ManyBibles

John 15

7 translations · read through 12 traditions.

NCB · New Consensus Bible

1I am the vine, the true one, and the Father of me is the farmer. 2Every branch in me not bearing fruit, he takes it away, and every one bearing fruit, he cleanses it, that it may bear more fruit. 3Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4Abide in me, and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself if it does not abide in the vine, so neither can you if you do not abide in me. 5I am the vine, you the branches. The one abiding in me, and I in him, this one bears much fruit; for apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown out as the branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7If you abide in me and the words of me in you abide, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8In this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. 9Just as the Father loved me, I also loved you; abide in my love. 10If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept the commandments of my Father, and abide in his love. 11These things I have spoken to you, that the joy, my own, may be in you, and your joy may be fulfilled. 12This is the commandment, my own: that you love one another, just as I loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends if you do what whatever I command you. 15No longer do I call you slaves, because the slave does not know what his Lord is doing; but I have called you friends, because all things that I heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16You did not choose me, but I chose you, and I appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide; so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give you. 17These things I command you, that you love one another. 18If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before you. 19If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. 20Remember the word that I said to you: A slave is not greater than his Lord. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. 21But all these things they will do to you for my name, because they do not know the one who sent me. 22If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23The one hating me hates my Father also. 24If I did not do 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. 25But this happened so that the word written in their law may be fulfilled: 'They hated me without a cause.' 26But when the Paraclete comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will testify concerning me. 27and you also testify, because you are with me from the beginning.

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What the traditions agree on

Across most Christian traditions, the metaphor of the vine and branches teaches that abiding in Christ is the absolute prerequisite for spiritual fruitfulness, and that fruitlessness leads to destruction. Furthermore, several traditions emphasize that fallen humanity has a total inability to perform spiritually good or salvific works without antecedent grace, viewing the Father's pruning as a therapeutic process of ongoing sanctification and noting that keeping Christ's commandments is the… Sign in to read the full consensus →

Where the traditions differ

  • The fruitless branches cast into the fire represent false professors who lack a vital, regenerating union with Christ, rather than elect believers losing their salvation.

    reformed: AFFIRM; baptist: QUALIFY; methodist: DENY; restorationist: DENY

  • The warning that branches in Christ can become fruitless and be burned demonstrates that genuine believers can fall from grace and forfeit their salvation.

    reformed: DENY; baptist: QUALIFY; methodist: AFFIRM; restorationist: AFFIRM

  • The vine and branches imagery reveals the Church as an organic, relational body rooted in Christ's headship rather than a merely voluntary association.

    catholic: AFFIRM; anglican: AFFIRM; anabaptist: DENY

  • The flow of life from the vine to the branches enables justified believers to perform genuinely meritorious good works.

    catholic: AFFIRM; methodist: DENY

  • Good works are the spontaneous and inevitable fruit of being united to Christ by faith, rather than a cooperative cause of salvation.

    catholic: DENY; orthodox: DENY; lutheran: AFFIRM; methodist: DENY; adventist: AFFIRM; restorationist: DENY

  • Human cooperation (synergy) with divine grace is necessary to bear fruit, even though the capacity to do so originates entirely in Christ.

    orthodox: AFFIRM; lutheran: DENY; methodist: AFFIRM

  • The vine metaphor teaches that believers receive divine life by being grafted sacramentally into Christ's incarnate nature, particularly through the Eucharist.

    catholic: AFFIRM; orthodox: AFFIRM; oriental-orthodox: AFFIRM; anglican: QUALIFY; methodist: QUALIFY

  • The Father's pruning illustrates the theology of the cross, where God uses suffering and worldly affliction to destroy the believer's self-reliance.

    lutheran: AFFIRM; methodist: QUALIFY

  • Jesus' declaration that he chose the disciples establishes the doctrine of unconditional election, refuting the concept of election based on foreseen human faith or merit.

    catholic: QUALIFY; anglican: QUALIFY; lutheran: AFFIRM; reformed: AFFIRM

  • The sovereign calling and appointing of the disciples serves as the theological foundation for the sacrament of Holy Orders.

