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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - John 10:30 - 10:30
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30. ἐγὼ κ. ὁ π. ἕν ἐσμεν. I and the Father are one; one Substance, not one Person (εἶς). Comp. Joh 17:22-23, and contrast ἅπαντες γὰρ ὑμεῖς εἶς ἐστε ἐν χρ. Ἰ.,—‘are one man, one conscious agent’ (Gal 3:28); and τοὺς δύο κτίσῃ ἐν ἑαυτῷ εἰς ἕνα καινὸν ἄνθρωπον (Eph 2:15). Christ has just implied that His hand and the Father’s hand are one, which implies that He and the Father are one; and this He now asserts. They are one in power, in will, and in action: this at the very least the words must mean; the Arian interpretation of mere moral agreement is inadequate. Whether or no Unity of Substance is actually stated here, it is certainly implied, as the Jews see. They would stone Him for making Himself God, which He would not have done had He not asserted or implied that He and the Father were one in Substance, not merely in will. And Christ does not correct them, as assuredly He would have done, had their animosity arisen out of a gross misapprehension of His words. Comp. Rev 20:6; Rev 22:3. S. Augustine is therefore right in stating that ἐσμέν refutes Sabellius, who denied the distinction, while ἕν refutes Arius, who denied the equality, between the Father and the Son. Comp. Tert. adv. Prax. 22; Hippol. c. Noet. 7.