Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 16:22
And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.
22. And ye now therefore ] Or, Ye also therefore now. As in the case of childbirth, the suffering of the disciples was the necessary condition of the joy. This suffering was to repeat itself in a new form in the work of converting souls (Gal 4:19).
I will see you ] In Joh 16:16-17 ; Joh 16:19 we had ‘ye shall see Me:’ here we have the other side of the same truth; and the same verb for ‘see’ is used in all four cases. In Gal 4:9 we have both sides of the truth stated (see on 1Co 8:3).
no man taketh ] Or, according to some good authorities, no one shall take. Their sorrow shall depart, their joy shall remain.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
I will see you again – After my resurrection.
Your joy no man taketh from you – You shall be so firmly persuaded that I have risen and that I am the Messiah, that neither the threats nor persecutions of men shall ever be able to shake your faith and produce doubt or unbelief, and thus take away your joy. This prediction was remarkably fulfilled. It is evident that after his ascension not one of the apostles ever doubted for a moment that he had risen from the dead. No persecution or trial was able to shake their faith; and thus, amid all their afflictions, they had an unshaken source of joy.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 22. Your joy no man taketh from you.] Or, shall take away. Some excellent MSS. and versions read the verb in the future tense. Our Lord’s meaning appears to have been this: that his resurrection should be so completely demonstrated to them, that they should never have a doubt concerning it; and consequently that their joy should be great and permanent, knowing that the atonement was made, the victory gained, and the kingdom of heaven opened to all believers. Therefore it is said, Ac 4:33, that with great power did the apostles give witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The whole church, Rev 12:1,2, is compared to a woman with child, crying, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. During this time of your travail you must have sorrow. All those
that will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution, 2Ti 3:12. It is appointed for all men once to die, Heb 9:27. It is appointed for Gods people (especially under some periods of time) to be dying daily, killed all the day long, as the apostle expresses the state of Christians in his time, Rom 8:36, quoting Psa 44:22, which showeth the state of the church in the Old Testament to have been the same. But (saith our Saviour) it is but as the hour of the womans travail; it will be sharp, very sharp, but it shall be short; for I will see you again, and then your heart shall rejoice; which cannot be understood of Christs seeing them again after his resurrection; for before that time we read of few or no sufferings of the apostles or other disciples. It must therefore be understood, either of the visitation of his Spirit, filling their hearts with joy and peace, or the visitation of his providence: or rather, of Christs coming to the last judgment, when all that have believed in Christ shall see him with joy unspeakable; and then all tears shall be wiped away from their eyes, and they shall enter into the joy of their Lord, and sigh and sorrow no more, nor shall it be in the power of all their enemies to deprive them of their joy.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And ye now therefore have sorrow,…. This is the application of the preceding case. As it is with a woman in travail, when her hour is come, so it was now with them, and would be when Christ was removed from them; and as it is with every believer, when Christ is absent: for though there are many things that cause sorrow now, as sin, Satan, and afflictive dispensations of providence, yet nothing more sensibly touches believers to the quick, and gives them more uneasiness, than when Christ is out of sight: the reasons are, because he is so nearly related to them, being their everlasting Father, kind husband, loving brother, and faithful friend; and because they are so strongly affected to him, there is none like him in their esteem in heaven and in earth: he is the person whom their souls love; he is the very life of their souls; his favour, his gracious presence is life to them, and his absence is as death; nor can they be easy, but are restless, and upon the inquiry after him, until he returns to them, which he does in his own time; and therefore this sorrow is but now, for the present, it is not perpetual.
