BIBLE VERSE STUDY
John 17:22 — Glory Given So That They May Be One
In John 17:22 Jesus states that the glory given to him by the Father has been passed to his disciples so that their unity may mirror the unity between Father and Son.
Scripture
22And the glory which thou hast given me I have given unto them; that they may be one, even as we are one;
What this passage means
The verse opens with a reciprocal giving: the Father gives 'glory' to the Son (John 17:22), and the Son hands that same glory to his disciples. In this prayer the term refers to the manifested presence and honor that belongs to the Son in relation to the Father; by transferring it, Jesus grounds the disciples' unity in something he has actually imparted to them, not merely in an external agreement.
The stated purpose is 'that they may be one, even as we are one.' The unity Jesus asks for is not contractual but patterned after the mutual indwelling of Father and Son. Because the Father is in the Son and the Son in the Father (cf. verse 17:21), the oneness of believers is rooted in their participation in the same relationship, with the imparted glory as the means that makes such participation possible.
The clause 'even as we are one' connects this verse to the previous petition in 17:21 and to what follows in 17:23. Where 17:21 emphasizes mutual indwelling so the world may believe the Father sent Jesus, 17:22 supplies the divine gift (glory) by which the disciples enter into that oneness. The wording is a present-stative 'are one,' portraying the Father-Son unity as an established reality that the disciples' unity is meant to mirror.
Context
John 17 is set after the Last Supper discourse. Verses 1–5 record Jesus asking the Father to glorify the Son so that the Son may glorify the Father; the cross is the implied 'hour.' Verses 6–19 then move to petitions for the disciples: keeping them in the Father's name (17:11), protection from the evil one (17:15), and consecration in the truth (17:17). Verse 22 falls inside the second main movement of the prayer, the request that disciples be one (17:21–23).
Key words in the original
- G1391 Lemma δόξα. The 'glory' here is the honor and manifested presence the Father gave the Son, then transmitted to the disciples as the basis of their unity.
- G1520 Lemma εἷς, 'one.' The neuter ἓν/ἕν in 17:22 points to a single shared reality rather than mere agreement; the disciples' oneness is to mirror the singular union of Father and Son.
- G0025 Lemma ἀγαπάω. This verb appears in the same verse (in the textual tradition extending through 17:23–24) for the Father's love for the Son, a love said to be in the disciples — providing the relational pattern the imparted glory is meant to sustain.
Common questions
Is John 17:22 about organizational unity or something deeper?
The verse grounds unity in the imparted glory of the Son and in the pattern of Father and Son. The wording 'even as we are one' ties the disciples' oneness to the mutual indwelling described in verse 17:21, pointing beyond external cooperation to a shared participation in the Father-Son relationship.
What is the 'glory' that Jesus says he has given them?
Within this prayer, the glory is the honor and manifested presence the Father bestowed on the Son (cf. 17:5). Jesus presents himself as having already passed that glory to the disciples, so that their oneness rests on a divine gift rather than on their own effort.
How does John 17:22 relate to verse 17:21 and 17:23?
Verse 17:21 asks that believers be in the Father and the Son so the world may believe. Verse 17:22 states the divine gift (glory) by which this indwelling becomes real for the disciples. Verse 17:23 adds that the Son is in them and the Father in the Son, so they may be perfected into one.