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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - John 15:27 - 15:27
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27. καὶ ὑμ. δὲ μ. Nay, ye also bear witness, or Nay, bear ye also witness (Winer, p. 53): but the conjunctions are against μαρτυρεῖτε being imperative; comp. 3Jn 1:12 and see on Joh 15:18 and Joh 8:16. The testimony of the disciples is partly the same as that of the Spirit, partly not. It is the same, so far as it depends on the illumination of the Spirit, who was to bring all things to their remembrance and lead them into all truth. This would not be true in its fulness until Pentecost. It is not the same, so far as it depends upon the Apostles’ own personal experience of Christ and His work; and this is marked by the emphatic ὑμεῖς. This is the case at once; the experience is already there; and hence the present tense. Comp. Act 5:32, where the Apostles clearly set forth the twofold nature of their testimony, and Act 15:28, where there is a parallel distinction of the two factors.
ἀπ' ἀρχῆς. Comp. 1Jn 2:7; 1Jn 2:24; 1Jn 3:11 and especially Joh 3:8, where as here we have the present: Winer, p. 334. The context must decide the meaning (see on Joh 1:1, Joh 6:64): here the beginning of Christ’s ministry is clearly meant. They could bear witness as to what they themselves had seen and heard (Luk 1:2; Act 1:22). see on Joh 16:4.