{Lovest thou me more than these?} (agap(8369)s me pleon
tout(936e);). Ablative case of comparison 	out(936e) (disciples) after
pleon. Peter had even boasted that he would stand by Christ
though all men forsook him ( Mr 14:29 ). We do not know what
passed between Jesus and Peter when Jesus first appeared to him
( Lu 24:34 ). But here Christ probes the inmost recesses of
Peter's heart to secure the humility necessary for service. {I
love thee} (phil(9320)su). Peter makes no claim here to superior
love and passes by the "more than these" and does not even use
Christ's word agapa(935c) for high and devoted love, but the humbler
word phile(935c) for love as a friend. He insists that Christ knows
this in spite of his conduct. {Feed my lambs} (Boske ta arnia
mou). For the old word osk(935c) (to feed as a herdsman) see  Mt
8:33 . Present active imperative here. Arnia is a diminutive of
arnos (lamb).