Passage
1 John 4.20
20. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, cannot love God whom he hath not seen. (ASV)Book: 1 John · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT
Immediate context (±2 verses)
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ASV
18. There is no fear in love: but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath punishment; and he that feareth is not made perfect in love. 19. We love, because he first loved us.
20. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, cannot love God whom he hath not seen.
- And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother also. (1 John 4:18-21, ASV)
WEB
18. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment. He who fears is not made perfect in love. 19. We love him, because he first loved us.
20. If a man says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who doesn’t love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
- This commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should also love his brother. (1 John 4:18-21, WEB)
KJV
18. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. 19. We love him, because he first loved us.
20. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
- And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also. (1 John 4:18-21, KJV)
YLT
18. fear is not in the love, but the perfect love doth cast out the fear, because the fear hath punishment, and he who is fearing hath not been made perfect in the love; 19. we, we love him, because He, He first loved us;
20. if any one may say, 'I love God,' and his brother he may hate, a liar he is; for he who is not loving his brother whom he hath seen, God, whom he hath not seen, how is he able to love?
- and this [is] the command we have from Him, that he who is loving God, may also love his brother. (1 John 4:18-21, YLT)
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Setting
- Speaker: the author of 1 John, who does not name himself; early tradition identifies him with John the apostle
- Audience: believers he calls "little children" and "beloved," traditionally the churches around Ephesus
- Location: traditionally Ephesus, in the Roman province of Asia
- Time period: late first century, commonly dated c. AD 85-100
Theological reading
"If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" (1 John 4:20, KJV).
A test no one can fake for long. Love for the God no one sees is checked by love for the brother everyone sees. A person who claims the first while hating the second is called "a liar." John refuses to let religion become a private feeling cut off from conduct.
The visible and the invisible. The argument runs from the easier case to the harder one: if you fail to love the one in front of you, you cannot love the one you have never seen. The next verse turns this into a command (4:21).
Key words
Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.
- G0025 - agapao, agapao, Strong's G0025
- G2316 - theos, theos, Strong's G2316
Quoted in
Arguments and defeaters:
Concepts:
Lexicon:
Why these four translations
ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.
The four:
- ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
- WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
- KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
- YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.
See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.