Commands to love, or commands in order to love?

Below is my rough translation of John 15:9-17. I will reflect a bit at the end on the meaning of the conjunction ἵνα. I welcome your responses.

John 15:9-17

9 καθὼς ἠγάπησέν με ὁ πατήρ, κἀγὼ ὑμᾶς ἠγάπησα: μείνατε ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ τῇ ἐμῇ.
Just as the father loved me, so also I loved you; remain in my love.
ἠγάπησέν: AAI 3s, ἀγαπάω, 1) of persons  1a) to welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly  2) of things  2a) to be well pleased, to be contented at or with a thing
ἠγάπησα: AAI 1s, ἀγαπάω, 1) of persons  1a) to welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly  2) of things  2a) to be well pleased, to be contented at or with a thing
μείνατε: AAImpv 2p, μένω, 1) to remain, abide  1a) in reference to place  1a1) to sojourn, tarry  1a2) not to depart  1a2a) to continue to be present

10 ἐὰν τὰς ἐντολάς μου τηρήσητε, μενεῖτε ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ μου, καθὼς ἐγὼ τὰς ἐντολὰς τοῦ πατρός μου τετήρηκα καὶ μένω αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ.
If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my father’s commands and remain in his love.
τηρήσητε: AASubj 2p, τηρέω, 1) to attend to carefully, take care of  1a) to guard  1b) metaph. to keep, one in the state in which he is  1c) to observe
μενεῖτε: FAI 2p, μένω, 1) to remain, abide  1a) in reference to place  1a1) to sojourn, tarry  1a2) not to depart  1a2a) to continue to be present
τετήρηκα: PerfAI 1s, τηρέω, 1) to attend to carefully, take care of  1a) to guard  1b) metaph. to keep, one in the state in which he is  1c) to observe
μένω: PAI 1s, μένω, 1) to remain, abide  1a) in reference to place  1a1) to sojourn, tarry  1a2) not to depart  1a2a) to continue to be present

11 Ταῦτα λελάληκα ὑμῖν ἵνα ἡ χαρὰ ἡ ἐμὴ ἐν ὑμῖν ᾖ καὶ ἡ χαρὰ ὑμῶν πληρωθῇ.
These things I have spoken to you in order that my joy may be in you and your joy may be fulfilled.
λελάληκα: PerfAI 1s, λαλέω, 1) to utter a voice or emit a sound  2) to speak  2a) to use the tongue or the faculty of speech
ᾖ: PASubj 3s, εἰμί, 1) to be, to exist, to happen, to be present
πληρωθῇ:  APSubj 3s, πληρόω, 1) to make full, to fill up, i.e. to fill to the full  1a) to cause to abound, to furnish or supply liberally

12 αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ ἐντολὴ ἡ ἐμή, ἵνα ἀγαπᾶτε ἀλλήλους καθὼς ἠγάπησα ὑμᾶς:
This is my command, in order that you may love one another just as I loved you;
ἐστὶν: PAI 3s, εἰμί, 1) to be, to exist, to happen, to be present
ἀγαπᾶτε: PASubj 2p, ἀγαπάω, 1) of persons  1a) to welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly  2) of things  2a) to be well pleased, to be contented at or with a thing
ἠγάπησα: AAI 1s, ἀγαπάω, 1) of persons  1a) to welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly  2) of things  2a) to be well pleased, to be contented at or with a thing

13 μείζονα ταύτης ἀγάπην οὐδεὶς ἔχει, ἵνα τις τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ θῇ ὑπὲρ τῶν φίλων αὐτοῦ.
greater than this love nobody has, that one would lay down his life for his friends.
μείζονα: μένω, 1) to remain, abide  1a) in reference to place  1a1) to sojourn, tarry  1a2) not to depart  1a2a) to continue to be present
ἔχει: PAI 3s, ἔχω, 1) to have, i.e. to hold  1a) to have (hold) in the hand, in the sense of wearing, to have  (hold) possession of the mind
θῇ: AASubj 3s, τίθημι, 1) to set, put, place 1a) to place or lay  1b) to put down, lay down  1b1) to bend down

