1 John 4:7

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
Beloved	Ἀγαπητοί, Agapētoi	G27	beloved · adjective — vocative plural masculine
love	ἀγαπῶμεν agapōmen	G25	to love (in a social or moral sense) · verb — present active subjunctive, 1st person plural
another	ἀλλήλους, allēlous	G240	one another · reciprocal pronoun — accusative plural masculine
for	ὅτι hoti	G3754	demonstrative · conjunction
love	ἀγάπη agapē	G26	love · noun — nominative singular feminine
is	ἐστί estí	G2076	he (she or it) is
of	ἐκ ek	G1537	literal or figurative · preposition
God	θεοῦ theou	G2316	figuratively · noun — genitive singular masculine, a title
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
one	πᾶς pas	G3956	all · adjective — nominative singular masculine
that	ἡ hē	G3588	the (sometimes to be supplied · article — nominative singular feminine
loveth	ἀγαπῶν agapōn	G25	to love (in a social or moral sense) · verb — present active participle, nominative singular masculine
born	γεγέννηται gegennētai	G1080	to procreate (properly · verb — perfect passive indicative, 3rd person singular
of	ἐκ ek	G1537	literal or figurative · preposition
God	θεοῦ theou	G2316	figuratively · noun — genitive singular masculine, a title
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
knoweth	γινώσκει ginōskei	G1097	to "know" (absolutely) in a great variety of applicatio… · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
God	θεόν· theon	G2316	figuratively · noun — accusative singular masculine, a title

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

1 John 4:20-5:1 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God wh…
1 John 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
1 Peter 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another…
1 John 2:10 He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
1 Thessalonians 4:9-10 But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.
2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
1 John 4:12 No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.

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…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 John 4:7

Resumption of the main theme (Jo1 2:29). Love, the sum of righteousness, is the test of our being born of God. Love flows from a sense of God's love to us: compare Jo1 4:9 with Jo1 3:16, which Jo1 4:9 resumes; and Jo1 4:13 with Jo1 3:24, which similarly Jo1 4:13 resumes. At the same time, Jo1 4:7-21 is connected with the immediately preceding context, Jo1 4:2 setting forth Christ's incarnation, the great proof of God's love (Jo1 4:10). Beloved--an address appropriate to his subject, "love." love--All love is from God as its fountain: especially that embodiment of love, God manifest in the flesh. The Father also is love (Jo1 4:8). The Holy Ghost sheds love as its first fruit abroad in the…

Read the whole note in the console

Adam Clarke on 1 John 4:7

Beloved, let us love one another - And ever be ready to promote each other's welfare, both spiritual and temporal. For love is of God - And ever acts like him; he loves man, and daily loads him with his benefits. He that loveth most has most of God in him; and he that loveth God and his neighbor, as before described and commanded, is born of God, εκ του Θεου γεγεννηται, is begotten of God - is a true child of his heavenly Father, for he is made a partaker of the Divine nature; and this his love to God and man proves.

The Church Fathers

Love is from God, as have declared those whom he has made not only his great lovers but also his great preachers.
— Augustine of Hippo, ON THE GIFT OF PERSEVERANCE 21.56

Beloved, let us love one another, etc. He has highly recommended charity, which he said is from God; he is about to say more, let us listen attentively:
— Bede, Commentary on the Catholic Epistles

Just as the person who does not choose what he ought to choose has done wrong and does not love what he ought to love, so those who love only those who are worthy of love receive only that level of praise due to them.
— Didymus the Blind, COMMENTARY ON 1 JOHN

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…
Sanctification — Involves more than a mere moral reformation of character, brought about by the power of the truth: it is the work of the Holy Spirit bringing the whole nature more and more under the influences of…
Love To Man · Is of God — Is of God
New Birth, The · Evidenced by: Brotherly love — Evidenced by: Brotherly 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 4:7

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 John 4:7-13

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 John 4:7

Adam Clarke on 1 John 4:7

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

1 John 4:7

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 John 4:7-13

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 John 4:7

Adam Clarke on 1 John 4:7

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on 1 John 4:7

John Calvin on 1 John 4:7-10

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 John 4:7-21