New International Version
1 John 2:7
7Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard.
1 John 2:7 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old commandment—to love one another—is the same message you heard before.
Context of 1 John 2:7
5But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: 6Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did. Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. 8Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. 9Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness.
Read all of 1 John 21 John 2:7 word by word
Ἀγαπητοί, οὐκ ἐντολὴν καινὴν γράφω ὑμῖν ἀλλ᾽ ἐντολὴν παλαιὰν ἣν εἴχετε ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς· ἡ ἐντολὴ ἡ παλαιά ἐστιν ὁ λόγος ὃν ἠκούσατεRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Brethrenἀδελφόςadelphos · brotherG80
- I writeγράφωgraphō · to writeG1125
- noοὐou · noG3756
- newκαινόςkainos · newG2537
- commandmentἐντολήentolē · commandmentG1785
- unto youσύsu · youG4771
- butἀλλάalla · butG235
- oldπαλαιόςpalaios · oldG3820
- whichὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
- ye hadἔχωechō · to have/beG2192
- fromἀπόapo · away fromG575
- the beginningἀρχήarchē · beginningG746
- Theὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
- the wordλόγοςlogos · wordG3056
- ye have heardἀκούωakouō · to hearG191
Cross-references for 1 John 2:7
- 1 John 3:11For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
- Acts 17:19Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?
- 2 John 1:5And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another.
- Leviticus 19:18“ ‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.
- Deuteronomy 6:5Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
- Matthew 5:43“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
- Matthew 22:37Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
- Mark 12:29“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
- Romans 13:8Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.
- Galatians 5:13You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.
- James 2:8If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.
Commentaries on 1 John 2:7
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 7Brethren, I write no new commandment - There seems a contradiction between this and the next verse. But the apostle appears to speak, not so much of any difference in the essence of the precept itself, as in reference to the degrees of light and grace belonging to the Mosaic and Christian dispensations. It was ever the command of God that men should receive his light, walk by that light, and love him and one another. But this commandment was renewed by…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you - That is, what I am now enjoining is not new. It is the same doctrine which you have always heard. There has been much difference of opinion as to what is referred to by the word “commandment,” whether it is the injunction in the previous verse to live as Christ lived, or whether it is what he refers to in the following verses, the duty of brotherly love. Perhaps neither of these is exactly the idea of the…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 3-11Verses 3-11 What knowledge of Christ can that be, which sees not that he is most worthy of our entire obedience? And a disobedient life shows there is neither religion nor honesty in the professor. The love of God is perfected in him that keeps his commandments. God's grace in him attains its true mark, and produces its sovereign effect as far as may be in this world, and this is man's regeneration; though never absolutely perfect here. Yet this observing…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7-11The disciples received this commandment (to love one another) from the very beginning. They received it from Jesus himself and from the Old Testament (John 13:34–35; Leviticus 19:18, 33–34).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 77. Brethren--The oldest manuscripts and versions read instead, "Beloved," appropriate to the subject here, love. no new commandment--namely, love, the main principle of walking as Christ walked (1Jo 2:6), and that commandment, of which one exemplification is presently given, 1Jo 2:9, 10, the love of brethren. ye had from the beginning--from the time that ye first heard the Gospel word preached.Read the comment
Topics related to 1 John 2:7
In the dictionaries
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
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