What Does 1 John 4:11 Mean in the King James?
Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
God’s love does not stop at being received; here it becomes a debt of love between us.
THE MEANING
You are loved by God, and that love places you within a shared obligation to love one another. The word translated “ought” also carries the sense of owing, so love appears as something passed between those who receive it.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that love is only a feeling freely offered, with no claim on how we relate to one another.
THE ROOT
ὀφείλομεν
opheilomen
GROWS FROM
ὀφειλ-
opheil-
To owe, be indebted, or be under obligation.
Here “ought” is ὀφείλομεν (opheilomen, “we owe”), a form of ὀφείλω (opheilō, “to owe”). The verse frames mutual love as a debt arising within the experience of being loved.
ALSO GROWS
opheilē: Debt or obligation.
ὀφειλή
It makes visible the indebtedness carried by the word “ought.”
opheiletēs: A debtor; one who owes.
ὀφειλέτης
It shows the same word-family describing a person in relation to what is owed.
ἀγαπητοί
agapētoi
GROWS FROM
ἀγαπ-
agap-
To love or hold dear.
“Beloved / loved / to love” in this verse is agapētoi. The verse uses the agap- word-family for the one called beloved, God’s loving, and the love extended to one another. Receiving and giving are expressed through the same word-family, so the bond runs through the whole sentence.
ALSO GROWS
agapē: Love.
ἀγάπη
This noun names the love that the verse shows moving between God and people.
agapētos: Beloved or dear.
ἀγαπητός
It describes the person who is loved, linking that identity to the same word-family as the love extended to others.
THE PATTERN
Love received becomes a shared obligation carried outward to another.
Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.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.Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.THE THREAD
Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.The verb translated “ought” here and “Owe” in Romans comes from ὀφείλω (opheilō, “to owe”). Romans makes the debt-language explicit: among what is owed, love remains a bond carried between people.
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