John 21:15 BSB — MannaFest

John 21:15

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

Parallel translations (2) ▾

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.

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Commentary

6 voices

Ambrose of Milan

Exposition of the Christian Faith 5, PROLOGUE 2 (397)

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.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

Augustine of Hippo

Tractates on John 123 (430)

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

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)

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.

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

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?

Charles Spurgeon

1834–1892

The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1684: “"Feed My Lambs"—a Sunday School Sermon” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) (1882)

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

30 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
Ὅτε	Hote	When	G3753 →
οὖν	oun	therefore	G3767 →
ἠρίστησαν,	ēristēsan	they had dined,	G709 →
λέγει	legei	says	G3004 →
τῷ	tō	<the>	G3588 →
Σίμωνι	Simōni	to Simon	G4613 →
Πέτρῳ	Petrō	to Peter	G4074 →
ὁ	ho	<the>	G3588 →
Ἰησοῦς·	Iēsous	Jesus;	G2424 →
Σίμων	Simōn	Simon	G4613 →
Ἰωάννου,	Iōannou	[son] of John,	G2491 →
ἀγαπᾷς	agapas	love you	G25 →
με	me	Me	G3165 →
πλέον	pleon	more	G4119 →
τούτων;	toutōn	than these?	G3778 →
λέγει	legei	He says	G3004 →
αὐτῷ·	autō	to Him;	G846 →
ναὶ	nai	Yes	G3483 →
κύριε,	kurie	Lord,	G2962 →
σὺ	su	You yourself	G4771 →
οἶδας	oidas	know
ὅτι	hoti	that	G3754 →
φιλῶ	philō	I dearly love	G5368 →
σε.	se	You.	G4771 →
λέγει	legei	He says	G3004 →
αὐτῷ·	autō	to him;	G846 →
βόσκε	boske	do feed	G1006 →
τὰ	ta	the	G3588 →
ἀρνία	arnia	lambs	G721 →
μου.	mou	of Mine.	G3165 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
1 John 4:19
We love because He first loved us.
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.
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,
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.
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.’”