"Simon Son of John, Do You Love Me?" Some Reflections on John 21:15

Abstract

AbstractIn John 21:15 the much-debated expression αγαπας με πλεoν τoυτων; ought to be interpreted "Do you love me more than you love these things?," i.e. all the rest. This conclusion is strongly supported by compelling arguments concerning grammar (primarily the absence of συ as a subject and the frequently attested use of πλεoν τoυτων in the sense of πλεoν η ταυτα [accusative]), Johannine, NT and first-century linguistic usage (in John and the NT nominative personal pronouns are always expressed whenever emphasis lies on them, even when they are not particularly stressed, and in John the only other occurrence of πλεoν + genitive precisely corresponds to πλεoν η + plural accusative neuter pronoun), context and sense, ancient versions of this passage (Latin, Coptic, and Syriac), and some Patristic interpretations.