1
Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ἄμπελος ἡ ἀληθινή, καὶ ὁ πατήρ μου ὁ γεωργός ἐστιν·
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer.
True (ἀληθινός, alēthinos) is the word of 1:9 and 6:32 — the real thing, doing what it is for.
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun my = Jesus
Why this rendering
John.15.1 Observation
Syntactic observation
The adjective is ἀληθινός, not ἀληθής. Both stand in John — ἀληθής leaning toward not false, ἀληθινός toward not counterfeit. τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινόν at 1:9 and τὸν ἄρτον τὸν ἀληθινόν at 6:32 are the same word. The order matches too: ἡ ἄμπελος ἡ ἀληθινή sets the noun, then the article again, then the adjective — as at 1:18, τὸν υἱὸν τὸν μονογενῆ, and 10:11, ὁ ποιμὴν ὁ καλός. γεωργός, one who works the soil, occurs only here in John.
Rendering options · 2
Adopted I am the true vine
Basis Uses the settled rendering.
I am the real vine
Basis Brings out the not-counterfeit sense.
Rejected Korean 진짜 is colloquial and does not sit with the true light of 1:9 or the true bread of 6:32. The three keep one rendering so the four Gospels shows one word, and the distinction from ἀληθής is recorded as a loss.
Lost in translation
the ἀληθής / ἀληθινός distinction John uses both adjectives while English true is single. My witness is not ἀληθής at 5:31 and the ἀληθινή vine at 15:1 become one word, and the author's distinction disappears.
Survives in · Delitzsch Hebrew NT (1877) / this edition — 4 of the nine carry it (not this language)
2
πᾶν κλῆμα ἐν ἐμοὶ μὴ φέρον καρπὸν αἴρει αὐτό, καὶ πᾶν τὸ καρπὸν φέρον καθαίρει αὐτὸ ἵνα ⸂καρπὸν πλείονα⸃ φέρῃ.
Every branch in me not bearing fruit he takes away, and every one bearing fruit he cleanses, so that it may bear more fruit.
Takes away (αἴρω, airō) and cleanses (καθαίρω, kathairō) sound alike in Greek and are set side by side. English cannot carry the sound — recorded as a loss.
pronoun me = Jesus
pronoun he = the Father
pronoun it = the branch bearing fruit
Why this rendering
John.15.2 Hypothesis
Syntactic observation
Two verbs chime — αἴρει and καθαίρει. The first is αἴρω, to take away or lift; the second καθαίρω, to cleanse or prune. Their roots differ but the sounds lock, and they stand side by side in one sentence, which makes accident unlikely. And καθαίρει is cognate with καθαροί in the very next verse: 15:3 says you are already καθαροί. So the tending of a branch and the cleanness of a person run on one root. αἴρω is the verb of 1:29, taking away sin, and of 10:18, taking a life. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸂καρπὸν πλείονα⸃).
Rendering options · 2
every branch that bears fruit he prunes
Basis Uses the natural horticultural term.
Rejected Prune reads naturally but does not join the next verse, you are already clean. The Greek binds the two verses by one root, and a horticultural term cuts the binding. NASB, ESV, NET and NIV use prune; 개역한글's 깨끗케, Elberfelder's reinigt and the Synodal's очищает keep the root.
Adopted Every branch in me not bearing fruit he takes away, and every one bearing fruit he cleanses, so that it may bear more fruit.
Basis Renders καθαίρω as cleanse so that it joins clean at 15:3, and keeps αἴρω in the take-away sense of 1:29 and 10:18.
Lost in translation
the chime of αἴρει and καθαίρει Two verbs chime inside one sentence. No translation carries it — English has no pair of words that links taking away and cleansing by sound.
this edition — none of the nine carries it (measured)
the καθαίρω / καθαρός root The tending of v.2 and the cleanness of v.3 share a root. Prune makes the two verses strangers. 개역한글, Elberfelder and the Synodal keep it.
Survives in · 개역한글† / Young's Literal 1898 / King James 1769 / Vulgata Clementina / Elberfelder 1871 / Синодальный перевод / this edition — 9 of the nine carry it (this language among them)
3
ἤδη ὑμεῖς καθαροί ἐστε διὰ τὸν λόγον ὃν λελάληκα ὑμῖν·
You are already clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.
Clean is the adjective of the verb cleanses in verse 2 — one root.
pronoun You = the disciples
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun you = the disciples
4
μείνατε ἐν ἐμοί, κἀγὼ ἐν ὑμῖν. καθὼς τὸ κλῆμα οὐ δύναται καρπὸν φέρειν ἀφ’ ἑαυτοῦ ἐὰν μὴ ⸀μένῃ ἐν τῇ ἀμπέλῳ, οὕτως οὐδὲ ὑμεῖς ἐὰν μὴ ἐν ἐμοὶ ⸀μένητε.
Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.
Remain (μένω, menō) stands eleven times in this chapter; it is the same verb as the noun at 14:2.
pronoun me = Jesus
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun you = the disciples
pronoun itself = the branch
pronoun it = the branch
5
ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ἄμπελος, ὑμεῖς τὰ κλήματα. ὁ μένων ἐν ἐμοὶ κἀγὼ ἐν αὐτῷ οὗτος φέρει καρπὸν πολύν, ὅτι χωρὶς ἐμοῦ οὐ δύνασθε ποιεῖν οὐδέν.
I am the vine, you are the branches. The one remaining in me and I in him, this one bears much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.
Apart from me renders χωρίς (chōris), set apart, separated off.
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun you = the disciples
pronoun me = Jesus
pronoun him = the one remaining in me
pronoun this one = the one remaining in me
Why this rendering
John.15.5 Observation
Syntactic observation
μένω occurs eleven times across seven verses in this chapter — vv.4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 and 16. That is the densest chapter in John. It is the verb GLOSSARY fixed in chapter 1, the root by which the Spirit remains on Jesus at 1:32–33, sin remains at 9:41, the grain remains alone at 12:24, and which stands as the noun μονή at 14:2 and 23. Here it runs both ways — a person remains in Jesus and Jesus in the person. And the οὐδέν of “without me you can do nothing” stands under a double negative for emphasis.
Rendering options · 2
abide in me and I in him
Basis Uses the settled abide.
Rejected Abide does not share a stem with the remaining of 1:32–33, of sin at 9:41, or of the grain at 12:24. One verb runs through the whole Gospel, and a different word per chapter dissolves the thread. English abide used only in chapter 15 while other chapters use remain creates the same problem.
Adopted I am the vine, you are the branches. The one remaining in me and I in him, this one bears much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.
Basis One rendering for μένω across the Gospel. The edition-wide consistency rule in GLOSSARY does its heaviest work here — this single verb runs from chapter 1 to chapter 15.
Lost in translation
μένω across the whole Gospel The Spirit remains (1:32–33), the disciple remains (8:31), sin remains (9:41), the grain remains alone (12:24), it becomes a remaining-place (14:2, 23), the branch remains (seven times in chapter 15). One verb threads the Gospel. In versions that vary the word the thread disappears entirely, and no version marks it on the page.
Survives in · New English Translation† / Vulgata Clementina / Elberfelder 1871 / Синодальный перевод / this edition — 8 of the nine carry it (this language among them)
6
ἐὰν μή τις ⸀μένῃ ἐν ἐμοί, ἐβλήθη ἔξω ὡς τὸ κλῆμα καὶ ἐξηράνθη, καὶ συνάγουσιν αὐτὰ καὶ εἰς τὸ πῦρ βάλλουσιν καὶ καίεται.
If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown outside like the branch and withers; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and it burns.
They gather — the text does not say who; the verb simply stands in the plural.
pronoun me = Jesus
pronoun he = anyone who does not remain
pronoun they = unnamed gatherers
pronoun them = the withered branches
pronoun it = the fire
7
ἐὰν μείνητε ἐν ἐμοὶ καὶ τὰ ῥήματά μου ἐν ὑμῖν μείνῃ, ὃ ἐὰν θέλητε ⸀αἰτήσασθε καὶ γενήσεται ὑμῖν·
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will happen for you.
