John 15:27

And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(27) And ye also shall bear witness.—The tense is present, and ye also bear witness; or, and ye also are witnesses. (Comp. Notes on Luke 24:48-49.) The Apostles themselves distinguished between their own witness of things which had come within their own experience and the witness borne by the power of the Holy Spirit, of which the Day of Pentecost was the first great instance. (Comp. Acts 5:32.)

Because ye have been with me from the beginning.—Comp. John 1:7; and Notes on Acts 1:21-22. The “beginning” of course means the beginning of the Messianic teaching and works of which they were to be witnesses.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

15:26,27. The blessed Spirit will maintain the cause of Christ in the world, notwithstanding the opposition it meets with. Believers taught and encouraged by his influences, would bear testimony to Christ and his salvation.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Ye also shall bear witness - You shall be witnesses to the world to urge on them the evidences that the Lord Jesus is the Messiah.

Have been with me - They had for more than three years seen his works, and were therefore qualified to bear witness of his character and doctrines.

From the beginning - From his entrance on the public work of the ministry, Matthew 4:17-22. Compare Acts 1:21-22.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

27. ye also shall bear witness—rather, "are witnesses"; with reference indeed to their future witness-bearing, but putting the emphasis upon their present ample opportunities for acquiring their qualifications for that great office, inasmuch as they had been "with Him from the beginning." (See on [1865]Lu 1:2).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

He adds also, they should testify, &c.: the apostles, and their successors, by the preaching of the gospel; but particularly the apostles, Acts 10:39 1Jo 1:2,3, being chosen witnesses, Acts 10:41. And they were competent witnesses, because they had been with Christ from the beginning of his public ministry. We shall find the testimony of his apostles and of the Holy Ghost both joined together, Acts 5:32.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And ye shall also bear witness,.... That is, of Christ; of all the things he did in Jerusalem, and in the land of the Jews; being eyewitnesses, and ministers, or servants of the word, who constantly attended upon him; of all the good he did to the bodies and souls of men; of the various miracles he wrought, and of the several doctrines which were taught by him: what they saw with their eyes, heard with their ears, and with their hands handled of the word of life, that they could declare, and did declare, and bore a faithful testimony to; they were to be, and were witnesses of his sufferings and death, of his resurrection from the dead, and ascension to heaven; they were a company of select men, chosen before of God, for this purpose; they were the most proper to be concerned herein, having been for a considerable time his intimates and associates:

because ye have been with me from the beginning; from the beginning of his ministry; for as soon as he entered on his public work, he called them to be followers of him; and who continued with him to the end, and therefore were the most capable of bearing a testimony concerning his person, doctrines, and works; of all he did and suffered, from first to last.

Geneva Study Bible

And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Expositor's Greek Testament

John 15:27. καὶ ὑμεῖς δὲ μαρτυρεῖτε, “and do ye also witness,” or, if indicative, “and ye also witness”. Most prefer the indicative. “The disciples were already the witnesses which they were to be in the future.” Meyer. This agrees with the ἐστε following. They were able to act as witnesses ὅτι ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς μετʼ ἐμοῦ ἐστε, “because from the beginning,” of the Messianic activity, “ye are with me”. The present, ἐστε, is natural as Jesus is looking at their entire fellowship with Him, and that was still continuing. Cf. Mark 3:14, ἐποίησε δώδεκα, ἵνα ὦσι μετʼ αὐτοῦ; also Acts 1:21; Acts 4:13.—

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

27. And ye also shall bear witness] Better, Nay, ye also bear witness: the verb is present, not future. It is also possible to take the verb as an imperative (comp. John 15:18 and John 14:1), but the conjunctions used are against this. The testimony of the disciples is partly one and the same with the testimony of the Spirit, partly not. It is partly the same, so far as it depends on the illumination of the Spirit, who was to bring all things to their remembrance and lead them into all truth. This would not be true in its fulness until Pentecost. It is partly not the same, so far as it depends upon the Apostles’ own personal experience of Christ and His work. This is the case at once; the experience is already there; and hence the present tense. Comp. Acts 5:32, where the Apostles clearly set forth the twofold nature of their testimony, and Acts 15:28, where there is a parallel distinction of the two factors.

have been with me] Literally, are with Me; i.e. have been and still are.

from the beginning] As usual the context decides the meaning of ‘beginning’ (see on John 1:1). Here plainly the meaning is from the beginning of Christ’s ministry. They could bear witness as to what they themselves had seen and heard. Comp. Acts 1:22; Luke 1:2.

Bengel's Gnomen

John 15:27. Δὲ, but, moreover) The Antithesis is between the future μαρτυρήσει, He shall testify, John 15:26, and the Present, μαρτυρεῖτε, ye bear witness.[362])—μαρτυρεῖτε, ye bear witness) viz., of Me.—ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς, from the beginning) ch. John 16:4, “These things I said not unto you at the beginning (ἐξ ἀρχῆς), because I was with you.” Ye are (ἐστε) from the beginning, i.e., Ye have been from the beginning, and still are with Me. A similar phrase occurs, 1 John 3:8, where see the note, “The devil sinneth from the beginning,” an abbreviated expression for [He hath sinned from the beginning and still sinneth.]

[362] But Engl. Vers. makes it future, “Ye also shall bear witness.” So b and some MSS. of Vulg. “testimonium perhibebitis.” But the best MSS. of the Vulg., viz. Fuldensis and Amiatinus, have the present perhibets.—E. and T.

John 15:27

Vincent's Word Studies

Shall bear witness (μαρτυρεῖτε)

Present tense, bear witness. So Rev. Or, it may be taken as imperative: bear ye witness.