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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - John 15:20 - 15:20
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20. μνημονεύετε. See note on Joh 13:16 : of the passages noticed there Mat 10:24 is similar in meaning to this. Christ may here be alluding to the occasion recorded in Mat 10:24. On the blessedness of sharing the lot of Christ comp. 1Pe 4:12-13.
εἰ ἐμὲ ἐδ. If they persecuted Me … if they kept (Joh 13:14, Joh 18:23) My word. Τηρεῖν must not be rendered ‘watch, lay wait for’ in a hostile sense: the two halves of the sentence are opposed, not parallel. Τὸν λ. or τοὺς λ. τηρεῖν is peculiar to S. John (Joh 8:51-52; Joh 8:55, Joh 14:23-24, Joh 17:6) always in the sense of the parallel phrase τὰς ἐντολὰς τ. (Joh 14:15; Joh 14:21, Joh 15:10). Both phrases link the Gospel with the First Epistle (1Jn 2:3-5, 1Jn 3:22; 1Jn 3:24, 1Jn 5:2-3), and these two with the Apocalypse (Rev 3:8; Rev 3:10, Rev 12:17, Rev 14:12, Rev 22:7; Rev 22:9). Comp. Joh 9:16; Rev 1:3; Rev 2:26; Rev 3:3, and see on Joh 7:30; Joh 7:37; Joh 11:44; Joh 19:37; Joh 20:16. These passages shew that τηρεῖν cannot be taken in a hostile sense. The meaning of the verse as a whole is that both in failure and in success they will share His lot.