Tool Beta
The Ancient World Behind the Text
Pick a passage anywhere in the New Testament. See the customs and ideas a first reader knew without being told.
John 21:15-25, Feed my sheep, and stretch out your hands
Three times Jesus asks Peter whether he loves him and three times tells him to tend his sheep. He foretells Peter's death and answers his question about the beloved disciple, whose testimony closes the book.
John 21:15-25, in every translation this tool compares.
Three times Jesus asks Peter whether he loves him, three times he gives him the work of caring for his flock, and the third asking hurts Peter. Jesus then hints at the kind of death Peter will die and calls him to follow. When Peter asks about the beloved disciple, Jesus tells him that is not his concern, and the Gospel closes by naming this disciple as its witness and writer.
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/shepherd-and-sheep\/","n":"Shepherd and sheep","s":"Scripture pictured Israel without a leader as sheep without a shepherd, and promised that God himself would come to shepherd them.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/following-a-teacher\/","n":"Following a teacher","s":"A disciple walked behind his teacher, lived with him, learned his ways and carried his reputation. Jesus chose his own, which only radical teachers did.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/crucifixion\/","n":"Crucifixion","s":"Rome's public, shaming death for rebels, after flogging, with the charge posted for passers-by to read.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/witnesses-and-advocates\/","n":"Witnesses and advocates in court","s":"Jewish law convicted no one on a single witness: it demanded two or three, examined them closely and gave little weight to the word of women. Courts also had accusers and advocates, and Jewish pictures of God's heavenly court gave those roles to Satan and to defenders of Israel.","r":""}
The two Greek verbs for love were used interchangeably in John's time, including by John (Keener and his notes); the ESV Study Bible says most modern commentators agree, though many older ones saw a difference. Stretching out the hands could mean prayer, or having one's hands tied before execution (the cultural backgrounds notes), and the ESV and CSB Study Bibles take it as crucifixion. How Peter died is told differently: the cultural backgrounds notes cite early tradition that Nero had him crucified upside down about AD 64, Keener a strong tradition that he was crucified in Rome under Nero, the CSB Study Bible a tradition that Peter chose that way to die, and the ESV Study Bible calls the later accounts overlaid with legend. Carson, Moo and Morris draw dating clues from this chapter: 21:19 implies that Peter had already died when it was written, and the rumor of 21:23 points to a date late rather than early. The chapter also names the beloved disciple as the one who wrote these things (21:24), the basis for treating him as the Gospel's main author (Carson, Moo and Morris; the Zondervan Bible dictionary).
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on John 21:15-17 and 21:18-19
- NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, notes on John 21:15-17, 21:18, 21:19, 21:24 and 21:25
- ESV Study Bible, study notes on John 21:15-17 and 21:18-19
- CSB Study Bible, notes on John 18:18 and 21:18
- D. A. Carson, Douglas J. Moo and Leon Morris, An Introduction to the New Testament, ch. 5, John, Date and Author
- J. D. Douglas and Merrill C. Tenney, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Beloved Disciple
