1 John 4:20
About the book 1 John Trend of this verse since 2000
Bible text
If a man says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who doesn’t love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
Text: World English Bible (Classic, with deuterocanon). The World English Bible is in the Public Domain. "World English Bible" is a trademark of eBible.org.. Licence: Public domain (World English Bible). Source: ebible.org. Footnotes and cross references are left out; the rights holder has not reviewed or endorsed this display.
Statistics
- 27 Uses? Every use that covers this verse, also through a reference to its whole chapter.
- 27 Uses naming the verse? As in the Top 100: only uses that name this verse.
- #317 Rank? Rank 317 of 19,199 verses named in at least one use; tied verses share a rank.
- mapped Mapping? Position 30,748 in the sequence Protestant canon, 66 books (KJV numbering), New Testament
27 of the uses are a lower bound (repetitions not known exactly).
Persons in this verse
No person of the Bible is linked to this verse yet.
Topics of this verse
- Helping others
- Hate
- Loving each other
- Helping those in need
- Mark of the beast
- Community service
- Loving others
- Love
The strongest topics first, by the votes of the OpenBible.info readers.
Persons: STEPBible TIPNR and MACULA; topics: OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Sources and credits
Numbering in the versification systems?
Bible editions number some verses differently. This verse has the following labels; labels that differ from the one shown above are marked.
Sources that cite this verse?
- Vers of the Day Website Data: 15 uses
- Historical Christian Faith: church-father quotations: 10 uses
- YouVersion Verse of the Day Archive: 1 use
- losung.net: Losungen archive: 1 use
Uses?
27 approved public uses (data: Official), newest first.
- Date
- Jan 14, 2026
- Cited as
- 1 John 4:20-21
- Source
- Vers of the Day Website Data, Verse of the Day
- Usage
- Citation
- Language
- English
- Place of origin
- Texas
- Contributed by
- contributor-3fbt58hvk54z
- Date
- Feb 13, 2025
- Cited as
- 1 John 4:20
- Source
- Vers of the Day Website Data, Verse of the Day
- Usage
- Citation
- Language
- English
- Place of origin
- Texas
- Contributed by
- contributor-3fbt58hvk54z
- Date
- Jan 14, 2022
- Cited as
- 1 John 4:20-21
- Source
- Vers of the Day Website Data, Verse of the Day
- Usage
- Citation
- Language
- English
- Place of origin
- Texas
- Contributed by
- contributor-3fbt58hvk54z
- Date
- Feb 13, 2021
- Cited as
- 1 John 4:20
- Source
- Vers of the Day Website Data, Verse of the Day
- Usage
- Citation
- Language
- English
- Place of origin
- Texas
- Contributed by
- contributor-3fbt58hvk54z
- Date
- Dec 13, 2018
- Cited as
- 1 John 4:20
- Source
- YouVersion Verse of the Day Archive, YouVersion Verse of the Day
- Usage
- Citation
- Language
- English
- Publisher
- YouVersion
- Contributed by
- contributor-3fbt58hvk54z
- Date
- Jan 14, 2018
- Cited as
- 1 John 4:20-21
- Source
- Vers of the Day Website Data, Verse of the Day
- Usage
- Citation
- Language
- English
- Place of origin
- Texas
- Contributed by
- contributor-3fbt58hvk54z
- Date
- Feb 13, 2017
- Cited as
- 1 John 4:20
- Source
- Vers of the Day Website Data, Verse of the Day
- Usage
- Citation
- Language
- English
- Place of origin
- Texas
- Contributed by
- contributor-3fbt58hvk54z
- Date
- Jan 14, 2014
- Cited as
- 1 John 4:20-21
- Source
- Vers of the Day Website Data, Verse of the Day
- Usage
- Citation
- Language
- English
- Place of origin
- Texas
- Contributed by
- contributor-3fbt58hvk54z
- Date
- Feb 13, 2013
- Cited as
- 1 John 4:20
- Source
- Vers of the Day Website Data, Verse of the Day
- Usage
- Citation
- Language
- English
- Place of origin
- Texas
- Contributed by
- contributor-3fbt58hvk54z
- Date
- Jan 14, 2010
- Cited as
- 1 John 4:20-21
- Source
- Vers of the Day Website Data, Verse of the Day
- Usage
- Citation
- Language
- English
- Place of origin
- Texas
- Contributed by
- contributor-3fbt58hvk54z
- Date
- Feb 13, 2009
- Cited as
- 1 John 4:20
- Source
- Vers of the Day Website Data, Verse of the Day
- Usage
- Citation
- Language
- English
- Place of origin
- Texas
- Contributed by
- contributor-3fbt58hvk54z
- Date
- Jan 14, 2006
- Cited as
- 1 John 4:20-21
- Source
- Vers of the Day Website Data, Verse of the Day
- Usage
- Citation
- Language
- English
- Place of origin
- Texas
- Contributed by
- contributor-3fbt58hvk54z
- Date
- Feb 13, 2005
- Cited as
- 1 John 4:20
- Source
- Vers of the Day Website Data, Verse of the Day
- Usage
- Citation
- Language
- English
- Place of origin
- Texas
- Contributed by
- contributor-3fbt58hvk54z
- Date
- Jan 14, 2002
- Cited as
- 1 John 4:20-21
- Source
- Vers of the Day Website Data, Verse of the Day
- Usage
- Citation
- Language
- English
- Place of origin
- Texas
- Contributed by
- contributor-3fbt58hvk54z
- Date
- Feb 13, 2001
- Cited as
- 1 John 4:20
- Source
- Vers of the Day Website Data, Verse of the Day
- Usage
- Citation
- Language
- English
- Place of origin
- Texas
- Contributed by
