3 John 1:4

3 John 1:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
• New International Version (NIV)I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
• English Standard Version (ESV)I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
• New King James Version (NKJV)I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

Context of 3 John 1:4

2My friend, I pray that God will help you to live well. I know that you are well in your spirit. I pray that your body will also be well. 3I was very happy when I heard news about you. Some Christian friends came here to tell me about you. They said that you are living in a good way. That is the way that God's true message tells us to live. I am happy when I hear that my children are living like that. When they obey God's true message, it makes me very happy. 5My friend, you do many things to help other believers. You help them even when they are strangers to you. This shows that you are serving God well. 6These men have spoken to the group of believers here about your love. Please continue to help them when they visit you. Give them the things that they need to continue on their journey. That will make God happy.

3 John 1:4 word by word

μειζοτέραν τούτων οὐκ ἔχω χαρὰν ἵνα ἀκούω τὰ ἐμὰ τέκνα ἐν ἀληθείᾳ περιπατοῦντα.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• ·οὗτοςhoutos houtoi hautē hautai · this/he/she/itG3778
• I haveἔχωechō · to have/beG2192
• noοὐou · noG3756
• greaterμέγαςmegas · greatG3173
• joyχαράchara · joyG5479
• thanἵναhina · in order that/toG2443
• to hearἀκούωakouō · to hearG191
• myἐμόςemos · mineG1699
• childrenτέκνονteknon · childG5043
• walkπεριπατέωperipateō · to walkG4043
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• truthἀλήθειαalētheia · truthG225

Cross-references for 3 John 1:4

• Proverbs 23:24The father of a righteous person will be very happy. He will be proud of a wise child.
• Isaiah 8:18Look! Here I am, with the children that the Lord has given to me. We are messages from the Lord Almighty who lives on Mount Zion. We are messages to Israel's people.
• 1 Corinthians 4:15When I told the good news about Jesus Christ to you, I became like a father for you. You may have ten thousand teachers to help you understand the message about Christ. But I am the only person who is like a father for you.
• Galatians 4:19My children, I feel like a mother who is giving birth to you again. I will continue to feel that kind of pain until you become more completely like Christ.
• Philemon 1:10So I am asking you to help Onesimus, who is like my own child. I taught him about Jesus while I was in prison. Because of that, he now has life with God. I am like his father.
• 1 Kings 2:4The Lord will also do what he has promised me that he will do. He promised this to me: “Your descendants must be careful in how they live. They must serve me faithfully with all their mind and strength. If they do that, one of your descendants will always rule Israel as king.”
• 1 Kings 3:6Solomon answered, ‘You always showed your faithful love to your servant, my father David. He served you faithfully as a good, honest man. You have continued to show your faithful love to him even now. You have given him a son to rule as king on his throne.
• 2 Kings 20:3He said, ‘Lord, please remember that I have served you well. I have always obeyed you. You could trust me to do the things that you told me to do.’ Hezekiah wept very much.
• Psalms 26:1Lord, I always try to do what is right. I continue to trust you all the time. So please show that I am not guilty of wrong things.
• Isaiah 38:3He prayed, ‘Lord, please remember that I have served you well. I have always obeyed you. You could trust me to do the things that you told me to do.’ Hezekiah wept very much.
• John 12:35Jesus answered, ‘The light will be with you for only a short time longer. So continue to walk while you still have the light. Do that, so that the dark will not come over you. Anyone who walks in the dark does not know where they are going.
• Galatians 2:14But I could see that they were wrong to do this. They were not living in a way that agrees with God's true message. So I spoke to Peter in front of all of them. I said to him, ‘You were born as a Jew, but you have been living like a Gentile. As a believer, you no longer obey all the Jewish rules. So you should not try to make Gentile believers obey those Jewish rules.’

Commentaries on 3 John 1:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4To hear that my children - From this it has been inferred that Caius was one of St. John's converts, and consequently not the Corinthian Caius, who was converted, most probably, by St. Paul. But the apostle might use the term children here as implying those who were immediately under his pastoral care, and, being an old man, he had a right to use such terms in addressing his juniors both in age and grace; and there is much both of propriety and dignity in…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth - That they adhere steadfastly to the truth, and that they live in accordance with it. This is such language as would be used by an aged apostle when speaking of those who had been converted by his instrumentality, and who looked up to him as a father; and we may, therefore, infer that Gaius had been converted under the ministry of John, and that he was probably a much younger man than he…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4Like in 2 John (see 2 John 1:1–4), John emphasizes the importance of knowing and following the truth. This stands in contrast to Diotrephes and those who follow him (3 John 1:9).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. my children--members of the Church: confirming the view that the "elect lady" is a Church.Read the comment

Topics related to 3 John 1:4

• Minister, Christian
• Zeal, Religious

In the dictionaries

• John, the Second and Third Epistles of
• joy, joyful, rejoice, glad

Commentaries on 3 John 1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• 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
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings