I give you a new commandment must often be shifted into a verb form, for example “I’m commanding you something new” or “I’m commanding you in a new way” or “I’m commanding you in a way I have not commanded you before.”

Love one another is the way Good News Translation and several other translations render the Greek phrase “that you love one another” (Revised Standard Version). In the Greek construction the word “that” (hina) serves as a means of introducing the content of the commandment.

As I have loved you, so you must love one another (New English Bible “as I have loved you, so you are to love one another”) may be taken with the meaning “I have loved you so that you would love one another.” However, the context favors the interpretation of Good News Translation, and this interpretation is apparently followed in most other translations as well. An equivalent expression in many languages is “In the same way that I have loved you, you must love one another.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .