John 15:18 (KJV)

Passage

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

Nearby Context

John 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

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

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

John 15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

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

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.