    catholic: AFFIRM; anglican: QUALIFY

  • The command to lay down one's life is rightly applied liturgically to honor military sacrifice and the veneration of martyrs.

    catholic: QUALIFY; orthodox: QUALIFY; anglican: AFFIRM; anabaptist: DENY

  • The world's hatred and persecution of believers is an expected mark of the true church, stemming from its definitive election out of the world.

    orthodox: QUALIFY; oriental-orthodox: AFFIRM; anglican: AFFIRM; reformed: AFFIRM; baptist: QUALIFY; methodist: QUALIFY; anabaptist: AFFIRM; pentecostal: AFFIRM; adventist: AFFIRM

  • The statement that the Spirit of truth 'proceeds from the Father' establishes the eternal hypostatic procession of the Spirit from the Father alone, refuting the Filioque addition.

    catholic: DENY; orthodox: AFFIRM; oriental-orthodox: AFFIRM; anglican: QUALIFY

  • The Spirit's procession from the Father is harmonized with his sending by the Son to affirm that the Spirit proceeds eternally from the Father and the Son (or from the Father through the Son).

    catholic: AFFIRM; orthodox: DENY; oriental-orthodox: DENY; anglican: QUALIFY

  • The promise of the Comforter was given specifically to the apostles to guarantee their direct testimony, supporting the view that the Spirit operates today solely through the written apostolic Word.

    methodist: DENY; pentecostal: DENY; restorationist: AFFIRM

  • The Holy Spirit is sent primarily to testify of Christ, dynamically equipping and empowering believers to serve as co-witnesses in the world.

    catholic: AFFIRM; anglican: QUALIFY; baptist: AFFIRM; methodist: AFFIRM; pentecostal: AFFIRM; adventist: AFFIRM; restorationist: QUALIFY

How each tradition reads it

Each reading was generated in isolation — no tradition sees another’s answer.

Catholic

Jesus delivers his farewell discourse to his disciples, shifting to the agricultural metaphor of the vine and branches to describe the organic, life-giving relationship between himself and them. He exhorts them to abide in him to bear fruit, warning that severed branches face destruction while fruitful ones are pruned by the Father. Elevating their status from servants to friends, he grounds this new relationship in his self-revelation and his impending sacrificial death. He warns them that the world will hate them just as it hated him, and he promises the coming of the Paraclete, the Spirit of truth, who will bear witness to him alongside the disciples. Reception: The Catholic tradition reads this chapter as foundational for ecclesiology, the theology of grace, and Trinitarian dogma. For the theology of grace, the Latin tradition, heavily influenced by Augustine (Tractates on the Gospel of John), reads verse 5 ('apart from me you can do nothing') as the definitive refutation of Pelagianism, establishing that human beings cannot perform any salvific good without Christ's antecedent grace. The Council of Trent (Decree on Justification) builds on this, using the vine's sap flowing into the branches to describe how sanctifying grace enables the justified to perform truly meritorious works. In ecclesiology, Pius XII (Mystici Corporis Christi) emphasizes verses 1-8 as a primary image of the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ, an organic union sharing in divine life. Regarding moral theology, Thomas Aquinas (Summa Theologiae) draws on verse 15 ('I have called you friends') to define the theological virtue of charity (caritas) not merely as an action, but as a reciprocal friendship between God and humanity. Finally, verse 26 is a crucial locus for Trinitarian pneumatology. The Eastern Catholic churches emphasize the Spirit 'who proceeds from the Father', safeguarding the Father as the sole unoriginate source of the Trinity. The Latin tradition pairs this with Christ's promise 'whom I will send to you', inferring the mutual sending. The Council of Florence (Laetentur Caeli) harmonized these emphases, affirming that the Spirit proceeds eternally from the Father and the Son (Filioque), which Eastern Catholics express complementarily as proceeding from the Father through the Son (per Filium), maintaining full communion between the traditions.

