The Meaning of John 15:18 Explained

John 15:18

KJV: If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

YLT: if the world doth hate you, ye know that it hath hated me before you;

Darby: If the world hate you, know that it has hated me before you.

ASV: If the world hateth you, ye know that it hath hated me before it hated you.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

If  the world  hate  you,  ye know  {5720} that  it hated  me  before  [it hated] you. 

What does John 15:18 Mean?

Study Notes

world
kosmos = world-system. John 16:11 ; John 16:33 ; John 7:7 .
Kosmos, Summary: In the sense of the present world-system, the ethically bad sense of the word, refers to the "order," "arrangement," under which Satan has organized the world of unbelieving mankind upon his cosmic principle of force, greed, selfishness, ambition, and pleasure. Matthew 4:8 ; Matthew 4:9 ; John 12:31 ; John 14:30 ; John 18:36 ; Ephesians 2:2 ; Ephesians 6:12 ; 1 John 2:15-17 . This world- system is imposing and powerful with armies and fleets; is often outwardly religious, scientific, cultured, and elegant; but, seething with national and commercial rivalries and ambitions, is upheld in any real crisis only by armed force, and is dominated by Satanic principles.

Verse Meaning

Jesus wanted to prepare His disciples for the opposition that they would face after His departure. To do this He announced first that they would encounter opposition from the world (cf. 1 John 3:13). Here the world (Gr. kosmos) refers to the mass of unbelievers. The conditional sentence in the Greek text assumes the reality of what Jesus stated for the argument"s sake. The world would hate them. A person cannot be an intimate friend of Jesus (i.e, an abiding believer) without drawing hatred from His enemies.
The world hates Jesus because He testified that its deeds are evil ( John 7:7). His abiding disciples draw hatred from the world because they associate with Him and His teachings and because they seek to advance His mission. Remembering the world"s hatred for the Master makes bearing that hatred easier for His disciple.

Context Summary

John 15:17-27 - Suffering For Jesus' Sake
We have been appointed for the one purpose of bearing imperishable fruit, but our holy service to the world will never be appreciated. The world has its own god and religion. It hates without cause. The more Christlike we are, the closer we shall be identified with His sufferings. There is no limit to the hatred and persecution which the world will vent on those who have ceased to belong to it because of their identification with the Crucified. But through the pitiless storm, we must be glad; there must be no slackening of our love, which will as certainly conquer hate as tomorrow's sun the darkness, John 15:26-27. In each Christian century there has been this double witness of the Spirit in the Church. The voice of the Church has testified to the living Christ, not arguing but attesting; and to each word of testimony the Holy Spirit has borne assenting witness. Christian apologetics are of less importance than the witness of obscure but Spirit-led lives. [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 15:18

If the world hateth you [ει ο κοσμος υμας μισει]
Condition of the first class. As it certainly does. Ye know Present active second person plural indicative of γινωσκω — ginōskō or present active imperative (know), same form. Hath hated Perfect active indicative, “has hated and still hates.” Before it hateth you Ablative case υμων — humōn after the superlative πρωτον — prōton as with πρωτος μου — prōtos mou in John 1:15. [source]
If the world hate [εἱ μισεῖ]
Literally, hates. The indicative mood with the conditional particle assumes the fact as existing: If the world hates you, as it does. [source]
Ye know [γινώσκετε]
This may also be rendered as imperative: Know ye. [source]
It hated [μεμίσηκεν]
The perfect tense, hath hated. The hatred continues to the present time. [source]
Before it hated you [πρῶτον ὑμῶν]
Literally, first in regard of you. See on John 1:15. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for John 15:18

Luke 22:36 Buy a sword [αγορασατω μαχαιραν]
This is for defence clearly. The reference is to the special mission in Galilee (Luke 9:1-6; Mark 6:6-13; Matthew 9:35-11:1). They are to expect persecution and bitter hostility (John 15:18-21). Jesus does not mean that his disciples are to repel force by force, but that they are to be ready to defend his cause against attack. Changed conditions bring changed needs. This language can be misunderstood as it was then. [source]
John 1:9 The world [τὸν κόσμον]
As in John 1:3, the creation was designated in its several details by πάντα , all things, so here, creation is regarded in its totality, as an ordered whole. See on Acts 17:24; see on James 3:6. Four words are used in the New Testament for world: (1) γῇ , land, ground, territory, the earth, as distinguished from the heavens. The sense is purely physical. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
(2) οἰκουμένη , which is a participle, meaning inhabited, with γῆ , earth, understood, and signifies the earth as the abode of men; the whole inhabited world. See on Matthew 24:14; see on Luke 2:1. Also in a physical sense, though used once of “the world to come” (Hebrews 2:5). -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
(3) αἰών , essentially time, as the condition under which all created things exist, and the measure of their existence: a period of existence; a lifetime; a generation; hence, a long space of time; an age, era, epoch, period of a dispensation. On this primary, physical sense there arises a secondary sense, viz., all that exists in the world under the conditions of time. From this again develops a more distinctly ethical sense, the course and current of this world's affairs (compare the expression, the times ), and this course as corrupted by sin; hence the evil world. So Galatians 1:4; 2 Corinthians 4:4. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
(4) κόσμος , which follows a similar line of development from the physical to the ethical sense; meaning (a) ornament, arrangement, order (1 Peter 3:3); (b) the sum-total of the material universe considered as a system (Matthew 13:35; John 17:5; Acts 17:24; Philemon 2:15). Compare Plato. “He who is incapable of communion is also incapable of friendship. And philosophers tell us, Callicles, that communion and friendship and orderliness and temperance and justice bind together heaven and earth and gods and men, and that this universe is therefore called Cosmos, or order, not disorder or misrule” (“Gorgias,” 508). (c) That universe as the abode of man (John 16:21; 1 John 3:17). (d) The sum-total of humanity in the world; the human race (John 1:29; John 4:42). (e) In the ethical sense, the sum-total of human life in the ordered world, considered apart from, alienated from, and hostile to God, and of the earthly things which seduce from God (John 7:7; John 15:18; John 17:9, John 17:14; 1 Corinthians 1:20, 1 Corinthians 1:21; 2 Corinthians 7:10; James 4:4). -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
This word is characteristic of John, and pre-eminently in this last, ethical sense, in which it is rarely used by the Synoptists; while John nowhere uses αἰών of the moral order. In this latter sense the word is wholly strange to heathen literature, since the heathen world had no perception of the opposition between God and sinful man; between the divine order and the moral disorder introduced and maintained by sin. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
[source]

