Yohanes 13:34-35

13:34 “I give you a new commandment – to love ¹  one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. ²  13:35 Everyone ³  will know by this that you are my disciples – if you have love for one another.”

Yohanes 14:15

Teaching on the Holy Spirit

14:15 “If you love me, you will obey ⁴  my commandments. ⁵ 

Yohanes 14:21-24

14:21 The person who has my commandments and obeys ⁶  them is the one who loves me. ⁷  The one ⁸  who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal ⁹  myself to him.”

14:22 “Lord,” Judas (not Judas Iscariot) ¹⁰  said, ¹¹  “what has happened that you are going to reveal ¹²  yourself to us and not to the world?” 14:23 Jesus replied, ¹³  “If anyone loves me, he will obey ¹⁴  my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and take up residence with him. ¹⁵  14:24 The person who does not love me does not obey ¹⁶  my words. And the word ¹⁷  you hear is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me.

Yohanes 15:9-10

15:9 “Just as the Father has loved me, I have also loved you; remain ¹⁸  in my love. 15:10 If you obey ¹⁹  my commandments, you will remain ²⁰  in my love, just as I have obeyed ²¹  my Father’s commandments and remain ²²  in his love.

Yohanes 15:12

15:12 My commandment is this – to love one another just as I have loved you. ²³ 

Yohanes 21:15-17

Peter’s Restoration

21:15 Then when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, ²⁴  do you love me more than these do?” ²⁵  He replied, ²⁶  “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” ²⁷  Jesus ²⁸  told him, “Feed my lambs.” 21:16 Jesus ²⁹  said ³⁰  a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He replied, ³¹  “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” Jesus ³²  told him, “Shepherd my sheep.” 21:17 Jesus ³³  said ³⁴  a third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed ³⁵  that Jesus ³⁶  asked ³⁷  him a third time, “Do you love me?” and said, ³⁸  “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.” Jesus ³⁹  replied, ⁴⁰  “Feed my sheep.

[13:34]  ¹ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause gives the content of the commandment. This is indicated by a dash in the translation.

[13:34]  ² sn The idea that love is a commandment is interesting. In the OT the ten commandments have a setting in the covenant between God and Israel at Sinai; they were the stipulations that Israel had to observe if the nation were to be God’s chosen people. In speaking of love as the new commandment for those whom Jesus had chosen as his own (John 13:1, 15:16) and as a mark by which they could be distinguished from others (13:35), John shows that he is thinking of this scene in covenant terminology. But note that the disciples are to love “Just as I have loved you” (13:34). The love Jesus has for his followers cannot be duplicated by them in one sense, because it effects their salvation, since he lays down his life for them: It is an act of love that gives life to people. But in another sense, they can follow his example (recall to the end, 13:1; also 1 John 3:16, 4:16 and the interpretation of Jesus’ washing of the disciples’ feet). In this way Jesus’ disciples are to love one another: They are to follow his example of sacrificial service to one another, to death if necessary.

[13:35]  ³ tn Grk “All people,” although many modern translations have rendered πάντες (pantes) as “all men” (ASV, RSV, NASB, NIV). While the gender of the pronoun is masculine, it is collective and includes people of both genders.

[14:15]  ⁴ tn Or “will keep.”

[14:15]  ⁵ sn Jesus’ statement If you love me, you will obey my commandments provides the transition between the promises of answered prayer which Jesus makes to his disciples in vv. 13-14 and the promise of the Holy Spirit which is introduced in v. 16. Obedience is the proof of genuine love.

[14:21]  ⁶ tn Or “keeps.”

[14:21]  ⁷ tn Grk “obeys them, that one is the one who loves me.”

[14:21]  ⁸ tn Grk “And the one.” Here the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated to improve the English style.

[14:21]  ⁹ tn Or “will disclose.”

[14:22]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “(not Iscariot).” The proper noun (Judas) has been repeated for clarity and smoothness in English style.

[14:22]  sn This is a parenthetical comment by the author.

[14:22]  ¹¹ tn Grk “said to him.”

[14:22]  ¹² tn Or “disclose.”

[14:22]  sn The disciples still expected at this point that Jesus, as Messiah, was going to reveal his identity as such to the world (cf. 7:4).

