1 John 2:29

If you know that he is righteous, you also know ¹  that everyone who practices righteousness has been fathered ²  by him.

Jer 13:23; Zec 9:9; Mt 7:16-18; Joh 1:13; Joh 3:3-5; Ac 3:14; Ac 10:35; Ac 22:14; 2Co 5:21; Tit 2:12-14; Heb 1:8,9; Heb 7:2,26; Jas 1:18; 1Pe 1:3,23; 1Pe 3:18; 2Pe 1:4; 1Jo 2:1; 1Jo 3:5; 1Jo 3:7,10; 1Jo 3:9; 1Jo 4:7; 1Jo 5:1

¹ tn The mood of γινώσκετε (ginwskete) may be understood as (1) indicative or (2) imperative. It is better to understand the verb here as indicative, because in 1 John “knowledge” is something one has as a result of being a believer (2:3, 5, 20, 21; 3:16, 19, 24; 4:2, 13; 5:2) rather than something one has to be exhorted about. The change in verbs from οἶδα (oida) to γινώσκω (ginwskw) is another example of Johannine stylistic variation.

² tn The verb γεννάω (gennaw) presents a translation problem: (1) should the passive be translated archaically “be begotten” (the action of the male parent; see BDAG 193 s.v. 1.a) or (2) should it be translated “be born” (as from a female parent; see BDAG 194 s.v. 2)? A number of modern translations (RSV, NASB, NIV) have opted for the latter, but (3) the imagery expressed in 1 John 3:9 clearly refers to the action of the male parent in procreating a child, as does 5:1 (“everyone who loves the father loves the child fathered by him”), and so a word reflecting the action of the male parent is called for here. The contemporary expression “fathered by” captures this idea.