Dialog between Jesus and Peter in John 21: what's going on? In John 21: 15-17 there's a post-Resurrection dialog between Peter and Jesus.  Here's the KJV translation of this dialog.


  So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of
  Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord;
  thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
  
  He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest
  thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee.
  He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
  
  He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?
  Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou
  me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest
  that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.


Other more recent translations basically say the same thing about this threefold dialog between Jesus and the guy who recently denied him.  It's good to read this passage as Jesus's threefold recommissioning of Peter after the three denials. But it does seem repetitive.

But, there's a strange thing about the translation. The Greek uses two different words for love here.  agape and philo.  Writing out the KJV again using "like" for philo and "love" for agape, we get this.


  So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of
  Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord;
  thou knowest that I like thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
  
  He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest
  thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I like thee.
  He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
  
  He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, likest thou me?
  Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Likest thou
  me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest
  that I like thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.


This difference in words gives the whole dialog a very different tone.  Is Peter holding out on Jesus? (If you're wondering about why this might be important, next time your spouse asks, "do you love me?" answer "sweetheart, I like you." Let us know how that works out for you. :-)

Does anybody know why the English translations erase this distinction in the words for love in this passage? Was it due to a translator's theological point of view?
Though not a Greek scholar, I would contend that translating philo as like is a poor translation.  Agape typically connotes the perfect love that God has and to which we can only aspire (though aspire to it we must, just as we aspire to imitate Christ though we can only do so imperfectly). On the other hand, philo connotes the love between two persons which is not eros, the sexual love between a man and a woman.

Our language is inadequate to the task, having only one word for love, which takes on different connotations in different contexts - when I say "I love my brother" I mean quite different love than "I loved my wife last night".

As an aside, why does Jesus "labor the point" three times? It is generally considered to correlate to Peter's three denials; for Peter it was thrice affirming the forgiveness for thrice denying our Lord.