Hebrews 13:1
in Hebrews 13Continue in brotherly love.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Let love of the brethren continue.
KJV
Let brotherly love continue.
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This verse in Hebrews 13
Commentary
12 notes on this verseBehold, the Lord was not recognized while He was speaking, and He deigned to be recognized while He was being fed. Therefore, dearest brothers, love hospitality, love the works of charity. For hence it is said through Paul: "Let brotherly love continue in you, and do not forget hospitality. For through this some have pleased, having received angels as guests." Hence Peter says: "Be hospitable to one another without murmuring." Hence Truth itself says: "I was a stranger, and you took me in."
This site's exposition
Continue in brotherly love
on Hebrews 13:1-3
The first duty is that brotherly love, philadelphia in Greek, continue. Hospitality is urged with an example, since some people have entertained angels without knowing it, as Abraham did at Mamre and Lot at Sodom's gate. Prisoners are remembered as if you were bound with them.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"Let brotherly love continue." Let it be unwavering, do not allow it to escape from you.
See how he enjoins them to preserve what they had: he does not add other things. He did not say, "Be loving as brethren," but, "Let brotherly love continue." And again, he did not say, "Be hospitable," as if they were not, but, "Be not forgetful of hospitality," for this was likely to happen owing to their afflictions.
The Medieval Church2 voices
He did not say that you have acquired brotherly love and hospitality, for they had these, as it seemed; but since they were in danger, due to unceasing afflictions, of abandoning the care of these virtues, he says: "Let brotherly love... continue," let it be …
Having instructed them how to bear with evil, the Apostle now tells them how to act in doing good. Hence, according to a Gloss he is beginning his moral instruction after commending and urging them to imitate him. In regard to this he does two …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
); he then bespeaks their prayers for him, and offers up his prayers to God for them, gives them some hope of seeing himself and Timothy, and ends with the general salutation and benediction,
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5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), by which he does not only mean a general affection to all men, as our brethren by nature, all made of the same blood, nor that more limited affection which is due to those who are of the same immediate parents, but that special and spiritual affection which ought to exist among the children of God. It is here supposed that the Hebrews had this love one for another.
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Let brotherly love continue.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Let brotherly love continue - Implying that it now existed among them. The apostle had no occasion to reprove them for the want of it, as he had in regard to some to whom he wrote, but he aims merely to impress on them the importance of this virtue, and to caution them against the danger of allowing it ever to be interrupted; see the notes on Joh 13:34.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
brotherly love--a distinct special manifestation of "charity" or "love" (2Pe 1:7). The Church of Jerusalem, to which in part this Epistle was addressed, was distinguished by this grace, we know from Acts (compare Heb 6:10;
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Let brotherly love continue - Be all of one heart and one soul. Feel for, comfort, and support each other; and remember that he who professes to love God should love his brother also. They had this brotherly love among them; they should take care to retain it. As God is remarkable for his φιλανθρωπια, philanthropy, or love to man, so should they be for φιλαδελφια, or love to each other. See the note on Tit 3:4.
The words behind it
3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ἡ | he | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| φιλαδελφία | philadelphia | Brotherly love | G5360 → | |
| μενέτω. | meneto | should abide. | G3306 → | 118 times |
Ἡ<the>
heG3588 →19766 times
φιλαδελφίαBrotherly love
philadelphiaG5360 →
μενέτω.should abide.
menetoG3306 →118 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
1 Peter 3:8Finally, all of you, be like-minded and sympathetic, love as brothers, be tenderhearted and humble.
it leads to
- Romans 12:10
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Outdo yourselves in honoring one another.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Ephesians 4:31
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, outcry and slander, along with every form of malice.
- 1 Peter 1:22
Since you have purified your souls by obedience to the truth so that you have a genuine love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from a pure heart.
- Romans 12:10
Through
1 John 4:20If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
it leads to
- 1 John 4:12
No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 John 3:17
If anyone with earthly possessions sees his brother in need, but withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God abide in him?
- 1 John 2:9
If anyone claims to be in the light but hates his brother, he is still in the darkness.
- 1 John 4:12
Through
1 Peter 1:22Since you have purified your souls by obedience to the truth so that you have a genuine love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from a pure heart.
it leads to
- 1 Timothy 1:5
The goal of our instruction is the love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a sincere faith.
- John 13:34–35
A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Timothy 1:5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies30
On this chapter
- Azazel and the Scapegoat
- The General Epistles
- Contentment
- You Shall Not Covet
- Be Strong and Courageous
- The Fall Feasts
Show the next 6 titles
About Hebrews
This page draws on 10 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); Gregory the Dialogist, Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 23; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on Hebrews 33; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, The Pseudo-Oecumenian Catena on Hebrews; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Hebrews and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Hebrews.