John 14:2

My Father’s house. A beautiful representation of heaven. The word for “house” (Gr. oikia) may also be translated “home.” It is thus rendered in Matt. 8:6. The masculine form, oikos, is translated “home” in Mark 5:19; Luke 15:6; 1 Cor. 11:34; 14:35. Jesus was returning to His home. Eventually the disciples would be permitted to join Him there.

Mansions. Gr. monai (singular monē) literally, “abiding places.” In non-Biblical Greek literature the word sometimes has the meaning of temporary stopping places. From this concept Origen drew his false notion that the mansions were halting places in the soul’s journey to God (see De Principiis ii. 11. 6). But such is not the scriptural meaning of monai. This is clear from v. 23, the only other occurrence of the word in the Bible. Certainly the abode of Christ and the Father with the Christian is no temporary affair. The idea of permanence in monē is reflected in 1 Macc. 7:38, the only occurrence of the word in the LXX.

Our English word “mansion” is from the Latin mansio, in meaning almost equivalent to the Gr. monē. Mansio, as does monē, means “a remaining place,” “a place of abode.” The idea of a building of some size or pretentiousness does not attach to the Latin, nor, of course, to the Greek. That idea was a later development of the English word and the meaning should not be introduced into the present verse. Either “mansion” should be understood in its archaic sense of “a dwelling place,” or “abode,” or one of these meanings should be substituted in a translation of the verse.

The fact that there are “many” dwelling places makes certain of sufficient room in the Father’s house for all who heed the Father’s invitation.

I go. Textual evidence favors (cf. p. 146) the insertion before “I go” of the Greek conjunction hoti, meaning, “for,” “that,” or “because.” If it is omitted there is a complete stop after the preceding clause, as in the KJV. If it is included there is some question as to how the clause that it introduces should be connected to the preceding. Several translations are possible: (1) “If it were not so I would have told you that I go to prepare a place for you.” This translation is ruled out because, according to v. 3, such was one of the objects of Jesus’ departure. (2) “If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” This translation overcomes the difficulty of No. 1, but introduces a new problem in that there is no record of Jesus’ having told His disciples that He was going to prepare a place for them. It is, of course, possible that such a statement was simply left unrecorded. (3) “There are many abiding places (and if it were not so I would have told you), for I go to prepare a place for you” (see C. K. Barrett, The Gospel According to St. John, on ch. 14:2). If textual evidence is held to be in favor of including the hoti, the last translation seems to be the most natural. However, the text is perfectly intelligible if the conjunction is omitted.

These words were designed to comfort the disciples. Jesus was leaving, but He would not forget them. He would eagerly anticipate His reunion with them in the Father’s house. In the interval He would prepare for the glorious home-coming.