1 John 3:15

Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that eternal life does not reside in a murderer.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The apostle John writes to early Christian communities to define the spiritual condition of believers based on their treatment of fellow believers. He addresses them directly to establish that fraternal love serves as the definitive marker of eternal life.

The words — μισῶν (misōn) translates literally as "is hating," and ἀνθρωποκτόνος (anthrōpoktonos) means "a man-killer" or "murderer." John uses these terms to declare that active hatred toward a brother places a person in the same moral category as a murderer.

The thread — The text links hatred to concealed deceit in Proverbs 26:24, which describes a hateful man disguising his malice with speech. It also connects murder to exclusion from the new creation in Revelation 21:8, where murderers are listed among those barred from the holy city.

Why it lands — The text states that hatred toward a brother is functionally equivalent to murder and that eternal life cannot exist in such a person. It requires readers to treat internal hostility toward fellow believers as definitive proof of spiritual death.

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

Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

Cross-references

Matthew 5:21 You have heard that it was said to the ancients, ‘Do not murder’ and ‘Anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’
Proverbs 26:24 A hateful man disguises himself with his speech, but he lays up deceit in his heart.
Revelation 21:8 But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”
John 8:44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies.
Leviticus 19:16 You must not go about spreading slander among your people. You must not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am the LORD.
Acts 23:14 They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have bound ourselves with a solemn oath not to eat anything until we have killed Paul.
James 4:1 What causes conflicts and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from the passions at war within you?
Matthew 5:28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Mark 6:19 So Herodias held a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she had been unable,
John 4:14 But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.”