Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his lord.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
Parallel Translations
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Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his lord.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
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Remember the sayinge that I sayde vnto you: the servaute is not greater then his lorde. Yf they have persecuted me so will they persecute you Yf they have kept my sayinge so will they kepe youres.
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Remember the word that I said vnto you, The seruant is not greater then his master. If they haue persecuted me, they will persecute you also: if they haue kept my worde, they will also keepe yours.
Cross-references (19)
Passages linked to John 15:20 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 2 Timothy 3:12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
- John 13:16 Most certainly I tell you, a servant is not greater than his lord, neither is one who is sent greater than he who sent him.
- Matthew 10:24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his lord.
- Ezekiel 3:7 But the house of Israel will not listen to you, for they will not listen to me; for all the house of Israel are obstinate and hard-hearted.
- 1 Corinthians 4:12 We toil, working with our own hands. When people curse us, we bless. Being persecuted, we endure.
- 2 Corinthians 4:9 pursued, yet not forsaken; struck down, yet not destroyed;
- Luke 6:40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.
- John 8:51 Most certainly, I tell you, if a person keeps my word, he will never see death.”
- Acts 4:27-30 “For truly, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together against your holy servant, Jesus, whom you anointed, to do whatever your hand and your council foreordained to happen. Now, Lord, look at their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy Servant Jesus.”
- Isaiah 53:1-3 Who has believed our message? To whom has Yahweh’s arm been revealed? For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no good looks or majesty. When we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering and acquainted with disease. He was despised as one from whom men hide their face; and we didn’t respect him.
- John 10:31 Therefore Jews took up stones again to stone him.
- 1 Thessalonians 2:15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and drove us out, and don’t please God, and are contrary to all men,
- 1 Samuel 8:7 Yahweh said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they tell you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me as the king over them.
- Luke 2:34 and Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, his mother, “Behold, this child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which is spoken against.
- John 5:16 For this cause the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill him, because he did these things on the Sabbath.
- John 7:32 The Pharisees heard the multitude murmuring these things concerning him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to arrest him.
- John 8:59 Therefore they took up stones to throw at him, but Jesus was hidden, and went out of the temple, having gone through the middle of them, and so passed by.
- John 11:57 Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had commanded that if anyone knew where he was, he should report it, that they might seize him.
- Acts 7:52-60 Which of the prophets didn’t your fathers persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now become betrayers and murderers. You received the law as it was ordained by angels, and didn’t keep it!” Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears, then rushed at him with one accord. They threw him out of the city and stoned him. The witnesses placed their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. They stoned Stephen as he called out, saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” He kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, “Lord, don’t hold this sin against them!” When he had said this, he fell asleep.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 20. Remember the word. It might also be read…
20. Remember the word. It might also be read in the indicative mood, You remember the word, and the meaning is not very different; but I think that it is more suitable to read it in the imperative mood, Remember the word. It is a confirmation of what Christ had spoken immediately before, when he said that he was hated by the world, though he was far more excellent than his disciples; for it is unreasonable that the condition of the servant should be better than that of his master Having spoken of persons, he likewise makes mention of doctrine.
If they have heard my word, they will keep yours also. Nothing gives greater uneasiness to the godly than when they see the doctrine, which is of God, haughtily despised by men; for it is truly shocking and dreadful, and the sight of it might shake the stoutest heart. But when we remember on the other hand, that not less obstinate resistance was manifested against the Son of God himself, we need not wonder that the doctrine of God is so little reverenced among men. When he calls it his doctrine and their doctrine, this refers to the ministry. Christ is the only Teacher of the Church; but he intended that his doctrine, of which he had been the first Teacher, should be afterwards preached by the apostles.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 20 Remember the word that I said unto you,…
20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
Ver. 20. Remember the word, &c.] Else all is lost, 1Co 15:2. Naturally the word runs through us, as water through a riven vessel: Pleni rimarum sumus, huc atque illuc diffuimus. Our memories are as sieves, that retain the chaff, let go the good grain; or as nets, that keep the pelf, let go the clean water; or as hour glasses, that are no sooner full, but running out again. Beseech we God to put his finger upon the hole, and to make his word an engrafted word unto us, to settle it upon our souls, μηποτε παραρυωμεν, Heb 2:1.
