15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains 1 in me – and I in him – bears 2 much fruit, 3 because apart from me you can accomplish 4 nothing.
1 tn Or “resides.”
2 tn Or “yields.”
3 tn Grk “in him, this one bears much fruit.” The pronoun “this one” has been omitted from the translation because it is redundant according to contemporary English style.
sn Many interpret the imagery of fruit here and in 15:2, 4 in terms of good deeds or character qualities, relating it to passages elsewhere in the NT like Matt 3:8 and 7:20, Rom 6:22, Gal 5:22, etc. This is not necessarily inaccurate, but one must remember that for John, to have life at all is to bear fruit, while one who does not bear fruit shows that he does not have the life (once again, conduct is the clue to paternity, as in John 8:41; compare also 1 John 4:20).
4 tn Or “do.”