Eastern Orthodox

In his Farewell Discourse, Jesus uses the agricultural metaphor of the vine and branches to describe the organic, life-sustaining relationship between himself and his disciples (John 15:1-8). He instructs them that abiding in him is essential for bearing fruit, as separation results in withering and destruction. He transitions to commands of mutual love and self-sacrifice, elevating the disciples from servants to friends (15:9-17). Finally, Jesus prepares them for the world's inevitable hostility, explaining that the world's hatred of them stems from its hatred of him and the Father (15:18-25). Amidst this coming persecution, he promises the advent of the Comforter, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, to bear witness to him (15:26-27). Reception: For the Eastern Orthodox tradition, John 15 is of monumental dogmatic importance due to verse 26, which serves as the scriptural bedrock for Orthodox triadology (the theology of the Trinity). Christ’s statement that the Spirit of truth "proceeds from the Father" provides the exact phrasing adopted in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. The patristic consensus draws a strict distinction within this single verse between the eternal hypostatic origin of the Spirit—which is from the Father alone, the sole source (aitia) within the Godhead—and the temporal mission or sending of the Spirit by the Son ("whom I will send to you from the Father"). Photius the Great, in his 'Mystagogy of the Holy Spirit', heavily anchors his refutation of the Latin Filioque doctrine on this verse, insisting that Christ explicitly identified the Father as the sole cause of the Spirit's eternal procession. Gregory Palamas, in his 'Apodictic Treatises on the Procession of the Holy Spirit', similarly points to this verse to differentiate the Spirit's eternal procession from the Father from His energetic manifestation or temporal mission into the world through the Son. Beyond triadology, the allegory of the True Vine (15:1-8) is a foundational text for the Orthodox understanding of theosis (deification) and ecclesial union. Cyril of Alexandria, in his 'Commentary on John', interprets the life flowing from the vine to the branches as facilitating a real, ontological participation in Christ's divine nature, sustained sacramentally through the Eucharist and the indwelling of the Spirit. The injunction to "abide in me" (15:4) and the warning that "apart from me you can do nothing" (15:5) are read as expressing the mystery of synergy: human free will must actively cooperate with uncreated grace to bear spiritual fruit, though the capacity to do so originates entirely in Christ.

Oriental Orthodox

In this discourse, Jesus identifies himself as the true vine and his Father as the vinedresser, establishing that his disciples are branches who must remain in him to bear fruit and avoid being cut off and burned. He commands them to love one another with a sacrificial love, elevating their status from servants to friends because he has revealed the Father's will to them. Jesus then warns his friends that the world will hate and persecute them just as it hated him without cause, but promises to send the Comforter, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, to testify about him. Reception: Within the Oriental Orthodox tradition, John 15 is a foundational text for sacramentology, Christology, and Triadology. Cyril of Alexandria interprets the vine and branches (vv. 1-8) not merely as a moral metaphor but as an ontological and sacramental reality. Consistent with miaphysite Christology, which emphasizes the one unified, life-giving nature of the incarnate Word, Cyril argues that believers are physically and spiritually grafted into Christ through the Eucharist. Just as a vine transmits life-giving sap to its branches, Christ's life-giving flesh imparts immortality and holiness to the faithful. Additionally, verse 26 is the paramount scriptural bedrock for Oriental Orthodox pneumatology. The phrase 'which proceedeth from the Father' is cited continually in dogmatic theology to defend the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed against the Western Filioque addition. The tradition firmly distinguishes between the temporal, economic sending of the Spirit by the Son ('whom I will send unto you') and the eternal, hypostatic procession of the Spirit from the Father alone ('who proceedeth from the Father').

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Every translation

The same chapter in 7 public-domain translations.

WEB · World English Bible

1“I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer. 2Every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3You are already pruned clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. 5I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6If a man doesn’t remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you. 8“In this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples. 9Even as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you. Remain in my love. 10If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, even as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. 11I have spoken these things to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be made full. 12“This is my commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends if you do whatever I command you. 15No longer do I call you servants, for the servant doesn’t know what his lord does. But I have called you friends, for everything that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you. 16You didn’t choose me, but I chose you and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you will ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17“I command these things to you, that you may love one another. 18If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, since I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his lord.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21But they will do all these things to you for my name’s sake, because they don’t know him who sent me. 22If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23He who hates me, hates my Father also. 24If I hadn’t done among them the works which no one else did, they wouldn’t have had sin. But now they have seen and also hated both me and my Father. 25But this happened so that the word may be fulfilled which was written in their law, ‘They hated me without a cause.’ 26“When the Counselor has come, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will testify about me. 27You will also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.

KJV · King James Version

1I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 3Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 4Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 7If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 8Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. 9As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. 10If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. 11These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. 12This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. 13Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 14Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. 15Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. 16Ye 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. 17These things I command you, that ye love one another. 18If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 19If 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, therefore the world hateth you. 20Remember 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. 21But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me. 22If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin. 23He that hateth me hateth my Father also. 24If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. 25But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause. 26But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: 27And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.

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Differences that change the meaning (68)
  • v1 [lexical]: translation of 'georgos' (husbandman / farmer) — “husbandman” (KJV, ASV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “farmer” (WEB)
  • v2 [grammatical]: relative clause vs participle for 'not bearing' — “that beareth not” (KJV, ASV, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “bearing” (YLT, DARBY) vs “doesn’t bear” (WEB)
  • v2 [grammatical]: auxiliary verbs and object pronoun inclusion — “taketh” (KJV, WEBSTER) vs “takes” (WEB) vs “it” (ASV) vs “doth take it” (YLT) vs “takes it” (DARBY) vs “will take” (DRC)
  • v2 [stylistic]: repetition of 'branch' vs pronoun 'one' vs relative clause — “branch that beareth” (KJV, ASV, WEBSTER) vs “one bearing” (YLT, DARBY) vs “bears” (WEB) vs “one” (DRC)
  • v2 [lexical]: translation of 'kathairei' (prunes / purges / cleanseth) — “prunes” (WEB) vs “purgeth it” (KJV) vs “cleanseth” (ASV) vs “doth cleanse by pruning” (YLT) vs “purges” (DARBY) vs “cleaneth” (WEBSTER) vs “will purge” (DRC)
  • v2 [lexical]: translation of 'phere' (bring forth / bear) — “bring forth” (KJV, DARBY, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “bear” (WEB, ASV, YLT)
  • v3 [lexical]: translation of 'dia' + accusative (because of / through / by reason of) — “because of” (WEB, ASV, YLT) vs “through” (KJV, WEBSTER) vs “by reason of” (DARBY, DRC)
  • v3 [stylistic]: (vv 3, 11, 15, 20, 22) archaic 'unto' vs 'to' — “to” (WEB, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “unto” (KJV, ASV)
  • v4 [lexical]: translation of 'meinate' (abide / remain) — “Abide” (KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “Remain” (WEB, YLT)
  • v4 [grammatical]: modal verb vs phrase for ability (cannot / is not able to) — “cannot” (KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “can’t” (WEB) vs “is not able to” (YLT)
  • v4 [grammatical]: preposition choice for 'aph heautou' (of / by itself) — “of” (KJV, ASV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “by” (WEB)
  • v4 [lexical]: translation of 'ean me' (unless / except / if not) — “unless” (WEB, DARBY, DRC) vs “except” (KJV, ASV, WEBSTER) vs “if” (YLT)
  • v4 [grammatical]: verb mood and tense variations — “abide” (KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “remains” (WEB) vs “may not remain” (YLT)
  • v5 [grammatical]: relative pronoun choice and aspect (that abideth / who remains) — “that abideth” (KJV, ASV, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “who remains” (WEB) vs “who is remaining” (YLT) vs “abides” (DARBY)
  • v5 [lexical]: pronoun phrasing and verb translation — “the same bringeth forth” (KJV, WEBSTER) vs “beareth” (ASV, DRC) vs “bears” (WEB) vs “this one doth bear” (YLT) vs “he bears” (DARBY)
  • v5 [lexical]: translation of 'choris' (without / apart from) — “for without” (KJV, DARBY, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “apart from” (WEB, ASV) vs “because apart from” (YLT)
  • v5 [grammatical]: modal phrasing vs auxiliary — “ye can” (KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “you” (WEB, DRC) vs “are not able to” (YLT)
  • v6 [lexical]: translation of 'eblethe' (cast forth / thrown out) — “is cast forth” (KJV, ASV, WEBSTER) vs “thrown out” (WEB) vs “was without” (YLT) vs “out” (DARBY) vs “shall be” (DRC)
  • v6 [grammatical]: verb tense/voice for 'exeranthe' — “is withered” (WEB, KJV, ASV, WEBSTER) vs “was” (YLT) vs “dried up” (DARBY) vs “shall wither” (DRC)
  • v6 [interpretive]: impersonal plural 'they' vs generic 'men' — “they” (WEB, ASV, YLT, DARBY) vs “men” (KJV, WEBSTER) vs “they shall” (DRC)
  • v6 [grammatical]: verb voice phrasing — “they are burned” (WEB, KJV, ASV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “be burneth” (DRC)
  • v7 [grammatical]: pronoun phrasing and verb mood — “ye abide” (KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “you remain” (WEB) vs “may remain” (YLT) vs “you” (DRC)
  • v7 [lexical]: translation of 'rhemata' (words / sayings) — “words abide” (KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “remain” (WEB) vs “sayings” (YLT)
  • v7 [lexical]: translation of 'genesetai' (shall be done / come to pass) — “shall be done unto” (KJV, ASV, DRC) vs “to” (YLT, WEBSTER) vs “will for” (WEB) vs “come to pass to” (DARBY)
  • v8 [stylistic]: phrasing of 'en touto' (In this / Herein) — “In this” (WEB, DARBY, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “Herein is” (KJV, ASV) vs “In this was” (YLT)
  • v8 [grammatical]: (vv 8, 10) verb mood and phrasing — “ye bear” (KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “you” (WEB) vs “may” (YLT) vs “you bring forth very” (DRC)
  • v9 [grammatical]: (vv 9, 19) perfect vs aorist tense — “hath loved” (KJV, ASV, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “has” (WEB, DARBY) vs “did love” (YLT)
  • v10 [grammatical]: verb mood and aspect — “abide” (KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “remain” (WEB) vs “do remain” (YLT) vs “do” (DRC)
  • v11 [lexical]: translation of 'plerothe' (full / filled / made full) — “full” (KJV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “made” (WEB, ASV) vs “filled” (DRC)
  • v12 [stylistic]: (vv 12, 14) archaic pronoun 'ye' vs 'you' — “ye” (KJV, ASV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “you” (WEB, DRC)
  • v13 [lexical]: translation of indefinite pronoun 'tis' — “a man lay down” (KJV, ASV, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “someone” (WEB) vs “any one” (YLT) vs “one should” (DARBY)
  • v14 [grammatical]: (vv 14, 16) relative pronoun phrasing — “you whatever” (WEB) vs “ye do whatsoever” (KJV) vs “the things which” (ASV) vs “may whatever” (YLT) vs “practise whatever” (DARBY) vs “whatever” (WEBSTER) vs “you the things that” (DRC)
  • v15 [grammatical]: (vv 15, 21) verb tense and negation phrasing — “servant knoweth not” (KJV, ASV, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “doesn’t know” (WEB) vs “hath known” (YLT) vs “bondman does know” (DARBY)
  • v15 [grammatical]: verb tense and conjunction differences — “lord doeth but” (KJV, ASV, WEBSTER) vs “does” (WEB) vs “doth and you” (YLT) vs “master is doing” (DARBY) vs “doth” (DRC)
  • v15 [grammatical]: translation of 'panta ha' (all things that / everything / whatsoever) — “for all things that” (KJV, ASV, WEBSTER) vs “everything” (WEB) vs “because” (YLT) vs “which” (DARBY) vs “because whatsoever” (DRC)
  • v15 [grammatical]: preposition choice (from / of) — “from” (WEB, ASV, YLT, WEBSTER) vs “of” (KJV, DARBY, DRC)
  • v16 [grammatical]: perfect vs aorist tense for choosing — “Ye have not chosen” (KJV, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “You didn’t choose” (WEB) vs “did choose” (ASV) vs “did choose out” (YLT) vs “You” (DRC)
  • v16 [lexical]: translation of 'etheka' (appointed / ordained) — “appointed” (WEB, ASV) vs “ordained” (KJV, WEBSTER) vs “did appoint” (YLT) vs “have set” (DARBY) vs “have appointed” (DRC)
  • v16 [grammatical]: auxiliary verb choice — “ye should” (KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “you” (WEB, DRC) vs “might” (YLT)
  • v16 [lexical]: translation of 'pherete' (bear / bring forth) — “bear” (WEB, ASV) vs “bring forth” (KJV, WEBSTER) vs “might bear” (YLT) vs “that ye should bear” (DARBY) vs “should” (DRC)
  • v16 [lexical]: translation of 'mene' (remain / abide) — “should remain” (WEB, KJV, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “abide” (ASV, DARBY) vs “might” (YLT)
