2:11b

walks in the darkness: (Metaphor) See the note on 2:6. However, John extends the metaphor in this verse by comparing this person with someone who walks about in a dark place and cannot see where he is going.

2:11c

where he is going: (Alternative Interpretations) There are two ways of understanding this:

(1) As stated in the previous note, it is probably just part of the picture of someone who cannot see where he is going in the dark.

(2) Some commentators say it means that the person who hates his brother “does not know he is going to Hell.” But this is unlikely, since John is not concerned with Hell in this letter.

2:11d

has blinded his eyes: (Metaphor) Here John extends the metaphor further by comparing this person with someone who has become blind. The meaning is that ignorance or rejection of God’s truth prevents one from knowing what one is really doing.

© 2000 by SIL International®

Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.