1 John 2:7
in 1 John 2Beloved, I am not writing to you a new commandment, but an old one, which you have had from the beginning. This commandment is the message you have heard.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Beloved, no new commandment write I unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning: the old commandment is the word which ye heard.
KJV
Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.
⋯
This verse in 1 John 2
Commentary
14 notes on this verseJohn is talking here about love. The commandment was not new, because long before that time it had been proclaimed by the prophets.
This site's exposition
I am not writing to you a new commandment
on 1 John 2:7-8
John calls the love command of John 13:34 an old one, which you have had from the beginning. It is also new, because the darkness is fading and the true light is already shining. The age of light has begun in Christ, and the full day is still ahead.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
"Brothers, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning." Since this letter was general and directed commonly to all, both Jews and …
"Dearly beloved, I write unto you no new commandment, but the old commandment which ye had from the beginning." What commandment calls he "old"? "Which ye had," saith he, "from the beginning. Old" then, in this regard, that ye have already heard it: otherwise he will contradict the Lord, where He saith, "A new commandment give I unto you, that ye love one another." But why an "old" commandment? Not as pertaining to the old man. But why? "Which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard." Old then, in this regard, that ye have already heard it. And the selfsame he showeth to be new, saying, "Again, a new commandment write I unto you." Not another, but the selfsame which he hath called old, the same is also new. Why? "Which thing is true in Him and in you." Why old, ye have already heard: that is, because ye knew it already. But why new? "Because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth." Lo, whence it is new: because the darkness pertains to the old man, but the light to the new man. What saith the Apostle Paul? "Put ye off the old man, and put ye on the new." And again what saith he? "Ye were sometime darkness, but now light in the Lord."
Some people were apparently objecting that the Evangelist's teaching was a new thing, and so he had to insist that this was not so.
A commentator
Clement of AlexandriaFrom the Latin Translation of Cassiodorus · Written before 215.
proposed
"I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment, which ye had from the beginning,"-through the Law, that is, and the prophets; where it is said, God is one. Accordingly, also, he infers, "For the old commandment is the word which ye have heard."
The Medieval Church1 voice
Someone may ask how it was possible for the hearers of this letter to have known the commandment from the beginning, since they were not Jews (as appears from the end of the letter, where they are told to keep themselves from idols). But is …
7 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church2 voices
Dearest, I am not writing a new commandment to you, etc. The same love is also an old commandment, for it has been recommended from the beginning, and it is a new commandment because, with the darkness cast out, it infuses the desire for new …
Since this epistle is catholic, written generally to all, to both Jews and Gentiles, then with respect to the Jews it can be said that the apostle writes to them a commandment about love that is not new, but ancient. For on the tablets of …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you,....
In the state of innocence, had human nature then been propagated, men must have loved one another as being of one blood, made to dwell on the earth, as being God's offspring, and bearing his image. In the state of sin and promised recovery, they must love one another as related to God their Maker, as related to each other by blood, and as partners in the same hope.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you - That is, what I am now enjoining is not new. It is the same doctrine which you have always heard. There has been much difference of opinion as to what is referred to by the word “commandment,” whether it is the injunction in the previous verse to live as Christ lived, or whether it is what he refers to in the following verses, the duty of brotherly love.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Brethren--The oldest manuscripts and versions read instead, "Beloved," appropriate to the subject here, love. no new commandment--namely, love, the main principle of walking as Christ walked (1Jo 2:6), and that commandment, of which one exemplification is presently given, 1Jo 2:9, 10, the love of brethren. ye had from the beginning--from the time that ye first heard the Gospel word preached.
