John 15 · Verse 1

John 15:1

I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
John 15:1, King James Version

John 15:1 in other translations

BSB“I am the true vine, and My Father is the keeper of the vineyard.
WEB“I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer.
ASVI am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
YLT‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman;
DARBYI am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
BBEI am the true vine and my Father is the gardener.
WebsterI am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

What does John 15:1 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 15:1-8

Joh 15:1-27. Discourse at the Supper Table Continued.

1-8. The spiritual oneness of Christ and His people, and His relation to them as the Source of all their spiritual life and fruitfulness, are here beautifully set forth by a figure familiar to Jewish ears (Is 5:1, &c.). I am the true vine--of whom the vine of nature is but a shadow. my Father is the husbandman--the great Proprietor of the vineyard, the Lord of the spiritual kingdom. (It is surely unnecessary to point out the claim to supreme divinity involved in this).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Barnes' Notes
Verse 1. I am the true vine. Some have supposed that this discourse was delivered in the room where the Lord's Supper was instituted, and that, as they had made use of wine, Jesus took occasion from that to say that he was the true vine, and to intimate that his blood was the real wine that was to give strength to the soul. Others have supposed that it was delivered in the temple, the entrance to which was adorned with a golden vine (Josephus), and that Jesus took occasion thence to say that he was the true vine; but it is most probable that it was spoken while they were going from the paschal supper to the Mount of Olives. Whether it was suggested by the sight of vines by the way, or by the wine of which they had just partaken, cannot now be determined. The comparison was frequent among Jews, for Palestine abounded in vineyards, and the illustration was very striking. Thus the Jewish people are compared to a vine which God had planted, Isa 5:1-7, Ps 80:8-16, Joel 1:7, Jer 2:21, Eze 19:10. When Jesus says he was the true vine, perhaps allusion is had to Jer 2:21. The word true, here, is used in the sense of real, genuine. He really and truly gives what is emblematically represented by a vine. The point of the comparison or the meaning of the figure is this: A vine yields proper juice and nourishment to all the branches, whether these are large or small. All the nourishment of each branch and tendril passes through the main stalk, or the vine, that springs from the earth. So Jesus is the source of all real strength and grace to his disciples. He is their leader and teacher, and imparts to them, as they need, grace and strength to bear the fruits of holiness.

And my Father is the husbandman. The word vine-dresser more properly expresses the sense of the original word than husbandman. It means one who has the care of a vineyard; whose office it is to nurture, trim, and defend the vine, and who of course feels a deep interest in its growth and welfare. Mt 21:33. The figure means that God gave, or appointed his Son to be, the source of blessings to man; that all grace descends through him; and that God takes care of all the branches of this vine--that is, of all who are by faith united to the Lord Jesus Christ. In Jesus and all his church he feels the deepest interest, and it is an object of great solicitude that his church should receive these blessings and bear much fruit.