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If they have kept my saying, &c.] But they will do neither. Holy Melancthon, being himself newly converted, thought it impossible for his hearers to withstand the evidence of the gospel; but after he had been a preacher awhile, it is said he complained that old Adam was too hard for young Melancthon.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The word that I said unto you, Joh 13:16,…
The word that I said unto you, Joh 13:16, to press you to humility, and a mutual serving of one another in love; and which I spake to you, Mat 10:24, when I first sent you out; and I spake it then to you upon the very same account that I now speak it. You that are my servants cannot look to fare better with the world than I that am your Master; you know they have hated me, you must expect they should persecute you: if there be any of them whose hearts God shall incline to keep my sayings, they will also keep your words, which are but my sayings explained to them, and further pressed upon them.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain If I had not come and spoken unto them,....…
If I had not come and spoken unto them,.... The ignorance of the Jews is represented as inexcusable, since Christ was come, and had preached unto them; if he had not come and told them that he was the Messiah, they might have pleaded an excuse for their ignorance of him, and his mission, and of the Father that sent him: but inasmuch as he was come in the flesh, and came to them his own; and came also a light into the world, carrying along with him evidence, conviction, and demonstration, of his being the Messiah; speaking such words as never man did; preaching with such authority as the Scribes and Pharisees did not; declaring in plain terms he was the Christ of God, and that if they did not believe him to be so, they would die in their sins; they could have no pretext to make for their ignorance and disbelief: if all this had not been done,
they had not had sin; or been guilty of the sin of unbelief, in the rejection of the Messiah; not that they would have been without sin in any sense, or without any kind of sin, but without this particular sin; at least they would have excused and wiped themselves clean, and would have looked like innocent and sinless persons, under all their ignorance and unbelief:
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but now they have no cloak for their sin; they could not say, had he come to us, and told us that he was the Messiah, and given evidence of his being sent by the Father, we would have believed him, and received him as the Messiah; for he did do this, and so cut off all excuses and pretences from them.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain John xiii, 16; Matt. x, 24; Luke vi, 40.
John xiii, 16; Matt. x, 24; Luke vi, 40.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 20. If they have kept my saying] Or,…
Verse 20. If they have kept my saying] Or, doctrine. Whosoever acknowledges me for the Christ will acknowledge you for my ministers.
Some translate the passage thus: If they have WATCHED my sayings, i.e. with an intent to accuse me for something which I have said, they will WATCH yours also: therefore be on your guard. παρατηρειν has this sense, as we have had occasion to observe before; and perhaps τηρειν has the same sense here, as it is much more agreeable to the context.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Remember the word that I said ... - At…
Remember the word that I said ... - At their first appointment to the apostolic office. See Mat 10:24-25.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Here Christ predicts, that many will be deaf to…
Here Christ predicts, that many will be deaf to the words of his Church, as they have neglected to attend to his precepts.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 20. Remember—Bear this word imprinted on your heart.
20. Remember—Bear this word imprinted on your heart.
Servant… Lord— Mat_10:24; Joh_13:16. Honourable are the scorn and the hatred shared with Him who is honour itself. Nor can they complain while, in their suffering, they are preceded by his great example. And ever since he, the Lord, suffered persecution, persecution has become an honour; and persecutors have become afraid and ashamed when men cry persecution! against them. If…
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persecuted me… also persecute you—This thought shall harden you into good soldiers: that all their assaults were first suffered by me. Just the same persecution, and the same acceptance, which they afforded me, they will afford you; no more no less.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 20. Remember] See note on Joh_13:16 : of the…
