A COMMENTARY, CRITICAL, EXPOSITORY, AND PRACTICAL, ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN, FOR THE USE OF MINISTERS, THEOLOGICAL STUDENTS, PRIVATE CHRISTIANS, BY Jason JOHN J. OWEN, D.D. NEW YORK: LEAVITT & ALLEN, 24 WALKER STREET. 1860. From the library of Prof. A. P, PEABODY 82) ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by JOHN J. OWEN, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. JOHN F. TROW, PRINTER, STEREOTYPER, AND ELECTROTYPEE, 48 & 0 Greene Street, New York. PREFACE. THE Commentary on John here presented to the Christian public, constitutes the third volume in the contemplated series, the one on Acts alone remaining to be published. The same general plan and principles of interpretation, which in the preface to the first volume. were referred to as characterizing this series, have been closely adhered to in the preparation of the present volume. The author has taken unwearied pains not only to evolve the true sense of every word and passage, but also to render it plain and easy of comprehension to the common reader. This however he has found to be a task of no ordinary difficulty. So elevated and spiritual are the themes of this Gospel, that it requires incessant watchfulness on the part of the expositor, against the use of technical and scholastic forms of expression, understood only by the learned, or those who have made the science of exegesis a professional study. In the preface to the first volume, special mention is made of the works to which I have had access in the preparation of this Commentary on the Gospels. Through the kindness of a highly valued ministerial friend, I have been enabled to avail myself of that rare and excellent old work, "Hutcheson's Exposition of John," London, 1657; which for richness of exposition and profound views of the doctrinal features of this Gospel, has in my judgment no superior in of the commentaries on this portion of Scripture. any Prof. Howard Crosby's Scholia on the New Testament, yet in manuscript, but soon I hope to be published, have furnished me valuable hints and suggestions, all of which, as well as those derived from other commentators, I have aimed in every instance to duly acknowledge. If at any time I have failed in this recognition and acknowledgment of the labors of others, it has resulted from inadvertence and not design. It has given me unfeigned pleasure to introduce to my readers the names of those who have won for themselves an honorable distinction, as sound and able expositors of divine truth. The names of Henry, Doddridge, Scott, Stier, Tholuck, Alford, Stuart, Hodge, Barnes, Alexander, Jacobus, and others, are dear to the church of Christ, as those whose labors have been directed to the elucidation of God's word, and the rendering of it more plain and familiar to His people. It is the author's sincere prayer that his humble labors in this department, may not be wholly useless, and especially that this volume upon which he has spent so many toilsome but pleasant hours, may contribute its mite to the better understanding of the Gospel of John, of which Chrysostom says, that "it conveys such good things that those who receive and guard it with diligence and earnestness, are no longer men, no more abide upon earth; they have placed themselves above the things of time, they are partakers of the state of angels, and thus dwell upon earth, as if it were heaven.” NEW YORK, May 10, 1860. JOHN. J OWEN. PREFACE TO THE GOSPEL OF JOHN. JOHN was the son of Zebedee a fisherman of Galilee (Matt. 4:21). The place of his residence was probably Bethsaida, the birth place of Philip, Andrew, and Peter (John 1: 44). His mother's name was Salome (see Mark 15:40; 16:1, compared with Matt. 27:56). It is quite evident from what is related in Mark 1:20, that Zebedee was a man in good circumstances. This appears also from the fact, that Salome was one of those women of Galilee who ministered of their substance to Jesus (compare Luke 8:2, 3, with Matt. 27:55, 56; Mark 15: 40, 41). John also is said to have taken the mother of Jesus to his own home (John 19: 27), which, while it furnishes no evidence that he had a house in Jerusalem, indicates beyond question, that he was in a condition to receive and support her.. His social position may also be inferred from the fact which he records of himself (18: 15), that he was known to the high priest. This family distinction may have been the inciting motive for the request made by the mother of John and James, that Jesus would assign them the highest place of dignity in the kingdom which he was about to establish (Matt, 20: 20, 21; Mark 10: 35-37). It is generally supposed that John was himself the disciple, whom he records in 1: 35-40, as walking with Andrew and seeking an interview with Jesus, in reference to whom John the Baptist had just before pronounced so high a testimony, as he was walking on the bank of the Jordan. If so, he must have been with Jesus from the very beginning of his ministry, and was therefore an eye-witness of almost every thing which he relates of his Divine Master. From the time of his call to the discipleship, he became the devoted friend and follower of his Lord, and most zealously, although sometimes in a way which met with a slight rebuke from Jesus (Mark 9:38; Luke 9:54-56), espoused his cause and manifested a jealousy for his honor and dignity. There must have been in him a rare combination of moral excellence and personal amiability, to have received |