1 John 4:11
New International Version
Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

New Living Translation
Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.

English Standard Version
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Berean Standard Bible
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Berean Literal Bible
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

King James Bible
Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

New King James Version
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

New American Standard Bible
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

NASB 1995
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

NASB 1977
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Legacy Standard Bible
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Amplified Bible
Beloved, if God so loved us [in this incredible way], we also ought to love one another.

Christian Standard Bible
Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another.

American Standard Version
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Contemporary English Version
Dear friends, since God loved us this much, we must love each other.

English Revised Version
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Dear friends, if this is the way God loved us, we must also love each other.

Good News Translation
Dear friends, if this is how God loved us, then we should love one another.

International Standard Version
Dear friends, if this is the way God loved us, we must also love one another.

Majority Standard Bible
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

NET Bible
Dear friends, if God so loved us, then we also ought to love one another.

New Heart English Bible
Beloved, if God loved us in this way, we also ought to love one another.

Webster's Bible Translation
Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

Weymouth New Testament
Dear friends, if God has so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

World English Bible
Beloved, if God loved us in this way, we also ought to love one another.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another;

Berean Literal Bible
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Young's Literal Translation
Beloved, if thus did God love us, we also ought one another to love;

Smith's Literal Translation
Dearly beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
My dearest, if God hath so loved us; we also ought to love one another.

Catholic Public Domain Version
Most beloved, if God has so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

New American Bible
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another.

New Revised Standard Version
Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
My beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Beloved, if God loves us in this way, we are indebted also to love one another.
NT Translations
Anderson New Testament
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Godbey New Testament
Beloved, if God so loved us with divine love, we ought also to love one another with divine love.

Haweis New Testament
Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

Mace New Testament
beloved, if God so loved us, we ought to love one another.

Weymouth New Testament
Dear friends, if God has so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Worrell New Testament
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Worsley New Testament
Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Love Comes from God
10And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us.…

Cross References
John 13:34-35
A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another. / By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”

John 15:12-13
This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. / Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

1 John 3:16-18
By this we know what love is: Jesus laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. / If anyone with earthly possessions sees his brother in need, but withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God abide in him? / Little children, let us love not in word and speech, but in action and truth.

Matthew 22:37-40
Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ / This is the first and greatest commandment. / And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ...

Romans 13:8-10
Be indebted to no one, except to one another in love. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. / The commandments “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and any other commandments, are summed up in this one decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” / Love does no wrong to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. / It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs. / Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth. ...

Ephesians 5:1-2
Be imitators of God, therefore, as beloved children, / and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.

1 Peter 4:8
Above all, love one another deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

Colossians 3:12-14
Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. / Bear with one another and forgive any complaint you may have against someone else. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. / And over all these virtues put on love, which is the bond of perfect unity.

Galatians 5:13-14
For you, brothers, were called to freedom; but do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Rather, serve one another in love. / The entire law is fulfilled in a single decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Luke 6:35-36
But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. / Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

James 2:8
If you really fulfill the royal law stated in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.

1 Thessalonians 4:9
Now about brotherly love, you do not need anyone to write to you, because you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another.

2 John 1:5-6
And now I urge you, dear lady—not as a new commandment to you, but one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another. / And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the very commandment you have heard from the beginning, that you must walk in love.

Hebrews 13:1
Continue in brotherly love.


Treasury of Scripture

Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

1 John 3:16,17,23
Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren…

Matthew 18:32,33
Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: …

Luke 10:37
And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

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1 John 4
1. He warns them not to believe all who boast of the Spirit;
7. and exhorts to brotherly love.