But I will see you again; as he did see his disciples upon his resurrection once and again, for the space of forty days, at certain times, by intervals: and so, in a spiritual sense, he comes and sees his people, makes them a visit, manifests himself unto them, and abides with them: they are always under his omniscient eye; he always sees them as God; and they are always under his eye of love, grace, and mercy, as Mediator: but this means such a seeing of them, as that they see him as well as he sees them; and is expressive of a delightful intercourse between Christ and them, than which nothing is more desirable:
and your heart shall rejoice: as did the hearts of the disciples, when they saw Christ risen from the dead; and as the hearts of believers do, when Christ so looks upon them that they can view him with an eye of faith; such a sight is a heart rejoicing one. To see the glory and beauty of Christ’s person, the fulness and suitableness of him as a Saviour; to have an appropriating view of him as such; or to see him so as to have sensible communion with him, must needs fill the heart of a believer with joy unspeakable, and full of glory: such a sight of Christ will rejoice the heart under a sense of sin, the pollution and guilt of it, when tempted by Satan, or under God’s afflicting hand, and even in the view of death and eternity.
And your joy no man taketh from you. The joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment, and the joy of the chief priests, Scribes, and Pharisees, was a short lived one, on account of Christ’s death; for Jesus was soon raised from the dead, and the apostles were filled with the Spirit, and went forth boldly preaching in the name of Christ, to the great grief of these men. But the joy of the disciples was durable; their risen Lord would never die more; the blessings of grace, such as redemption, pardon, righteousness, and atonement, would, and do ever remain as the foundation of solid joy: nor could a stranger intermeddle with it; , “not one”, either man or devil could take it away, not by all the reproaches they could cast upon them, or persecutions they could follow them with: and so, though a believer’s joy may be damped by sin, and Satan, and the world, it may not be always in lively exercise; yet the matter of it always remains in Christ, and the principle of it in themselves can never be destroyed, but will issue in everlasting joy in another world.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
And ye therefore now ( ). See 8:38 for like emphasis on
ye (). The “sorrow” () is like that of the mother in childbirth (real, but fleeting, with permanent joy following). The metaphor points, of course, to the resurrection of Jesus which did change the grief of the disciples to gladness, once they are convinced that Jesus has risen from the dead.
But I will see you again ( ). Future middle of , to see. In verses John 16:16; John 16:19 Jesus had said “ye shall see me” ( ), but here we have one more blessed promise, “I shall see you,” showing “that we are the objects of God’s regard” (Westcott).
Shall rejoice (). Second future passive of .
Taketh away (). Present active indicative, futuristic present, but B D have the future active (shall take away). This joy is a permanent possession.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Have sorrow [ ] . This form of expression occurs frequently in the New Testament, to denote the possession or experience of virtues, sensations, desires, emotions, intellectual or spiritual faculties, faults, or defects. It is stronger than the verb which expresses any one of these. For instance, to have faith is stronger than to believe : to have life, than the act of living. It expresses a distinct, personal realization of the virtue or fault or sentiment in question. Hence, to have sorrow is more than to be sorrowful. In Mt 17:20, Christ does not say if ye believe, but if ye have faith; if faith, in ever so small a degree, is possessed by you as a conscious, living principle and motive. Compare have love (xiii. 35; 1Jo 4:16); have peace (xvi. 33); have trust (2Co 3:4); have boldness (Heb 10:19; 1Jo 2:28).
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And ye now therefore have sorrow:” (kai humeis oun nun men lupen echete) “And you all therefore (as my church) now indeed have a continuing grief,” that He desired to be restrained in them, Joh 14:1; and sought to calm their fears with assurance of another companion helper that He would send, so that they should not faint or fall out, Joh 14:16-17; Gal 6:9.
2) “But I will see you again,” (palin de opsomai humas) “Yet, I will see you again,” come to see you again, after my resurrection, even before I go back to my Father’s side and residence, as He repeatedly assured them, Mat 26:31-32; Mar 14:27-28; Mar 16:7.
3) “And your heart shall rejoice,” (kai charastai humon he kardia) “And your heart will rejoice,” be gladdened, Php_4:4.
4) “And your joy no man taketh from you.” (kai ten charan humon oudeis airei aph’ humon) “And the joy of you all no one takes away from you,” the Divinely implanted joy, 1Pe 1:8; Joh 15:11. All turned on the resurrection, without which there is no gospel, and none could be saved, 1Co 15:1-4; 1Co 15:14-19; Rom 1:16.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
22. Your joy no man shall take from you. The value of the joy is greatly enhanced by its perpetuity; for it follows that the afflictions are light, and ought to be patiently endured, because they are of short duration. By these words Christ reminds us what is the nature of true joy The world must unavoidably be soon deprived of its joys, which it seeks only in fading things; and, therefore, we must come to the resurrection of Christ, in which there is eternal solidity.
But I will see you again. When he says that he will see his disciples, he means that he will visit them again by the grace of his Spirit, that they may continually enjoy his presence.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(22) And ye now therefore have sorrow.The same word is used. The hour of their travail-pangs was at hand; but it would pass away, and the fulness of joy would come in the constant presence of their Lord. Their sorrow would be but temporary; their joy would be abiding. The point of comparison between their state, and the familiar illustration of a woman in travail, is the passage from extreme suffering to extreme joy. We are not justified in taking the illustration as a parable, and interpreting it of the death of Christ as the birth-pang of a perfect humanity. This is the general interpretation of the more mystical expositors, and has been unfolded with great truth and beauty; but it is not an exposition of the present text.
But I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice.In Joh. 16:19 He had said Ye shall see. This is the obverse of the same truth. He will again. be with them, and see them as they will see Him. The words include too the thought of His deep sympathy with them. He sees them now in the depth of their sorrow, and feels with them in that. He will see them again in the time of their joy, and will rejoice with them in that.
And your joy no man taketh from you.The reading is doubtful. Some of the better MSS. have the future . . . shall take from you. No man is better rendered indefinitely, no one, as, e.g., in Joh. 10:18; Joh. 10:29. (Comp. Mat. 28:20, and Rom. 8:38-39, and Notes there.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
22. Your joy no man taketh Your sorrow shall depart, but never your joy. Hostile as is the world, no man can wrest it from you.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
22 And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.
Ver. 22. And ye now therefore have sorrow ] No sorrow like to that, when we see not Christ in his favour. He hides his love often, as Joseph did, out of increasement of love; and then we cannot see him for crying; as Mary Magdalene could not, she was so bleared. But when he seemeth farthest from us, his heart is with us; and he must needs look through the chinks, as in the Canticles, to see how we do, as that martyr expresseth it. (Saunders, in a letter to his wife and friends.) There is a presence of Christ that is secret, when he seems to draw us one way, and to drive us another, Son 5:6 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
22. ] in the same manifold meaning as before noticed will see you at My Resurrection by My Spirit at My second Advent.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Joh 16:22 . , “and you accordingly,” in keeping with this natural arrangement conspicuous in the woman’s case, “have at present sorrow”. This is the time when the results are hidden and only the pain felt: “but I will see you again and your heart shall rejoice and your joy no one takes from you”. This joy was felt in the renewed vision of their Lord at the Resurrection. “All turns on the Resurrection; and without the experiences of that time there would have been no beholding Christ in the Spirit.” Bernard.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
heart. Compare Joh 14:1.
no man = no one. Greek. oudeis.
taketh. Most of’ the texts read “shall take”.
from. Greek. apo. App-104.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
22.] -in the same manifold meaning as before noticed-will see you-at My Resurrection-by My Spirit-at My second Advent.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 16:22. , I will see) Joh 16:16, ye shall see Me. The two are correlative.- ) Isa 66:14, .- , no man taketh away) The Present, by which it is signified that the joy is sure, a joy which can be thwarted by no enemy, whatever may be now for the present impending: Joh 16:32.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 16:22
Joh 16:22
And ye therefore now have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice,-So now in his going away sorrow will fill their hearts to be succeeded by joy when they see him again.
