John 15 - NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible
15:1 I am the true vine. In the OT God’s people sometimes appear as a vine (Ps 80:8; Hos 10:1) or vineyard (Isa 5:7). Jesus reapplies the image in a more personal and organic way (e.g., Jn 15:4–5). vine. Farmers in Palestine, Asia Minor, Greece and elsewhere frequently grew vines; some specialized in this.
15:2 For the metaphor of God’s people bearing fruit when God restores them, cf. Isa 27:6; Hos 14:4–8. Vines, normally tied to posts or sometimes trees, required more detailed attention than did most other plants. cuts off every branch . . . that bears no fruit . . . every branch that does bear fruit he prunes. The farmer would prune away fruitless branches so that the vine’s strength would go into the fruitful branches. One pruned the weakest vines most thoroughly, for the sake of bearing greater fruit in the long run. Most of the prunings during the year trimmed fruitful branches to strengthen them, but the severest annual pruning cut off the completely fruitless branches (as in v. 6; cf. Isa 18:5–6).
15:4 Neither can you bear fruit. Branches no longer attached to the vine obviously could not bear fruit; without being supplied by the life of the vine, they would quickly die if they were not already dead.
15:6 thrown into the fire. Worthless for building, fruitless vine branches were burned; the image recalls the Jewish belief in the fire of Gehinnom (see note on Mt 3:12).
15:13 lay down one’s life for one’s friends. Later rabbis, perhaps reflecting wider Jewish custom, did not place a special value on laying down one’s life for one’s friends. By contrast, Greeks treasured this act as the greatest expression of friendship, and would have appreciated this message. Loyalty was one of the highest ideals of ancient friendship.
15:14 friends. Although friendship that emphasized loyalty (v. 13) and intimacy (v. 15) usually involved equality, ancients were aware of forms of friendship between social superiors and inferiors (e.g., the language of friendship was applied to patron-client relationships, in which patrons supplied some needs of clients).
15:15 I have called you friends. Many ancient hearers could have related to some of Jesus’ ideas here. Ancient ideals of friendship included intimacy and the sharing of the secrets of one’s heart in confidence. The Jewish philosopher Philo spoke of friendship with God; at times he contrasts this status with being mere servants. Wisdom also was said to make holy persons “friends of God, and prophets” (Wisdom of Solomon 7:27). Scripture called Abraham God’s friend (2Ch 20:7; Isa 41:8), perhaps partly because God would not keep relevant matters from him (Ge 18:17). God also treated Moses as a friend, speaking with him “face to face” (Ex 33:11); cf. the possible allusion to Ex 33:18 in Jn 14:8 (see note there).
15:16 I chose you and appointed you. Most Jewish teachers welcomed prospective disciples; although Jesus apparently did the same, the Gospels emphasize that he chose his own core disciples. In the OT God chose his people by his grace (Dt 7:6–7; 9:5); the Israelites were the only people to experience that privilege (Dt 14:2). God started by choosing Abram (Ne 9:7); other individuals were chosen for various tasks (e.g., Ex 35:30). Being chosen can give the disciples confidence in their fruitfulness. ask in my name. See note on 14:12–14.
15:18 it hated me first. Comparison was a major feature of ancient elaboration; Jesus turns from the subject of love in God’s community to that of hatred in the world’s. In the Mediterranean world, friendship (vv. 13–15) normally entailed also being an enemy to a friend’s enemies. Jesus does not imply that we should hate the world or treat it as an enemy; the point instead is the world’s enmity toward Jesus: those who hate him will also hate his friends.
15:22 now they have no excuse. Jewish teachers recognized that knowing the truth increased one’s moral responsibility.
15:25 They hated me without reason. Quoted from Ps 69:4. The context, as in some other psalms, addresses the righteous who suffer (cf. Jn 2:17).
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