Unknown origin; living water; light of the world (John 7:27–8:16)
has been unknown to you, he says, and it is no wonder if you do not know me, that I am the Christ, since you do not know the one from whom I am.
Those were saying about the Jerusalemites, "Have they not known that this is the Christ?" while they themselves held the opposite and said, "We know this man, that he is from earth and is 'son of the carpenter,' but as for the Christ, we do not know him."
He is visible to me alone, since I am God by nature and not of created nature, who know the Father only by thoughts as they can. But his Son contemplates the whole Begetter in himself and paints the Begetter's essence in his own nature, and so knows him as cannot be said; for the things concerning God are inexpressible.
From this we learn that he suffered willingly and was not seized by Jewish greed. By hour he means the timely outcome of the affairs.
By what they murmured they appear accepting Christ and wanting to split from the leaders. Sensing this, the leaders sent to seize him for this alone—that he was believed to be the Christ—so that they might destroy him.
When all were running together and about to go home, then he teaches, that they may have his words as provision for the way.
I drag no one by force, but the one who has much eagerness. He spoke thus to teach that those who run to faith ought to have the thirsting ones' desire, who when they drink find rest.
Since the law calls the seventh a "holy convocation," following old custom the evangelist also called it great.
The faithful will receive as faith's repayment abundant goods, and will have such a gift from the Holy Spirit that they not only rejoice themselves but also share the Spirit's grace with others, so that those too no longer thirst for knowledge of the truth.
He does not refer the saying to the hypostasis, but to the Spirit's energy, which came after Christ's resurrection.
They said well that the Christ must be from David's seed and from Bethlehem. They err because of Nazareth, where he was raised, though he was born in Bethlehem from the virgin of David.
He shows that he is the one of whom it was proclaimed beforehand, "I have set you as a light for the nations" (Isaiah 49:6), and not one of the prophets but Lord.
He called himself the light, not that the light is in me, lest someone cut the one Christ into a duality of sons; for there is one Christ Son both before flesh and after flesh, and one and only true Son from God and Father, and when he became man human nature is not set in a part; for the body is his own, and to cut Christ after the incarnation into two sons or two natures (for it is the same) is blasphemous.
If they had known that he was God's Son and came down from heaven, they would not have taken offense because of the visible body. "I am God," he says, "and I witness to myself worthily; but you do not know me for this reason, because you want to understand nothing except what appears." He did not say "I am God," but "where I come from," mixing lowly with high. "You do not know where I come from and where I go"; for they were willfully wicked and pretended not to know.
Looking at my appearing body you judge my affairs wrongly.
For I did not come for these things, since it is not a time of judgment; if I wanted to judge, you are among the condemned. "I did not come" now "to judge the world" but to save (John 12:47).
He says this toward the hearers' suspicion—that is, my judgment is the Father's, and I do not judge otherwise than the Father, nor the Father otherwise than the Son. He did not say this as weak about judging, but that with the Son the Father is going to judge those who disbelieve the one sent from him.
Greek
φησίν, ἠγνόηται ὑμῖν καὶ οὐδὲν ἀπεικός, εἰ ἀγνοεῖτέ με, ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ Χριστός, οὐκ ® εἰδότες τὸν ἐξ οὗ εἰμι. 255 {3Jο 7, 26 27}3Ἐκεῖνοι μὲν περὶ τῶν Ἱεροσολυμιτῶν ἔλεγον τὸ μήποτε ἔγνωσαν, ὅτι αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ Χριστός, αὐτοὶ δὲ τὸ ἐναντίον δοξάζοντες ἔλεγον· τοῦτον οἴδαμεν, ὅτι ἐκ γῆς ἐστι καὶ «υἱός» ἐστι «τοῦ τέκτονος», τὸν δὲ Χριστόν, φασίν, οὐκ οἴδαμεν. 256 {3Jο 7, 29}3Ἐμοὶ μόνῳ θεατός ἐστιν, ἐπείπερ θεός εἰμι κατὰ φύσιν καὶ οὐ τῆς γεν νητῆς φύσεως, οἵτινες ἐννοίαις μόνον κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν γινώσκουσι τὸν πατέρα. ὁ δὲ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ὅλον ἐν ἑαυτῷ θεωρεῖ τὸν γεννήσαντα καὶ τὴν τοῦ τεκόντος οὐσίαν ἐν τῇ οἰκείᾳ φύσει ζωγραφεῖ καὶ οὕτως οἶδεν αὐτὸν ὡς οὐκ ἔστιν εἰπεῖν· ἀνέκφραστα γὰρ τὰ περὶ θεοῦ. 257 {3Jο 7, 30}3∆ιὰ τούτου μανθάνομεν, ὅτι ἑκὼν ἔπαθε καὶ οὐκ ἐκ πλεονεξίας Ἰουδαϊκῆς συλληφθείς. ὥραν δὲ λέγει τὴν εὔκαιρον τῶν πραγμάτων ἔκβασιν. 258 {3Jο 7, 32}3∆ι' ὧν ἐγόγγυζον φαίνονται ἀποδεχόμενοι τὸν Χριστὸν καὶ θέλοντες ἀπὸ τῶν ἡγουμένων ἀποσχίσαι. ὅπερ αἰσθανόμενοι οἱ ἡγούμενοι ἔπεμψαν συλλα βέσθαι αὐτὸν διὰ τοῦτο μόνον, ὅτι ἐπιστεύετο εἶναι ὁ Χριστός, ἵνα αὐτὸν ἀνέλωσιν. 259 {3Jο 7, 37}3Ὅτε πάντες συνέτρεχον καὶ ἔμελλον ἀναχωρεῖν οἴκοι, τότε διδάσκει, ἵνα σχῶσιν ἐφόδιον τοὺς αὐτοῦ λόγους. 260 {3Jο 7, 37}3Οὐδένα βίᾳ ἐφέλκομαι, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἔχοντα προθυμίαν πολλήν. διὰ δὲ τοῦτο οὕτως εἶπεν ὅπως διδάξῃ, ὅτι ὀφείλουσιν οἱ τῇ πίστει προστρέχοντες τὸν τῶν διψώντων ἔρωτα ἔχειν, οἵτινες ὅταν πίωσιν ἀναπαύονται. 261 {3Jο 7, 37}3Ἐπειδὴ ὁ νόμος κλητὴν ἁγίαν καλεῖ τὴν ἑβδόμην, ἔθει παλαιῷ καὶ ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς ἀκολουθήσας μεγάλην αὐτὴν εἶπε. 262 {3Jο 7, 38}3Οἱ πιστοὶ ἀμοιβὴν τῆς πίστεως λήψονται τὰ ἄφθονα ἀγαθὰ καὶ τοσαύτην ἕξουσιν ἐκ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος δωρεὰν ὡς μὴ μόνον αὐτοὺς εὐφραίνεσθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἑτέροις μεταδιδόναι τῆς τοῦ πνεύματος χάριτος ὡς μηκέτι μηδὲ ἐκεί νους διψᾶν τῆς ἀληθείας τὴν γνῶσιν. 