John 8:26. The question in John 8:25 was a reproach. To this (not to John 8:24, as Godet maintains) refers the word πολλά, which is placed with full emphasis at the beginning of the verse; the antithetical ἀλλʼ, however, and the excluding word ταῦτα, inform us that He does not say the πολλά which He has to speak and judge of them (and which He has in readiness, in store); but merely that which He has heard from Him who sent Him. Comp. John 16:12; 2 John 1:12. Similarly Euth. Zigabenus, after Chrysostom and B. Crusius. After the question in John 8:25, we must imagine a reproving pause. The paraphrase: “I have very much to speak concerning you, and especially to blame; but I refrain therefrom, and restrict myself to my immediate task, which is to utter forth to the world that which I have heard from God the True, who has sent me (namely, what I heard during my existence with God, before my mission; comp. on John 8:28[20])—in other words, to the communication of divine truth to the world.” For divergent views of the course of thought, see Schott, Opusc. I. p. 94 ff. After the example of older writers, Lücke and De Wette take the view that Jesus meant to say: “But, however much I have to judge concerning you, my κρίσις is still ἈΛΗΘΉς; for I speak to the world only what I have heard from my Father, who is true.” Comp. also Tholuck. In this way, however, the antithesis has to be artificially formed, whilst the expressed antithesis between that which Jesus has to speak (ἔχω λαλεῖν) and that which He actually says (λέγω) is neglected. This is in answer to Ewald also, who imports into ἈΛΛ’ the meaning: “Yet I will not therefore be afraid, like a man;” and against Hengstenberg, who, after ΠΟΛΛᾺ … ΚΡΊΝΕΙΝ, supplies in thought: “This is the reason why you will not accept my utterances in relation to my person.”

ΚἈΓΏ] and I, for my part, in contrast to God; the word is connected with ταῦτα, etc.

ΤΑῦΤΑ] this and nothing else. As to the main point, Chrysostom aptly says: ΤᾺ ΠΡῸς ΣΩΤΗΡΊΑΝ, Οὐ ΤᾺ ΠΡῸς ἜΛΕΓΧΟΝ.

ΕἸς Τ. ΚΌΣΜ.] See on Mark 1:39. Comp. Soph. El. 596: κήρυσσέ μʼ εἰς ἅπαντας. Not again ΛΑΛᾶ (Lachmann, Tischendorf), but ΛΈΓΩ, because the notion has become by antithesis more definite: what He has heard, that it is which He says; He has something else to say to the world than to speak of the worthlessness of His opponents. The former He does; the latter, much occasion as He has for doing it, He leaves undone.

[20] So also vv. 38, 40. Not as Beyschlag maintains: immediately before my public appearance. Comp. on John 6:46.

John 8:26. πολλὰ ἔχω … “many things have I to speak and to judge about you,” some of which are uttered in the latter part of this chapter.—ἀλλʼ ὁ πέμψας … But—however hard for you to receive—these things are what are given me to say by Him that sent me, and therefore I must speak them; and not to you only but to the world εἰς τὸν κόσμον.

26. Here again we have a series of simple sentences, the precise meaning of which and their connexion with one another cannot be determined with certainty. See on John 7:33. The following seems to be the drift of the verse: ‘I have very much to speak concerning you, very much to blame. But I keep to My immediate task of speaking to the world those truths which before the world was I heard from God that cannot lie, Who sent Me:’ i.e. Christ will not desist from teaching Divine truth in order to blame the Jews. It is as the Truth and the Light that He appears in these discourses.

which I have heard of him] Better, what I heard from Him, these things I speak unto the world, i.e. precisely these and nothing else. Comp. John 8:39.

Verse 26. - I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you. Hitherto, when the Lord uttered his great words of self-revelation, which always had an ethical end and were meant for the advantage of his hearers, they interrupted his speech and disputed his claims. They refused these testimonies to himself which, if true, would necessitate their instantaneous submission. He seems to have gathered all his self-witness together in the word, "I am," verify altogether, absolutely, from the beginning onwards, just what my words convey; but I have much more to say concerning you, even if I should have nothing more to say concerning myself. The testimonies and the judgments may be profoundly distasteful to you, but I dare not therefore withhold them. I am come to deliver them at any cost to myself or you. But he that sent me is true, whether you hear or forbear; and I am his Mouthpiece, so the truth has to be told. The thought of God, if we can only approach it, is the absolute truth about every thing and about every man. Jesus is the Word of God incarnate, and the Utterer of irreversible judgment. The things which I heard from him, these speak I into the world. Αἰς τὸν κόσμον, is a remarkable expression. "Speak into, so that the words may reach as far as and spread through the world" (Westcott). The expression seems to have left him above or outside the world, so that he appears as "the Mediator between two worlds." John 8:26I have many things, etc.

The connection of thought seems to be as follows: "I being such as my words show me to be, I must declare the whole message of Him by virtue of my essential union with whom I speak. Many things I have to declare and judge, and you may turn a deaf ear to them; nevertheless, I must speak the whole truth, the things which I have heard from Him who sent me and who is true."

I speak to the world (λέγω εἰς τὸν κοσμὸν)

The best texts read λαλῶ, which emphasizes not what Christ says (which would be λέγω), but the fact that He speaks. See on Matthew 28:18. The use of the preposition εἰς here is peculiar. Literally, "I speak into the world;" so that my words may reach and spread through the world. See for a similar construction 1 Thessalonians 2:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:8; Hebrews 2:3. So Sophocles, where Electra says, κήρυσσέ μ' εἰς ἅπαντας proclaim me to all: so that the report of me may reach all ears ("Electra," 606).

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