John 16:17

Then some of His disciples asked one another, “Why is He telling us, ‘In a little while you will not see Me, and then after a little while you will see Me’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Jesus addresses a group of His disciples immediately after declaring that He will soon be unseen and then seen again. The disciples respond by questioning one another about His claim to be going to the Father.

The words — The phrase ἐκ τῶν μαθητῶν (ek tōn mathētōn) literally identifies "some of the disciples" who initiate the inquiry. Their question is directed ἀλλήλους (allēlous), literally "to one another," marking a private exchange of confusion rather than a direct address to Jesus.

The thread — This struggle to comprehend His departure recurs in John 16:18, where the disciples explicitly admit they do not understand His repeated use of “a little while.” A parallel instance of unasked questions about His destination appears in John 16:5.

Why it lands — The text records the disciples’ literal confusion before Jesus clarifies His words, requiring the reader to acknowledge human limitation in grasping divine timing. It demands that the reader wait for Jesus’ explanation rather than forcing premature conclusions about His departure.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

Then said some of his disciples among themselves, What is this that he saith unto us, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me: and, Because I go to the Father?

Cross-references

John 16:16 In a little while you will see Me no more, and then after a little while you will see Me.”
Mark 9:32 But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.
John 16:5 Now, however, I am going to Him who sent Me; yet none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’
John 14:5 “Lord,” said Thomas, “we do not know where You are going, so how can we know the way?”
John 16:19 Aware that they wanted to question Him, Jesus said to them, “Are you asking one another why I said, ‘In a little while you will not see Me, and then after a little while you will see Me’?
Mark 9:10 So they kept this matter to themselves, discussing what it meant to rise from the dead.
Luke 18:34 But the disciples did not understand any of these things. The meaning was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend what He was saying.
John 12:16 At first His disciples did not understand these things, but after Jesus was glorified they remembered what had been done to Him, and they realized that these very things had also been written about Him.
Luke 9:45 But they did not understand this statement. It was veiled from them so that they could not comprehend it, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.
John 14:22 Judas (not Iscariot) asked Him, “Lord, why are You going to reveal Yourself to us and not to the world?”