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Selected Verse: John 12:35 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Joh 12:35 |
King James |
Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
| Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, &c.--Instead of answering their question, He warns them, with mingled majesty and tenderness, against trifling with their last brief opportunity, and entreats them to let in the Light while they have it in the midst of them, that they themselves might be "light in the Lord." In this case, all the clouds which hung around His Person and Mission would speedily be dispelled, while if they continued to hate the light, bootless were all His answers to their merely speculative or captious questions. (See on Luk 13:23). |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
Yet a little while is the light with you - Jesus did not reply directly to their question. He saw that they were offended by the mention of his death, and he endeavored to arrive at the same thing indirectly. He tells them, therefore, that the light would be with them a little while, and that they ought to improve the opportunity while they had it to listen to his instructions, to require with candor, and thus to forsake their false notions respecting the Messiah.
The light - Joh 1:4. It is probable that they understood this as denoting the Messiah. See Joh 8:12; "I am the light of the world;" Joh 9:4.
Walk ... - Joh 11:9. Whatever you have to do, do it while you enjoy this light. Make good use of your privileges before they are removed. That is, while the Messiah is with you, avail yourselves of his instructions and learn the way to life.
Lest darkness - Lest God should take away all your mercies, remove all light and instruction from you, and leave you to ignorance, blindness, and woe. This was true that darkness and calamity were to come upon the Jewish people when the Messiah was removed; and it is also true that God leaves a sinner to darkness and misery when he has long rejected the gospel.
For he ... - See Joh 11:10. |
| Vincent's Word Studies, by Marvin R. Vincent [1886] |
With you (μεθ' ὑμῶν)
The best texts read πάντα, among you.
While ye have (ἕως)
The best texts read ὡς, as: walk in conformity with the fact that you have the Light among you.
Lest darkness come upon you (ἵνα μὴ σξοτία ὑμᾶς καταλάβῃ)
Rev., better, that darkness overtake you not. On overtake see on taketh, Mar 9:18; and see on perceived, Act 4:13. |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| Then Jesus said to them - Not answering them directly, but exhorting them to improve what they had heard already. The light - I and my doctrine. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
Yet a little while is the light with you - In answer to their objection, our Lord compares himself to a light, which was about to disappear for a short time, and afterwards to shine forth with more abundant lustre; but not to their comfort, if they continued to reject its present beamings. He exhorts them to follow this light while it was among them. The Christ shall abide for ever, it is true; but he will not always be visible. When he shall depart from you, ye shall be left in the thickest darkness; in impenitence and hardness of heart. Then shall ye wish to see one of the days of the Son of man, and shall not see it, Luk 17:22. Then shall ye seek me, but shall not find me, Joh 7:34. For the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to the Gentiles, Mat 21:43. If ye believe not in me now, ye shall then wish ye had done it, when wishing shall be for ever fruitless.
Instead of μεθ' ὑμων, with you, εν ὑμιν, among you, is the reading of BDL, seventeen others; Coptic, Gothic, Slavonic, Vulgate, Itala; Cyril, Nonnus, and Victorinus. Griesbach has received it into the text. The meaning of both is nearly the same.
Lest darkness come upon you - Ye have a good part of your journey yet to go: ye cannot travel safely but in the daylight - that light is almost gone - run, that the darkness overtake you not, or in it ye shall stumble, fall, and perish!
Reader, is thy journey near an end? There may be but a very little time remaining to thee. O, run, fly to Christ, lest the darkness of death overtake thee, before thy soul have found redemption in his blood! |
23 Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them,
10 But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.
9 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.
4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
18 And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.
43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
34 Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come.
22 And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it.