Tree of Life Version
1 John 4:10
10This is love—not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atonement for our sins.
1 John 4:10 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
- New International Version (NIV)This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
- English Standard Version (ESV)In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
- New King James Version (NKJV)In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Context of 1 John 4:10
8The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9The love of God was revealed among us by this—that God sent His one and only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. This is love—not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atonement for our sins. 11Loved ones, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God abides in us and His love is made perfect in us.
Read all of 1 John 41 John 4:10 word by word
ἐν τούτῳ ἐστὶν ἡ ἀγάπη, οὐχ ὅτι ἡμεῖς ἠγαπήκαμεν τὸν θεόν, ἀλλ᾽ ὅτι αὐτὸς ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς καὶ ἀπέστειλεν τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ ἱλασμὸν περὶ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν.¶Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Hereinἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
- ·οὗτοςhoutos houtoi hautē hautai · this/he/she/itG3778
- isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
- loveὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- loveἀγάπηagapē · loveG26
- notοὐou · noG3756
- thatὅτιhoti · that/since: thatG3754
- weἐγώegō · I/weG1473
- lovedἀγαπάωagapaō · to loveG25
- Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
- butἀλλάalla · butG235
- heαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
- andκαίkai · andG2532
- sentἀποστέλλωapostellō · to sendG649
- Sonυἱόςuihos · sonG5207
- the propitiationἱλασμόςhilasmos · propitiationG2434
- forπερίperi · aboutG4012
- sinsἁμαρτίαhamartia · sinG266
Cross-references for 1 John 4:10
- 1 John 4:8The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
- 1 John 3:1See how glorious a love the Father has given us, that we should be called God’s children—and so we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.
- 1 John 4:19We love, because He first loved us.
- Deuteronomy 7:7“It is not because you are more numerous than all the peoples that Adonai set His love on you and chose you—for you are the least of all peoples.
- John 15:16“You did not choose Me, but I chose you. I selected you so that you would go and produce fruit, and your fruit would remain. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in My name.
- Romans 5:8But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Messiah died for us.
- Romans 8:29For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
- 2 Corinthians 5:19That is, in Messiah God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them; and He has entrusted the message of reconciliation to us.
- Ephesians 2:4But God was rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us.
- 1 John 2:2He is the atonement for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the whole world.
- Daniel 9:24“Seventy weeks are decreed concerning your people and your holy city, to put an end to transgression to bring sin to an end, to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Holy of Holies.
- Romans 3:25God set forth Yeshua as an atonement, through faith in His blood, to show His righteousness in passing over sins already committed.
- 1 Peter 2:24He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we, removed from sins, might live for righteousness. “By His wounds you were healed.”
- 1 Peter 3:18For Messiah once suffered for sins also—the righteous for the unrighteous—in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Ruach.
Commentaries on 1 John 4:10
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 10Not that we loved God - And that he was thereby induced to give his Son to be a propitiation for our sins. No: we were enemies to God, and yet Christ died for our ungodly souls. (See Romans 5:6-11, and the notes there.) So it was God's love, not our merit, that induced him to devise means that his banished might not be expelled from him.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 10Herein is love - In this great gift is the highest expression of love, as if it had done all that it can do. Not that we loved God - Not that we were in such a state that we might suppose he would make such a sacrifice for us, but just the opposite. If we had loved and obeyed him, we might have had reason to believe that he would be willing to show his love to us in a corresponding manner. But we were alienated from him. We had even no desire for his…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. 9-10Jesus Christ, whom God the Father sent, showed God’s love in his life on earth. He also showed this love in his sacrificial death on the cross, where he became the sacrifice that reconciles us to God.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1010. Herein is love--love in the abstract: love, in its highest ideal, is herein. The love was all on God's side, none on ours. not that we loved God--though so altogether worthy of love. he loved us--though so altogether unworthy of love. The Greek aorist expresses, Not that we did any act of love at any time to God, but that He did the act of love to us in sending Christ.Read the comment
Topics related to 1 John 4:10
In the dictionaries
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
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