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John 17.20-22 Subjunctives

Posted: February 4th, 2026, 5:53 pm
by tghagen
Hello everyone,
I have a question about the meaning of the subjunctives in John 17.20-22, especially the combination "ἵνα...ὦσιν".

"20 Οὐ περὶ τούτων δὲ ἐρωτῶ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ τῶν πιστευόντων διὰ τοῦ λόγου αὐτῶν εἰς ἐμέ, 21 ἵνα πάντες ἓν ὦσιν, καθὼς σύ, πατήρ, ἐν ἐμοὶ κἀγὼ ἐν σοί, ἵνα καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐν ἡμῖν ὦσιν, ἵνα ὁ κόσμος πιστεύῃ ὅτι σύ με ἀπέστειλας. 22 κἀγὼ τὴν δόξαν ἣν δέδωκάς μοι δέδωκα αὐτοῖς, ἵνα ὦσιν ἓν καθὼς ἡμεῖς ἕν,"

My question actually arises from the use of the subjunctive in Italian, my adopted language. The subjunctive is much more common in Italian than in English, and occasionally it is used when the indicative in English means more or less certainty.

I wonder if that is what is happening in these verses from John. Let's take the first phrase from verse 21: "(ἐρωτῶ) ἵνα πάντες ἓν ὦσιν".

Does the subjunctive here convey the idea of certainty or necessity; that is, is Jesus certain that his disciples will be "one" because he is asking the Father to bring it about?

Or does the subjunctive convey the idea of possibility or hope or desire; that is, is Jesus aware of the precarious nature of his request? Is there the idea that, in spite of the Father's doing all He can, the disciples' unity will also depend on their response?

Thank you for any comments which can clarify this for me.

Thomas