◀ All Reading Plans / M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan / Family: Numbers 34; Psalm 78:38–72. Secret: Isaiah 26; 1 John 4. (New English Translation)

Prev Day

May 25, 1996

Next Day

Use the calendar to view readings from this devotional.

May 1996
Su	Mo	Tu	We	Th	Fr	Sa
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30	31

Return to today's reading

M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The classic M'Cheyne plan--read the Old Testament, New Testament, and Psalms or Gospels every day.

Duration: 365 days

Numbers 34

The Southern Border of the Land

34 ^[a] Then the Lord spoke to Moses: ²“Give these instructions^[b] to the Israelites, and tell them: ‘When you enter Canaan, the land that has been assigned to you as an inheritance,^[c] the land of Canaan with its borders, ³your southern border^[d] will extend from the wilderness of Zin along the Edomite border, and your southern border will run eastward to the extremity of the Salt Sea, ⁴and then the border will turn from the south to the Scorpion Ascent,^[e] continue to Zin, and then its direction^[f] will be from the south to Kadesh Barnea. Then it will go to Hazar Addar and pass over to Azmon. ⁵There the border will turn from Azmon to the Stream of Egypt, and then its direction is to the sea.^[g]

The Western Border of the Land

⁶“‘And for a western border^[h] you will have the Great Sea.^[i] This will be your western border.

The Northern Border of the Land

⁷“‘And this will be your northern border: From the Great Sea you will draw a line to Mount Hor; ⁸from Mount Hor you will draw a line to Lebo Hamath,^[j] and the direction of the border will be to Zedad. ⁹The border will continue to Ziphron, and its direction will be to Hazar Enan. This will be your northern border.

The Eastern Border of the Land

¹⁰“‘For your eastern border you will draw a line from Hazar Enan to Shepham. ¹¹The border will run down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain, and the border will descend and reach the eastern side of the Sea of Kinnereth.^[k] ¹²Then the border will continue down the Jordan River^[l] and its direction will be to the Salt Sea. This will be your land by its borders that surround it.’”

¹³Then Moses commanded the Israelites: “This is the land that you will inherit by lot, which the Lord has commanded to be given^[m] to the nine-and-a-half tribes, ¹⁴because the tribe of the Reubenites by their families,^[n] the tribe of the Gadites by their families, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance. ¹⁵The two-and-a-half tribes have received their inheritance on this side of the Jordan, east of Jericho, toward the sunrise.”

Appointed Officials

¹⁶The Lord said to Moses: ¹⁷“These are the names of the men who are to allocate the land to you as an inheritance:^[o] Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun. ¹⁸You must take one leader from every^[p] tribe to assist in allocating the land as an inheritance.^[q] ¹⁹These are the names of the men: from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh; ²⁰from the tribe of the Simeonites, Shemuel son of Ammihud; ²¹from the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad son of Kislon; ²²and from the tribe of the Danites, a leader, Bukki son of Jogli. ²³From the Josephites, Hanniel son of Ephod, a leader from the tribe of Manasseh; ²⁴from the tribe of the Ephraimites, a leader, Kemuel son of Shiphtan; ²⁵from the tribe of the Zebulunites, a leader, Elizaphan son of Parnach; ²⁶from the tribe of the Issacharites, a leader, Paltiel son of Azzan; ²⁷from the tribe of the Asherites, a leader, Ahihud son of Shelomi; ²⁸and from the tribe of the Naphtalites, a leader, Pedahel son of Ammihud.” ²⁹These are the ones whom the Lord commanded to divide up the inheritance among the Israelites in the land of Canaan.

Psalm 78:38-72

³⁸Yet he is compassionate.
He forgives sin and does not destroy.
He often holds back his anger,
and does not stir up his fury.^[a]
³⁹He remembered^[b] that they were made of flesh,
and were like a wind that blows past and does not return.^[c]
⁴⁰How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness,
and insulted him^[d] in the wastelands.
⁴¹They again challenged God,^[e]
and offended^[f] the Holy One of Israel.^[g]
⁴²They did not remember what he had done,^[h]
how he delivered them from the enemy,^[i]
⁴³when he performed his awesome deeds^[j] in Egypt,
and his acts of judgment^[k] in the region of Zoan.
⁴⁴He turned their rivers into blood,
and they could not drink from their streams.
⁴⁵He sent swarms of biting insects against them,^[l]
as well as frogs that overran their land.^[m]
⁴⁶He gave their crops to the grasshopper,
the fruit of their labor to the locust.
⁴⁷He destroyed their vines with hail,
and their sycamore-fig trees with driving rain.
⁴⁸He rained hail down on their cattle,^[n]
and hurled lightning bolts down on their livestock.^[o]
⁴⁹His raging anger lashed out against them.^[p]
He sent fury, rage, and trouble
as messengers who bring disaster.^[q]
⁵⁰He sent his anger in full force.^[r]
He did not spare them from death;
he handed their lives over to destruction.^[s]
⁵¹He struck down all the firstborn in Egypt,
the firstfruits of their reproductive power^[t] in the tents of Ham.
⁵²Yet he brought out his people like sheep;
he led them through the wilderness like a flock.
⁵³He guided them safely along, and they were not afraid;
but the sea covered their enemies.
⁵⁴He brought them to the border of his holy land,
to this mountainous land^[u] that his right hand^[v] acquired.
⁵⁵He drove the nations out from before them;
he assigned them their tribal allotments^[w]
and allowed the tribes of Israel to settle down.^[x]
⁵⁶Yet they challenged and defied^[y] God Most High,^[z]
and did not obey^[aa] his commands.^[ab]
⁵⁷They were unfaithful^[ac] and acted as treacherously as^[ad] their ancestors;
they were as unreliable as a malfunctioning bow.^[ae]
⁵⁸They made him angry with their pagan shrines,^[af]
and made him jealous with their idols.
⁵⁹God heard and was angry;
he completely rejected Israel.
⁶⁰He abandoned^[ag] the sanctuary at Shiloh,
the tent where he lived among men.
⁶¹He allowed the symbol of his strong presence to be captured;^[ah]
he gave the symbol of his splendor^[ai] into the hand of the enemy.^[aj]
⁶²He delivered his people over to the sword,
and was angry with his chosen nation.^[ak]
⁶³Fire consumed their^[al] young men,
and their^[am] virgins remained unmarried.^[an]
⁶⁴Their^[ao] priests fell by the sword,
but their^[ap] widows did not weep.^[aq]
⁶⁵But then the Lord awoke from his sleep;^[ar]
he was like a warrior in a drunken rage.^[as]
⁶⁶He drove his enemies back;
he made them a permanent target for insults.^[at]
⁶⁷He rejected the tent of Joseph;
he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.
⁶⁸He chose the tribe of Judah
and Mount Zion, which he loves.
⁶⁹He made his sanctuary as enduring as the heavens above,^[au]
as secure as the earth, which he established permanently.^[av]
⁷⁰He chose David, his servant,
and took him from the sheepfolds.
⁷¹He took him away from following the mother sheep,^[aw]
and made him the shepherd of Jacob, his people,
and of Israel, his chosen nation.^[ax]
⁷²David^[ay] cared for them with pure motives;^[az]
he led them with skill.^[ba]

