Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax 