1:6a

(Good News Translation) then: (Logical Relationship) 1:6 gives the conclusion which John draws from what he has said in the previous verse about God being light. This connection may be clearer if some linking word such as “so” or “then” is used. See Good News Translation, Living Bible, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English.

If we say: (Expression) These words also occur at the beginning of 1:8 and 1:10. In each case they introduce some false teaching which John wants to expose. He is not implying that he or his readers did actually say such things. He is quoting what the false teachers say and what his readers would say if they followed them. It may be more natural in your language to say, “If/When somebody says…”

with Him: (Pronoun Reference) It may be clearer or more natural to say “with God” here as in The Jerusalem Bible.

1:6b

walk in the darkness: (Metaphor) The picture of a person walking in darkness refers to someone not knowing the truth and constantly doing what is wrong.

1:6c

do not practice the truth: (Meaning) John is saying that not only would such a statement (1:6a) be a lie, but also the person who said it would not be living in accordance with the truth that God has revealed about himself.

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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.

2:29a

If: (Multiple Senses) This does not express doubt. It indicates that the statement “you know that He is righteous” is the reason for what John says in 2:29b. It may be better translated “since” or “because.” Alternatively, the sentence may be translated:

“You know that he is righteous, therefore/so you should recognize that…”

See Good News Translation, The Jerusalem Bible, Living Bible, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English.

He is righteous: (Alternative Interpretations) There are different views about who the pronoun He refers to:

(1) It probably refers to Christ. (Good News Translation)

(2) It may refer to God. (The Jerusalem Bible, Living Bible, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

righteous: (Multiple Senses) This means that everything that Christ does is right in God’s sight.

2:29b

everyone who: (Meaning) John is concerned in this section with the importance of Christians doing what is right. So when he refers to “everyone” here he means “every Christian.” He is not saying that just anybody, even a non-Christian, who does what is right is born of God. He is saying that when Christians do right this shows us that we are God’s children.

righteousness: (Biblical Term) The Greek word used here refers to everything that is in accordance with God’s will.

born of Him: (Pronoun Reference) This certainly means that such a person is the child of God, not of Christ. But this may not be clear unless “God” is made explicit here. See Good News Translation, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English.

(1) John is writing here about our relationship to God, so it probably means that the people did not know or believe in God.

(2) Some think it means that the people did not recognize who Christ was. (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

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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.

Paragraph 4:11–12

Read 4:11–12 in both Berean Standard Bible and Good News Translation. Compare the two versions.

Paragraph Theme: Here John appeals to us to love one another so that God can truly live in us and cause his love to reach others through us.

4:11a

if: (Multiple Senses) The conjunction if is not used here to introduce something that might or might not be true. Here it refers to something that is known to be true, so in many languages a conjunction like “since” or “because” will be more appropriate. See New International Version (2011 Revision) and Display.

so loved us: (Multiple Senses) Here the word so is used in the sense of “so much.” It means that God loved us very much and as a result of that he sent his Son to die for us.

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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.

2:8a

a new commandment: (Meaning) This refers again to the command to love one another. See the note on 2:7a. John is not referring to a second command.

2:8b

which is true in Him and also in you: (Alternative Interpretations) There are different opinions about what the Greek words refer to in this part of the verse:

(1) John is probably saying, “the newness of this new command is truly seen in him and you.” This is the opinion of most commentators, since it is the most natural meaning of the Greek.

(2) Most English versions give the meaning as, “the truth of this new command is seen in him and you.” However, this is not what the Greek appears to mean.

2:8c–d

For: (Logical Connection) 2:8c–d shows in what way the command is new in Christ and in John’s readers. Christ was God’s light coming into the world driving away the darkness by his love, and for the Christians their whole lives and behavior were being changed as they loved one another.

darkness…light: (Metaphor) See the note on 1:5b–c.

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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.

3:12 (Logical Relationship)

John illustrates the command to love one’s brother by using Cain as a contrasting example (from Genesis 4). Cain did not love his brother and his deeds were evil. Read Genesis 4:1–16 before translating this verse.

3:12a

Cain: (New Participant) Cain has not been mentioned previously in this letter, so you may need to be careful how you refer to him in your translation. He was someone who lived a very long time before John and his readers, but they all knew about him.

3:12b

belonged to the evil one: (Meaning) See the note on 3:8a “is of the devil.” The meaning is the same here.

the evil one: (Meaning) As in 2:13e, this refers to Satan. See the note on 2:13e.

3:12c

brother: (Lexical Problem) This refers to Abel, who was Cain’s younger brother.

3:12d

And why did Cain slay him?: (Rhetorical Question) This is a rhetorical question used to emphasize the fact that the reason Cain committed murder was because he continually did evil. This showed that he belonged to Satan. If rhetorical questions are not used in this way in your language it will be necessary to use an emphatic statement. See The Jerusalem Bible.

3:12e

his own deeds: (Meaning) This probably refers to Cain’s whole way of life, not just the fact that he made an offering of grain to God instead of an animal sacrifice.

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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.

5:4a

born of God: (Meaning) See the note on 5:1b.

overcomes the world: (Metaphor) With this metaphor John is saying that Christians can successfully resist the temptation to follow the ways of this world. And normally this is what they do. Therefore nothing can force us to disobey God. He is not saying that we have actually defeated the people of this world in some fight.

the world: (Multiple Senses) In this verse the world means the evil ways of human beings and everything in the world that is opposed to God.

5:4b

victory that has overcome: (Lexical Problem) This is a figure of speech meaning “the thing which has enabled us to overcome.”

our faith: (Emphasis) John is here emphasizing that it is through our continuing to trust God that we are able to overcome the world.

faith: (Biblical Term) The next verse makes clear that here faith refers to believing in Jesus as God’s Son.

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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.