1 John 3:11

God Is Love, So We Must Love One Another

3:11 For ¹  this is the gospel ²  message ³  that you have heard from the beginning: that we should love one another, ⁴ 

Acts 17:19

17:19 So they took Paul and ⁵  brought him to the Areopagus, ⁶  saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are proclaiming?

Acts 17:2

17:2 Paul went to the Jews in the synagogue, ⁷  as he customarily did, and on three Sabbath days he addressed ⁸  them from the scriptures,

Acts 1:5

1:5 For ⁹  John baptized with water, but you ¹⁰  will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

[3:11]  ¹ tn It could be argued (1) that the ὅτι (Joti) at the beginning of 3:11 is grammatically subordinate to the preceding statement at the end of 3:10. As BDF §456.1 points out, however, “Subordination with ὅτι and διότι is often very loose…and must be translated ‘for.’” Thus (2) ὅτι assumes an inferential sense, standing at the beginning of a new sentence and drawing an inference based upon all that has preceded. This is confirmed by the structural parallel between the present verse and 1:5.

[3:11]  ² tn The word “gospel” is not in the Greek text but is supplied to clarify the meaning. See the notes on the words “gospel” and “message” in 1 John 1:5.

[3:11]  ³ tn See the note on the word “message” in 1 John 1:5, where this same phrase occurs.

[3:11]  ⁴ sn For this is the gospel message…that we should love one another. The structure of this verse is parallel to 1:5, indicating the beginning of a second major section of the letter.

[17:19]  ⁵ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:19]  ⁶ tn Or “to the council of the Areopagus.” See also the term in v. 22.

[17:2]  ⁷ tn Grk “he went in to them”; the referent (the Jews in the synagogue) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:2]  ⁸ tn Although the word διελέξατο (dielexato; from διαλέγομαι, dialegomai) is frequently translated “reasoned,” “disputed,” or “argued,” this sense comes from its classical meaning where it was used of philosophical disputation, including the Socratic method of questions and answers. However, there does not seem to be contextual evidence for this kind of debate in Acts 17:2. As G. Schrenk (TDNT 2:94-95) points out, “What is at issue is the address which any qualified member of a synagogue might give.” Other examples of this may be found in the NT in Matt 4:23 and Mark 1:21.

[1:5]  ⁹ tn In the Greek text v. 5 is a continuation of the previous sentence, which is long and complicated. In keeping with the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:5]  ¹⁰ tn The pronoun is plural in Greek.