1 John 2:20

1 John 2:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
• English Standard Version (ESV)But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.
• New King James Version (NKJV)But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.
• New Living Translation (NLT)But you are not like that, for the Holy One has given you his Spirit, and all of you know the truth.

Context of 1 John 2:20

18Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. 21I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. 22Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son.

1 John 2:20 word by word

καὶ ὑμεῖς χρῖσμα ἔχετε ἀπὸ τοῦ ἁγίου καὶ οἴδατε πάντες.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Butκαίkai · andG2532
• yeσύsu · youG4771
• haveἔχωechō · to have/beG2192
• an unctionχρῖσμαchrisma · anointingG5545
• fromἀπόapo · away fromG575
• the Holy Oneἅγιοςhagios · holyG40
• ye knowεἴδωeidō · to perceive: understandG1492
• all thingsπᾶςpas · allG3956
• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588

Cross-references for 1 John 2:20

• 1 John 2:27As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.
• 1 John 4:13This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit.
• Psalms 23:5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
• Psalms 45:7You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.
• Psalms 92:10You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox; fine oils have been poured on me.
• Isaiah 61:1The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,
• Luke 4:18“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free,
• Acts 10:38how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.
• 2 Corinthians 1:21Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us,
• Hebrews 1:9You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.”
• Psalms 16:10because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay.
• Psalms 71:22I will praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, my God; I will sing praise to you with the lyre, Holy One of Israel.
• Isaiah 43:3For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead.
• Mark 1:24“What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
• Luke 4:34“Go away! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
• Acts 3:14You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.

Commentaries on 1 John 2:20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20But ye have an unction - The word signifies not an unction, but an ointment, the very thing itself by which anointing is effected; and so it was properly rendered in our former translations. Probably this is an allusion to the holy anointing oil of the law, and to Psalm 14:7; : God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness - he hath given thee the plenitude of the Spirit, which none of thy fellows - none of the prophets, ever received in such abundance…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20But ye have an unction from the Holy One - The apostle in this verse evidently intends to say that he had no apprehension in regard to those to whom he wrote that they would thus apostatize, and bring dishonor on their religion. They had been so anointed by the Holy Spirit that they understood the true nature of religion, and it might be confidently expected that they would persevere. The word “unction” or “anointing” ( ́ chrisma) means, properly…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 18-23Verses 18-23 Every man is an antichrist, who denies the Person, or any of the offices of Christ; and in denying the Son, he denies the Father also, and has no part in his favour while he rejects his great salvation. Let this prophecy that seducers would rise in the Christian world, keep us from being seduced. The church knows not well who are its true members, and who are not, but thus true Christians were proved, and rendered more watchful and humble…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 20-23You, however, have an anointing from the Holy One: The Holy Spirit gives Christians the ability to recognize spiritual truth (see Isaiah 61:1; Acts 10:38; 2 Corinthians 1:21–22). Those who have the Spirit know the truth about the Father and the Son. They can also identify teachings that do not match the apostles' teachings.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2020. But--Greek, "And." He here states the means which they as believers have wherewith to withstand. Antichrists (1Jo 2:18), namely, the chrism (so the Greek: a play upon similar sounds), or "anointing unguent," namely, the Holy Spirit (more plainly mentioned further on, as in John's style, 1Jo 3:24; 4:13; 5:6), which they ("ye" is emphatical in contrast to those apostates, 1Jo 2:19) have "from the Holy One, Christ" (Joh 1:33; 3:34; 15:26; 16:14): "the…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 John 2:20

• Anointing
• God Continued...
• Holy Spirit
• Symbols and Similitudes
• Unction
• Wisdom

In the dictionaries

• Holy One
• Acknowledge
• Advocate
• Lie
• Stumble
• Unction
• Baptism of the Holy Spirit
• Johannine Theology
• John, the Epistles of
• anoint, anointed, anointing

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