and your joy no one taketh away from you.-Their joy shall be permanent; none shall deprive them of it. The resurrection of Christ foretokens the resurrection to eternal life of all who believe in him. [Jesus refers to his own appearance to the disciples after his sufferings and resurrection, which would turn their sorrow into joy. That joy would be permanent. All enemies on earth combined with those of the underworld might assail them, but no man could take it away.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
ye now: Joh 16:6, Joh 16:20
But: Joh 14:1, Joh 14:27, Joh 20:19, Joh 20:20, Joh 21:7, Isa 25:9, Isa 65:13, Isa 65:14, Isa 66:9-14, Mat 28:8, Luk 24:41, Luk 24:51-53, Act 2:46, Act 13:52, 1Pe 1:8
and your: Joh 4:14, Job 34:29, Psa 146:2, Isa 12:2-4, Isa 51:11, Isa 51:12, Isa 54:7, Isa 54:8, Isa 65:18, Isa 65:19, Hab 3:17, Hab 3:18, Luk 10:42, Luk 16:25, Luk 19:26, Act 5:41, Act 16:25, Act 20:23, Act 20:24, Rom 8:35-39, 1Th 3:7-9, 2Th 2:16, Heb 6:18, Heb 10:34, 1Pe 1:8, 1Pe 4:13, 1Pe 4:14
Reciprocal: Gen 21:6 – God Gen 45:28 – It is enough Lev 23:40 – rejoice Neh 12:43 – God Psa 23:5 – preparest Psa 33:21 – For Psa 35:27 – shout Psa 69:32 – The humble Psa 92:4 – General Psa 106:5 – rejoice Psa 109:28 – but let Pro 13:12 – when Ecc 7:14 – the day Isa 35:10 – and come Isa 66:14 – your heart Jer 30:6 – every Jer 31:12 – and they Jer 31:13 – for Zec 10:7 – their heart Mat 26:29 – until Mar 10:30 – with persecutions Luk 24:52 – with Joh 14:16 – abide Joh 14:19 – a little Joh 17:13 – that 1Co 7:30 – that weep 2Co 6:10 – sorrowful Phi 1:26 – General Phi 2:1 – any consolation Phi 2:28 – ye see 2Ti 1:4 – filled 1Pe 1:6 – ye greatly
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
JOY WHICH ABIDES
I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.
Joh 16:22
Why is it that the word joy has nearly dropped out of our vocabulary? We speak of happiness, cheerfulness, good humour, and so on; but these are all words which have their exact equivalents in classical Greek. The first Christians required a special word for joy as a moral quality; we, it appears, do not require it. We should have a slightly uncomfortable feeling of unreality in using it freely.
I. One is inclined to fear that this most beautiful flower of the Christian life has become a little dusted and faded in eighteen hundred years.The peculiar happiness of the Christian must have been a very real, visible, unmistakable thing in the first century. John, at the end of his long life, remembers the Saviours promise, Your joy no man taketh from you, and his first epistle shows clearly that the promise had been fulfilled in his own case.
II. This visible feature of the Christian character must have lasted onslightly dimmed, perhapsthrough the early centuries.In the Shepherd of Hermas, a favourite religious book of the second centurya kind of Pilgrims Progresswe read Grief is more evil than any other spirit of evil, and beyond all spirits destroyeth man. Put on, therefore, gladness, which is always acceptable to God, and delight thyself in it; for every man that is glad doeth the things that are good, and thinketh good thoughts. Somewhat later Augustine, before his conversion, was struck with this feature in his Christian friends. He speaks of the holy dignity of self-restraint, serene and quietly merry.