14 ὑμεῖς φίλοι μού ἐστε ἐὰν ποιῆτε ἃ ἐγὼ ἐντέλλομαι ὑμῖν.
You are my friends if you do that which I command you.
ἐστε: PAI 2p, εἰμί, 1) to be, to exist, to happen, to be present
ποιῆτε: PASubj 2p, ποιέω, 1) to make  1a) with the names of things made, to produce, construct,  form, fashion, etc.
ἐντέλλομαι: PMI 1s, ἐντέλλομαι, 1) to order, command to be done, enjoin

15 οὐκέτι λέγω ὑμᾶς δούλους, ὅτι ὁ δοῦλος οὐκ οἶδεν τί ποιεῖ αὐτοῦ ὁ κύριος: ὑμᾶς δὲ εἴρηκα φίλους, ὅτι πάντα ἃ ἤκουσα παρὰ τοῦ πατρός μου ἐγνώρισα ὑμῖν.
I no longer call you servants, because the servant does not know what his lord is doing; but I have called you friends, because all the things which I heard from my father I made known to you.
λέγω: PAI 1s, λέγω, 1) to say, to speak  1a) affirm over, maintain
οἶδεν: PerfAI 3s,
ποιεῖ: PAI 3s, ποιέω, 1) to make  1a) with the names of things made, to produce, construct,  form, fashion, etc.
εἴρηκα: PerfAI 1s, λέγω, 1) to say, to speak  1a) affirm over, maintain
ἤκουσα: AAI 1s, ἀκούω, 1) to be endowed with the faculty of hearing, not deaf  2) to hear
ἐγνώρισα: AAI 1s, γνωρίζω, 1) to make known  1a) to become known, be recognised

16 οὐχ ὑμεῖς με ἐξελέξασθε, ἀλλ' ἐγὼ ἐξελεξάμην ὑμᾶς καὶ ἔθηκα ὑμᾶς ἵνα ὑμεῖς ὑπάγητε καὶ καρπὸν φέρητε καὶ ὁ καρπὸς ὑμῶν μένῃ, ἵνα ὅ τι ἂν αἰτήσητε τὸν πατέρα ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί μου δῷ ὑμῖν.
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you in order that you may go and may bear fruit and your fruit may remain, in order that whatever you may ask the father in my name may be given to you.
ἐξελέξασθε: AMI 2p, ἐκλέγομαι, 1) to pick out, choose, to pick or choose out for one's self  1a) choosing one out of many, i.e. Jesus choosing his disciples
ἐξελεξάμην: AMI 1s, ἐκλέγομαι, 1) to pick out, choose, to pick or choose out for one's self  1a) choosing one out of many, i.e. Jesus choosing his disciples
ἔθηκα: AAI 1s, τίθημι, 1) to set, put, place  1a) to place or lay  …  3a) to set forth  3b) to establish, ordain
ὑπάγητε: PASubj 2p, ὑπάγω, 1) to lead under, bring under  2) to withdraw one's self, to go away, depart
φέρητε: PASubj 2p, φέρω, 1) to carry   1a) to carry some burden   1a1) to bear with one's self   1b) to move by bearing;
μένῃ: PASubj 3s, μένω, 1) to remain, abide  1a) in reference to place  1a1) to sojourn, tarry  1a2) not to depart  1a2a) to continue to be present
αἰτήσητε: AASubj 2p, αἰτέω, 1) to ask, beg, call for, crave, desire, require
δῷ: AASubj 3s, δίδωμι, 1) to give  2) to give something to someone  2a) of one's own accord to give one something, to his advantage

17 ταῦτα ἐντέλλομαι ὑμῖν, ἵνα ἀγαπᾶτε ἀλλήλους.
I command these things to you, in order that you may love one another.
ἐντέλλομαι: PMI 1s, ἐντέλλομαι, 1) to order, command to be done, enjoin
ἀγαπᾶτε: PASubj 2p, ἀγαπάω, 1) of persons  1a) to welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly  2) of things  2a) to be well pleased, to be contented at or with a thing

