3:15a

his brother: (Multiple Senses) This is used here in a slightly different sense to the way it was used in 3:14b. Here in 3:15a it means “his fellows” or “other people.”

is a murderer: (Meaning) John is teaching his readers that God considers hatred to be the same as murder.

3:15b

you know that: (Focus) The main point of 3:15b is that murderers do not have eternal life. The phrase you know that merely gives emphasis to this, so it may be translated as a parenthesis, or by some word which marks emphasis. See The Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible.

eternal life does not reside: (Meaning) John is not saying that a murderer cannot have eternal life. Rather he is saying that a person who murders is clearly not living the sort of life which God gives us, which we call “eternal.”

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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.