American Standard Version
1 John 3:20
20because if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.
1 John 3:20 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.
- New International Version (NIV)If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
- English Standard Version (ESV)for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.
- New King James Version (NKJV)For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.
Context of 1 John 3:20
18My little children, let us not love in word, neither with the tongue; but in deed and truth. 19Hereby shall we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our heart before him: because if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. 21Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, we have boldness toward God; 22and whatsoever we ask we receive of him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight.
Read all of 1 John 31 John 3:20 word by word
ὅτι ἐὰν καταγινώσκῃ ἡμῶν ἡ καρδία, ὅτι μείζων ἐστὶν ὁ θεὸς τῆς καρδίας ἡμῶν καὶ γινώσκει πάντα.¶Read the interlinear
Cross-references for 1 John 3:20
- Job 27:6My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: My heart shall not reproachmeso long as I live.
- John 8:9And they, when they heard it, went out one by one, beginning from the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the midst.
- Acts 5:33But they, when they heard this, were cut to the heart, and were minded to slay them.
- Romans 2:14(for when Gentiles that have not the law do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are the law unto themselves;
- 1 Corinthians 4:4For I know nothing against myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord.
- 1 Corinthians 14:24But if all prophesy, and there come in one unbelieving or unlearned, he is reproved by all, he is judged by all;
- 1 John 4:4Ye are of God, my little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.
- Job 33:12Behold, I will answer thee, in this thou art not just; For God is greater than man.
- John 10:29My Father, who hath given them unto me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
- Hebrews 6:13For when God made promise to Abraham, since he could swear by none greater, he sware by himself,
- Psalms 44:20If we have forgotten the name of our God, Or spread forth our hands to a strange god;
- Psalms 90:8Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, Our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.
- Psalms 139:1O Jehovah, thou hast searched me, and knownme.
- Jeremiah 17:10I, Jehovah, search the mind, I try the heart, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.
- Jeremiah 23:24Can any hide himself in secret places so that I shall not see him? saith Jehovah. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith Jehovah.
- John 2:24But Jesus did not trust himself unto them, for that he knew all men,
Commentaries on 1 John 3:20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20If our heart condemn us - If we be conscious that our love is feigned, we shall feel inwardly condemned in professing to have what we have not. And if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, for he knows every hypocritical winding and turning of the soul, he searches the heart, and tries the reins, and sees all the deceitfulness and desperate wickedness of the heart which we cannot see, and, if we could see them, could not comprehend them…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20For if our heart condemn us - We cannot hope for peace from any expectation that our own hearts will never accuse us, or that we ourselves can approve of all that we have done. The reference here is not so much to our past lives, as to our present conduct and deportment. The object is to induce Christians so to live that their hearts will not condemn them for any secret sins, while the outward deportment may be unsullied. The general sentiment is, that if…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 16-21Verses 16-21 Here is the condescension, the miracle, the mystery of Divine love, that God would redeem the church with his own blood. Surely we should love those whom God has loved, and so loved. The Holy Spirit, grieved at selfishness, will leave the selfish heart without comfort, and full of darkness and terror. By what can it be known that a man has a true sense of the love of Christ for perishing sinners, or that the love of God has been planted in…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 19-22Those who truly love (3:16–18) can feel confident that God accepts them. This kind of love shows that their faith is real and that they have new life in Christ (see 4:7–8).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2020. Luther and Bengel take this verse as consoling the believer whom his heart condemns; and who, therefore, like Peter, appeals from conscience to Him who is greater than conscience. "Lord, Thou knowest all things: thou knowest that I love Thee." Peter's conscience, though condemning him of his sin in denying the Lord, assured him of his love; but fearing the possibility, owing to his past fall, of deceiving himself, he appeals to the all-knowing God: so…Read the comment
Topics related to 1 John 3:20
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 1 John 3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
American Standard Version — 1901 — Public Domain
Commentaries