John 15:16 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
John 15:16
Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
to select · verb — aorist middle indicative, 2nd person plural
me
μεme
G3165
me · personal pronoun — 1st person accusative singular
but
ἀλλ᾽all᾽
G235
properly · conjunction
I
ἐγὼegō
G1473
I · personal pronoun — 1st person nominative singular
have chosen
ἐξελεξάμηνexelexamēn
G1586
to select · verb — aorist middle indicative, 1st person singular
you
ὑμᾶςhymâs
G5209
you (as the objective of a verb or preposition)
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
ordained
ἔθηκαethēka
G5087
to place (in the widest application · verb — aorist active indicative, 1st person singular
you
ὑμᾶςhymâs
G5209
you (as the objective of a verb or preposition)
that
ἵναina
G2443
compare G3588 (ὁ)) · conjunction
ye
ὑμεῖςhymeîs
G5210
you (as subjective of verb)
should go
ὑπάγητεhupagēte
G5217
to lead (oneself) under · verb — present active subjunctive, 2nd person plural
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
bring forth
φέρητε,pherēte
G5342
to "bear" or carry (in a very wide application · verb — present active subjunctive, 2nd person plural
fruit
καρπὸνkarpon
G2590
fruit (as plucked) · noun — accusative singular masculine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
your
ὑμῶνhymōn
G5216
of (from or concerning) you
fruit
καρπὸςkarpos
G2590
fruit (as plucked) · noun — nominative singular masculine
should remain
μένῃ·menē
G3306
to stay (in a given place · verb — present active subjunctive, 3rd person singular
that
ἵναina
G2443
compare G3588 (ὁ)) · conjunction
whatsoever
ἂνan
G302
(what- · particle
ye shall ask
αἰτήσητεaitēsēte
G154
to ask (in genitive case) · verb — aorist active subjunctive, 2nd person plural
of the Father
πατέραpatera
G3962
a "father" (literally or figuratively · noun — accusative singular masculine, a title
in
ἐνen
G1722
"in · preposition
my
μοῦmoû
G3450
of me
name
ὀνόματίonomati
G3686
a "name" (literally or figuratively) (authority · noun — dative singular neuter
he may give it
δῷdō
G1325
to give (used in a very wide application · verb — second aorist active subjunctive, 3rd person singular
you
ὑμῖνhymîn
G5213
to (with or by) you
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Jeremiah 1:5-7 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet…
John 15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefor…
Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
2 Timothy 3:15-17 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ…
Galatians 1:15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace,
1 John 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.
Luke 6:13 And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;
Acts 22:14 And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on John 15:9-17
Christ, who is love itself, is here discoursing concerning love, a fourfold love.
I. Concerning the Father's love to him; and concerning this he here tells us, 1. That the Father did love him (Joh 15:9): As the Father hath loved me. He loved him as Mediator: This is my beloved Son. He was the Son of his love. He loved him, and gave all things into his hand; and yet so loved the world as to deliver him up for us all. When Christ was entering upon his sufferings he comforted himself with this, that his Father loved him. Those whom God loves as a Father may despise the hatred of all the world. 2. That he abode in his Father's love, Joh 15:10. He continually loved his Father, and was beloved of…
Ye have not chosen me, but I . . . you--a wholesale memento after the lofty things He had just said about their mutual indwelling, and the unreservedness of the friendship they had been admitted to.
ordained--appointed.
you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit--that is, give yourselves to it.
and that your fruit should remain--showing itself to be an imperishable and ever growing principle. (Compare Pro 4:18; Jo2 1:8).
that whatsoever ye shall ask, &c.--(See on Joh 15:7).
Adam Clarke on John 15:16
Ye have not chosen me - Ye have not elected me as your Teacher: I have called you to be my disciples; witnesses and depositories of the truth. It was customary among the Jews for every person to choose his own teacher.
And ordained you - Rather, I have appointed you: the word is εθηκα, I have Put or placed you, i.e. in the vine.
