1 John 2:21

1 John 2:21 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
• English Standard Version (ESV)I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.
• New King James Version (NKJV)I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
• New Living Translation (NLT)So I am writing to you not because you don’t know the truth but because you know the difference between truth and lies.

Context of 1 John 2:21

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. 20But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. I 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. 23No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

1 John 2:21 word by word

οὐκ ἔγραψα ὑμῖν ὅτι οὐκ οἴδατε τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἀλλ᾽ ὅτι οἴδατε αὐτὴν καὶ ὅτι πᾶν ψεῦδος ἐκ τῆς ἀληθείας οὐκ ἔστιν.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• I haveγράφωgraphō · to writeG1125
• notοὐou · noG3756
• unto youσύsu · youG4771
• becauseὅτιhoti · that/since: thatG3754
• ye knowεἴδωeidō · to perceive: understandG1492
• the truthὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• the truthἀλήθειαalētheia · truthG225
• butἀλλάalla · butG235
• becauseὅτιhoti · that/since: sinceG3754
• itαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• ·πᾶςpas · allG3956
• lieψεῦδοςpseudos · lieG5579
• isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• ofἐκek ex · out fromG1537

Cross-references for 1 John 2:21

• Proverbs 1:5let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance—
• Proverbs 9:8Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you; rebuke the wise and they will love you.
• Romans 15:14I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another.
• 2 Peter 1:12So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have.

Commentaries on 1 John 2:21

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21I have not written, etc. - It is not because ye are ignorant of these things that I write to you, but because you know them, and can by these judge of the doctrines of those false teachers, and clearly perceive that they are liars; for they contradict the truth which ye have already received, and consequently their doctrine is a lie, and no lie can be of the truth, i.e. consistent with Christianity.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 21I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth - You are not to regard my writing to you in this earnest manner as any evidence that I do not suppose you to be acquainted with religion and its duties. Some, perhaps, might have been disposed to put this construction on what he had said, but he assures them that that was not the reason why he had thus addressed them. The very fact that they did understand the subject of religion, he says, was…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. 2121. but because ye know it, and that, &c.--Ye not only know what is the truth (concerning the Son and the Father, 1Jo 2:13), but also are able to detect a lie as a thing opposed to the truth. For right (a straight line) is the index of itself and of what is crooked [Estius]. The Greek is susceptible of Alford's translation, "Because ye know it, and because no lie is of the truth" (literally, "every lie is excluded from being of the truth"). I therefore…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 John 2:21

• Word of God

In the dictionaries

• Acknowledge
• Advocate
• Lie
• Stumble
• Baptism of the Holy Spirit
• John, the Epistles of
• Truth

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