John 15:20 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
John 15:20
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.
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine
lord
κυρίουkuriou
G2962
supreme in authority · noun — genitive singular masculine
If
εἰei
G1487
if · conditional particle
they have persecuted
ἐδίωξανediōxan
G1377
compare the base of G1169 (δειλός) and G1249 (διάκονος)) · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
me
ἐμέemé
G1691
me
they will
διώξουσιν·diōxousin
G1377
compare the base of G1169 (δειλός) and G1249 (διάκονος)) · verb — future active indicative, 3rd person plural
also
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
persecute
διώκωdiṓkō
G1377
compare the base of G1169 (δειλός) and G1249 (διάκονος))
you
ὑμᾶςhymâs
G5209
you (as the objective of a verb or preposition)
if
εἰei
G1487
if · conditional particle
they have kept
ἐτήρησανetērēsan
G5083
perhaps akin to G2334 (θεωρέω)) · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
my
μοῦmoû
G3450
of me
saying
λόγονlogon
G3056
something said (including the thought) · noun — accusative singular masculine
they will keep
τηρήσουσιν.tērēsousin
G5083
perhaps akin to G2334 (θεωρέω)) · verb — future active indicative, 3rd person plural
yours
ὑμέτεροςhyméteros
G5212
yours
also
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
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
2 Timothy 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
John 13:16 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.
Matthew 10:24 The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.
Ezekiel 3:7 But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhear…
1 Corinthians 4:12 And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:
2 Corinthians 4:9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
Isaiah 53:1-3 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
Luke 6:40 The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on John 15:18-25
Here Christ discourses concerning hatred, which is the character and genius of the devil's kingdom, as love is of the kingdom of Christ. Observe here,
I. Who they are in whom this hatred is found - the world, the children of this world, as distinguished from the children of God; those who are in the interests of the god of this world, whose image they bear, and whose power they are subject to; all those, whether Jews or Gentiles, who would not come into the church of Christ, which he audibly called, and visibly separates from this evil world. The calling of these the world intimates, 1. Their number; there were a world of people that opposed Christ and Christianity. Lord, how were they incre…
The substance of these important verses has occurred more than once before. (See on Mat 10:34-36; Luk 12:49-53, &c.).
Adam Clarke on John 15:20
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.
John Gill on John 15:20
Remember the word that I said unto you,.... For their further consolation under the hatred of the world, he puts them in mind of a saying of his, which he had lately used, John 13:16; to teach them humility, self-denial, and brotherly love, and elsewhere, as in Matthew 10:24; for the same purpose as here; namely, to engage them patiently to bear the hatred of men, and all indignities and insults from them, for his name's sake:
the servant is not greater than the Lord: nor so great, and consequently not more, nor so: much deserving of respect, or to be treated in a better manner; suggesting, that Christ was their Lord and master, as he was, and they were his servants; and therefore were not…
The Church Fathers
(Tract. lxxxviii. 1) Our Lord, in exhorting His servants to bear patiently the hatred of the world, proposes to them an example than which there can be no better and higher one, viz. Himself: 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. (Tract. lxxxviii. 1) The servant is not greater than his Lord. Here the servant is the one who has the purified fear, which abideth for ever.
Jesus indicates to his disciples that they will encounter every kind of disgrace, saying, "The slave is not above his lord." "For," he says, "wicked people attacked me with their unbridled tongues. And leaving no kind of insult untried, they called me a man possessed of a devil and a drunkard and the fruit of fornication. Yet I did not immediately seek their punishment, but not being cut to the heart by their insults, I granted to my hearers the word of salvation." Do not, then, seek out of reason your own aggrandizement or scorn the limits within which your Lord was bound, who lowered himself to such humiliation for us to benefit all.
It is just as if Jesus said, "I, the creator of the universe, who have everything under my hand, both in heaven and on earth, did not bridle their rage or restrain … their inclinations. Rather, I let each one choose their own course and permitted all to do what they wanted. Therefore, when I was persecuted, I endured it even though I had the power of preventing it. When you too follow in my wake and pursue the same course I did, you also will be persecuted. You're going to have to momentarily endure the aversion of those who hate you without being overly troubled by the ingratitude of those whom you benefit. This is how you attain my glory, for those who suffer with me shall also reign with me."
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
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,…
Apostles, The · Persecutions and sufferings of — Persecutions and sufferings of
Obedience To God · Christ, an example of — Christ, an example of
Persecution · OF JESUS — OF JESUS
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).
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…
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.
