There are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they would all be written, I suppose that even the world itself wouldn’t have room for the books that would be written.
Parallel Translations
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There are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they would all be written, I suppose that even the world itself wouldn’t have room for the books that would be written.
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There are also many other thinges which Iesus dyd: the which yf they shuld be written every won I suppose the worlde coulde not contayne the bokes that shuld be written.
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Nowe there are also many other things which Iesus did, the which if they should be written euery one, I suppose the world coulde not conteine the bookes that shoulde be written, Amen.
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Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (10)
Passages linked to John 21:25 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 40:5 Many, Yahweh, my God, are the wonderful works which you have done, and your thoughts which are toward us. They can’t be declared back to you. If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be counted.
- John 20:30-31 Therefore Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.
- Psalms 71:15 My mouth will tell about your righteousness, and of your salvation all day, though I don’t know its full measure.
- Job 26:14 Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways. How small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?”
- Hebrews 11:32 What more shall I say? For the time would fail me if I told of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets,
- Acts 10:38 even Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
- Acts 20:35 In all things I gave you an example, that so laboring you ought to help the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
- Matthew 11:5 the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.
- Ecclesiastes 12:12 Furthermore, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
- Amos 7:10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the middle of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 25. There are also many other things that Jesus…
25. There are also many other things that Jesus did. Lest any one should view his narrative with suspicion, as if it had been written through partiality, because Jesus loved him, he anticipates this objection, by saying, that he has passed over more than he has written. He does not speak of Christ’s actions of every kind, but of those which relate to his public office; nor ought we to think that the hyperbole is absurd, when we bear with many figures of speech of the same kind in heathen authors. Not only ought we to take into account the number of Christ’s works, but we ought also to consider their importance and magnitude. The majesty of Christ, which by its infinity swallowed up, if I may so speak, not only the senses of men, but heaven and earth, gave a miraculous display of its own splendor in those works. If the Evangelist, casting his eyes on that brightness, exclaims in astonishment, that even the whole world could not contain a full narrative, ought we to wonder at it? Nor is he at all to be blamed, if he employ a frequent and ordinary figure of speech for commending the excellence of the works of Christ. For we know how God accommodates himself to the ordinary’ way of speaking, on account of our ignorance, and sometimes even, if I may be allowed the expression, stammers.
Yet we ought to remember what we formerly stated, that the summary which the Evangelists have committed to writing, is sufficient both for regulating faith and for obtaining salvation. That man who has duly profited under such teachers will be truly wise. And, indeed, since they were appointed by God to be witnesses to us, as they have faithfully discharged their duty; so it is our duty, on the other hand, to depend wholly on their testimony, and to desire nothing more than what they have handed down to us; and especially, because their pens were guided by the sure providence of God, that they might not oppress us by an unlimited mass of narratives, and yet, in making a selection, might make known to us all that God knew to be necessary for us, who alone is wise, and the only fountain of wisdom; to whom be praise and glory for ever. Amen.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 25 And there are also many other things which…
25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.
Ver. 25. I suppose that even the world itself, &c.] Nec Christus, nec caelum patitur hyperbolen, saith one. In speaking of Christ or his kingdom, a man can hardly hyperbolize. Much had St John said of our Saviour, yet nothing to what he might have said. All that ever he did was divine, and deserved to be chronicled. That commendation that Velleius Paterculus falsely gives to Scipio, that Nihil in vita nisi laudandum aut fecit, aut dixit, aut sensit, He never in all his life did, spoke, or thought anything but what was praise worthy, is true only of Christ. That which the Ecclesiastical History relates of Bennus, that he was never seen or heard by any to swear, lie, or be rashly angry, to speak or do anything that beseemed not God’s servant, is a praise proper to Christ, even as he was man. (Sozom. vi. 28.) But, consider him as God, and then that of Gratian the emperor is true, in his Epistle to St Ambrose, Loquimur de Deo, non quantum debemus, sed quantum possumus: We speak of God, not so much as we ought, but so much as we can. Nemo sapientiam Dei immensam in omnem eternitatem exhauriet. No one will be able to exhaust the infinite wisdomm of God in all eternity. He is indeed like the pool Polycritus writes of, which in compass, at the first, scarcely seemed to exceed the breadth of a shield; but if any went in it to wash, it extended itself more and more. Tantum recedit, quantum capitur, saith Nazianzen. When therefore the apostle saith, "That the world itself could not contain the books that should be written," Hoc non vult, saith Augustine, de mole librorum, nec de locali capacitate, sed quod Spiritus Sanctus nostri habuerit rationem, et ea selegerit conscribenda, quae in hac infirmitate credentes capere possint.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain But none must imagine that all Christ’s sermons, or…
But none must imagine that all Christ’s sermons, or miracles, are recorded in this book, or in any of the other Gospels; the world would have been too much filled with books, if all spoke or done by our Saviour had been written. There is so much written as it pleased God we should know, or was necessary for us to know for the true ends of such revelation; to beget and increase faith in us, and to promote and direct holiness.
