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.
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This verse in 1 John 2
Commentary
4 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
an old commandment which ye had
on 1 John 2:7-8
Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning names the love command of John 13:34 as old ground rather than novelty. Again, a new commandment I write unto you turns the same command new in its dawning application, because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth, the light-and-darkness thread from 1:5 pressed forward into an eschatological claim, the age of light already breaking in Christ even while the full day is not yet come.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century2 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.
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 Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Cyril of Alexandria, CATENA; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament.