John 21:15

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

Peter’s Restoration Then when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter,“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these do?” He replied,“Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” Jesus told him,“Feed my lambs.”

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

¶Ὅτε οὖν ἠρίστησαν, λέγει τῷ Σίμωνι Πέτρῳ ὁ Ἰησοῦς, Σίμων, Ἰωνᾶ, ἀγαπᾷς με πλεῖόν τούτων; Λέγει αὐτῷ, Ναὶ, Κύριε· σὺ οἶδας ὅτι φιλῶ σε. Λέγει αὐτῷ, Βόσκε τὰ ἀρνία μου.

Transliteration

When oun ēristēsan, legei to-the Simōni Petrō the Iēsous, Simōn, Iōna, agapas me pleion these? Legei autō, Yes, Kyrie; you oidas that philō you. Legei autō, Boske the arnia of-me.

Grammar Details

• *Hote*: conjunction - when
• *oun*: conjunction - therefore/then
• *ēristēsan*: aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural - they had eaten
• *legei*: present active indicative, 3rd person singular - says
• *Simōni*: dative, masculine, singular - to Simon
• *Petrō*: dative, masculine, singular - to Peter
• *Iēsous*: nominative, masculine, singular - Jesus
• *Simōn*: vocative, masculine, singular - Simon
• *Iōna*: vocative, masculine, singular - of Jonah
• *agapas*: present active indicative, 2nd person singular - do you love
• *me*: accusative, singular - me
• *pleion*: comparative adverb - more than
• *toutōn*: demonstrative pronoun, genitive, neuter, plural - these
• *autō*: dative, masculine, singular - to him
• *Nai*: particle of affirmation - yes
• *Kyrie*: vocative, masculine, singular - Lord
• *sy*: nominative, singular - you
• *oidas*: perfect active indicative, 2nd person singular - you know
• *hoti*: conjunction - that
• *philō*: present active indicative, 1st person singular - I love/have affection for
• *se*: accusative, singular - you
• *Boske*: present active imperative, 2nd person singular - feed
• *arnia*: accusative, neuter, plural - lambs
• *mou*: genitive, singular - of me/my

Word Meanings

• *ēristēsan*: had eaten/had breakfast
• *agapas*: do you love (agapaō - deeper, spiritual love)
• *pleion*: more than/more completely than
• *philō*: I love/have affection for (phileō - friendship love)
• *Boske*: feed/tend/nourish
• *arnia*: lambs/little sheep

Referenced Verses

• Isa 40:11 : 11 Like a shepherd he tends his flock; he gathers up the lambs with his arm; he carries them close to his heart; he leads the ewes along.
• 2 Cor 5:14-15 : 14 For the love of Christ controls us, since we have concluded this, that Christ died for all; therefore all have died. 15 And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised.
• Gal 5:6 : 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision carries any weight– the only thing that matters is faith working through love.
• Eph 6:24 : 24 Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.
• 1 Tim 4:15-16 : 15 Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that everyone will see your progress. 16 Be conscientious about how you live and what you teach. Persevere in this, because by doing so you will save both yourself and those who listen to you.
• 1 John 4:19 : 19 We love because he loved us first.
• Heb 4:13 : 13 And no creature is hidden from God, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.
• Heb 12:12-13 : 12 Therefore, strengthen your listless hands and your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but be healed.
• Heb 13:20 : 20 Benediction and Conclusion Now may the God of peace who by the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Jesus,
• 1 Pet 1:8 : 8 You have not seen him, but you love him. You do not see him now but you believe in him, and so you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy,
• 1 Pet 2:2 : 2 And yearn like newborn infants for pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up to salvation,
• 1 Pet 2:25 : 25 For you were going astray like sheep but now you have turned back to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.
• 1 Pet 5:1-4 : 1 Leading and Living in God’s Flock So as your fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings and as one who shares in the glory that will be revealed, I urge the elders among you: 2 Give a shepherd’s care to God’s flock among you, exercising oversight not merely as a duty but willingly under God’s direction, not for shameful profit but eagerly. 3 And do not lord it over those entrusted to you, but be examples to the flock. 4 Then when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that never fades away.
• John 8:42 : 42 Jesus replied,“If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come from God and am now here. I have not come on my own initiative, but he sent me.
• Rom 14:1 : 1 Exhortation to Mutual Forbearance Now receive the one who is weak in the faith, and do not have disputes over differing opinions.
• Rom 15:1 : 1 Exhortation for the Strong to Help the Weak But we who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not just please ourselves.
• John 14:15-24 : 15 Teaching on the Holy Spirit“If you love me, you will obey my commandments. 16 Then I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever– 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it does not see him or know him. But you know him, because he resides with you and will be in you. 18 “I will not abandon you as orphans, I will come to you. 19 In a little while the world will not see me any longer, but you will see me; because I live, you will live too. 20 You will know at that time that I am in my Father and you are in me and I am in you. 21 The person who has my commandments and obeys them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal myself to him.” 22 “Lord,” Judas(not Judas Iscariot) said,“what has happened that you are going to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?” 23 Jesus replied,“If anyone loves me, he will obey my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and take up residence with him. 24 The person who does not love me does not obey my words. And the word you hear is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me.
• John 16:27 : 27 For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.
• John 21:7 : 7 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter,“It is the Lord!” So Simon Peter, when he heard that it was the Lord, tucked in his outer garment(for he had nothing on underneath it), and plunged into the sea.
• John 21:12 : 12 “Come, have breakfast,” Jesus said. But none of the disciples dared to ask him,“Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord.
• John 21:16-17 : 16 Jesus said a second time,“Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He replied,“Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” Jesus told him,“Shepherd my sheep.” 17 Jesus said a third time,“Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed that Jesus asked him a third time,“Do you love me?” and said,“Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.” Jesus replied,“Feed my sheep.
• Acts 20:28 : 28 Watch out for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God that he obtained with the blood of his own Son.
• Gen 33:13 : 13 But Jacob said to him,“My lord knows that the children are young, and that I have to look after the sheep and cattle that are nursing their young. If they are driven too hard for even a single day, all the animals will die.
• 2 Sam 7:20 : 20 What more can David say to you? You have given your servant special recognition, O Sovereign LORD!
• 2 Kgs 20:3 : 3 “Please, LORD. Remember how I have served you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion, and how I have carried out your will.” Then Hezekiah wept bitterly.
• Ps 78:70-72 : 70 He chose David, his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds. 71 He took him away from following the mother sheep, and made him the shepherd of Jacob, his people, and of Israel, his chosen nation. 72 David cared for them with pure motives; he led them with skill.
• Jer 3:15 : 15 I will give you leaders who will be faithful to me. They will lead you with knowledge and insight.
• Jer 23:4 : 4 I will install rulers over them who will care for them. Then they will no longer need to fear or be terrified. None of them will turn up missing. I, the LORD, promise it!
• Ezek 34:2-9 : 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them– to the shepherds:‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not shepherds feed the flock? 3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the choice animals, but you do not feed the sheep! 4 You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled over them. 5 They were scattered because they had no shepherd, and they became food for every wild beast. 6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over the entire face of the earth with no one looking or searching for them. 7 “‘Therefore, you shepherds, listen to the LORD’s message: 8 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, my sheep have become prey and have become food for all the wild beasts. There was no shepherd, and my shepherds did not search for my flock, but fed themselves and did not feed my sheep, 9 Therefore, you shepherds, listen to the LORD’s message: 10 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Look, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand my sheep from their hand. I will no longer let them be shepherds; the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore. I will rescue my sheep from their mouth, so that they will no longer be food for them.
• Ezek 34:23 : 23 I will set one shepherd over them, and he will feed them– namely, my servant David. He will feed them and will be their shepherd.
• Matt 10:37 : 37 “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
• Matt 16:17 : 17 And Jesus answered him,“You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven!
• Matt 18:10 : 10 The Parable of the Lost Sheep“See that you do not disdain one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.
• Matt 25:34-45 : 34 Then the king will say to those on his right,‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him,‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or naked and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the king will answer them,‘I tell you the truth, just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did it for me.’ 41 “Then he will say to those on his left,‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels! 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink. 43 I was a stranger and you did not receive me as a guest, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they too will answer,‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not give you whatever you needed?’ 45 Then he will answer them,‘I tell you the truth, just as you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for me.’
• Matt 26:33 : 33 Peter said to him,“If they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away!”
• Matt 26:35 : 35 Peter said to him,“Even if I must die with you, I will never deny you.” And all the disciples said the same thing.
• Mark 14:29 : 29 Peter said to him,“Even if they all fall away, I will not!”
• Luke 12:32 : 32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father is well pleased to give you the kingdom.
• Luke 22:32 : 32 but I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. When you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
• John 1:42 : 42 Andrew brought Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said,“You are Simon, the son of John. You will be called Cephas”(which is translated Peter).
• 1 Cor 3:1-3 : 1 Immaturity and Self-deception So, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but instead as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready. In fact, you are still not ready, 3 for you are still influenced by the flesh. For since there is still jealousy and dissension among you, are you not influenced by the flesh and behaving like unregenerate people?
• 1 Cor 8:11 : 11 So by your knowledge the weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed.
• 1 Cor 16:21-22 : 21 I, Paul, send this greeting with my own hand. 22 Let anyone who has no love for the Lord be accursed. Our Lord, come!
• John 13:37 : 37 Peter said to him,“Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you!”
• Eph 4:14 : 14 So we are no longer to be children, tossed back and forth by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching by the trickery of people who craftily carry out their deceitful schemes.
• 1 John 5:1 : 1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been fathered by God, and everyone who loves the father loves the child fathered by him.
• Rev 2:23 : 23 Furthermore, I will strike her followers with a deadly disease, and then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts. I will repay each one of you what your deeds deserve.