1 John 4 · Verse 16

1 John 4:16

And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
1 John 4:16, King James Version

1 John 4:16 in other translations

BSBAnd we have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love; whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
WEBWe know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.
ASVAnd 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.
YLTand we--we have known and believed the love, that God hath in us; God is love, and he who is remaining in the love, in God he doth remain, and God in him.
DARBYAnd we have known and have believed the love which God has to us.God is love, and he that abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
BBEAnd we have seen and had faith in the love which God has for us. God is love, and everyone who has love is in God, and God is in him.
WebsterAnd we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love: and he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him.

What does 1 John 4:16 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
16. And we--John and his readers (not as 1Jo 4:14, the apostles only). known and believed--True faith, according to John, is a faith of knowledge and experience: true knowledge is a knowledge of faith [Luecke]. to us--Greek, "in our case" (see on 1Jo 4:9). dwelleth--Greek, "abideth." Compare with this verse, 1Jo 4:7.

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

Barnes' Notes
Verse 16. And we have known and believed, etc. We all have assurance that God has loved us, and the fullest belief in the great fact of redemption by which he has manifested his love to us. God is love. 1Jn 4:8. It is not uncommon for John to repeat an important truth. He delights to dwell on such a truth as that which is here expressed; and who should not? What truth is there on which the mind can dwell with more pleasure; what is there that is better fitted to win the heart to holiness; what that will do more to sustain the soul in the sorrows and trials of this life? In our trials; in the darkness which is around us; in the perplexities which meet and embarrass us in regard to the Divine administration; in all that seems to us incomprehensible in this world, and in the prospect of the next, let us learn to repeat this declaration of the favoured disciple, "God is love." What trials may we not bear, if we feel assured of that! What dark cloud that seems to hang over our way, and to involve all things in gloom, will not be bright, if from the depths of our souls we can always say, "God is love!"

And he that dwelleth in love, etc. Religion is all love. God is love; he has loved us; we are to love him; we are to love one another; we are to love the whole world. Heaven is filled with love, and there is nothing else there. The earth is filled with love just as far as religion prevails, and would be entirely if it should prevail everywhere. Love would remove all the corrupt passions, the crimes, the jealousies, the wars on the earth, and would diffuse around the globe the bliss of heaven. If a man, therefore, is actuated by this, he has the spirit of the heavenly world reigning in his soul, and lives in an atmosphere of love.

(b) "God is love" 1Jn 4:8

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 16 God is love - See on 1Jn 4:8 (note). He that dwelleth in love - he who is full of love to God and man is full of God, for God is love; and where such love is, there is God, for he is the fountain and maintainer of it.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 1 John 4:14-21

The Father sent the Son, he willed his coming into this world. The apostle attests this. And whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. This confession includes faith in the heart as the foundation; makes acknowledgment with the mouth to the glory of God and Christ, and profession in the life and conduct, against the flatteries and frowns of the world. There must be a…

Read the full comment on 1 John 4:14-21 →

1 John 4:16 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.

καὶkaiAndG2532
ἡμεῖςhēmeiswe ourselvesG3165
ἐγνώκαμενegnōkamenhave come to knowG1097
καὶkaiandG2532
πεπιστεύκαμενpepisteukamenwe have come to believeG4100
τὴνtēntheG3588
ἀγάπηνagapēnloveG26
ἣνhēnthatG3739
ἔχειecheihasG2192
ὁho<the>G3588
θεὸςtheosGodG2316
ἐνenas toG1722
ἡμῖν.hēminus.G3165
ὁho<the>G3588
θεὸςtheosGodG2316
ἀγάπηagapēloveG26
ἐστίν,estinis,G1510
καὶkaiandG2532
ὁhothe [one]G3588
μένωνmenōnabidingG3306
ἐνeninG1722
τῇtēa<the>G3588
ἀγάπῃagapēloveG26
ἐνeninG1722
τῷtō<the>G3588
θεῷtheōGodG2316
μένει,meneiabides,G3306
καὶkaiandG2532
ὁho<the>G3588
θεὸςtheosGodG2316
ἐνeninG1722
αὐτῷautōhimG846
μένει.meneiabides.G3306

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

Cross references for 1 John 4:16

  • 1 John 3:24

    And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

  • Psalms 36:7-9

    How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.

  • 1 John 3:1

    Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

  • Psalms 18:1-3

    To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, who spake unto the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: And he said, I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

  • 1 John 4:8-10

    He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

  • 1 John 4:12-13

    No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.

  • 1 John 3:16

    Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

  • Psalms 31:19

    Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!

  • 1 Corinthians 2:9

    But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

  • John 6:69

    And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.

  • Isaiah 64:4

    For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
we.
9,10; 3:1,16; Ps 18:1-3; 31:19; 36:7-9; Isa 64:4; 1Co 2:9
God is love.
8,12,13
and he.
12; 3:24

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

Context

  • 1 John 4:15

    Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.

  • 1 John 4:16

    And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

  • 1 John 4:17

    Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

Read all of 1 John 4

1 John 4:16 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y nosotros hemos conocido y creído el amor que Dios tiene para con nosotros. Dios es amor; y el que vive en amor, vive en Dios, y Dios en él.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et nous avons connu et cru l’amour que Dieu a pour nous. Dieu est amour, et celui qui demeure dans l’amour, demeure en Dieu et Dieu en lui.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und wir haben erkannt und geglaubt die Liebe, die Gott zu uns hat. Gott ist Liebe, und wer in der Liebe bleibt, bleibt in Gott und Gott in ihm.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Et nos cognovimus, et credidimus caritati, quam habet Deus in nobis. Deus caritas est: et qui manet in caritate, in Deo manet, et Deus in eo.