Then the same day at evening, being the firstday of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peacebe unto you.[2]
When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were locked where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, "Peace be to you."[3]
The account of Jesus' appearance in "the house where the disciples had gathered" (John 20:19–23) is similar to the account in theGospel of Luke (Luke 24:36–49), when Jesus appeared to his disciples inJerusalem (after the return of two of his followers who met Jesus on theroad to Emmaus) on the evening of the day of hisresurrection.[4]
Only John mentions that the door was locked,[a] and the reason why this was the case (fear of theJews: fear that the Jews would persecute the disciples after their leader had been executed).[b] The "function" of the locked door is to show the "miraculous nature of Jesus' appearance",[7] showing that the risen Jesus is "no longer bound by normal space conditions".[4] ForBede, the evening represented the time when the disciples would have been "most afraid".[8]
The wordsPeace be with you (Ancient Greek:Εἰρήνη ὑμῖν,Eirēnēhymin[1]) is a common traditional Jewish greeting[9] (shalom alekem, orשלום לכםshalom lekom;[1] cf.1 Samuel 25:6[6]) still in use today;[7] repeated inverses 21 and26[6]), but here Jesus conveys the peace he had previously promised to his disciples (John 14:27;16:33), causing the rapid switch of their emotion from "fear" (verse 19) to "joy" (verse 20).[10]
The number of the disciples present is not certain, althoughThomas' absence is singled out inverse 24, andJudas Iscariot would not have been present. It is possible that some otherdisciples, less tightly connected to the group, could have been there.[7]
^Some English versions translate κεκλεισμενων (kekleismenōn) as "locked", others as "shut" or "closed".[5]Andreas J. Köstenberger asserts that the door was not merelyshut butlocked (Greekperfect tense:κεκλεισμένων,kekleismenōn).[6]
^John's reference to "the Jews" appears to be generic, but the modern scholarly consensus is that the term Ἰουδαίων (Ioudaioi, (Jews) in John refers exclusively to the religious authorities: seeAntisemitism and the New Testament#Gospel of John for discussion of John's use of this term.
^abcKöstenberger, Andreas J. (2004).John. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Vol. 4 (illustrated ed.). Baker Academic. p. 572.ISBN9780801026447.