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William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain John being about to conclude the history of our…
John being about to conclude the history of our Saviour’s life asserts, that there were many other miracles and special deeds done by Christ, both before and after his passion, which he had not recorded or set down; because, should all that Christ did and said be committed to writing, it would even fill the world, the volumes would be so many.
From hence we gather, 1. The wonderful activity, industry, and diligence, of the Lord Jesus Christ, that he was never idle, but that his whole life was spent in doing good; stances have been recorded, it would amount to an incredible bulk.
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Learn, 2. That it is impossible to get all said, which might be said of Christ, and in his commendation: such is the transcendent excellency of his person, and the weakness of our apprehensions and judgments, that if all were written, which might be written concerning him, the world itself could not contain the books which should be written.
Learn lastly, that although many of Christ’s sermons, conferences, miracles, and actions, be not recorded; yet it doth not follow, nor can it be inferred from thence, that any necessary doctrine is omitted, or not sufficiently confirmed: there being so much written as it pleased God we should know, and was necessary for us to know, in order to our improvement in faith and holiness. If then, after all the revelation and discovery which God hath made of his Son Christ Jesus, and of the way that leads to eternal salvation by him, persons remain willingly ignorant of him, and of their duty to him, "where shall they appear, and how shall they escape?"
Now unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father: To him be glory and domination for ever and ever. Rev 1:5-6 Amen.
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John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And there are also many other things which Jesus…
And there are also many other things which Jesus did,.... Which refer not to his doctrines and discourses, his sermons and prayers, and the conversation he had with his disciples, and others, on different accounts; but to the signs, and wonders, and miraculous operations, which were done by him, that are neither recorded in this, nor in any of the evangelists:
the which, if they should be written everyone; with all the particular circumstances relating to them:
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I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. The Arabic version renders it, "the things written in the books"; and the Syriac, "that the world would not be sufficient for the books that should be written"; and so the Persic, which adds, "and the Scribes of the world would fail, or be deficient"; there would not be Scribes enough in the world to write them; nor could they be read by men, if they were written; the world would be overloaded with them; and therefore the Holy Ghost has not thought fit to lay such a burden on men they could not bear, as to read such numbers of volumes; but has reduced them into a brief compendium, which may be read with ease, delight, and pleasure; and which is abundantly sufficient to attest the truth of Christ's incarnation, miracles, doctrines, obedience, sufferings, death, resurrection, ascension, session at God's right hand, &c. and of the whole of Christianity, and all that appertains to it, or whatever is necessary to be known, for the salvation of men: for this cannot be understood of the carnal and unbelieving part of the world, not receiving and bearing what would be contained in such volumes, were they written; for they are not able to receive and bear what is now written, but reject and despise it as foolishness. Some understand this as an hyperbolical expression; but the sense above given, may be admitted without an hyperbole; though an hyperbole may very well be allowed of; nor, taken literally, will it appear greater than some others used in Scripture; as when the posterity of Abraham are said to be as numerous as the stars of the sky; and especially when said to be as the sand by the sea shore, innumerable, Heb 11:12 and when Capernaum is said to be exalted unto heaven, or to reach unto it, Mat 11:23 and particularly the Jews have no reason to object, as one of them does (g), to such a way of speaking, whose writings abound in hyperbolical expressions, and in some like to this; as when one of their Rabbins says (h),
"if all the seas were ink, and the bulrushes pens, and the heavens and the earth volumes, and all the children of men Scribes, , "they would not be sufficient to write the law", which have learned, &c.''
