Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary
John 15 - Introduction
CHAP. John 15:1-11. THE UNION OF THE DISCIPLES WITH CHRIST. THE ALLEGORY OF THE VINE
The allegory of the Vine is similar in kind to that of the Door and of the Good Shepherd in chap. 10 (see introductory note there): this sets forth union from within, the other union from without.
ἡ ἄμπ. ἡ�. For Ἐγώ εἰμι see on John 6:35. Christ is the true, genuine, ideal, perfect Vine, as He is the perfect Witness (Revelation 3:14), the perfect Bread (John 6:32), and the perfect Light (see on John 1:9). Whether the allegory was suggested by anything external,—vineyards, or the vine of the Temple visible in the moonlight, a vine creeping in at the window, or the ‘fruit of the vine’ (Matthew 26:29) on the table which they had just left,—it is impossible to say. Of these the last is far the most probable, as referring to the Eucharist just instituted as a special means of union with Him and with one another. But the allegory may easily have been chosen for its own merits and its O.T. associations (Psalms 80:8-19; Isaiah 5:1-7; Jeremiah 2:21; &c.) without any suggestion from without. The vine was a national emblem under the Maccabees and appears on their coins.
ὁ γεωργός. The Owner of the soil Who tends His Vine Himself and establishes the relation between the Vine and the branches. There is therefore a good deal of difference between the form of this allegory and the parable of the Vineyard (Mark 12:1) or that of the Fruitless Fig-tree (Luke 13:6). Γεωργός occurs nowhere else in the Gospels except of the wicked husbandmen in the parable of the Vineyard.