1 John 3

Look at what kind of love the Father has given us: we get to be called children of God. The world does not know us because it did not know him.

1Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

Note"The world" in this letter does not mean the planet or its people in general, but human society as it is organized without reference to God. It is a way of speaking about an outlook, not a place. Where the King James says "the sons of God," the Greek word is the one for children, not sons. Throughout this letter the writer reserves "son" for Jesus and calls believers "children." Most early Greek manuscripts add a short clause here, "and we are," after "that we should be called the sons of God." The King James follows manuscripts that lack it, which is why the rendering beside you does not have it.

2Dear friends, right now we are children of God. What we will be later has not been shown yet. But we know that when he appears, we will be like him, because we will see him as he really is.

2Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

Note"It doth not yet appear" does not mean the matter is unclear; the verb means to be made visible or brought out into the open. The point is that the future state has not yet been disclosed. The Greek of "when he shall appear" is genuinely ambiguous: the verb has no stated subject, so it can mean "when he appears" or "when it appears," that is, when what we will be is finally revealed. Translators have to choose; the Greek does not.

3And everyone who holds this hope in him makes himself clean, just as Christ is clean.

3And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

NoteThe verb behind "purifieth himself" was ordinarily used of the ritual preparation that made a worshiper fit to enter the temple, washing and abstaining beforehand. Here it is applied to conduct rather than ceremony.

4Everyone who keeps on sinning is also breaking God's law, because sin is the breaking of the law.

4Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

Note"Transgresseth also the law" and "the transgression of the law" both render a single Greek noun meaning lawlessness. The sentence is closer to "sin is lawlessness" than to a statement about breaking a particular written rule.

5And you know that he appeared in order to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him.

5And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.

Note"Manifested" means was made visible, brought into the open. The same word runs through this chapter at verses 2, 5, 8 and 10, covering both Jesus appearing on earth and things being shown up for what they are.

6No one who stays joined to him keeps on sinning. Anyone who keeps on sinning has not seen him and does not know him.

6Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.

Note"Abideth" in 1611 English means stays or remains, not endures or tolerates. The Greek verbs for sinning here are in a tense that describes ongoing or habitual action rather than a single act. That is why the rendering says "keeps on sinning" where the King James says "sinneth." The distinction matters, because a few verses earlier the same letter says that anyone claiming to have no sin at all is deceiving himself.

7Little children, do not let anyone fool you. The person who does what is right is righteous, just as Christ is righteous.

7Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.

Note"Little children" is a term of affection an older teacher used for the adult members of his congregation. It says nothing about their age.

8The person who keeps on sinning belongs to the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. The Son of God appeared for this reason: to destroy what the devil does.

8He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

Note"Is of the devil" means originates from or belongs to, the way one might say a person is of a certain family. "The devil" translates a Greek word meaning slanderer or accuser. "Sinneth from the beginning" uses the same tense of continuing action: the sense is that the devil has been sinning all along, from the start.

9No one who is born of God keeps on sinning, because God's seed stays in him. He cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.

9Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

Note"His seed remaineth in him" is one of the most disputed sentences in the letter. The Greek word is the ordinary one for a sown seed or for offspring, and the pronouns are ambiguous, so the phrase can mean God's own life or word planted in the person, or the offspring God has produced. The Greek does not settle which.

10This is how you can tell God's children apart from the devil's children: anyone who does not do what is right does not belong to God, and neither does anyone who does not love his brother.

10In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

Note"Brother" in this letter normally means a fellow member of the Christian community rather than a blood relative. Greek used the masculine form for a mixed group, which is why some renderings say "brothers and sisters."

11This is the message you heard from the beginning: we should love one another.

11For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

12Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because his own actions were evil, and his brother's actions were right.

12Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.

NoteCain is the figure in Genesis 4 who killed his brother Abel after Abel's offering was accepted and his own was not. A first century reader would have caught the reference at once. "That wicked one" is literally "the evil one," a standing title for the devil in this letter.

13My brothers and sisters, do not be surprised if the world hates you.

13Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.

Note"Marvel not" means do not be astonished, not do not admire.

14We know that we have crossed over from death into life, because we love our brothers and sisters. Whoever does not love stays in death.

14We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.

15Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life staying in him.

15Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

NoteThe word the King James renders "murderer" is a compound meaning man-killer. It is a rare word, used elsewhere in these writings of the devil himself, so calling a hater a murderer places him in pointed company.

16This is how we know the love of God: Jesus gave up his life for us. And we ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.

16Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

NoteThe words "of God" in "the love of God" are not in the Greek, which says simply "by this we have known love." The King James translators supplied them to fill out the sense. The Greek subject of "laid down his life" is a pronoun meaning "that one," which this writer uses to refer to Jesus. "Lay down his life" is the same expression used in John's gospel for a shepherd giving up his life for the sheep. It means to surrender life deliberately, not merely to risk it.

17Suppose someone has the things this world offers, and sees his brother in need, but closes his heart against him. How can God's love be living in that person?

17But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

Note"This world's good" translates a word meaning livelihood or means of living: property, income, the resources one lives on, not luxury. "Bowels of compassion" sounds odd now, but the Greek word means the inner organs, which ancient writers treated as the seat of the strongest feelings, much as English speakers now say "heart." To shut them up is to close oneself off from pity.

18My little children, let us not love only with words and talk, but with actions and in truth.

18My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

19This is how we will know that we belong to the truth, and how we will set our hearts at rest in his presence:

19And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.

NoteThe Greek of verses 19 and 20 is notoriously hard to construe, and translations differ widely. "Assure our hearts" can mean to reassure or quiet the heart, or to convince and persuade it, and the word joining verse 19 to verse 20 can be read as "that" or as "because." The rendering beside you picks one of several defensible readings.

20even if our heart says we are guilty, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.

20For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.

Note"Heart" here carries the sense of conscience, the faculty that passes judgment on oneself. Because the connecting words are ambiguous, the clause "God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things" has been read in two opposite directions since antiquity: as comfort, meaning God's knowledge goes beyond our self-accusation, or as warning, meaning God knows more against us than we know ourselves. The Greek supports either.

21Dear friends, if our heart does not say we are guilty, then we can come to God with confidence.

21Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.

Note"Confidence" translates a word that originally described a citizen's right to speak freely and openly in public assembly. It carries the idea of frankness and freedom of speech, not just an inward feeling of assurance.

22And whatever we ask, we receive from him, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.

22And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

23And this is his command: that we believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and that we love one another, just as he commanded us.

23And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.

Note"Believe on the name" uses "name" in the common ancient sense of the person himself, everything he is and is known to be. The verb means to trust and give allegiance to, not merely to accept a fact as true.

24The person who keeps his commands lives in God, and God lives in him. And this is how we know that he stays in us: by the Spirit he has given us.

24And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

Note"Dwelleth in him, and he in him" repeats the verb translated "abideth" elsewhere in the chapter, meaning stays or remains. Greek pronouns do not distinguish the two parties any more clearly than the English does, so the mutual phrasing is deliberately reciprocal. This is the first mention of the Spirit in the letter, and it is offered as the evidence by which the readers can tell that the relationship is real.