  • v17 [grammatical]: pronoun and verb mood variations — “ye” (KJV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “you may” (WEB) vs “may” (ASV) vs “you” (DRC)
  • v18 [stylistic]: verb ending variations (hate / hateth / hates) — “hate” (KJV, DARBY, DRC) vs “hateth” (ASV, WEBSTER) vs “hates” (WEB) vs “doth” (YLT)
  • v19 [grammatical]: pronoun gender for 'world' — “its” (WEB, ASV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “would love his” (KJV)
  • v19 [grammatical]: conjunction choice (but / since) — “but” (KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “since” (WEB) vs “ye are not” (YLT)
  • v19 [lexical]: translation of 'dia touto' (therefore / because of this) — “therefore” (WEB, KJV, ASV, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “because of this” (YLT) vs “on account of this” (DARBY)
  • v19 [stylistic]: archaic verb ending 'hateth' vs 'hates' — “hateth” (KJV, ASV, YLT, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “hates” (WEB, DARBY)
  • v20 [textual]: textual variant 'the word' vs 'my word' — “the” (WEB, KJV, ASV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “my” (DRC)
  • v20 [grammatical]: relative pronoun choice (that / which) — “that” (WEB, KJV, ASV, YLT, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “which” (DARBY)
  • v20 [lexical]: translation of 'doulos' (servant / bondman) — “A” (WEB, ASV, YLT) vs “The servant” (KJV, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “bondman” (DARBY)
  • v20 [lexical]: translation of 'kyriou' (lord / master) — “lord” (WEB, KJV, ASV, YLT, WEBSTER) vs “master” (DARBY, DRC)
  • v20 [lexical]: translation of 'logon' (word / saying) — “word” (WEB, ASV, YLT, DARBY, DRC) vs “saying” (KJV, WEBSTER)
  • v20 [grammatical]: auxiliary verb vs adverb 'also' — “will” (KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “also” (WEB) vs “did” (YLT)
  • v21 [grammatical]: preposition and auxiliary phrasing — “to” (WEB, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “will they do unto” (KJV, ASV) vs “will to” (DRC)
  • v21 [lexical]: translation of 'dia' + accusative (for / because of) — “for” (WEB, KJV, ASV, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “because of” (YLT) vs “on account of” (DARBY)
  • v21 [lexical]: idiomatic translation of 'onoma' (name's sake / name) — “name’s sake” (WEB, KJV, ASV, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “name” (YLT, DARBY)
  • v21 [grammatical]: relative pronoun choice (that / who) — “that” (KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “who” (WEB, YLT, DRC)
  • v22 [grammatical]: conditional verb phrasing — “had” (KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “would” (WEB, DRC) vs “were” (YLT)
  • v22 [grammatical]: verb tense/aspect variations — “had” (KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “have” (WEB, DRC) vs “having” (YLT)
  • v22 [lexical]: translation of 'prophasin' (excuse / cloke / pretext) — “excuse” (WEB, ASV, DARBY, DRC) vs “no cloke” (KJV, WEBSTER) vs “not” (YLT)
  • v23 [grammatical]: relative clause vs participle — “that hateth” (KJV, ASV, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “who hates” (WEB) vs “who is hating” (YLT) vs “hates” (DARBY)
  • v23 [grammatical]: verb tense and inclusion of 'also' — “hateth” (KJV, ASV, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “hates” (WEB) vs “doth hate also” (YLT) vs “hates also” (DARBY)
  • v24 [grammatical]: verb tense and contraction differences — “had not done” (KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “hadn’t” (WEB) vs “did do” (YLT)
  • v24 [grammatical]: conditional verb phrasing variations — “had not had” (KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “wouldn’t have” (WEB) vs “were having” (YLT) vs “would have” (DRC)
  • v24 [grammatical]: inclusion of correlative 'both' — “have” (WEB, YLT, DARBY, DRC) vs “both” (KJV, ASV, WEBSTER)
  • v26 [lexical]: translation of 'parakletos' (Comforter / Counselor / Paraclete) — “Comforter is come” (KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “Counselor has” (WEB) vs “may” (YLT) vs “Paraclete cometh” (DRC)
  • v26 [grammatical]: relative pronoun and verb translation — “who” (YLT, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “which proceedeth” (KJV, ASV) vs “who proceeds” (WEB) vs “who goes forth” (DARBY)
  • v26 [lexical]: translation of 'marturesei' (testify / bear witness) — “will about” (WEB) vs “shall testify of” (KJV) vs “bear witness” (ASV) vs “will” (YLT) vs “bear witness concerning” (DARBY) vs “will concerning” (WEBSTER) vs “give testimony” (DRC)

