Bible Strands

1 John 2:7

Beloved, I am not writing to you a new commandment, but an old one, which you have had from the beginning. This commandment is the message you have heard.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The author writes to a community ("Beloved") that is dividing over what they already know; this verse sits between "walk as Jesus walked" (v. 6) and "a new commandment" (v. 8), bridging the two claims.

The words — ἐντολὴν (entolēn), "commandment," appears twice in the same accusative form, binding the negated "new" and the affirmed "old" into one referent; the sentence's structure is "not a commandment-new but a commandment-old," and the repeated noun is what holds the contrast together.

The thread — 1 John 3:11 identifies "the message you have heard from the beginning" as loving one another; the OT root is Leviticus 19:18, and Jesus pairs it with the Shema in Mark 12:29–30.

Why it lands — The verse removes the excuse of ignorance: the standard was already in your possession, so the question is not "what do I need to learn" but "why am I not doing what I already know."

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

Ἀγαπητοί,AgapētoiBeloved,οὐκouknotἐντολὴνentolēna commandmentκαινὴνkainēnnewγράφωgraphōI am writingὑμῖνhuminto youἀλλ᾽all᾽butἐντολὴνentolēna commandmentπαλαιὰνpalaianoldἣνhēnwhichεἴχετεeicheteyou have hadἀπ᾽ap᾽fromἀρχῆς·archēs[the] beginning;ἡhēTheἐντολὴentolēcommandmentἡhē<the>παλαιάpalaiaoldἐστινestinisὁhotheλόγοςlogoswordὃνhonthatἠκούσατεēkousateyou have heardἀπ᾽ap᾽fromἀρχῆς.archēsbeginning.

King James Version

Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.

Cross-references