Charles Ellicott Commentary John 12:21

"these therefore came to Philip, who was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus." — John 12:21 (ASV)

The same came therefore to Philip.—We have no indication of the time when, or the place where, these words were spoken. Saint John alone gives us this incident, and it is the only one he provides of all that occurred (as we know from the earlier Gospels) between the entry into Jerusalem and the Last Supper. He relates this coming of the Greeks not for the sake of the event itself, but for the discourse that followed it.

He is careful, therefore, only to mention it and is not concerned, for the purpose he has in view, with any of the historical details.

The last words of the discourse (John 12:36) do, however, intimate that they were followed by a retirement from public teaching and from public appearance in Jerusalem. They would, then, be among the last words spoken in the Temple before the retirement to Bethany on the evening of what we call Wednesday .

They were uttered, probably, in the Court of the Gentiles, as He passed from the Court of the Women, which, as the most public place for Jewish assemblies, was the frequent scene of His teaching. On the previous day, the Court of the Gentiles had been cleansed from the traffic and merchandise that had been customary in it, and the temple had been declared to be a house of prayer for all nations.

The Court of the Gentiles was divided from the inner square of the Temple by a stone fence that rested on pillars placed at regular distances and bore the following words in Greek and Latin: “No alien must pass within the fence around the Temple and the court. If anyone is caught doing so, he must blame himself for the death that will follow.” This prohibition was known before from Josephus (Antiquities 15.11.5); but more recently, one of the very slabs bearing the exact words was discovered by M. Ganneau during the excavations of the Palestine Exploration Fund (Compare to the note on Acts 22:28-29, and especially the note on Mark 11:17).

The events and the words of these days must have brought strange thoughts to the minds of proselytes—men who were worshippers of the one God by personal conviction, and not because of the faith of their ancestors. With hearts filled with wonder as to what these things meant, perhaps half-grasping the truth that this middle wall of partition should be broken down, they asked for a special interview with Jesus (Compare to Ephesians 2:12 and following).

Which was of Bethsaida of Galilee.—The mention of this place again here seems intended to explain why these Greeks came to Philip. They may have themselves come from the neighbourhood of Bethsaida, or from one of the Greek cities of Decapolis.