John 15

Text

The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 27 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:

• Codex Vaticanus (325–350; complete)
• Codex Sinaiticus (330–360; complete)
• Codex Bezae (~400; complete)
• Codex Alexandrinus (400–440; complete)

Old Testament references

• : Psalm b; Psalm .

Places

The events and discourses recorded in this chapter and in the whole of chapters 13 to 17 took place in Jerusalem. The precise location is not specified, but states that afterwards, "Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley". Because the previous chapter ends with the words "Come now, let us go", Plummer, in the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, suggests that Jesus and his disciples have "rise[n] from table and prepare[d] to depart, but that the contents of the next three chapters (15-17) are spoken before they leave the room".

Analysis

The chapter presents Jesus speaking in the first person. Although ostensibly addressing his disciples, most scholars conclude the chapter was written with events concerning the later church in mind. Jesus is presented as explaining the relationship between himself and his followers, seeking to model this relationship on his own relationship with his Father. Swedish-based commentator separates this "second" part of Jesus' farewell discourse from the first part (chapter 13 from verse 31 onwards, and chapter 14), suggesting that this part is "timeless", perhaps a later insertion, rather than being concerned with Jesus' impending departure from his disciples.

John151The chapter introduces the extended metaphor of Christ as the true vine: his Father is the vinedresser, vinegrower or husbandman. His disciples are said to be branches (, ta klémata, specifically meaning vine branches) which must 'abide' in him if they are to 'bear fruit'. The disciples are warned that barren branches are pruned by the vinedresser: see : Every branch that does bear fruit is pruned so that it will bear more fruit - not barren branches.

The chapter proceeds by comparing the close relationship of Jesus and his disciples ('abiding', ) to that of himself and his Father. The disciples are reminded of the love of the Father and the Son, and the love of the Son for the disciples, and then exhorted to 'love one another' in the same manner. speaks of the 'greater love' as being the willingness to 'lay down' one's life for friends. This text, which primarily refers to Jesus’ impending death, has since been widely used to affirm the sacrifice of martyrs and soldiers in war, and is thus often seen on war memorials and graves.

Jesus then speaks of being hated by the world (), but he sees this hatred as fulfillment of the words in either Psalm 69, "They hated Me without a cause", or Psalm 35, "neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause".

The chapter concludes with Jesus warning his disciples to expect persecution, they will also persecute you, and promising the gift of the parakletos (paraclete, or Holy Spirit).

Verse 3

:Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. In the New American Bible Revised Edition the wording offered is "You are already pruned ...", following on from the reference to pruning in verse 2. Since the "cleansing" of a believer is secured through baptism, Augustine asks, "Why does [Jesus] not say, ye are clean by reason of the baptism wherewith ye are washed? Because it is the word in the water which cleanseth. Take away the word, and what is the water, but water? Add the word to the element, and you have a sacrament."

Verse 4

:Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. The words μένῃ (menē) or μείνατε (meinate) appear frequently in this chapter. Some early texts have μένητε (menēte): considering "the divided state" of the manuscript evidence, there in no certainty about whether μείνατε or μένητε is original. Typical translations are "abide", "remain", or "continue". Heinrich Meyer refers to "faithful persistence".

Verse 9

:As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. Pope Francis suggests that here, "Jesus tells us something new about love: you are not only to love, but to abide in my love. In fact, the Christian vocation is to abide in God’s love".

Verse 13

:Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. The Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, (pictured) is typical of thousands of war memorials around the world which use the words of this verse, "no greater love" in their tribute to those who have fallen in war. There is no intention here to emphasise "friends" as if suffering for friends is a greater good than suffering for strangers or enemies.

Verse 16

:"You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you". The word "appointed" is translated as "ordained" in the King James Version and some other translations. Referring to the allegory of trees which have been planted, the reformation theologian Sebastian Castellio suggests destinavi, "I have marked out, or assigned you your place", as an alternative reading.

Verse 17

:"I demand that you love each other" Most English translations state this verse as Jesus' "commandment" to his disciples. Jesus speaks twice of this commandment in this chapter, in verses 12 and 17.