263 {3Jο 7, 39}3Οὐκ ἐπὶ τὴν ὑπόστασιν ἀναφέρει τὸν λόγον, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τὴν τοῦ πνεύματος ἐνέργειαν, ἥτις γέγονε μετὰ τὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἀνάστασιν. ® 264 {3Jο 7, 41 42}3Καλῶς μὲν ἔλεγον, ὅτι δεῖ ἐκ σπέρματος ∆αβὶδ εἶναι τὸν Χριστὸν καὶ ἀπὸ Βηθλέεμ. πλανῶνται δὲ διὰ τὴν Ναζαρέθ, ἐν ᾗ ἦν ἀνατεθραμμένος καίπερ γεννηθέντος αὐτοῦ ἐν Βηθλέεμ ἐκ τῆς παρθένου τῆς ἐκ ∆αβίδ. 265 {3Jο 8, 12}3∆είκνυσιν, ὅτι αὐτός ἐστι περὶ οὗ προανεφώνησεν «ἰδοὺ τέθεικά σε εἰς φῶς ἐθνῶν» καὶ οὐχ εἷς τῶν προφητῶν, ἀλλὰ δεσπότης. 266 {3Jο 8, 12}3 266Ἑαυτὸν εἶπε τὸ φῶς, οὐ μήν, ὅτι ἐν ἐμοί ἐστι τὸ φῶς, ἵνα μή τις εἰς δυάδα υἱῶν διατέμνῃ τὸν ἕνα Χριστόν· εἷς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ Χριστὸς υἱὸς καὶ πρὸ σαρκὸς καὶ μετὰ σαρκὸς καὶ εἷς καὶ μόνος κατὰ ἀλήθειαν υἱὸς ὁ ἐκ θεοῦ καὶ πατρὸς καὶ ὅτε γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος οὐκ ἐν μέρει τιθεμένης τῆς ἀνθρώπου φύσεως· αὐτοῦ γὰρ ἴδιον τὸ σῶμα καὶ τὸ διατέμνειν τὸν Χριστὸν μετὰ τὴν σάρκωσιν εἰς δύο υἱοὺς ἢ εἰς δύο φύσεις (ταὐτὸν γάρ) ἐστὶν βλάσφημον. 267 {3Jο 8, 14}3Εἰ ᾔδεισαν, ὅτι θεοῦ ἦν υἱὸς καὶ ἀπ' οὐρανοῦ κατῆλθεν, οὐκ ἂν διὰ τὸ βλεπόμενον σῶμα ἐσκανδαλίζοντο. θεός εἰμι, φησίν, καὶ ἀξιοπίστως ἐμαυτῷ μαρτυρῶ, ὑμεῖς δὲ διὰ τοῦτό με οὐκ οἴδατε, ἐπειδὴ οὐδὲν θέλετε <πλὴν> τοῦ φαινομένου νοεῖν. οὐκ εἶπε δέ, ὅτι θεός εἰμι, ἀλλὰ πόθεν ἔρχομαι, ταπεινὰ μιγνὺς τῷ ὑψηλῷ. ὑμεῖς δέ, φησίν, οὐκ οἴδατε πόθεν ἔρχομαι καὶ ποῦ ὑπάγω· ἐθελοκάκουν γὰρ καὶ προσεποιοῦντο μὴ εἰδέναι. 268 {3Jο 8, 15}3Πρὸς τὸ φαινόμενον σῶμά μου ἀφορῶντες ἐσφαλμένως τὰ κατ' ἐμὲ κρί νετε. 269 {3Jο 8, 15}3Οὐ γὰρ ἐπὶ τούτοις ἦλθον, ἐπείπερ οὐκ ἔστι καιρὸς κρίσεως· εἰ γὰρ ἤθελον κρῖναι, ὑμεῖς τῶν καταδεδικασμένων ἐστέ. «οὐκ ἦλθον» νῦν εἰς τὸ κρῖναι «τὸν κόσμον», ἀλλ' εἰς τὸ σῶσαι. 270 {3Jο 8, 16}3Πρὸς τὴν ὑπόνοιαν τῶν ἀκουόντων λέγει τοῦτο, τοῦτ' ἔστιν ἡ ἐμὴ κρίσις τοῦ πατρός ἐστιν καὶ οὐκ ἄλλως ἐγὼ παρὰ τὸν πατέρα κρίνω ἢ ὁ πατὴρ παρὰ τὸν υἱόν. οὐχ ὡς ἀσθενῶν περὶ τοῦ κρῖναι τοῦτο εἶπεν, ἀλλ' ὅτι σὺν τῷ υἱῷ ὁ πατὴρ μέλλει κρῖναι τοὺς ἀπιστοῦντας τῷ ἀπεσταλμένῳ ἐξ αὐτοῦ. 271 {3Jο 8, ®
About this text
Ammonius of Alexandria, Fragmenta in Joannem (Greek).
Catalogue & scope
Khazarzar scan
Witnesses
- Copy-text PG 85 (Khazarzar) (Greek)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.