Such is the course of the allegory. The follow- ing points in connexion with it may be briefly discus.sed :
1. What is meant by the tnie {aK-qdivy)) vine ? It is often taken as suggesting that the natural vine only imperfectly represents the idea of the communion of Christ with believers. But why should the vine be selected rather than any other I)lant? And in what respect is the organic re- lationship suggested by the figure only imperfectly represented by the natural vine? H. Holtzmann understands the phrase as meaning that Christ is the vine which belongs to the higher world and has been planted by God in the midst of mankind ; and he finds here another instance of the Platonic tendency of the Fourth Gospel to regard .sensible things as imperfect copies of archetypes which exist in the world above {Handcom. ad loc. and. p. 35). Calvin takes the phrase as equivalent to ' Ego vere sum vitis ' ; and van Koetsveld {De Gelijkenissen van den Zalig maker, ii. 199 f.), on the analogy of the true light (P), and the true bread (6^-"^'), iinderstands it as meaning the vine which may be called so in truth, and does not merely bear the name and appearance of such. But in the case of the true light and the true bread we can understand the force of the adjec- tive in this sense, as light and bread are metaphors which we are in the habit of emjjloying in a spiritual reference, and it is proper to empliasize the fact that, for the illumination and nourishment of the spiritual life, a higher ligiit and bread tiian the natural are necessary. But before we can understand the force of the adjective as applied to the vine, we must recognize in what sense it is appropriate to inti'oduce the vine metaphori- cally in a religious reference. Tlie Old Testament supplies the connexion. The vine was a familiar metaphor as applied to Israel (Jer 2-\ Ezk 15"''* 19"*^-, Ps SQSff-, cf. Is 5i«r-). But Israel iiad proved unfaithful to her calling. She had ' turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine' (Jer 2-').. Delitzsch has further pointed out tliat tlie vine is used as a symbol of the Messiali (Iris, Eng. tr. pp. 184-186). It is with reference to this familiar metaphor that Christ calls Himself the true vine.
802 VINE, ALLEGORY OF THE
VINE, ALLEGORY OF THE
The idea that was held before Israel in the pro- phetic application to her of the figure of the vine is realized in Him and His disciples.
2. What is the relationship between Christ and the disciples indicated by the mutual abiding in one another ? Viewed from the side of the disciples, this relation is presented as an injunction, ' Abide in me ' ; from the side of Christ as a promise, ' and I in you,' i.e. and I will abide in you (¥.•*). This is the usual interpretation of the verse, though Bengel makes the injunction embrace the whole : ' Facite ut maneatis in me et ut ego maneam in vobis.' In the following verses more particular statements occur, wliich seem to define more clearly the relationship thus indicated. But the difficulty is to determine to which of the sides of the relationship the statements in question apply. Thus in v.'' we have the phrase, ' If ye abide in me and my words abide in you.' Does the latter clause take the place of the ' and I in you ' of v.*, or is it a fuller description of the clause immedi- ately preceding it, thus corresponding to the ' abide in me ' of v.* ? Either view may be adopted with some show of reason. In support of the first, it may be pointed out that, on this interpretation, the phrase exactly corresponds to the ' He that abideth in me and I in him ' of v.*. On the other hand, when it is remembered that the ' and I in you ' of v.^ contains a promise, and that in v.'' the two clauses together embrace the condition upon which the promise which immediately follows (' ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you ') depends, there seems good ground for taking the clause ' and my words abide in you ' as a more definite statement of what is involved in our abiding in Christ ; while the promise which im- mediately succeeds may be regarded as presenting under a new aspect what is meant by Christ's abiding in us.
Again, in v." we have another aspect of abiding presented, ' Abide ye in my love,' i.e. continue to be the objects of my love. Here again the ques- tion arises, To whicli of the two abidings does the phrase apply? To our abiding in Christ, or to Christ's abiding in us? The parallelism of the phrase to the 'abide in me' of v.'* favours the first alternative. On the other hand, it may be pointed out that while the phrase occurs in v.® as an injunction, it is repeated in v.^" as a promise, conditional on our keeping Christ's command- ments. Now, in the interpretation of v.' sug- gested above, to have Christ's words abiding in us, i.e. to keep His commandments, corresponds to the ' abide in me' of v.^. Here, therefore, the pro- mise whicli is held forth to those who keep the commandments, i.e. to those who abide in Christ, will correspond to the promise of v.*, and to abide in Christ's love will represent under a new aspect what is meant by Christ's abiding in us.