Bible Strands
1 John 5:21
Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The apostle John addresses his readers as "little children" at the conclusion of his first epistle, immediately after affirming that believers know the true God through His Son Jesus Christ.
The words — The imperative φυλάξατε (phulaxate) commands readers to "do keep" or guard themselves. It is directed away from εἰδώλων (eidōlōn), literally "idols."
The thread — The command echoes the Old Testament prohibition in Exodus 20:3 to have no other gods before God. The New Testament reinforces this in 1 Corinthians 10:14 and 10:7 with direct warnings to flee idolatry and avoid becoming idolaters.
Why it lands — The text commands active vigilance against anything that rivals God's exclusive claim. It requires the reader to examine their own loyalties and remove anything that functions as a substitute for the true God.
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
Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
Cross-references
- 1 Corinthians 10:14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
- 1 Corinthians 10:7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.”
- Exodus 20:3 You shall have no other gods before Me.
- 2 Corinthians 6:16 What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.”
- Matthew 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
- 1 Thessalonians 1:9 For they themselves report what kind of welcome you gave us, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God
- 1 John 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
- Revelation 9:20 Now the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the works of their hands. They did not stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk.
- Revelation 13:14 Because of the signs it was given to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived those who dwell on the earth, telling them to make an image to the beast that had been wounded by the sword and yet had lived.
- Revelation 14:11 And the smoke of their torment rises forever and ever. Day and night there is no rest for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.”