ISB ~ John 21 v15 - 17

Three times Peter reaffirms his love for Jesus as personal restitution for the three times he denied him (13:38; 18:15-18, 25-27). The dialogue in Greek makes use of several synonyms:two different nouns are used for sheep, and two different verbs are used for feed, know, and love. Although this may be a stylistic feature to avoid redundancy, others think it more significant, especially with the verb love. In his first two questions, Jesus asks Peter if he loves him with “willing love” (Gk. agapaō), but in the third question he asks if Peter loves him with merely “friendly affection” (Gk. phileō), which is the word Peter uses in all three of his responses. An intended distinction between these terms would indicate that Jesus, desirous of a complete and heroic love from Peter, was willing by the end of the conversation to settle for his friendship.