One who says, “I know him,” and doesn’t keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth isn’t in him.
Parallel Translations
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One who says, “I know him,” and doesn’t keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth isn’t in him.
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He that sayth I knowe him and kepeth not his commaundementes is a lyar and the veritie is not in him.
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Hee that saith, I knowe him, and keepeth not his commandements, is a liar, and the trueth is not in him.
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to 1 John 2:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie, and don’t tell the truth.
- Titus 1:16 They profess that they know God, but by their deeds they deny him, being abominable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work.
- James 2:14-16 What good is it, my brothers, if a man says he has faith, but has no works? Can faith save him? And if a brother or sister is naked and in lack of daily food, and one of you tells them, “Go in peace. Be warmed and filled;” yet you didn’t give them the things the body needs, what good is it?
- 1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
- 1 John 4:20 If a man says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who doesn’t love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
- Hosea 8:2-3 They cry to me, ‘My God, we Israel acknowledge you!’ Israel has cast off that which is good. The enemy will pursue him.
- 1 John 2:9 He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in the darkness even until now.
- 1 John 1:10 If we say that we haven’t sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 4 He that saith, I know him How does…
4 He that saith, I know him How does he prove that they are liars who boast that they have faith without piety? even by the contrary effect; for he has already said, that the knowledge of God is efficacious. For God is not known by a naked imagination, since he reveals himself inwardly to our hearts by the Spirit. Besides, as many hypocrites vainly boast that they have faith, the Apostle charges all such with falsehood; for what he says would be superfluous, were there no false and vain profession of Christianity made by man.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Holiness, that is, a life ordered according to the…
Holiness, that is, a life ordered according to the prescript of God’s commandments how weak soever they be, is of necessity joined with faith, that is, with the true knowledge of the Father in the Son.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth…
4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
Ver. 4. He that saith, I know him] Here he disputeth against Verbalists and Solifidians. See Jas 2:14. {See Trapp on "Jas 2:14"}
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Is a liar] i.e. A hypocrite; his spot is not the spot of God’s children, Deu 32:5, for they are children that will not lie, Isa 63:8. They all deserve that title of honour that was given of old to Arrianus the historian, viz. φιλαληθης, A lover of truth. They know that the God whom they serve, desireth "truth in the inward parts," Psa 51:6, and that dicta factis deficientibus erubescant (as Tertullian hath it), words without deeds will not bear a man out in the end. It is a question whether the desire of being, or dislike of seeming, sincere, be greater in the good heart. Not so every loose and ungirt Christian, every profligate professor, that denieth that in deed what he affirmeth in word.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain A liar; a false, hypocritical pretender, as 1Jo 1:6.
A liar; a false, hypocritical pretender, as 1Jo 1:6.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain He that saith I know him,.... God or Christ,…
He that saith I know him,.... God or Christ, as the Gnostics did, who pretended to great, even perfect, knowledge of divine things:
and keepeth not his commandments; which the above persons had no regard to, and as many who profess great light and knowledge in our days show no concern for:
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is a liar; he contradicts what he says, and gives the lie to it; for though in words he professes to know God, in works he denies him, and which betrays his ignorance of him:
and the truth is not in him; there is no true knowledge of God and Christ in him; nor is the truth of the Gospel in his heart, however it may be in his head; nor is the truth of grace in him, for each of these lead persons to obedience. The Ethiopic version renders it, "the truth of God is not with him"; See Gill on Jo1 1:8.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 4. He that saith, I know him] This…
Verse 4. He that saith, I know him] This is a severe blow against those false teachers, and against all pretenders to religious knowledge, who live under the power of their sins; and against all Antinomians, and false boasters in the righteousness of Christ as a covering for their personal unholiness. They are all liars, and no truth of God is in them.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain He that saith, I know Him - He who…
He that saith, I know Him - He who professes to be acquainted with the Saviour, or who professes to be a Christian.
And keepeth not his commandments - What he has appointed to be observed by his people; that is, he who does not obey him.