Footnotes

Psalm 78:38 tn One could translate v. 38 in the past tense (“he was compassionate…forgave sin and did not destroy…held back his anger, and did not stir up his fury”), but the imperfect verbal forms are probably best understood as generalizing. Verse 38 steps back briefly from the narrational summary of Israel’s history and lays the theological basis for v. 39, which focuses on God’s mercy toward sinful Israel.
Psalm 78:39 tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive signals a return to the narrative.
Psalm 78:39 tn Heb “and he remembered that they [were] flesh, a wind [that] goes and does not return.”
Psalm 78:40 tn Or “caused him pain.”
Psalm 78:41 tn Heb “and they returned and tested God.” The Hebrew verb שׁוּב (shuv, “to return”) is used here in an adverbial sense to indicate that an earlier action was repeated.
Psalm 78:41 tn Or “wounded, hurt.” The verb occurs only here in the OT.
Psalm 78:41 sn The basic sense of the word “holy” is “set apart from that which is commonplace, special, unique.” The Lord’s holiness is first and foremost his transcendent sovereignty as the ruler of the world. He is “set apart” from the world over which he rules. At the same time his holiness encompasses his moral authority, which derives from his royal position. As king he has the right to dictate to his subjects how they are to live; indeed his very own character sets the standard for proper behavior. This expression is a common title for the Lord in the book of Isaiah.
Psalm 78:42 tn Heb “his hand,” symbolizing his saving activity and strength, as the next line makes clear.
Psalm 78:42 tn Heb “[the] day [in] which he ransomed them from [the] enemy.”
Psalm 78:43 tn Or “signs” (see Ps 65:8).
Psalm 78:43 tn Or “portents, omens” (see Ps 71:7). The Egyptian plagues are referred to here (see vv. 44-51).
Psalm 78:45 tn Heb “and he sent an insect swarm against them and it devoured them.”
Psalm 78:45 tn Heb “and a swarm of frogs and it destroyed them.”
Psalm 78:48 tn Heb “and he turned over to the hail their cattle.”
Psalm 78:48 tn Heb “and their livestock to the flames.” “Flames” here refer to the lightning bolts that accompanied the storm.
Psalm 78:49 tn Heb “he sent against them the rage of his anger.” The phrase “rage of his anger” employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.
Psalm 78:49 tn Heb “fury and indignation and trouble, a sending of messengers of disaster.”
Psalm 78:50 tn Heb “he leveled a path for his anger.” There were no obstacles to impede its progress; it moved swiftly and destructively.
Psalm 78:50 tn Or perhaps “[the] plague.”
Psalm 78:51 tn Heb “the beginning of strength.” If retained, the plural form אוֹנִים (ʾonim, “strength”) probably indicates degree (“great strength”), but many ancient witnesses read “their strength,” which presupposes an emendation to אֹנָם (ʾonam; singular form of the noun with third masculine plural pronominal suffix).
Psalm 78:54 tn Heb “this mountain.” The whole land of Canaan seems to be referred to here. In Exod 15:17 the promised land is called the “mountain of your [i.e., God’s] inheritance.”
Psalm 78:54 tn The “right hand” here symbolizes God’s military strength (see v. 55).
Psalm 78:55 tn Heb “he caused to fall [to] them with a measuring line an inheritance.”
Psalm 78:55 tn Heb “and caused the tribes of Israel to settle down in their tents.”
Psalm 78:56 tn Or “tested and rebelled against.”
Psalm 78:56 sn The divine title “Most High” (עֶלְיוֹן ʿelyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. See especially Pss 7:17; 9:2; 18:13; 21:7; 47:2.
Psalm 78:56 tn Or “keep.”
Psalm 78:56 tn Heb “his testimonies” (see Ps 25:10).
Psalm 78:57 tn Heb “they turned back.”
Psalm 78:57 tn Or “acted treacherously like.”
Psalm 78:57 tn Heb “they turned aside like a deceitful bow.”
Psalm 78:58 tn Traditionally, “high places.”
Psalm 78:60 tn Or “rejected.”
Psalm 78:61 tn Heb “and he gave to captivity his strength.” The expression “his strength” refers metonymically to the ark of the covenant, which was housed in the tabernacle at Shiloh.
Psalm 78:61 tn Heb “and his splendor into the hand of an enemy.” The expression “his splendor” also refers metonymically to the ark of the covenant.
Psalm 78:61 sn Verses 60-61 refer to the Philistines’ capture of the ark in the days of Eli (1 Sam 4:1-11).
Psalm 78:62 tn Heb “his inheritance.”
Psalm 78:63 tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).
Psalm 78:63 tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).
Psalm 78:63 tn Heb “were not praised,” that is, in wedding songs. The young men died in masses, leaving no husbands for the young women.
Psalm 78:64 tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).
Psalm 78:64 tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).
Psalm 78:64 sn Because of the invading army and the ensuing panic, the priests’ widows had no time to carry out the normal mourning rites.
Psalm 78:65 tn Heb “and the master awoke like one sleeping.” The Lord’s apparent inactivity during the time of judgment is compared to sleep.
Psalm 78:65 tn Heb “like a warrior overcome with wine.” The Hebrew verb רוּן (run, “overcome”) occurs only here in the OT. The phrase “overcome with wine” could picture a drunken warrior controlled by his emotions and passions (as in the present translation), or it could refer to a warrior who awakes from a drunken stupor.
Psalm 78:66 tn Heb “a permanent reproach he made them.”
Psalm 78:69 tc Heb “and he built like the exalting [ones] his sanctuary.” The phrase כְּמוֹ־רָמִים (k^emo ramim, “like the exalting [ones]”) is a poetic form of the comparative preposition followed by a participial form of the verb רוּם (rum, “be exalted”). The text should be emended to כִּמְרֹמִים (kimromim, “like the [heavenly] heights”). See Ps 148:1, where “heights” refers to the heavens above.
Psalm 78:69 tn Heb “like the earth, [which] he established permanently.” The feminine singular suffix on the Hebrew verb יָסַד (yasad, “to establish”) refers to the grammatically feminine noun “earth.”
Psalm 78:71 tn Heb “from after the ewes he brought him.”
Psalm 78:71 tn Heb “to shepherd Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance.”
Psalm 78:72 tn Heb “He”; the referent (David, God’s chosen king, mentioned in v. 70) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Psalm 78:72 tn Heb “and he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart.”
Psalm 78:72 tn Heb “and with the understanding of his hands he led them.”

Isaiah 26

Judah Will Celebrate

26 At that time^[a] this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
“We have a strong city!
The Lord’s^[b] deliverance, like walls and a rampart, makes it secure.^[c]
²Open the gates so a righteous nation can enter—
one that remains trustworthy.
³You keep completely safe the people who maintain their faith,
for they trust in you.^[d]
⁴Trust in the Lord from this time forward,^[e]
even in Yah, the Lord, an enduring protector!^[f]
⁵Indeed,^[g] the Lord knocks down those who live in a high place,
he brings down an elevated town;
he brings it down to the ground,^[h]
he throws it down to the dust.
⁶It is trampled underfoot
by the feet of the oppressed,
by the soles of the poor.”

