1 Yohanes 2:3

Keeping God’s Commandments

2:3 Now ¹  by this we know that we have come to know God: ²  if we keep his commandments.

1 Yohanes 3:23

3:23 Now ³  this is his commandment: ⁴  that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he gave ⁵  us the commandment.

Yohanes 15:10

15:10 If you obey ⁶  my commandments, you will remain ⁷  in my love, just as I have obeyed ⁸  my Father’s commandments and remain ⁹  in his love.

Matius 22:37

22:37 Jesus ¹⁰  said to him, “‘Love ¹¹  the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ¹² 

Yohanes 14:21

14:21 The person who has my commandments and obeys ¹³  them is the one who loves me. ¹⁴  The one ¹⁵  who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal ¹⁶  myself to him.”

[2:3]  ¹ tn The translation of καί (kai) at the beginning of 2:3 is important for understanding the argument, because a similar καί occurs at the beginning of 1:5. The use here is not just a simple continuative or connective use, but has more of a resumptive force, pointing back to the previous use in 1:5.

[2:3]  sn Now. The author, after discussing three claims of the opponents in 1:6, 8, and 10 and putting forward three counterclaims of his own in 1:7, 1:9, and 2:1, now returns to the theme of “God as light” introduced in 1:5. The author will now discuss how a Christian may have assurance that he or she has come to know the God who is light, again by contrast with the opponents who make the same profession of knowing God, but lack the reality of such knowledge, as their behavior makes clear.

[2:3]  ² tn Grk “know him.” (1) Many take the third person pronoun αὐτον (auton) to refer to Jesus Christ, since he is mentioned in 2:1 and the pronoun αὐτός (autos) at the beginning of 2:2 clearly refers to him. But (2) it is more likely that God is the referent here, since (a) the assurance the author is discussing here is assurance that one has come to know God (all the claims of the opponents in 1:5-2:11 concern knowing and having fellowship with the God who is light); (b) when Jesus Christ is explicitly mentioned as an example to follow in 1 John 2:6, the pronoun ἐκεῖνος (ekeinos) is used to distinguish this from previous references with αὐτός; (c) the καί (kai) which begins 2:3 is parallel to the καί which begins 1:5, suggesting that the author is now returning to the discussion of God who is light, a theme introduced in 1:5. The author will now discuss how a Christian may have assurance that he or she has come to know the God who is light.

[3:23]  ³ tn The καί (kai) is epexegetical/explanatory (or perhaps resumptive) of the commandment(s) mentioned in the preceding verse.

[3:23]  ⁴ tn This verse begins with the phrase καὶ αὕτη ἐστίν (kai {auth estin; cf. the similar phrase in 3:11 and 1:5), which is explained by the following ἵνα (Jina) clause, “that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ.” The ἵνα thus introduces a clause which is (1) epexegetical (explanatory) or (2) appositional. By analogy the similar phrase in 3:11 is also followed by an epexegetical ἵνα clause and the phrase in 1:5 by an epexegetical ὅτι (Joti) clause.

[3:23]  sn His commandment refers to what follows – the commandment from God is to believe in his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another.

[3:23]  ⁵ sn The author of 1 John repeatedly attributes the commandments given to believers as given by God the Father, even though in John 13:34-35 it was Jesus who gave the commandment to love one another. 2 John 4-5 also attributes the commandment to love one another directly to the Father. Thus it is clear that God the Father is the subject of the verb gave here in 3:23.

[15:10]  ⁶ tn Or “keep.”

[15:10]  ⁷ tn Or “reside.”

[15:10]  ⁸ tn Or “kept.”

[15:10]  ⁹ tn Or “reside.”

[22:37]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “And he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[22:37]  ¹¹ tn Grk “You will love.” The future indicative is used here with imperatival force (see ExSyn 452 and 569).

[22:37]  ¹² sn A quotation from Deut 6:5. The threefold reference to different parts of the person says, in effect, that one should love God with all one’s being.

[14:21]  ¹³ tn Or “keeps.”

[14:21]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “obeys them, that one is the one who loves me.”

[14:21]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “And the one.” Here the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated to improve the English style.

[14:21]  ¹⁶ tn Or “will disclose.”