John 15:20

15:20 A slave is not greater than the master: See study note on 13:16. Jesus’ disciples should mirror him in every way, even in his experience of persecution and martyrdom.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Joh 15:20. Εἶπον, I said) ch. Joh 13:16; Mat 10:24.—εἰ—ἐδίωξαν· εἰ—ἐτήρησαν, if they have persecuted: if they have watched) The if is not a mere condition, but has the force of affirming [As surely as they have]: and τηρεῖν in tins passage is to watch in a hostile manner, as in Mat 27:36, “Sitting down, they watched Him there” (ἐτήρουν, at the crucifixion); Gen 3:15, “The seed of the woman shall watch with hostile intent thy head, and thou shalt watch His heel:” αὐτός σου τηρήσει κεφάλην, καὶ σὺ τηρήσεις αὐτοῦ πτέρναν.[361] They persecuted Him when ‘doing’ good, Joh 15:24; they watched Him whilst He was ‘speaking,’ Joh 15:22.—καὶ, also) Mat 10:25. Both are contained in the πάντα, all these things, Joh 15:21.

[361] I confess I prefer the Engl. Vers. If they have kept, i.e. as surely as they have not kept, etc. For τηρέω is used in this very ch. ver. 10 in this sense, and is never found in any other sense in connection with λόγον, ἐντολάς, etc. Παρατηρέω is the word used when a hostile intention is designed, Luk 4:7; Luk 14:1, etc.—E. and T.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh_15:20. A recalling of Joh_13:16, presupposing, however, a different application than in that passagenamely, a slave has no better lot to claim than his lord (comp. Mat_10:24-25).

If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my word, they will also keep yours. Which of these two cases will in general occur, Jesus leaves to the judgment of the disciples themselves, since they in truth knew from experience how it had gone with Him. To take the second clause ironically (quasi dicat: non est, quod hoc speretis, Grotius, Lampe), is appropriate neither to the seriousness of the first, nor to the tone of the whole passage. Olshausens view is incorrect (comp. B. Crusius, Maier, Godet), if many, etc., where, in the first half, according to Godet, we should have to think of the mass of the people. But the variation of the subjects is a pure importation. Finally, when Bengel and other older expositors (in Wolf) interpret τηρεῖν as watch, this is quite opposed to the Johannean usage of τὸν λόγ. τηρεῖν (Joh_8:51, Joh_14:23-24, and frequently), comp. Joh_15:10, and it would also be too weak a conception after the first half of the verse. Irrespective of this, usage would not stand in the way of such rendering, Gen_3:15 (according to the usual reading); Dem. 317 ult., 1252. 8; Soph. O. R. 808; Arist. Vesp. 364; Thuc. iv. 108. 1, vii. 80. 1; Lys. iii. 34.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 15:20 . μνημονεύετε τοῦ λόγου … αὐτοῦ . μνημονεύετε (from μνήμων , mindful), “be mindful of,” sometimes used pregnantly, as in 1Th 1:3 ; Gal 2:10 ; “the words which I said to you,” viz. , in Joh 13:16 , and Mat 10:24-25 . The outcome of the principle is seen in 2Ti 2:11 , and 1Pe 4:13 . That He should speak of them as “servants” so shortly after calling them “friends,” shows how natural and appropriate both designations are, how truly service characterises His friends, and how He must at all times be looked upon as Supreme Lord. εἰ ἐμὲ ἐδίωξαν … τηρήσουσιν . “If they persecuted me, you also will they persecute; if they kept my word, yours too will they keep.” In so far as they are identified with Him, their experience will be identical with His. The attitude of the world does not alter. Bengel takes ἐτήρησαν in a hostile sense, “infensis modis observare,” referring to Mat 27:36 , but in John τὸν λόγον τηρεῖν is regularly used of “observing” in the sense of “keeping,” practising, see Joh 8:51 , Joh 9:16 , Joh 14:23 ; 1Jn 2:3-5 , etc.; Rev 1:3 ; Rev 3:8 , etc.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 20. If they have kept my saying] Or, doctrine. Whosoever acknowledges me for the Christ will acknowledge you for my ministers.

Some translate the passage thus: If they have WATCHED my sayings, i.e. with an intent to accuse me for something which I have said, they will WATCH yours also: therefore be on your guard. παρατηρειν has this sense, as we have had occasion to observe before; and perhaps τηρειν has the same sense here, as it is much more agreeable to the context.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

20. Remember the word. It might also be read in the indicative mood, You remember the word, and the meaning is not very different; but I think that it is more suitable to read it in the imperative mood, Remember the word. It is a confirmation of what Christ had spoken immediately before, when he said that he was hated by the world, though he was far more excellent than his disciples; for it is unreasonable that the condition of the servant should be better than that of his master Having spoken of persons, he likewise makes mention of doctrine.

