1 John 4:7

1 John 4:7 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
• New International Version (NIV)Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

Context of 1 John 4:7

5They are from the world, therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. 6We are from God. The one who knows God listens to us; the one who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. Beloved, let’s love one another; for love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9By this the love of God was revealed in us, that God has sent His only Son into the world so that we may live through Him.

1 John 4:7 word by word

Ἀγαπητοί, ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους, ὅτι ἡ ἀγάπη ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστιν καὶ πᾶς ὁ ἀγαπῶν ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ γεγέννηται καὶ γινώσκει τὸν θεόν·Read the interlinear

• Belovedἀγαπητόςagapētos · belovedG27
• loveἀγαπάωagapaō · to loveG25
• oneἀλλήλωνallēlōn · one anotherG240
• for loveἀγάπηagapē · loveG26
• is from Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• everyoneπᾶςpas · allG3956
• bornγεννάωgennaō · to begetG1080
• knowsγινώσκωginōskō · to knowG1097

Cross-references for 1 John 4:7

• 1 John 4:20If someone says, “I love God,” and yet he hates his brother or sister, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother and sister whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
• 1 John 2:10The one who loves his brother and sister remains in the Light, and there is nothing in him to cause stumbling.
• 1 John 3:10By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother and sister.
• 1 John 5:1Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves the child born of Him.
• 1 John 4:8The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
• Deuteronomy 30:6“Moreover, the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul, so that you may live.
• Galatians 5:22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
• 1 Thessalonians 4:9Now as to the love of the brothers and sisters, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another;
• 2 Timothy 1:7For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.
• 1 Peter 1:22Since you have purified your souls in obedience to the truth for a sincere love of the brothers and sisters, fervently love one another from the heart,
• 1 John 4:12No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us.
• 1 John 2:29If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness also has been born of Him.
• 1 John 3:14We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers and sisters. The one who does not love remains in death.
• John 17:3And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
• 2 Corinthians 4:6For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
• Galatians 4:9But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles, to which you want to be enslaved all over again?

Commentaries on 1 John 4:7

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 7Beloved, let us love one another - And ever be ready to promote each other's welfare, both spiritual and temporal. For love is of God - And ever acts like him; he loves man, and daily loads him with his benefits. He that loveth most has most of God in him; and he that loveth God and his neighbor, as before described and commanded, is born of God, , is begotten of God - is a true child of his heavenly Father, for he is made a partaker of the Divine nature…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7Beloved, let us love one another - This verse introduces a new topic, the consideration of which occupies the remainder of the chapter. See the Analysis. The subject is one on which John dwells more than on any other - that of love. His own character especially inclined him to the exercise of love; and the remarkable affection which the Lord Jesus had shown for him, seems to have had the effect to give this grace a special prominence in his views of what…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. 7-21John explains where a Christian’s love comes from and how it is shown in daily life.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 77. Resumption of the main theme (1Jo 2:29). Love, the sum of righteousness, is the test of our being born of God. Love flows from a sense of God's love to us: compare 1Jo 4:9 with 1Jo 3:16, which 1Jo 4:9 resumes; and 1Jo 4:13 with 1Jo 3:24, which similarly 1Jo 4:13 resumes. At the same time, 1Jo 4:7-21 is connected with the immediately preceding context, 1Jo 4:2 setting forth Christ's incarnation, the great proof of God's love (1Jo 4:10). Beloved--an…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 John 4:7

• Commandments
• Fellowship
• Love
• Regeneration
• Righteous
• Righteousness

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Benevolence
• Fear
• Love
• Perfect
• Sanctification
• Bear; Born
• Begotten
• Brotherly Kindness; Brotherly Love

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