Bible Strands
1 John 4:21
And we have this commandment from Him: Whoever loves God must love his brother as well.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — John writes to a community confronting false teachers, immediately after declaring in v. 20 that claiming to love God while hating a brother makes one a liar. This verse states the positive commandment that undergirds that warning.
The words — ταύτην (tautēn), "this," is a demonstrative pointing to a specific, already-known commandment rather than introducing a new one. It signals continuity with the Torah and with Jesus' own teaching.
The thread — The verse fuses the two great commandments: love God (Matthew 22:37) and love your neighbor (Leviticus 19:18) into a single obligation. 1 John 3:11 restates the same imperative as the "message you have heard from the beginning."
Why it lands — It makes love of God verifiable: if your love for a visible person is absent, your love for an invisible God is a claim, not a fact.
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
And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
Cross-references
- Matthew 22:37 Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
- Leviticus 19:18 Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.
- 1 John 3:11 This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
- Galatians 5:14 The entire law is fulfilled in a single decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
- 1 Thessalonians 4:9 Now about brotherly love, you do not need anyone to write to you, because you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another.
- 1 Peter 3:8 Finally, all of you, be like-minded and sympathetic, love as brothers, be tenderhearted and humble.
- 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 15:12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
- Romans 12:9 Love must be sincere. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good.
- 1 Peter 4:8 Above all, love one another deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.