After the Last Supper, Jesus prays. He just said we are united by being in each other's hands.
John 17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
John 17:22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—
And, myself? The reputation that you have given me I have given them , so that they may be one just as we are one.
Jesus is expanding in this verse on his definition of being "one" or "being united." The Greek term translated as "glory" primarily means "reputation," and this seems to be the way Jesus uses it more frequently (see this article). This "reputation" may refer to the title of being "the Anointed." This title is shared among Jesus's followers as Christians. So, sharing a reputation is being "one." The leader is recognized in his followers. The Father is recognized in the son.
When we reflect the reputations of our leaders.
- CW --Confusing Word -- The "glory" does not capture the word's more general meaning.
- WT --Wrong Tense - The English verb "gave" is the past tense, but Greek is in the past perfect, a completed action, "have given."
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "myself" is not shown in the English translation.
- MW -- Missing Word -- The pronoun repeats the information in the verb so it should be repeated in English like "we ourselves.."
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "and" is not shown in the English translation.
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "myself" is not shown in the English translation.
- CW --Confusing Word -- The "glory" does not capture the word's more general meaning.
- WT --Wrong Tense - The English verb "gave" is the past tense, but Greek is in the past perfect, a completed action, "have given."
- MW -- Missing Word -- The pronoun repeats the information in the verb so it should be repeated in English like "we ourselves.."
And -- This is from "and I/me," a contraction of the conjunction "and" and the first person pronoun, "I/me." It appears below. This "I" is a subject appearing later in the verse.
the -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article; without a noun, it has the sense of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more.
glory -- (CW) The Greek noun translated as "glory" means "expectation," "notion," "opinion," "repute," and "popular repute." Translations as "glory" or "splendor" are found primarily in translating the Bible. Though it can have both a positive ("shining reputation") and negative ("bad repute") in Greek, Jesus only uses it to describe the word's "magnificent" aspect. The verb form has the sense of "recognize," but "recognition" while positive in the sense of rewarding people simply means knowing them in the noun form. See this article.
which -- The word translated as "which" is a demonstrative pronoun ("this" "that"), but it often acts as a pronoun "which," "what," "who," "whosoever," "where," "for which reason," and many similar meanings.
thou -- This is from the second-person, singular form of the verb.
gavest " -- (WT) The verb translated as "gavest" means "to give," "to grant," "to hand over," "appoint," "establish," and "to describe." It is almost always translated as some form of "give." The tense is the past perfect, "have given."
me -- The "me" is in the indirect object form of the first-person pronoun, so usually "to me,""for me," and "by me." A dative object of a preposition implies no movement, but in a fixed position, events that occur at a specified time or while the action was being performed.
I - This is from the earlier contraction "and I." Since the verb is already in the first person, subjective pronoun. The addition of this pronoun is like saying "and I myself," emphasizing the first-person speaker.
missing "myself" -- (MW) The -go represents the first-person, subjective pronoun, "I" The subjective pronoun repeats the information in the verb so it should be repeated in English like "I myself."
have -- This helping verb "have" indicates that the verb is the tense indicating an action completed in the past.
given -- The verb translated as "given" means "to give," "to grant," "to hand over," "appoint," "establish," and "to describe." It is almost always translated as some form of "give."
them;-- The word translated as "them" or "to them" is the Greek adjective that acts like our third-person pronoun. The form is the third person, plural as an indirect object of the verb or the object of a preposition.
that -- The word translated as "that" is a conjunction that starts a subordinate clause "that," "when," "in order that" "when," or "because." It is used as an introduction to a command, where it isn't translated. -- The word translated as "there" is an adverb "in that place," "there," "where," or "when."
they -- This is from the third-person, plural form of the verb.
may -- This helping verb "may" indicates that the verb indicates a possibility, the subjunctive. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.
be -- The verb "be" here is the common form of "to be" in Greek. It means to have a certain characteristic or remain in a certain condition. It also equates terms or assigns characteristics. The word also means "to exist" and where it doesn't connect to characteristics or conditions. With the genitive object, the sense is "belongs to." With an indirect object, it means "have" where the subject and object are reversed. -- When the verb "to be" appears early in the clause before the subject, the sense is more like "it is" or, in the plural, "there are."
