God Is Love: The Source and Command of Love
1 John 4:7-21
1John.4.7 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- Αγαπητοι: ADJ,voc,pl,m
- αγαπωμεν: VERB,pres,act,sub,1,pl
- αλληλους: PRON,acc,pl,m
- οτι: CONJ
- η: ART,nom,sg,f
- αγαπη: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- εκ: PREP
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- θεου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- εστιν: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- και: CONJ
- πας: ADJ,nom,sg,m
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- αγαπων: PART,pres,act,nom,sg,m
- εκ: PREP
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- θεου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- γεγεννηται: VERB,perf,mid/pass,ind,3,sg
- και: CONJ
- γινωσκει: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- τον: ART,acc,sg,m
- θεον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
Parallels
- 1 John 4:8 (verbal): Closely related Johannine statement — contrasts knowledge of God with love and explicitly declares 'God is love,' echoing the source's claim that love is from God.
- 1 John 4:16 (verbal): Direct Johannine parallel: affirms 'God is love' and links knowing God with abiding in love, reinforcing that love originates in God and enables knowledge of Him.
- John 13:34-35 (thematic): Jesus' new command to love one another as the identifying mark of his disciples parallels the exhortation to mutual love grounded in God's nature.
- Matthew 22:37-40 (thematic): The Torah-summarizing command to love God and neighbor provides the ethical foundation for the communal love urged in 1 John — love as central to covenant faithfulness.
- Romans 5:5 (thematic): Paul's statement that God's love has been poured into believers' hearts by the Spirit resonates with 1 John's claim that love originates with God and is manifested in those born of Him.
Alternative generated candidates
- Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
- Beloved, let us love one another; for love is from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
1John.4.8 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- μη: PART
- αγαπων: PART,pres,act,nom,sg,m
- ουκ: PART,neg
- εγνω: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- τον: ART,acc,sg,m
- θεον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- οτι: CONJ
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- θεος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- αγαπη: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- εστιν: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
Parallels
- 1 John 4:7 (verbal): Calls believers to love one another and declares love’s origin in God—paralleling the claim that love is from God and tying love to knowledge of God.
- 1 John 4:16 (verbal): Repeats the formula “God is love” and explicitly links abiding in love with abiding in God, reinforcing the identification of God with love.
- 1 John 3:16-18 (thematic): Defines authentic love in self‑sacrificial action for others and says “by this we know love,” echoing 4:8’s equation of knowing God with loving.
- John 13:34-35 (thematic): Jesus’ new command to love one another and the claim that love will identify his followers parallels 1 John’s idea that love is the decisive mark of knowing God.
- 1 John 2:9-11 (thematic): Contrasts love and hatred as indicators of light/darkness and true knowledge of God, similar to 4:8’s negative assertion that failure to love means not knowing God.
Alternative generated candidates
- Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.
- Whoever does not love does not know God—for God is love.
1John.4.9 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- εν: PREP
- τουτω: DEM,dat,sg,m
- εφανερωθη: VERB,aor,pass,ind,3,sg
- η: ART,nom,sg,f
- αγαπη: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- θεου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- εν: PREP
- ημιν: PRON,dat,pl,1
- οτι: CONJ
- τον: ART,acc,sg,m
- υιον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- αυτου: PRON,gen,sg,m
- τον: ART,acc,sg,m
- μονογενη: ADJ,acc,sg,m
- απεσταλκεν: VERB,perf,pass,ind,3,sg
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- θεος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- εις: PREP
- τον: ART,acc,sg,m
- κοσμον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- ινα: CONJ
- ζησωμεν: VERB,aor,act,subj,1,pl
- δι᾽αυτου: PREP+PRON,gen,sg,m
Parallels
- John 3:16 (quotation): Both state that God’s love was shown by sending his only (or beloved) Son into the world so that people might have life; 1 John echoes the Johannine theme of divine love expressed in gift of the Son.
- Romans 5:8 (thematic): Identifies the sending of Christ as the decisive demonstration of God’s love for sinners—paralleling 1 John’s claim that God’s love was manifested in sending his Son for our life/salvation.
- 1 John 4:10 (structural): Immediate Johannine parallel that explicates how God’s sending of the Son manifests love—here framed explicitly as the Son’s role as atoning sacrifice for our sins.
- 1 John 4:14 (verbal): Repeats and affirms the same idea that the Father sent the Son into the world as Savior, reinforcing the testimony to God’s love through the sending of Jesus.
Alternative generated candidates
- By this the love of God was revealed among us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.
- By this the love of God was revealed among us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.
1John.4.10 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- εν: PREP
- τουτω: DEM,dat,sg,m
- εστιν: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- η: ART,nom,sg,f
- αγαπη: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- ουχ: PART,neg
- οτι: CONJ
- ημεις: PRON,nom,pl,1
- ηγαπηκαμεν: VERB,perf,act,ind,1,pl
- τον: ART,acc,sg,m
- θεον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- αλλ᾽οτι: CONJ
- αυτος: PRON,nom,sg,3,m
- ηγαπησεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- ημας: PRON,acc,pl,1
- και: CONJ
- απεστειλεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- τον: ART,acc,sg,m
- υιον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- αυτου: PRON,gen,sg,m
- ιλασμον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- περι: PREP
- των: ART,gen,pl,m
- αμαρτιων: NOUN,gen,pl,f
- ημων: PRON,gen,pl,1
Parallels
- 1 John 4:9 (verbal): Immediate literary parallel — both verses state God's love is shown by sending his only Son; 4:10 explains the purpose of that sending as propitiation for sins.
- John 3:16 (thematic): Same central theme: God's love motivated the sending of his Son so that people might have life/salvation; highlights divine initiative in love.
- Romans 5:8 (thematic): Parallel emphasis that God's love is demonstrated in Christ's sacrificial action for sinners — 'while we were sinners Christ died for us' echoes the motive and demonstration of love.
- Romans 3:25 (verbal): Uses the language of God presenting Christ as a means of atonement/propitiation (Greek hilasterion/hilaskomai), closely matching 1 John 4:10's 'ιλασμον' for sins.
- 1 John 2:2 (verbal): Closely related Johannine statement that Jesus is the propitiation/atoning sacrifice for our sins (and for the whole world), paralleling 4:10's focus on atonement.
Alternative generated candidates
- In this is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
- In this is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
1John.4.11 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- αγαπητοι: ADJ,nom,pl,m
- ει: VERB,pres,act,ind,2,sg
- ουτως: ADV
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- θεος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- ηγαπησεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- ημας: PRON,acc,pl,1
- και: CONJ
- ημεις: PRON,nom,pl,1
- οφειλομεν: VERB,pres,act,ind,1,pl
- αλληλους: PRON,acc,pl,m
- αγαπαν: VERB,pres,act,inf
Parallels
- 1 John 4:7-10 (structural): Immediate context explaining the grounds of the obligation—God's love for us (sent his Son) provides the basis for our mutual love.
- John 13:34-35 (thematic): Jesus' command to love one another as the defining mark of his disciples parallels the ethical imperative drawn from God's love.
- John 15:12 (verbal): Jesus' injunction 'Love one another as I have loved you' closely parallels 1 John’s call to reciprocate God’s love in mutual love among believers.
- Romans 5:8 (thematic): Paul’s presentation of God’s proactive love (Christ died for us while we were sinners) supplies the theological example that grounds the obligation to love others.
- Matthew 22:37-40 (thematic): The summation of the law—love God and neighbor—connects to John’s emphasis that God’s love entails an ethical command to love one another.
Alternative generated candidates
- Beloved, if God so loved us, we also owe it to one another to love.
- Beloved, since God loved us in this way, we also must love one another.
1John.4.12 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- θεον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- ουδεις: PRON,nom,sg,m
- πωποτε: ADV
- τεθεαται·εαν: VERB,perf,mp,ind,3,sg;CONJ
- αγαπωμεν: VERB,pres,act,sub,1,pl
- αλληλους: PRON,acc,pl,m
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- θεος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- εν: PREP
- ημιν: PRON,dat,pl,1
- μενει: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- και: CONJ
- η: ART,nom,sg,f
- αγαπη: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- αυτου: PRON,gen,sg,m
- εν: PREP
- ημιν: PRON,dat,pl,1
- τετελειωμενη: PART,perf,pass,nom,sg,f
- εστιν: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
Parallels
- John 1:18 (quotation): Shares the exact assertion that ‘no one has seen God’ (ἐθεάθη θεός/θεόν), with John explaining God’s revelation in the Son — a verbal and theological precedent for 1 John’s claim.