God’s People Anticipate Vindication

⁷^[i] The way of the righteous is level,
the path of the righteous that you prepare is straight.^[j]
⁸Yes, as your judgments unfold,^[k]
O Lord, we wait for you.
We desire your fame and reputation to grow.^[l]
⁹I^[m] look for^[n] you during the night;
my spirit within me seeks you at dawn,
for when your judgments come upon the earth,
those who live in the world learn about justice.^[o]
¹⁰If the wicked are shown mercy,
they do not learn about justice.^[p]
Even in a land where right is rewarded, they act unjustly;^[q]
they do not see the Lord’s majesty revealed.
¹¹O Lord, you are ready to act,^[r]
but they don’t even notice.
They will see and be put to shame by your angry judgment against humankind;^[s]
yes, fire will consume your enemies.^[t]
¹²O Lord, you make us secure,^[u]
for even all we have accomplished, you have done for us.^[v]
¹³O Lord, our God,
masters other than you have ruled us,
but we praise your name alone.
¹⁴The dead do not come back to life,
the spirits of the dead do not rise.^[w]
That is because^[x] you came in judgment^[y] and destroyed them,
you wiped out all memory of them.
¹⁵You have made the nation larger,^[z] O Lord;
you have made the nation larger and revealed your splendor;^[aa]
you have extended all the borders of the land.
¹⁶O Lord, in distress they looked for you;
they uttered incantations because of your discipline.^[ab]
¹⁷As when a pregnant woman gets ready to deliver
and strains and cries out because of her labor pains,
so were we because of you, O Lord.
¹⁸We were pregnant, we strained,
we gave birth, as it were, to wind.^[ac]
We cannot produce deliverance on the earth;
no people are born to populate the world.^[ad]
¹⁹^[ae] Your dead will come back to life;
your corpses will rise up.
Wake up and shout joyfully, you who live in the ground!^[af]
For you will grow like plants drenched with the morning dew,^[ag]
and the earth will bring forth its dead spirits.^[ah]
²⁰Go, my people! Enter your inner rooms!
Close your doors behind you!
Hide for a little while,
until his angry judgment is over.^[ai]
²¹For look, the Lord is coming out of the place where he lives,^[aj]
to punish the sin of those who live on the earth.
The earth will display the blood shed on it;
it will no longer cover up its slain.^[ak]

