1 John 3:16 (DBY)

Passage

Hereby we have known love, because *he* has laid down his life for us; and *we* ought for the brethren to lay down [our] lives.

Nearby Context

1 John 3:14 *We* know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love [his] brother abides in death.

1 John 3:15 Every one that hates his brother is a murderer, and ye know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

1 John 3:16 Hereby we have known love, because *he* has laid down his life for us; and *we* ought for the brethren to lay down [our] lives.

1 John 3:17 But whoso may have the world's substance, and see his brother having need, and shut up his bowels from him, how abides the love of God in him?

1 John 3:18 Children, let us not love with word, nor with tongue, but in deed and in truth.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "hereby", "known", "love", "laid", "down", "life", "ought", and "brethren". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "hereby" and "known", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "Every one that hates his brother is..." into verse 17's "But whoso may have the world's substance...", so "hereby" and "known" belong inside that flow. In 1 John context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "hereby" and "known" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.