[14:23]  ¹³ tn Grk “answered and said to him.”

[14:23]  ¹⁴ tn Or “will keep.”

[14:23]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “we will come to him and will make our dwelling place with him.” The context here is individual rather than corporate indwelling, so the masculine singular pronoun has been retained throughout v. 23. It is important to note, however, that the pronoun is used generically here and refers equally to men, women, and children.

[14:24]  ¹⁶ tn Or “does not keep.”

[14:24]  ¹⁷ tn Or “the message.”

[15:9]  ¹⁸ tn Or “reside.”

[15:10]  ¹⁹ tn Or “keep.”

[15:10]  ²⁰ tn Or “reside.”

[15:10]  ²¹ tn Or “kept.”

[15:10]  ²² tn Or “reside.”

[15:12]  ²³ sn Now the reference to the commandments (plural) in 15:10 have been reduced to a singular commandment: The disciples are to love one another, just as Jesus has loved them. This is the ‘new commandment’ of John 13:34, and it is repeated in 15:17. The disciples’ love for one another is compared to Jesus’ love for them. How has Jesus shown his love for the disciples? This was illustrated in 13:1-20 in the washing of the disciples’ feet, introduced by the statement in 13:1 that Jesus loved them “to the end.” In context this constitutes a reference to Jesus’ self-sacrificial death on the cross on their behalf; the love they are to have for one another is so great that it must include a self-sacrificial willingness to die for one another if necessary. This is exactly what Jesus is discussing here, because he introduces the theme of his sacrificial death in the following verse. In John 10:18 and 14:31 Jesus spoke of his death on the cross as a commandment he had received from his Father, which also links the idea of commandment and love as they are linked here. One final note: It is not just the degree or intensity of the disciples’ love for one another that Jesus is referring to when he introduces by comparison his own death on the cross (that they must love one another enough to die for one another) but the very means of expressing that love: It is to express itself in self-sacrifice for one another, sacrifice up to the point of death, which is what Jesus himself did on the cross (cf. 1 John 3:16).

[21:15]  ²⁴ tc The majority of mss (A C² Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï sy) read “Simon, the son of Jonah” here and in vv. 16 and 17, but these are perhaps assimilations to Matt 16:17. The reading “Simon, son of John” is better attested, being found in א¹ (א* only has “Simon” without mention of his father) B C* D L W lat co.

[21:15]  ²⁵ tn To whom (or what) does “these” (τούτων, toutwn) refer? Three possibilities are suggested: (1) τούτων should be understood as neuter, “these things,” referring to the boats, nets, and fishing gear nearby. In light of Peter’s statement in 21:3, “I am going fishing,” some have understood Peter to have renounced his commission in light of his denials of Jesus. Jesus, as he restores Peter and forgives him for his denials, is asking Peter if he really loves his previous vocation more than he loves Jesus. Three things may be said in evaluation of this view: (a) it is not at all necessary to understand Peter’s statement in 21:3 as a renouncement of his discipleship, as this view of the meaning of τούτων would imply; (b) it would probably be more likely that the verb would be repeated in such a construction (see 7:31 for an example where the verb is repeated); and (c) as R. E. Brown has observed (John [AB], 2:1103) by Johannine standards the choice being offered to Peter between material things and the risen Jesus would seem rather ridiculous, especially after the disciples had realized whom it was they were dealing with (the Lord, see v. 12). (2) τούτων refers to the other disciples, meaning “Do you love me more than you love these other disciples?” The same objection mentioned as (c) under (1) would apply here: Could the author, in light of the realization of who Jesus is which has come to the disciples after the resurrection, and which he has just mentioned in 21:12, seriously present Peter as being offered a choice between the other disciples and the risen Jesus? This leaves option (3), that τούτων refers to the other disciples, meaning “Do you love me more than these other disciples do?” It seems likely that there is some irony here: Peter had boasted in 13:37, “I will lay down my life for you,” and the synoptics present Peter as boasting even more explicitly of his loyalty to Jesus (“Even if they all fall away, I will not,” Matt 26:33; Mark 14:29). Thus the semantic force of what Jesus asks Peter here amounts to something like “Now, after you have denied me three times, as I told you you would, can you still affirm that you love me more than these other disciples do?” The addition of the auxiliary verb “do” in the translation is used to suggest to the English reader the third interpretation, which is the preferred one.

