1 John 4:8 
Context| NET © | The person who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 |
| NIV © | Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. |
| NASB © | The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. |
| NLT © | But anyone who does not love does not know God––for God is love. |
| MSG © | The person who refuses to love doesn't know the first thing about God, because God [is] love--so you can't know him if you don't love. |
| BBE © | He who has no love has no knowledge of God, because God is love. |
| NRSV © | Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. |
| NKJV © | He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. |
| KJV | |
| NASB © | |
| GREEK | |
| NET © [draft] ITL | |
| NET © | The person who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 |
| NET © Notes |
1 tn The author proclaims in 4:8 ὁ θεὸς ἀγάπη ἐστίν (Jo qeo" agaph estin), but from a grammatical standpoint this is not a proposition in which subject and predicate nominative are interchangeable (“God is love” does not equal “love is God”). The predicate noun is anarthrous, as it is in two other Johannine formulas describing God, “God is light” in 1 John 1:5 and “God is Spirit” in John 4:24. The anarthrous predicate suggests a qualitative force, not a mere abstraction, so that a quality of God’s character is what is described here. |
