2:6a

abide in Him: (Collocation) This has the same meaning as are “in Him” in 2:5. See the note on 2:5c.

2:6b

must walk: (Connotation) John is giving an implied command to his readers. He is saying that since they claim to live in God they ought to behave as Jesus did. In translation it is important that this should be understood as a command and not just as a statement.

walk: (Metaphor) Here, walk is used as a metaphor for the way we live and behave. The point of similarity is that both walking and behavior are actions that continue for some time and are done on purpose. If there is no common metaphor for this in your language, it is best to translate the meaning “should live” directly, as Good News Translation, The Jerusalem Bible and New English Bible have done.

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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.