A.T. Robertson Commentary John 15:1

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman." — John 15:1 (ASV)

The true vine (η αμπελος η αληθινη). "The vine the genuine." Assuming that the Lord's Supper had just been instituted by Jesus the metaphor of the vine is naturally suggested by "the fruit of the vine" (Matthew 26:29). Αμπελος in the papyri (Moulton and Milligan's Vocabulary) is sometimes used in the sense of ampelon (vineyard), but not so here. Jesus uses various metaphors to illustrate himself and his work (the light, 8:12; the door, 10:7; the shepherd, 10:11; the vine, 15:1). The vine was common in Palestine. See Ps 80:8f. "On the Maccabean coinage Israel was represented by a vine" (Dods). Jesus is the genuine Messianic vine.

The husbandman (ο γεωργος) as in Mr 12:1; James 5:7; 2 Timothy 2:6. cf. 1 Corinthians 3:9, θεου γεωργιον (God's field).