THE LETTERS OF JOHN · AT A GLANCE · ITS SHAPE · GREEK WORDS · OLD TESTAMENT

Inside 1 John

Choose any of the three; these four cards follow it.

1 JOHN

AD 85–110

2 JOHN

Not dated

3 JOHN

Not dated

AT A GLANCE

1 John at a glance

Who wrote it, to whom, from where, when and why; who and where it names; its key verses and its themes.

VERSES

105

GREEK WORDS

2,177

KEY VERSES

THEMES

13

THE LETTER

The letter never names its writer. He speaks as an eyewitness of “the Word of life”, one who has heard, seen and handled it, and he writes with a teacher's warmth to “my little children”. From the second century the letter was read as the work of John, “the disciple of the Lord”; who wrote it is discussed below. 1 John 1:1–4 1 John 2:1 1 John 4:14 [18][13][1]

KEY VERSES

5This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5 · KJV

“God is light”: the thesis of the letter's first half in Plummer's outline.

THEMES

  • God is light, so walking in the light means owning up to sin and keeping his commandments. 1 John 1:5–2:11 [3]
  • God is love. Love begins with God, not with us: “not that we loved God, but that he loved us.” 1 John 4:8 1 John 4:10 1 John 4:16 1 John 4:19
  • The incarnation is real. The life “was manifested”, seen and handled, and Jesus Christ “is come in the flesh”. 1 John 1:1–2 1 John 4:2
  • Sin and forgiveness: confession and cleansing, Christ the advocate with the Father, and Christ the propitiation for sins. The Greek word for propitiation, hilasmos, occurs in the New Testament only in these two verses of 1 John. 1 John 1:9 1 John 2:1–2 1 John 4:10
  • The tests of life. Robert Law reads the letter as a set of tests by which readers can know they are “begotten of God”: doing what is right, loving one another, and believing that Jesus is the Christ come in the flesh. Each test is run three times, at a higher level each time. Law divides verses 3:10 and 3:24 in the middle; the outline here places each divided verse with the earlier part. 1 John 2:3–6 1 John 2:7–11 1 John 2:18–27 1 John 3:10–18 1 John 4:1–6 1 John 4:7–21 +1 more [4][5]
  • “Hereby we know.” Nine verses in the King James Version give a way of knowing (“hereby we do know that we know him”, “hereby know ye the Spirit of God”…), and the letter ends with a threefold “we know”. 1 John 2:3 1 John 2:5 1 John 3:16 1 John 3:19 1 John 3:24 1 John 4:2 +4 more [1][5]
  • Claims put to the test. “If we say…” and “He that saith…” introduce claims the writer weighs against conduct; Law suggests they may echo the opponents' own slogans. 1 John 1:6 1 John 1:8 1 John 1:10 1 John 2:4 1 John 2:6 1 John 2:9 +1 more [5]
  • Abiding. The verb menō, “abide, dwell, remain”, comes 23 times in the Greek: abiding in God, in the Son, in the light, and God's word abiding in his people. 1 John 2:10 1 John 2:14 1 John 2:24 1 John 3:24 1 John 4:16
  • Children of God and children of the devil are told apart by what they do. 1 John 3:1–10
  • The world is passing away, and faith overcomes it: “this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” That is the only use of the noun “faith” in the three letters. 1 John 2:15–17 1 John 5:4–5
  • Assurance: the letter says it was written “that ye may know that ye have eternal life”. Westcott sets this beside the purpose of John's Gospel and finds the two in full harmony. 1 John 1:3–4 1 John 5:13 John 20:31 [1]
  • No Old Testament quotation. 1 John quotes no Old Testament passage. Its one clear allusion is to Cain, who “slew his brother” (Genesis 4:8): for Plummer the typical instance of a brother's hate, for Westcott one of two “archetypal patterns”, set against the life of Christ. Cain is the only person named in the letter besides Jesus Christ. 1 John 3:12 Genesis 4:8 1 John 3:16 [1][3]
  • Words that are only here. “Antichrist” appears in the Bible only in 1 and 2 John, five times in all. Paraklētos, “advocate” in 1 John 2:1, is the word John's Gospel uses for the “Comforter”, and occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. 1 John 2:18 1 John 2:22 1 John 4:3 2 John 1:7 1 John 2:1 John 14:16

ITS SHAPE

How it is built

The letter cut into its parts, in our own words, coloured by what each part does; beneath, each part beside the Bible's section headings inside it.

