OET interlinear 1YHN (1JHN) 3:20

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / hypo

ὅτι ἐὰν καταγινώσκῃ ἡμῶν ἡ καρδία, ὅτι μείζων ἐστὶν ὁ Θεὸς τῆς καρδίας ἡμῶν, καὶ γινώσκει πάντα

that if /may_be/_condemning ˱of˲_us the heart that greater_‹than› is ¬the God the heart ˱of˲_us and ˱he˲_/is/_knowing all_‹things›

John is discussing a hypothetical situation in order to reassure his readers. Alternate translation: “Suppose our heart condemns us. Then we should remember that God is greater than our heart and knows everything”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

ἐὰν καταγινώσκῃ ἡμῶν ἡ καρδία

if /may_be/_condemning ˱of˲_us the heart

John continues speaking of the heart to mean the thoughts and feelings. There may be a similar expression in your language. Alternate translation: “if our feelings condemn us” or “if our thoughts accuse us”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

ἐὰν καταγινώσκῃ ἡμῶν ἡ καρδία

if /may_be/_condemning ˱of˲_us the heart

The topic here, continuing from 3:19, is how we can know that “we are from the truth,” so this is likely a reference to needing reassurance about that. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could state that explicitly. Alternate translation: “if we ever feel that we do not belong to God”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / possession

ἡμῶν ἡ καρδία & τῆς καρδίας ἡμῶν

˱of˲_us the heart & the heart ˱of˲_us

If it would be unusual in your language to speak of one heart in reference to many people, and if you decide to retain the word heart as a metaphor in your translation, you could make it plural. Alternate translation: “our hearts … our hearts”

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism

μείζων ἐστὶν ὁ Θεὸς τῆς καρδίας ἡμῶν, καὶ γινώσκει πάντα

greater_‹than› is ¬the God the heart ˱of˲_us and ˱he˲_/is/_knowing all_‹things›

Since John is using the heart to mean the thoughts and feelings, the statement that God is greater than our heart likely means that God knows and understands more than we do and that God has greater compassion for us than we have for ourselves. In that case, the phrases is greater than our heart and knows everything would mean similar things. If it would be helpful in your language, you could combine these phrases into an emphatic expression. Alternate translation: “God certainly knows better than we do that we belong to him”

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

μείζων ἐστὶν ὁ Θεὸς τῆς καρδίας ἡμῶν, καὶ γινώσκει πάντα

greater_‹than› is ¬the God the heart ˱of˲_us and ˱he˲_/is/_knowing all_‹things›

The implications are that, given God’s greater knowledge, we should believe what he has said rather than what our thoughts and feelings are saying. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could state that explicitly. Alternate translation: “God certainly knows better than we do that we belong to him, and so we should believe that because he has said so”