What Does John 14:15 Mean in the King James?
If ye love me, keep my commandments.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Here, love becomes visible as the keeping and guarding of what Jesus says.
THE MEANING
Your love for Jesus takes form in keeping his commandments. The verse joins inward affection to the way his words are held and lived.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the idea that devotion can remain wholly inward while Jesus’ commands stay separate from it.
THE ROOT
τηρήσατε
tērēsate
GROWS FROM
τηρ-
To watch over, guard, preserve, or observe.
The Greek verb holds watchfulness and preservation alongside observance. “Keep” here carries the sense of holding Jesus’ words in view and guarding their place in the relationship.
ALSO GROWS
tērēsis: Keeping, observance, or custody.
τήρησις
This noun makes the active care inside “keep” visible: something is held and watched over.
diatēreō: To preserve or keep carefully.
διατηρέω
This compound shares the same stem and emphasizes keeping something intact over time.
ἀγαπᾶτε
agapāte
GROWS FROM
ἀγαπ-
Love; to love or hold dear.
The Greek word family connects loving with love and being beloved. Paired with “keep,” love is shown not as a bare feeling or claim, but as a bond expressed in how Jesus’ words are held.
ALSO GROWS
agapē: Love.
ἀγάπη
The noun names the love that the verb in this verse describes as directed toward Jesus.
agapētos: Beloved or dear.
ἀγαπητός
This related word connects loving with the bond of being beloved.
THE PATTERN
Love for God takes visible form in keeping what God commands.
And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.THE THREAD
He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.The same Greek word roots for love and keep return here, making the relation in this verse explicit. Jesus then joins this lived love with the Father’s love and his own self-revelation.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
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