and it is commonly said (i) by them, if this, or that, or the other thing was done, , "the world would not be able to bear them". And a later writer (k) of theirs, speaking of the different interpretations given by some of their Rabbins of a certain passage, says, they are so many, that an ass is not able to carry their books. And the intention of this expression, supposing it hyperbolical, is to show, that but a few of the wonderful things done by Christ were recorded by the evangelist, in comparison of the many which he every day did, in all places where he came; for he was continually going about doing good, and healing all manner of diseases; but these that were written are sufficient to prove him to be the true Messiah, and to require faith in him as such. To all which the evangelist sets his "Amen", as attesting and confirming the truth of all he had written; and which may be depended upon, and assented to, as truth, by all that read this Gospel. The Alexandrian copy, and Beza's Cambridge copy, have not the word "Amen"; nor have the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, and Persic versions. In some copies the following words are added,
"the Gospel according to John was given out thirty two years after the ascension of Christ;''
which would fall on the year of Christ 66, and so before the destruction of Jerusalem; which is contrary to the common opinion of learned men, some placing it in the year 97, others in the year 99.
(John starts his Gospel by stating: "All things were made by him". If one were to attempt to even summarise the works of creation, there is no way the world could contain the resulting volumes! Editor.)
(g) Jacob Aben ben Amram, porta veritatis, No. 1094. apud Kidder, Demonstration of the Messiah, par. 3. p. 67. Ed. fol. (h) Shirhashirim Rabba, fol. 4. 2. (i) Zohar in Exod. fol. 106. 4. & in Lev. fol. 26. 2. & 49. 3. & in Num. fol. 52. 2. & 59. 3. & 63. 3. & 64. 4. & 82. 3, 4. (k) R. Abraham Seba in Tzeror Hammor, fol. 79. 1.
Next: Acts Introduction
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John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain If they were to be written particularly - Every…
If they were to be written particularly - Every fact, and all the circumstances of it. I suppose - This expression, which softens the hyperbole, shows that St. John wrote this verse.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 25. Many other things] Before his disciples, is…
Verse 25. Many other things] Before his disciples, is added by two MSS. The Scholia in several MSS. intimate that this verse is an addition; but it is found in every ancient version, and in Origen, Cyril, and Chrysostom.
Could not contain, c.] Origen's signification of the word χωρειν is to admit of, or receive favourably. As if he had said, the miracles of Christ are so many, and so astonishing, that if the whole were to be detailed, the world would not receive the account with proper faith but enough is recorded that men may believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that in believing they may have life through his name: Joh 20:31.
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We have already seen that this apostle often uses the term world to designate the Jewish people only; and if it have this sense here, which is possible, it will at once vindicate the above exposition of the word χωρειν. As if he had said, Were I to detail all the signs and miracles which Jesus did among his disciples, and in the private families where he sojourned, the Jewish people themselves would not receive nor credit these accounts; but enough is written to prove that this Christ was the promised Messiah.
Bishop Pearce has a very judicious note here, of which what follows is an abstract, with a few additions.
Even the world itself, c. This is a very strong eastern expression, to represent the number of miracles which Jesus wrought. But, however strong and strange this expression may seem to us of the western world, we find sacred and other authors using hyperboles of the like kind and signification. In Nu 13:33, the spies who returned from the search of the land of Canaan say that they saw giants there of such a prodigious size that they were in their own sight as grasshoppers. In Da 4:11, mention is made of a tree, whereof the height reached unto the heaven and the sight thereof unto the end of all the earth. And the author of Ecclesiasticus, in 47:15, speaking of Solomon's wisdom, says, Thy soul covered the whole earth, and thou filledst it with parables: so here, by one degree more of hyperbole, it is said that the world would not contain all the books which should be written concerning Jesus's miracles, if the particular account of every one of them were given. In Josephus, Antiq. lib. xix. c. 20, God is mentioned as promising to Jacob that he would give the land of Canaan to him and his seed; and then it is added, οἱ πληρουσι πασαν, ὁσην ἡλιος ὁρᾳ, και γην και θαλασσαν. They shall fill all, whatsoever the sun illuminates, whether earth or sea. Philo in his tract De Ebriet, T. i. p. 362, 10, is observed to speak after the same manner, ουδε γαρ των δωρεων ἱκανος ουδεις χωρησαι το αφθονον πληθος, ισως δ' ουδ' ὁ κοσμος. Neither is any one able to contain the vast abundance of gifts; nor is the world capable of it. And in his tract De Posterit. Caini, T. i. p. 253, l. 38, he says, speaking of the fulness of God, Ουδε γαρ εις (ει) πλουτον επιδεικνυσθαι βουληθειη τον ἑαυτου, χωρησαι αν, ηπειρωθεισης και θαλαττης, ἡ συμπασα γη. And should he will to draw out his fulness, the whole compass of sea and land could not contain it."
