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1 John 03 General Notes
Special concepts in this chapter
Children of God
God created all people, but people can only become children of God by believing in Jesus. (See: rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/believe)
Cain
Cain was a son of the first man, Adam, and the first woman, Eve. He was jealous of his brother and murdered him. Readers may not know who Cain was if they have not read Genesis. It may help them if you explain this to them.
Other possible translation difficulties in this chapter
"To know"
The verb "to know" is used in two different ways in this chapter. Sometimes it is used about knowing a fact, as in 3:2, 3:5, and 3:19. Sometimes it means to experience and understand someone or something, as in 3:1, 3:6, 3:16, and 3:20. Some languages have different words for these different meanings.
"He who keeps God's commandments remains in him, and God remains in him"
Many scholars believe this is about remaining in God's will and is not about being saved. (See: rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/eternity and rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/save)