The pronouns you … I are emphatic. This verse emphasizes the fact that discipleship is ultimately due to the divine choice, not to the decision of the individual alone. The disciples are Jesus’ friends, not because they took the initiative in choosing him, but because he chose them.

Appointed is the rendering of most translations; Jerusalem Bible has “commissioned.” The verb is literally “to place” or “to lay down” (the same verb used in verse 13 in the phrase “to lay down one’s life”). New American Bible apparently takes it to be redundant (“… it was I who chose you to go forth and bear fruit”), but in the present context it probably has the meaning “to appoint” or “to set aside for a special task.” The verb appears to be used in a technical sense in such passages as Acts 20.28; 1 Corinthians 12.28; and 2 Timothy 1.11. In some languages appointed may be best rendered “gave a work to do” or “assigned to a task.”

Bear much fruit is literally “bear fruit.” As in similar contexts, bear much fruit must be rendered “accomplish much,” since the figurative meaning of fruit, as related to accomplishment of a task or producing results, is impossible in some languages.

The kind of fruit that endures is literally “and (that) your fruit may remain.” Moffatt translates “fruit that lasts”; New English Bible “fruit that shall last”; Goodspeed “fruit that shall be lasting.” This reference to bearing fruit looks back to the metaphor of the vine with which the chapter began.

It is possible to take the last sentence in this verse (And so the Father will give you whatever you ask of him in my name) either as co-ordinate with the clause to go and bear much fruit or as dependent upon it. Most translators understand And so … my name to be dependent upon to go … much fruit. That is, if the disciples go out and bear much fruit, the kind of fruit that endures, then the Father will give them whatever they ask in Jesus’ name. This last sentence is somewhat restructured in Good News Translation; it literally reads “in order that whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give to you.” Good News Translation inverts the order of the Greek clauses, introducing the Father as the subject at the beginning, and using the pronoun him as a reference to the Father in the second half of the sentence.

Since the final sentence of verse 16 is also in a sense a condition, it may be proper to render it “If you do that, then the Father will give you whatever you ask for in my name” or “… because you are my followers.”

Again the phrase in my name causes translational difficulty (see comments at 14.13). The meaning here is perhaps best taken as “because you are my followers.”

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 .