Footnotes

Isaiah 26:1 tn Heb “In that day” (so KJV).
Isaiah 26:1 tn Heb “his”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Isaiah 26:1 tn Heb “deliverance he makes walls and a rampart.”
Isaiah 26:3 tn Heb “[one of] firm purpose you will keep [in] peace, peace, for in you he possesses trust.” The Hebrew term יֵצֶר (yetser) refers to what one devises in the mind; סָמוּךְ (samukh) probably functions here like an attributive adjective and carries the nuance “firm.” So the phrase literally means, “a firm purpose,” but as the object of the verb “keep, guard,” it must stand by metonymy for the one(s) who possess a firm purpose. In this context the “righteous nation” (v. 2) is probably in view and the “firm purpose” refers to their unwavering faith in God’s vindication (see 25:9). In this context שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “peace”), which is repeated for emphasis, likely refers to national security, not emotional or psychological composure (see vv. 1-2). The passive participle בָּטוּחַ (batuakh) expresses a state that results from the subject’s action.
Isaiah 26:4 tn Or “forevermore.” For other uses of the phrase עֲדֵי־עַד (ʿade ʿad) see Isa 65:18 and Pss 83:17; 92:7.
Isaiah 26:4 tc The Hebrew text has “for in Yah, the Lord, an everlasting rock.” Some have suggested that the phrase בְּיָהּ (beyah, “in Yah”) is the result of dittography. A scribe seeing כִּי יְהוָה (ki y^ehvah) in his original text would somehow have confused the letters and accidentally inserted בְּיָהּ between the words (bet and kaf [ב and כ] can be confused in later script phases). A number of English versions retain both divine names for emphasis (ESV, NIV, NKJV, NRSV, NLT). One of the Qumran texts (1QIsa^a) confirms the MT reading as well.
Isaiah 26:5 tn Or “For” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).
Isaiah 26:5 tn The translation assumes that יַשְׁפִּילֶנָּה (yashpilennah) goes with the preceding words “an elevated town,” and that יַשְׁפִּילָהּ (yashpilah) belongs with the following words, “to the ground.” See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:469, n. 7.
Isaiah 26:7 sn The literary structure of chap. 26 is not entirely clear. The chapter begins with an eschatological song of praise and ends with a lament and prophetic response (vv. 16-21). It is not certain where the song of praise ends or how vv. 7-15 fit into the structure. Verses 10-11a seem to lament the presence of evil and v. 11b anticipates the arrival of judgment, so it is possible that vv. 7-15 are a prelude to the lament and announcement that conclude the chapter.
Isaiah 26:7 tc The Hebrew text has, “upright, the path of the righteous you make level.” There are three possible ways to translate this line. Some take יָשָׁר (yashar) as a divine title: “O Upright One” (cf. NASB, NIV, NKJV, NRSV, NLT). Others regard יָשָׁר as the result of dittography (מֵישָׁרִים יָשָׁר מַעְגּל, mesharim yashar maʿgal) and do not include it in the translation. Another possibility is to keep יָשָׁר and render the line as “the path of the righteous that you prepare is straight.” sn The metaphor of a level/smooth road/path may refer to their morally upright manner of life (see v. 8a), but verse 7b, which attributes the smooth path to the Lord, suggests that the Lord’s vindication and blessing may be the reality behind the metaphor here.
Isaiah 26:8 tn The Hebrew text has, “yes, the way of your judgments.” The translation assumes that “way” is related to the verb “we wait” as an adverbial accusative (“in the way of your judgments we wait”). מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ (mishpatekha, “your judgments”) could refer to the Lord’s commandments, in which case one might translate, “as we obey your commands.” However, in verse 9 the same form refers to divine acts of judgment on evildoers.
Isaiah 26:8 tn Heb “your name and your remembrance [are] the desire of [our?] being.”
Isaiah 26:9 tn Heb “with my soul I.” This is a figure for the speaker himself (“I”).
Isaiah 26:9 tn Or “long for, desire.” The speaker acknowledges that he is eager to see God come in judgment (see vv. 8, 9b).
Isaiah 26:9 tn The translation understands צֶדֶק (tsedeq) in the sense of “justice,” but it is possible that it carries the nuance “righteousness,” in which case one might translate, “those who live in the world learn to live in a righteous manner” (cf. NCV).
Isaiah 26:10 tn As in verse 9b, the translation understands צֶדֶק (tsedeq) in the sense of “justice,” but it is possible that it carries the nuance “righteousness,” in which case one might translate, “they do not learn to live in a righteous manner.”
Isaiah 26:10 tn Heb “in a land of uprightness they act unjustly”; NRSV “they deal perversely.”
Isaiah 26:11 tn Heb “O Lord, your hand is lifted up.”
Isaiah 26:11 tn Heb “They will see and be ashamed of zeal of people.” Some take the prefixed verbs as jussives and translate the statement as a prayer, “Let them see and be put to shame.” The meaning of the phrase קִנְאַת עָם (qinʾat ʿam, “zeal of people”) is unclear. The translation assumes that this refers to God’s angry judgment upon people. Another option is to understand the phrase as referring to God’s zealous, protective love of his covenant people. In this case one might translate, “by your zealous devotion to your people.”
Isaiah 26:11 tn Heb “yes, fire, your enemies, will consume them.” Many understand the prefixed verb form to be jussive and translate, “let [fire] consume” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV). The mem suffixed to the verb may be enclitic; if a pronominal suffix, it refers back to “your enemies.”
Isaiah 26:12 tn Heb “O Lord, you establish peace for us.”
Isaiah 26:12 tc Some suggest emending גַּם כָּל (gam kol, “even all”) to כִּגְמֻל (kigmul, “according to the deed[s] of”) One might then translate “for according to what our deeds deserve, you have acted on our behalf.” Nevertheless, accepting the MT as it stands, the prophet affirms that Yahweh deserved all the credit for anything Israel had accomplished.
Isaiah 26:14 sn In light of what is said in verse 14b, the “dead” here may be the “masters” mentioned in verse 13.
Isaiah 26:14 tn The Hebrew term לָכֵן (lakhen) normally indicates a cause-effect relationship between what precedes and follows and is translated, “therefore.” Here, however, it infers the cause from the effect and brings out what is implicit in the previous statement. See BDB 487 s.v.
Isaiah 26:14 tn Heb “visited [for harm]” (cf. KJV, ASV); NAB, NRSV “you have punished.”
Isaiah 26:15 tn Heb “you have added to the nation.” The last line of the verse suggests that geographical expansion is in view. “The nation” is Judah.
Isaiah 26:15 tn Or “brought honor to yourself.”
Isaiah 26:16 tn The meaning of this verse is unclear. It appears to read literally, “O Lord, in distress they visit you, they pour out [?] an incantation, your discipline to them.” פָּקַד (paqad) may here carry the sense of “seek with interest” (cf. Ezek 23:21 and BDB 823 s.v.) or “seek in vain” (cf. Isa 34:16), but it is peculiar for the Lord to be the object of this verb. צָקוּן (tsaqun) may be a Qal perfect third plural form from צוּק (tsuq, “pour out, melt”), though the verb is not used of pouring out words in its two other occurrences. Because of the appearance of צַר (tsar, “distress”) in the preceding line, it is tempting to emend the form to a noun and derive it from צוּק (“be in distress”) The term לַחַשׁ (lakhash) elsewhere refers to an incantation (Isa 3:3; Jer 8:17; Eccl 10:11) or amulet (Isa 3:20). Perhaps here it refers to ritualistic prayers or to magical incantations used to ward off evil.
Isaiah 26:18 tn On the use of כְּמוֹ (k^emo, “like, as”) here, see BDB 455 s.v. Israel’s distress and suffering, likened here to the pains of childbirth, seemed to be for no purpose. A woman in labor endures pain with the hope that a child will be born; in Israel’s case no such positive outcome was apparent. The nation was like a woman who strains to bring forth a child but cannot push the baby through to daylight. All her effort produces nothing.
Isaiah 26:18 tn Heb “and the inhabitants of the world do not fall.” The term נָפַל (nafal) apparently means here, “be born,” though the Qal form of the verb is not used with this nuance anywhere else in the OT. (The Hiphil appears to be used in the sense of “give birth” in v. 19, however.) The implication of verse 18b seems to be that Israel hoped its suffering would somehow end in deliverance and an increase in population. The phrase “inhabitants of the world” seems to refer to the human race in general, but the next verse, which focuses on Israel’s dead, suggests the referent may be more limited.
Isaiah 26:19 sn At this point the Lord (or prophet) gives the people an encouraging oracle.
Isaiah 26:19 tn Heb “dust” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
Isaiah 26:19 tn Heb “for the dew of lights [is] your dew.” The pronominal suffix on “dew” is masculine singular, like the suffixes on “your dead” and “your corpses” in the first half of the verse. The statement, then, is addressed to collective Israel, the speaker in verse 18. The plural form אוֹרֹת (ʾorot) is probably a plural of respect or magnitude, meaning “bright light” (i.e., morning’s light). Dew is a symbol of fertility and life. Here Israel’s “dew,” as it were, will soak the dust of the ground and cause the corpses of the dead to spring up to new life, like plants sprouting up from well-watered soil.
Isaiah 26:19 sn It is not certain whether the resurrection envisioned here is intended to be literal or figurative. A comparison with 25:8 and Dan 12:2 suggests a literal interpretation, but Ezek 37:1-14 uses resurrection as a metaphor for deliverance from exile and the restoration of the nation (see Isa 27:12-13).
Isaiah 26:20 tn Heb “until anger passes by.”
Isaiah 26:21 tn Heb “out of his place” (so KJV, ASV).
Isaiah 26:21 sn This implies that rampant bloodshed is one of the reasons for divine judgment. See the note at 24:5.

1 John 4

Testing the Spirits

4 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit,^[a] but test^[b] the spirits^[c] to determine^[d] if they are from God, because many false prophets^[e] have gone out into the world. ²By this^[f] you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses^[g] Jesus as the Christ^[h] who has come in the flesh is from God, ³but^[i] every spirit that refuses to confess^[j] Jesus,^[k] that spirit^[l] is not from God, and this is the spirit^[m] of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now is already in the world.

⁴You are from God, little children, and have conquered them,^[n] because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. ⁵They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world’s perspective and the world listens to them. ⁶We are from God; the person who knows God listens to us, but^[o] whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this^[p] we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.^[q]

God is Love

⁷Dear friends, let us love one another, because^[r] love is from God, and everyone who loves^[s] has been fathered^[t] by God and knows God. ⁸The person who does not love does not know God, because God is love.^[u] ⁹By this^[v] the love of God^[w] is revealed in us:^[x] that God has sent his one and only^[y] Son into the world so that we may live through him. ¹⁰In this^[z] is love: not that^[aa] we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice^[ab] for our sins.

¹¹Dear friends, if God so loved us, then^[ac] we also ought to love one another.^[ad] ¹²No one has seen God at any time.^[ae] If we love one another, God resides^[af] in us, and his love is perfected in us.^[ag] ¹³By this^[ah] we know that we reside in God^[ai] and he in us: in that he has given us of his Spirit.^[aj] ¹⁴And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior^[ak] of the world.

¹⁵If anyone^[al] confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God resides^[am] in him and he in God. ¹⁶And we have come to know and to believe^[an] the love that God has in us.^[ao] God is love, and the one who resides^[ap] in love resides in God, and God resides in him. ¹⁷By this^[aq] love is perfected with^[ar] us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because just as Jesus^[as] is, so also are we in this world. ¹⁸There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.^[at] The^[au] one who fears punishment^[av] has not been perfected in love. ¹⁹We love^[aw] because he loved us first.

