Christian Standard Bible
1 John 4:8
8The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1 John 4:8 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
- New International Version (NIV)Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
- New King James Version (NKJV)He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
Context of 1 John 4:8
6We are from God. Anyone who knows God listens to us; anyone who is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deception. 7Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Read all of 1 John 41 John 4:8 word by word
ὁ μὴ ἀγαπῶν οὐκ ἔγνω τὸν θεόν, ὅτι ὁ θεὸς ἀγάπη ἐστίν.Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for 1 John 4:8
- 1 John 2:4The one who says, “I have come to know him,” and yet doesn’t keep his commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
- 1 John 3:6Everyone who remains in him does not sin; everyone who sins has not seen him or known him.
- John 8:54“If I glorify myself,” Jesus answered, “my glory is nothing. My Father — about whom you say, ‘He is our God’ — he is the one who glorifies me.
- 1 John 1:5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in him.
- Exodus 34:6The Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed: The Lord — the Lord is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth,
- Psalms 86:5For you, Lord, are kind and ready to forgive, abounding in faithful love to all who call on you.
- 2 Corinthians 13:11Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice. Become mature, be encouraged, be of the same mind, be at peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.
- Ephesians 2:4But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us,
- Hebrews 12:29for our God is a consuming fire.
Commentaries on 1 John 4:8
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8He that loveth not - As already described, knoweth not God - has no experimental knowledge of him. God is love - An infinite fountain of benevolence and beneficence to every human being. He hates no thing that he has made. He cannot hate, because he is love. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends his rain on the just and the unjust. He has made no human being for perdition, nor ever rendered it impossible, by any necessitating…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8He that loveth not, knoweth not God - Has no true acquaintance with God; has no just views of him, and no right feelings toward him. The reason for this is implied in what is immediately stated, that “God is love,” and of course if they have no love reigning in their hearts, they cannot pretend to be like him. For God is love - He is not merely benevolent, he is benevolence itself. Compare the notes at 2 Corinthians 13:11. Never was a more important…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-13Verses 7-13 The Spirit of God is the Spirit of love. He that does not love the image of God in his people, has no saving knowledge of God. For it is God's nature to be kind, and to give happiness. The law of God is love; and all would have been perfectly happy, had all obeyed it. The provision of the gospel, for the forgiveness of sin, and the salvation of sinners, consistently with God's glory and justice, shows that God is love. Mystery and darkness…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8God is love: God is the source of all love and shows what true love is. This truth, together with the truth that “God is light”(1:5), forms the foundation for John’s message in this letter.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. knoweth not--Greek aorist: not only knoweth not now, but never knew, has not once for all known God. God is love--There is no Greek article to love, but to God; therefore we cannot translate, Love is God. God is fundamentally and essentially LOVE: not merely is loving, for then John's argument would not stand; for the conclusion from the premises then would be this, This man is not loving: God is loving; therefore he knoweth not God IN SO FAR AS God is…Read the comment
Topics related to 1 John 4:8
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 1 John 4
- 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
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