15:15a–d

This verse consists of a negative statement followed by the positive statement. Jesus said what he did not call his followers and then what he did call them. In some languages it is more natural to state the positive first and then the negative. See the General Comment following the note on 15:15d.

15:15a

No longer do I call you servants: Jesus indicated that his relationship to his disciples was now closer than a master-servant relationship. He did not act toward them or speak to them as if they were servants. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

I do not call you servants any longer (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
I shall no longer call you servants (New Jerusalem Bible)

No longer: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translated No longer may imply that until then God did not explain to his people what he was doing. His people obeyed him but did not understand the meaning of God’s work in the world. Now Jesus was explaining to them what God was doing.

call you: This phrase in this context means “refer to you as” or “think about you as.” For example:

speak to you as (Contemporary English Version)

servants: The word that the Berean Standard Bible has translated as servants normally refers to a slave, a worker who is not free to leave his work. In some languages, though, it is more natural to use a term like “servant” or “worker.” See how you translated this word in 4:51. Here is another way to translate this word:

slaves

In some languages it may be natural to indicate whose servants these are. For example:

my servants (Contemporary English Version)

15:15b

for a servant does not understand what his master is doing: People expect a servant to obey his master even if he does not understand the reason for doing it. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

because a servant does not know the master’s business (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
because a master does not tell his reasons to his slaves

for: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as for here introduces Jesus’ reason for no longer calling his disciples servants. A servant did not know what his master was doing but Jesus wanted to tell them what he was doing. So he could not call them servants anymore.

a servant: This phrase here refers to any servant or servants in general. So it may be natural to make that clearer like in the Berean Standard Bible. For example:

servants (Good News Translation)

does not understand what his master is doing: Servants usually know what their master does in general, but they may not know the reason that he does it. So here is another way to translate this phrase:

the slave does not understand what his master is doing (NET Bible)

his master: This phrase refers to the master of the servant or servants in the illustration. So it may be natural to make the connection to the servant or servants clearer. For example:

their master (Good News Translation)

General Comment on 15:15a–b

In some languages it may be natural to place 15:15b before 15:5a:

15b The servant does not know what his master is doing, 15a and so I do not call you servants any longer.
-or-

15b Servants don’t know what their master is doing, 15a and so I don’t speak to you as my servants. (Contemporary English Version)

15:15c

But I have called you friends: This clause indicates that Jesus called his disciples his friends. This means that he actually thought about them as his friends, those he loved. He talked to them the way a man talks to his friends. The relationship of friends is much closer than that of servants. That is because a person tells his friend not only what he is doing, but also why he is doing it. Use the same verb that you used in 15:15a. For example:

I speak to you as my friends (Contemporary English Version)

But: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as But here introduces a contrast with the idea of speaking to his disciples as servants.

I have called you friends: The Greek text emphasizes the word you in this clause. Jesus did not just call his disciples friends to pretend to be nice and to love them. He spoke the truth, calling them what they really were. If a literal translation would not make this clear, it may be necessary to follow this example:

you are my friends (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
now you are really my friends

friends: This word here refers to people who are loved for who they are, not just appreciated for what they do. In some languages it may be natural to use a personal pronoun. For example:

my friends (Contemporary English Version)

15:15d

because everything I have learned from My Father I have made known to you: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as because here introduces Jesus’ reason for saying that he called his disciples his friends. This was the evidence or proof that Jesus thought about the disciples as his friends. God told Jesus everything that he was doing and Jesus then told his disciples. Here is another way to translate this clause:

because I have told you everything that my Father told me

everything I have learned from My Father: The Greek text emphasizes the word everything in this clause. In this context, this clause refers to whatever God the Father told Jesus. In some languages it may be natural to translate this with My Father as the subject. For example:

everything that my Father has told me (Contemporary English Version)

My Father: The phrase My Father refers to God, the Father of Jesus.

have made known: This verb means “told” or “explained.”

to you: The pronoun you is plural and refers to Jesus’ disciples.

General Comment on 15:15c–d

In some languages it may be natural to translate these clauses in chronological order, the order in which they happened. For example:

15d My Father has told me many things, and I have told them to you. 15c That is why I now call you my friends.

General Comment on 15:15 a-d

John 15:15 has a negative statement followed by the positive statement. In some languages it may be more natural to state the positive first and then the negative. For example:

I call you my friends, now, because I have told you everything that I have heard from the Father. I shall not call you servants any longer, because a servant does not know what his master is doing.

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