Whatever you wish is bounded by the two remainings that go before it.
pronoun you = the disciples
pronoun me = Jesus
pronoun my = Jesus
pronoun it = whatever you wish
8
ἐν τούτῳ ἐδοξάσθη ὁ πατήρ μου ἵνα καρπὸν πολὺν φέρητε καὶ ⸀γένησθε ἐμοὶ μαθηταί.
In this my Father was glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.
Become my disciples — the manuscripts differ over whether this reads as future or as present.
pronoun my = Jesus
pronoun you = the disciples
9
καθὼς ἠγάπησέν με ὁ πατήρ, κἀγὼ ⸂ὑμᾶς ἠγάπησα⸃, μείνατε ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ τῇ ἐμῇ.
As the Father loved me, I also loved you; remain in my love.
The love is passed on in the same measure it was received.
pronoun me = Jesus
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun you = the disciples
pronoun my = Jesus
10
ἐὰν τὰς ἐντολάς μου τηρήσητε, μενεῖτε ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ μου, καθὼς ἐγὼ ⸂τὰς ἐντολὰς τοῦ πατρός μου⸃ τετήρηκα καὶ μένω αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ.
If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love.
The pattern is stated twice — of the disciples, then of Jesus himself.
pronoun you = the disciples
pronoun my = Jesus
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun his = the Father
11
ταῦτα λελάληκα ὑμῖν ἵνα ἡ χαρὰ ἡ ἐμὴ ἐν ὑμῖν ⸀ᾖ καὶ ἡ χαρὰ ὑμῶν πληρωθῇ.
These things I have spoken to you so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be made full.
Made full (πληρόω, plēroō) is the verb used of fulfilling a word at verse 25.
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun you = the disciples
pronoun my = Jesus
pronoun your = the disciples
12
Αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ ἐντολὴ ἡ ἐμὴ ἵνα ἀγαπᾶτε ἀλλήλους καθὼς ἠγάπησα ὑμᾶς·
This is my commandment: that you love one another as I loved you.
The new commandment of 13:34 is repeated with nothing added.
pronoun my = Jesus
pronoun you = the disciples
pronoun I = Jesus
13
μείζονα ταύτης ἀγάπην οὐδεὶς ἔχει, ἵνα τις τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ θῇ ὑπὲρ τῶν φίλων αὐτοῦ.
Greater love than this no one has, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
Life is ψυχή (psychē) here, the life a person lives, as at 10:11.
pronoun this = laying down one's life for one's friends
pronoun his = the one who lays it down
14
ὑμεῖς φίλοι μού ἐστε ἐὰν ποιῆτε ⸀ἃ ἐγὼ ἐντέλλομαι ὑμῖν.
You are my friends if you do what I command you.
Friends (φίλοι, philoi) is from the verb φιλέω (phileō), to love — the word used of the Father and the Son at 5:20.
pronoun You = the disciples
pronoun my = Jesus
pronoun you = the disciples
pronoun I = Jesus
15
οὐκέτι ⸂λέγω ὑμᾶς⸃ δούλους, ὅτι ὁ δοῦλος οὐκ οἶδεν τί ποιεῖ αὐτοῦ ὁ κύριος· ὑμᾶς δὲ εἴρηκα φίλους, ὅτι πάντα ἃ ἤκουσα παρὰ τοῦ πατρός μου ἐγνώρισα ὑμῖν.
No longer do I call you slaves, because the slave does not know what his lord is doing; but I have called you friends, because everything I heard from my Father I made known to you.
Slaves and friends are set against each other by what each is told.
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun you = the disciples
pronoun his = the slave
Why this rendering
John.15.15 Observation
Syntactic observation
δοῦλος and φίλος are set against each other. δοῦλος is the word of 8:34–35, a slave of sin, and of 13:16, a slave is not greater than his lord, and it returns at 15:20 where that saying is quoted — so within one chapter he says they are no longer slaves and then takes the slave-saying up again. φίλος runs through vv.13, 14 and 15, and it is the word used of Lazarus at 11:11, our friend. And φίλος shares a root with φιλέω — the verb at 15:19, where the world would love its own. ἀγαπάω also runs through the chapter, so both love-words stand together. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸂λέγω ὑμᾶς⸃).
Rendering options · 2
Adopted I have called you friends
Basis Uses the settled rendering.
I have called you loved ones
Basis Shows the root shared with φιλέω.
Rejected Friend is the sense here, and changing the word to show the root would blur the contrast with δοῦλος. That they are friends and not slaves is what the sentence says, so the contrast is kept first and the root recorded below.
Lost in translation
the φίλος / φιλέω root Friend and love are one root in Greek. That the world would φιλέω its own at 15:19 and that the disciples become φίλοι stand on one root, and English has no such pair.
Survives in · Peshitta / Vulgata Clementina / this edition — 3 of the nine carry it (not this language)
16
οὐχ ὑμεῖς με ἐξελέξασθε, ἀλλ’ ἐγὼ ἐξελεξάμην ὑμᾶς, καὶ ἔθηκα ὑμᾶς ἵνα ὑμεῖς ὑπάγητε καὶ καρπὸν φέρητε καὶ ὁ καρπὸς ὑμῶν μένῃ, ἵνα ὅ τι ἂν αἰτήσητε τὸν πατέρα ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί μου δῷ ὑμῖν.
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.
Appointed renders τίθημι (tithēmi), the verb of laying down a life at verse 13.
pronoun You = the disciples
pronoun me = Jesus
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun you = the disciples
pronoun your = the disciples
pronoun my = Jesus
pronoun he = the Father
17
ταῦτα ἐντέλλομαι ὑμῖν ἵνα ἀγαπᾶτε ἀλλήλους.
These things I command you, so that you may love one another.
The chapter's middle closes where it opened — on the commandment.
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun you = the disciples
18
Εἰ ὁ κόσμος ὑμᾶς μισεῖ, γινώσκετε ὅτι ἐμὲ πρῶτον ⸀ὑμῶν μεμίσηκεν.
If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before you.
Before you can be read as “earlier than you” or “as the first of you” — Greek holds both.
pronoun you = the disciples
pronoun it = the world
pronoun me = Jesus
Why this rendering
John.15.18 Observation
Syntactic observation
μισέω occurs seven times across five verses from v.18 to v.25 (twice in 18, then 19, twice in 23, then 24 and 25), and the tense moves — present μισεῖ, perfect μεμίσηκεν, present μισεῖ, perfect μεμισήκασιν, aorist ἐμίσησάν. One verb holds now, already and then. And v.25 closes by citing what is written in their law: ἐμίσησάν με δωρεάν, they hated me δωρεάν — freely, without cause. φιλέω stands just before at v.19, so hatred and love face each other in one paragraph. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸀ὑμῶν).
Rendering options · 2
Adopted If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before you
Basis Renders the tenses naturally.
If the world is hating you, know that it has been hating me before you
Basis Separates present and perfect by aspect.
Rejected In Korean these forms lengthen the sentence, and marking all five shifts verse by verse would make the paragraph read as grammatical commentary. The series is recorded as a loss and the text left readable.
Lost in translation
the moving tense across five occurrences Present, perfect, present, perfect, aorist — the hatred is at once what is happening, what has settled, and what was foretold. English keeps all three grades apart on one verb: hates (15:18), has hated (15:18, 24), hated (15:25).
Survives in · this edition — 2 of the nine carry it (this language among them)
19
εἰ ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου ἦτε, ὁ κόσμος ἂν τὸ ἴδιον ἐφίλει· ὅτι δὲ ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου οὐκ ἐστέ, ἀλλ’ ἐγὼ ἐξελεξάμην ὑμᾶς ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου, διὰ τοῦτο μισεῖ ὑμᾶς ὁ κόσμος.
If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, and I chose you out of the world, for this reason the world hates you.