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Is a liar - Makes a false profession; professes to have that which he really has not. Such a profession is a falsehood, because there can be no true religion where one does not obey the law of God.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain He that says he knoweth him, &c. To know,…
He that says he knoweth him, &c. To know, in this and many other places, is not taken for a speculative knowledge alone, but is joined with a love of God, and an earnest desire of serving him and keeping his commandments. (Witham)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain I know--Greek, "I have knowledge of (perfect) Him." Compare…
I know--Greek, "I have knowledge of (perfect) Him." Compare with this verse Jo1 1:8.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 4. He that saith—Note on 1Jn_1:6. John has the…
4. He that saith—Note on 1Jn_1:6. John has the antagonist, as usual, in view. He affirms the positive truth, and negatives the counter untruth.
I know him—And know that I am safe in transgression either through him or without him.
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A liar—A guilty falsifier of the very foundation of redemption, that he may indulge in breaking the divine commandments.
The truth—Note on 1Jn_1:8.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 4. The previous statement is enforced by denying the…
4. The previous statement is enforced by denying the opposite of it. The construction, ‘he that saith,’ ‘he that loveth,’ &c. now takes the place of ‘if we say,’ ‘if we walk,’ &c., but without change of meaning; and this continues down to 1Jn_2:11, after which both constructions cease and a new division begins. Comp. 1Jn_1:6, which is exactly parallel to this: ‘to know Him’ = ‘to have fellowship with Him,’ and ‘not to keep His commandments’ = ‘to walk in darkness.’
and keepeth not] By the negative which he uses (μή) S. John states the case as gently as possible, without asserting that any such person exists (see on 1Jn_2:10).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The participial substantive oJ legwn now takes the place…
The participial substantive oJ legwn now takes the place of ejan with the subjunctive, but the two are equivalent. (cf 1Jn_1:6, which is almost exactly parallel to this, and shows what "knowing him" really is, viz. having fellowship with him, just as not keeping his commandments is the same as walking in darkness) St. John says, mh thrwn, not, ouj thrwn, the case being hypothetical if there be such a man, he is a liar, and has no idea of truth. (see on 1Jn_1:8) He must have lost the very power of recognizing truth to maintain that he knows Christ, when he habitually transgresses his commands. It is no great thing, as Bode says, to know as the devils do, who "believe and tremble."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 4. He that saith, etc. If one claims to…
4. He that saith, etc. If one claims to have a saving knowledge of Christ, yet lives in disobedience, his life puts the lie to his words.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain 4. “He that says, ‘I know Him,’ and keepeth…
4. “He that says, ‘I know Him,’ and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” This is a deadener against sinning religion.
No one can keep the commandments and sin. The conclusion from this verse is irresistible. The man who claims to be a sinning Christian is here anathematized as a “liar,” and “the truth is not in him.” There is no possible evasion of the conclusion.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 The one who says
The one who says
"Anyone who says" or "The person who says"
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I know God
"I have a good relationship with God"
does not keep
"does not obey" or "disobeys"
his commandments
"what God tells him to do"
the truth is not in him
The truth is spoken of as if it were an object that could be inside the believers. AT: "he does not believe what God says is true" (See: Metaphor)
keeps his word
To keep someone's word here is an idiom for to obey. AT: "does what God tells him to do"
in him truly the love of God has been perfected
This can be stated in active form. Possible meanings are 1) "the love of God" refers to a person loving God, and "perfected" represents completely or fully. AT: "it is that person who loves God completely" or 2) "the love of God" refers to God loving people, and "perfected" represents completing its purpose. AT: "God's love has achieved its purpose in that person's life" (See: Possession and Active or Passive)
By this we know that we are in him
The phrase "we are in him" means that the believer has fellowship with God. AT: "When we obey what God says, we can be certain that we have fellowship with him" or "By this we know that are joined to God" (See: Metaphor)
remains in God
To remain in God means to continue to have fellowship with God. AT: "continues to have fellowship with God" or "stays joined to God" (See: Metaphor)
should himself also walk just as he walked
Conducting one's life is spoken of as if it were walking on a path. AT: "must live as he lived" or "should also obey God just as Jesus Christ did" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
God
command
true
word
love
perfect
in Christ
walk
Jesus
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.