If the world hates you states a real condition, not simply a conjecture, that is, the world does hate the disciples. In this present passage the world should be equated with the people who are aligned with the power of evil in opposition to God (see 1.10). Since If the world hates you states an actual fact, it may be necessary in some languages to say “If the world hates you, and it does.” In other languages the condition may be better interpreted as cause or reason, for example, “Since the world hates you, you must remember.” On the other hand, there is a sense of contrast, and therefore one may translate as “The world hates you, but you must remember that it hated me first.”

For the theme of the world’s hatred of Jesus see 7.7.

Just remember (Moffatt, Goodspeed, Jerusalem Bible “remember”) is literally “know” (Revised Standard Version, New American Bible). However, in the present context “remember” or “bear in mind” (New English Bible footnote) is apparently the meaning. It is possible to take this verb in the indicative (Phillips “you know that it hated me first”; New English Bible “as you know well”), but most translators, whether translating “remember” or “know,” understand it to be an imperative. In the ancient versions also it was translated as an imperative. In this type of context remember should not be understood in the sense of remembering something previously forgotten. The meaning here is “constantly bear in mind.”

Has hated is in the perfect tense in Greek; it indicates the enduring hatred of the world.

In this context first must be understood in the sense of “prior to,” for example, “The people of the world have hated me prior to their hating you” or “… before they hated you.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .