1 John 3:20

1 John 3:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.
• New International Version (NIV)If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
• English Standard Version (ESV)for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.
• New Living Translation (NLT)Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.

Context of 1 John 3:20

18My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. 19And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. 21Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. 22And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.

1 John 3:20 word by word

ὅτι ἐὰν καταγινώσκῃ ἡμῶν ἡ καρδία, ὅτι μείζων ἐστὶν ὁ θεὸς τῆς καρδίας ἡμῶν καὶ γινώσκει πάντα.¶Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Forὅτιhoti · that/since: thatG3754
• ifἐάνean · ifG1437
• ourἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• heartὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• heartκαρδίαkardia · heartG2588
• condemn usκαταγινώσκωkataginōskō · to condemnG2607
• Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• greater thanμέγαςmegas · greatG3173
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• knowethγινώσκωginōskō · to knowG1097
• all thingsπᾶςpas · allG3956

Cross-references for 1 John 3:20

• Job 27:6My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go; My heart shall not reproach me as long as I live.
• John 8:9Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
• Acts 5:33When they heard this, they were furious and plotted to kill them.
• Romans 2:14for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves,
• 1 Corinthians 4:4For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord.
• 1 Corinthians 14:24But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all.
• 1 John 4:4You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
• Job 33:12“Look, in this you are not righteous. I will answer you, For God is greater than man.
• John 10:29My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.
• Hebrews 6:13For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself,
• Psalms 44:20If we had forgotten the name of our God, Or stretched out our hands to a foreign god,
• Psalms 90:8You have set our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.
• Psalms 139:1O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
• Jeremiah 17:10I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.
• Jeremiah 23:24Can anyone hide himself in secret places, So I shall not see him?” says the Lord; “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the Lord.
• John 2:24But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men,

Commentaries on 1 John 3:20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20If our heart condemn us - If we be conscious that our love is feigned, we shall feel inwardly condemned in professing to have what we have not. And if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, for he knows every hypocritical winding and turning of the soul, he searches the heart, and tries the reins, and sees all the deceitfulness and desperate wickedness of the heart which we cannot see, and, if we could see them, could not comprehend them…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20For if our heart condemn us - We cannot hope for peace from any expectation that our own hearts will never accuse us, or that we ourselves can approve of all that we have done. The reference here is not so much to our past lives, as to our present conduct and deportment. The object is to induce Christians so to live that their hearts will not condemn them for any secret sins, while the outward deportment may be unsullied. The general sentiment is, that if…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 16-21Verses 16-21 Here is the condescension, the miracle, the mystery of Divine love, that God would redeem the church with his own blood. Surely we should love those whom God has loved, and so loved. The Holy Spirit, grieved at selfishness, will leave the selfish heart without comfort, and full of darkness and terror. By what can it be known that a man has a true sense of the love of Christ for perishing sinners, or that the love of God has been planted in…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 19-22Those who truly love (3:16–18) can feel confident that God accepts them. This kind of love shows that their faith is real and that they have new life in Christ (see 4:7–8).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2020. Luther and Bengel take this verse as consoling the believer whom his heart condemns; and who, therefore, like Peter, appeals from conscience to Him who is greater than conscience. "Lord, Thou knowest all things: thou knowest that I love Thee." Peter's conscience, though condemning him of his sin in denying the Lord, assured him of his love; but fearing the possibility, owing to his past fall, of deceiving himself, he appeals to the all-knowing God: so…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 John 3:20

• Commandments
• Conscience
• God Continued...
• Remorse
• Righteousness

In the dictionaries

• God
• Appear
• Assure
• Condemn
• Pleasing
• Sin
• Word
• Ethics
• John, the Epistles of

Commentaries on 1 John 3

• 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