The Meaning of John 15:12 Explained

John 15:12

KJV: This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

YLT: 'This is my command, that ye love one another, according as I did love you;

Darby: This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you.

ASV: This is my commandment, that ye love one another, even as I have loved you.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

This  is  my  commandment,  That  ye love  one another,  as  I have loved  you. 

What does John 15:12 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Jesus summarized His teaching with the command to love one another as He had loved them (cf. John 13:34-35; 1 John 3:16). This was especially relevant because of the disciples" earlier arguments about who of them was the greatest and their unwillingness to wash each other"s feet.

Context Summary

John 15:10-16 - "i Have Called You Friends"
We must estimate the Father's love to Jesus before we can measure His love to us. We are told to love one another with the same love, but enabling power is needed, or we can never fulfill His command. Our love is not like His, unless it is prepared to sacrifice itself even unto death. Not servants, but friends! The first stage is that of the bondservant, who does what he is told, not because he understands, but because he has no option. Friendship involves obedience on our part; and on His part the making known of the deep things of God. Even the Son learned obedience by the things which He suffered. It is by implicit obedience alone that we can pass into the closer intimacy of friendship and ultimately of sonship. There is no limit to what the Father will do for those whom His Son calls "friends." [source]

Chapter Summary: John 15

1  The union of Jesus and his members shown under the parable of a vine
18  The hatred of the world
26  The office of the Holy Spirit

Greek Commentary for John 15:12

That ye love one another [ινα αγαπατε αλληλους]
Non-final use of ινα — hina introducing a subject clause in apposition with εντολη — entolē (commandment) and the present active subjunctive of αγαπαω — agapaō “that ye keep on loving one another.” See John 13:34. [source]
My commandment [ἡ ἐντολὴ ἡ ἐμὴ]
The commandment which is mine. [source]
That ye love [ἵνα]
Indicating not merely the nature of the commandment, but its purport. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for John 15:12

John 3:19 This []
That is, herein consists the judgment. The prefacing a statement with this is, and then defining the statement by ὅτι or ἵνα , that, is characteristic of John. See John 15:12; John 17:3; 1 John 1:5; 1 John 5:11, 1 John 5:14; 3 John 1:6. [source]
John 16:32 That [ἵνα]
See on John 16:2, and see on John 15:12. In the divine counsel the hour cometh that ye may be scattered, and may leave, etc. [source]
John 1:19 This [αὕτη]
The following. This use of the pronoun, calling the reader's attention to what follows, and preparing him for it, is frequent in John. Sometimes the pronoun carries the sense of quality: of this character. See John 3:19; John 15:12; 1 John 5:4, 1 John 5:9, 1 John 5:11, 1 John 5:14. [source]
John 13:34 New [καινην]
First, in contrast with the old They had had it a long time, but the practice of it was new. Jesus does not hesitate, like the Father, to give commandments (John 15:10, John 15:12). That ye love one another Non-final use of ινα — hina with present active subjunctive of αγαπαω — agapaō the object clause being in the accusative case in apposition with εντολην — entolēn Note the present tense (linear action), “keep on loving.” Even as The measure of our love for another is set by Christ‘s love for us. [source]
John 15:17 That ye may love one another [ινα αγαπατε αλληλους]
Repetition of John 13:34; John 15:12. This very night the disciples had been guilty of jealousy and wrangling (Luke 22:24; John 13:5, John 13:15). [source]
John 3:19 And this is the judgment [αυτη δε εστιν η κρισις]
A thoroughly Johannine phrase for sequence of thought (John 15:12; John 17:3; 1 John 1:5; 1 John 5:11, 1 John 5:14; 3 John 1:6). It is more precisely the process of judging The light is come Second perfect active indicative of το σκοτος — erchomai a permanent result as already explained in the Prologue concerning the Incarnation (John 1:4, John 1:5, John 1:9, John 1:11). Jesus is the Light of the world. Loved darkness Job (Job 24:13) spoke of men rebelling against the light. Here πονηρα — to skotos common word for moral and spiritual darkness (1 Thessalonians 5:5), though Πονηρος — hē skotia in John 1:5. “Darkness” is common in John as a metaphor for the state of sinners (John 8:12; John 12:35, John 12:46; 1 John 1:6; 1 John 2:8, 1 John 2:9, 1 John 2:11). Jesus himself is the only moral and spiritual light of the world (John 8:12) as he dared claim to his enemies. The pathos of it all is that men fall in love with the darkness of sin and rebel against the light like denizens of the underworld, “for their works were evil In the end the god of this world blinds men‘s eyes so that they do not see the light (2 Corinthians 4:4). The fish in the Mammoth Cave have no longer eyes, but only sockets where eyes used to be. The evil one has a powerful grip on the world (1 John 5:19). [source]
1 John 3:23 That [ινα]
Subfinal use of ινα — hina in apposition with εντολη — entolē (commandment) and explanatory of it, as in John 15:12 See Christ‘s summary of the commandments (Mark 12:28-31; Matthew 22:34-40).So these two points here (1) We should believe (πιστευσωμεν — pisteusōmen first aorist active subjunctive according to B K L, though Aleph A C read the present subjunctive πιστευωμεν — pisteuōmen) either in a crisis (aorist) or the continuous tenor (present) of our lives. The “name” of Jesus Christ here stands for all that he is, “a compressed creed” (Westcott) as in 1 John 1:3. Note dative ονοματι — onomati here with πιστευω — pisteuō as in 1 John 5:10, though εις ονομα — eis onoma (on the name) in 1 John 5:13; John 1:12; John 2:23; John 3:18.But (2) we should love one another” There are frequent points of contact between this Epistle and the words of Jesus in John 13-17. [source]

What do the individual words in John 15:12 mean?

This is - commandment My that you love one another as I have loved you
Αὕτη ἐστὶν ἐντολὴ ἐμὴ ἵνα ἀγαπᾶτε ἀλλήλους καθὼς ἠγάπησα ὑμᾶς

Αὕτη  This 
Parse: Demonstrative Pronoun, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root: οὗτος  
Sense: this.
  - 
Parse: Article, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
ἐντολὴ  commandment 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root: ἐντολή  
Sense: an order, command, charge, precept, injunction.
ἐμὴ  My 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Nominative Feminine 1st Person Singular
Root: ἐμός  
Sense: my, mine, etc.
ἵνα  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: ἵνα  
Sense: that, in order that, so that.
ἀγαπᾶτε  you  love 
Parse: Verb, Present Subjunctive Active, 2nd Person Plural
Root: ἀγαπάω  
Sense: of persons.
ἀλλήλους  one  another 
Parse: Personal / Reciprocal Pronoun, Accusative Masculine Plural
Root: ἀλλήλων  
Sense: one another, reciprocally, mutually.
ἠγάπησα  I  have  loved 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 1st Person Singular
Root: ἀγαπάω  
Sense: of persons.