John 1:15 He was before me [πρῶτός μου ἦν]
Literally, first in regard of me (Rev., in margin). The reference to dignity would require ἐστίν , is (see Matthew 3:11, “is mightier”). A similar expression occurs in John 15:18: the world hated me before (it hated) you ( πρῶτον ὑμῶν ). The reference is to the pre-existence of Christ. When speaking of Christ's historic manifestation, is become before me, the Baptist says γέγονεν . When speaking of Christ's eternal being, He was before me, he uses ἦν . The meaning is, then, that Christ, in His human manifestation, appeared after John, but, as the Eternal Word, preceded him, because He existed before him. Compare John 8:58. [source]
John 16:4 Have I spoken [λελαληκα]
Perfect active indicative as in John 15:11; John 16:1. Solemn repetition. When their hour is come Indefinite temporal clause, οταν — hotan with the second aorist active subjunctive of ερχομαι — erchomai “whenever their hour comes.” The time appointed for these things. Now that Simply “that” (declarative conjunction in indirect discourse. Forewarned is to be forearmed. Cf. John 13:19. From the beginning As in John 6:64 but practically like απ αρχης — ap' archēs in John 15:27. While Christ was with them, he was the object of attack (John 15:18). [source]
John 1:15 Beareth witness [μαρτυρει]
Historical (dramatic) present indicative of this characteristic word in John (cf. John 1:17.). See John 1:32, John 1:34 for historical examples of John‘s witness to Christ. This sentence is a parenthesis in Westcott and Hort‘s text, though the Revised Version makes a parenthesis of most of John 1:14. The witness of John is adduced in proof of the glory full of grace and truth already claimed for the Incarnate Logos. Crieth Second perfect active indicative of κραζω — krazō old verb for loud crying, repeated in dramatic form again for emphasis recalling the wonderful Voice in the wilderness which the Beloved Disciple can still hear echoing through the years. This was Imperfect indicative where John throws the tense back in past time when he looked forward to the coming of the Messiah as in Acts 3:10 where we should prefer “is” Gildersleeve (Syntax, p. 96) calls this the “imperfect of sudden appreciation of the real state of things.” Of whom I said But B C and a corrector of Aleph (Westcott and Hort) have ο ειπων — ho eipōn “the one who said,” a parenthetical explanation about the Baptist, not the words of the Baptist about Christ. After me See also John 1:27. Later in time John means. He described “the Coming One” The Beloved Disciple had heard the Baptist say these very words, but he also had the Synoptic Gospels. Is become Second perfect active indicative of γινομαι — ginomai It is already an actual fact when the Baptist is speaking. Before me In rank and dignity, the Baptist means, ο ισχυροτερος μου — ho ischuroteros mou “the one mightier than I” (Mark 1:7) and ισχυροτερος μου — ischuroteros mou “mightier than I” (Matthew 3:11). In John 3:28 εμπροστεν εκεινου — emprosthen ekeinou (before him, the Christ) does mean priority in time, but not here. This superior dignity of the Messiah John proudly recognizes always (John 3:25-30). For he was before me Paradox, but clear. He had always been So also πρωτον υμων — prōton humōn in John 15:18 means “before you” as if it were προτερον υμων — proteron humōn John 1:30 repeats these words almost exactly. [source]
Acts 17:24 The world [τὸν κόσμον]
Originally, order, and hence the order of the world; the ordered universe. So in classical Greek. In the Septuagint, never the world, but the ordered total of the heavenly bodies; the host of heaven (17:3; Isaiah 24:21; 40:26). Compare, also, Proverbs href="/desk/?q=pr+17:6&sr=1">Proverbs 17:6, and see note on James 3:6. In the apocryphal books, of the universe, and mainly in the relation between God and it arising out of the creation. Thus, the king of the world (2 Maccabees 7:9); the creator or founder of the world (2 Maccabees 12:15). In the New Testament: 1. In the classical and physical sense, the universe (John href="/desk/?q=joh+17:5&sr=1">John 17:5; John 21:25.; Romans 1:20; Ephesians 1:4, etc.). 2. As the order of things of which man is the centre (Matthew 13:38; Mark 16:15; Luke 9:25; John 16:21; Ephesians 2:12; 1 Timothy 6:7). 3. Humanity as it manifests itself in and through this order (Matthew 18:7; 2 Peter 2:5; 2 Peter 3:6; Romans 3:19). Then, as sin has entered and disturbed the order of things, and made a breach between the heavenly and the earthly order, which are one in the divine ideal - 4. The order of things which is alienated from God, as manifested in and by the human race: humanity as alienated from God, and acting in opposition to him (John 1:10; John 12:31; John 15:18, John 15:19; 1 Corinthians 1:21; 1 John 2:15, etc.). The word is used here in the classical sense of the visible creation, which would appeal to the Athenians. Stanley, speaking of the name by which the Deity is known in the patriarchal age, the plural Elohim, notes that Abraham, in perceiving that all the Elohim worshipped by the numerous clans of his race meant one God, anticipated the declaration of Paul in this passage (“Jewish Church,” i., 25). Paul's statement strikes at the belief of the Epicureans, that the world was made by “a fortuitous concourse of atoms,” and of the Stoics, who denied the creation of the world by God, holding either that God animated the world, or that the world itself was God. [source]
