John 17:12 — ExegesisTAB

The sentence begins with hote {ὅτε | hóte} ‘when,’ which places the whole statement inside a temporal frame. The opening sequence ēmen met' autōn {ἤμην μετʼ αὐτῶν | ḗmēn met' autôn} describes Jesus’ prior shared presence with the disciples, while the explicit subject egō {ἐγὼ | egṓ} before eteroun {ἐτήρουν | etēroun} ‘was guarding’ gives special weight to His own protective action. The phrase en tō onomati sou {ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί σου | en tō onomati sou} presents the Father’s name as the sphere and means of preservation, and the relative clause hō dedokas moi {ᾧ δέδωκάς μοι | hō dédōkas moi} ‘which You have given Me’ ties that name to divine gift and commission. The shift from the imperfect eteroun to the aorist ephylaxa {ἐφύλαξα | ephýlaxa} ‘I safeguarded’ moves from ongoing care to a completed act of protection. The coordination kai oudeis ex autōn apoleto {καὶ οὐδεὶς ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀπώλετο | kaí oudeís ex autôn apóleto} states the result negatively: the group remained intact. The exception ei mē {εἰ μὴ | ei mē} functions idiomatically as “except,” not as a normal conditional, and ho huios tēs apoleias {ὁ υἱὸς τῆς ἀπωλείας | ho huios tēs apoleías} singles out the lone betrayer by a descriptive genitive that marks his ruin as characteristic and destined. The final hina hē graphe plerothe {ἵνα ἡ γραφὴ πληρωθῇ | hína hē graphē plērōthē̂} clause gives the purpose or result: the exception occurs within, not outside, the divine plan, so Scripture is brought to completion rather than frustrated by the betrayal.