Behind this page

Source text. Greek (TAGNT, public-domain critical text). Nestle-Aland 28th Edition / SBL Greek New Testament

Divine names: Kyrios (Lord).

Also consulted, but not counted in the consensus

Academic textual-historical analysis

In its immediate literary context, John 15 functions as part of a farewell discourse, characterized by parenesis (moral exhortation) and stark dualism. The chapter opens with an extended metaphor or 'mashal' of the vine and branches (vv. 1-8). This adapts a common Old Testament prophetic trope where Israel is depicted as God's vineyard or vine (e.g., Psalm 80, Isaiah 5), but reimagines it christologically: Jesus is the 'true' vine, and the disciples' spiritual vitality and fruitfulness depend entirely on mutual indwelling ('abiding') with him. The discourse transitions into an ethic of mutual love, explicitly redefining the relational status of the disciples from 'servants' to 'friends' based on divine revelation and chosenness (vv. 9-17). The chapter then abruptly shifts to a sharply dualistic warning about the 'world's' hatred (vv. 18-25). The world is portrayed in total opposition to Jesus and his disciples, with its hatred serving to fulfill Jewish scriptural precedent (v. 25). The chapter concludes with the introduction of the Paraclete (Counselor/Comforter), the 'Spirit of truth,' who will serve as a co-witness with the disciples in an implicitly hostile forensic setting (vv. 26-27).

Jewish interpretation

Because the Gospel of John is part of the New Testament, Jewish tradition does not recognize this chapter as Scripture and possesses no canonical or immediate theological reading of it. When read by modern Jewish historians and scholars of antiquity, the immediate meaning of the chapter is understood historically: it is a late first-century sectarian discourse. The text portrays an exclusive, tightly knit community defining its boundaries ('abide in me,' vv. 4-7) and anticipating persecution from an external, hostile world (vv. 18-21).

Latter-day Saint

In his final discourse before his arrest, Jesus uses the allegory of the true vine to teach his disciples that they must remain spiritually united with him to bear fruit. He commands them to love one another, reminds them that he has chosen and ordained them, warns that they will face hatred from the world, and promises to send the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, to testify of him.

Jehovah's Witnesses

In his final discourse, Jesus uses the metaphor of a vine to illustrate the necessary union between himself and his disciples. His Father acts as the cultivator who prunes productive branches and removes barren ones. Jesus commands his disciples to love one another selflessly and warns them that the world will hate them just as it hated him, because they do not belong to the world. He promises to send the spirit of truth from the Father to bear witness about him.