Homer, who, if not born in Asia Minor, had undoubtedly lived there, has sometimes followed the hyperbolic manner of speaking which prevailed so much in the east, as in Iliad, b. xx. he makes AEneas say to Achilles: -
Αλλ' αγε μηκετι ταυτα λεγωμεθα, νηπυτιοι ὡς,
ἙϚαοτ' εν μεσσῃ ὑσμινῃ δηΐοτητος.
ΕϚι γαρ αμφοτεροισιν ονειδεα μυθησασθαι
Πολλα μαλ'· ουδ' αν νηυς ἑκατονζυγος αχθος αροιτο.
Στρεπτη δε γλωσς' εϚι βροτων, πολεες δ' ενι μυθοι,
Παντοιοι· επεων δε πολυς νομος ενθα και ενθα.
Ὁπποιον κ' ειπῃσθα επος, τοιον κ' επακουσαις.
Iliad, xx. v. 244-250.
But wherefore should we longer waste the time
In idle prate, while battle roars around?
Reproach is cheap. With ease we might discharge
Gibes at each other, till a ship that asks
A hundred oars should sink beneath the load.
The tongue of man is voluble, hath words
For every theme, nor wants wide field and long;
And, as he speaks, so shall he hear again.
COWPER.
Few instances of any thing like these have been found in the western world; and yet it has been observed that Cicero, in Philip ii. 44, uses a similar form: Praesertim cum illi eam gloriam consecuti sunt, quae vix coelo capi posse videatur - "especially when they pursued that glory which heaven itself seems scarcely sufficient to contain." And Livy also, in vii. 25, Hae vires populi Romani, quas vix terrarum capit orbis - "these energies of the Roman people, which the terraqueous globe can scarcely contain."
We may define hyperbole thus: it is a figure of speech where more seems to be said than is intended; and it is well known that the Asiatic nations abound in these. In De 1:28, cities with high walls round about them are said to be walled up to heaven. Now, what is the meaning of this hyperbole? Why, that the cities had very high walls: then, is the hyperbole a truth? Yes, for we should attach no other idea to these expressions than the authors intended to convey by them. Now, the author of this expression never designed to intimate that the cities had walls which reached to heaven; nor did one of his countrymen understand it in this sense - they affixed no other idea to it, (for the words, in common use, conveyed no other,) than that these cities had very high walls. When John, therefore, wrote, the world itself could not contain the books, c., what would every Jew understand by it! Why, that if every thing which Christ had done and said were to be written, the books would be more in number than had ever been written concerning any one person or subject: i.e. there would be an immense number of books. And so there would be for it is not possible that the ten thousandth part of the words and actions of such a life as our Lord's was could be contained in the compass of one or all of these Gospels.
There is a hyperbole very like this, taken from the Jewish writers, and inserted by BASNAGE, Hist. des Juifs, liv. iii. c. 1, s. 9. "Jochanan succeeded Simeon - he attained the age of Moses - he employed forty years in commerce, and in pleading before the Sanhedrin. He composed such a great number of precepts and lessons, that if the heavens were paper, and all the trees of the forest so many pens, and all the children of men so many scribes, they would not suffice to write all his lessons!" Now, what meaning did the author of this hyperbole intend to convey? Why, that Jochanan had given more lessons than all his contemporaries or predecessors. Nor does any Jew in the universe understand the words in any other sense. It is worthy of remark that this Jochanan lived in the time of St. John; for he was in Jerusalem when it was besieged by Vespasian. See Basnage, as above.
There is another quoted by the same author, ibid. c. v. s. 7, where, speaking of Eliezar, one of the presidents of the Sanhedrin, it is said: "Although the firmament were vellum, and the waters of the ocean were chanced into ink, it would not be sufficient to describe all the knowledge of Eliezar; for he made not less than three hundred constitutions concerning the manner of cultivating cucumbers." Now, what did the rabbin mean by this hyperbole? Why, no more than that Eliezar was the greatest naturalist in his time; and had written and spoken more on that subject and others than any of his contemporaries. This Eliezar flourished about seventy-three years after Christ. It is farther worthy of remark that this man also is stated to have lived in the time of St. John. John is supposed to have died A. D. 99.
