John 13:34 - Exposition

A new commandment I give unto you ( with the purpose and scope ) that ye love one another; even as (or, seeing that ) I loved you, that ye ( also ) love one another . The interpretation of this verse largely depends on the meaning given to the καθὼς , if, as many translate it, "even as I loved you;" or, "after the manner and type of my love to you;" then an amply sufficient explanation arises of the novelty of the ἐντολή . So new a type of love is given that, as the Greek expositors generally have urged, there is a deeper intensity in the love than can be found in the Mosaic principle, Love thy neighbor as thyself ." In this commandment, which embraces the whole law, self-love is assumed, and is made the standard for the love of neighbor. This ἐντολή , on the other hand, would be based on a new principle, and measured by a higher standard, and even mean more than love of self altogether. Christ's love to his disciples was self-abandoning, self-sacrificing love. This view of the passage is urged by Lucke, and really removes all necessity for the varied translations of the καινή , such as "illustrious" (Hammond); "last" (Heumann); "one that is always new" (Olshausen); "renewed commandment," a "renewing commandment"; "the institution of the Eucharist" (Lange). But it is doubtful whether the ideal image of a perfect love constitutes the novelty, and whether the double ἵνα and the transposition of the second ἵνα be found in the simple style of John. If, however, καθώς ἠγάπησα be taken as "seeing that," or "since I loved you" (see John 17:2 ), Christ's love becomes not so much the manner or type, as the motive, ground, and principle of love to one another. As if he had said, "I have loved each of you unto death; in loving one another you are loving me, you are loving an object of my tender love. The desire of mere imitation, however strong, is not equal to the demand I make, while the bestowment of the 'new' principle of life arising from a response to my love is ." For the first interpretation speaks John's own use of the idea ( 1 John 3:16 ). There is a third interpretation, which makes καθὼς ἠγάπησα ὑμᾶς a sentence parallel with the δίδωμι . "Even as up to this moment, and up to my death, and to the uttermost, I have loved you, I give, " etc., " in order that ye may love one another, and, inspired by me, may imitate my love one towards another" (Westcott). This is an endeavor to combine both interpretations. Alford suggests that the "newness" of the commandment consists in its " unicity, " its being the prime injunction of the new covenant, and the first-fruit of the Spirit ( Galatians 5:22 ; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 .). Tholuck sees the expression of self-renouncing love—the love of the highest to the sinful, the love which is more blessed to give than to receive, the all-embracing love.