John 17:11

καὶ οὐκέτι εἰμὶ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ. The circumstances necessitating the prayer are now stated. Jesus is no longer in the world, already He has bid farewell to it, but the disciples remain in it, exposed without His accustomed counsel and defence, πάτερ ἅγιε, “Holy Father”; this unique designation is suggested by the Divine attribute which would naturally assert itself in defending from the world's corruptions those who were exposed to them. τήρησον αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί σον ῷ δέδωκάς μοι, “preserve them in [the knowledge of] Thy name, which Thou gavest me”. ᾧ is attracted into dative by ὀνόματι. This was the fundamental petition. The retention of the knowledge which Christ had imparted to them of the Father would effect ἵνα ὦσιν ἕν καθὼς ἡμεῖς. Without harmony among themselves, so that they should exist as a manifest unity differentiated from the world, their witness would fail; John 15:8; John 15:12. καθὼς ἡμεῖς is explained by John 15:9-10.