John 15:18 (DBY)

Passage

If the world hate you, know that it has hated me before you.

Nearby Context

John 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and have set you that ye should go and [that] ye should bear fruit, and [that] your fruit should abide, that whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name he may give you.

John 15:17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.

John 15:18 If the world hate you, know that it has hated me before you.

John 15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love its own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, on account of this the world hates you.

John 15:20 Remember the word which I said unto you, The bondman is not greater than his master. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my word, they will keep also yours.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "world", "hate", "hated", and "before". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "world" and "hate", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 17's "These things I command you that ye..." into verse 19's "If ye were of the world the...", so "world" and "hate" belong inside that flow. In John context, the local focus is the identity of Jesus, new birth, eternal life, and belief and unbelief.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "world" and "hate" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.