John 15:18
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
If the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you.
American King James Version (AKJV)
If the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you.
American Standard Version (ASV)
If the world hateth you, ye know that it hath hated me before it hated you.
Basic English Translation (BBE)
If you are hated by the world, keep in mind that I was hated by the world before you.
Webster's Revision
If the world hateth you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
World English Bible
If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you.
English Revised Version (ERV)
If the world hateth you, ye know that it hath hated me before it hated you.
Clarke's John 15:18 Bible Commentary
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.
Barnes's John 15:18 Bible Commentary
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 labor 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, Matthew 10:25.