Hyperboles of this kind, common to the east and to the west, to the north and to the south, may be found every where; and no soul is puzzled with them but the critics. The above examples, I trust, are sufficient to vindicate and explain the words in the text. It is scarcely necessary to add that the common French expression, tout le monde, which literally means the whole world, is used in a million of instances to signify the people present at one meeting, or the majority of them, and often the members of one particular family. And yet no man who understands the language ever imagines that any besides the congregation in the one case, or the family in the other, is intended.
Amen.] This word is omitted by ABCD, several others; Syriac, all the Arabic, and both the Persic; the Coptic, Sahidic, AEthiopic, Armenian, Syriac Hieros., Vulgate, and all the Itala but three.
The word amen, which has passed unaltered into almost all the languages of the world in which the sacred writings are extant, is pure Hebrew; and signifies to be steady, constant, firm, established, or confirmed. It is used as a particle of affirmation and adjuration. When a person was sworn to the truth of any fact, the oath was recited to him, and he bound himself by simply saying, אמן אמן amen, amen. See an instance of this, Nu 5:22. In De 27:15-26, it is to be understood in the same sense; the persons who use it binding themselves, under the curse there pronounced, should they do any of the things there prohibited. It is often used as a particle of affirmation, approbation, and consent, examples of which frequently occur in the Old Testament. When any person commenced a discourse or testimony with this word, it was considered in the light of an oath; as if he had said, I pledge my truth, my honour, and my life to the certainty of what I now state.
Our Lord begins many of his discourses with this word, either singly, Amen, I say unto you; or doubled, Amen, amen, I say unto you; which we translate verily: as Christ uses it, we may ever understand it as expressing an absolute and incontrovertible truth. Instances of the use of the single term frequently occur: see Mt 5:18, Mt 5:26; Mt 6:2, Mt 6:5, Mt 6:16; Mt 8:10; Mt 10:15, Mt 10:23, Mt 10:42, c., c. but it is remarkable that it is doubled by St. John, see Joh 1:51; Joh 3:3, Joh 3:5, Joh 3:11; Joh 5:19, Joh 5:24-25; Joh 6:26, Joh 6:32, Joh 6:47, Joh 6:53; Joh 8:34, Joh 8:51, Joh 8:58; Joh 10:1, Joh 10:7; Joh 12:24; Joh 13:16, Joh 13:20, Joh 13:21, Joh 13:38; Joh 14:12; Joh 16:20, Joh 16:23; Joh 21:18; and is never found iterated by any of the other evangelists. Some have supposed that the word אמן is contracted, and contains the initials of אדני מלך נעמן Adonai Malec Neeman, my Lord the faithful King; to whom the person who uses it is always understood to make his appeal. Christ is himself called the Amen, ὁ Αμην, Re 1:18; Re 3:14; because of the eternity of his nature and the unchangeableness of his truth. In later ages, it was placed at the end of all the books in the New Testament, except the Acts, the Epistle of James, and the third Epistle of John, merely as the transcriber's attestation to their truth; and, perhaps, it is sometimes to be understood as vouching to the fidelity of his own transcript.
The subscriptions to this Gospel, as well as to the preceding Gospels, are various in the different versions and manuscripts. The following are those which appear most worthy of being noticed.
"The most holy Gospel of the preaching of John the evangelist, which he spake and proclaimed in the Greek language at Ephesus, is finished." - SYRIAC in Bib. Polyglott.
"With the assistance of the supreme God, the Gospel of St. John the son of Zebedee, the beloved of the Lord, and the preacher of eternal life, is completed. And it is the conclusion of the four most holy and vivifying Gospels, by the blessing of God. Amen." - ARABIC in Bib. Polyglott.
"The four glorious Gospels, of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, are completed."-PERSIC in Bib. Polyglott.
Other subscriptions are as follow:-
"The end of the holy Gospel of John - delivered thirty years - thirty-two years after the ascension of Christ - in the Isle of Patmos - in the Greek tongue at Ephesus - under the reign of Domitian - written by John when he was an exile in Patmos - under the Emperor Trajan - and delivered in Ephesus by Gaius the host of the apostles. John, having returned from his exile in Patmos, composed his Gospel, being 100 years of age and lived to the age of 120." - SUIDAS.
In an AEthiopic MS. in the royal library in Paris, at the conclusion of this evangelist are these words: - "Now the sum of all the clauses of the four Gospels is 9700. - By the grace of the Lord, here are ended the four Gospels. The sections of the four Gospels are 217. The clauses of the holy Gospel, even from its beginning to its end, namely, the writing of St. John, are completed."
