1 John 4:7

1 John 4:7 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
• New International Version (NIV)Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
• New Living Translation (NLT)Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God.

Context of 1 John 4:7

5They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. 6We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.

1 John 4:7 word by word

Ἀγαπητοί, ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους, ὅτι ἡ ἀγάπη ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστιν καὶ πᾶς ὁ ἀγαπῶν ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ γεγέννηται καὶ γινώσκει τὸν θεόν·Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Belovedἀγαπητόςagapētos · belovedG27
• let us loveἀγαπάωagapaō · to loveG25
• one anotherἀλλήλωνallēlōn · one anotherG240
• forὅτιhoti · that/since: sinceG3754
• loveὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• loveἀγάπηagapē · loveG26
• isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• ofἐκek ex · out fromG1537
• Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• every oneπᾶςpas · allG3956
• is bornγεννάωgennaō · to begetG1080
• knowethγινώσκωginōskō · to knowG1097

Cross-references for 1 John 4:7

• 1 John 4:20If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
• 1 John 2:10He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.
• 1 John 3:10In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.
• 1 John 5:1Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him.
• 1 John 4:8He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
• Deuteronomy 30:6And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.
• Galatians 5:22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
• 1 Thessalonians 4:9But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another;
• 2 Timothy 1:7For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
• 1 Peter 1:22Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,
• 1 John 4:12No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.
• 1 John 2:29If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.
• 1 John 3:14We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.
• John 17:3And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
• 2 Corinthians 4:6For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
• Galatians 4:9But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?

Commentaries on 1 John 4:7

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 7Beloved, let us love one another - And ever be ready to promote each other's welfare, both spiritual and temporal. For love is of God - And ever acts like him; he loves man, and daily loads him with his benefits. He that loveth most has most of God in him; and he that loveth God and his neighbor, as before described and commanded, is born of God, , is begotten of God - is a true child of his heavenly Father, for he is made a partaker of the Divine nature…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7Beloved, let us love one another - This verse introduces a new topic, the consideration of which occupies the remainder of the chapter. See the Analysis. The subject is one on which John dwells more than on any other - that of love. His own character especially inclined him to the exercise of love; and the remarkable affection which the Lord Jesus had shown for him, seems to have had the effect to give this grace a special prominence in his views of what…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-13Verses 7-13 The Spirit of God is the Spirit of love. He that does not love the image of God in his people, has no saving knowledge of God. For it is God's nature to be kind, and to give happiness. The law of God is love; and all would have been perfectly happy, had all obeyed it. The provision of the gospel, for the forgiveness of sin, and the salvation of sinners, consistently with God's glory and justice, shows that God is love. Mystery and darkness…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7-21John explains where a Christian’s love comes from and how it is shown in daily life.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 77. Resumption of the main theme (1Jo 2:29). Love, the sum of righteousness, is the test of our being born of God. Love flows from a sense of God's love to us: compare 1Jo 4:9 with 1Jo 3:16, which 1Jo 4:9 resumes; and 1Jo 4:13 with 1Jo 3:24, which similarly 1Jo 4:13 resumes. At the same time, 1Jo 4:7-21 is connected with the immediately preceding context, 1Jo 4:2 setting forth Christ's incarnation, the great proof of God's love (1Jo 4:10). Beloved--an…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 John 4:7

• Commandments
• Fellowship
• Love
• Regeneration
• Righteous
• Righteousness

In the dictionaries

• God
• Benevolence
• Fear
• Love
• Perfect
• Sanctification
• Bear; Born
• Begotten
• Brotherly Kindness; Brotherly Love
• Johannine Theology

Commentaries on 1 John 4

• 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