one, -- The Greek word translated as "one " means "one" (as opposed to other numbers), "single," and "one and the same."As in English, it can be used as a pronoun, meaning a single person.
even as -- "As" is from a Greek word that means which means "even as," "how," and, in relating to time, "as" and "when."
we - This is from the first-person, plural pronoun. Since this information is part of the verb, the pronoun is only used to emphasize it as we might say "we ourselves" in English.
missing "ourselves" -- (MW) The subject pronoun repeats the information in the verb so it should be repeated in English like "we ourselves."
are -- There is no verb "are" here in the Greek source but it is implied by the noun in the form of a subject having no verb associated with it.
one: -- The Greek word translated as "one " means "one" (as opposed to other numbers), "single," and "one and the same."As in English, it can be used as a pronoun, meaning a single person.
missing "and" -- (MW) The untranslated word "and I/me," a contraction of the conjunction "and" and the first person pronoun, "I/me." It appears below. This "I" is a subject appearing later in the verse.
I - This is from the earlier contraction "and I." Since the verb is already in the first person, subjective pronoun. The addition of this pronoun is like saying "and I myself," emphasizing the first-person speaker.
missing "myself" -- (MW) The -go represents the first-person, subjective pronoun, "I" The subjective pronoun repeats the information in the verb so it should be repeated in English like "I myself."
have -- This helping verb "have" indicates that the verb is the tense indicating an action completed in the past.
given -- The verb translated as "given" means "to give," "to grant," "to hand over," "appoint," "establish," and "to describe." It is almost always translated as some form of "give."
them;-- The word translated as "them" or "to them" is the Greek adjective that acts like our third-person pronoun. The form is the third person, plural as an indirect object of the verb or the object of a preposition.
the -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article; without a noun, it has the sense of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more.
glory -- (CW) The Greek noun translated as "glory" means "expectation," "notion," "opinion," "repute," and "popular repute." Translations as "glory" or "splendor" are found primarily in translating the Bible. Though it can have both a positive ("shining reputation") and negative ("bad repute") in Greek, Jesus only uses it to describe the word's "magnificent" aspect. The verb form has the sense of "recognize," but "recognition" while positive in the sense of rewarding people simply means knowing them in the noun form. See this article.
that -- The word translated as "that" is a demonstrative pronoun ("this" "that"), but it often acts as a pronoun "which," "what," "who," "whosoever," "where," "for which reason," and many similar meanings.
you -- This is from the second-person, singular form of the verb.
gave " -- (WT) The verb translated as "gave" means "to give," "to grant," "to hand over," "appoint," "establish," and "to describe." It is almost always translated as some form of "give." The tense is the past perfect, "have given."
me -- The "me" is in the indirect object form of the first-person pronoun, so usually "to me,""for me," and "by me." A dative object of a preposition implies no movement, but in a fixed position, events that occur at a specified time or while the action was being performed.
that -- The word translated as "that" is a conjunction that starts a subordinate clause "that," "when," "in order that" "when," or "because." It is used as an introduction to a command, where it isn't translated. -- The word translated as "there" is an adverb "in that place," "there," "where," or "when."
they -- This is from the third-person, plural form of the verb.
may -- This helping verb "may" indicates that the verb indicates a possibility, the subjunctive. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.
be -- The verb "be" here is the common form of "to be" in Greek. It means to have a certain characteristic or remain in a certain condition. It also equates terms or assigns characteristics. The word also means "to exist" and where it doesn't connect to characteristics or conditions. With the genitive object, the sense is "belongs to." With an indirect object, it means "have" where the subject and object are reversed. -- When the verb "to be" appears early in the clause before the subject, the sense is more like "it is" or, in the plural, "there are."
one, -- The Greek word translated as "one " means "one" (as opposed to other numbers), "single," and "one and the same."As in English, it can be used as a pronoun, meaning a single person.
as -- "As" is from a Greek word that means which means "even as," "how," and, in relating to time, "as" and "when."
we - This is from the first-person, plural pronoun. Since this information is part of the verb, the pronoun is only used to emphasize it as we might say "we ourselves" in English.
missing "ourselves" -- (MW) The subject pronoun repeats the information in the verb so it should be repeated in English like "we ourselves."
are -- There is no verb "are" here in the Greek source but it is implied by the noun in the form of a subject having no verb associated with it.
one: -- The Greek word translated as "one " means "one" (as opposed to other numbers), "single," and "one and the same."As in English, it can be used as a pronoun, meaning a single person.