- John 17:26 (verbal): Jesus prays that ‘the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I in them,’ paralleling 1 John’s language of God and his love dwelling in believers.
- 1 John 4:7–8 (thematic): Immediate context in the same epistle: love is from God and ‘God is love,’ grounding the claim that mutual love indicates God’s indwelling and the perfection of his love in us.
- Romans 5:5 (thematic): ‘God’s love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit,’ a Pauline parallel describing God’s love dwelling within believers and effecting transformation.
- Colossians 1:27 (thematic): ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory’ expresses the related Pauline motif of God/Christ indwelling believers, comparable to 1 John’s assertion that God abides in those who love one another.
Alternative generated candidates
- No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God remains in us and his love is perfected in us.
- No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God remains in us and his love is perfected in us.
1John.4.13 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- Εν: PREP
- τουτω: DEM,dat,sg,m
- γινωσκομεν: VERB,pres,act,ind,1,pl
- οτι: CONJ
- εν: PREP
- αυτω: PRON,dat,sg,m
- μενομεν: VERB,pres,act,ind,1,pl
- και: CONJ
- αυτος: PRON,nom,sg,3,m
- εν: PREP
- ημιν: PRON,dat,pl,1
- οτι: CONJ
- εκ: PREP
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- πνευματος: NOUN,gen,sg,n
- αυτου: PRON,gen,sg,m
- δεδωκεν: VERB,perf,act,ind,3,sg
- ημιν: PRON,dat,pl,1
Parallels
- 1 John 3:24 (verbal): Nearly identical language: assurance of mutual indwelling ('abides in him and he in him') and the explicit statement that we know this by the Spirit given to us.
- John 14:17 (verbal): Jesus speaks of the Spirit of truth who 'dwells with you and will be in you,' linking the Spirit's presence with personal knowledge and relationship with God.
- John 15:4 (structural): 'Abide in me, and I in you'—the Johannine theme of mutual abiding which 1 John applies to the believer's relationship with God through the Spirit.
- Romans 8:9-11 (thematic): Paul teaches that the Spirit of God dwells in believers (if Christ is in you), linking the Spirit's indwelling with life and belonging to God.
- Romans 8:16 (thematic): The Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are God's children—parallel assurance function of the Spirit that underlies 1 John’s claim ('by his Spirit he has given us' as basis for knowing).
Alternative generated candidates
- By this we know that we remain in him and he in us: he has given us of his Spirit.
- By this we know that we abide in him and he in us: he has given us of his Spirit.
1John.4.14 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- και: CONJ
- ημεις: PRON,nom,pl,1
- τεθεαμεθα: VERB,perf,mp,ind,1,pl
- και: CONJ
- μαρτυρουμεν: VERB,pres,act,ind,1,pl
- οτι: CONJ
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- πατηρ: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- απεσταλκεν: VERB,perf,pass,ind,3,sg
- τον: ART,acc,sg,m
- υιον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- σωτηρα: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- κοσμου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
Parallels
- John 3:17 (verbal): Both state that the Father sent the Son into the world with the purpose of saving the world (sent + salvation of the world).
- John 3:16 (thematic): Emphasizes the Father's sending of the Son out of love for the world so that the world might have life — the same salvific scope as 1 John 4:14.
- 1 John 4:9-10 (structural): Immediate Johannine context: earlier in the same letter the author explicitly says God sent his only Son into the world as the demonstration of divine love and the means of reconciliation.
- John 12:47 (quotation): Jesus' own declaration that he came not to judge but to save the world echoes 1 John’s claim that the Son was sent as the world's Savior.
- 2 Corinthians 5:19 (thematic): Paul’s statement that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ parallels the idea that the Father sent the Son for the world’s salvation/reconciliation.
Alternative generated candidates
- And we have seen and testify that the Father sent the Son as Savior of the world.
- And we have seen and testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
1John.4.15 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ος: PRON,nom,sg,m
- εαν: CONJ
- ομολογηση: VERB,pres,act,subj,3,sg
- οτι: CONJ
- Ιησους: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- εστιν: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- υιος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- θεου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- θεος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- εν: PREP
- αυτω: PRON,dat,sg,m
- μενει: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- και: CONJ
- αυτος: PRON,nom,sg,3,m
- εν: PREP
- τω: ART,dat,sg,m
- θεω: NOUN,dat,sg,m
Parallels
- Romans 10:9 (verbal): Confession language: confessing Jesus and believing in the heart as the basis for belonging to God—parallels the salvific/relational consequence of confession.
- Matthew 10:32 (thematic): Jesus promises reciprocal acknowledgement before the Father for those who confess him—similar theme of confession linking human acknowledgment and divine relationship.
- 1 John 2:23 (verbal): Close Johannine parallel: whoever denies the Son does not have the Father, and whoever confesses the Son has the Father—directly echoes the mutual indwelling implied in 4:15.
- John 15:4 (verbal): Abide-language: 'abide in me, and I in you' parallels the mutual indwelling of God and the confessing believer in 1 John 4:15.
- John 14:23 (allusion): Promise of divine dwelling: the Father and Son making their home with the one who loves/keeps Jesus’ word echoes 'God remains in him and he in God.'
Alternative generated candidates
- Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him and he in God.
- Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him and he in God.
1John.4.16 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- και: CONJ
- ημεις: PRON,nom,pl,1
- εγνωκαμεν: VERB,perf,act,ind,1,pl
- και: CONJ
- πεπιστευκαμεν: VERB,perf,act,ind,1,pl
- την: ART,acc,sg,f
- αγαπην: NOUN,acc,sg,f
- ην: VERB,impf,act,ind,3,sg
- εχει: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- θεος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- εν: PREP
- ημιν: PRON,dat,pl,1
- Ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- θεος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- αγαπη: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- εστιν: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- και: CONJ
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- μενων: PART,pres,act,nom,sg,m
- εν: PREP
- τη: ART,dat,sg,f
- αγαπη: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- εν: PREP
- τω: ART,dat,sg,m
- θεω: NOUN,dat,sg,m
- μενει: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- και: CONJ
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- θεος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- εν: PREP
- αυτω: PRON,dat,sg,m
- μενει: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
Parallels
- 1 John 4:8 (verbal): Contains the identical affirmation 'God is love' and links knowledge of God with love (those who do not love do not know God).
- 1 John 4:12 (verbal): Closely parallels the claim that God's presence is manifested where mutual love exists—'If we love one another, God abides in us,' echoing the reciprocal abiding language of 4:16.
- John 15:9-10 (structural): Jesus' command to 'abide in my love' and the promise that keeping his commandments results in mutual abiding parallels 1 John’s theme of abiding in God through love.
- Romans 5:5 (thematic): Speaks of God's love being poured into believers' hearts by the Spirit, thematically linking God's indwelling love with the believer’s experience of God.
- 1 John 3:16 (thematic): Defines love by Christ’s sacrificial example—'we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers'—providing the ethical outworking of the love in which one 'abides' with God.
Alternative generated candidates
- And we have come to know and to believe the love God has for us. God is love; and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
- We have come to know and have believed the love God has for us. God is love; and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
1John.4.17 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- εν: PREP
- τουτω: DEM,dat,sg,m
- τετελειωται: VERB,perf,pass,ind,3,sg
- η: ART,nom,sg,f
- αγαπη: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- μεθ᾽ημων: PREP+PRON,gen,pl,1
- ινα: CONJ
- παρρησιαν: NOUN,acc,sg,f
- εχωμεν: VERB,pres,act,subj,1,pl
- εν: PREP
- τη: ART,dat,sg,f
- ημερα: NOUN,dat,sg,f
- της: ART,gen,sg,f
- κρισεως: NOUN,gen,sg,f
- οτι: CONJ
- καθως: CONJ
- εκεινος: PRON,nom,sg,m
- εστιν: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- και: CONJ
- ημεις: PRON,nom,pl,1
- εσμεν: VERB,pres,act,ind,1,pl
- εν: PREP
- τω: ART,dat,sg,m
- κοσμω: NOUN,dat,sg,m
- τουτω: DEM,dat,sg,m
Parallels
- 1 John 3:2 (verbal): Echoes the idea of believers' likeness to God—'we shall be like him'—which parallels 4:17's 'as he is, so are we' (present-tense assurance and future consummation theme).
