2:7 Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. 1 The old commandment is the word that you have already 2 heard.
1 sn See John 13:34-35.
2 tn “Already” is not is the Greek text, but is supplied for clarity.
3 tn See the note on “that” in v. 12.
4 tn See the note on “that” in v. 12.
5 sn The phrase the evil one is used in John 17:15 as a reference to Satan. Satan is also the referent here and in the four other occurrences in 1 John (2:14; 3:12; 5:18, 19).
6 tn See the note on “that” in v. 12.
7 sn The versification of vv. 13 and 14 (so also NAB, NRSV, NLT) follows that of the NA27 and UBS4 editions of the Greek text. Some English translations, however, break the verses between the sentence addressed to children and the sentence addressed to fathers (KJV, NKJV, NASB, NIV). The same material has been translated in each case; the only difference is the versification of that material.
8 tn See the note on “that” in v. 12.
9 tn See the note on “that” in v. 12.
10 tn The interpretation of the three ὅτι clauses in v. 21 is very difficult: (1) All three instances of ὅτι (Joti) may be causal (so NASB, NIV, NEB). (2) The first two may be causal while the third indicates content (declarative or recitative ὅτι, so KJV, RSV, TEV, NRSV). (3) However, it is best to take all three instances as indicating content because this allows all three to be subordinate to the verb ἔγραψα (egraya) as compound direct objects. The author writes to reassure his readers (a) that they do indeed know the truth (first two uses of ὅτι) and (b) that no lie is of the truth (third use).
11 tn See the note on the first occurrence of “that” in v. 21.
12 tn See the note on the first occurrence of “that” in v. 21.