What Does John 21:15 Mean?
So when they had eaten the morning meal, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of Jonas, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I hold you dear." He said to him, "Pasture my lambs."
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
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.THE KEY
Jesus answers Peter’s confession with a task of nourishment, making care for the lambs the visible shape of love.
THE MEANING
Jesus places Peter’s love beside the nourishment of the lambs. The Greek verb βόσκε (boske, “feed, graze”) carries the sense of tending at pasture, so the answer to “lovest thou me?” arrives as provision for those who are small and dependent. The verse speaks now wherever love meets another life’s need.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a declaration of love is complete in itself: here, Jesus joins Peter’s confession to care for those entrusted to him.
THE ROOT
βόσκε
boske
GROWS FROM
βοσκ-
βοσκ- (bosk-) is the Greek stem for feeding or grazing.
The same stem names feeding and the one who tends a flock, placing Peter’s answer inside the work of pasture. Love becomes legible as provision, and the same command returns with “sheep” as its object in verse 17.
ALSO GROWS
boskē: Pasture or grazing ground
βοσκή
The place of grazing opens “Feed my lambs” into the larger work of providing a place and sustenance for them.
boskos: Herdsman, one who feeds a flock
βοσκός
The related word for a herdsman shows that feeding belongs to the work of tending, not merely handing over food.
φιλῶ
philō
GROWS FROM
φιλ-
φιλ- (phil-) is a Greek stem for affection, friendship, and holding dear.
Peter answers with this love verb, while Jesus’ question uses a different one. When Jesus uses Peter’s verb in verse 17, the exchange lets the words overlap; it does not establish a rigid ranking between them.
ALSO GROWS
philos: Friend, dear one
φίλος
This related word for a friend gives Peter’s answer the warmth of personal attachment.
philia: Friendship, affection
φιλία
The same family names a bond of affection, sounding beneath Peter’s response to Jesus.
יֵשׁוּעַ
Yēšūaʿ
GROWS FROM
ישע
ישע (y-š-ʿ; yashaʿ) means to deliver or rescue, carrying the movement from constriction into spaciousness.
The Hebrew form behind Jesus’ name is יֵשׁוּעַ (Yēšūaʿ, “deliverance”). That name-nature sits beneath this moment, where care for the lambs gives deliverance a concrete expression.
ALSO GROWS
yāšaʿ: To deliver, rescue
יָשַׁע
This verb supplies the root of the name and its sense of bringing someone out of danger or narrowness.
yešūʿāh: Deliverance, rescue
יְשׁוּעָה
This noun names the outcome carried in Jesus’ name, echoing the life-sustaining care in his charge.
THE PATTERN
Love becomes visible as nourishment and protection for those entrusted to care.
He feeds his flock like a shepherd, gathers the lambs in his arm, carries them against his chest, and gently leads the ones who nurse.Little children, let us not love in word, nor in the tongue, but in works and in truth.THE THREAD
He said to him a third time, "Simon, son of Jonas, do you hold me dear?" Peter was pained because he said to him a third time, "Do you hold me dear?" And he said to him, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I hold you dear." Jesus said to him, "Pasture my sheep."The final charge repeats βόσκε (boske, “feed, graze”), the same Greek verb that closes this verse, now with “sheep” as its object. The repeated root carries the exchange into continuing care, joining Peter’s love to the nourishment of the flock.
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