John 20

John 20:8

And then upon his report John also, that other disciple which came before Peter (see note [c] ch. i.) to the sepulchre, went in, and saw how the swathes and napkin were laid, and believed what Mary and Peter had told him, and was thereby convinced that he was risen.

John 20:9

For as yet they were not assured by the proplecies of scripture that it was to be so, neither did

John 20:11

[a] looked into the sepulchre] Some difference there seemeth to be betwixt these narrations in this and in St. Luke’s Gospel. As, 1. Mary’s going to Peter, and his coming to the sepulchre, are here set down before the appearance of the angels; but in Luke the vision of the angels is first mentioned, ch. xxiv. 4, and her going, ver. 9, and Peter’s running to the sepulchre, ver. 12. And in the other Gospels there is no mention of her going till she had seen the vision. This seeming difference will be reconciled only by observing this one thing, (which hath been formerly observed, note [b] on the title of the Gospel, and note [d] Luke vi.) that Luke, writing from notes, which he had collected from eyewitnesses, and not from his own knowledge, observes not so exactly the order of time where things were done or spoken, but ofttimes, in another method, puts together things of affinity to one another, though not done or said at the same time; and so here sets down all that concerns the women together, and then after, that which concerns Peter, though part of that which concerned the

Z 2

John 20:14

And having said so, and received answer from the angels that he was risen from the dead, and that she should go and tell his disciples, &c., Matt. xxviii. 5, 6, Mark xvi. 6, 7, Luke xxiv. 6, she went from the sepulchre toward the place where the disciples were, Matt. xxviii. 8, and as she goes, (see note [a]), she sees a person standing, which indeed was Jesus, though she knew him not.

and I will carry him to his grave again, or provide some other burying-place for him.

This is not a time for me to company with you, ought to rise, δι’ αὐτόν. to themselves, πρὶς Ἰαυτοίς: see note [a].

John 20:21

[b] so send I you] The Jews have a saying that “a man’s apostle is as himself,” that is, is his vicarius, or proxy. For the Jews had apostles, whom they sent on their affairs into the countries, and are not to be looked on as bare messengers, but as their proxies or deputies, to receive their dues, and to act for them. So Saul was an apostle of the consistory to Damascus, Acts ix, with letters of commission from the rulers. Thus the Twelve, after Christ’s departure, had others,

John 20:22

[c] Receive ye the Holy Ghost] Λάβετε Πνεῦμα ἄγιον, Receive the Holy Ghost, signifies here not the actual giving of the Holy Ghost, (for that came not on them till Acts ii, and they are appointed to stay at Jerusalem, Luke xxiv. 49, till they were endued with power from above, which therefore now before his ascension they had not received, and when the Spirit came it would lead them into all truth, and as yet it appears by their question, Acts i. 6, that they were not thus led into all truth,) but only the confirming to them his former promise, (and, by the ceremony of breathing on them, to express the τὸ πνεῦμα, the eternal breath, and Spirit of God, sealing it, as it were, solemnly unto them,) and preparing and fitting them for the receiving of it. So saith Theophylact, Τὸ γὰρ [Λάβετε Πνεῦμα] ἀντὶ τοῦ γίνεσθε ἐπιτήδειοι πρὸς τὸ λαβεῖν Πνεῦμα, “The words [Receive the Holy Ghost] signify, Be ye ready to receive him.” And again, Ἐμφυσᾶ, οὐ τὴν τελείαν δωρεὰν τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος νῦν αὐτοῖς νέμων, &c. “He breathed on them, not now distributing the perfect gift of the Holy Ghost, for that was to be done at Pentecost, but fitting them for the receiving of it.” For though in the next words, whose sins, &c. the power of the keys, or stewardship in the church, were actually instated on them, yet was not this to be exercised by them till the Holy Ghost came down upon them, as Ephes. iv. 8, it is first, he gave gifts unto men, (at the descent of the Spirit,) and then, gave some apostles, &c. ver. 11. This interpretation of this place will direct to the full importance of those words, Luke xxiv. 49,

John 20:23

See note [h] Matt xvi., and tract, Of the Power of the Keys. ‘otherwise called Didymus, which by interpretation signifies the twin, was not with them—

