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John 17:1-5, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
John 17:1-5
Jesus Prays for Glory and Completes the Given Work
The hour's glory is completed work, not an escape into fame.
Jesus lifts his eyes and says the hour has come. He asks the Father to glorify the Son so that the Son may glorify the Father. Authority over all flesh was given so that he might give eternal life to those given him. Eternal life is this: knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent. He has finished the work given him, and he asks to be glorified in the Father's presence with the glory he had before the world was.
Glory in John embraces the cross, resurrection, return, and preexistent relation. It does not mean celebrity, wealth, domination, or escape from embodied suffering. Knowing God is living relationship, not a stack of correct sentences. Calling the Father 'the only true God' alongside the sent Jesus Christ contributes to later Trinitarian theology; this paragraph does not exhaust that later debate by itself.
How this should shape us
Seek the kind of glory that looks like finished obedience, not a platform. Treat eternal life as knowing God through the sent Son rather than as religious status, and do not use preexistence language to skip the hour of suffering or to treat bodies as a problem to leave behind.
Teach it back
Explain John 17:1-5 in your own words. Include its place in John's movement, the decisive claim or action, one sourced uncertainty, and one use the passage does not authorize.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph flags, supplied-word markup, and coverage.
John 17:1-5, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Greek wording, sentence relations, and critical-text reading checked independently of the KJV.
Faithlife SBLGNT official repository, data/sblgnt/text/John.txt, 17:1-5
Supports: Greek forms, morphology, and lexical ranges; context controls sense.
STEP Bible Data official repository, TAGNT John data, rows for 17:1-5
Supports: Verse-level syntax, older-English clarification, material variants, background, and alternatives.
NET Bible John PDF, John 17:1-5 and attached translator, study, and textual notes
Supports: Current historical-critical synthesis, narrative movement, Jewish context, signs, Christology, Spirit, Passion, and resurrection.
Enter the Bible John course, Farewell and Spirit materials; applied to 17:1-5
Supports: Literary, historical, theological, gender-aware, sacramental, and reader-oriented interpretation.
Yale Bible Study, Gospel of John course, Last Supper and Farewell Discourses study guide; applied to 17:1-5
Supports: Complete confessional evangelical interpretation, represented as a strong traditioned view rather than consensus.
Köstenberger, “John,” commentary heading covering John 17:1-5
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph flags, supplied-word markup, and coverage.
Exact location: John 17:1-5, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording, sentence relations, and critical-text reading checked independently of the KJV.
Exact location: Faithlife SBLGNT official repository, data/sblgnt/text/John.txt, 17:1-5
Open the John Greek text file ↗Lexical and grammatical evidence
STEP Bible Data
Tyndale House Cambridge
Tyndale House Cambridge, repository snapshot verified 2026
Supports: Greek forms, morphology, and lexical ranges; context controls sense.
Exact location: STEP Bible Data official repository, TAGNT John data, rows for 17:1-5
Open source ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — John with translators' and textual notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2005–2026 online edition
Supports: Verse-level syntax, older-English clarification, material variants, background, and alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible John PDF, John 17:1-5 and attached translator, study, and textual notes
Open the official NET John PDF ↗modern scholarly book introduction
John course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, theological themes, and Bible in the world
Craig R. Koester; revised by Karoline M. Lewis
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, 2024 revision; current course inspected 2026
Supports: Current historical-critical synthesis, narrative movement, Jewish context, signs, Christology, Spirit, Passion, and resurrection.
Exact location: Enter the Bible John course, Farewell and Spirit materials; applied to 17:1-5
Open the Enter the Bible John course ↗modern scholarly narrative and theological course
The Gospel of John: course introduction and twelve study guides
Harold W. Attridge and Michal Beth Dinkler
Yale Bible Study, Yale Divinity School, Current online edition inspected 2026
Supports: Literary, historical, theological, gender-aware, sacramental, and reader-oriented interpretation.
Exact location: Yale Bible Study, Gospel of John course, Last Supper and Farewell Discourses study guide; applied to 17:1-5
Open the Yale Gospel of John course ↗modern open confessional commentary
John
Andreas J. Köstenberger
The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary, Current online edition inspected 2026
Supports: Complete confessional evangelical interpretation, represented as a strong traditioned view rather than consensus.
Exact location: Köstenberger, “John,” commentary heading covering John 17:1-5
Open Köstenberger's John commentary ↗