The hatred of the world: verses 18-25

These verses speak of the world's hatred for the disciples. Meyer makes the contents personal to the disciples: Jesus directs them now on "their relation to the world", calling the world's hatred a "community of destiny" with his own. :These things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them.

Verse 26

:“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me". The reference to the Spirit in verse 26, speaks of it as sent by the Son from the Father. This verse has been particularly influential in debates concerning the nature of the Trinity and in the filioque disputes between Eastern and Western Christianity.

Notes

References

Bibliography

• Bultmann, Rudolf (1971), The Gospel of John, Blackwell
• Linders, Barnabas (1972), The Gospel of John, Marshall Morgan and Scott

References

1. Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012
2. [[Eberhard Nestle]], [[Erwin Nestle]], Barbara Aland and [[Kurt Aland]] (eds), ''[[Novum Testamentum Graece]]'', 26th edition, (Stuttgart: ''[[Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft]]'', 1991), p. 689.
3. "Biblical concordances of John 15 in the King James Bible".
4. [[Jerusalem Bible]], John 14:31
5. Plummer, A. (1902), [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/cambridge/john/14.htm Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges] on John 14, accessed 5 July 2016
6. Kieffer, R., ''59. John'', in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001), [https://b-ok.org/dl/946961/8f5f43 The Oxford Bible Commentary] {{Webarchive. link. (2017-11-22)
7. [[BibleGateway.com]], [https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/John%2015:1 English translations of John 15:1]
8. Strong's Greek [[Bible concordance. Concordance]], [https://biblehub.com/greek/2814.htm 2814: kléma], accessed 2 June 2019
9. {{bibleverse. Psalm. 69:4. KJV
10. {{bibleverse. Psalm. 35:19. KJV
11. {{bibleverse. John. 15:20. WEB: WEB
12. {{bibleverse. John. 15:3. ESV: [[English Standard Version]]
13. {{bibleverse. John. 15:3. NABRE: NABRE
14. Augustine, Treatise on John, 80:3, quoted by [[Thomas Aquinas]] in [https://archive.org/details/CatenaAureaNewEdV6/page/475/mode/2up Catena aurea: commentary on the four Gospels, collected out of the works of the fathers: Volume 6, St John], page 476, edited by [[John Henry Newman]], Oxford, 1874, accessed on 9 October 2025
15. {{bibleverse. John. 15:4. NKJV: [[New King James Version]]
16. Meyer, H. A. W., [https://biblehub.com/commentaries/meyer/john/15.htm Meyer's NT Commentary] on John 15, translated by Peter Christie from the German sixth edition, accessed 28 August 2022
17. {{bibleverse. John. 15. NKJV: [[New King James Version]]
18. {{bibleverse. John. 15. NIV: [[New International Version]]
19. {{bibleverse. John. 15:9. NJV: [[King James Version]]
20. {{bibleverse. John. 15:9. NKJV: NKJV
21. Pope Francis, [https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/cotidie/2014/documents/papa-francesco-cotidie_20140522_jesus-work.html Jesus' work], Morning meditation in the chapel of the [[Domus Sanctae Marthae]], 22 May 2014, published in [[L'Osservatore Romano]], weekly edition in English, n. 23, 6 June 2014, accessed 28 August 2022
22. {{bibleverse. John. 15:13. NKJV: NKJV
23. {{bibleverse. John. 15:16. NKJV: NKJV
24. Quoted in [[Johann Bengel. Bengel, J. A.]], [https://biblehub.com/commentaries/bengel/john/15.htm Gnomon of the New Testament] on John 15, accessed 27 November 2020
25. {{bibleverse. John. 15:17. TLB: [[The Living Bible]]
26. Section heading at John 15:18-25 in the [[English Standard Version]] and the NIV
27. In the [[John 16. next chapter]], Jesus explains why he has told the disciples these things:Meyer, H. A. W. (1880), [https://biblehub.com/commentaries/meyer/john/16.htm Meyer's NT Commentary] on John 16, translated by Peter Christie from the German sixth edition, accessed on 29 August 2022
28. {{bibleverse. John. 16:4. KJV: KJV
29. {{bibleverse. John. 15:26. NKJV