Translation choices the NCB made (32)
  • v1: the vine, the true one — Preserves the emphatic Greek definite article-adjective construction.
  • v1: the Father of me is the farmer — Preserves the exact definite-article pattern from the source text.
  • v1: farmer — Fits contemporary vernacular while accurately translating the Greek agricultural term.
  • v2: cleanses — Maintains the morphological and conceptual pun with 'clean' (katharoi) in the following verse.
  • v2: Every branch... he takes it away, and every one... he cleanses it — Retains the explicit neuter pronoun mapping for structural symmetry.
  • v3: because of — Plainly translates the causal preposition with the accusative.
  • v4: Abide in me, and I in you — Preserves the balanced chiastic phrasing of mutual indwelling.
  • v4: if... not — Maintains the direct translation of the conditional negative particle.
  • v5: I am the vine, you the branches — Replicates the verbless demonstrative pattern.
  • v6: anyone... them — Follows the grammatical shift from the singular indefinite subject to the plural neuter pronoun for branches.
  • v6: strictly literal rendering of branch gathering — Leaves the disputed theological meaning of the fruitless branches' salvation status unresolved by employing an unexpanded equivalent.
  • v7: and the words of me in you abide — Retains the chiasm of the Greek syntax precisely.
  • v7: ask — Translates the aorist imperative mood accurately.
  • v9: loved — Correctly represents the aorist indicative verb tense without perfect aspect.
  • v10: If you keep my commandments... just as I have kept the commandments of my Father — Maintains exact thematic symmetry between Jesus and the disciples by mapping the Greek phrasing identically.
  • v11: the joy, my own — Directly replicates the emphatic double-article pattern of the Greek.
  • v11: fulfilled — Translates the aorist passive subjunctive while maintaining the cognate stem idea.
  • v12: the commandment, my own — Translates the emphatic double-article pattern identically to verse 11.
  • v14: what whatever — Preserves the redundant, emphatic double relative pronoun exactly.
  • v15: Lord — Capitalizes the divine title to reflect its christological and theological weight consistently.
  • v15: slaves/slave — Accurately reflects the socio-historical reality of the Greek term in deliberate contrast to 'friends'.
  • v16: appointed — Fits contemporary vocabulary for being commissioned without anachronistic ecclesiastical connotations.
  • v18: before you — Retains the concise comparative phrasing without interpolating added verbs.
  • v19: repeat world five times — Preserves the extreme, rhythmic repetition of the noun in the source text.
  • v20: the word — Supports the reading with stronger and broader attestation in the manuscript tradition.
  • v21: for my name — Translates the phrase directly without adding the English idiom 'sake'.
  • v22: would not have sin — Establishes a clear, distinct refrain matching verse 24 perfectly.
  • v24: did not do... did — Maintains the matching aorist verb tense for the cognate pair.
  • v25: without a cause — Clearly conveys the unmerited nature of the hatred in standard English idiom.
  • v26: strictly translated proceeds from the Father without addition — Adopts a strict literal translation to leave the dispute regarding Trinitarian theology and the Filioque unresolved.
  • v26: Paraclete — Retains the widely recognized theological loanword utilized in the academic reception.
  • v27: testify — Translates the present tense accurately, functioning logically as an indicative statement of co-witness.
Limits worth knowing
  • This is AI-generated and source-grounded, and it is approved by no community that holds these traditions.
  • The readings were produced in isolated calls that do not see one another. Isolation prevents anchoring; it does not make them independent witnesses.
  • The Nicene-Trinitarian boundary, and the decision not to seat non-denominational Evangelicalism separately (it is a cross-traditional movement already present within several voting profiles), are editorial choices.
  • The roster, the grouping into three families, and the rule that families (not seat counts) carry consensus all shape the result. A different roster would produce a different synthesis.
  • One profile cannot exhaust a tradition; the synthesis reflects what the profiles said, not everything the traditions hold.
  • The non-voting panels (Academic, Jewish) never vote; LDS and Jehovah's Witness readings are a comparative appendix only.
  • Any profiles excluded for this chapter after failing the audit are named on the page and removed from the eligible roster for it.
  • The rendering is unreviewed by any tradition, and every contested wording it settled is listed in Choices Made — where the text forced a decision, the decision is documented rather than hidden behind a claim of preserved ambiguity.

See the full step-by-step working → · AI-generated Oct 8, 2026, gemini-3.1-pro-preview (high thinking) — every stage, v4 spec + Addendum B (claim-audited, cross-stage-checked)