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| Edition 20 | We Love God. We Love Each Other. We Love - period. | 6/9/20 | |
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The New Testament tells us over and over how much God loves us. I John 4:19 is a familiar verse which describes how His love relates to our love. There are three variant forms of the verse that are interesting and perhaps insightful to take note of: I John 4:19 (V₁) We love him, because he first loved us. (KJV)
(V₂) We love, because He first loved us. (NASB)
(V₃) We love each other because he loved us first.
V₁ is from the TR and Byzantine manuscripts. It emphasizes the reciprical love we have for God. (Greek: Ἡμεῖς ἀγαπῶμεν
αὐτόν, ὅτι αὐτὸς πρῶτος ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς.) It should be noted here that manuscript Aleph
also includes a grammatical object in the opening phrase. The difference is that it uses the personal noun τὸν θεόν ("God") instead of the pronoun αὐτόν ("him").
If the KJV used this variant, it would read as follows: |
The passage in chapter 4 covering the subject of love begins in verse 16 and continues through verse 21 (the end of the chapter). "God is love" (vs. 16b.) indicates that God is the very definition of love. Only he in whom God abides and who abides in God has the capacity to love (with God's love). That capacity is stongly emphasized in variant V₂ ("we love because he first loved us.") Verses 20 and 21 link one's love for God and his love for his ἀδελφὸς (brother). His love in us, our love toward Him, and our love for each other are all subjects covered in the passage. None of the three variants listed here is out of place in verse 19.
Greek Text sources cited above include: |