Theodorus Mopsuensis, as quoted by Wetstein, observes that εθηκα is here used for εφυτευσα; (I have planted); "and, in saying this, our Lord still makes use of the metaphor of the vine; as if he had said: I have not only planted you, but I have given you the greatest benefits, causing your branches to extend every where through the habitable world."
The first ministe…
Let us then with faithful spirit and devout mind call on Jesus our Lord. Let us believe that he is God, to the end that whatever we ask of the Father, we may obtain in his name. For the Father's will is that he be entreated through the Son. The Son's will is that the Father be entreated.
(Hom. in Evang. xxvii.) But let no one who has attained to this dignity of being called the friend of God, attribute this superhuman gift to his own merits: Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you. (Hom. xxvii.) I have set you,i. e. have planted you by grace, that ye should go by will (volendo not in Vulg.); to will being to go in mind, and bring forth fruit, by works. What kind of fruit they should bring forth He then shews: And that your fruit may remain: for worldly labour hardly produces fruit to last our life: and if it does, death comes at last, and deprives us of it all. But the fruit of our spiritual labours endures even after death; and begins to be seen at the very time that the results of our carnal labour begin to disappear. Let us then produce such fruits as may remain, and of which death, which destroys every thing, will be the commencement.
"Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you." That is, I ran upon your friendship. And He stayed not here, but, "I set you," He saith, (that is, "I planted you,") "that ye should go," (He still useth the metaphor of the vine,) that is, "that ye should extend yourselves"; "and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain." "Now if your fruit remain, much more shall ye. For I have not only loved you," He saith, "but have done you the greatest benefits, by extending your branches through all the world." Seest thou in how many ways He showeth His love? By telling them things secret, by having in the first instance run to meet their friendship, by granting them the greatest blessings, by suffering for them what then He suffered. After this, He showeth that He also remaineth continually with those who shall bring forth fruit; for it is needful to enjoy His aid, and so to bear fruit. "That whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in My Name, He may give it you." Yet it is the part of the person asked to do the thing asked; but if the Father is asked, how is it that the Son doeth it? It is that thou mayest learn that the Son is not inferior to the Father.
Dictionary and topics
Church — Derived probably from the Greek kuriakon (i.e., “the Lord’s house”), which was used by ancient authors for the place of worship. In the New Testament it is the translation of the Greek word ecclesia,…
Election of Grace — The Scripture speaks (1) of the election of individuals to office or to honour and privilege, e.g., Abraham, Jacob, Saul, David, Solomon, were all chosen by God for the positions they held; so also…
Predestination — This word is properly used only with reference to God’s plan or purpose of salvation. The Greek word rendered “predestinate” is found only in these six passages, Acts 4:28; Rom. 8:29, 30; 1 Cor. 2:7;…
Agency · IN SALVATION OF MEN — IN SALVATION OF MEN
Apostles, The · Ordained by Christ — Ordained by Christ
Call · .APOSTLES — .APOSTLES
Election · OF GRACE — OF GRACE
Obedience · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Prayer · Acceptable through Christ — Acceptable through Christ
Predestination · 19:25; — 19:25;
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
on John 15:16
Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you,.... Not but that they had made choice of him as their Lord and Master, Saviour and Redeemer; but not first, he was before hand with them; he chose them, before they chose him; so that his choice of them was entirely free, did not arise from any character, motive, or condition in them: the allusion is to a custom of the Jews, the reverse of which Christ acted; with whom it was usual for disciples to choose their own masters, and not masters their disciples: hence that advice of R. Joshuah ben Perachiah, said (r) to be the master of Jesus of Nazareth,
(s), "make", provide, or chose "thyself a master", and get thyself a companion.''
Those words…
John 15:16-21
16. You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you; and I have ordained you to go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should continue; that whatever you shall ask from the Father in my name he may give you. 17. These things I command you, that you may love another. 18. If the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. 19. If you were of the world, the world would love what was its own; but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. 20. Remember the word which I said to you, The servant is not greater than his master. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my w…