- 1 John 2:28 (verbal): Uses the same assurance motif (παρρησία/confidence) at Christ's coming: abide in him so that we may have confidence and not shrink at his appearing, paralleling confidence 'in the day of judgment' in 4:17.
- 1 John 4:18 (thematic): Directly connected within the same context: perfect love removes fear of judgment. 4:18 explains how perfected love (mentioned in 4:17) eliminates fear of punishment.
- John 17:21-23 (allusion): Jesus' prayer that believers may be one 'even as we are one' and that his love be in them resonates with 4:17's mutual likeness and divine indwelling—'as he is, so are we' and participation in God's life.
- Hebrews 10:19-22 (verbal): Speaks of drawing near with confidence (παρρησία) to the throne of grace because of Christ's work—paralleling 4:17's confidence before judgment grounded in love/relationship with God.
Alternative generated candidates
- By this love is perfected in us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment; for as he is, so are we in this world.
- In this love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment; because as he is, so are we in this world.
1John.4.18 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- φοβος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- ουκ: PART,neg
- εστιν: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- εν: PREP
- τη: ART,dat,sg,f
- αγαπη: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- αλλ᾽η: CONJ+ART,nom,sg,f
- τελεια: ADJ,nom,sg,f
- αγαπη: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- εξω: ADV
- βαλλει: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- τον: ART,acc,sg,m
- φοβον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- οτι: CONJ
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- φοβος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- κολασιν: NOUN,acc,sg,f
- εχει: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- δε: CONJ
- φοβουμενος: VERB,pres,mid,part,nom,sg,m
- ου: PART,neg
- τετελειωται: VERB,perf,pass,ind,3,sg
- εν: PREP
- τη: ART,dat,sg,f
- αγαπη: NOUN,nom,sg,f
Parallels
- 1 John 4:16-17 (structural): Same chapter’s development: God’s love perfected in us gives boldness/confidence before God and explains how perfect love removes fear (verbal and conceptual continuity with v.18).
- 1 John 3:18-20 (thematic): Links love with assurance before God—if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts—addressing conscience, confidence, and the absence of crippling fear in the life of love.
- 1 John 2:28 (thematic): Urges believers to abide in Christ so that at his coming they may have confidence and not shrink away in shame—parallel concern with being free from fear because of abiding in love.
- Romans 8:15 (thematic): Speaks of receiving a spirit of adoption 'not of slavery leading to fear' but of sonship, resonating with 1 John’s contrast between fear (punishment) and the security given by God’s love.
- 2 Timothy 1:7 (verbal): Explicitly contrasts a spirit of fear with one of power, love, and self-control—echoes 1 John’s declaration that love expels fear and links love with strength and maturity.
Alternative generated candidates
- There is no fear in love; perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. Whoever is afraid has not been perfected in love.
- There is no fear in love; but perfect love drives out fear, for fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears has not been perfected in love.
1John.4.19 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ημεις: PRON,nom,pl,1
- αγαπωμεν: VERB,pres,act,sub,1,pl
- οτι: CONJ
- αυτος: PRON,nom,sg,3,m
- πρωτος: ADJ,nom,sg,m
- ηγαπησεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- ημας: PRON,acc,pl,1
Parallels
- 1 John 4:10 (verbal): Explicitly states love's origin in God — 'not that we loved God but that he loved us' — directly explaining why 'we love, because he first loved us.'
- 1 John 3:16 (thematic): Defines the content of God's love (Christ laying down his life) and grounds the ethical response of believers to love others in that prior divine action.
- John 3:16 (thematic): Affirms that God's initiative in loving the world (sending the Son) is the basis for human salvation and for believers' reciprocal love.
- Romans 5:8 (thematic): Shows God's love demonstrated toward sinners in Christ's death, reinforcing the idea that divine initiative precedes and grounds human love.
- 1 John 3:1 (thematic): Invites reflection on the Father's gracious love shown to us (we are called children of God), which explains and motivates the believers' love toward God and others.
Alternative generated candidates
- We love because he first loved us.
- We love because he first loved us.
1John.4.20 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- εαν: CONJ
- τις: PRON,nom,sg,?
- ειπη: VERB,aor,act,subj,3,sg
- οτι: CONJ
- Αγαπω: VERB,pres,act,ind,1,sg
- τον: ART,acc,sg,m
- θεον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- και: CONJ
- τον: ART,acc,sg,m
- αδελφον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- αυτου: PRON,gen,sg,m
- μιση: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- ψευστης: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- εστιν·ο: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- γαρ: PART
- μη: PART
- αγαπων: PART,pres,act,nom,sg,m
- τον: ART,acc,sg,m
- αδελφον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- αυτου: PRON,gen,sg,m
- ον: PART,pres,act,nom,sg,m
- εωρακεν: VERB,perf,act,ind,3,sg
- τον: ART,acc,sg,m
- θεον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- ον: PART,pres,act,nom,sg,m
- ουχ: PART,neg
- εωρακεν: VERB,perf,act,ind,3,sg
- ου: PART,neg
- δυναται: VERB,pres,mid,ind,3,sg
- αγαπαν: VERB,pres,act,inf
Parallels
- 1 John 4:7-8 (verbal): Both assert that failure to love others indicates not knowing or loving God ("God is love"), linking true knowledge of God to active love.
- 1 John 3:17-18 (thematic): Emphasizes that professed love must be shown in deeds toward brothers in need; a claim to love God is hollow if one neglects or hates a brother.
- 1 John 2:9-11 (thematic): States that hating a brother is walking in darkness, paralleling the moral indictment that one who hates a brother cannot truly love God.
- John 13:34-35 (quotation): Jesus' command to "love one another" as the defining mark of his followers underscores that love for fellow believers is inseparable from relationship with God.
- Matthew 22:37-40 (allusion): The greatest commandments to love God and neighbor together highlight the inseparability of love for God and love for others, a principle echoed in 1 John 4:20.
Alternative generated candidates
- If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love the brother he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.
- If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar. For the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.
1John.4.21 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- και: CONJ
- ταυτην: PRON,acc,sg,f
- την: ART,acc,sg,f
- εντολην: NOUN,acc,sg,f
- εχομεν: VERB,pres,act,ind,1,pl
- απ᾽αυτου: PREP+PRON,gen,sg,3,m
- ινα: CONJ
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- αγαπων: PART,pres,act,nom,sg,m
- τον: ART,acc,sg,m
- θεον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- αγαπα: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- και: CONJ
- τον: ART,acc,sg,m
- αδελφον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- αυτου: PRON,gen,sg,m
Parallels
- John 13:34-35 (quotation): Jesus' explicit command to 'love one another' as the identifying mark of his disciples, directly parallels the Johannine imperative to love brothers.
- 1 John 3:23 (verbal): Same formula 'this is his commandment' linking belief in Jesus with loving one another—same Johannine command motif and vocabulary.
- 1 John 4:20 (structural): Immediate contextual contrast: professing love for God while hating a brother is inconsistent—clarifies why the command to love the brother derives from God.
- Leviticus 19:18 (allusion): Old Testament injunction to 'love your neighbor as yourself' provides the ethical background for New Testament commands to love fellow believers.
- Romans 13:8-10 (thematic): Paul's teaching that love fulfills the law (especially 'you shall love your neighbor') echoes the idea that love of others is a core divine commandment.
Alternative generated candidates
- And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
- And this is the commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Beloved, let us love one another; for love is from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.
By this the love of God was revealed among us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.
In this is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
By this we know that we abide in him and he in us: he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God. And we have come to know and believe the love God has for us. God is love; whoever abides in love abides in God and God abides in him.
By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment; because as he is, so are we in this world.
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, for fear has to do with punishment. The one who is afraid has not been perfected in love.
We love, because he first loved us.
If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.
This is the commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.