SEV Biblia, Chapter 15:1
¶ YO SOY la vid verdadera, y mi Padre es el labrador.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - John 15:1
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.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 1. I am the true vine , etc.] The fruit of which he had been just speaking of at supper with his disciples; and then informs them, that he himself is the vine from whence that fruit must be expected, which should be partook of by them in his Fathers kingdom; for though Christ may be compared to a vine for its tenderness, weakness, and being subject to cuttings and prunings; all which may express his outward meanness in his birth, parentage, and education, Which exposed him to the contempt of men; the weakness of the human nature in itself, his being encompassed with the infirmities of his people, and his sufferings and death for their sakes; yet he is rather called so with respect to his fruitfulness: for as the vine is a fruitful tree, brings forth and bears fruit in clusters, so Christ, as man and Mediator, is full of grace and truth, of all spiritual blessings, and exceeding great and precious promises; from him come the wine of divine love, of Gospel truths and Gospel ordinances, the various blessings of grace, and the joys of heaven, which are the best wine reserved by him till last: Christ is the true vine; not that he is really and literally so, without a figure; but he is, as the Syriac renders it, arrd atpn , the vine of truth. Just as Israel is called a noble vine, wholly a right seed, tma [rz , a seed of truth, ( Jeremiah 2:21); right genuine seed; or, as the Septuagint render it, a vine, bringing forth fruit, pasan alhyinhn , wholly true; to which the allusion may be here. Christ is the noble vine, the most excellent of vines, wholly a right seed, in opposition to, and distinction from, the wild and unfruitful, or degenerate plant of a strange vine: to him agree all the properties of a right and real vine; he really and truly communicates life, sap, juice, nourishment, and fruitfulness to the several branches which are in him. The metaphor Christ makes use of was well known to the Jews; for not only the Jewish church is often compared to a vine, but the Messiah too, according to them: thus the Targumist explains the phrase in ( Psalm 80:15), the branch thou madest strong for thyself, of the King Messiah: and indeed, by comparing it with ( Psalm 80:17) it seems to be the true sense of the passage f610 . The Cabalistic doctors say f611 , that the Shekinah is called, pg , a vine; (see Genesis 49:11); where the Jews observe f612 , the King Messiah is so called. The Jews say, there was a golden vine that stood over the gate of the temple, and it was set upon props; and whoever offered a leaf, or a grape, or a cluster, (that is, a piece of gold to the temple, in the form of either of these,) bought it, and hung it upon it. And of this vine also Josephus makes mention, as being in Herods temple; of which he says, that it was over the doors (of the temple), under the edges of the wall, having clusters hanging down from it on high, which filled spectators with wonder as for the size of it, so for the art with which it was made. And elsewhere he says f615 , the inward door in the porch was all covered with gold, and the whole wall about it; and it had over it golden vines, from whence hung clusters as big as the stature of a man: now whether our Lord may refer to this, being near the temple, and in view of it, and point to it, and call himself the true vine, in distinction from it, which was only the representation of one; or whether he might take occasion, from the sight of a real vine, to compare himself to one, nay be considered; since it was usual with Christ, upon sight or mention of natural things, to take the opportunity of treating of spiritual ones: though it may be rather this discourse of the vine and branches might be occasioned by his speaking of the fruit of the vine, at the time he ate the passover, and instituted the ordinance of the supper. And my Father is the husbandman ; or vinedresser. So God is called by Philo the Jew f616 , gewrgov agayov , a good husbandman; and the same the Targumist says of the word of the Lord f617 , and my word shall be unto them, abj arkak , as a good husbandman. Now Christ says this of his Father, both with respect to himself the vine, and with respect to the branches that were in him: he was the husbandman to him; he planted the vine of his human nature, and filled it with all the graces of the Spirit; he supported it, upheld it, and made it strong for himself, for the purposes of his grace, and for his own glory; and took infinite delight in it, being to him a pleasant plant, a plant of renown. The concern this husbandman has with the branches, is expressed in the following verse.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-8 - Jesus Christ is the Vine, the true Vine. The union of the human an Divine natures, and the fulness of the Spirit that is in him, resembl 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 lif 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 ar many, yet, meeting in the root, are all but one vine; thus all tru Christians, though in place and opinion distant from each other, mee in Christ. Believers, like the branches of the vine, are weak, an 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, a 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 loo for a Christian temper, disposition, and life. We must honour God, an do good; this is bearing fruit. The unfruitful are taken away. And eve fruitful branches need pruning; for the best have notions, passions and humours, that require to be taken away, which Christ has promise to forward the sanctification of believers, they will be thankful, for them. The word of Christ is spoken to all believers; and there is cleansing virtue in that word, as it works grace, and works ou corruption. And the more fruit we bring forth, the more we abound i 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 u 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, an their comforts to droop. Those who abide not in Christ, though they ma 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 jo in Him and in his salvation be full.
Greek Textus Receptus
εγω 1473 P-1NS ειμι 1510 5748 V-PXI-1S η 3588 T-NSF αμπελος 288 N-NSF η 3588 T-NSF αληθινη 228 A-NSF και 2532 CONJ ο 3588 T-NSM πατηρ 3962 N-NSM μου 3450 P-1GS ο 3588 T-NSM γεωργος 1092 N-NSM εστιν 2076 5748 V-PXI-3S
Vincent's NT Word Studies
1. The true vine (h ampelov h alhqinh). Literally, the vine, the true (vine). True, genuine, answering to the perfect ideal. See on i. 9. The vine was a symbol of the ancient church. See the passages cited above, and Hos. x. 1; Matt. xxi. 33; Luke xiii. 6.Husbandman (gewrgov). From gh, the earth, and ergw, to work. The vine-dresser is ajmpelourgov, occurring only at Luke xiii. 7; but the office of the vine-dresser is a subordinate one, while gewrgov may indicate the proprietor. See 2 Chron. xxvi. 10 (Sept.), where the word is applied to King Uzziah. So of Noah, Gen. ix. 20. In Matt. xxi. 33 41, the gewrgoi represent the chiefs and leaders of the Jews. Wyc., an earth-tiller.
