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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - John 14:27 - 14:27
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27. εἰρήνην ἀφ. This is probably a solemn adaptation of the conventional form of taking leave in the East: comp. ‘Go in peace,’ Jdg 18:6; 1Sa 1:17; 1Sa 20:42; 1Sa 29:7; 2Ki 5:19; Mar 5:34, &c. See notes on Jam 2:16 and 1Pe 5:14. The Apostle of the Gentiles perhaps purposely substitutes in his Epistles ‘Grace be with you all’ for the traditional Jewish ‘Peace.’ Τὴν ἐμήν is emphatic (Joh 8:31): this is no mere conventional wish.
οὐ καθώς. It seems best to understand ‘as’ literally of the world’s manner of giving, not of its gifts, as if ‘as’ were equivalent to ‘what.’ The world gives from interested motives, because it has received or hopes to receive as much again (Luk 6:33-34); it gives to friends and withholds from enemies (Mat 5:43); it gives what costs it nothing or what it cannot keep, as in the case of legacies; it pretends to give that which is not its own, especially when it says ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace (Jer 6:14). The manner of Christ’s giving is the very opposite of this. He gives what is His own, what He might have kept, what has cost Him a life of suffering and a cruel death to bestow, what is open to friend and foe alike, who have nothing of their own to give in return. With μὴ ταρασσέσθω comp. Joh 14:1. It shews that the peace is internal peace of mind, not external freedom from hostility. Δειλιᾷν, to be fearful, frequent in LXX., occurs here only in N.T.