20. Remember] 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.
if they have kept my saying, they will keep] Better, If they kept (comp. Joh_13:14, Joh_18:23) My word, they will keep. ‘Keep’ must not be exchanged for ‘watch, lay wait for,’ in a hostile sense; as if both halves of the verse were alike instead of being opposed. The phrase ‘keep the word (or words)’ of any one is frequent in this Gospel (Joh_8:51-52; Joh_8:55, Joh_14:23-24, Joh_17:6); always in the sense of the parallel phrase ‘keep my commandments’ (Joh_14:15; Joh_14:21, Joh_15:10). Both phrases form a link not only between the Gospel and the First Epistle (Joh_2:3-5, Joh_3:22; Joh_3:24, Joh_5:2-3), but also between these two and 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. (See on Joh_11:44, Joh_19:37, Joh_20:16). All these passages shew that it is impossible to take ‘keep’ in a hostile sense. The phrase ‘to keep the word’ of any one occurs in S. John’s writings only. ‘To keep the commandments (or commandment)’ occurs elsewhere only Mat_19:17 (comp. Mat_28:20) and 1Ti_6:14. The meaning of the verse as a whole is that both in failure and in success they will share His lot. For the construction comp. Joh_13:14, Joh_18:23.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (20) Remember the word that I said unto you.—Comp.…
(20) Remember the word that I said unto you.—Comp. Joh_13:16, where the saying is used in a different sense; and Mat_10:24, where it is used in the same connection in which we find it here.
If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying . . .—The meaning is exactly that which is expressed in the rendering of the English version. The two things are necessarily united, as Christ and His disciples are united. His word is their word. The relation of the world to the one would be that which it had been to the other.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Remember the word which I spake to you, (see…
Remember the word which I spake to you, (see Mat_10:24, but especially Joh_13:16, where Christ used the proverb) The servant is not greater than his lord. In Joh_13:16 the idea was used to enforce the spirit of humility and mutual service; it applies also here, but in another sense. The disciples are not to expect better treatment from the world than their Lord met with. If they (used of "the world", in its special concrete manifestations; "they" of Nazareth and Capernaum and Jerusalem correspond with the "they" of Lycaonia, Ephesus, Thessalonica, and Rome) persecuted me, they will persecute drive away from them you also. The "if" is remarkably explicit; there is no doubt about it in Christ"s case, and the supposition is one of definite and acknowledged fact, and the conditional sentence most positively assures them of antagonism and persecution. It is probable, though not certainly known, that these disciples all endured a living martyrdom, if not a cruel death in his cause. Then follows a sentence which has by some unwisely been supposed to be ironical, and by others to refer to another subject. If they others, or many, or somekept (i.e . "observed," "obeyed," not as Bengel supposed, "laid in wait," or "kept maliciously") my word, they will keep yours also Why should irony be interpolated here? Surely the whole conact with the world was not an utter failure. Christ did win persons from all classes, and they loved him, with a passionate love; and so the apostles, and all who "go forth to bear fruit," may hope for some victories, and will travail in birth with the souls of men.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 20. They will also persecute you. The servants must…
20. They will also persecute you. The servants must expect similar treatment to that given the Master. The long roll of Christian martyrs shows how this has been verified.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Remember the word that I said to you
Remember the word that I said to you
Here "word" is a metonym for the message of Jesus. AT: "Remember the message that I spoke to you" (See: Metonymy)
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because of my name
Here "because of my name" is a metonym that represents Jesus. People will make his followers suffer because they belong to him. AT: "because you belong to me" (See: Metonymy)
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin
Jesus implies here that he has shared God's message with those who do not trust him. AT: "Because I have come and told them God's message, they have no excuse when God judges them for their sins" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
translationWords
servant
lord
persecute
sin
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 15:20 A slave is not greater than the master:…
15:20 A slave is not greater than the master: See study note on 13:16. Jesus’ disciples should mirror him in every way, even in his experience of persecution and martyrdom.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.