If they have heard my word, they will keep yours also. Nothing gives greater uneasiness to the godly than when they see the doctrine, which is of God, haughtily despised by men; for it is truly shocking and dreadful, and the sight of it might shake the stoutest heart. But when we remember on the other hand, that not less obstinate resistance was manifested against the Son of God himself, we need not wonder that the doctrine of God is so little reverenced among men. When he calls it his doctrine and their doctrine, this refers to the ministry. Christ is the only Teacher of the Church; but he intended that his doctrine, of which he had been the first Teacher, should be afterwards preached by the apostles.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(20) Remember the word that I said unto you.—Comp. Joh_13:16, where the saying is used in a different sense; and Mat_10:24, where it is used in the same connection in which we find it here.

If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying . . .—The meaning is exactly that which is expressed in the rendering of the English version. The two things are necessarily united, as Christ and His disciples are united. His word is their word. The relation of the world to the one would be that which it had been to the other.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20. Remember] See note on Joh_13:16 : of the passages noticed there Mat_10:24 is similar in meaning to this. Christ may here be alluding to the occasion recorded in Mat_10:24. On the blessedness of sharing the lot of Christ comp. 1Pe_4:12-13.

if they have kept my saying, they will keep] Better, If they kept (comp. Joh_13:14, Joh_18:23) My word, they will keep. ‘Keep’ must not be exchanged for ‘watch, lay wait for,’ in a hostile sense; as if both halves of the verse were alike instead of being opposed. The phrase ‘keep the word (or words)’ of any one is frequent in this Gospel (Joh_8:51-52; Joh_8:55, Joh_14:23-24, Joh_17:6); always in the sense of the parallel phrase ‘keep my commandments’ (Joh_14:15; Joh_14:21, Joh_15:10). Both phrases form a link not only between the Gospel and the First Epistle (Joh_2:3-5, Joh_3:22; Joh_3:24, Joh_5:2-3), but also between these two and the Apocalypse (Rev_3:8; Rev_3:10, Rev_12:17, Rev_14:12, Rev_22:7; Rev_22:9). Comp. Joh_9:16; Rev_1:3; Rev_2:26; Rev_3:3. (See on Joh_11:44, Joh_19:37, Joh_20:16). All these passages shew that it is impossible to take ‘keep’ in a hostile sense. The phrase ‘to keep the word’ of any one occurs in S. John’s writings only. ‘To keep the commandments (or commandment)’ occurs elsewhere only Mat_19:17 (comp. Mat_28:20) and 1Ti_6:14. The meaning of the verse as a whole is that both in failure and in success they will share His lot. For the construction comp. Joh_13:14, Joh_18:23.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

If I had not come and spoken unto them,.... The ignorance of the Jews is represented as inexcusable, since Christ was come, and had preached unto them; if he had not come and told them that he was the Messiah, they might have pleaded an excuse for their ignorance of him, and his mission, and of the Father that sent him: but inasmuch as he was come in the flesh, and came to them his own; and came also a light into the world, carrying along with him evidence, conviction, and demonstration, of his being the Messiah; speaking such words as never man did; preaching with such authority as the Scribes and Pharisees did not; declaring in plain terms he was the Christ of God, and that if they did not believe him to be so, they would die in their sins; they could have no pretext to make for their ignorance and disbelief: if all this had not been done,

they had not had sin; or been guilty of the sin of unbelief, in the rejection of the Messiah; not that they would have been without sin in any sense, or without any kind of sin, but without this particular sin; at least they would have excused and wiped themselves clean, and would have looked like innocent and sinless persons, under all their ignorance and unbelief:

but now they have no cloak for their sin; they could not say, had he come to us, and told us that he was the Messiah, and given evidence of his being sent by the Father, we would have believed him, and received him as the Messiah; for he did do this, and so cut off all excuses and pretences from them.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

Ver. 20. Remember the word, &c.] Else all is lost, 1Co 15:2. Naturally the word runs through us, as water through a riven vessel: Pleni rimarum sumus, huc atque illuc diffuimus. Our memories are as sieves, that retain the chaff, let go the good grain; or as nets, that keep the pelf, let go the clean water; or as hour glasses, that are no sooner full, but running out again. Beseech we God to put his finger upon the hole, and to make his word an engrafted word unto us, to settle it upon our souls, μηποτε παραρυωμεν, Heb 2:1.

If they have kept my saying, &c.] But they will do neither. Holy Melancthon, being himself newly converted, thought it impossible for his hearers to withstand the evidence of the gospel; but after he had been a preacher awhile, it is said he complained that old Adam was too hard for young Melancthon.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Remember the word that I said ... - At their first appointment to the apostolic office. See Mat 10:24-25.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Here Christ predicts, that many will be deaf to the words of his Church, as they have neglected to attend to his precepts.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The word that I said unto you, Joh 13:16, to press you to humility, and a mutual serving of one another in love; and which I spake to you, Mat 10:24, when I first sent you out; and I spake it then to you upon the very same account that I now speak it. You that are my servants cannot look to fare better with the world than I that am your Master; you know they have hated me, you must expect they should persecute you: if there be any of them whose hearts God shall incline to keep my sayings, they will also keep your words, which are but my sayings explained to them, and further pressed upon them.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

20. Remember—Bear this word imprinted on your heart.

Servant… Lord— Mat_10:24; Joh_13:16. Honourable are the scorn and the hatred shared with Him who is honour itself. Nor can they complain while, in their suffering, they are preceded by his great example. And ever since he, the Lord, suffered persecution, persecution has become an honour; and persecutors have become afraid and ashamed when men cry persecution! against them. If…

persecuted me… also persecute you—This thought shall harden you into good soldiers: that all their assaults were first suffered by me. Just the same persecution, and the same acceptance, which they afforded me, they will afford you; no more no less.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Remember the word which I spake to you, (see Mat_10:24, but especially Joh_13:16, where Christ used the proverb) The servant is not greater than his lord. In Joh_13:16 the idea was used to enforce the spirit of humility and mutual service; it applies also here, but in another sense. The disciples are not to expect better treatment from the world than their Lord met with. If they (used of "the world", in its special concrete manifestations; "they" of Nazareth and Capernaum and Jerusalem correspond with the "they" of Lycaonia, Ephesus, Thessalonica, and Rome) persecuted me, they will persecute drive away from them you also. The "if" is remarkably explicit; there is no doubt about it in Christ"s case, and the supposition is one of definite and acknowledged fact, and the conditional sentence most positively assures them of antagonism and persecution. It is probable, though not certainly known, that these disciples all endured a living martyrdom, if not a cruel death in his cause. Then follows a sentence which has by some unwisely been supposed to be ironical, and by others to refer to another subject. If they others, or many, or somekept (i.e . "observed," "obeyed," not as Bengel supposed, "laid in wait," or "kept maliciously") my word, they will keep yours also Why should irony be interpolated here? Surely the whole conact with the world was not an utter failure. Christ did win persons from all classes, and they loved him, with a passionate love; and so the apostles, and all who "go forth to bear fruit," may hope for some victories, and will travail in birth with the souls of men.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John xiii, 16; Matt. x, 24; Luke vi, 40.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

20. They will also persecute you. The servants must expect similar treatment to that given the Master. The long roll of Christian martyrs shows how this has been verified.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Remember the word that I said to you

Here "word" is a metonym for the message of Jesus. AT: "Remember the message that I spoke to you" (See: Metonymy)

because of my name

Here "because of my name" is a metonym that represents Jesus. People will make his followers suffer because they belong to him. AT: "because you belong to me" (See: Metonymy)

If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin

Jesus implies here that he has shared God's message with those who do not trust him. AT: "Because I have come and told them God's message, they have no excuse when God judges them for their sins" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

translationWords

servant

lord

persecute

sin

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

20. μνημονεύετε. See note on Joh 13:16: of the passages noticed there Mat 10:24 is similar in meaning to this. Christ may here be alluding to the occasion recorded in Mat 10:24. On the blessedness of sharing the lot of Christ comp. 1Pe 4:12-13.

εἰ ἐμὲ ἐδ. If they persecuted Me … if they kept (Joh 13:14, Joh 18:23) My word. Τηρεῖν must not be rendered ‘watch, lay wait for’ in a hostile sense: the two halves of the sentence are opposed, not parallel. Τὸν λ. or τοὺς λ. τηρεῖν is peculiar to S. John (Joh 8:51-52; Joh 8:55, Joh 14:23-24, Joh 17:6) always in the sense of the parallel phrase τὰς ἐντολὰς τ. (Joh 14:15; Joh 14:21, Joh 15:10). Both phrases link the Gospel with the First Epistle (1Jn 2:3-5, 1Jn 3:22; 1Jn 3:24, 1Jn 5:2-3), and these two with the Apocalypse (Rev 3:8; Rev 3:10, Rev 12:17, Rev 14:12, Rev 22:7; Rev 22:9). Comp. Joh 9:16; Rev 1:3; Rev 2:26; Rev 3:3, and see on Joh 7:30; Joh 7:37; Joh 11:44; Joh 19:37; Joh 20:16. These passages shew that τηρεῖν cannot be taken in a hostile sense. The meaning of the verse as a whole is that both in failure and in success they will share His lot.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20.] Ch. 13:16, but with a different reference: the sense here being, ‘Remember the saying, for it is true in this matter also:’ see Mat 10:24, where it is used in the same sense. The subject of ἐδίωξαν is ὁ κόσμος as a noun of number.

A difficulty has been raised on ἐτήρησαν … τηρήσουσιν, and some have wanted to give this word a hostile sense, (as παρατηρεῖν,) quoting Mat 27:36, and Gen 3:15 (which is altogether an exceptional use, the reading being undoubtedly genuine): see also Jer 20:13. But in John this cannot be. Nor is irony (Lampe, Stier) in this latter clause at all in keeping with the solemnity of the discourse. The words simply mean (as Thl.), ‘the keeping My word and the keeping yours are intimately joined, and when you find the world or any part of the world do the first, you may infer the other.’ The issue of εἰ τ. λ. μ. ἐτήρ. was to be proved by their rejection and killing of the Lord Jesus.

Beware of rendering as Kuinoel, “If they had kept my word, they would keep yours,” which is ungrammatical. The only idiomatic rendering in English is that of the E. V., If they have kept [or rather, If they kept] my word they will keep yours.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20. μνημονεύετε τοῦ λόγου οὗ ἐγὼ εἶπον ὐμῖν, “Be mindful of the saying which I said to you.” μνημονεύειν occurs again in Jn. only at 16:4, 21. א reads here τὸν λόγον ὃν ἐγὼ ἐλάλησα ὑμῖν.

We have already had the saying οὐκ ἔστιν δοῦλος μείζων τοῦ κυρίου αὐτοῦ at 13:16 (where see note), but Jesus probably repeated it more than once, the reference here perhaps being to the occasion when He gave a charge to the newly chosen apostles (Mat 10:24; cf. Luk 6:40). They had been warned then that they would not be exempt from persecution (cf. Mat 10:17-23); it was even more necessary that they should bear this in mind in the days that were coming. He had told them that He counted them as friends rather than servants (v. 15), but for all that the saying “The servant is not greater than his lord” would be applicable to their situation in a hostile world. The moral He had drawn from this saying at the Last Supper, earlier in the evening, was different (13:16).

εἰ ἐμὲ ἐδίωξαν, “If they persecuted me,” the subject being ὁ κόσμος, taken as a noun of multitude, from v. 19. Jn. has already spoken of the persecution (ἐδίωκον) of Jesus by the Jews, because of the freedom with which He treated the rules of the Sabbath (5:16).

καὶ ὑμᾶς διώξουσιν, “they will persecute you also,” a warning repeated in other language at 16:33. Lk. records a similar warning (Luk 21:12), and Mar 10:30 notes that Jesus accompanied a promise of temporal blessings to the faithful with the significant addition of μετὰ διωγμῶν. There is no reason to doubt that Jesus did thus predict that persecution would be the lot of His disciples; and it is unnecessary to accumulate proofs that the prediction came true (cf. 1Co 4:12, 2Co 4:9, Gal 4:29, 2Ti 3:12).

εἰ τὸν λόγον μου ἐτήρησαν, καὶ τὸν ὑμέτερον τηρήσουσιν, “if they kept my word, they will keep yours also.” For the phrase τὸν λόγον τηρεῖν, a favourite phrase in Jn., see on 8:51, 14:15. In Eze 3:7 Yahweh is represented as saying to the prophet, “They will not hearken unto thee, because they will not hearken unto me”; and this would apply to the apostles of Jesus. But the saying recorded here by Jn. goes farther. Those who observe the word of Jesus will also observe the word of His apostles, it being implied of course that the apostles will utter no “word” for which they have not the authority of their Master. A world which “observed” the teaching of Jesus would inevitably “observe” the teaching of those who could rightly claim His commission. The difficulty of drawing inferences from this great assurance, once Christendom was divided, is illustrated by the whole course of Christian history. Jesus, however, goes on to insist that it is the other alternative which the apostles must prepare to face; not acquiescence, but opposition, will be the portion of those who proclaim His gospel.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Persecuted [εδιωξαν] . The verb means originally to put to flight; thence to run swiftly in order to overtake or attain, as the goal or the competitor in the race. Thus Sophocles (" Electra, "738) :" He urged his swift steeds vehemently with shouts that pierced their ears, and makes for him [διωκει] . "Compare I follow after (diwkw, Phi 3:12). Hence to pursue with hostile intent, and, generally, to molest, harass, persecute. Persecute is from the equivalent Latin persequor, to follow up, and is used earlier, in the sense of pursue, while pursue, in turn, is used in the sense of persecute. Thus Wyc, Mt 5:44, for men pursuing you. Sir Thomas More (" Utopia ")," Whiles their enemies rejoicing in the victory have persecuted (i. e., pursued) them. "

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.