This verse isn't just about the world hating you; it's about that hatred being a direct echo of how the world treated Jesus first. The original Greek suggests "know" can be taken as a command, urging you to recognize this shared experience as a profound sign of belonging to Him.
“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
English Standard Version (ESV)
Jesus is preparing his disciples for a difficult future, explaining that their mission will be met with opposition from the world. He's just told them they are chosen and sent to bear fruit, but now he acknowledges that this very mission will make them targets. This verse serves as the beginning of his explanation for why the world will hate them, offering it as a form of consolation by drawing a direct parallel to his own experience.
Jesus tells his followers that the world's animosity toward them isn't a sign of failure, but a badge of honor. Why would opposition actually be a good thing?
Jesus addresses the deep distress his disciples would feel when rejected by the world. He frames this hatred not as a condemnation, but as evidence of their new identity.
Not Of The World
Jesus explains that the world's hatred stems from the disciples not belonging to it anymore. He states, 'because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you' (John 15:19). Their separation from the world's values and systems, a result of Christ choosing them, makes them 'foreign elements' to the world.
Shared Destiny
This shared experience of rejection creates a profound bond. 'Know that it hated me before it hated you' (John 15:18) isn't just a statement of fact; it's a source of comfort. Their suffering is a participation in Christ's own suffering, a 'community of destiny' with their Master. This means their struggles are not a sign that God has abandoned them, but that they are walking closely with Christ.
Jesus uses a powerful verb: 'know.' What does it truly mean to 'know' that the world hated Him first, and how does this knowledge help?
The word Jesus uses, often translated as 'know' (Greek: ginosko), implies more than just intellectual awareness. It signifies a deep, experiential understanding.
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Imperative for Assurance
Many scholars suggest Jesus intends this as an imperative: 'Know!' or 'Understand!' This isn't a passive observation, but an active, commanded understanding. Jesus is directing His followers to grasp a crucial spiritual reality for their own strengthening and assurance.
The Continuing Hatred
The original language suggests that the world's hatred for Jesus wasn't just a past event. The perfect tense used indicates a hatred that has hated and continues to hate. This ongoing animosity towards Christ, and by extension towards His followers, is the very reason the world rejects them. Recognizing this persistent, deep-seated opposition from the world helps believers contextualize their own struggles not as personal failures, but as part of a larger, ongoing spiritual conflict.
Understand the original words
kosmos · Greek Noun
The system of human society, culture, and ideologies that is organized apart from God and is frequently characterized by opposition to His kingdom and values.
miseō · Greek Verb
An intense, settled hostility or aversion. Biblically, it describes the reaction of those who reject God toward those who reflect His righteousness.
This passage directly parallels the idea that suffering and hatred from the world are not surprising but are part of the Christian experience, as it frames persecution as a test of faith.
1 John 3:13This verse provides a direct explanation for the world's hatred, stating that believers are hated because they have been transformed and are no longer like the world.
Matthew 10:22Jesus explicitly tells His disciples that they will be hated by all for His name's sake, directly connecting their suffering to His own experience and mission.
Luke 6:22This passage offers a similar encouragement, stating that believers are blessed when people hate them, exclude them, insult them, and reject them because of the Son of Man, highlighting a shared suffering with Christ.
Galatians 1:10Paul’s own words show a concern for pleasing God over people, suggesting that the world's approval is secondary to divine affirmation, which often results in the world's disapproval.
vincentJohn 15:18: "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you."
If the world hate (εἱ μισεῖ)Literally, hates. The indicative mood with the conditional particle assumes the fact as existing: If the world hates you, as it does.Ye know (γινώσκετε)This may also be rendered as imperative: Know ye.It hated (μεμίσηκεν)The perfect tense, hath hated. The hatred continues to the present time.Before it hated you (πρῶτον ὑμῶν)Literally, first in regard of you. See on John 1:15.
cambridgeJohn 15:18: "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you."
18 . ye know that it hated me ] Better, know that it hath hated me (comp. John 15:20 ). As in John 14:1 the principal verb may be either indicative or imperative, and the imperative is preferable: the second verb is the perfect indicative, of that which has been and still is the case. before it hated you ] ‘It hated’ is an insertion by our translators, and ‘before you’ is literally ‘first of you,’ like ‘before me…
This verse isn't just about the world hating you; it's about that hatred being a direct echo of how the world treated Jesus first. The original Greek suggests "know" can be taken as a command, urging you to recognize this shared experience as a profound sign of belonging to Him.
Jesus is preparing his disciples for a difficult future, explaining that their mission will be met with opposition from the world. He's just told them they are chosen and sent to bear fruit, but now he acknowledges that this very mission will make them targets. This verse serves as the beginning of his explanation for why the world will hate them, offering it as a form of consolation by drawing a direct parallel to his own experience.
Jesus is preparing his disciples for a difficult future, explaining that their mission will be met with opposition from the world. He's just told them they are chosen and sent to bear fruit, but now he acknowledges that this very mission will make them targets. This verse serves as the beginning of his explanation for why the world will hate them, offering it as a form of consolation by drawing a direct parallel to his own experience.
"“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." — This verse isn't just about the world hating you; it's about that hatred being a direct echo of how the world treated Jesus first. The original Greek suggests "know" can be taken as a command, urging…
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Last reviewed October 2026
