Charles Ellicott Commentary John 20:25

"The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe." — John 20:25 (ASV)

Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails.—This demand for the evidence of his own senses, and refusal to admit the testimony of eyewitnesses, though these were all ten of his brothers in the Apostolic band, remind us of the demand made to Christ Himself, We do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?

The reading of the second clause varies between “print of the nails” and “place of the nails.” The Greek words vary by only one letter (τύπος, “print”; τόπος, “place”), so that copyists may easily have mistaken one for the other. If we read “place,” it answers to the touch of the finger, as “print” does to the sight of the eye; but, on the other hand, there is in the repetition an expression of determination, almost, we may say, amounting to obstinacy, which corresponds with the position Thomas is taking.

And thrust my hand into his side.—Compare John 20:20. The feet are not mentioned, but the hands and the side would be demonstrative evidence. We cannot properly infer from this verse that the feet were not nailed.

I will not believe.—The determination is expressed in its strongest form by the double Greek negative, “I will by no means believe.”