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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0; maximum-scale=1.0; user-scalable=0;"/><title>John 17:4 Commentaries: "I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/newcom.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../vmenus/john/17-4.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="/bmcom/john/17-4.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="http://biblehub.com/commentaries/">Commentaries</a> > John 17:4</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../john/17-3.htm" title="John 17:3">◄</a> John 17:4 <a href="../john/17-5.htm" title="John 17:5">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="topverse">I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.</div><div id="jump">Jump to: <a href="/commentaries/alford/john/17.htm" title="Henry Alford - Greek Testament Critical Exegetical Commentary">Alford</a> • <a href="/commentaries/barnes/john/17.htm" title="Barnes' Notes">Barnes</a> • <a href="/commentaries/bengel/john/17.htm" title="Bengel's Gnomen">Bengel</a> • <a href="/commentaries/benson/john/17.htm" title="Benson Commentary">Benson</a> • <a href="/commentaries/illustrator/john/17.htm" title="Biblical Illustrator">BI</a> • <a href="/commentaries/calvin/john/17.htm" title="Calvin's Commentaries">Calvin</a> • <a href="/commentaries/cambridge/john/17.htm" title="Cambridge Bible">Cambridge</a> • <a href="/commentaries/chrysostom/john/17.htm" title="Chrysostom Homilies">Chrysostom</a> • <a href="/commentaries/clarke/john/17.htm" title="Clarke's Commentary">Clarke</a> • <a href="/commentaries/darby/john/17.htm" title="Darby's Bible Synopsis">Darby</a> • <a href="/commentaries/ellicott/john/17.htm" title="Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers">Ellicott</a> • <a href="/commentaries/expositors/john/17.htm" title="Expositor's Bible">Expositor's</a> • <a href="/commentaries/edt/john/17.htm" title="Expositor's Dictionary">Exp Dct</a> • <a href="/commentaries/egt/john/17.htm" title="Expositor's Greek">Exp Grk</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gaebelein/john/17.htm" title="Gaebelein's Annotated Bible">Gaebelein</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gsb/john/17.htm" title="Geneva Study Bible">GSB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gill/john/17.htm" title="Gill's Bible Exposition">Gill</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gray/john/17.htm" title="Gray's Concise">Gray</a> • <a href="/commentaries/guzik/john/17.htm" title="Guzik Bible Commentary">Guzik</a> • <a href="/commentaries/haydock/john/17.htm" title="Haydock Catholic Bible Commentary">Haydock</a> • <a href="/commentaries/hastings/john/17-3.htm" title="Hastings Great Texts">Hastings</a> • <a href="/commentaries/homiletics/john/17.htm" title="Pulpit Homiletics">Homiletics</a> • <a href="/commentaries/icc/john/17.htm" title="ICC NT Commentary">ICC</a> • <a href="/commentaries/jfb/john/17.htm" title="Jamieson-Fausset-Brown">JFB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/kelly/john/17.htm" title="Kelly Commentary">Kelly</a> • <a href="/commentaries/king-en/john/17.htm" title="Kingcomments Bible Studies">King</a> • <a href="/commentaries/lange/john/17.htm" title="Lange Commentary">Lange</a> • <a href="/commentaries/maclaren/john/17.htm" title="MacLaren Expositions">MacLaren</a> • <a href="/commentaries/mhc/john/17.htm" title="Matthew Henry Concise">MHC</a> • <a href="/commentaries/mhcw/john/17.htm" title="Matthew Henry Full">MHCW</a> • <a href="/commentaries/meyer/john/17.htm" title="Meyer Commentary">Meyer</a> • <a href="/commentaries/parker/john/17.htm" title="The People's Bible by Joseph Parker">Parker</a> • <a href="/commentaries/pnt/john/17.htm" title="People's New Testament">PNT</a> • <a href="/commentaries/poole/john/17.htm" title="Matthew Poole">Poole</a> • <a href="/commentaries/pulpit/john/17.htm" title="Pulpit Commentary">Pulpit</a> • <a href="/commentaries/sermon/john/17.htm" title="Sermon Bible">Sermon</a> • <a href="/commentaries/sco/john/17.htm" title="Scofield Reference Notes">SCO</a> • <a href="/commentaries/teed/john/17.htm" title="Teed Bible Commentary">Teed</a> • <a href="/commentaries/ttb/john/17.htm" title="Through The Bible">TTB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/vws/john/17.htm" title="Vincent's Word Studies">VWS</a> • <a href="/commentaries/wes/john/17.htm" title="Wesley's Notes">WES</a> • <a href="#tsk" title="Treasury of Scripture Knowledge">TSK</a></div><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="comtype">EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)</div><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/ellicott/john/17.htm">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</a></div>(4) <span class= "bld">I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work . . .</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">I glorified Thee on earth: I finished the work . . .</span> The former sentence is .explained by the latter. God was glorified in the completion of the Messianic work of Christ. For this conception of the work of life, which includes the whole life as manifesting God to man, comp. Notes on <a href="/john/5-36.htm" title="But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father has given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father has sent me.">John 5:36</a>; <a href="/john/9-4.htm" title="I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night comes, when no man can work.">John 9:4</a>; <a href="/john/10-25.htm" title="Jesus answered them, I told you, and you believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me.">John 10:25</a> <span class= "ital">et al.