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John 21:15The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures
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15
Ὅτε οὖν ἠρίστησαν λέγει τῷ Σίμωνι Πέτρῳ ὁ Ἰησοῦς Σίμων Ἰωάνου, ἀγαπᾷς με πλέον τούτων; λέγει αὐτῷ Ναί, κύριε, σὺ οἶδας ὅτι φιλῶ σε. λέγει αὐτῷ Βόσκε τὰ ἀρνία μου.
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John 21:15The Bible in Living English
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15 So when they had had their breakfast Jesus said to Simon Peter “Simon son of John, do you care more for me than for this?”
He said to him “Yes, sir, you know that I love you.”
He said to him “Tend my lambs!”
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John 21:15American Standard Version
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15 So when they had broken their fast, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
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John 21:15The Emphasized Bible
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15 When therefore they had broken their fast Jesus saith unto Simon Peter—Simon son of John! lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him—Yea Lord! thou knowest that I am fond of thee, He saith unto him—Be feeding my lambs.
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John 21:15King James Version
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15 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
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JohnWatch Tower Publications Index 1930-1985
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21:15 w80 9/1 14-15; w79 8/1 26; w79 8/15 15; or 55; w70 767; w67 677, 691; w64 252; w63 158; w61 138, 217; w60 435; w57 21; w50 118; rw 46; g37 8/11 721
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John Study Notes—Chapter 21New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (Study Edition)
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Jesus said to Simon Peter: This conversation between Jesus and Peter took place shortly after Peter had denied Jesus three times. Jesus asked three probing questions about Peter’s feelings for him, to the point that “Peter became grieved.” (Joh 21:17) John’s account recorded at Joh 21:15-17 uses two different Greek verbs: a·ga·paʹo, rendered love, and phi·leʹo, rendered have affection. Twice Jesus asked Peter: “Do you love me?” Both times Peter earnestly affirmed that he had “affection” for Jesus. Finally, Jesus asked: “Do you have affection for me?” Again Peter asserted that he did. Each time Peter affirmed his love, Jesus emphasized that this love and affection should motivate Peter to feed and “shepherd” Jesus’ disciples spiritually, here referred to as his lambs, or “little sheep.” (Joh 21:16, 17; 1Pe 5:1-3) Jesus allowed Peter to confirm his love three times and then entrusted him with the responsibility to care for the sheep. In this way, Jesus dispelled any doubts that he had forgiven Peter for denying him three times.
John: According to some ancient manuscripts, the father of the apostle Peter is here called John. In other ancient manuscripts, he is called Jona. At Mt 16:17, Jesus addresses Peter as “Simon son of Jonah.” (See study note on Mt 16:17.) According to some scholars, the Greek forms of the names John and Jona(h) may be different spellings of the same Hebrew name.
do you love me more than these?: Grammatically, the phrase “more than these” can be understood in more than one way. Some scholars prefer such a meaning as “do you love me more than you love these other disciples?” or “do you love me more than these disciples love me?” However, the likely meaning is “do you love me more than these things?” that is, the fish they caught or the things connected with the fishing business. So the overall idea of the verse seems to be: ‘Do you love me more than material things or pursuits? If so, feed my lambs.’ The question would be appropriate in view of Peter’s past. Although Peter was one of Jesus’ first disciples (Joh 1:35-42), he did not immediately follow Jesus full-time. Rather, he returned to his fishing. Some months later, Jesus called Peter away from that substantial business to become a ‘fisher of men.’ (Mt 4:18-20; Lu 5:1-11) Shortly after Jesus’ death, Peter announced that he was going fishing, and other apostles joined him. (Joh 21:2, 3) So it seems likely that Jesus is here driving home to Peter the need for making a decisive choice: Would he put first in his life a career in the fishing business, represented by the fish piled before them, or would he give priority to the work of spiritually feeding Jesus’ lambs, or followers?—Joh 21:4-8.
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