John 17 Chapter Introduction

Structure and Formatting

This chapter is one long prayer that can be divided into three parts according to the topics of Jesus’ prayer requests:1. Jesus prays for himself ([17:1–5](../17/01.md))2. Jesus prays for his disciples ([17:6–19](../17/06.md))3. Jesus prays for all Christians ([17:20–26](../17/20.md))

Religious and Cultural Concepts in This Chapter

Glory

Scripture often speaks of God’s glory as a great, bright light that visually represents how great God is. When people see this light, they are afraid. In this chapter Jesus asks God to show his followers his true glory ([17:1](../17/01.md)). (See: glory)

Jesus is eternal

Jesus existed before God created the world ([17:5](../17/05.md)). John wrote about this in [1:1](../01/01.md).

Translation Issues in This Chapter

Prayer

Jesus is God’s one and only Son ([3:16](../03/16.md)), so he could pray differently from the way other people pray. He used many words that might seem to be commands. Your translation should make Jesus sound like a son speaking with love and respect to his father and telling him what the father needs to do so that the father will be honored.