</span><p><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/benson/john/17.htm">Benson Commentary</a></div><span class="bld"><a href="/context/john/17-4.htm" title="I have glorified you on the earth: I have finished the work which you gave me to do....">John 17:4-5</a></span>. <span class="ital">I have glorified thee on earth </span>— My doctrine, example, and miracles have manifested thy glory here on earth. <span class="ital">I have finished the work thou gavest me to do </span>— I have almost finished the work which I undertook for man’s redemption. <span class="ital">And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thyself </span>— Or, <span class="ital">in thine own presence, </span>as Dr. Campbell translates <span class="greekheb">παρα σεαυτω</span>, observing, that the force of the Greek preposition, <span class="greekheb">παρα</span>, is not rightly expressed by the English <span class="ital">with, </span>which, as applied here, is exceedingly vague and indeterminate. <span class="ital">With the glory which I had with thee </span>— He does not say <span class="ital">received. </span>He always had it till he emptied himself of it in the days of his flesh; <span class="ital">before the world was </span>— “The Socinians, who deny, not only our Lord’s divinity, but his existence before he appeared in the world, are at a loss how to explain this passage, in consistency with their opinion. They imagine, that as in the prophetical writings, things to come are spoken of as already existing, to denote the divine decree concerning them, and the certainty of their happening; so, Jesus is here said to possess glory with the Father before the foundation of the world, not because he then existed, but because that glory was appointed him in the divine decree from eternity, and was certainly to be bestowed upon him in the fulness of time. Withal, in confirmation of this observation, they cite <a href="/revelation/13-8.htm" title="And all that dwell on the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.">Revelation 13:8</a>, where Christ is called <span class="ital">a lamb slain from the foundation of the world; </span>and <a href="/2_timothy/1-9.htm" title="Who has saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,">2 Timothy 1:9</a>, where the apostle, speaking of the favours conferred on Christians, says, <span class="ital">Hath saved us, and called us according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. </span>But here, without laying the whole stress of the matter on the answer given by Whitby, namely, that these passages are mistranslated, I observe, that though, for the reasons mentioned, the sacred writers, when warmed with the grandeur of their subject, might, in their discourses, represent the great events which were to befall the church under the gospel dispensation, as existing from eternity; yet, no fire of imagination could authorize the figure in the present instance. For it were absurd to fancy that Jesus, in this his last solemn prayer with his disciples, gravely spake of himself as existing from eternity, and as enjoying with God blessings which were to be bestowed upon him only in time. Such figures, how ever proper they may be in prophecy, are not of the style of prayer, far less of our Lord’s prayers, which are remarkable for their simplicity. Besides, it should be remembered that this is not the only passage which speaks of Christ’s pre-existence, for the Evangelist John (<a href="/john/1-1.htm" title="In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.">John 1:1</a>) represents him as existing from eternity, and making all things. And (<a href="/john/8-58.htm" title="Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Before Abraham was, I am.">John 8:58</a>) Jesus himself tells us that he existed before Abraham. And Paul affirms, (<a href="/philippians/2-6.htm" title="Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:">Php 2:6</a>,) that before Jesus took the form of a servant, he was in the form of God.” — Macknight.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="mhc" id="mhc"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/mhc/john/17.htm">Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary</a></div>17:1-5 Our Lord prayed as a man, and as the Mediator of his people; yet he spoke with majesty and authority, as one with and equal to the Father. Eternal life could not be given to believers, unless Christ, their Surety, both glorified the Father, and was glorified of him. This is the sinner's way to eternal life, and when this knowledge shall be made perfect, holiness and happiness will be fully enjoyed. The holiness and happiness of the redeemed, are especially that glory of Christ, and of his Father, which was the joy set before him, for which he endured the cross and despised the shame; this glory was the end of the sorrow of his soul, and in obtaining it he was fully satisfied. Thus we are taught that our glorifying God is needed as an evidence of our interest in Christ, through whom eternal life is God's free gift.<a name="bar" id="bar"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/barnes/john/17.htm">Barnes' Notes on the Bible</a></div>Have glorified thee - In my instructions and life. See his discourses everywhere, the whole tendency of which is to put honor on God.<p>I have finished the work - Compare <a href="/john/19-30.htm">John 19:30</a>. When he says "I have finished," he probably means to include also his death. All the preparations for that death were made. He had preached to the Jews; he had given them full proof that he was the Messiah; he had collected his disciples; he had taught them the nature of his religion; he had given them his parting counsel, and there was nothing remaining to be done but to return to God. We see here that Jesus was careful that his great and important work should be done before his dying hour. He did not postpone it to be performed just as he was leaving the world. So completely had he done his work, that even before his death he could I say, "I have finished the work." How happy would it be if men would imitate his example, and not leave their great work of life to be done on a dying bed? Christians should have their work accomplished, and when that hour approaches, have nothing to do but to die, and return to their Father in heaven. <a name="jfb" id="jfb"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/jfb/john/17.htm">Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary</a></div>4, 5. I have glorified thee on the earth—rather, "I glorified" (for the thing is conceived as now past).<p>I have finished—I finished.<p>the work which thou gavest me to do—It is very important to preserve in the translation the past tense, used in the original, otherwise it might be thought that the work already "finished" was only what He had done before uttering that prayer; whereas it will be observed that our Lord speaks throughout as already beyond this present scene (Joh 17:12, &c.), and so must be supposed to include in His "finished work" the "decease which He was to accomplish at Jerusalem."<div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/poole/john/17.htm">Matthew Poole's Commentary</a></div> <span class="bld">I have glorified thee on the earth; </span> by preaching the gospel, by living up to the rule of thy law, by the miracles which I have wrought. God could not be glorified by Christ, by the addition of any thing to his essential glory; only by manifesting to the world his Father’s goodness, justice, mercy, truth, wisdom, and other of his attributes. One way by which he had glorified his Father, is expressed, viz. by finishing the work which he had given him in commission. But how could Christ say this, who had not yet died for the sins of men, which was the principal piece of his work? <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">Answer.</span> It was so nigh, that he speaks of it as already done: so, <span class="bld"><a href="/john/17-11.htm" title="And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to you. Holy Father, keep through your own name those whom you have given me, that they may be one, as we are.">John 17:11</a></span>, he saith, <span class="ital">I am no more in the world, </span> because he was to be so little a time in the world. Again, he speaks of what he was fully resolved to do, as if it were already done. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="gil" id="gil"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/gill/john/17.htm">Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible</a></div>I have glorified thee on the earth,.... This is made use of as a reason and argument, why the Father should glorify him: Christ glorified his Father personally, as he held forth and expressed the glory of his person; and verbally, by ascribing, on all occasions, praise and glory to him; and really, or by deeds, and that by various ways: as in and by his ministry; by asserting he had his mission, qualifications, and doctrine, from him as a prophet; his principal work was to declare his Father's mind and will, his love and grace; nor did he seek his own, but his Father's glory: and by his miracles: for though these were proofs of his deity and Messiahship, and displays of his own glory; yet the glory of his Father, especially of his power, was eminently seen in them, for he referred them to him; and these were often the means of men's glorifying the God of Israel: and by his whole life and conversation, which was entirely according to the will of God; and every action of it was directed to his glory; particularly he glorified him by his early regard to his will, and the business he sent him about; by his zeal for his Father's house; and by the exercise of the various graces of faith, hope, and love upon him: and as by his life, so at his death, even all the while he was "on the earth"; where God had been dishonoured by the sin of men; where Christ now was debased in human nature, and even that was for the glory of God; and this is said in distinction from heaven, where God is glorified by the angels, and where Christ would shortly be glorified in his human nature: <p>I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do; by "the work" is meant obedience to the will of God; the destruction of all spiritual enemies, as sin, Satan, the world, and death; and the redemption and salvation of his people, which was "given" him