1 John 3:1 Children [τεκνα]
As in John 1:12 and with an allusion to γεγεννηται — gegennētai in 1 John 2:29 in an effort “to restore the waning enthusiasm of his readers, and to recall them to their first love” (Brooke).And such we are (και εσμεν — kai esmen). “And we are.” A parenthetical reflection characteristic of John (και νυν εστιν — kai nun estin in John 5:25 and και ουκ εισιν — kai ouk eisin in Revelation 2:2; Revelation 3:9) omitted by Textus Receptus, though, in the old MSS.Because it knew him not Second aorist active indicative of γινωσκω — ginōskō precisely the argument in John 15:18. [source]
1 John 3:1 Because it knew him not [οτι ουκ εγνω αυτον]
Second aorist active indicative of γινωσκω — ginōskō precisely the argument in John 15:18. [source]
1 John 3:13 If [ει]
Common construction after ταυμαζω — thaumazō (wonder) rather than οτι — hoti (that, because). Present imperative here with μη — mē means “cease wondering.” Note μη ταυμασηις — mē thaumasēis (do not begin to wonder) in John 3:6 (an individual case). See this same condition and language in John 15:18. [source]
1 John 2:9 Hateth [μισῶν]
The sharp issue is maintained here as in Christ's words, “He that is not with me is against me” (Luke 11:23). Men fall into two classes, those who are in fellowship with God, and therefore walk in light and love, and those who are not in fellowship with God, and therefore walk in darkness and hatred. “A direct opposition,” says Bengel; where love is not, there is hatred. “The heart is not empty.” See John 3:20; John 7:7; John 15:18sqq.; John 17:14. The word hate is opposed both to the love of natural affection ( φιλεῖν ), and to the more discriminating sentiment - love founded on a just estimate ( ἀγαπᾶν ). For the former see John 12:25; John 15:18, John 15:19; compare Luke 14:26. For the latter, 1 John 3:14, 1 John 3:15; 1 John 4:20, Matthew 5:43; Matthew 6:24; Ephesians 5:28, Ephesians 5:29. “In the former case, hatred, which may become a moral duty, involves the subjection of an instinct. In the latter case it expresses a general determination of character” (Westcott). [source]
1 John 3:1 Hath bestowed [δεδωκεν]
Perfect active indicative of διδωμι — didōmi state of completion, “the endowment of the receiver” (Vincent).That we should be called (ινα κλητωμεν — hina klēthōmen). Sub-final use of ινα — hina with the first aorist passive subjunctive of καλεω — kaleō to call or name, as in Matthew 2:23.Children As in John 1:12 and with an allusion to γεγεννηται — gegennētai in 1 John 2:29 in an effort “to restore the waning enthusiasm of his readers, and to recall them to their first love” (Brooke).And such we are (και εσμεν — kai esmen). “And we are.” A parenthetical reflection characteristic of John (και νυν εστιν — kai nun estin in John 5:25 and και ουκ εισιν — kai ouk eisin in Revelation 2:2; Revelation 3:9) omitted by Textus Receptus, though, in the old MSS.Because it knew him not Second aorist active indicative of γινωσκω — ginōskō precisely the argument in John 15:18. [source]

What do the individual words in John 15:18 mean?

If the world you hates you know that Me before you it has hated
Εἰ κόσμος ὑμᾶς μισεῖ γινώσκετε ὅτι ἐμὲ πρῶτον ὑμῶν μεμίσηκεν

κόσμος  world 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: κόσμος  
Sense: an apt and harmonious arrangement or constitution, order, government.
μισεῖ  hates 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: μισέω  
Sense: to hate, pursue with hatred, detest.
γινώσκετε  you  know 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 2nd Person Plural
Root: γινώσκω  
Sense: to learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of perceive, feel.
ὅτι  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: ὅτι  
Sense: that, because, since.
ἐμὲ  Me 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Accusative 1st Person Singular
Root: ἐγώ  
Sense: I, me, my.
πρῶτον  before 
Parse: Adverb, Superlative
Root: πρῶτον 
Sense: first in time or place.
μεμίσηκεν  it  has  hated 
Parse: Verb, Perfect Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: μισέω  
Sense: to hate, pursue with hatred, detest.