The remaining words of this verse afford a second reason why the Father ought to hear Christ's prayer for the Apostles and watch over them, because Christ, through them, had been glorified before men, as a teacher is honoured by disciples attaching themselves to him. Or the words: “I am glorified,” may possibly be proleptic, and mean that Christ was to be glorified afterwards through the preaching of the Apostles.

11. Etiam non sum in mundo, et hi in mundo sunt, et ego ad te venio. Pater sancte, serva eos in nomine tuo, quos dedisti mihi: ut sint unum, sicut et nos.11. And now I am not in the world, and these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep them in thy name, whom thou hast given me: that they may be one, as we also are.

11. A third reason why they ought now to receive the Father's special care was because Christ was now leaving them, and they were to remain in the world.

Keep them in thy name, whom thou hast given me. The sense of this reading is sufficiently evident. The best-supported Greek reading, however, is ὧ[111] (not οὕς), ὧ being attracted into the dative case of the preceding noun, and standing for ὁ. The most probable meaning of this Greek reading is: keep them in the confession of Thy name, in the knowledge of Thee, which Thou hast given to Me, and which I in turn have given to them; that they may be one by a union of faith and charity resembling, though in an imperfect way, the union between the Persons of the Blessed Trinity.

12. Cum essem cum eis, ego servabam eos in nomine tuo. Quos dedisti mihi, custodivi: et nemo ex eis periit, nisi filius perditionis, ut scriptura impleatur.12. While I was with them, I kept them in thy name. Those whom thou gavest me have I kept: and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition, that the scripture may be fulfilled.

12. I kept them. In the original, the imperfect tense ἐτήρουν brings out more clearly Christ's continuous care.

In this verse, too, there is a difference of opinion as to whether οὐς or ὦ is the correct reading, but the Vulgate reading is more strongly supported here than in verse 11.

And none of them is lost, but the son of perdition. “Son of perdition” is a Hebraism, signifying one devoted to destruction, as Judas was, through his own fault.

None of them was lost in either soul or body except Judas, who was already lost as to his soul, though not irreparably; and who was soon to be irreparably lost both as to soul and body. But this loss of Judas was not to be ascribed to Christ, but took place in order that (see above on [xii. 37-40]) the Scripture (Ps. xl. 10) might be fulfilled. The Holy Ghost had predicted the ruin of Judas, because it was foreseen that this would certainly come about through the wretched Apostle's own fault. In the words: “none of them is lost,” we think there is question of both the bodies and souls of the Apostles; for while it is generally admitted that Christ here claims to have guarded the souls of the Apostles from spiritual ruin, John xviii. [8], [9], seems to prove, as we shall there show, that in the words before us Christ speaks of having guarded from harm their bodies also.

13. Nunc autem ad te venio: et haec loquor in mundo, ut habeant gaudium meum impletum in semetipsis.13. And now I come to thee: and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy filled in themselves.