Beloved
This term is derived from the Greek word "ἀγαπητοί" (agapetoi), which signifies those who are dearly loved or cherished. In the context of 1 John, it reflects the intimate and affectionate relationship between the apostle John and his readers, as well as the profound love God has for His children. Historically, this term was used to address fellow believers, emphasizing the familial bond within the early Christian community. It serves as a reminder of the identity and worth of each believer as one who is deeply loved by God.

if God so loved us
The phrase "if God so loved us" is a conditional statement that points back to the preceding verses where God's love is demonstrated through the sending of His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. The Greek word for "loved" here is "ἠγάπησεν" (ēgapēsen), which is the aorist tense of "agapao," indicating a definitive act of love. This love is not merely emotional but is demonstrated through action, specifically the sacrificial giving of Jesus Christ. The historical context of this love is rooted in the narrative of salvation history, where God's love is consistently shown through His covenantal faithfulness and redemptive acts.

we also ought
The word "ought" is translated from the Greek "ὀφείλομεν" (opheilomen), which implies a moral obligation or duty. This term suggests that the love God has shown us creates a binding responsibility for us to act in a similar manner. In the scriptural context, this obligation is not burdensome but is a natural response to the transformative experience of God's love. It reflects the ethical teachings of the New Testament, where love is the fulfillment of the law and the defining characteristic of a disciple of Christ.

to love one another
The command "to love one another" is central to the ethical teachings of the New Testament and is rooted in the Greek word "ἀγαπᾶν" (agapan), which denotes a selfless, sacrificial love that seeks the best for others. This love is not based on emotions or feelings but is a deliberate choice to act in the best interest of others, mirroring the love God has shown us. Historically, this command was radical in the Greco-Roman world, where social hierarchies and divisions were prevalent. In the early Christian community, this love transcended social, ethnic, and economic barriers, creating a new kind of community that reflected the kingdom of God. Scripturally, this command echoes Jesus' teachings in the Gospels, particularly in John 13:34-35, where Jesus instructs His disciples to love one another as He has loved them, thus identifying them as His followers.

Verse 11. - Beloved introduces a solemn exhortation, as in verses 1, 7. The "if" implies no uncertainty (see on 1 John 5:9); it puts the fact more gently, but not more doubtfully, than "since." The "so" οὕτως covers both the quality and the quantity of the love. Καὶ belongs solely to ἡμεῖς: "we also on our part ought to love one another." We should have expected as the apodosis, "we also ought to love God." But this link in the thought the apostle omits as self-evident, and passes on to state what necessarily follows from it. In verse 12 he shows how loving God involves loving one's fellow-men (comp. 1 John 2:5 for a similar passage over an intermediate link).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
Beloved,
Ἀγαπητοί (Agapētoi)
Adjective - Vocative Masculine Plural
Strong's 27: From agapao; beloved.

if
εἰ (ei)
Conjunction
Strong's 1487: If. A primary particle of conditionality; if, whether, that, etc.

God
Θεὸς (Theos)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2316: A deity, especially the supreme Divinity; figuratively, a magistrate; by Hebraism, very.

so
οὕτως (houtōs)
Adverb
Strong's 3779: Thus, so, in this manner. Or (referring to what precedes or follows).

loved
ἠγάπησεν (ēgapēsen)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 25: To love, wish well to, take pleasure in, long for; denotes the love of reason, esteem. Perhaps from agan; to love.

us,
ἡμᾶς (hēmas)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative 1st Person Plural
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.

we
ἡμεῖς (hēmeis)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative 1st Person Plural
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.

also
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

ought
ὀφείλομεν (opheilomen)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 1st Person Plural
Strong's 3784: Or, its prolonged form opheileo probably from the base of ophelos; to owe; figuratively, to be under obligation; morally, to fail in duty.

to love
ἀγαπᾶν (agapan)
Verb - Present Infinitive Active
Strong's 25: To love, wish well to, take pleasure in, long for; denotes the love of reason, esteem. Perhaps from agan; to love.

one another.
ἀλλήλους (allēlous)
Personal / Reciprocal Pronoun - Accusative Masculine Plural
Strong's 240: One another, each other. Genitive plural from allos reduplicated; one another.


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NT Letters: 1 John 4:11 Beloved if God loved us in this (1J iJ 1Jn i jn 1 jo)
1 John 4:10
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