Brethren, I write no new commandment - There seems a contradiction between this and the next verse. But the apostle appears to speak, not so much of any difference in the essence of the precept itself, as in reference to the degrees of light and grace belonging to the Mosaic and Christian dispensations. It was ever the command of God that men should receive his light, walk by that light, and love him and one another. But this commandment was renewed by Christ with much latitude and spirituality of meaning; and also with much additional light to see its extent, and grace to observe it. It may therefore be called the Old commandment, which was from the beginning; and also a New commandment revealed afresh and illustrated by Christ, with the important addition to the meaning of Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye shall love the brethren so as to lay down your lives for each other. See the note on Joh 13:34. Instead of αδελφοι, brethren, ABC, thirteen others, with both the Syriac, Erpen’s Arabic, Coptic, Sahidic, Armenian, Slavonic, and Vulgate, with several of the fathers, have αγαπητοι, beloved. This is without doubt the true reading.
The words behind it
22 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ἀγαπητοί, | agapetoi | Beloved, | G27 → | 61 times |
| οὐκ | ouk | not | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| ἐντολὴν | entolen | a commandment | G1785 → | 67 times |
| καινὴν | kainen | new | G2537 → | |
| γράφω | grapho | I am writing | G1125 → | 189 times |
| ὑμῖν | humin | to you | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| ἀλλ᾽ | all᾽ | but | G235 → | 635 times |
| ἐντολὴν | entolen | a commandment | G1785 → | 67 times |
| παλαιὰν | palaian | old | G3820 → | |
| ἣν | hen | which | G3739 → | 1405 times |
| εἴχετε | eichete | you have had | G2192 → | 707 times |
| ἀπ᾽ | ap᾽ | from | G575 → | 640 times |
| ἀρχῆς· | arches | [the] beginning; | G746 → | 55 times |
| ἡ | he | The | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἐντολὴ | entole | commandment | G1785 → | 67 times |
| ἡ | he | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| παλαιά | palaia | old | G3820 → | |
| ἐστιν | estin | is | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| ὁ | ho | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| λόγος | logos | word | G3056 → | 329 times |
| ὃν | hon | that | G3739 → | 1405 times |
| ἠκούσατε | ekousate | you have heard | G191 → | 425 times |
Ἀγαπητοί,Beloved,
agapetoiG27 →61 times
οὐκnot
oukG3756 →1664 times
ἐντολὴνa commandment
entolenG1785 →67 times
καινὴνnew
kainenG2537 →
γράφωI am writing
graphoG1125 →189 times
ὑμῖνto you
huminG4771 →2973 times
ἀλλ᾽but
all᾽G235 →635 times
ἐντολὴνa commandment
entolenG1785 →67 times
παλαιὰνold
palaianG3820 →
ἣνwhich
henG3739 →1405 times
εἴχετεyou have had
eicheteG2192 →707 times
ἀπ᾽from
ap᾽G575 →640 times
ἀρχῆς·[the] beginning;
archesG746 →55 times
ἡThe
heG3588 →19766 times
ἐντολὴcommandment
entoleG1785 →67 times
ἡ<the>
heG3588 →19766 times
παλαιάold
palaiaG3820 →
ἐστινis
estinG1510 →2333 times
ὁthe
hoG3588 →19766 times
λόγοςword
logosG3056 →329 times
ὃνthat
honG3739 →1405 times
ἠκούσατεyou have heard
ekousateG191 →425 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Leviticus 19:18Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.
it leads to
- Matthew 22:39–40
And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
- Romans 13:9
The commandments “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and any other commandments, are summed up in this one decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
- Mark 12:31–34
The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”
- Luke 10:27–37
He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
- Galatians 5:14
The entire law is fulfilled in a single decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
- Matthew 22:39–40
Through
1 John 3:11This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
it leads to
- John 15:12
This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
- 2 John 1:5
And now I urge you, dear lady—not as a new commandment to you, but one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another.
- 1 John 4:7
Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
- John 15:12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 1 John
This page draws on 14 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Andreas of Caesarea, CATENA; Augustine of Hippo, Ten Homilies on 1 John 1; Bede, Commentary on the Catholic Epistles; Clement of Alexandria, From the Latin Translation of Cassiodorus; Cyril of Alexandria, CATENA; Didymus the Blind, COMMENTARY ON 1 JOHN; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, Commentary on 1 John and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 1 John.