κἀγὼ [34 verses](conj, pron 1st sg masc nom ) "And...I" is kago, a contraction of kai-ego. It also appears as a contraction of other forms of the pronoun, kamoi (dative) and kame (acc). "And" is kai-, which is the conjunction joining phrases and clauses, "and," or "also." After words implying sameness, "as" (the same opinion as you). Used in series, joins positive with negative "Not only...but also." Also used to give emphasis, "even," "also," and "just." "I" is -ego, which is the first-person singular pronoun meaning "I." It also means "I at least," "for my part," "indeed," and "for myself." --
τὴν [821 verses](article sg fem acc) "The" is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the").
δόξαν[26 verses](noun sg fem acc) "Glory" is doxa, which means "expectation," "notion," "opinion," "repute," and "popular repute." Translations as "glory" or "splendor" are found primarily in translating the Bible. The words "recognition," "honor." and "reputation" come closest to capturing the Greek word, but Jesus uses it only in the most positive sense so "prominence" may come closest.
ἣν [294 verses](pron sg fem acc) "Which" is hos, which means "this," "that," "he," "she," "which," "what," "who," "whosoever," "where," "for which reason," and many similar meanings.
δέδωκάς [147 verses](2nd sg perf ind act) "Thou gavest" is didomi, which means "to give," "to grant," "to hand over," "appoint," "establish," and "to describe.
μοί, [96 verses](pron 1st sg masc/fem dat) "Me" is moi (emoi) , which can be the object of some prepositions and as the object of a verb means "to me" "for me," and "by me."
δέδωκα [147 verses](1st sg perf ind act) "I have given" is didomi, which means "to give," "to grant," "to hand over," "appoint," "establish," and "to describe."
αὐτοῖς, [55 verses](pron/adj pl masc dat) "Them" is the dative case of the third-person, plural adjective that is used as a pronoun. The word also means "the same,""one's true self," and "the soul" as opposed to the body. It also means "of one's own accord."
In the source I use, the following is found in the next verse of Greek
ἵνα [134 verses](adv/conj) "That" is hina, which means "in that place," "there," "where," "when," but when beginning a phrase "so that," "in order that," "when," and "because."
ὦσιν .[614 verses](3rd pl pres subj act ) "They may be" is eimi, which means "to be," "to exist," "to be the case," of circumstance and events "to happen," and "is possible." With the genitive object, the sense is "belongs to." With the dative, it means "have" where the subject and object are reversed.
ἓν [85 verses](noun sg neut nom/acc) "One" is heis, which means "one" (as opposed to other numbers), "single," and "one and the same." This noun/adjective is irregular, having a number of forms depending on gender and case. It is always singular.
καθὼς [36 verses] (adv) "How" is kathos, which means "even as," "how," and, in relating to time, "as" and "when."
ἡμεῖς [5 verses](pron 1st pl masc nom) "We" is from hemeis, the first person plural pronoun, "we," "us."
ἓν [85 verses](noun sg neut nom/acc) "One" is heis, which means "one" (as opposed to other numbers), "single," and "one and the same." This noun/adjective is irregular, having a number of forms depending on gender and case. It is always singular.
This verse might be a subtle one as well as a reference to the terms "Christ" and "Christian." While Christ didn't formally bestow this title on his followers, it is the reputation that he passed to them that was given to them. Jesus may be saying that all Christians are to be united under this term no matter how different their various paths and practices.
The final phrase may indicated that one God should have a united set of followers, while those that worship many gods, have a divided set of followers. The Roman policy was to "adopt" as many gods as possible, including all the gods of the lands they conquered. Their explicit logic was to prevent religion from being a dividing force among the conquered. Here, Jesus is proposing the very opposite strategy, uniting Christians to reflect a single Divine.