On the use of I am in the Gospel of John, see comments at 4.26; for the first use of I am with a predicate, see 6.35.

The adjective real first appears in 1.9 in the phrase “real light” (see comments there).

In the Old Testament Israel is sometimes spoken of as a vine, and sometimes as a vineyard, and that is perhaps the background of the imagery used in this verse. In these Old Testament passages two emphases are made: (1) Israel’s pure and favored origin, and (2) Israel’s degenerate nature. See, for example, such passages as Psalm 80.8-16; Isaiah 5.1-7; Jeremiah 2.21; Ezekiel 15.1-8; 19.10-14; Hosea 10.1. Similar uses of the vine imagery are found in Jewish rabbinical literature, as well as in the New Testament (Matt 21.33-46). The portrayal of Jesus as the real vine is made in order to contrast him with Israel, which God planted like “a real vine” (the Septuagint of Jer 2.21 speaks of Israel as the real vine, the same words used here), but which became degenerate and worthless. In this way John again focuses attention on Jesus as the fulfillment of the Jewish faith. Although in the papyri the word here rendered vine is sometimes used with the meaning of “vineyard,” in this passage the meaning vine is clear.

There are several serious complications in translating vine. Some translators make the mistake of selecting a term which indicates merely a vining plant; for example, in one language the term selected identified a sweet potato vine, and in another the term identified a kind of rattan vine which grows in the jungle but does not produce edible fruit. In yet another language the term for vine simply meant a squash vine. Obviously what is necessary is an expression which will identify a plant which produces fruit and continues year after year. The only equivalent in some languages is “a tree that produces good fruit.” In others there is a borrowed term for “grapes.” when grapes are known but not the vine which produces then. This term may be the best choice, and if it is used, a descriptive term may be added, for example, “grape tree,” where “tree” identifies any woody plant.

Another translational problem involves finding an adequate term for real. The meaning here is not that the vine actually exists, but that it is the genuine vine, in contrast with a false one. This concept of genuineness may be expressed in some languages by terms related to the meaning of “trustworthy”; that is, the real vine is literally “the vine that can be trusted,” in the sense that it can be trusted to produce good fruit, rather than bad fruit or no fruit at all.

This is the only “I am” passage in the Gospel of John where the equation is extended to include another; here Jesus is the real vine, and his Father is the gardener. The translations vary in the choice of gardener or “vinedresser” (New American Bible “vinegrower”). Elsewhere in the New Testament the word is used in 2 Timothy 2.6; James 5.7; and in the parable of the tenants in the vineyard (Matt 21.33-36; Mark 12.1-12; Luke 20.9-19). In the passages in 2 Timothy and James, Good News Translation renders it by “farmer.” while in the parable of the tenants in the vineyard it is translated “tenant.” In some languages the equivalent of gardener is simply “one who takes care of the vine,” or, in some cases, “one who takes care of the ground around the vine,” since in many languages the focus is upon care of the ground, not upon care of the plant itself.

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 .