1 John 2:9

1 John 2:9 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.
• New King James Version (NKJV)He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now.
• New Living Translation (NLT)If anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is still living in darkness.

Context of 1 John 2:9

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. 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. Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. 10Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. 11But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.

1 John 2:9 word by word

ὁ λέγων ἐν τῷ φωτὶ εἶναι καὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ μισῶν ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ ἐστὶν ἕως ἄρτι.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• He that saithλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
• he isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• the lightὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• the lightφῶςphōs · lightG5457
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• hatethμισέωmiseō · to hateG3404
• hisαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• brotherἀδελφόςadelphos · brotherG80
• darknessσκοτίαskotia · darknessG4653
• even untilἕωςheōs · untilG2193
• nowἄρτιarti · nowG737

Cross-references for 1 John 2:9

• 1 John 2:4Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.
• 1 John 1:6If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.
• John 9:41Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.
• Romans 2:18if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law;
• 1 John 3:13Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.
• 1 John 2:11But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.
• Psalms 82:5“The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing. They walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
• 1 Corinthians 13:1If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
• 2 Peter 1:9But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

Commentaries on 1 John 2:9

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 9He that saith he is in the light - He that professes to be a convert to Christianity, even in the lowest degree; and hateth his brother - not only does not love him, but wills and does him evil, as the Jews did the Gentiles; is in darkness - has received no saving knowledge of the truth; and, whatever he may pretend, is in heathen ignorance, or even worse than heathen ignorance, to the present time, notwithstanding the clear shining of the light of the…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 9He that saith he is in the light - That he has true religion, or is a Christian. See 1 John 1:7. And hateth his brother - The word “brother” seems here to refer to those who professed the same religion. The word is indeed sometimes used in a larger sense, but the reference here appears to be to that which is properly brotherly love among Christians. Compare Lucke, in loc. Is in darkness even until now - That is, he cannot have true religion unless he has…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. 9his brother: The Greek word adelphos is a general term often used to refer to both male and female members of the same family (also in 2:11).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 9-119-11. There is no mean between light and darkness, love and hatred, life and death, God and the world: wherever spiritual life is, however weak, there darkness and death no longer reign, and love supplants hatred; and Lu 9:50 holds good: wherever life is not, there death, darkness, the flesh, the world, and hatred, however glossed over and hidden from man's observation, prevail; and Lu 11:23 holds good. "Where love is not, there hatred is; for the heart…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 John 2:9

• Blindness
• Darkness
• Fraternity
• Hatred
• Hypocrisy
• Love
• Malice

In the dictionaries

• Acknowledge
• Advocate
• Lie
• Stumble
• Brother
• Commandment, the New
• Johannine Theology
• John, the Epistles of

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