John 15:13 — Bible Verse Meaning & Context

John 15:13 reads: "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." — from the New Testament, John (Gospel). The full verse is shown above with both the World English Bible (WEB) and King James Version (KJV) translations side by side.

John 15:13 is in the book of John, traditionally attributed to John the apostle, son of Zebedee and written around c. 85–95 AD. John is gospel in the New Testament, originally addressed to A mixed audience facing both Jewish and proto-gnostic challenges. Best known for John 3:16 and the "I am" statements.

John 15:13 is primarily a Bible verse about Love, with related themes including Friendship. Within John, John's Gospel is structured around seven "signs" (miracles) and seven "I am" statements, framing Jesus as God incarnate — "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (1:14). Read the full passage above with surrounding context.

John 15:13 in the World English Bible (WEB) reads: "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.". The King James Version (KJV) reads: "Greater3187 love26 hath2192 no man3762 than3187 this5026, that2443 a man5100 lay down5087 his846 life5590 for5228 his846 friends5384.". The WEB is a modern public-domain translation that updates the KJV's 1611 English while keeping a similar formal-equivalence style. Both render the same underlying Greek or Hebrew text.

John 15:13 is 16 words in the WEB translation (82 characters), broken into 2 clauses. It is short and well-suited to memorisation. Estimated reading time is about 5 seconds.

To memorise John 15:13, split it into its 2 natural clauses and learn one at a time. Repeat the full verse out loud five times, then write it from memory. Saving the verse as a photo wallpaper using our verse image studio helps daily review — the visual association with a memorable background dramatically improves recall.

John's Gospel is structured around seven "signs" (miracles) and seven "I am" statements, framing Jesus as God incarnate — "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (1:14). It contains the most famous verse in the Bible (3:16), the High Priestly Prayer (17), and the most explicit declarations of Jesus' deity. John 15:13 sits within this larger story — John as a whole emphasises life, light, belief.

Many readers use John 15:13 as a daily reminder verse — saving it as a phone wallpaper, sharing it on Pinterest, or memorising it for prayer. The verse studio on this page lets you download John 15:13 on 52 different backgrounds for free. Pair the verse with the surrounding chapter context shown above to understand its full meaning before applying it.