1 John 5:13 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
1 John 5:13
These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
to "grave" · verb — second aorist active indicative, 1st person singular
you
ὑμῖνhymîn
G5213
to (with or by) you
believe
πιστεύουσινpisteuousin
G4100
to have faith (in · verb — present active participle, dative plural masculine
on
εἰςeis
G1519
to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
name
ὄνομαonoma
G3686
a "name" (literally or figuratively) (authority · noun — accusative singular neuter
Son
υἱοῦhuiou
G5207
a "son" (sometimes of animals) · noun — genitive singular masculine
God
θεοῦ,theou
G2316
figuratively · noun — genitive singular masculine, a title
that
ἵναina
G2443
compare G3588 (ὁ)) · conjunction
know
εἴδωeídō
G1492
used only in certain past tenses
that
ὅτιhoti
G3754
demonstrative · conjunction
have
ἔχετεechete
G2192
to hold (used in very various applications · verb — present active indicative, 2nd person plural
eternal
αἰώνιον,aiōnion
G166
perpetual (also used of past time · adjective — accusative singular feminine
life
ζωὴνzōēn
G2222
life (literally or figuratively) · noun — accusative singular feminine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
that
ἵναina
G2443
compare G3588 (ὁ)) · conjunction
believe
πιστεύουσινpisteuousin
G4100
to have faith (in · verb — present active participle, dative plural masculine
on
εἰςeis
G1519
to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
name
ὄνομαonoma
G3686
a "name" (literally or figuratively) (authority · noun — accusative singular neuter
Son
υἱοῦhuiou
G5207
a "son" (sometimes of animals) · noun — genitive singular masculine
God
θεοῦ.theou
G2316
figuratively · noun — genitive 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
John 20:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his nam…
John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
2 Peter 1:10-11 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
1 John 3:23 And 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.
John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the o…
1 John 2:21 I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
1 Timothy 1:15-16 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
Romans 8:15-17 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 John 5:10-13
In those words we may observe,
I. The privilege and stability of the real Christian: He that believeth on the Son of God, hath been prevailed with unfeignedly to cleave to him for salvation, hath the witness in himself, Jo1 5:10. He hath not only the outward evidence that others have, but he hath in his own heart a testimony for Jesus Christ. He can allege what Christ and the truth of Christ have done for his soul and what he has seen and found in him. As, 1. He has deeply seen his sin, and guilt, and misery, and his abundant need of such a Saviour. 2. He has seen the excellency, beauty, and office of the Son of God, and the incomparable suitableness of such a Saviour to all his spiritual wa…
The oldest manuscripts and versions read, "These things have I written unto you [omitting 'that believe on the name of the Son of God'] that ye may know that ye have eternal life (compare Jo1 5:11), THOSE (of you I mean) WHO believe (not as English Version reads, 'and that ye may believe') on the name of the Son of God." English Version, in the latter clause, will mean, "that ye may continue to believe," &c. (compare Jo1 5:12).
These things--This Epistle. He, towards the close of his Gospel (Joh 20:30-31), wrote similarly, stating his purpose in having written. In Jo1 1:4 he states the object of his writing this Epistle to be, "that your joy may be full." To "know that we have eternal life…
That ye may know that ye have eternal life - I write to show your privileges - to lead you into this holy of holies - to show what believing on the Son of God is, by the glorious effects it produces: it is not a blind reliance for, but an actual enjoyment of, salvation; Christ living, working, and reigning in the heart.
And that ye may believe - That is, continue to believe: for Christ dwells in the heart only by Faith, and faith lives only by Love, and love continues only by Obedience; he who Believes loves, and he who Loves obeys. He who obeys loves; he who loves believes; he who believes has the witness in himself: he who has this witness has Christ in his heart, the hope of glory; and he…
The Church Fathers
These things I have written to you, that you may know that you have eternal life, etc. That you may know, he says, that you may be certain of your future blessedness, who believe in Christ, so that you are not deceived by the fraud of those who deny that Jesus is the Son of God, and therefore assert that nothing will benefit those who have believed in His name. And the wondrous madness of heretics, who, though the Son of God is referred to throughout this entire Epistle, still assert that Christ is not the Son but a creature of God. Which in no way do they read, except when His humanity is mentioned.
I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God: that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe in the name of the Son of God. As if in a summary at the end, John repeats the aforementioned and says: I have written these things to you as heirs of eternal life: for these things would not be written for those who do not live according to the hope of eternal life: because neither should holy things be given to dogs nor pearls be scattered before pigs, (Matt. 7:6) for they do not deserve praise. Therefore, writing these things as heirs of eternal life, John briefly repeats, as we have said, suggesting to them what has already been said: first, that it is necessary to firmly believe in the name of the Son of God, that is, in the divine worship handed down to us by Him: for this is what the name of the Son of God signifies, as we have said, to whom, namely, the grace of sacred baptism prepares the way.
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
Assurance · Saints privileged to have, of: Eternal life — Saints privileged to have, of: Eternal life
Life, Eternal · Saints: May have assurance of — Saints: May have assurance of
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).
These things have I written unto you,.... Which are contained in the epistle in general, and particularly what is written in the context, concerning the victory of the world, being ascribed to him who believes that Christ is the Son of God; and concerning the six witnesses of his sonship, and the record bore by God, that the gift of eternal life is in him: and which are especially written to them,
that believe on the name of the Son of God; who not only believed that Christ is the Son of God, which this six fold testimony would confirm them in, but also believed in his name for righteousness, life, and salvation; in which name there is all this, and in no other; and who also professed their…
1 John 5:13-15
13. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
13. Haec scripsi vebis credentibus in nomen Filii Dei, ut sciatis quod vitam habetis aeternam, et ut credatis in nomen Filii Dei.
14. And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
14. Atque haec est fiducia quam habemus erga eum, quod si quid petierimus secundum voluntatem ejus, audit nos.
15. And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
15. Si autem novimus quo…
Whoever has the Son has life: Those who have the Son of God living in them have God’s eternal life now—they enjoy the presence of God’s Spirit (2:20, 25, 27), and they have the guarantee of eternity with God (see Eph 1:13-14).