²⁰If anyone says^[ax] “I love God” and yet^[ay] hates his fellow Christian,^[az] he is a liar, because the one who does not love his fellow Christian^[ba] whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.^[bb] ²¹And the commandment we have from him is this: that^[bc] the one who loves God should love his fellow Christian^[bd] too.

Footnotes

1 John 4:1 sn 1 John 4:1-6. These verses form one of three units within 1 John that almost all interpreters consider a single unit and do not divide up (the other two are 2:12-14 and 15-17). The subject matter is so clearly different from the surrounding context that these clearly constitute separate units of thought. Since the Holy Spirit is not the only spirit active in the world, the author needs to qualify for the recipients how to tell if a spirit comes from God. The “test” is the confession in 4:2.
1 John 4:1 tn According to BDAG 255 s.v. δοκιμάζω 1 the verb means “to make a critical examination of someth. to determine genuineness, put to the test, examine.”
1 John 4:1 sn Test the spirits. Since in the second half of the present verse the author mentions “false prophets” who have “gone out into the world,” it appears highly probable that his concept of testing the spirits is drawn from the OT concept of testing a prophet to see whether he is a false prophet or a true one. The procedure for testing a prophet is found in Deut 13:2-6 and 18:15-22. An OT prophet was to be tested on the basis of (a) whether or not his predictive prophecies came true (Deut 18:22) and (b) whether or not he advocated idolatry (Deut 13:1-3). In the latter case the people of Israel are warned that even if the prophet should perform an authenticating sign or wonder, his truth or falsity is still to be judged on the basis of his claims, that is, whether or not he advocates idolatry. Here in 1 John the idea of “testing the spirits” comes closer to the second OT example of “testing the prophets” mentioned above. According to 1 John 4:2-3, the spirits are to be tested on the basis of their christological confession: The person motivated by the Spirit of God will confess Jesus as the Christ who has come in the flesh, while the person motivated by the spirit of deceit will not confess Jesus and is therefore not from God. This comes close to the idea expressed by Paul in 1 Cor 12:3 where the person speaking charismatic utterances is also to be judged on the basis of his christological confession: “So I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, ‘Jesus is cursed,’ and no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.”
1 John 4:1 tn The phrase “to determine” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied for clarity.
1 John 4:1 tn “False prophets” refers to the secessionist opponents (compare 2:19).
1 John 4:2 tn There is no subordinating conjunction following the ἐν τούτῳ (en toutō) here in 4:2, so the phrase could refer either (1) to what precedes or (2) to what follows. Contextually the phrase refers to what follows, because the following clause in 4:2b-3a (πᾶν πνεῦμα ὃ ὁμολογεῖ ᾿Ιησοῦν Χριστὸν…ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστιν, καὶ πᾶν πνεῦμα ὃ μὴ ὁμολογεῖ τὸν ᾿Ιησοῦν ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ οὐκ ἔστιν), while not introduced by a subordinating conjunction, does explain the preceding clause beginning with ἐν τούτῳ. In other words, the following clause in 4:2b-3a is analogous to a subordinate clause introduced by an epexegetical ἵνα (hina) or ὅτι (hoti), and the relationship can be represented in the English translation by a colon, “By this you know the Spirit of God: Every Spirit that confesses Jesus as the Christ who has come in the flesh is from God, but every Spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.”
1 John 4:2 tn Or “acknowledges.”
1 John 4:2 tn This forms part of the author’s christological confession which serves as a test of the spirits. Many interpreters have speculated that the author of 1 John is here correcting or adapting a slogan of the secessionist opponents, but there is no concrete evidence for this in the text. Such a possibility is mere conjecture (see R. E. Brown, Epistles of John [AB], 492). The phrase may be understood in a number of different ways, however: (1) the entire phrase “Jesus Christ come in the flesh” may be considered the single object of the verb ὁμολογεῖ (homologei; so B. F. Westcott, A. Brooke, J. Bonsirven, R. E. Brown, S. Smalley, and others); (2) the verb ὁμολογεῖ may be followed by a double accusative, so that both “Jesus Christ” and “come in the flesh” are objects of the verb; the meaning would be “confess Jesus Christ as come in the flesh” (so B. Weiss, J. Chaine, and others). (3) Another possibility is to see the verb as followed by a double accusative as in (2), but in this case the first object is “Jesus” and the second is “the Christ come in the flesh,” so that what is being confessed is “Jesus as the Christ come in the flesh” (so N. Alexander, J. Stott, J. Houlden, and others). All three options are grammatically possible, although not equally probable. Option (1) has a number of points in its favor: (a) the parallel in 2 John 7 suggests to some that the phrase should be understood as a single object; (b) option (2) makes “Jesus Christ” the name of the preincarnate second Person of the Trinity, and this would be the only place in the Johannine literature where such a designation for the preincarnate Λόγος (Logos) occurs; and (c) option (3) would have been much clearer if Χριστόν (Christon) were accompanied by the article (ὁμολογεῖ ᾿Ιησοῦν τὸν Χριστόν, homologei Iēsoun ton Christon). Nevertheless option (3) is preferred on the basis of the overall context involving the secessionist opponents: Their christological views would allow the confession of the Christ come in the flesh (perhaps in the sense of the Spirit indwelling believers, although this is hard to prove), but they would have trouble confessing that Jesus was (exclusively) the Christ incarnate. The author’s failure to repeat the qualifying phrases (Χριστὸν ἐν σαρκὶ ἐληλυθότα, Christon en sarki elēluthota) in the negative repetition in 4:3a actually suggests that the stress is on Jesus as the confession the opponents could not or would not make. It is difficult to see how the parallel in 2 John 7 favors option (1), although R. E. Brown (Epistles of John [AB], 492) thinks it does. The related or parallel construction in John 9:22 (ἐάν τις αὐτὸν ὁμολογήσῃ Χριστόν, ean tis auton homologēsē Christon) provides further support for option (3). This is discounted by R. E. Brown because the verb in John 9:22 occurs between the two accusative objects rather than preceding both as here (Epistles of John [AB], 493—although Brown does mention Rom 10:9 as another parallel closer in grammatical structure to 1 John 4:2). Brown does not mention the textual variants in John 9:22, however: Both P⁶⁶ and P⁷⁵ (along with K, ƒ¹³ and others) read ὁμολογήσῃ αὐτὸν Χριστόν (homologēsē auton Christon). This structure exactly parallels 1 John 4:2, and a case can be made that this is actually the preferred reading in John 9:22; furthermore, it is clear from the context in John 9:22 that Χριστόν is the complement (what is predicated of the first accusative) since the object (the first accusative) is αὐτόν rather than the proper name ᾿Ιησοῦν. The parallel in John 9:22 thus appears to be clearer than either 1 John 4:2 or 2 John 7, and thus to prove useful in understanding both the latter constructions.
1 John 4:3 tn The καί (kai) which begins 4:3 introduces the “negative side” of the test by which the spirits might be known in 4:2-3. Thus it is adversative in force: “every spirit that confesses Jesus as Christ who has come in the flesh is from God, but every Spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.”
