New International Version
1 John 5:21
21Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
1 John 5:21 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.
Context of 1 John 5:21
19We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. 20We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
Read all of 1 John 51 John 5:21 word by word
τεκνία, φυλάξατε ἑαυτὰ ἀπὸ τῶν εἰδώλωνRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for 1 John 5:21
- 1 John 2:1My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
- Exodus 20:3“You shall have no other gods before me.
- 1 Corinthians 10:7Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.”
- 2 Corinthians 6:16What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
- Revelation 9:20The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk.
- Revelation 13:14Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived.
- Revelation 14:11And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.”
- Matthew 6:13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. ’
Commentaries on 1 John 5:21
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21Little children - · Beloved children; he concludes with the same affectionate feeling with which he commenced. Keep yourselves from idols - Avoid the idolatry of the heathens; not only have no false gods, but have the true God. Have no idols in your houses, none in your churches, none in your hearts. Have no object of idolatrous worship; no pictures, relics, consecrated tapers, wafers, crosses, etc., by attending to which your minds may be divided, and…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 21Little children - This is a favorite mode of address with John, (see the notes at 1 John 2:1), and it was proper to use it in giving his parting counsel; embracing, in fact, all that he had to say - that they should keep themselves from idols, and suffer nothing to alienate their affections from the true God. His great object had been to lead them to the knowledge and love of God, and all his counsels would be practically followed, if, amidst the…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 18-21Verses 18-21 All mankind are divided into two parties or dominions; that which belongs to God, and that which belongs to the wicked one. True believers belong to God: they are of God, and from him, and to him, and for him; while the rest, by far the greater number, are in the power of the wicked one; they do his works, and support his cause. This general declaration includes all unbelievers, whatever their profession, station, or situation, or by whatever…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 21In his closing words, John urges his community to stay away from anything that might take God’s place in their hearts. The literal wording is “keep yourselves from idols.” In the context of 1 John, the main “idol” would be any false teaching that leads people away from Jesus Christ, who is fully human and fully God.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2121. Affectionate parting caution. from idols--Christians were then everywhere surrounded by idolaters, with whom it was impossible to avoid intercourse. Hence the need of being on their guard against any even indirect compromise or act of communion with idolatry. Some at Pergamos, in the region whence John wrote, fell into the snare of eating things sacrificed to idols. The moment we cease to abide "in Him that is true (by abiding) in Jesus Christ," we…Read the comment
Topics related to 1 John 5:21
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 1 John 5
- 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
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