Its own is the phrase of 1:11, where his own did not receive him.
pronoun you = the disciples
pronoun its = the world
pronoun I = Jesus
20
μνημονεύετε τοῦ λόγου οὗ ἐγὼ εἶπον ὑμῖν· Οὐκ ἔστιν δοῦλος μείζων τοῦ κυρίου αὐτοῦ· εἰ ἐμὲ ἐδίωξαν, καὶ ὑμᾶς διώξουσιν· εἰ τὸν λόγον μου ἐτήρησαν, καὶ τὸν ὑμέτερον τηρήσουσιν.
Remember the word that I said to you: a slave is not greater than his lord. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also.
Kept stands twice, and it is the same verb both times — the second may be read either as promise or as irony.
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun you = the disciples
pronoun his = the slave
pronoun they = the world
pronoun me = Jesus
pronoun my = Jesus
pronoun yours = the disciples
21
ἀλλὰ ταῦτα πάντα ποιήσουσιν ⸂εἰς ὑμᾶς⸃ διὰ τὸ ὄνομά μου, ὅτι οὐκ οἴδασιν τὸν πέμψαντά με.
But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.
On account of my name — the reason is put on the name, not on the deeds.
pronoun they = the world
pronoun you = the disciples
pronoun my = Jesus
pronoun him = the one who sent me
pronoun me = Jesus
22
εἰ μὴ ἦλθον καὶ ἐλάλησα αὐτοῖς, ἁμαρτίαν οὐκ ⸀εἴχοσαν· νῦν δὲ πρόφασιν οὐκ ἔχουσιν περὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν.
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.
Excuse renders πρόφασις (prophasis), a pretext put forward.
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun them = the world
pronoun they = the world
pronoun their = the world
23
ὁ ἐμὲ μισῶν καὶ τὸν πατέρα μου μισεῖ.
The one hating me hates my Father also.
The shortest line of the chapter, and it joins the two hatings.
pronoun me = Jesus
pronoun my = Jesus
24
εἰ τὰ ἔργα μὴ ἐποίησα ἐν αὐτοῖς ἃ οὐδεὶς ἄλλος ⸀ἐποίησεν, ἁμαρτίαν οὐκ ⸀εἴχοσαν· νῦν δὲ καὶ ἑωράκασιν καὶ μεμισήκασιν καὶ ἐμὲ καὶ τὸν πατέρα μου.
If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated both me and my Father.
Seen and hated — the two verbs are set in one breath.
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun them = the world
pronoun they = the world
pronoun me = Jesus
pronoun my = Jesus
25
ἀλλ’ ἵνα πληρωθῇ ὁ λόγος ὁ ⸂ἐν τῷ νόμῳ αὐτῶν γεγραμμένος⸃ ὅτι Ἐμίσησάν με δωρεάν.
But it is so that the word written in their law may be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without cause.’
Their law — as at 8:17 and 10:34. Without cause renders δωρεάν (dōrean), which is also “as a gift, for nothing”.
pronoun their = the world
pronoun They = those in the quotation
pronoun me = the one speaking in the quotation
26
⸀Ὅταν ἔλθῃ ὁ παράκλητος ὃν ἐγὼ πέμψω ὑμῖν παρὰ τοῦ πατρός, τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας ὃ παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς ἐκπορεύεται, ἐκεῖνος μαρτυρήσει περὶ ἐμοῦ·
When the Paraclete comes, whom I will send to you from the Father — the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father — he will bear witness about me.
Goes out (ἐκπορεύομαι, ekporeuomai) is a different verb from sent — the text keeps them apart.
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun you = the disciples
pronoun whom = the Paraclete
pronoun he = the Spirit of truth
pronoun me = Jesus
27
καὶ ὑμεῖς δὲ μαρτυρεῖτε, ὅτι ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς μετ’ ἐμοῦ ἐστε.
And you also bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.
From the beginning measures the disciples' witness, as 1:1 measured the Word.
pronoun you = the disciples
pronoun me = Jesus