1 John 4:10

Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
Herein	ἐν en	G1722	"in · preposition
is	ἐστί estí	G2076	he (she or it) is
love	ἀγάπη, agapē	G26	love · noun — nominative singular feminine
not	οὐχ ouch	G3756	the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverb · particle — negative
that	ὅτι hoti	G3754	demonstrative · conjunction
we	ἡμεῖς hēmeîs	G2249	we (only used when emphatic)
loved	ἠγαπήκαμεν ēgapēkamen	G25	to love (in a social or moral sense) · verb — perfect active indicative, 1st person plural
God	θεόν, theon	G2316	figuratively · noun — accusative singular masculine, a title
but	ἀλλ᾽ all᾽	G235	properly · conjunction
that	ὅτι hoti	G3754	demonstrative · conjunction
he	αὐτὸς autos	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — nominative singular masculine
loved	ἠγάπησεν ēgapēsen	G25	to love (in a social or moral sense) · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
us	ἡμᾶς hēmâs	G2248	us
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
sent	ἀπέστειλεν apesteilen	G649	set apart · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
his	αὐτοῦ autou	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine
Son	υἱὸν huion	G5207	a "son" (sometimes of animals) · noun — accusative singular masculine
propitiation	ἱλασμὸν hilasmon	G2434	atonement · noun — accusative singular masculine
for	περὶ peri	G4012	properly · preposition
our	ἡμῶν hēmōn	G2257	of (or from) us
sins	ἁμαρτιῶν hamartiōn	G266	a sin (properly abstract) · noun — genitive plural feminine

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Ephesians 2:4-5 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Romans 5:8-10 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
1 John 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.
1 John 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
John 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain:…
1 John 4:8-9 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life…
Titus 3:3-5 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful,…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 John 4:7-13

As the Spirit of truth is known by doctrine (thus spirits are to be tried), it is known by love likewise; and so here follows a strong fervent exhortation to holy Christian love: Beloved, let us love one another, Jo1 4:7. The apostle would unite them in his love, that he might unite them in love to each other: "Beloved, I beseech you, by the love I bear to you, that you put on unfeigned mutual love." This exhortation is pressed and urged with variety of argument: as, I. From the high and heavenly descent of love: For love is of God. He is the fountain, author, parent, and commander of love; it is the sum of his law and gospel: And every one that loveth (whose spirit is framed to judicious ho…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 John 4:10

Herein is love--love in the abstract: love, in its highest ideal, is herein. The love was all on God's side, none on ours. not that we loved God--though so altogether worthy of love. he loved us--though so altogether unworthy of love. The Greek aorist expresses, Not that we did any act of love at any time to God, but that He did the act of love to us in sending Christ.

Adam Clarke on 1 John 4:10

Not that we loved God - And that he was thereby induced to give his Son to be a propitiation for our sins. No: we were enemies to God, and yet Christ died for our ungodly souls. (See Rom 5:6-11, and the notes there.) So it was God's love, not our merit, that induced him to devise means that his banished might not be expelled from him.

John Gill on 1 John 4:10

Herein is love,.... The love of God, free love, love that cannot be matched: herein it is manifested, as before; this is a clear evidence of it, an undoubted proof, and puts it out of all question: not that we loved God: the love of God is antecedent to the love of his people; it was when theirs was not; when they were without love to him, yea, enemies in their minds, by wicked works, and even enmity itself, and therefore was not procured by theirs; but on the contrary, their love to him is caused by his love to them; hence his love, and a continuance in it, do not depend on theirs; nor does it vary according to theirs; wherefore there is good reason to believe it will continue, and never b…

The Church Fathers

The perfect love with which God first loved us will come into our hearts, for our faith tells us that this prayer of our Savior will not be in vain.
— John Cassian, CONFERENCE 10.7

We come to God not by our own merits but by the bestowal of his grace alone, as John bears witness when he says that we did not love God but rather he loved us.
— Bede, Homilies on the Gospels 2.3

In this is love, etc. We did not love him first. For he loved us to the extent that we might love him. Grace indeed goes before man, that he may love God, by which love he works good things. Whence the Psalmist says: My God, his mercy shall anticipate me (Ps. LVIII).
— Bede, Commentary on the Catholic Epistles

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

John, The First Epistle General Of — There can be no doubt that the apostle John was the author of this epistle. It was probably written from Ephesus, and most likely at the close of the first century. In the introduction, ch. (1 John…
Propitiation — That by which God is rendered propitious, i.e., by which it becomes consistent with his character and government to pardon and bless the sinner. The propitiation does not procure his love or make him…
Atonement, The · Explained — Explained
Love Of God, The · Exhibited in: Christ’s dying for us while sinners — Exhibited in: Christ’s dying for us while sinners
Redemption · Manifests the: Love and pity of God — Manifests the: Love and pity of God
Salvation · Is of love — Is of love

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

1 John 4:10

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 John 4:7-13

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 John 4:10

Adam Clarke on 1 John 4:10

John Gill on 1 John 4:10

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

1 John 4:10

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 John 4:7-13

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 John 4:10

Adam Clarke on 1 John 4:10

John Gill on 1 John 4:10

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on 1 John 4:7-10

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 John 4:9-10