1 John 3:16 BSB — MannaFest

1 John 3:16

By this we know what love is: Jesus laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

Hereby know we love, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

KJV

Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

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Commentary

2 voices

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)

Hereby perceive we the love of God,.... The phrase "of God" is not in the Oriental versions, nor in the Greek copies, but is in the Complutensian edition, and in the Vulgate Latin version, and is favoured by the Syriac version, which reads, "by this we know his love to us"; and so the Ethiopic version, "by this we know his love".

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

The word God is not in the original. It was omitted by the apostle just as the particular name is omitted by Mary, when she says to the gardener, "Sir, if thou hast born him hence;" and by the church, when she says, "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth," So i, 2; in both which places there is a language, a very emphatical language, even in silence.

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

The great God has given his Son to the death for us. But since this apostle has declared that the Word was God, and that he became flesh for us, I see not why we may not interpret this of God the Word. Here is the love of God himself, of him who in his own person is God, though not the Father, that he assumed a life, that he might lay it down for us!

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

Hereby perceive we the love of God - This sixteenth verse of this third chapter of John’s first epistle is, in the main, an exact counterpart of the sixteenth verse of the third chapter of St. John’s gospel: God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, etc. Here the apostle says, We perceive, εγνωκαμεν, we have known, the love of God, because he laid down his life for us.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

What true love to the brethren is, illustrated by the love of Christ to us. Hereby--Greek, "Herein." the love of God--The words "of God" are not in the original.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

22 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
ἐν	en	By	G1722 →
τούτῳ	toutō	this	G3778 →
ἐγνώκαμεν	egnōkamen	we have known	G1097 →
τὴν	tēn	<the>	G3588 →
ἀγάπην	agapēn	love	G26 →
ὅτι	hoti	because	G3754 →
ἐκεῖνος	ekeinos	He	G1565 →
ὑπὲρ	huper	for	G5228 →
ἡμῶν	hēmōn	us	G3165 →
τὴν	tēn	the	G3588 →
ψυχὴν	psuchēn	life	G5590 →
αὐτοῦ	autou	of Him	G846 →
ἔθηκεν·	ethēken	laid down;	G5087 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
ἡμεῖς	hēmeis	we ourselves	G3165 →
ὀφείλομεν	opheilomen	ought	G3784 →
ὑπὲρ	huper	for	G5228 →
τῶν	tōn	<the>	G3588 →
ἀδελφῶν	adelphōn	[our] brothers	G80 →
τὰς	tas	<the>	G3588 →
ψυχὰς	psuchas	[our] lives	G5590 →
θεῖναι.¶	theinai	to lay down.	G5087 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
leads to
- 1 John 4:9–10
  This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Romans 5:8
  But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
- Romans 8:32
  He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things?
- John 3:15
  that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.
- John 11:25–26
  Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies.
Through
Romans 5:8
But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
leads to
- John 15:13
  Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
- John 3:16
  For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
- Romans 5:6
  For at just the right time, while we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

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About 1 John

The Last Supper — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)

1 John: the study guide →Read chapter 3 →The featured study →

Love
Love perceived and defined by Christ laying down his life

Continue: 1 John 3 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About 1 John

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About 1 John