For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given, [ edooken (G1325 ), or 'gave He'] to the Son to have life in himself. Does this refer to the essential life of the Son before all time? (in the sense of John 1:4) - as most of the fathers understood it, and Olshausen, Stier, Alford, etc., among the moderns understand it; or, does it refer to the purpose of God that this essential life should reside in the Person of the incarnate Son, and be manifested thus to the world?-as Calvin, Lucke, Luthardt, etc., view it. The question is as difficult as the subject is high. But as all that Christ says of His essential relation to the Father is intended to explain and exalt his mediatorial functions, so the one seems in our Lord's own mind and language mainly the starting-point of the other.