1 John 2:8-28

8 Again, I write a new commandment to you, which thing is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light already shines.

9 He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in the ^[a] darkness until now.

10 He that loves his brother abides in light, and there is no occasion of stumbling in him.

11 But he that hates his brother is in the darkness, and walks in the darkness, and knows not where he goes, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

12 I write to you, children, because [your] sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.

13 I write to you, fathers, because ye have known him [that is] from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked [one]. I write to you, little children, ^[b] because ye have known the Father.

14 I have written to you, fathers, because ye have known ^[c] him [that is] from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and ye have overcome ^[d] the wicked [one].

15 Love not the world, nor the things in the world. If any one love the world, the love of the Father is not in him;

16 because all that [is] in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

17 And the world is passing, and its lust, but he that does the will of God abides for eternity.

18 Little children, ^[e] it is [the] last hour, and, according as ye have heard that antichrist comes, even now there have come many antichrists, whence we know that it is [the] last hour.

19 They went out from among us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have surely remained with us, but that they might be made manifest that none are of us.

20 And *ye* have [the] unction from the holy [one], and ye know all things.

21 I have not written to you because ye do not know the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.

22 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? *He* is the antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.

23 Whoever denies the Son has not the Father either; he who confesses the Son has the Father also.

24 As for *you* let that which ye have heard from the beginning abide in you: if what ye have heard from the beginning abides in you, *ye* also shall abide in the Son and in the Father.

25 And this is the promise which *he* has promised us, life eternal.

26 These things have I written to you concerning those who lead you astray:

27 and *yourselves*, the unction which ye have received from him abides in you, and ye have not need that any one should teach you; but as the same unction teaches you as to all things, and is true and is not a lie, and even as it has taught you, ye shall abide in him.

28 And now, children, abide in him, that if he be manifested we may have boldness, and not be put to shame from before him at his coming.

Footnotes

• [a]. 'The darkness.' Though a little harsh in these cases in English, 'the' ought to be retained, because it is not simply a state -- a man being in darkness; but a specific darkness, the ignorance and non-revelation of God is spoken of: only it is abstract, and so absolute. 'The darkness' is the natural condition of sinful man without God, who is light; the creature without God. Hence in John 1.5 'the light appears in darkness, and the darkness apprehended it not.' 'Is passing' (ver. 8) is abstract. 'The true light shines:' that is absolute; it shines, whether seen or not. But though some had received the light, he could not say the darkness was all gone, for it was not, but only with some who 'were once darkness, but now light in the Lord.' Thus it was not as in the gospel, when Christ was upon earth; for then the darkness apprehended not the light shining in darkness. It was putting the light out. As long as he was in the world, he was the light of the world. Now it was not so: there was a passing away of the darkness.
• [b]. Paidion (diminutive); it has reference to growth. It stands in contrast to 'young men' and 'fathers.'
• [c]. Ginosko: and so throughout chapter, except vers. 11,20,21,29 (first), oida. Perfect tense here: 'have come to know him, and continue so to do;' and so vers. 4,13,14.
• [d]. The perfect tense: the state produced continues.
• [e]. See Note e at ch. 3.10.
• [f]. Teknia (a diminutive). It is a term of parental affection. It applies to Christians irrespective of growth. Used in vers. 12.28; chs. 3.7,18; 4.4; 5.21; John 13.33; Gal. 4.19
• [g]. John uses 'hour' continually in the sense of 'time,' as John 5.35, 'a season.' It is properly a given point of time. With John it is constantly a period characterized by one thing, and hence looked at as only one time. As we say 'the hour of Napoleon's greatness.'
• [h]. 'There have come' (ginomai: John 1.17) is not from the same word as 'comes' in this verse. It is what did not exist before, but begins or becomes. 'There have come' I believe nearest the sense. The perfect tense conveys the thought that they still exist.
• [i]. Personal pronouns, used as the subject of a verb, are normally emphatic in Greek, but in John their use is almost universal. Still, there is some distinctive emphasis here, as also ver. 24, where 'you' seems in contrast with 'those that denied the Son.'
• [j]. 'If ' (so 3John 10) sets out what supposes and depends on the fact, not referring to time. Here, if at any moment it happened, we should be so and so: if that, this might be too.