Musings... Dr. Black's BLOG
Comments on Translation Issues Affecting the ISV®
[Introductory Thoughts]
[The ISV Heritage: Where We Got our English Bible]
[The Poetry of the International Standard Version]
[Zechariah 12:10 — Look Upon Me Whom They Pierced]
[The Disciple Whom Jesus Kept on Loving?]
[John 3:16 — God Loved the World So Much!?!]
[John 18:4 — Whom Sweet Whom]
[John 21:15-17 — Sloppy Agape]
[Acts 2:38 — Baptism for Forgiveness?]
[1 Corinthians 13:4-7 — An Ode to Love]
[Ephesians 5:32 — Mustering Mystery out of Musterion]
[Philippians 1:27-30 — Good Citizens]
[1 Timothy 3:2 — "Teachable" or "Able to Teach"]
[Titus 1:12 — On Poets & Liars: When is Poetry Poetry?]
[Hebrews 1:1 — Alliteration in the Bible]
[Hebrews 6:1 — "Press on" or "Be Carried Along"?]
[Hebrews 12:1-2 — Too Much Lettuce?]
[James 1:17 — Good Giving?]
[James 2:14 — Can Faith Save?]
Sloppy
Agape
Traditionally, John 21:15-17 has been a rich
source of what Bible scholars call "eisegesis"—reading into the text
something the text itself does not contain.
Some translations of these verses are based
on the two different Greek verbs for "love" that appear. Jesus asks the first
two times, "Do you love me," using the verb
agapaw. Peter responds,
"I love you," using
filew. The third time, however, Jesus himself uses
filew
in his question, as does Peter in his response.
It is usually argued that
agapaw signifies a higher form of love—divine, selfless, altruistic love. However, the most
Peter will claim for himself is
filew love— friendship love. This probably
accounts for the distinction in the NIV between "truly love" for
agapaw,
and "love" for
filew.
But this cannot be. In the first place, it is
John’s style to use the verbs
agapaw and
filew interchangeably,
without any distinction in meaning. Thus, the expression "the disciple whom Jesus
kept on loving" can be based on either verb. Again, the Father loves the Son—and both verbs are used (3:55; 5:20).
Second, Peter could hardly answer "Yes,
Lord, I love you" if in fact he meant "No, Lord, I like you as a friend."
Finally, it is clear that Peter got upset,
not because Jesus changed his verb in the third question, but because Jesus asked him the
same question three times—an obvious allusion to Peter’s threefold denial of
Jesus.
If this passage is not about the two Greek
words for "love," then what does it teach? Two simple, but profound, truths.
The first is this: What the Lord Jesus Christ
is looking for in his disciples—in Peter, in John, in Paul, and in us today—is
our love above everything else. We may think we can impress with him with our knowledge,
or with our accomplishments, or with our bank accounts. But if the risen Lord were to do a
heart examination on each one of us today, he would ask us one question: "Do you love
me? Do you love me? Do you love me?" Hence the priority of love in the New Testament
(see Galatians 5:22; 1 Corinthians 13:13; Revelation 2:4).
But is it enough to say the words, "I
love you"? I’m sure the Lord enjoys hearing these words from his dear children,
just as we do from ours. Yet it is all too easy to become enamored with words and fail to
back up our words with actions.
I remember reading in
Ripley’s Believe
It Or Not! about the longest love-letter ever written. It was written by (who else?) a
Frenchman to his sweetheart, and it contained the words "I love you" (je
t’aime) 1,870,000 times. So enraptured was the writer with those words that he would
say them aloud as he wrote them down.
Such pronouncements are undoubtedly
attractive, but deeds speak louder than words. And that is the second great truth in our
passage. Jesus is saying that the best way to prove that we love him is by taking care of
his people: "Feed my lambs"; "Take care of my sheep."
This is the "Love Triangle" of 1
John: God loves us; we love others; and only then is love returned to God. Thus John can
write, "Whoever says, 'I love God,' but hates his brother is a liar. The
one who doesn’t love the brother whom he has seen can’t love a God whom he
hasn’t seen" (1 John 4:20). And so Jesus tells Peter that his pronouncement is
not enough. Peter must show how much he loves his Lord by humble service to others in his
name. Love God. Love others. This is the Great Commandment in a nutshell.
Farewell sloppy agape! |
