1 John 3:20

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

18Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in action and in truth. 19This is how we will know that we belong to the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows all things. 21Dear friends, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have confidence before God 22and receive whatever we ask from him because we keep his commands and do what is pleasing in his sight.

1 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

Words taken from the KJV.

• Forὅτιhoti · that/since: thatG3754
• ifἐάνean · ifG1437
• ourἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• heartὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• heartκαρδίαkardia · heartG2588
• condemn usκαταγινώσκωkataginōskō · to condemnG2607
• Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• greater thanμέγαςmegas · greatG3173
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• knowethγινώσκωginōskō · to knowG1097
• all thingsπᾶςpas · allG3956

Cross-references for 1 John 3:20

• Job 27:6I will cling to my righteousness and never let it go. My conscience will not accuse me as long as I live!
• John 8:9When they heard this, they left one by one, starting with the older men. Only he was left, with the woman in the center.
• Acts 5:33When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them.
• Romans 2:14So, when Gentiles, who do not by nature have the law, do what the law demands, they are a law to themselves even though they do not have the law.
• 1 Corinthians 4:4For I am not conscious of anything against myself, but I am not justified by this. It is the Lord who judges me.
• 1 Corinthians 14:24But if all are prophesying and some unbeliever or outsider comes in, he is convicted by all and is called to account by all.
• 1 John 4:4You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
• Job 33:12But I tell you that you are wrong in this matter, since God is greater than man.
• John 10:29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
• Hebrews 6:13For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater to swear by, he swore by himself:
• Psalms 44:20If we had forgotten the name of our God and spread out our hands to a foreign god,
• Psalms 90:8You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.
• Psalms 139:1Lord, you have searched me and known me.
• Jeremiah 17:10I, the Lord, examine the mind, I test the heart to give to each according to his way, according to what his actions deserve.
• Jeremiah 23:24Can a person hide in secret places where I cannot see him?” — the Lord’s declaration. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” — the Lord’s declaration.
• John 2:24Jesus, however, would not entrust himself to them, since he knew them all

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

• Commandments
• Conscience
• God Continued...
• Remorse
• Righteousness

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Appear
• Assure
• Condemn
• Pleasing
• Sin
• Word
• Condemn; Condemnation
• Ethics

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