3:20a

our hearts condemn us: (Meaning) John is talking about how in such circumstances we are especially aware of our sins and our unworthiness before God. He is not referring to times when the Holy Spirit reminds us about specific sins which we need to repent of.

3:20b

greater than: (Lexical Problem) The Greek word does not specify in what sense God is greater than us or our hearts, but the end of this verse makes it clear that John is talking about God’s greater knowledge.

than our hearts: (Metaphor) This is referring to our thoughts, so the basic meaning here is “God knows much more than we know.”

3:20c

He knows all things: (Meaning) This specifically refers to God knowing all that we do.

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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.