1 John 2:8

Then again, I am also writing to you a new commandment, which is true in Him and also in you. For the darkness is fading and the true light is already shining.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The author writes to a community under pressure from a teacher who likely claimed a superior, novel revelation. He is bracketing this verse between "not a new commandment" (v. 7) and the test of whether one truly lives in the light (v. 9).

The words — καινήν (kainēn), "new," carries the sense of fresh or renewed rather than unprecedented; it is the same adjective John uses in 13:34 for the commandment of mutual love, which is "new" in its grounding in Christ's self-giving, not in its content.

The thread — The darkness-fading / light-shining language echoes Ephesians 5:8 and Romans 13:12, where the eschatological "now" is already breaking into the present age. The "new commandment" itself is the love commandment of John 13:34.

Why it lands — The verse refuses to let the reader treat love as either a dead letter or a speculative future hope; it is old in origin, new in its Christ-centered form, and already operative in the present tense.

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

King James Version

Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.

Cross-references

Ephesians 5:8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,
Romans 13:12 The night is nearly over; the day has drawn near. So let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
John 13:34 A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another.
John 8:12 Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
2 Corinthians 4:4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
John 1:9 The true Light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
John 12:46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should remain in darkness.
John 1:4 In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.
1 John 4:21 And we have this commandment from Him: Whoever loves God must love his brother as well.
Malachi 4:2 “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and leap like calves from the stall.