To achieve naturalness in English style, Good News Translation inverts the order of the first two Greek clauses, introducing the clause of comparison just as the Father loves me after the main clause I love you.

Although the tense of the verb remain is aorist, and could have the force of “begin to remain” or “start remaining,” the context clearly indicates that the disciples are already “in Jesus’ love.” The aorist imperative was perhaps chosen to make the command more emphatic.

My love is best taken in the sense of “my love for you,” rather than “your love for me.” What it means to remain in Christ’s love is shown in the following verse.

In some languages it may not be easy to say “remain in my love for you.” Perhaps for this reason some translators take the easy way out by rendering “continue to love me.” This, however, certainly does not seem to be the meaning, especially as indicated by verse 10. However, if one is to express the meaning of “my love for you,” it may be necessary to say “remain joined to me so that I may love you.” It may even be possible to anticipate the implications of verse 10 by translating “continue obeying me so that I may love 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 .