[d] whose soever sins ye remit] That the power of binding and loosing, in St. Matthew, first promised, ch. xvi, then further described for the manner of it, ch. xviii, the power of the keys, of admitting and excluding out of the church, and so the power of excommunication put into the hands of the apostles first, and from them communicated to the succeeding governors of the church, is it which is here given by Christ, may appear by the words ἀφείναι, remit, and κρατίν, retain, which are perfectly all one with λύω and δίω, loosing and binding in St. Matthew. If there be any difference, it is only this, that δίω signifies to bind, κρατίω signifies to keep bound as well as to bind, in which respect κρατίω is here more proper in this place than the other, because the order is here inverted, and κρατήτε, retaining, put after ἀφήτε, remitting, and so the word which signifies to keep bound is more critically adapted to this place than δίω, to bind, would have been; and yet when binding is mentioned first, δῆσαι (as in the other places) is as exact as κρατήσαι. This slight difference being granted, the words are otherwise to all uses perfectly synonymous; ἀφήτε, remit, and λύσητε, loose, especially as applied to sin, both signify forgiving of it; the first referring to sin in the notion of a debt or thraldom, (to both which it is applied in the New Testament, to ἀφειλήματα, debts, Matt. vi. 12, αἰχμαλωσία, captivity, Luke iv. 18.) the second to sin in the notion of a band. So Gen. iv. 12, Μείζων ἡ αἰτία, or ἁμαρτία μου τοῦ ἀφεθῆναι, My sin is greater than can be forgiven. So Exod. xxxii. 21, Εἰ μὲν ἀφὲς αὐτοῖς ἁμαρτίαν, O that thou wouldest forgive them that sin. And so λύειν, Job xlii. 9, ἔλυσε τὴν ἁμαρτίαν αὐτοῖς διὰ Ἰὼβ, he forgave them their sin by Job, that is, by his mediation, where the Hebrew read נשא מנחם, God accepted the person of Job. So also for δίω and κρατίω, the same Hebrew word עצר is by the Septuagint rendered by both of them, δίω, Jer. xxxiii. 1, κρατίω, Dan. x. 8 and xi. 6; and so Acts ii. 24, κρατεῖσθαι, being holden, is set opposite to λύσας, loosing, and so must signify being kept bound; and so almost in all other places it signifies to hold fast, or take hold of, and is sometimes joined with ἔδησεν, (as holding fast is preparative to binding,) Matt. xiv. 3, κρατήσας ἔδησε, laying hold on him bound him; and Rev. xx. 2, ἐκράτησε καὶ ἔδησε, he held fast and bound. So in St. Basil, speaking of the freedom of Christians in their bands, he saith they are κεκρατημένοι ἀκράτητοι, bound, but not capable of binding. And accordingly it is affirmed by Theophylact, on Matt. xiii. that “Christ’s promise of the power of binding and loosing was fulfilled in these words, Whose sins you do remit, they are remitted,” &c. And therefore whatsoever is brought by k some to avoid the force of those places in

k M. Selden de Cal. Heb. et de Syned.

John 20:37

[f] They shall look on him whom —] This is one of the places in which (as also Rev. i. 7.) the evangelist quotes the testimony of the Old Testament, not from the Septuagint, but from the Hebrew text. For in the place of Zech. xii. 10, the Septuagint, or Greek translators, read καὶ βλέψονται πρὸς μὲ ἀνθ’ ὧν κατωρχήσαντο, reading, it seems, רקרו for רקרו, by the mistake of the two letters which are so like, τ and τ.

John 20:40

[g] linen clothes] Ὀθόνιον, as ὀθόνη, in Hesychius, signifies σινδών, ζώνη, τελαμών, and τελαμών is by him rendered δεσμός, φασκία, a band, or swathe; so ch. xx. 7; and so the κειρίαι, in the story of Lazarus, ch. xi. 44, which word is by grammarians derived from κήρ, mors, and so signifies peculiarly those swathes that belong to dead men, wherein their whole body was wound,

— πληκτήσιν ὅλον δέμας εἶχε κερείας,

saith Nonnus. In relation to which it is that, Acts v. 6, they are said to wind up Ananias, when he is dead.