BIBLE VERSE STUDY
John 17:5 — Pre-Creation Glory Restored
In John 17:5, Jesus asks the Father to restore the glory He shared with the Father before the world's creation.
Scripture
5And now, Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
What this passage means
The verse is a direct petition within Jesus' prayer: 'And now, Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.' Jesus asks that the glory belonging to His pre-incarnate communion with the Father be manifested in the present hour. The wording 'before the world was' situates the Son's glory at a point prior to creation, so the request is not for a new honor but for the disclosure of one already possessed.
The phrase 'with thee' (rendered in Greek with παρά governing the dative, indicating being alongside) points to a face-to-face relational sphere between Father and Son. By asking to be glorified 'with thine own self,' Jesus is requesting that the Father, in His own presence, confirm and display this shared majesty. The petition thus distinguishes the persons of Father and Son while affirming their shared possession of glory.
Because the request sits inside the prayer of John 17, it is tied to the themes woven through the surrounding verses: the completion of the Father's assigned work (17:4), the giving of eternal life through knowing the Father and the sent Son (17:2–3), and, later in the chapter, the disciples' coming unity and beholding of His glory (17:22, 17:24). The 'now' of 17:5 marks the turning point where the earthly mission is finished and the hour of return has come.
Context
In the chapter context, 17:5 follows Jesus' statement that He has glorified the Father on earth by completing the work given Him (17:4), which itself rests on the definition of eternal life as knowing the only true God and the One He sent (17:2–3). The verse functions as the hinge: the Son's earthly work is finished, so He turns to request the restoration of pre-creation glory.
Looking ahead, the prayer continues with the disciples' preservation, sanctification, and unity (17:11, 17:17, 17:21–23). The pre-creation glory of 17:5 grounds the later statement that the disciples may behold 'my glory, which thou hast given me' (17:24), tying the request for the Son's glorification to the disciples' participation in it.
Key words in the original
- G1392 δόξασόν (doxason), imperative of δοξάζω, 'to glorify' — the prayer form that frames the entire chapter's request: 'Glorify thy Son…' (17:1) and 'glorify thou me' (17:5).
- G1391 δόξα (doxa), 'glory' — in 17:5 refers to the pre-creation majesty the Son possessed 'with' (παρά) the Father, a relational possession rather than a temporal achievement.
- G2889 κόσμος (kosmos), 'world' — appears here in its temporal sense as the created realm that had a beginning, against which 'before the world was' sets the Son's prior glory.
Related verses
- John 1:1 Pairs 'the Word was with God' with 'the glory which I had with thee' — both use the 'with' (παρά) construction to express the Son's pre-creation communion with the Father.
- 1 Peter 1:20 Speaks of the Son 'foreknown before the foundation of the world,' echoing 17:5's 'before the world was' and locating the Son's identity within the Father's prior plan.
- John 17:24 Closes the prayer by returning to the same horizon — the disciples beholding 'my glory… thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world' — completing the arc opened at 17:5.
Common questions
What does 'with the glory which I had with thee before the world was' mean?
Jesus refers to a glory the Son possessed in intimate fellowship with the Father before creation began. The petition is not for a new status but for the disclosure of that prior shared glory.
Why is 17:5 called a request for the restoration of pre-creation glory?
Because the wording places the Son's glory at a point before the world existed and asks that this prior possession now be manifested, the verse is naturally read as a request for the display of the glory He always had with the Father.
How does 17:5 connect to the rest of John 17?
It stands between Jesus' completion of the Father's work (17:4) and His prayer for the disciples (17:6–26). The pre-creation glory requested here grounds the later promise that the disciples will behold His glory (17:24).