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

18My little children, we should not show love for each other only by what we say. We should also show true love by the things that we do. 19Then we will know that we truly belong to God. We will be obeying God's true message. As a result, our thoughts will not make us ashamed to come to God. Even if our thoughts tell us that we have done something wrong, we still will not be afraid of God. We can trust God more than we trust our thoughts. He already knows everything about us. 21My friends, if our thoughts do not tell us that we are guilty, we will not be afraid to come to God. 22We can pray to God and we can ask him to help us. He will give us what we ask him for. That is because we obey his commands and we do the things that please him.

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 never agree that I am guilty. During all of my life, my thoughts do not say that I am doing anything wrong.
• John 8:9When they heard what Jesus said, the people began to go away. They went one by one. The older people went first. After some time, only Jesus remained with the woman. She was still standing there.
• Acts 5:33The group of Jewish leaders heard what the apostles said to them. They were so angry that they wanted to kill the apostles.
• Romans 2:14The Gentiles do not have God's Law. But they may still do the right things that the Law teaches. They do right things because of what they themselves think is right. In that way they are showing that they have a certain law in their minds, even though they do not know God's Law.
• 1 Corinthians 4:4I am sure in my own mind that I have not done anything wrong. But that does not make me right. Only the Lord himself can judge me.
• 1 Corinthians 14:24But if all of you are speaking clear messages from God, a visitor will understand you. He may not believe in God. He may not have learned much about God. But he will hear God's message. He will understand that he has done wrong things. He will know that God will judge him. He will learn this from what all of you are saying.
• 1 John 4:4My little children, you belong to God. You have won against those people with a false message. You have been able to do that because God's Holy Spirit is in you. He is more powerful than the spirit that belongs to this world.
• Job 33:12But now I tell you this, Job: You are not right! God is greater than any human.
• John 10:29My Father has given them to me. He is greater than all things. Nobody can ever take my sheep out of my Father's hand.
• Hebrews 6:13God made a promise to Abraham many years ago. God used the authority of his own name to show that his promise was true. He did that because there was nobody greater than God himself. His name showed that the promise was very serious.
• Psalms 44:20We might have turned against you, our God, and worshipped a strange god.
• Psalms 90:8All our sins are there for you to see. You even see the sins that we have tried to hide.
• Psalms 139:1Lord, you look deep inside me, and you know all about me.
• Jeremiah 17:10But I, the Lord, look inside a person's mind. I see what he thinks and what he feels. I see how everyone lives, and I see the things that they do. I give to each one what he deserves.
• Jeremiah 23:24Do you think you can hide in a place where I cannot see you? You should know that I am everywhere, in the heavens above and on the earth.’ That is what the Lord says.
• John 2:24But Jesus himself did not trust the people. He knew what all people are really like.

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