1 John 4:8
What does 1 John 4:8 mean?
A plain-English look at 1 John 4:8 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What 1 John 4:8 means
A lack of love exposes a deeper deficiency: not knowing God. John states the profound truth that God is love. This does not reduce God to emotion or deny His holiness; rather, it declares that all His actions express holy, self-giving benevolence. Therefore, knowledge of God inevitably produces love in His people. If love is absent, the claim to know God is empty. This verse both corrects cold orthodoxy and guards against sentimental error, because it anchors love in God’s being. To understand God rightly is to be reshaped by His love, moving believers toward others with patient, sacrificial care.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
KJV
King James Version · 1611He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949He who has no love has no knowledge of God, because God is love.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862he who is not loving did not know God, because God is love.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752He that loveth not knoweth not God: for God is charity.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890He that loves not has not knownGod; forGod is love.
Context
Verse 8 intensifies verse 7’s logic. After calling believers to love as those born of God, John roots the call in God’s very nature. This sets the theological foundation for verses 9–10, which show how God’s love has been made visible in history—the sending of His Son. By tying love to God’s identity, John makes the coming examples not optional extras, but the very revelation of who God is.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Ephesians 2:4
but God, being rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
- John 8:54
Jesus answered, If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing: it is my Father that glorifieth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God;
- 1 John 2:9
He that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother, is in the darkness even until now.
- 1 John 4:16
And we know and have believed the love which God hath in us. God is love; and he that abideth in love abideth in God, and God abideth in him.
- Psalms 86:15
But thou, O Lord, art a God merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness and truth.
- Exodus 34:6
And Jehovah passed by before him, and proclaimed, Jehovah, Jehovah, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness and truth;
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