(28) Father, glorify thy name.--The pronoun "Thy" is emphatic. The Son's will is one with that of the Father; the Son's glory is in the glorifying the Father's name. Comp. the opening clause of the Lord's Prayer (Note on Matthew 6:9 et seq.) and in this context Note on John 12:23.

Then came there a voice from heaven.--The words mean, not that a sound came from heaven, but that there was heard an articulate voice (comp. Note on John 3:8); and that St. John intended his readers to understand this cannot be questioned. He records here a fact parallel to those recorded by the other Evangelists at the Baptism (Matthew 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 4:22), and at the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:35), and parallel to that to which St. Luke and St. Paul have testified (Acts 9:4; Acts 22:9; Acts 26:14). . . .

Verses 28, 29. - A heavy thunder-cloud seems to hang over him; for a moment a break in the darkness, a rift in the clouds, presents itself, and, though he might have prayed for legions of angels, he did not. The second Adam knows the issue of the tremendous trial, and, in full apprehension of the answer to his deepest prayer, he cries, Father, glorify thy Name. The "thy" is emphatic. A contrast is implied between the eternal glory and the glory of the Christ. "I am thine; thou art mine;" "Thy will be done;" "Not as I will, but as thou wilt;" "If this cup cannot pass away from me except I drink it, thy will be done;" "Not my will, but thine be done." I bare my breast for the blow; I yield my ψυχή absolutely to thy control! God glorifies himself in many ways, and here we see the highest point to which the human can rise. Godet calls attention to the extraordinary mistake made by Colani, who founds a charge against the Gospel itself on the supposition that these solemn words were, "Father, glorify my Name." The synoptists tell us that at the baptism (Matthew 3:17) and at the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:5) a literal voice of words was heard from heaven conveying intelligible ideas to John the Baptist and subsequently to Peter, James, and John. And here the same John (son of Zebedee) records, not only that such a kind of voice was repeated on this occasion, but reports the very words themselves. There came therefore a voice out of heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. These words many of the crowd round about him, as well as Jesus himself, distinctly heard. The multitude that stood by said, It has thundered; hearing only a voice of thunder. It will not, however, on that account be fair to this evangelist to say (with Paulus, Lucke, and even Hengstenberg) that there was no objective audible voice which any ear beside that of Jesus could hear, and which none but the mind of Jesus could interpret. It is not sufficient to say "that the thunder and the voice were identical." Hengstenberg quotes numerous passages from the Old Testament where thunder was interpreted to mean the "voice of Jehovah" (1 Samuel 12:18; Psalm 29; Job 37:4; Psalm 18:13), but there are numerous passages both in the Old Testament and in the Gospels and Acts where an objective voice was heard. Such voice was at times accompanied by thunder, but not in the majority of cases. In the promises made in the garden of Eden, in the call of Moses and Samuel, and in the communion that passed between the Lord and Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Samuel, Solomon, and Elijah, Jehovah spake in audible words without such auxiliary. When communications were made to Eli, to David, to Hezekiah, and others, they were given by the lips of prophetic men. When the Law was given to all the tribes of Israel, the thunder-trumpet was exceeding loud and long, and the people could not bear the awful experience, so that the Lord was pleased to speak to Moses only, and he was to communicate with the people. The case of Elijah is remarkable because the "still small voice" is distinguished from the thunder, etc., which had preceded it. Why should Hengstenberg have refrained from giving these Old Testament facts their proper weight? The rationalistic view would make the words spoken to have been the inference that either Jesus or John drew from a clap of thunder, and must conclude that the crowd, so far as the objective fact was concerned, were practically in the right. The narrative itself recounts a varied appreciation of a distinct and objective fact. Those who were not alive to any voice from heaven confounded it with thunder, lowered the Divine communication down to an ordinary natural fact. Others, i.e. "a few others," were much nearer to the reality when they said, An angel hath spoken to him (compare reference to the angelic aid that came to the Lord in Gethsemane). The voice of God's plenipotentiary angel speaking in his Name, was recognized as a supernatural communication, though the meaning of it was not grasped (cf. the voice with which Jesus spoke to Paul on the way to Damascus). But we may reasonably suppose that these Greeks, that the disciples who surrounded Jesus, that the beloved John, found in the voice a direct answer to the previous sublime cry of the Lord. The prayer, "Father, glorify thy Name," received the answer, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again; i.e. In thy work and life hitherto, as Prophet, Master, Example, as my beloved Son, my Name has already been glorified in thee, and now in thy approaching sacrificial agony in which thou wilt become perfect as a Priest-King, and the Author of eternal salvation, "I will glorify it again."

Parallel Commentaries ...


Father,
Πάτερ (Pater)
Noun - Vocative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3962: Father, (Heavenly) Father, ancestor, elder, senior. Apparently a primary word; a 'father'.

glorify
δόξασόν (doxason)
Verb - Aorist Imperative Active - 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 1392: To glorify, honor, bestow glory on. From doxa; to render glorious.

Your
σου (sou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

name!”
ὄνομα (onoma)
Noun - Accusative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3686: Name, character, fame, reputation. From a presumed derivative of the base of ginosko; a 'name'.

Then
οὖν (oun)
Conjunction
Strong's 3767: Therefore, then. Apparently a primary word; certainly, or accordingly.

a voice
φωνὴ (phōnē)
Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular
Strong's 5456: Probably akin to phaino through the idea of disclosure; a tone; by implication, an address, saying or language.

came
Ἦλθεν (Ēlthen)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2064: To come, go.

from
ἐκ (ek)
Preposition
Strong's 1537: From out, out from among, from, suggesting from the interior outwards. A primary preposition denoting origin, from, out.

heaven:
οὐρανοῦ (ouranou)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 3772: Perhaps from the same as oros; the sky; by extension, heaven; by implication, happiness, power, eternity; specially, the Gospel.

“I have glorified [it],
ἐδόξασα (edoxasa)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1392: To glorify, honor, bestow glory on. From doxa; to render glorious.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

I will glorify [it]
δοξάσω (doxasō)
Verb - Future Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1392: To glorify, honor, bestow glory on. From doxa; to render glorious.

again.”
πάλιν (palin)
Adverb
Strong's 3825: Probably from the same as pale; anew, i.e. back, once more, or furthermore or on the other hand.


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NT Gospels: John 12:28 Father glorify your name! (Jhn Jo Jn)