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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - John 8:56 - 8:56
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56. ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν. Whom you so confidently claim (Joh 8:39; Joh 8:53): he rejoiced in expecting One whom ye scornfully reject.
ἠγαλλιάσατο ἵνα ἴδῃ. Exulted that he might see My day; the object of his joy being represented as the goal to which his heart is directed. This is a remarkable instance of S. John’s preference for the construction expressing a purpose, where other constructions would seem more natural. Comp. Joh 4:34; Joh 4:47, Joh 6:29; Joh 6:50, Joh 9:2-3; Joh 9:22, Joh 11:50, Joh 16:7. Abraham exulted in anticipation of the coming of the Messiah through implicit belief in the Divine promises. Winer, p. 426. ‘My day’ is most naturally interpreted of the Birth of Christ: comp. Luk 17:22. The aorists εἶδεν and ἐχάρη point to a definite event.
καὶ εἶδεν κ. ἐχάρη. A very important passage with regard to the intermediate state, shewing that the soul does not, as some maintain, remain unconscious between death and the Day of Judgment. The Old Testament saints in Paradise were allowed to know that the Messiah had come. How this was revealed to them we are not told; but here is a statement of the fact. Ἐχάρη expresses a calmer, less emotional joy than ἠγαλλιάσατο and therefore both are appropriate: ‘exulted’ while still on earth; ‘was glad’ in Hades: ‘exulted’ in tumultuous anticipation; ‘was glad’ in calm beholding. Thus the ‘Communion of Saints’ is assured, not merely in parables (Luk 16:27-28), but in the plain words of Scripture. Heb 12:1.