1 John 4:3 tn Or “refuses to acknowledge”; Grk “that does not confess,” but the literal rendering can be misread by an English reader as a double negative with the following clause.
1 John 4:3 tc A number of variants are generated from the simple τὸν ᾿Ιησοῦν (ton Iēsoun, “Jesus”), some of which turn the expression into an explicit object-complement construction. ᾿Ιησοῦν κύριον (Iēsoun kurion, “Jesus as Lord”) is found in א, ᾿Ιησοῦν Χριστόν (Iēsoun Christon, “Jesus as Christ”) is read by 5 (442 1175) 1243 1735 2492 M, τὸν Χριστόν (“the Christ”) is the reading of 1846, τὸν Χριστὸν ᾿Ιησοῦν (“Christ Jesus” or “Jesus as the Christ”) is the wording of 307, and ᾿Ιησοῦν without the article is found in 1881 2464. But τὸν ᾿Ιησοῦν is well supported by A B Ψ 33 81 436 1611 1739 1852 2344, and internally best explains the rise of the others. It is thus preferred on both external and internal grounds.
1 John 4:3 tn The words “that spirit” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied in the translation to make clear that it is the spirit mentioned in the preceding clause (that is, the spirit that refuses to confess Jesus) that is not from God.
1 John 4:3 tn Here “spirit” is not in the Greek text but is implied, and is necessary in the English translation; Grk “and this is the of the antichrist.”
1 John 4:4 sn Them refers to the secessionist opponents, called “false prophets” in 4:1 (compare 2:19).
1 John 4:6 tn “But” supplied here to bring out the context. The conjunction is omitted in the Greek text (asyndeton).
1 John 4:6 tn The phrase ἐκ τούτου (ek toutou) in 4:6, which bears obvious similarity to the much more common phrase ἐν τούτῳ (en toutō), must refer to what precedes, since there is nothing in the following context for it to relate to, and 4:1-6 is recognized by almost everyone as a discrete unit. There is still a question, however, of what in the preceding context the phrase refers to. Interpreters have suggested a reference (1) only to 4:6; (2) to 4:4-6; or (3) to all of 4:1-6. The last is most likely, because the present phrase forms an inclusio with the phrase ἐν τούτῳ in 3:24 which introduces the present section. Thus “by this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit” refers to all of 4:1-6 with its “test” of the spirits by the christological confession made by their adherents in 4:1-3 and with its emphasis on the authoritative (apostolic) eyewitness testimony to the significance of Jesus’ earthly life and ministry in 4:4-6.
1 John 4:6 sn Who or what is the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit in 1 John 4:6? (1) Some interpreters regard the “spirits” in 4:6 as human spirits. Although 4:1a is ambiguous and might refer either to human spirits or spiritual beings who influence people, it is clear in the context that (2) the author sees behind the secessionist opponents with their false Christology the spirit of the Antichrist, that is, Satan (4:3b), and behind the true believers of the community to which he is writing, the Spirit of God (4:2). This is made clear in 4:4 by the reference to the respective spirits as the One who is in you and the one who is in the world.
1 John 4:7 tn This ὅτι (hoti) is causal, giving the reason why the readers, as believers, ought to love one another: because love comes from God. The next clause, introduced by καί (kai), does not give a second reason (i.e., is not related to the ὅτι clause), but introduces a second and additional thought: Everyone who loves is fathered by God and knows God.
1 John 4:7 tn As in 2:23 and 3:4, the author uses πᾶς (pas) with the present articular participle as a generalization to describe a category of people.sn From the author’s “either/or” perspective (which tends to see things in terms of polar opposites) the use of a generalization like everyone who presents a way of categorizing the opponents on the one hand and the recipients, whom the author regards as genuine Christians, on the other. Thus everyone who loves refers to all true Christians, who give evidence by their love for one another that they have indeed been begotten by God and are thus God’s children. The opposite situation is described in the following verse, 4:8, where (although everyone [πᾶς, pas] is omitted) it is clear that a contrast is intended.
1 John 4:7 tn The verb γεννάω (gennaō) in this context means to be fathered by God and thus a child of God. The imagery in 1 John is that of the male parent who fathers children (see especially 3:9 and 5:1).
1 John 4:8 tn The author proclaims in 4:8 ὁ θεὸς ἀγάπη ἐστίν (ho theos agapē estin), but from a grammatical standpoint this is not a proposition in which subject and predicate nominative are interchangeable (“God is love” does not equal “love is God”). The predicate noun is anarthrous, as it is in two other Johannine formulas describing God, “God is light” in 1 John 1:5 and “God is Spirit” in John 4:24. The anarthrous predicate suggests a qualitative force, not a mere abstraction, so that a quality of God’s character is what is described here.
1 John 4:9 tn Once again there is the problem of determining whether the phrase ἐν τούτῳ (en toutō) refers (1) to what precedes or (2) to what follows. This is the first of 5 uses of the phrase in the present section (4:9, 10, 13, 17; 5:2). In this case (as also in the next two instances) there is a ὅτι (hoti) clause following which is related and which explains (i.e., which is epexegetical to) the phrase ἐν τούτῳ. Thus the meaning here is, “By this the love of God is revealed in us: that God has sent his only Son into the world in order that we might live through him.”
1 John 4:9 tn In terms of syntax the force of the genitive τοῦ θεοῦ (tou theou) may be (1) objective, (2) subjective, or (3) both. The phrase occurs for the first time in the letter in 2:5. Here in 4:9 the epexegetical ὅτι (hoti) clause which follows makes it clear that this is a subjective genitive, emphasizing God’s love for us rather than our love for God, because it describes God’s action in sending his Son into the world.
1 John 4:9 tn This phrase is best understood as the equivalent of a dative of sphere, but this description does not specify where the love of God is revealed with regard to believers: “in our midst” (i.e., among us) or “within us” (i.e., internally within believers). The latter is probable, because in the context the concept of God’s indwelling of the believer is mentioned in 4:12: “God resides (μένει, menei) in us.”
1 John 4:9 sn Although the word translated one and only (μονογενής, monogenēs) is often rendered “only begotten,” such a translation is misleading, since in English it appears to express a metaphysical relationship. The word in Greek was used of an only child (a son [Luke 7:12; 9:38] or a daughter [Luke 8:42]). It was also used of something unique (only one of its kind) such as the mythological bird called the Phoenix (1 Clement 25:2). From here it passes easily to a description of Isaac (Heb 11:17 and Josephus, Ant. 1.13.1 [1.222]) who was not Abraham’s only son, but was one-of-a-kind because he was the child of the promise. Thus the word means “one-of-a-kind” and is reserved for Jesus alone in the Johannine literature of the NT. While all Christians are children of God (τέκνα θεοῦ, tekna theou), Jesus is God’s Son in a unique, one-of-a-kind sense. The word is used in this way in all its uses in the Gospel of John (1:14, 18; 3:16, 18).
1 John 4:10 tn Once again there is the (by now familiar) problem of determining whether the referent of this phrase (1) precedes or (2) follows. Here there are two ὅτι (hoti) clauses which follow, both of which are epexegetical to the phrase ἐν τούτῳ (en toutō) and explain what the love of God consists of: first, stated negatively, “not that we have loved God,” and then positively, “but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.”
1 John 4:10 tn The two ὅτι (hoti) clauses are epexegetical to the phrase ἐν τούτῳ (en toutō) which begins the verse.sn What is important (as far as the author is concerned) is not whether we love God (or say that we love God—a claim of the opponents is probably behind this), but that God has loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice which removes believers’ sins. This latter point is similar to the point made in 2:2 and is at the heart of the author’s dispute with the opponents, because they were denying any salvific value to Jesus’ earthly life and ministry, including his death on the cross.
1 John 4:10 sn As explained at 2:2, inherent in the meaning of the word translated atoning sacrifice (ἱλασμός, hilasmos) is the idea of turning away the divine wrath, so that “propitiation” is the closest English equivalent. God’s love for us is expressed in his sending his Son to be the propitiation (the propitiatory sacrifice) for our sins on the cross. This is an indirect way for the author to allude to one of the main points of his controversy with the opponents: the significance for believers’ salvation of Jesus’ earthly life and ministry, including especially his sacrificial death on the cross. The contemporary English “atoning sacrifice” communicates this idea more effectively.
1 John 4:11 tn Grk “and.” The Greek conjunction καί (kai) introduces the apodosis of the conditional sentence.
1 John 4:11 tn This is a first-class conditional sentence with εἰ (ei) + aorist indicative in the protasis. Reality is assumed for the sake of argument with a first-class condition.sn The author here assumes the reality of the protasis (the “if” clause), which his recipients, as believers, would also be expected to agree with: Assuming that God has loved us in this way, then it follows that we also ought to love one another. God’s act of love in sending his Son into the world to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins (v. 10) ought to motivate us as believers to love one another in a similar sacrificial fashion. The author made the same point already in 1 John 3:16. But this failure to show love for fellow believers is just what the opponents are doing: In 1 John 3:17 the author charged them with refusing to love their brothers by withholding needed material assistance. By their failure to love the brothers sacrificially according to the example Jesus set for believers, the opponents have demonstrated again the falsity of their claims to love God and know God (see 1 John 2:9).
1 John 4:12 sn An allusion to John 1:18.
1 John 4:12 tn The phrase “God resides in us” (ὁ θεὸς ἐν ἡμῖν μένει, ho theos en hēmin menei) in 4:12 is a reference to the permanent relationship which God has with the believer. Here it refers specifically to God’s indwelling of the believer in the person of the Holy Spirit, as indicated by 4:13b. Since it refers to state and not to change of status it is here translated “resides” (see 2:6).
1 John 4:12 tn The phrase “his [God’s] love is perfected (τετελειωμένη ἐστίν, teteleiōmenē estin) in us” in 4:12 is difficult. First it is necessary to decide whether αὐτοῦ (autou), which refers to God, is (1) subjective (God’s love for us) or (2) objective (our love for God). It is clear that a subjective genitive, stressing God’s love for us, is in view here, because the immediate context, 4:11a, has believers as the objects of God’s love (ὁ θεὸς ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς, ho theos ēgapēsen hēmas). The entire phrase ἡ ἀγάπη αὐτοῦ ἐν ἡμῖν τετελειωμένη ἐστίν (hē agapē autou en hēmin teteleiōmenē estin) then refers to what happens when believers love one another (note the protasis of the conditional sentence in 4:12, ἐάν ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους [ean agapōmen allēlous]). The love that comes from God, the love that he has for us, reaches perfection in our love for others, which is what God wants and what believers are commanded to do (see 3:23b).
1 John 4:13 tn Again whether the referent of the phrase ἐν τούτῳ (en toutō) (1) precedes or (2) follows is a problem. This time there are two ὅτι (hoti) clauses which follow. The first is an indirect discourse clause related to γινώσκομεν (ginōskomen) and giving the content of what believers know: “that we reside in him and he in us.” The second ὅτι clause is epexegetical (or explanatory) to the ἐν τούτῳ phrase, explaining how believers know that they reside in God and God remains in them: “in that he has given us of his Spirit.”sn By this we know. According to the author of 1 John, the Father’s giving of the indwelling Holy Spirit to the believer is one means of providing assurance to the believer of his relationship to God. This is what was also stated in 1 John 3:24b in essentially identical terms.
1 John 4:13 tn Grk “in him.” Context indicates that the pronoun refers to God (see 4:12).
1 John 4:13 sn The genitive of his Spirit here, like the phrase in 3:24, probably reflects a partitive nuance, so that the author portrays God as ‘apportioning’ his Spirit to individual believers. This leads to the important observation that the author is not particularly interested in emphasizing (1) the ongoing interior witness of the Holy Spirit (which is what the passage is often understood to mean) but is emphasizing (2) the fact that God has given the Spirit to believers, and it is this fact that gives believers assurance of their relationship to God. In other words, it is the fact that the Holy Spirit has been given to believers, rather than the ongoing interior testimony of the Holy Spirit within the believer, which is the primary source of the believer’s assurance.
1 John 4:14 tn Because σωτῆρα (sōtēra) is the object complement of υἱόν (huion) in a double accusative construction in 4:14, there is an understood equative verb joining the two, with the resultant meaning “the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.”
1 John 4:15 tn Grk “Whoever.”
1 John 4:15 tn Here μένει (menei, from μένω [menō]) has been translated as “resides” because the confession is constitutive of the relationship, and the resulting state (“God resides in him”) is in view.
1 John 4:16 tn Both ἐγνώκαμεν (egnōkamen) and πεπιστεύκαμεν (pepisteukamen) in 4:16 are perfect tenses, implying past actions with existing results. In this case the past action is specified as the recognition of (ἐγνώκαμεν) and belief in (πεπιστεύκαμεν) “the love which God has in us.” But what is the relationship between the two verbs γινώσκω (ginōskō) and πιστεύω (pisteuō)? (1) Some interpreters would see a different nuance in each. (2) But in the Gospel of John the two verbs frequently occur together in the same context, often in the same tense; examples may be found in John 6:69; 8:31-32; 10:38; 14:7-10, and 17:8. They also occur together in one other context in 1 John, 4:1-2. Of these John 6:69, Peter’s confession, is the closest parallel to the usage here: “We have come to believe [πεπιστεύκαμεν] and to know [ἐγνώκαμεν] that you are the holy One of God.” Here the order between “knowing” and “believing” is reversed from 1 John 4:16, but an examination of the other examples from the Gospel of John should make it clear that there is no difference in meaning when the order of the terms is reversed. It appears that the author considered both terms to describe a single composite action. Thus they represent a hendiadys which describes an act of faith/belief/trust on the part of the individual; knowledge (true knowledge) is an inseparable part of this act of faith.
