The Meaning of 1 John 4:11 Explained

1 John 4:11

KJV: Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

YLT: Beloved, if thus did God love us, we also ought one another to love;

Darby: Beloved, if God has so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

ASV: Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Beloved,  if  God  so  loved  us,  we  ought  also  to love  one another. 

What does 1 John 4:11 Mean?

Verse Meaning

That demonstration of love by God is our model for showing love to others. As God manifested love in (among) us then by sending Jesus Christ, so He manifests His love among us now as we love one another ( 1 John 4:12-13).
"Since no one in all humanity is beyond the reach of our Savior"s sacrificial death, no brother or sister should be beyond our sacrificial love." [1]

Context Summary

1 John 4:1-11 - The Token Of God's Love
In those days the intense ferment of men's minds wrought many delusions and heresies which were fraught with temptation to young converts, and the Apostle wished to give tests for determining which voice spake from God. The confession of Jesus Christ as the Incarnate Word, a spirit of love and gentleness, and the willingness to abide in the doctrine of the Apostles, were signs that the speaker was commissioned by Christ.
Wouldst thou overcome the world? Let Christ enter, and the world will have no charms for thee. There is only one source of pure, divine love, and wherever that love is present, you know that the possessor has found its source in God. God's love is absolutely selfless. He loves the unloving to make them love, putting away their sin and perfecting their union with Himself. [source]

Chapter Summary: 1 John 4

1  He warns them not to believe all who boast of the Spirit;
7  and exhorts to brotherly love

Greek Commentary for 1 John 4:11

If God so loved us [ει ουτως ο τεος ηγαπησεν ημας]
Condition of first class with ει — ei and the first aorist active indicative. As in John 3:16, so here ουτως — houtōs emphasises the manifestation of God‘s love both in its manner and in its extent (Romans 8:32). [source]
Ought [οπειλομεν]
As in 1 John 2:6. Noblesse oblige. “Keep on loving,” (αγαπαιν — agapāin) as in 1 John 3:11. [source]
So [οὕτως]
Emphatic. [source]
We ought []
See on 1 John 2:6. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for 1 John 4:11

John 13:14 Ought [ὀφείλετε]
The verb means to owe. It occurs several times in John's Epistles (1 John 2:6; 1 John 3:16; 1 John 4:11; 3 John 1:8). In the Gospel only here and John 19:7. Compare Luke 17:10. In Matthew's version of the Lord's prayer occur the two kindred words ὀφείλνμα , debt, and ὀφειλέτης , debtor. Jesus here puts the obligation to ministry as a debt under which His disciples are laid by His ministry to them. The word ought is the past tense of owe. Δεῖ , ought or must (see John 3:7, John 3:14, John 3:30, etc.) expresses an obligation in the nature of things; ὀφείλειν , a special, personal obligation. [source]
1 John 2:6 Ought [ὀφείλει]
An obligation, put as a debt. See Luke 17:10, and on debts, Matthew 6:12. The word expresses a special, personal obligation, and not as δεῖ mustan obligation in the nature of things. See John 20:9, and compare 1 John 3:16; 1 John 4:11; 3 John 1:8. [source]
1 John 4:1 Beloved [αγαπητοι]
Three times in this chapter (1 John 4:1, 1 John 4:7, 1 John 4:11) we have this tender address on love. [source]
3 John 1:2 Beloved []
Compare the plural, 1 John 3:2, 1 John 3:21; 1 John 4:1, 1 John 4:7, 1 John 4:11. [source]
3 John 1:8 Ought [οπειλομεν]
See for this word 1 John 2:6; 1 John 3:16; 1 John 4:11. [source]

What do the individual words in 1 John 4:11 mean?

Beloved if so - God loved us also we ought one another to love
Ἀγαπητοί εἰ οὕτως Θεὸς ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς καὶ ἡμεῖς ὀφείλομεν ἀλλήλους ἀγαπᾶν

Ἀγαπητοί  Beloved 
Parse: Adjective, Vocative Masculine Plural
Root: ἀγαπητός  
Sense: beloved, esteemed, dear, favourite, worthy of love.
οὕτως  so 
Parse: Adverb
Root: οὕτως  
Sense: in this manner, thus, so.
  - 
Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
Θεὸς  God 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: θεός  
Sense: a god or goddess, a general name of deities or divinities.
ἠγάπησεν  loved 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: ἀγαπάω  
Sense: of persons.
ἡμᾶς  us 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Accusative 1st Person Plural
Root: ἐγώ  
Sense: I, me, my.
καὶ  also 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: καί  
Sense: and, also, even, indeed, but.
ὀφείλομεν  ought 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 1st Person Plural
Root: ὀφείλω  
Sense: to owe.
ἀλλήλους  one  another 
Parse: Personal / Reciprocal Pronoun, Accusative Masculine Plural
Root: ἀλλήλων  
Sense: one another, reciprocally, mutually.
ἀγαπᾶν  to  love 
Parse: Verb, Present Infinitive Active
Root: ἀγαπάω  
Sense: of persons.