(a) "true vine" Isa 4:2 (b) "husbandman" Song 8:12

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Introduction

The union of Jesus Christ with his followers, represented by the parable of a vine and its branches, Joh 15:1-11. He exhorts them to mutual love, Joh 15:12. Calls them his friends, and promises to lay down his life for them, Joh 15:13-15. Appoints them their work, and promises them success in it, Joh 15:16. Renews the exhortation to mutual love, Joh 15:17, and foretells the opposition they would meet with from the world, Joh 15:18-21. The sin of the Jews in rejecting Christ, Joh 15:22-25. The Holy Spirit is promised as a witness for Christ, and the Comforter of the disciples, Joh 15:26, Joh 15:27. Verse 1 I am the true vine - Perhaps the vines which they met with, on their road from Bethany to Gethsemane, might have given rise to this discourse. Some of the disciples were probably making remarks on the different kinds of them, and our Lord took the opportunity of improving the conversation, according to his usual manner, to the instruction of their souls. He might here term himself the true vine, or vine of the right sort, in opposition to the wild and barren vine. Some MSS. and several of the fathers read the verse thus: I am the true vine, ye are the branches, and my Father is the husbandman. Some think that, as this discourse followed the celebration of the Eucharist, our Lord took occasion from the fruit of the vine, used in that ordinance, to introduce this similitude.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on John 15:1-8
foretold. (18-25)
  • The Comforter promised. (26-27)
Verses 1-8 Jesus Christ is the Vine, the true Vine. The union of the human and Divine natures, and the fulness of the Spirit that is in him, resemble the root of the vine made fruitful by the moisture from a rich soil. Believers are branches of this Vine. The root is unseen, and our life is hid with Christ; the root bears the tree, diffuses sap to it, and in Christ are all supports and supplies. The branches of the vine are many, yet, meeting in the root, are all but one vine; thus all true Christians, though in place and opinion distant from each other, meet in Christ. Believers, like the branches of the vine, are weak, and unable to stand but as they are borne up. The Father is the Husbandman. Never was any husbandman so wise, so watchful, about his vineyard, as God is about his church, which therefore must prosper. We must be fruitful. From a vine we look for grapes, and from a Christian we look for a Christian temper, disposition, and life. We must honour God, and do good; this is bearing fruit. The unfruitful are taken away. And even fruitful branches need pruning; for the best have notions, passions, and humours, that require to be taken away, which Christ has promised to forward the sanctification of believers, they will be thankful, for them. The word of Christ is spoken to all believers; and there is a cleansing virtue in that word, as it works grace, and works out corruption. And the more fruit we bring forth, the more we abound in what is good, the more our Lord is glorified. In order to fruitfulness, we must abide in Christ, must have union with him by faith. It is the great concern of all Christ's disciples, constantly to keep up dependence upon Christ, and communion with him. True Christians find by experience, that any interruption in the exercise of their faith, causes holy affections to decline, their corruptions to revive, and their comforts to droop. Those who abide not in Christ, though they may flourish for awhile in outward profession, yet come to nothing. The fire is the fittest place for withered branches; they are good for nothing else. Let us seek to live more simply on the fulness of Christ, and to grow more fruitful in every good word and work, so may our joy in Him and in his salvation be full.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

John 15:1 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

ἘγώEgōI myselfG1473
εἰμιeimiamG1510
ἡhētheG3588
ἄμπελοςampelosvineG288
ἡhē<the>G3588
ἀληθινή,alēthinētrue,G228
καὶkaiandG2532
ὁhotheG3588
πατήρpatērFatherG3962
μουmouof MineG3165
ὁhotheG3588
γεωργόςgeōrgosvinedresserG1092
ἐστιν.estinis.G1510

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for John 15:1

  • Jeremiah 2:21

    Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?

  • Isaiah 27:2-3

    In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine. I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.

  • 1 Corinthians 3:9

    For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.

  • Isaiah 60:21

    Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.

  • Psalms 80:8-19

    Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it. Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land. The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river. …

  • Isaiah 4:2

    In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.

  • John 6:55

    For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

  • Isaiah 5:1-7

    Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? …

  • Jeremiah 12:10

    Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.

  • Hosea 10:1

    Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images.

  • Mark 12:1

    And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country.

  • 1 John 2:8

    Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1 The union of Christ and his members shown under the parable of a vine.
18 The hatred of the world.
26 The office of the Holy Ghost.

true.
1:9,17; 6:32,55; 1Jo 2:8
vine.
Ge 49:10,11; Ps 80:8-19; Isa 4:2; 5:1-7; Jer 2:21; 12:10; Eze 15:2-6
Ho 10:1; Zec 3:8; Mt 21:33; Lu 13:6
husbandman.
So 7:12; 8:11,12; Isa 27:2,3; 60:21; 61:3; Mt 20:1; Mr 12:1; 1Co 3:9

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • John 15:1

    I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

  • John 15:2

    Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

Read all of John 15

John 15:1 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		YO soy la vid verdadera, y mi Padre es el labrador.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Moi, je suis le vrai cep, et mon Père est le cultivateur.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Ich bin der wahre Weinstock, und mein Vater ist der Weingärtner.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Ego sum vitis vera, et Pater meus agricola est.