to do: he did not take it upon himself, but being called to it he readily accepted of it; it was appointed, and cut out for him, in the council and covenant of grace; he was thoroughly acquainted with it; and though it was difficult, it was pleasant and delightful to him; nor did he leave it till he could say it is "finished"; as it was by himself alone, without the help of man; and is so complete that nothing can be added to it; and so firmly done, that it cannot be unravelled by men and devils: he speaks of it as done, because the time was come to finish it, and he was sure of the accomplishment of it. <a name="gsb" id="gsb"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/gsb/john/17.htm">Geneva Study Bible</a></div><span class="cverse2">I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.</span></div></div><div id="centbox"><div class="padcent"><div class="comtype">EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)</div><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/meyer/john/17.htm">Meyer's NT Commentary</a></div><a href="/context/john/17-4.htm" title="I have glorified you on the earth: I have finished the work which you gave me to do....">John 17:4-5</a>. Once more the prayer of <a href="/john/17-1.htm" title="These words spoke Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify your Son, that your Son also may glorify you:">John 17:1</a>, <span class="greekheb">δόξασόν σου τὸν υἱόν</span>, but stating a different reason for it (“ostendit, non iniquum se petere,” Grotius), and setting forth the <span class="greekheb">δόξα</span> more definitely.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="greekheb">ἐγώ σε ἐδοξ</span>. <span class="greekheb">ἐπὶ τ</span>. <span class="greekheb">γ</span>.] <span class="ital">By what</span>, is expressed by the following parallel proposition, which is subjoined with asyndetic liveliness. The Messianic work glorified <span class="ital">God</span>, to whose highest revelation, and therewith to His knowledge, praise, and honour it bore reference. Comp. <a href="/john/17-6.htm" title="I have manifested your name to the men which you gave me out of the world: your they were, and you gave them me; and they have kept your word.">John 17:6</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>The <span class="ital">aorists</span> <span class="greekheb">ἐδόξ</span>. and <span class="greekheb">ἐτελεί</span>. are employed, because Jesus stands at the goal of His earthly activity, where He already includes in this account the fact which puts a close to His earthly work, the fact of His death, as already accomplished. Christ is not passive in His sufferings; His obedientia <span class="ital">passiva</span> is <span class="ital">active</span>, the highest point of His activity.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="greekheb">καὶ νῦν</span>] <span class="ital">And now</span>, when I take leave of this my earthly ministry.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>In what follows note the correlation of <span class="greekheb">με σύ</span> with <span class="greekheb">ἐγώ σε</span>, in which the thought of <span class="ital">recompense</span> (comp. <span class="greekheb">διό</span>, <a href="/philippians/2-9.htm" title="Why God also has highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:">Php 2:9</a>) is expressed. The emphasis lies on <span class="greekheb">ἐγώ</span> and <span class="greekheb">σύ</span>, hence after <span class="greekheb">με</span> no comma should stand.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="greekheb">παρὰ σεαυτῷ</span>] so that I may be united with <span class="ital">Thyself</span> in heavenly fellowship (<a href="/colossians/3-3.htm" title=" For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.">Colossians 3:3</a>), corresponding to <span class="greekheb">ἐπὶ τ</span>. <span class="greekheb">γῆς</span>. Comp. on <a href="/john/13-32.htm" title="If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him.">John 13:32</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>The <span class="greekheb">δόξα</span>, which Jesus possessed before the creation of the world, and thus in eternity before time was (<span class="greekheb">εἶχον</span>, which is to be understood <span class="ital">realiter</span>, not with the Socinians, Grotius, Wetstein, Nösselt, Löffler, Eckermann, Stolz, Gabler, comp. B. Crusius, Schleiermacher, <span class="ital">L. J</span>. p. 286 f., Scholten, <span class="ital">ideally</span> of the <span class="ital">destinatio</span> divina), was the divine glory, <span class="ital">i.e</span>. the essentially glorious manifestation of the entire divine perfection and blessedness, the <span class="greekheb">μορφὴ θεοῦ</span> (<a href="/philippians/2-6.htm" title="Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:">Php 2:6</a>) in His pre-existent state (<a href="/john/1-1.htm" title="In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.">John 1:1</a>), of which He divested Himself when He became man, and the resumption of which, in the consciousness of its once enjoyed possession,[189]He now asks in prayer from God. Had Christ contemplated Himself as the eternal archetype of humanity in His pre-historical unity with the proper personal life of God, and attributed to Himself in <span class="ital">this</span> sense the premundane <span class="greekheb">δόξα</span> (Beyschlag, p. 