It may be just necessary to inform the reader that the most ancient MSS. have scarcely any subscription at all, and that there is no dependence to be placed on any thing of this kind found in the others; most of the transcribers making conclusions according to their different fancies. See the concluding note of the preceding chapter; and see the preface to this Gospel, where other subjects relative to it are discussed.
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Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Joh 21:25. And there are also many other things…
Joh 21:25. And there are also many other things which Jesus did — Many which none of the evangelists have recorded; which, if they should be written every one — Every fact, and all the circumstances thereof; I suppose — This expression, which softens the hyperbole, (if this be one,) shows that John wrote this verse; the world itself could not contain the books that should be written — The construction of this verse, in our present translation, is fully justified by adducing from the Old Testament expressions equally hyperbolical. Thus Exo 3:8, the land of Canaan is said to flow with milk and honey. Num 13:33, the spies, who returned from searching the land of Canaan, say they saw giants there of such a prodigious size, that they were, in their own sight, as grasshoppers. Jdg 7:12, the Midianites, &c., are said to lie along in the valley like grasshoppers, and their camels to be as the sand by the sea-shore for multitude. 1Ki 10:27, Solomon is said to make silver be in Jerusalem as stones. The reader may find more examples of such hyperboles, both in sacred and profane authors, in a note of Bishop Pearce on this text. Such expressions are not unusual in the magnificent luxuriance of the oriental style, though rarely occurring in the simple, artless narrations of the apostles. Thus understood, the clause simply means, that Jesus performed a prodigious number of miracles. The text may, nevertheless, be considered in a sense somewhat different. This evangelist frequently uses the word world in a general sense, to denote its inhabitants, as Joh 8:26, and in other places, (see Joh 15:18,) as signifying the carnal and unbelieving part of mankind. The Greek word χωρεω, here translated contain, is not only used in that sense, but, when applied to the mind, denotes the reception and understanding of any thing, and is rendered to this purpose, Mat 19:11-12; and Phm 1:15. By adopting these observations the text may be understood to mean, I am persuaded the world itself would not receive the books that should be written; which is Doddridge’s translation. Whitby, Chandler, and many others, have supported this construction. According to it John informs us, that if all the miracles which Jesus performed were written, the world itself could not receive the books, could not believe them, because they would appear absolutely incredible. But to this interpretation it may be objected, that the phrase, αυτον τον κοσμον, the world itself, cannot mean the men of the world, for which reason the first sense, it seems, is to be preferred.
“I agree perfectly,” says Dr. Campbell, “with those interpreters who think that the hyperbole contained in this verse is much more tolerable than the torture to which some critics have put the words, in order to make them speak a different sense.”
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“Perhaps,” says the pious Dr. Doddridge, referring to what St. John here declares respecting the many other things done by Jesus, which have not been recorded, “it may be a most delightful part of the entertainment of the heavenly world, to learn from our blessed Lord himself, or from those who conversed with him on earth, a multitude of such particulars of his life as will be well worthy our everlasting admiration. In the mean time, let us praise God for what is recorded, and let us study the sacred records which contain such authentic and exact accounts of those important facts, in which we are all so nearly concerned; records incomparably more valuable than the writings of our private estates, or the charters of our public liberties. Let us earnestly pray, that their great design may be answered in us; and make it our importunate request to Him, who is the giver of all grace, that through the operations of that Holy Spirit, (without the influence of which, even the Scripture itself, with all our advantages for understanding and improving it, will be but a sealed book, or a dead letter,) our faith may be nourished and confirmed by every portion of it which we read. And let us, above all, be concerned that our hearts may be so influenced by his word, and, as it were, delivered into the mould of it, that, believing in Christ, under all the characters he bears, we may have life through his name, and may at length receive the end of our faith in the complete salvation of our souls.” Amen! So may it be to the author of this work, and to all that do or may peruse it!
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Many other things - Many miracles, Joh 20:30. Many…
Many other things - Many miracles, Joh 20:30. Many discourses delivered, etc.