[21:15]  ²⁶ tn Grk “He said to him.”

[21:15]  ²⁷ tn Is there a significant difference in meaning between the two words for love used in the passage, ἀγαπάω and φιλέω (agapaw and filew)? Aside from Origen, who saw a distinction in the meaning of the two words, most of the Greek Fathers like Chrysostom and Cyril of Alexandria, saw no real difference of meaning. Neither did Augustine nor the translators of the Itala (Old Latin). This was also the view of the Reformation Greek scholars Erasmus and Grotius. The suggestion that a distinction in meaning should be seen comes primarily from a number of British scholars of the 19th century, especially Trench, Westcott, and Plummer. It has been picked up by others such as Spicq, Lenski, and Hendriksen. But most modern scholars decline to see a real difference in the meaning of the two words in this context, among them Bernard, Moffatt, Bonsirven, Bultmann, Barrett, Brown, Morris, Haenchen, and Beasley-Murray. There are three significant reasons for seeing no real difference in the meaning of ἀγαπάω and φιλέω in these verses: (1) the author has a habit of introducing slight stylistic variations in repeated material without any significant difference in meaning (compare, for example, 3:3 with 3:5, and 7:34 with 13:33). An examination of the uses of ἀγαπάω and φιλέω in the Fourth Gospel seems to indicate a general interchangeability between the two. Both terms are used of God’s love for man (3:16, 16:27); of the Father’s love for the Son (3:35, 5:20); of Jesus’ love for men (11:5, 11:3); of the love of men for men (13:34, 15:19); and of the love of men for Jesus (8:42, 16:27). (2) If (as seems probable) the original conversation took place in Aramaic (or possibly Hebrew), there would not have been any difference expressed because both Aramaic and Hebrew have only one basic word for love. In the LXX both ἀγαπάω and φιλέω are used to translate the same Hebrew word for love, although ἀγαπάω is more frequent. It is significant that in the Syriac version of the NT only one verb is used to translate vv. 15-17 (Syriac is very similar linguistically to Palestinian Aramaic). (3) Peter’s answers to the questions asked with ἀγαπάω are ‘yes’ even though he answers using the verb φιλέω. If he is being asked to love Jesus on a higher or more spiritual level his answers give no indication of this, and one would be forced to say (in order to maintain a consistent distinction between the two verbs) that Jesus finally concedes defeat and accepts only the lower form of love which is all that Peter is capable of offering. Thus it seems best to regard the interchange between ἀγαπάω and φιλέω in these verses as a minor stylistic variation of the author, consistent with his use of minor variations in repeated material elsewhere, and not indicative of any real difference in meaning. Thus no attempt has been made to distinguish between the two Greek words in the translation.

[21:15]  ²⁸ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:16]  ²⁹ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:16]  ³⁰ tn Grk “said again.” The word “again” (when used in connection with the phrase “a second time”) is redundant and has not been translated.

[21:16]  ³¹ tn Grk “He said to him.”

[21:16]  ³² tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:17]  ³³ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:17]  ³⁴ tn Grk “said to him.” The words “to him” are clear from the context and slightly redundant in English.

[21:17]  ³⁵ tn Or “was sad.”

[21:17]  ³⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:17]  ³⁷ tn Grk “said to.”

[21:17]  ³⁸ tn Grk “and said to him.” The words “to him” are clear from the context and slightly redundant in English.

[21:17]  ³⁹ tc ‡ Most witnesses, especially later ones (A Θ Ψ Ë¹³ Ï), read ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς (Jo Ihsou", “Jesus”) here, while B C have ᾿Ιησοῦς without the article and א D W ˹ 33 565 al lat lack both. Because of the rapid verbal exchange in this pericope, “Jesus” is virtually required for clarity, providing a temptation to scribes to add the name. Further, the name normally occurs with the article. Although it is possible that B C accidentally omitted the article with the name, it is just as likely that they added the simple name to the text for clarity’s sake, while other witnesses added the article as well. The omission of ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς thus seems most likely to be authentic. NA²⁷ includes the words in brackets, indicating some doubts as to their authenticity.

[21:17]  tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:17]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “Jesus said to him.”