Bible Strands
Hebrews 13:1
Continue in brotherly love.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — An anonymous author addresses Jewish Christians under pressure to abandon their faith, issuing this as part of the letter's closing practical exhortations (Heb 13).
The words — φιλαδελφία (philadelphia) compounds "brother" and "love," naming the bond within a shared household. μένω (menō) is the same verb John uses for the branch abiding in the vine (John 15:4) — it means remaining, persisting, not lapsing.
The thread — 1 Peter 3:8 and 1 Peter 1:22 command the same brotherly love, and 1 John 4:20 ties it to the integrity of one's claim to love God.
Why it lands — The command is not to feel love but to keep it alive when the cost of community is high. It assumes the reader already has this bond and is being warned against letting it die.
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
Let brotherly love continue.
Cross-references
- 1 John 4:20 If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
- 1 Peter 3:8 Finally, all of you, be like-minded and sympathetic, love as brothers, be tenderhearted and humble.
- 1 Peter 1:22 Since you have purified your souls by obedience to the truth so that you have a genuine love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from a pure heart.
- 1 Peter 2:17 Treat everyone with high regard: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.
- 2 Peter 1:7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.
- Romans 12:9 Love must be sincere. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good.
- Hebrews 10:24 And let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds.
- 1 John 2:9 If anyone claims to be in the light but hates his brother, he is still in the darkness.
- 2 John 1:5 And now I urge you, dear lady—not as a new commandment to you, but one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another.
- 2 Thessalonians 1:3 We are obligated to thank God for you all the time, brothers, as is fitting, because your faith is growing more and more, and your love for one another is increasing.