1 John 2:7

1 John 2:7 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.
• New International Version (NIV)Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning.

Context of 1 John 2:7

5But anyone who obeys God's message shows that he really loves God completely. So this is how we know that we belong to God. 6If we say that we are living in God's true way, then we must live in the way that Jesus lived. My friends, I am telling you to love one another. When I write this to you, I am not giving you a new rule. It is an old rule that you have had for a long time. We gave it to you when you began to obey Christ. It is the same message that you have already heard. 8But there is something new about it. This rule has become true in the way that Christ lived. Now it has also become true in your lives. God's true message has brought light to shine in your lives. You no longer live in the dark where you do bad things. 9A person may say that he is living in the light. But if that person hates another believer, then he is telling a lie. He is still living in the dark.

1 John 2:7 word by word

Ἀγαπητοί, οὐκ ἐντολὴν καινὴν γράφω ὑμῖν ἀλλ᾽ ἐντολὴν παλαιὰν ἣν εἴχετε ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς· ἡ ἐντολὴ ἡ παλαιά ἐστιν ὁ λόγος ὃν ἠκούσατεRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Brethrenἀδελφόςadelphos · brotherG80
• I writeγράφωgraphō · to writeG1125
• noοὐou · noG3756
• newκαινόςkainos · newG2537
• commandmentἐντολήentolē · commandmentG1785
• unto youσύsu · youG4771
• butἀλλάalla · butG235
• oldπαλαιόςpalaios · oldG3820
• whichὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• ye hadἔχωechō · to have/beG2192
• fromἀπόapo · away fromG575
• the beginningἀρχήarchē · beginningG746
• Theὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• the wordλόγοςlogos · wordG3056
• ye have heardἀκούωakouō · to hearG191

Cross-references for 1 John 2:7

• 1 John 3:11Yes, we must love one another. That is the message which you have heard from the beginning.
• Acts 17:19So these men asked Paul to go with them to Areopagus hill. They wanted him to speak to the city's important officers who met there.
• 2 John 1:5So now, dear lady, I want you to do something. I want all of us to love one another. I am not telling you a new command to obey. This is a command that we have had from the beginning.
• Leviticus 19:18You must not try to punish a person who has done something wrong against you. You must not continue to hate a person like that. Instead, you must love other people as much you love yourself. I am the Lord.
• Deuteronomy 6:5Love the Lord your God with all your mind and with all your strength. Love him with all that you are.
• Matthew 5:43You have heard people say, “Love the people who are your friends. But hate those who want to hurt you.”
• Matthew 22:37Jesus replied to him, ‘You should love the Lord your God completely: Love him with all your mind. Love him with all that you are. Love him in all that you think.
• Mark 12:29Jesus replied, ‘This rule is the most important rule: “Listen, Israel's people! The Lord alone is our God. There is no other Lord.
• Romans 13:8Always pay your debts to people. The only debt that you should have is to love each other. Anyone who loves other people has obeyed God's Law completely.
• Galatians 5:13My Christian friends, God has chosen you to serve him as free people. But you are still weak and human. So you are not free to do anything that you might want to do. Instead, you must serve one another, because you love each other.
• James 2:8But the message of God's kingdom is this: ‘Love other people as much as you love yourself.’ That is what the Bible says. If you really do that, you do well.

Commentaries on 1 John 2:7

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 7Brethren, I write no new commandment - There seems a contradiction between this and the next verse. But the apostle appears to speak, not so much of any difference in the essence of the precept itself, as in reference to the degrees of light and grace belonging to the Mosaic and Christian dispensations. It was ever the command of God that men should receive his light, walk by that light, and love him and one another. But this commandment was renewed by…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you - That is, what I am now enjoining is not new. It is the same doctrine which you have always heard. There has been much difference of opinion as to what is referred to by the word “commandment,” whether it is the injunction in the previous verse to live as Christ lived, or whether it is what he refers to in the following verses, the duty of brotherly love. Perhaps neither of these is exactly the idea of the…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 3-11Verses 3-11 What knowledge of Christ can that be, which sees not that he is most worthy of our entire obedience? And a disobedient life shows there is neither religion nor honesty in the professor. The love of God is perfected in him that keeps his commandments. God's grace in him attains its true mark, and produces its sovereign effect as far as may be in this world, and this is man's regeneration; though never absolutely perfect here. Yet this observing…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7-11The disciples received this commandment (to love one another) from the very beginning. They received it from Jesus himself and from the Old Testament (John 13:34–35; Leviticus 19:18, 33–34).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 77. Brethren--The oldest manuscripts and versions read instead, "Beloved," appropriate to the subject here, love. no new commandment--namely, love, the main principle of walking as Christ walked (1Jo 2:6), and that commandment, of which one exemplification is presently given, 1Jo 2:9, 10, the love of brethren. ye had from the beginning--from the time that ye first heard the Gospel word preached.Read the comment

Topics related to 1 John 2:7

• Word of God

In the dictionaries

• New Commandment
• Acknowledge
• Advocate
• Lie
• Stumble
• Begin
• Commandment, the New
• John, the Epistles of
• John, the First Epistle General of

Commentaries on 1 John 2

• 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
• 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