87 f.), His expression <span class="greekheb"><span class="bld"><span class="ital">ΕἾΧΟΝ ΠΑΡᾺ ΣΟΊ</span></span></span> would stand in contradiction therewith, because this latter separates the subject that had been in possession from the divine subject in such a manner that the former was <span class="ital">with</span> the latter, and possessed the glory, as then also the glory <span class="ital">again prayed for</span> would not be <span class="ital">adequate</span> to that already formerly <span class="ital">possessed</span>; for the essence of the former is the <span class="greekheb">σύνθρονον εἶναι θεοῦ</span>, which consequently that of the latter must also have been. Comp. on <a href="/john/6-62.htm" title="What and if you shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?">John 6:62</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>For the fulfilment of this prayer: <a href="/philippians/2-9.htm" title="Why God also has highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:">Php 2:9</a>; <a href="/1_timothy/3-16.htm" title="And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached to the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.">1 Timothy 3:16</a>; <a href="/hebrews/1-8.htm" title="But to the Son he said, Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom.">Hebrews 1:8</a>; <a href="/hebrews/1-13.htm" title="But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool?">Hebrews 1:13</a>; <a href="/acts/2-34.htm" title="For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he said himself, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit you on my right hand,">Acts 2:34</a>; <a href="/1_peter/3-22.htm" title="Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject to him.">1 Peter 3:22</a>, <span class="ital">et al.</span> <span class="ital">The</span> <span class="greekheb">δόξα</span>, however, which His believing ones beheld in Him in His <span class="ital">earthly working</span> (<a href="/john/1-14.htm" title="And the Word was made flesh, and dwelled among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.">John 1:14</a>), was not the heavenly majesty in its Godlike, absolute existence and manifestation,—that He had as <span class="greekheb">λόγος ἄσαρκος</span>, and obtained it again in divine-human completeness after His ascension,—but His temporally divine-human glory, the glory of God present in earthly and bodily limitation, which He had in the state of <span class="greekheb"><span class="bld"><span class="ital">ΚΈΝΩΣΙς</span></span></span>, and made known through grace and truth, as well as through His entire activity. Comp. on <a href="/john/1-14.htm" title="And the Word was made flesh, and dwelled among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.">John 1:14</a>; see also Liebner, <span class="ital">Christol</span>. I. p. 323 f.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>[189] Not merely in a momentary anticipation, in which it appeared before the eye of His spirit (Weizsäcker). Comp. on <a href="/john/8-58.htm" title="Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Before Abraham was, I am.">John 8:58</a>. It is a perversion of the exegetically clear and certain relation when Weizsäcker finds in such passages, instead of the self-consciousness of Jesus reaching back into His pre-human state, only “the culminating point of an advancing self-knowledge.” That here, however, and in ver. 25, different modes of apprehending the person of Christ are intimated (Weizsäcker in the <span class="ital">Jahrb. f. D. Th.</span> 1862, p. 645 ff.), cannot be established on exegetical grounds. See on ver. 25.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/egt/john/17.htm">Expositor's Greek Testament</a></div><a href="/john/17-4.htm" title="I have glorified you on the earth: I have finished the work which you gave me to do.">John 17:4</a>. <span class="greekheb">ἐγώ σε</span> … <span class="greekheb">ποιήσω</span>. This is a fresh ground for the petition of <a href="/john/17-1.htm" title="These words spoke Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify your Son, that your Son also may glorify you:">John 17:1</a> renewed in <a href="/john/17-5.htm" title="And now, O Father, glorify you me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world was.">John 17:5</a> : “glorify Thou me”. The ground is “I have glorified Thee on the earth; having finished perfectly accomplished, <span class="ital">cf.</span> <span class="greekheb">τετέλεσται</span> of the cross] the work which Thou gavest me to do”. But it is not the idea of reward that is prominent here, although that idea is found in <a href="/context/philippians/2-6.htm" title="Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:...">Php 2:6-11</a>; <a href="/context/hebrews/2-9.htm" title="But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man....">Hebrews 2:9-11</a>; <a href="/context/hebrews/5-4.htm" title="And no man takes this honor to himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron....">Hebrews 5:4-10</a>; the immediate thought here is of the necessary progress which the hour demanded. There remained no longer any reason for His continuance on earth. He did not desire, and did not need, any prolongation of life below. Beyschlag’s objection (<span class="ital">N.T. Theol.</span>, i. 254) is therefore baseless, as also is Grotius’ “ostendit, non iniquum se petere”.