John 15 · Verse 18

John 15:18

If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
John 15:18, King James Version

John 15:18 in other translations

BSBIf the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first.
WEBIf the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you.
ASVIf the world hateth you, ye know that it hath hated me before it hated you.
YLTif the world doth hate you, ye know that it hath hated me before you;
DARBYIf the world hate you, know that it has hated me before you.
BBEIf you are hated by the world, keep in mind that I was hated by the world before you.
WebsterIf the world hateth you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

What does John 15:18 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 15:17-21

17-21. The substance of these important verses has occurred more than once before. (See on Mt 10:34-36; Lu 12:49-53, &c.).

Read the full comment on John 15:17-21 →

Barnes' Notes
Verse 18. If the world hate you. The friendship of the world they were not to expect, but they were not to be deterred from their work by its hatred. They had seen the example of Jesus. No opposition of the proud, the wealthy, the learned, or the men of power, no persecution or gibes, had deterred him from his work. Remembering this, and having his example steadily in the eye, they were to labour not less because wicked men should oppose and deride them. It is enough for the disciple to be as his Master, and the servant as his Lord, Mt 10:25.

(u) "If the world hate you" 1Jn 3:13

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 18 If the world hate you - As the followers of Christ were to be exposed to the hatred of the world, it was no small consolation to them to know that that hatred would be only in proportion to their faith and holiness; and that, consequently, instead of being troubled at the prospect of persecution, they should rejoice, because that should always be a proof to them that they were in the very path in which Jesus himself had trod. Dr. Lardner thinks that πρωτον is a substantive, or at least an adjective used substantively, and this clause of the text should be translated thus: If the world hate you, know that it hated me, your Chief. It is no wonder that the world should hate you, when it hated me, your Lord and Master, whose lips were without guile, and whose conduct was irreproachable. See the doctor's vindication of this translation, Works, vol. i. p. 306.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on John 15:18-25
How little do many persons think, that in opposing the doctrine of Christ as our Prophet, Priest, and King, they prove themselves ignorant of the one living and true God, whom they profess to worship! The name into which Christ's disciples were baptized, is that which they will live and die by. It is a comfort to the greatest sufferers, if they suffer for Christ's name's sake. The world's ignorance is the true cause of its hatred to the disciples of Jesus. The clearer and fuller the discoveries of the grace and truth of Christ, the greater is our sin if we do not love him and believe in him.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

John 15:18 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.

εἰeiIfG1487
ὁhotheG3588
κόσμοςkosmosworldG2889
ὑμᾶςhumasyouG4771
μισεῖ,miseihates,G3404
γινώσκετεginōsketeyou knowG1097
ὅτιhotithatG3754
ἐμὲemeMe myselfG1473
πρῶτονprōtonbeforeG4413
ὑμῶνhumōnyouG4771
μεμίσηκεν.memisēkenit has hated.G3404

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

Cross references for John 15:18

  • 1 John 3:13

    Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.

  • John 7:7

    The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.

  • Luke 6:22

    Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake.

  • Mark 13:13

    And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

  • John 3:20

    For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

  • Matthew 10:22

    And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

  • 1 John 3:1

    Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

  • Matthew 5:11

    Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

  • James 4:4

    Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

  • John 15:23-25

    He that hateth me hateth my Father also. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.

  • Hebrews 12:2

    Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

  • Isaiah 53:3

    He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
23-25; 3:20; 7:7; 1Ki 22:8; Isa 49:7; 53:3; Zec 11:8; Mt 5:11; 10:22
Mt 24:9; Mr 13:13; Lu 6:22; Heb 12:2; Jas 4:4; 1Jo 3:1,3,13

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

Context

  • John 15:17

    These things I command you, that ye love one another.

  • John 15:18

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

  • John 15:19

    If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

Read all of John 15

John 15:18 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Si el mundo os aborrece, sabed que á mí me aborreció antes que á vosotros.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Si le monde vous hait, sachez qu’il m’a haï avant vous.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Wenn die Welt euch haßt, so wisset, daß sie mich vor euch gehaßt hat.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Si mundus vos odit, scitote quia me priorem vobis odio habuit.