So the text is explained by SS. Hilary, Ambrose and Augustine. But from passages in the same gospel, where the phrase That which my Father hath given me recurs (John vi, 37, 39: xvii, 2, 11, 12, 24: xviii, 9), it is argued to mean the elect. The meaning then would be: 'The elect are stronger than all the world beside,' -- the sentiment of 1 John v, 4: All that is born of God overcometh the world. In this interpretation, our Lord speaks, not as the Eternal Son, but as Man and Redeemer: in which capacity many understand him to speak also in the other passages, John iii, 35 Matt. xi, 27.

Of God and His Creatures: 4.8