1 John in 9 parts, each as long as it is, in our own words. Click a part to keep it.

  • The Word of Life1 John 1:1–4
  • Walking in the Light1 John 1:5–10
  • Jesus Our Advocate1 John 2:1–6
  • A New Commandment1 John 2:7–14
  • Do Not Love the World1 John 2:15–17
  • Beware of Antichrists1 John 2:18–23
  • Remain in Christ1 John 2:24–29
  • Children of God1 John 3:1–10
  • Love One Another1 John 3:11–24
  • Testing the Spirits1 John 4:1–6
  • Love Comes from God1 John 4:7–21
  • Overcoming the World1 John 5:1–8
  • God’s Testimony about His Son1 John 5:9–12
  • Effective Prayer1 John 5:13–17
  • The True God1 John 5:18–21

GREEK WORDS

The words it leans on

Its key Greek words, counted in the Greek text. Click one to list every verse it appears in.

OLD TESTAMENT

The Old Testament behind 1 John

Where the quotations in John's letters come from, book by book. Click a book or a letter to keep it. Below, each quotation in 1 John, linked to the passage it comes from.

John's three letters quote no Old Testament passage. The one band is 1 John's single clear allusion: Cain, who “slew his brother” (Genesis 4:8), set against love that lays down its life. 2 John and 3 John draw on no Old Testament passage at all. 1 John 3:12 Genesis 4:8 [1][4]

1 John quotes no Old Testament passage.

WHERE THIS PAGE COMES FROM

  • B. F. Westcott, The Epistles of St John: the Greek Text with Notes and Essays (1883 (3rd ed. 1892 used)), Introduction pp. xxx–lvi; note on 1 John 5:7–8 pp. 202–209.
  • A. E. Brooke, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Johannine Epistles (International Critical Commentary) (1912), Introduction pp. i–xc; note on 5:7 pp. 154–158.
  • A. Plummer, The Epistles of S. John (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges) (1886 (1890 reprint used)), Introduction pp. 9–70; Appendix D pp. 204–212.
  • Robert Law, The Tests of Life: A Study of the First Epistle of St. John (1909), Ch. I, pp. 1–24; synopsis pp. 21–24.
  • Robert Law, “John, the Epistles of”, International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, ed. James Orr (1915), vol. III pp. 1711–1720.
  • Robert Law, “Elect Lady”, International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, ed. James Orr (1915), vol. II.
  • F. H. A. Scrivener, A Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament, 4th ed., ed. Edward Miller (1894), vol. II pp. 401–407 (“1 John v. 7, 8”).
  • John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746–48), on 1 John 5:7.
  • M. G. Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 3rd ed. (1897), “John, First/Second/Third Epistle of”, “Diotrephes”, “Elect lady”.
  • William Smith, Smith's Bible Dictionary (1863 (online text of 1901)), “John, The First Epistle General of”; “John, The Second and Third Epistles of”; “Gaius”; “Diotrephes”; “Demetrius”.
  • Eusebius, trans. A. C. McGiffert, Church History, Book 3 (c. 325 (trans. 1890)), 3.20, 3.24, 3.25, 3.39.
  • Eusebius, trans. A. C. McGiffert, Church History, Book 6 (c. 325 (trans. 1890)), 6.25.10 (Origen).
  • Eusebius, trans. A. C. McGiffert, Church History, Book 7 (c. 325 (trans. 1890)), 7.25 (Dionysius of Alexandria).
  • Irenaeus, trans. Roberts & Rambaut, Against Heresies, Book 1 (c. 180 (trans. 1885)), 1.26.1.
  • Irenaeus, trans. Roberts & Rambaut, Against Heresies, Book 3 (c. 180 (trans. 1885)), 3.1.1.
  • Irenaeus, trans. Roberts & Rambaut, Against Heresies, Book 3 (c. 180 (trans. 1885)), 3.3.4.
  • Irenaeus, trans. Roberts & Rambaut, Against Heresies, Book 3 (c. 180 (trans. 1885)), 3.11.1.
  • Irenaeus, trans. Roberts & Rambaut, Against Heresies, Book 3 (c. 180 (trans. 1885)), 3.16.5, 3.16.8.
  • Jerome, trans. E. C. Richardson, Lives of Illustrious Men (392 (trans. 1892)), chs. 9 and 18.
  • Clement of Alexandria, trans. W. Wilson, Fragments: Comments on the Second Epistle of John (c. 200 (trans. 1885)).
  • Clement of Alexandria, Stromata (c. 200 (trans. 1885)), 2.15.
  • Polycarp, trans. Roberts & Donaldson, To the Philippians (c. 110–115 (trans. 1885)), ch. 7.
  • Ignatius, To the Smyrnaeans (c. 110 (trans. 1885)), ch. 2.
  • trans. J. Donaldson, Apostolic Constitutions (4th century (trans. 1886)), 7.46.
  • Athanasius, trans. R. Payne-Smith, Festal Letter 39 (367 (trans. 1892)).
  • Unknown (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 5), The Muratorian Fragment (Canon Muratorianus) (late 2nd century (trans. 1886)), lines 26–31 and 68–69.

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