| Geneva Study Bible And there were certain Greeks among them that {a} came up to worship at the feast: (a) After the solemn custom: the Greeks were first so called by the name of the country of Greece, where they lived: but afterward, all that were not of the Jew's religion, but worshipped false gods and were also called heathens, were called by the name Greeks. People's New Testament 12:20 And there were certain Greeks, etc. Among those who came to worship were Greeks, members of the Gentile division of the race which embraced all that were not Jews. These were not Jews who spoke the Grecian language and lived in Greek countries; those are called in the original Greek Hellenistoi. We find the latter in the Jerusalem church in large numbers. See Ac 6:1. These who sought to visit Jesus were Hellenes, a term only used of the Greek race. It is probable that they belonged to the large class of devout Greeks, met elsewhere by Paul (Ac 17:4), who were sick of heathenism and were attracted by the grand Hebrew revelation of the unity of God. On this great national occasion they had accompanied Jews settled abroad as they returned to worship in the city of David. Wesley's Notes 12:20 Certain Greeks - A prelude of the Gentile Church. That these were circumcised does not appear. But they came up on purpose to worship the God of Israel. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary Joh 12:20-36. Some Greeks Desire to See Jesus-The Discourse and Scene Thereupon. 20-22. Greeks-Not Grecian Jews, but Greek proselytes to the Jewish faith, who were wont to attend the annual festivals, particularly this primary one, the Passover. The same came therefore to Philip . of Bethsaida-possibly as being from the same quarter. saying, Sir, we would see Jesus-certainly in a far better sense than Zaccheus (Lu 19:3). Perhaps He was then in that part of the temple court to which Gentile proselytes had no access. "These men from the west represent, at the end of Christ's life, what the wise men from the east represented at its beginning; but those come to the cross of the King, even as these to His manger" [Stier]. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary 12:20-26 In attendance upon holy ordinances, particularly the gospel passover, the great desire of our souls should be to see Jesus; to see him as ours, to keep up communion with him, and derive grace from him. The calling of the Gentiles magnified the Redeemer. A corn of wheat yields no increase unless it is cast into the ground. Thus Christ might have possessed his heavenly glory alone, without becoming man. Or, after he had taken man's nature, he might have entered heaven alone, by his own perfect righteousness, without suffering or death; but then no sinner of the human race could have been saved. The salvation of souls hitherto, and henceforward to the end of time, is owing to the dying of this Corn of wheat. Let us search whether Christ be in us the hope of glory; let us beg him to make us indifferent to the trifling concerns of this life, that we may serve the Lord Jesus with a willing mind, and follow his holy example. | 