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/cambridge/john/17.htm">Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges</a></div><span class="bld">4</span>. <span class="ital">I have glorified</span>] Better, I <span class="bld">glorified</span>. In confident anticipation Christ looks backs from the point when all shall be accomplished, and speaks of the whole work of redemption as one act. Our translators have been very capricious throughout this chapter, rendering aorists as perfects and perfects as aorists. Comp. <span class="ital"><a href="/john/17-6.htm" title="I have manifested your name to the men which you gave me out of the world: your they were, and you gave them me; and they have kept your word.">John 17:6</a>; <a href="/john/17-8.htm" title="For I have given to them the words which you gave me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from you, and they have believed that you did send me.">John 17:8</a>; <a href="/john/17-18.htm" title="As you have sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.">John 17:18</a>; <a href="/context/john/17-21.htm" title="That they all may be one; as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that you have sent me....">John 17:21-23</a>; <a href="/context/john/17-25.htm" title="O righteous Father, the world has not known you: but I have known you, and these have known that you have sent me....">John 17:25-26</a></span>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">I have finished</span>] According to the right reading, <span class="bld">having</span> <span class="ital">finished</span> or <span class="bld">perfected</span>. This is the way in which God is glorified, the completion of the work of revelation.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">gavest me</span>] Better, <span class="bld">hast given</span> <span class="ital">Me</span>. Christ did not choose for Himself.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">to do</span>] Literally, <span class="ital">in order that I may do it:</span> this was God’s <span class="ital">purpose</span> in giving it. It is S. John’s favourite particle; comp. <a href="/john/5-36.htm" title="But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father has given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father has sent me.">John 5:36</a> and see on <span class="ital"><a href="/john/17-3.htm" title="And this is life eternal, that they might know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.">John 17:3</a></span>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/bengel/john/17.htm">Bengel's Gnomen</a></div><a href="/john/17-4.htm" title="I have glorified you on the earth: I have finished the work which you gave me to do.">John 17:4</a>. <span class="greekheb">Ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς</span>, <span class="ital">upon earth</span>) In antithesis to <span class="greekheb">παρὰ σεαυτῷ</span>, <span class="ital">with Thine own self</span>, viz., in heaven, <a href="/john/17-5.htm" title="And now, O Father, glorify you me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world was.">John 17:5</a>. The <span class="ital">earth</span> had revolted from God.—<span class="greekheb">ἐτελείωσα</span>, <span class="ital">I have consummated</span> [finished]) Hereby is explained the expression, <span class="ital">I have glorified Thee</span>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="pul" id="pul"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/pulpit/john/17.htm">Pulpit Commentary</a></div><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 4.</span> - He continues the prayer which he is offering for himself: <span class="cmt_word">I glorified thee on the earth, having finished</span> <span class="cmt_word">the work</span> <span class="cmt_word">which thou hast given me to do.</span> Many expositors urge a proleptical or anticipatory assertion of the completion of his earthly work, as though the Passion were already over, and he were now uttering the <span class="accented">consummatum est</span> of the cross. This is, however, included in the next clause. The night has come when the earthly ministry is at an end. The Jesus Christ, whom the Father has sent, has completed his task. The whole work of the earthly manifestation of the Word was at an. end. Suffering remains, the issues of the conflict with evil have to be encountered; but the die is cast - the thing is done. The godly life, as well as the atoning death, are correlative parts of the merits and work of Christ, and have glorified the Father. But what a self-consciousness beams forth in these simple words! St. Paul, on the verge of his martyrdom, in the midst of the horrors of the Neronian persecution, exclaimed, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course." But our Lord is unconscious of any coming short of the glory of God; and he even counts on higher power to glorify God by returning to a position which he had for a while vacated. John 17:4<a name="vws" id="vws"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/vws/john/17.htm">Vincent's Word Studies</a></div>I have glorified - I have finished (ἐδόξασα - ἐτελείωσα)<p>The best texts read, τελειώσας, having finished; the participle defining the manner in which He had glorified the Father upon earth. 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