Comments:
The word ἵνα in verses 11, 12, 16 and 17 are significant. ἵνα is a conjunction that is most often translated “in order to” or something like that. It is different from a similar conjunction, ὅτι, in this way: ὅτι “is objective, and introduces the matter, while ἵνα specifies the purpose. (greattreasures.org) [An example of ὅτι is in v.18, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before you.” ὅτι can also be translated as “because,” as in v.15 above.] As an indicator of purpose, ἵνα is always followed by the subjunctive mood, a conditional mood typically translated as ‘may’ or ‘might.’ 
I raise this distinction because sometimes ἵνα seems easily translated as “that” instead of “in order that” with no problem. It seems to make the language smoother. But, I have gone with the larger phrase – even if it is more awkward on occasion – to show that John may be saying something different than some translations lead us to believe. 


V. 11: This is the first of the ἵνα clauses in this pericope: “These things I have spoken to you in order that my joy may be in you and your joy may be fulfilled.” The structure of the sentence is rather consistently translated throughout various versions as an “I do X, in order that Y” structure. The X clause is in the indicative mood; the Y clause in the subjunctive mood. 
V. 12: If we stay with the same structure that was in v.11, we could translate this as, “This is my command, in order that you may love one another just as I loved you.” Again, the X clause is in the indicative (“is”), and the Y clause in the subjunctive (“may love”). Many translations have “that” instead of “in order that,” which is probably confusing, because it is ambiguous. It could mean “so that” or it could mean “the command is that …” The NIV changes the nature of the verse entirely: My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. This translation turns the subjunctive mood into an imperative. For more on this, see the comment on v.17 below. 
V. 16: This verse has two ἵνα clauses: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you in order that you may go and may bear fruit and your fruit may remain, in order that whatever you may ask the father in my name may be given to you.” The first clause is just like the former pattern – Indicative X clause, then ἵνα, then subjunctive Y clause. The second leaves out the indicative X clause, but continues the ἵνα, then subjunctive Y clause. 
V. 17: In this case, I think “in order that” is very important, to distinguish that the ἵνα shows the purpose of the command and does not just present a repetition of the command. 
It means this: “I command these things to you in order that you may love one another.” 
This is ambiguous: “These things I command that you love one another.” 
The NIV is very misleading: “This is my command: Love each other.”
Problems with the NIV on v.17: “These” is plural, not singular as in “this”; “these things” is in the accusative case, not the nominative case, so “these things” is the object of the verb, not the subject; “command” is the verb, not a noun (the “I” is implied because it is 1st person singular); the verb is “command” not “is”; the ἵνα has been translated as a colon, which might be appropriate if it were a ὅτι; the word “love” is in the subjunctive, not the imperative mood.  
Do you see the difference? “love one another” is not the command itself. It is the purpose of the things that Jesus commands. Jesus commanded “these things” so that they would love one another. The question becomes, “what does Jesus mean by “these things,” (ταῦτα) a substantive pronoun that is also in v.11. 
As we go about answering this question, it helps to remember that we are still in the room, where Jesus washed the disciples’ feet. Afterward, he told them, “I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.” (John 13:15-17) However we answer this question of identifying what “these things” that Jesus had commanded the disciples are, it must be an answer that is grounded in the Messiah, washing feet. 



Kittel’s Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (TDNT) has 10 pages devoted to the word ἵνα. It says that in the NT there are two primary uses of ἵνα, to denote either a theological final clause or an ethical final clause. Because John displays ‘teleological’ (or purposive) theology, the TDNT focuses mostly on the theological use in John. The Q&A in John 9 is an example: “Who sinned, this man or his parents, in order that he was born blind?” is the question posed to Jesus. “Neither … but in order that the work of God may be revealed in him.” The point is that in the theological use, ἵνα points toward the end or the purpose of something. Another example is John 15:8, the verse just before our pericope: “My Father is glorified by this, in order that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.” 


Again, I think it best to refrain from making verses 12 and 17 of our pericope into commandments, and to focus on the purpose of the commands that Jesus has already given the disciples. Those commands are given in order that they might love one another. Love, then, is not the command itself, but the fruits of and final purpose for keeping the commands.