Brothers, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning.
Parallel translations
- KJV Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.
- BSB Beloved, I am not writing to you a new commandment, but an old one, which you have had from the beginning. This commandment is the message you have heard.
- NKJV Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning.
- NASB Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard.
- NLT Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old commandment—to love one another—is the same message you heard before.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The command to love is not new but the old commandment they had from the beginning. It is the long-standing heart of God's word.
Overview
John reassures readers he is not introducing novelty; the call to love has been theirs from the start of their Christian instruction (and is rooted in the Old Testament). By calling it 'old,' he grounds it in the established gospel message. This sets up the paradox of the next verse, where the same command is also 'new.'
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- 1 Jn 3:11For this is the message which you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another;
- Lev 19:18“‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am Yahweh.
- Mark 12:29–34Jesus answered, “The greatest is, ‘Hear, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one:
- 2 Jn 1:5–6Now I beg you, dear lady, not as though I wrote to you a new commandment, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.
- Rom 13:8–10Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
- Gal 5:13–14For you, brothers, were called for freedom. Only don’t use your freedom for gain to the flesh, but through love be servants to one another.
- Matt 22:37–40Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
- 1 Jn 3:23This is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, even as he commanded.
- Lev 19:34The stranger who lives as a foreigner with you shall be to you as the native-born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you lived as foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.
- Deut 6:5You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.
- 1 Jn 2:24Therefore, as for you, let that remain in you which you heard from the beginning. If that which you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also will remain in the Son, and in the Father.
- Jas 2:8–12However, if you fulfill the royal law, according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well.
- Matt 5:43“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
- Acts 17:19They took hold of him, and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is, which is spoken by you?
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Jesus is the Word of life made manifest, the propitiation for our sins, the Son in whom is eternal life — 'that you may know that you have eternal life.'
How 1 John 2:7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.