III. Medival theology was thoroughly alive to the moral aspect of happiness and unhappiness, though in this, as in other things, it dwelt rather too much on the negative side. They tell us much about the deadly sin of acediaaccidie as Chaucer gives it in English. This now forgotten word was intended to express that compound of gloom, sloth, and irritation, which kills joy in ourselves and in those who have to live with us. It is the sorrow of the world which worketh death, as St. Paul says. Very few people now read the medival casuists. Some of you have, no doubt, read Dante, and remember how those who, under the bright sun, were gloomy and sullen, are plunged into a horrible slough of despond, and the doleful lament which rises to his ear from their place of punishment. Perhaps the Middle Ages treated acedia somewhat harshly. When we are gloomy ourselves, we put it down (I do not say that we are wrong) to our nerves or our digestions, and it never occurs to us to consider whether we are or are not guilty of one of the seven deadly sins.
IV. Unhappiness is not always a sin, but happiness is always a duty.The question of our responsibility for failure belongs entirely to God, not to us; but let us be quite clear what we ought to aim atwhat success in this direction means. And I am afraid that in our days it is not very easy to find wholly satisfactory models of what we are looking for. We have met healthy, energetic people, whose excellent physique inclines them to take a cheerful view of everything, themselves especially; we know the breezy optimist, who says, like Robert Browning, Gods in His heaven, alls right with the world; we may have observed, with rather mixed feelings, the somewhat vapid hilarity of the seminary or theological college; we have probably seen, and been the better for seeing, the gentle patience and noble courage of some suffering invalid. But not one of these types gives us quite what we are seeking. Indeed, I doubt whether we often see joy written clearly on any face except a little childs. Perhaps it is part of a childlike character which our Lord recommends to us so strongly.
Professor Inge.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
2
Joy no man taketfh from you. The enemies could plunge the disciples into sadness by slaying their Lord, but the joy that would follow could not be taken from them. That was because He would be the final victor over the grave, and ascend to the Father after having filled them with joy over the resurrection.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joh 16:22. And ye therefore now have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no one taketh away from you. At Joh 16:19 Jesus had said ye shall see me, but now He says I will see you. It is the blessed reciprocity of intercourse between Him and His own. From the moment of the resurrection He will see them, and they shall see Him, and shall rise to the full brightness of that position to which He elevates His people. Nor will this seeing terminate with the ascension, for it is their spiritual vision that is mainly thought of. In the power of the Spirit He will see them and they Him, and they shall rejoice with a triumphant and abiding joy.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Vv. 22 makes the application of the comparison. The term: I will see you, cannot be synonymous with: you shall see me (Joh 16:16-17; Joh 16:19). The fact of the spiritual seeing again is presented here from the point of view of Jesus, not of the disciples. The death of Jesus not only separated the disciples from Him, but also Him from the disciples. He Himself, when transporting Himself to this moment, said in Joh 16:4 : When I was with you; and after His resurrection, in Luk 24:44 : When I was yet with you. It is for this reason that, not being able at that time to keep them Himself, He prays the Father to keep them in His stead (Joh 17:12-13).
There is no longer between Him and them the bond of sensible communion, and there is not yet that of spiritual communion. For this reason, when He shall return to them spiritually, it will be a seeing again for Him as well as for them. After this interval, in which He no longer Himself held the reins of their life, will come the day of Pentecost, when He will again have the flock under His own hand, and will sovereignly govern them from the midst of His divine state. The resurrection in itself alone could not yet form this new bond. Weiss has therefore no good foundation for finding in this expression: I will see you again, a proof in favor of his explanation (comp. Joh 16:25). The last words: and no one, are to be explained according to him in the sense that, even when the Risen One had once departed, the joy of the resurrection nevertheless continued in the hearts of the disciples; but see on Joh 16:24.
The present , takes away, is the true reading. Jesus transports Himself in thought to that day.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Jesus applied the illustration to His disciples. Their sorrow had already begun with the news of His departure. Yet He would return to them. Jesus again stressed that the initiative rested with Him. The joy that that reunion would kindle within them would remain in them in spite of the persecution that Jesus had predicted they would encounter (cf. Isa 66:14).