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John 21:15

in John 21

When they had finished eating, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love Me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered, “You know I love You.” Jesus replied, “Feed My lambs.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

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.

KJV

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.

This verse in John 21

Commentary

7 notes on this verse
It is Peter, chosen by the Lord himself to feed his flock, who merits three times to hear the words "Feed my little lambs; feed my lambs; feed my sheep." And so, by feeding well the flock of Christ with the food of faith, he effaced the sin of his former fall. For this reason he is admonished three times to feed the flock. He is asked three times whether he loves the Lord in order that he may confess him three times whom he had denied three times before his crucifixion.

This site's exposition

lovest thou me more than these

So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these, the old name used rather than the new one Peter received at his call, and the bench names the standing question over these without settling it, whether the boats and the fishing trade Peter has just returned to, or the other disciples whose love he had once boasted above (Matt 26:33), both readings holding the sense that Peter's confidence needs correcting more than his affection. He saith unto him, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee, using phileo, not the agapao of the question, answered, Feed my lambs, the first of three commissions restoring the shepherd's office to the man who three times denied the shepherd.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Augustine of Hippo

Tractates on John 123 · Written in the 5th century.

on John 21:15-17

We have it also demonstrated here that love and liking are one and the same thing; for the Lord also in the last question said not Diligis me? but, Amas me? Let us, then, love not ourselves, but Him; and in feeding His sheep, let us be seeking the things which are His, not the things which are our own. For in some inexplicable way, I know not what, every one that loveth himself, and not God, loveth not himself; and whoever loveth God, and not himself, he it is that loveth himself. For he that cannot live by himself will certainly die by loving himself; he therefore loveth not himself who loves himself to his own loss of life. But when He is loved by whom life is preserved, a man by not loving himself only loveth the more, when it is for this reason that he loveth not himself [namely] that he may love Him by whom he lives.

[2026-09-05 restored to shown: kept for the phileo word page exemplar (W71 s2): Augustine, Tractates on John 123, reads the third question at John 21:17 as proof that the two love words name one love; the relevance call is the agent's under the canon standard and the founder reviews by hand]

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
So when they had dined,.... The Persic version adds, Jesus turned his face to Simon Peter; he did not interrupt them whilst they were eating; but when they had comfortably refreshed themselves, he looked at Peter, and singled him out from the rest, and directed his discourse to him; and saith unto Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas; not John, as the Vulgate Latin, and Nonnus, and some copies read; for this answers not to the Hebrew word Jochanan, but Jonah, the same name with the prophet.

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

Simon, son of Jonah - The appellation Christ had given him, when be made that glorious confession, Matt. xvi, 16, the remembrance of which might make him more deeply sensible of his late denial of him whom he had so confessed.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Lovest thou me more than these? - There is a slight ambiguity here in the original, as there is in our translation. The word these may be in the neuter gender, and refer to these things his boat, his fishing utensils, and his employments; or it may be in the masculine, and refer to the apostles. In the former sense it would mean, “Lovest thou me more than thou lovest these objects?
READ the whole chapter and observe the change of scene. First, they are on the lake fishing, casting their nets at Christ's command, and dragging to land a multitude of great fishes. They have all come on shore and when they have breakfasted, their faces are not turned to the sea, but to the pastures on the hillside. These are clothed with flocks and the Master says no more about fishermen and fish, but speaks of shepherds and sheep. Herein lies a parable—the servants of the Lord Jesus are first, fishermen, and then shepherds.

The words behind it

30 Greek words

Every Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    1 John 4:19

    We love because He first loved us.

    it leads to

    • 1 John 4:10

      And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

    • John 3:16

      For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

    • John 15:16

      You did not choose Me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will remain—so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.

  • Through

    Romans 15:1

    We who are strong ought to bear with the shortcomings of the weak and not to please ourselves.

    it leads to

    • 1 Thessalonians 5:14

      And we urge you, brothers, to admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, and be patient with everyone.

    • Romans 14:1

      Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on his opinions.

  • Through

    1 Peter 1:8

    Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with an inexpressible and glorious joy,

    it leads to

    • John 20:29

      Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

    • 2 Corinthians 5:7

      For we walk by faith, not by sight.

  • Through

    Isaiah 40:11

    He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. He gently leads the nursing ewes.

    it leads to

    • Revelation 7:17

      For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. ‘He will lead them to springs of living water,’ and ‘God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”

Where this verse is studied

About John

The Word Made Flesh — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)
The Word Made Flesh — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, Exposition of the Christian Faith 5, PROLOGUE 2; Augustine of Hippo, Tractates on John 123; Brooke Foss Westcott, The Gospel according to St. John; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1684: “"Feed My Lambs"—a Sunday School Sermon” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, John; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament.