Discovery BoxJohn 12:38 
Context12:38 so that the word 1 of Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled. He said, 2 “Lord, who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord 3 been revealed?” 4
John 17:12
Context17:12 When I was with them I kept them safe 5 and watched over them 6 in your name 7 that you have given me. Not one 8 of them was lost except the one destined for destruction, 9 so that the scripture could be fulfilled. 10
1 tn Or “message.”
2 tn Grk “who said.”
3 tn “The arm of the Lord” is an idiom for “God’s great power” (as exemplified through Jesus’ miraculous signs). This response of unbelief is interpreted by the author as a fulfillment of the prophetic words of Isaiah (Isa 53:1). The phrase ὁ βραχίων κυρίου (Jo braciwn kuriou) is a figurative reference to God’s activity and power which has been revealed in the sign-miracles which Jesus has performed (compare the previous verse).
4 sn A quotation from Isa 53:1.
5 tn Or “I protected them”; Grk “I kept them.”
6 tn Grk “and guarded them.”
7 tn Or “by your name.”
8 tn Grk And not one.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.
9 tn Grk “the son of destruction” (a Semitic idiom for one appointed for destruction; here it is a reference to Judas).
sn The one destined to destruction refers to Judas. Clearly in John’s Gospel Judas is portrayed as a tool of Satan. He is described as “the devil” in 6:70. In 13:2 Satan put into Judas’ heart the idea of betraying Jesus, and 13:27 Satan himself entered Judas. Immediately after this Judas left the company of Jesus and the other disciples and went out into the realm of darkness (13:30). Cf. 2 Thess 2:3, where this same Greek phrase (“the son of destruction”; see tn above) is used to describe the man through whom Satan acts to rebel against God in the last days.
10 sn A possible allusion to Ps 41:9 or Prov 24:22 LXX. The exact passage is not specified here, but in John 13:18, Ps 41:9 is explicitly quoted by Jesus with reference to the traitor, suggesting that this is the passage to which Jesus refers here. The previous mention of Ps 41:9 in John 13:18 probably explains why the author felt no need for an explanatory parenthetical note here. It is also possible that the passage referred to here is Prov 24:22 LXX, where in the Greek text the phrase “son of destruction” appears.
