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John 14:14 - Me or no Me?

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  • John 14:14 - Me or no Me?

    If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. (John 14:14, KJV)

    If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. (John 14:14, NASB)


    A few citations:
    1. Alfred Plummer: In John 14:13 the prayer is regarded as addressed to the Father, but granted by the Son: in John 14:14, if the very strongly supported με is genuine, the prayer is addressed to Christ. (Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges: John)
    http://www.studylight.org/commentari...gi?bk=42&ch=14

    2. Robertson: If ye shall ask me anything in my name (εαν τι αιτησητε με εν τωι ονοματι μου — ean ti aitēsēte me en tōi onomati mou). Condition of third class with εαν — ean and first aorist active subjunctive of αιτεω — aiteō The use of με — me (me) here is supported by Aleph B 33 Vulgate Syriac Peshitta. Just this phrase does not occur elsewhere in John and seems awkward, but see John 16:23. If it is genuine, as seems likely, here is direct prayer to Jesus taught as we see it practiced by Stephen in Acts 7:59; and in Revelation 22:20.
    http://www.studylight.org/commentari...gi?bk=42&ch=14

    3. Larry Hurtado: The variation in 14:14 between "if you ask/ask me" may have arisen from scribes similarly deleting an offending "me" (the view favored by most commentators), but it is also just possible that the "me" was inserted and became the more popular reading because it reflected the early Christian practice of offering prayer to Jesus as well as to "the Father." (Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity, page 391, Footnote #89)

    Which side does all the evidence that we possess so far point to in determining if "Me" belongs in John 14:14?
    Last edited by foudroyant; 05-06-2014, 07:22 AM.

  • #2
    I like Young's Literal: [14]*if ye ask anything in my name I will do it.
    And Darby: [14]*If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.
    The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

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    • #3
      The parallels (John 15:16, John 16:23) have "ask the Father".

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Paprika View Post
        The parallels (John 15:16, John 16:23) have "ask the Father".
        Excellent point.
        The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

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        • #5
          But of course, in those parallels it is the Father who gives what is asked.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Paprika View Post
            The parallels (John 15:16, John 16:23) have "ask the Father".
            Does that preclude asking the Son in 14:14?

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            • #7
              Originally posted by foudroyant View Post
              Does that preclude asking the Son in 14:14?
              Not necessarily.

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              • #8
                From A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, by Bruce M. Metzger:
                14.14 με {B} Either the unusual collocation, “ask me in my name,” or a desire to avoid contradiction with 16.23 seems to have prompted (a) the omission of με in a variety of witnesses (A D K L Π Ψ Byz al) or (b) its replacement with τὸν πατέρα (249 397). The word με is adequately supported (P66 ℵ B W Δ Θ ƒ13 28 33 700 al) and seems to be appropriate in view of its correlation with ἐγώ later in the verse.

                From The Gospel According to John (Pillar: Eerdmans, 1991), By D. A. Carson:
                14. This verse is omitted by a minority of witnesses, some of them important, including a substantial number of ancient versions. Nevertheless the verse is almost certainly original. Reasons why it was omitted may have included the following: (1) A copyist's eye may have inadvertently dropped from the first word in verse 14 (ean) to the first word of verse 15 (ean), an accidental error called 'haplography'. (2) Alternatively, a copyist might have thought, wrongly, that the verse contradicts 16:23, and decided to drop it. (3) Someone may have omitted it on the ground that it was too repetitive of truth already expressed in verse 13a. Amongst the witnesses that support the verse are a minority that drop the me in the first clause, thereby giving the impression that the prayer is addressed to the Father in Jesus' name, rather than to Jesus in Jesus' name. Textual evidence favors the inclusion of the pronoun. The seeming awkwardness of 'ask me in my name' is paralleled elsewhere (Pss. 25:11; 31:3; 79:9). In any case, it is very doubtful that the Evangelist would be interested in drawing overly fine distinctions in the proper object of prayer, since he can happily refer to the gift of the Spirit as the result of the Son's request to the Father (verses 16, 26), or as the Son's own emissary (15:26; 16:7). ....
                Last edited by John Reece; 05-06-2014, 11:05 AM.

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                • #9
                  "In any case, it is very doubtful that the Evangelist would be interested in drawing overly fine distinctions in the proper object of prayer, since he can happily refer to the gift of the Spirit as the result of the Son's request to the Father (verses 16, 26), or as the Son's own emissary (15:26; 16:7)."

                  Thank you John.

                  I also think that just as the John would not be interested in drawing overly fine distinctions in the proper object of prayer the same could be said in his approach in worshiping both the Father and the Son (cf. John 5:23).
                  http://www.theologyweb.com/campus/sh...er-and-the-Son

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