Passage

John 14.21

Book: John · ASV

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"19. Yet a little while, and the world beholdeth me no more; but ye behold me: because I live, ye shall live also. 20. In that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you."

"21. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself unto him."

"22. Judas (not Iscariot) saith unto him, Lord, what is come to pass that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? 23. Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my word: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." (John 14:19-23, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"19. Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more; but you will see me. Because I live, you will live also. 20. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you."

"21. One who has my commandments, and keeps them, that person is one who loves me. One who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and will reveal myself to him.”"

"22. Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, what has happened that you are about to reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23. Jesus answered him, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him." (John 14:19-23, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"19. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. 20. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you."

"21. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him."

"22. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? 23. Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." (John 14:19-23, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"19. yet a little, and the world doth no more behold me, and ye behold me, because I live, and ye shall live; 20. in that day ye shall know that I [am] in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you;"

"21. he who is having my commands, and is keeping them, that one it is who is loving me, and he who is loving me shall be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.'"

"22. Judas saith to him, (not the Iscariot), 'Sir, what hath come to pass, that to us thou are about to manifest thyself, and not to the world?' 23. Jesus answered and said to him, 'If any one may love me, my word he will keep, and my Father will love him, and unto him we will come, and abode with him we will make;" (John 14:19-23, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: Jesus
Audience: the eleven disciples (post-Judas's departure, Jn 13:30)
Location: the Upper Room in Jerusalem, the night before the crucifixion
Time period: Passover, c. AD 30/33

Theological reading

John 14:21 is one of the load-bearing verses in the Johannine love-and-obedience nexus: love of Christ is demonstrated by keeping His commandments, and reciprocal divine love and self-disclosure follow. The structure is not legalistic ("earn God's love by performance") but covenantal, obedience is the evidence and form of love, not its purchase price. The verse compresses the larger Johannine pattern: the Father loves the Son, the Son loves His own, His own love Him by keeping His commandments, and the Father and Son together love and disclose themselves to the obedient disciple (a pattern formalized in v. 23 as the Trinitarian indwelling). The verse is therefore both a test (1 John deploys it as a doctrinal-pastoral marker: "by this we know that we love Him") and a promise (Christ's self-manifestation as the reward of love-shaped obedience).

Key words

G0025 - agapao, agapaō (to love), the operative verb across all four love-clauses of the verse: the one who loves Me / loved by My Father / I will love him. The covenant-committed-love sense.
G1492 - oida / ginōskō word-group implicit in "manifest" (emphanizō), the self-disclosure of Christ to the loving-obedient disciple.

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.