Bible Strands
John 5:42
but I know you, that you do not have the love of God within you.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus speaks to a Jewish audience in Jerusalem immediately after rejecting human glory and before warning that they will welcome a false messiah. He addresses those who claim religious authority but fail to recognize His divine commission.
The words — ἔγνωκα (egnōka) means "I have known," and ἀγάπην (agapēn) translates literally to "love." The text states Jesus knows the audience lacks the love of God within them, asserting a factual absence rather than a mere emotional deficit.
The thread — The knowledge of human hearts reappears in John 2:25, where Jesus knows what is in man without need for testimony. The incompatibility of divine love and human unbelief runs through Romans 8:7 and 1 John 4:20, which tie the absence of God's love to hostility toward God and failure to love others.
Why it lands — The verse demands a clear assessment of whether one's allegiance flows from divine love or human approval. It requires the reader to acknowledge that rejecting Christ's authority evidences a heart devoid of God's love.
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
But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you.
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.
- John 2:25 He did not need any testimony about man, for He knew what was in a man.
- Romans 8:7 because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
- 1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
- 1 John 3:17 If anyone with earthly possessions sees his brother in need, but withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God abide in him?
- John 8:47 Whoever belongs to God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”
- Luke 16:15 So He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is prized among men is detestable before God.
- John 1:47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, He said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceit.”
- John 5:44 How can you believe if you accept glory from one another, yet do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
- John 8:42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on My own, but He sent Me.