Translation commentary on John 15:10

Obedience to the commands of Christ is the means whereby the disciples remain in his love. If you obey my commands was used in 14.15,21,23-24. As indicated in 14.15, there is no distinction between the singular “command” and the plural “commands,” and the reference is to the command to love.

The conditional statement If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love may be rendered in some languages “if you do what I say, I will continue to love you.” This rendering provides the basis for a parallel construction in the second part of verse 10, for example, “in the same way I have done what my Father has told me to do, and he continues to love me.”

The use of the perfect tense I have obeyed, if it has a special force in the context, may focus on the absolute quality of Christ’s love and obedience, or it may reflect the time viewpoint of the author. The first possibility is the more probable.

The Father’s commands are spoken of in the plural here. Note 1 John 3.22-23, where the text alternates between the plural and the singular.

The idea of “remaining in” someone’s love may be difficult to translate, and so a possible restructuring of 9b-10 is here suggested: “(9) … Do not turn away from my love. (10) If you obey my commands, I will continue to love you, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands, and so he continues to love me.”

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on John 15:10

15:10a

If you keep My commandments: This clause describes how the disciples could remain in his love. They should do what he told them to do. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

If you obey my commandments (NET Bible)
-or-
If you obey me (Contemporary English Version)

15:10b

you will remain in My love: This clause means “you will continue to know/experience my love for you.” For example:

you will live in my love (God’s Word)
-or-
you will always know that I love you

15:10c

just as: This connector here indicates a comparison between how Jesus lived and how he wanted his disciples to live. Translate this connector in a way that is natural in your language. For example:

like
-or-
It’s the same with me, because (Kankanaey Back Translation)

Or you may want to begin a new sentence here and leave the comparison implied. For example:

If you obey my commandments, you will live in my love. I have obeyed my Father’s commandments, and in that way I live in his love. (God’s Word)

Also see the General Comment below for another way to indicate this comparison.

I have kept My Father’s commandments: This clause indicates that Jesus always obeyed God. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

I have obeyed my Father’s commands (New Century Version)
-or-
I have obeyed him (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
I have done all that my Father told me to do.

15:10d

and remain in His love: This phrase indicates that Christ constantly knew that God loved him. Translate this phrase using an expression that is the same as or similar to the one in 15:10b. For example:

and I remain in his love (New Century Version)
-or-
and I live in my Father’s love

General Comment on 15:10a–d

In some languages it may be natural to rearrange this sentence. First say what Jesus did and then what he wanted his disciples to do. For example:

10c I have obeyed my Father’s commands, 10d and I remain in his love. 10a In the same way, if you obey my commands, 10b you will remain in my love. (New Century Version)

© 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.