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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
1 Yhn 4 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21
◄ ← 1 YHN (1 JHN) 4:9 ↓ → ► ║ ©
OET (OET-LV) The love of_ the _god was_revealed among us in this, that the god has_sent_out the son of_him, the only_begotten, into the world in_order_that we_may_live through him.
OET (OET-RV) God’s love was revealed to us when he sent his only son to be born into the world so that we can live through him.
Read 4:7–5:12 carefully.
Section Theme: In this section John gives two reasons why we should love one another:
4:7–12 | God has shown us what true love is by sending his Son to die for us. |
4:13–21 | God has loved us so much that we have a duty to love others. |
At the end of the section, in 5:1–12, he shows how it is believing in Jesus that enables us to both love and obey God.
Read 4:7–10 in both BSB and GNT. Compare the two versions.
Paragraph Theme: In these verses John urges us to love one another because God showed us how much he loved us by sending his Son to die for us.
This is how God’s love was revealed among us:
The way by which God has clearly shown us(incl) that he loves people is this:
This: (Pronoun Reference) The word This refers forward to 4:9b, God’s sending his Son into the world.
among us: (Alternative Interpretations) There are two interpretations of the meaning of the Greek phrase used here:
It probably indicates to whom God revealed his love, so the clause means, “God revealed/demonstrated to us his love (for people).” (BSB, NIV, NEB, RSV)
Some think it indicates who God loves. So the clause would then mean, “God showed that he loves us.” (GNT, JB, KJV, LB)
God sent His one and only Son into the world,
he caused his only Son to come to this world
one and only: (Alternative Interpretations) There are two opinions about the meaning of the Greek word used here:
Almost certainly it means “unique, the only one who exists.” (BSB, NIV, GNT, JB, NEB, RSV, JBP, LB)
A few people think it means “the only one who was born.” (NIV margin, KJV)
so that we might live through Him.
so that we should have true life because of him.
so his Son might cause us to really live.
we might live through Him: (Meaning) John means that Christ has caused us to be truly alive, he has given us eternal life.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom
ἐν τούτῳ
in this
In this means something similar to the idiomatic expression “in this we know” that John uses many times in this letter. Alternate translation: [This is how]
Note 2 topic: writing-pronouns
ἐν τούτῳ
in this
Here, this refers forward to what John will say in the rest of the sentence. God demonstrated that he loves us by sending his Son.
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
ἐφανερώθη ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν ἡμῖν
˓was˒_revealed (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἐν τούτῳ ἐφανερώθη Ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν ἡμῖν ὅτι τόν Υἱόν αὐτοῦ τόν μονογενῆ ἀπέσταλκεν ὁ Θεός εἰς τόν κόσμον ἵνα ζήσωμεν διʼ αὐτοῦ)
See the discussion of the term “appear” in Part 3 of the Introduction to 1 John. This verbal form could be translated appeared or “was revealed.” If your language does not use passive forms, you can use an active form and say who did the action. Alternate translation: [God showed us how much he loves us]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / possession
ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ Θεοῦ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἐν τούτῳ ἐφανερώθη Ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν ἡμῖν ὅτι τόν Υἱόν αὐτοῦ τόν μονογενῆ ἀπέσταλκεν ὁ Θεός εἰς τόν κόσμον ἵνα ζήσωμεν διʼ αὐτοῦ)
Here, the love of God refers to God loving people. Alternate translation: [God’s love for us]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / exclusive
ἐν ἡμῖν
in among us
The expression among us likely refers to all of humanity, not just to the people who saw and heard Jesus when he was alive, so this would be an inclusive use of the term us that would include the believers to whom John is writing. John says later in the sentence that Jesus came so that we might live through him, and we in that instance does include these believers. So it is likely that us earlier in the sentence includes them as well.
Note 6 topic: guidelines-sonofgodprinciples
τὸν Υἱὸν αὐτοῦ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἐν τούτῳ ἐφανερώθη Ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν ἡμῖν ὅτι τόν Υἱόν αὐτοῦ τόν μονογενῆ ἀπέσταλκεν ὁ Θεός εἰς τόν κόσμον ἵνα ζήσωμεν διʼ αὐτοῦ)
Son is an important title for Jesus. Alternate translation: [his Son Jesus]
Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / nominaladj
τὸν μονογενῆ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἐν τούτῳ ἐφανερώθη Ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν ἡμῖν ὅτι τόν Υἱόν αὐτοῦ τόν μονογενῆ ἀπέσταλκεν ὁ Θεός εἰς τόν κόσμον ἵνα ζήσωμεν διʼ αὐτοῦ)
The adjectives One and Only function here as nouns to mean that God has no other Son like Jesus. Your language may use adjectives in the same way. If not, you could add the noun “Son” to this phrase. Alternate translation: [his One and Only Son]
Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy
εἰς τὸν κόσμον
into (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἐν τούτῳ ἐφανερώθη Ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν ἡμῖν ὅτι τόν Υἱόν αὐτοῦ τόν μονογενῆ ἀπέσταλκεν ὁ Θεός εἰς τόν κόσμον ἵνα ζήσωμεν διʼ αὐτοῦ)
John uses world to mean various things in this letter. Here it refers to the created world. Alternate translation: [to live on earth]
Note 9 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
ἵνα ζήσωμεν δι’ αὐτοῦ
in_order_that ˱we˲_˓may˒_live through him
Since people were already literally alive before Jesus came, John means this in a figurative sense. He is likely referring to what he calls “eternal life” in [3:15](../03/15.md). That includes both living forever in the presence of God after death and receiving power from God in this life to live in a new way. Alternate translation: [so that through him we might receive power from God to live as new people in this life and to live forever in God’s presence after we die]
OET (OET-LV) The love of_ the _god was_revealed among us in this, that the god has_sent_out the son of_him, the only_begotten, into the world in_order_that we_may_live through him.
OET (OET-RV) God’s love was revealed to us when he sent his only son to be born into the world so that we can live through him.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.