I suppose ... - This is evidently the figure of speech called a hyperbole. It is a mode of speech where the words express more or less than is literally true. It is common among all writers; and as the sacred writers, in recording a revelation to men, used human language, it was proper that they should express themselves as men ordinarily do if they wished to be understood. This figure of speech is commonly the effect of surprise, or having the mind full of some object, and not having words to express the ideas: at the same time, the words convey no falsehood. The statement is to be taken as it would be understood among the persons to whom it is addressed; and as no one supposes that the author means to be understood literally, so there is no deception in the case, and consequently no impeachment of his veracity or inspiration. Thus, when Longinus said of a man that “he was the owner of a piece of ground not larger than a Lacedaemonian letter,” no one understood him literally. He meant, evidently, a very small piece of land, and no one would be deceived. So Virgil says of a man, “he was so tall as to reach the stars,” and means only that he was very tall. So when John says that the world could not contain the books that would be written if all the deeds and sayings of Jesus were recorded, he clearly intends nothing more than that a great many books would be required, or that it would be extremely difficult to record them all; intimating that his life was active, that his discourses were numerous, and that he had not pretended to give them all, but only such as would go to establish the main point for which he wrote that he was the Messiah, Joh 20:30-31. The figure which John uses here is not uncommon in the Scriptures, Gen 11:4; Gen 15:5; Num 13:33; Dan 4:20.
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This gospel contains in itself the clearest proof of inspiration. It is the work of a fisherman of Galilee, without any proof that he had any unusual advantages. It is a connected, clear, and satisfactory argument to establish the great truth that Jesus was the Messiah. It was written many years after the ascension of Jesus. It contains the record of the Saviour’s profoundest discourses, of his most convincing arguments with the Jews, and of his declarations respecting himself and God. It contains the purest and most elevated views of God to be found anywhere, as far exceeding all the speculations of philosophers as the sun does the blaze of a taper. It is in the highest degree absurd to suppose that an unlettered fisherman could have originated this book. Anyone may be convinced of this by comparing it with what would be the production of a man in that rank of life now. But if John has preserved the record of what has occurred so many years before, then it shows that he was under the divine guidance, and is himself a proof, a full and standing proof, of the fulfillment of the promise which he has recorded that the Holy Spirit would guide the apostles into all truth, Joh 14:26. Of this book we may, in conclusion, apply the words spoken by John respecting his vision of the future events of the church: “Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of this” book, “and keep those things which are written therein, for the time is at hand,” Rev 1:3.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain The world[5] itself, I think, &c. It is an…
The world[5] itself, I think, &c. It is an hyperbolical way of speaking, says St. Cyril, common enough, even in the holy Scriptures; and only signifies, that a very great number of things, which Christ did and said, have not been recorded. (Witham) --- This is a figure of speech, called hyperbole, and only means that it would require many, many books, to contain all the various actions and sayings of our divine Lord.
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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
Nec ipsum arbitror mundum, &c. St. Cyril on this expression, p. 1123, Greek: uperbolikos. See St. Augustine at the end of his 124. tract. where he says, such hyperboles are found elsewhere in the holy Scripture.
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George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain And there are many other things which Jesus did--(Compare…
And there are many other things which Jesus did--(Compare Joh 20:30-31).
if . . . written every one, I suppose--an expression used to show that what follows is not to be pressed too far.
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even the world itself would not hold the books, &c.--not a mere hyperbolical expression, unlike the sublime simplicity of this writer, but intended to let his reader know that, even now that he had done, he felt his materials so far from being exhausted, that he was still running over, and could multiply "Gospels" to almost any extent within the strict limits of what "Jesus did." But in the limitation of these matchless histories, in point of number, there is as much of that divine wisdom which has presided over and pervades the living oracles, as in their variety and fulness.
Next: Acts Introduction
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 25. The world itself could not contain the books—The…
25. The world itself could not contain the books—The world, in John’s use of the term, perhaps always signifies, not the physical frame of creation, but, the living world. And sometimes he uses it, as used in modern times, in a narrow and conventional sense, when we speak of the literary world—the fashionable world. Thus in Joh_12:19, The world has gone after him. In this passage we understand him as speaking of the book-world, which was then not a very large world, and could not accept or digest many books, or rather, manuscript scrolls. He then declares his own feeling, that if all that Jesus did in word and deed should be written, there would be more than the world-full of books. The book-market would be more than glutted, and the reading public overwhelmed. The world could not compass the big library. With such a hyperbole no one will have any difficulty who remembers that the inspired books were “not only divine books, but intensely human books.” Inspiration does not petrify or congeal the natural expression of human feeling or thought. And on no other subject than the life and work of Jesus were such a hyperbole so graceful, even in an inspired writer.
Stretching these words from their more narrow and indefinite sense to their full infinite capacity of meaning, could a universe of books fully unfold all that Jesus did in the brief work of atonement on the cross? Nothing less than that infinite library can detail the number saved, the eternal death from which they are saved, the eternal life and all its glorious eternal history to which they are saved, all of which were wrought by the earthly life and death of Christ.
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And these words very conclusively indicate that the Evangelists profess not to narrate all they knew of the Lord’s words and deeds. It is very irrational for sceptical writers, when one of the Evangelists omits some fact elsewhere narrated, to continually exclaim, “That Evangelist knows nothing about that fact; it is, therefore, of doubtful authority.” Just as if every Evangelist must narrate all, and just as much, as every other Evangelist! Just as if all the writers must square themselves precisely by each other, each narrate the same facts in exactly the same manner. So that if they omit they are ignorant, and if they vary they contradict. Their brief sketches are but slight leaves in the great biography. And well does our Evangelist close the divine four with an attestation of the infinite scope of the Life of the INCARNATE.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 25. every one] Literally, one by one.
25. every one] Literally, one by one.
I suppose] The Greek word (oimai) occurs nowhere else in N.T. excepting Php_1:17; Jas_1:7. The use of the first person singular is very unlike S. John.
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If this verse is an addition by an unknown hand it appears to be almost contemporary. The wording seems to imply that it would still be possible to write a great deal: additional materials still abound.
could not contain] The bold hyperbole (which may be S. John’s, though added by another hand) expresses the yearnings of Christendom throughout all ages. The attempts which century after century continue to be made to write the ‘Life of Christ’ seem to prove that even the fragments that have come down to us of that ‘Life’ have been found in their many sidedness and profundity to be practically inexhaustible. After all that the piety and learning of eighteen hundred years have accomplished, Christians remain still unsatisfied, still unconvinced that the most has been made of the very fragmentary account of scarcely a tenth portion of the Lord’s life on earth. What would be needed to make even this tenth complete? What, therefore, to complete the whole?
Amen] The addition of a copyist.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (25) And there are also many other things which…
(25) And there are also many other things which Jesus did. . . .—The MSS. evidence for this verse is also so conclusive that almost every competent editor inserts it in his text, but it is not found in the famous Sinaitic Codex. The transference from the plural to the singular—“We know” (Joh_21:24), “I suppose” (in this verse)—has led to the supposition, which is in every way probable, that it is the individual testimony of an amanuensis who, from personal knowledge of the life of Christ, or from knowledge derived from the Apostle John or from others, feels that full beyond all human thought as this Gospel is, it is but a part of the greater fulness. No book could record, no words could tell, what that life was, or what things Jesus did. The disciples saw and believed, and wrote these things that we may believe, and in believing may have life in His name.
The word “Amen” is not found in the better MSS., and in no part of the written text. It is the natural prayer of some copyist, as it is the natural prayer of every devout reader that the writer’s purpose may be fulfilled.
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The chief MSS. have a subscription appended to the Gospel. “According to John” (Vatican); “Gospel according to John” (Sinaitic [?], Alexandrine, Paris, Basle); “Gospel according to John is ended;” “Gospel according to Luke begins” (Cambridge).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain There are also many other things which Jesus did,…
There are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written one by one (or, each by itself), I suppose even the world itself would not contain the books which would (then) be written. Some have suggested the idea that cwrhsein , or cwrhsai , means "morally contain," "bear with.... endure." This is unsatisfactory. The writer, by the use of the name "Jesus," is not going back to the pre-existing, premundane activity of the Logos, but is simply conveying his enthusiastic sense of the inexhaustible fullness of the human life of the blessed Lord. The whole redeeming life, word, and work of the Word made flesh had a quality of infinity about it. The entire evangelic narrative has only touched the fringe of this vast manifestation, a few hours or days of the incomparable life. Every moment of it was infinitely rich in its Contents, in its suggestions, in its influence. Every act was a revelation of the Father, of the Son, of the Holy Spirit, giving vistas into the eternities, and openings into the heart and bosom of Deity. Let all that thus was done take thought-shape in human minds, and word-shape in human speech, and book-shape or embodiment in human literature, and there are no conceivable limits to its extent. We use such expressions continually, without feeling that we are adopting any unnatural or unhealthy hyperbole.
The infinite abundance of the teaching and significance of the blessed life of the Son of God is ample justification of the apostolic enthusiasm.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 21:25 the whole world could not contain the books:…
21:25 the whole world could not contain the books: John ends his Gospel acknowledging that the story he has described is larger than anything he can imagine or fully communicate. Though it is glorious for us to read, John’s account pales in comparison to the glory of the person it describes.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.