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Joh 21:23. Ὁ λόγος, the saying) See how much more trustworthy is the written letter than a saying. The saying, even among the brethren, was without any fraudulent intention, interpolated: the hand (writing) of the apostles, applies the remedy, and the benefit of it is preserved to us even to the present day. The patrons of traditions are themselves at war both with the ancient and new books of Scripture.-ἀδελφοὺς, brethren) viz. those Seven mentioned in Joh 21:2, and the remaining brethren of that age, or rather those who were living when John wrote. Otherwise there would have been no need to refute the error at so late a period [as when the apostle wrote this Gospel]: the error seems to be confirmed by the fact of the apostle’s continuing to live so long. They learned the appellation, Brethren, from ch. Joh 20:17.-ἐκεῖνος, that disciple) This pronoun has the effect of amplifying (giving distinction or eminence to one).-οὐκ ἀποθνήσκει, doth not die) They substitute this for different words, omitting ἐὰν, ἓως, if-until, and extending (straining) too much the antithesis between the following (‘Follow’) and the remaining (‘tarry’). However they recognised the fact, that at the actual coming of the Lord, all mortality shall be abolished. This affords a specimen of the weakness of understanding which remained in the disciples before the coming of the Paraclete; nay more, a specimen of the universal want of dexterity, on the part of men, in understanding the words of Christ, especially those in the Apocalypse, of which there is given in this place a contraction.-καὶ οὐκ, and not) John carefully obviates the explanation, as foreign to the purpose and erroneous, lest an utterance should be attributed to Christ, which was not really His. For when John was dead, one thing might seem to have been foretold to him by the Lord, and a different thing to have come to pass. In the Divine words, all the points are to be precisely held fast; and we must especially guard against making any addition to them: Rev 22:18. [For by a very slight change of the words, and such a change as may seem to be of no consequence, the genuine sense may be wrested.-V. g.] Such care did John and the other Evangelists employ in reporting the words of Christ, They have not reported all things in just so many and identically the same words; but yet altogether according to the mind (sentiment) of the Lord, so that they may be and ought to be regarded exactly the same as if they had employed just so many and identically the same words.