John 15:2

15:2 He takes away ¹  every branch that does not bear ²  fruit in me. He ³  prunes ⁴  every branch that bears ⁵  fruit so that it will bear more fruit.

John 15:6

15:6 If anyone does not remain ⁶  in me, he is thrown out like a branch, and dries up; and such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire, ⁷  and are burned up. ⁸ 

[15:2]  ¹ tn Or “He cuts off.”

[15:2]  ² tn Or “does not yield.”

[15:2]  ³ tn Grk “And he”; the conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has been omitted in the translation in keeping with the tendency in contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[15:2]  ⁴ tn Or “trims”; Grk “cleanses” (a wordplay with “clean” in v. 3). Καθαίρει (kaqairei) is not the word one would have expected here, but it provides the transition from the vine imagery to the disciples – there is a wordplay (not reproducible in English) between αἴρει (airei) and καθαίρει in this verse. While the purpose of the Father in cleansing his people is clear, the precise means by which he does so is not immediately obvious. This will become clearer, however, in the following verse.

[15:2]  ⁵ tn Or “that yields.”

[15:6]  ⁶ tn Or “reside.”

[15:6]  ⁷ sn Such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire. The author does not tell who it is who does the gathering and throwing into the fire. Although some claim that realized eschatology is so prevalent in the Fourth Gospel that no references to final eschatology appear at all, the fate of these branches seems to point to the opposite. The imagery is almost certainly that of eschatological judgment, and recalls some of the OT vine imagery which involves divine rejection and judgment of disobedient Israel (Ezek 15:4-6, 19:12).

[15:6]  ⁸ tn Grk “they gather them up and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”