Ίμη ABCKL, Syrph, Vg., Cop., Sah., Aug., WH, Nest.; και µη SQC*P, Syrve,
Aeth., Arm., Tisch.
ἆμον om. ΝΑΒΟΡ, Vg., Arm., Aug., edd. 3 τον αδελφον om. NAB, Vg., Arm., Aug., edd.
4 εαντου B.
ὃτην αγαπην του θεου one minusc., Vg.
hateth his brother is a murderer, and ye know that every murderer hath not life eternal abiding in him. Herein have we got to know love, because He laid down His life for us; and we are bound to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whosoever hath the world’s goods, and beholdeth his brother in need. and locketh up his compassion from him, how doth the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word nor with the tongue, but in deed and truth. Herein shall we get to know that we are of the Truth, and in His presence shall assure our heart, whereinsoever our heart may condemn us, because greater is God than our heart, and He readeth everything. Beloved, if the heart con- demn not, we have boldness toward God, and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we observe His com- mandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment, that we believe the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, even as He gave a command- ment to us. And he that observeth His commandments in Him abideth and He in him; and herein we get to know that He abideth in us—from the Spirit which He gave us.”
Ver. 13. Itis natural that the world (see notes on ii. 15, iii. 1) should hate those whose lives contradict its maxims and condemn its practices. John frequently addresses his readers as τεκνία and ayamnrot, here only as ἀδελφοί. The term suits the context, where he enforces love of the brethren. It is no wonder if the world hate us, and its
5 eautw NACLP, Tisch., WH (marg.); αντω BK, WH, Nest.
Τθειναι SSABCP, edd.
judgment is not decisive. Nevertheless our business is not to be hated by the world, but to commend Jesus to it and win it. We must not impute to the world’s hostility to goodness the conse- quences of our own unamiability or tact- lessness. ‘It is not martyrdom to pay bills that one has run into one’s self” (Geo. Eliot).
Ver. 14. ἡμεῖς emphatic: ‘* Whatever the world may say, we know”. The test is not its hatred but our love. µεταβεβήκαμεν, “have migrated”. The word is used of transition from one place to another (John vil. 3, xiii. 1), of passing from one form of government to another (Plat. Rep. 550 D), of the transmigra- tion of souls (Luc. Gall. 4).
Ver. 15. An echo of the teaching of Jesus. See Matt. v. 21-22 and cf. Smith, The Days of His Flesh, pp. 96-98.
Ver. 16. τὴν ἀγάπην, ‘the thing called ‘love’”. The love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord is the perfect type. ‘Till the world saw that, it never knew what love is. ἐκεῖνος, Christ; see note Onii. 6. ‘pets emphatic, "νε on our part”. ὀφείλομεν, see note on ii. 6.
Ver. 17. Love must be practical. It is easy to “lay down one’s life” martyrdom is heroic and exhilarating ; the difficulty lies in doing the little things, facing day by day the petty sacrifices and self-denials which no one notices and no one applauds. τὸν βίον τοῦ κόσμον, ‘the livelihood of the world”; see note onii. 16. θεωρῇῃ, of a moving spectacle ; cf. Matt. xxvii. 55. κλείσῃ, schliesst; the metaphor is locking the chamber of the heart instead of flinging
13—20.
* xpelay ἔχοντα, καὶ ” κλείση τὰ ' σπλάγχνα αὐτοῦ ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ, tras ἡ 4 ἀγάπη τοῦ Θεοῦ µένει ἐν αὐτῷ; 18. Ἀλόγῳ μηδὲ” γλώσση, GAN Epyw? καὶ ἀληθεία. τούτῳ γινώσκομεν ὃ ὅτι ἐκ τῆς ἀληθείας ἐσμέν, καὶ ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ πείσοµεν τὰς καρδίας © ἡμῶν 20. ὅτι" ᾿ ἐὰν καταγινώσκῃ ἡμῶν ἡ i καρδία, ὅτι ὃ pretLav ἐστὶν 6 Θεὸς ' τῆς καρδίας ἡμῶν, καὶ γινώσκει