1 John 3 · Verse 13

1 John 3:13

Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.
1 John 3:13, King James Version

1 John 3:13 in other translations

BSBSo do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you.
WEBDon’t be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you.
ASVMarvel not, brethren, if the world hateth you.
YLTDo not wonder, my brethren, if the world doth hate you;
DARBYDo not wonder, brethren, if the world hate you.
BBEDo not be surprised, my brothers, if the world has no love for you.
WebsterMarvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.

What does 1 John 3:13 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
13. Marvel not--The marvel would be if the world loved you. the world--of whom Cain is the representative (1Jo 3:12). hate you--as Cain hated even his own brother, and that to the extent of murdering him. The world feels its bad works tacitly reproved by your good works.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Barnes' Notes
Verse 13. Marvel not. Do not think it so unusual, or so little to be expected, as to excite astonishment.

If the world hate you. The emphasis here is to be placed on the word you. The apostle had just adverted to the fact that Cain hated Abel, his brother, without cause, and he says that they were not to deem it strange if the world hated them in like manner. The Saviour (Jn 15:17,18) introduced these subjects in the same connexion. In enjoining the duty of brotherly love on his disciples, he adverts to the fact that they must expect to be hated by the world, and tells them to remember that the world hated him before it hated them. The object of all this was to show more clearly the necessity of strong and tender mutual affection among Christians, since they could hope for none from the world. Jn 15:18,19.

(++) "Marvel" "Wonder" (c) "world" Jn 15:18,19

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 13 Marvel not - if the world hate you - Expect no better treatment from unconverted Jews and Gentiles than Abel received from his wicked and cruel brother. This was a lesson to the Church, preparatory to martyrdom. Expect neither justice nor mercy from the men who are enemies of God. They are either full of malice and envy, hateful, hating one another, or they are specious, hollow, false, and deceitful. "A foe to God was ne'er true friend to Man."

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 1 John 3:11-15

We should love the Lord Jesus, value his love, and therefore love all our brethren in Christ. This love is the special fruit of our faith, and a certain sign of our being born again. But none who rightly know the heart of man, can wonder at the contempt and enmity of ungodly people against the children of God. We know that we are passed from death to life: we may know it by the evidences of our faith in Christ, of…

Read the full comment on 1 John 3:11-15 →

1 John 3:13 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

μὴmēnotG3361
θαυμάζετε,thaumazetedo be surprised,G2296
ἀδελφοίadelphoibrothersG80
μου,mouof mineG3165
εἰeiifG1487
μισεῖmiseihatesG3404
ὑμᾶςhumasyouG4771
ὁhotheG3588
κόσμος.kosmosworld.G2889

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 1 John 3:13

  • John 15:18-19

    If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

  • John 17:14

    I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

  • Luke 21:17

    And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.

  • 2 Timothy 3:12

    Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

  • Luke 6:22

    Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake.

  • Mark 13:13

    And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

  • James 4:4

    Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

  • Matthew 10:22

    And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

  • Romans 8:7

    Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

  • Ecclesiastes 5:8

    If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they.

  • Matthew 24:9

    Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.

  • John 16:33

    These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Marvel not.
Ec 5:8; Joh 3:7; Ac 3:12; Re 17:7
if.
Mt 10:22; 24:9; Mr 13:13; Lu 6:22; 21:17; Joh 7:7; 15:18,19; 16:2,33
Joh 17:14; Ro 8:7; 2Ti 3:12; Jas 4:4

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • 1 John 3:12

    Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.

  • 1 John 3:13

    Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.

  • 1 John 3:14

    We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.

Read all of 1 John 3

1 John 3:13 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Hermanos míos, no os maravilléis si el mundo os aborrece.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Ne vous étonnez pas, frères, si le monde vous hait.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Wundert euch nicht, Brüder, wenn die Welt euch haßt.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Nolite mirari, fratres, si odit vos mundus.