- contributor-3fbt58hvk54z
- Date
- Dec 10, 2000
- Cited as
- 1.Johannes 4,20
- Source
- losung.net: Losungen archive, losung.net: Sonntag, 10. Dezember 2000
- Usage
- Citation
- Denomination of the source or organisation
- Moravian Church
- Event
- Die Losungen, 2000-12-10
- Language
- German
- Organization
- Evangelische Brüder-Unität – Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine
- Contributed by
- import-agent
- Date
- Jan 14, 1998
- Cited as
- 1 John 4:20-21
- Source
- Vers of the Day Website Data, Verse of the Day
- Usage
- Citation
- Language
- English
- Place of origin
- Texas
- Contributed by
- contributor-3fbt58hvk54z
- Date
- Jan 1, 1828 – Dec 31, 1889
- Cited as
- 1 John 4:20
- Source
- Historical Christian Faith: church-father quotations, Christian Life in the Second and Third Centuries, Lecture
- Usage
- Teaching
- Author
- JB Lightfoot
- Denomination of the source or organisation
- Church of England
- Language
- English
- Venue
- Cambridge
- Venue
- Durham
- Contributed by
- import-agent
- Date
- Jan 1, 1055 – Dec 31, 1126
- Cited as
- 1 John 4:20
- Source
- Historical Christian Faith: church-father quotations, Commentary on 1 John
- Usage
- Analysis
- Author
- Theophylact of Ohrid
- Denomination of the source or organisation
- Eastern Orthodox
- Language
- Ancient Greek (to 1453)
- Venue
- Ohrid
- Contributed by
- import-agent
- Date
- Jan 1, 667 – Dec 31, 735
- Cited as
- 1 John 4:20
- Source
- Historical Christian Faith: church-father quotations, Commentary on the Catholic Epistles
- Usage
- Analysis
- Author
- Bede
- Denomination of the source or organisation
- Catholic
- Language
- Latin
- Venue
- England
- Contributed by
- import-agent
- Date
- Jan 1, 540 – Dec 31, 604
- Cited as
- 1 John 4:20
- Source
- Historical Christian Faith: church-father quotations, Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily
- Usage
- Teaching
- Author
- Gregory the Dialogist
- Denomination of the source or organisation
- Catholic
- Language
- Latin
- Venue
- Rome
- Contributed by
- import-agent
- Date
- Jan 1, 540 – Dec 31, 604
- Cited as
- 1 John 4:20
- Source
- Historical Christian Faith: church-father quotations, Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily
- Usage
- Teaching
- Author
- Gregory the Dialogist
- Denomination of the source or organisation
- Catholic
- Language
- Latin
- Venue
- Rome
- Contributed by
- import-agent
- Date
- 0545
- Cited as
- 1 John 4:19-21
- Source
- Historical Christian Faith: church-father quotations, Commentary on 1 John
- Usage
- Analysis
- Author
- Oecumenius
- Denomination of the source or organisation
- Eastern Orthodox
- Language
- Ancient Greek (to 1453)
- Venue
- Tríkala
- Contributed by
- import-agent
- Date
- Jan 1, 354 – Dec 31, 430
- Cited as
- 1 John 4:20
- Source
- Historical Christian Faith: church-father quotations, Ten Homilies on 1 John
- Usage
- Teaching
- Author
- Augustine of Hippo
- Denomination of the source or organisation
- Early Church
- Language
- Latin
- Venue
- Annaba
- Contributed by
- import-agent
- Date
- Jan 1, 354 – Dec 31, 430
- Cited as
- 1 John 4:20
- Source
- Historical Christian Faith: church-father quotations, ON THE TRINITY
- Usage
- Citation
- Author
- Augustine of Hippo
- Denomination of the source or organisation
- Early Church
- Language
- Latin
- Venue
- Annaba
- Contributed by
- import-agent
How this was computed – counting rule: Every covered verse (baseline) / Named verses only; data: Official; as of Nov 9, 2026, 11:09 PM UTC
Neutral key: nrf1:1JN.004.020
- Metric
- Verse-level uses: every citation adds one for each verse it covers, under the counting rule. A citation of three verses adds 3. (definition)
- Counting rule
- Every covered verse (baseline) The baseline rule: every mention of every verse counts; a chapter or a range counts once for each verse it covers, and an unknown repetition counts as one. (definition) – uses; references to a whole chapter count for each of its verses
Named verses only Like the baseline rule, but only references that name verses count; whole chapters and books are left out. The Top 100 verses use it, so a chapter reference does not lift every verse of the chapter. (definition) – uses naming the verse (owner decision P5); the basis of the Top 100 and of the rank - Profile
- Official The official profile of every public number: only reviewed and approved entries whose evidence quality is high enough. (definition) – reviewed and approved data only
- Epoch
- 131, published Nov 9, 2026, 11:09 PM UTC (provisional)
- Sequence
- Protestant canon, 66 books (KJV numbering)
prot66.nrf, mapping release R9 - Rank
- As in the Top 100: uses naming the verse, highest first, over the verses named at least once; tied verses share a rank.
- Uses
- Approved public uses of the data shown, with at least one cited passage on these verses. The list follows the current approved data; the numbers are those of the epoch.
Live numbers are recomputed every 15 minutes and are provisional until a data release is frozen. The Bible text is shown for reading only; it is never counted. How we count Glossary