1 John 4:16 tn The force of the preposition ἐν (en) in the phrase ἐν ἡμῖν (en hēmin) in 4:16a is disputed: Although (1) “for” (in the sense of “on behalf of”) is possible and is a common English translation, the other uses of the same phrase in 4:9 (where it refers to God’s love for us) and 4:12 (where it refers to God’s indwelling of the believer) suggest that (2) the author intends to emphasize interiority here—a reference to God’s love expressed in believers. This is confirmed by the only other uses in 1 John of the verb ἔχω (echō) with the preposition ἐν (3:15 and 5:10) both of which literally mean something in someone.
1 John 4:16 tn Once again μένω (menō) in its three occurrences in 4:16 looks at the mutual state of believers and God. No change of status or position is in view in the context, so the participle and both finite verbs are translated as “resides.”
1 John 4:17 tn The referent of ἐν τούτῳ (en toutō) here is more difficult to determine than most, because while there are both ἵνα (hina) and ὅτι (hoti) clauses following, it is not clear whether or not they are related to the ἐν τούτῳ. There are actually three possibilities for the referent of ἐν τούτῳ in 4:17: (1) it may refer to the ἵνα clause which immediately follows, so that the love of believers is brought to perfection in that they have confidence in the day of judgment. The main problem with this interpretation is that since the day of judgment is still future, it necessitates understanding the second use of the preposition “in” (second ἐν [en]) to mean “about” or “concerning” with reference to the day of judgment in order to make logical sense. (2) The ἐν τούτῳ may refer to the ὅτι clause in 4:17b, meaning “love is perfected with us…in that just as he [Christ] is, so also are we in this world.” This makes logical sense, and there are numerous cases where ἐν τούτῳ is explained by a ὅτι clause that follows. However, according to this understanding the intervening ἵνα clause is awkward, and there is no other instance of the phrase ἐν τούτῳ explained by a following ὅτι clause where a ἵνα clause intervenes between the two in this way. (3) Thus, the third possibility is that ἐν τούτῳ refers to what precedes in 4:16b, and this also would make logical sense: “By this—by our residing in love so that we reside in God and he resides in us—is love brought to perfection with us.” This has the additional advantage of agreeing precisely with what the author has already said in 4:12: “If we love one another, God remains in us and his love is brought to perfection in us.” Thus option (3) is best, with the phrase ἐν τούτῳ referring to what precedes in 4:16b, and the ἵνα clause which follows indicates the result of this perfection of love in believers: In the future day of judgment they will have confidence. The ὅτι clause would then give the reason for such confidence in the day of judgment: because just as Jesus is, so also are believers in this world—they are already currently in relationship with God just as Jesus is.
1 John 4:17 tn The preposition μετά (meta) means “with” and modifies the verb τετελείωται (teteleiōtai). If the prepositional phrase modified the noun ἡ ἀγάπη which immediately precedes it, it would almost certainly have the Greek article, thus: ἡ ἀγάπη ἡ μεθ᾿ ἡμῶν (hē agapē hē meth’ hēmōn).sn To say love is perfected with us means “with regard to our actions in loving our brothers.”
1 John 4:17 tn Grk “that one” (a reference to Jesus is indicated in the context). Once more the author uses the pronoun ἐκεῖνος (ekeinos) to refer to Jesus Christ, as he did in 2:6; 3:3, 5, 7, and 16. A reference to Christ is confirmed in this context because the author says that “just as he is, so also are we [believers] in this world” and since 3:2 indicated that believers are to be like God in the future (but are not yet), the only one believers can be like already in the present age is Jesus Christ.
1 John 4:18 sn The entire phrase fear has to do with punishment may be understood in two slightly different ways: (1) “fear has its own punishment” or (2) “fear has to do with [includes] punishment.” These are not far apart, however, and the real key to understanding the expression lies in the meaning of the word “punishment” (κόλασις, kolasis). While it may refer to torture or torment (BDAG 555 s.v. 1) there are numerous Koine references involving eternal punishment (2 Macc 4:38; T. Reu. 5:5; T. Gad 7:5) and this is also the use in the only other NT reference, Matt 25:46. In the present context, where the author has mentioned having confidence in the day of judgment (4:17), it seems virtually certain that eternal punishment (or fear of it) is what is meant here. The (only) alternative to perfected love, which results in confidence at the day of judgment, is fear, which has to do with the punishment one is afraid of receiving at the judgment. As 4:18b states, “the one who fears [punishment] has not been perfected in love.” It is often assumed by interpreters that the opposite to perfected love (which casts out fear) is imperfect love (which still has fear and therefore no assurance). This is possible, but it is not likely, because the author nowhere mentions ‘imperfect’ love, and for him the opposite of ‘perfected’ love appears to be not imperfect love but hate (cf. 4:20). In other words, in the antithetical (‘either/or’) categories in which the author presents his arguments, one is either a genuine believer, who becomes ‘perfected’ in love as he resides in love and in a mutually indwelling relationship with God (cf. 4:16b), or one is not a genuine believer at all, but one who (like the opponents) hates his brother, is a liar, and does not know God at all. This individual should well fear judgment and eternal punishment because in the author’s view that is precisely where such a person is headed.
1 John 4:18 tn Grk “punishment, and the person who fears.”
1 John 4:18 tn “Punishment” is not repeated in the Greek text at this point but is implied.
1 John 4:19 sn No object is supplied for the verb love (the author with his propensity for obscurity has left it to the readers to supply the object). The obvious objects that could be supplied from the context are either God himself or other believers (the brethren). It may well be that the author has both in mind at this point; the statement is general enough to cover both alternatives, although the following verse puts more emphasis on love for the brethren.
1 John 4:20 tn Grk “if anyone should say…”
1 John 4:20 tn “Yet” is supplied to bring out the contrast.
1 John 4:20 tn See note on the phrase “fellow Christian” in 2:9.
1 John 4:20 tn See note on the phrase “fellow Christian” in 2:9.
1 John 4:20 sn In 4:20 the author again describes the opponents, who claim to love God. Their failure to show love for their fellow Christians proves their claim to know God to be false: The one who does not love his fellow Christian whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.
1 John 4:21 tn The ἵνα (hina) clause in 4:21 could be giving (1) the purpose or (2) the result of the commandment mentioned in the first half of the verse, but if it does, the author nowhere specifies what the commandment consists of. It makes better sense to understand this ἵνα clause as (3) epexegetical to the pronoun ταύτην (tautēn) at the beginning of 4:21 and thus explaining what the commandment consists of: “that the one who loves God should love his brother also.”
1 John 4:21 tn See note on the phrase “fellow Christian” in 2:9.

New English Translation (NET)

Prev Day

Top

Next Day

Use the calendar to view readings from this devotional.

Log in to read this devotional and:

M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The Southern Border of the Land

The Western Border of the Land

The Northern Border of the Land

The Eastern Border of the Land

Appointed Officials

Footnotes

Footnotes

Judah Will Celebrate

God’s People Anticipate Vindication

Footnotes

Testing the Spirits

God is Love

Footnotes