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1 John 3:11-12
Ὅτι αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ ἀγγελία ἣν ἠκούσατε ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς, ἵνα ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους· οὐ καθὼς
Κάϊν ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῦ ἦν καὶ ἔσφαξεν τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ· καὶ χάριν τίνος ἔσφαξεν αὐτόν; ὅτι τὰ
ἔργα αὐτοῦ πονηρὰ ἦν, τὰ δὲ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ δίκαια.
For this is the message you have heard from the beginning, that we love one another, not
like Cain [who was] of [the] evil one and [who] slaughtered his brother. And for what purpose
[did] he slaughter him? Because his deeds were evil and [those] of his brother [were]
righteous. 214
Brown views 1 John as restatement and commentary on the main themes of John’s
Gospel. 215 He perceives in the text of 1 John a bipartite division corresponding to the bipartite
division in John’s Gospel. 216 This division is marked by the repetition of a phrase (ἔστιν αὕτη ἡ
ἀγγελία in 1:5, αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ ἀγγελία in 3:11). 217 3:11-12 occurs at the very beginning of the
second part of this division which “defines the gospel [of John] as ‘We should love one another”
and holds up Jesus as the example of love for one’s brother and sister.” 218
In this context, the Gospel commandment of love is contrasted with the actions of Cain.
Cain is identified as being from the evil one (Κάϊν ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῦ), and, as such, the deeds that
he performed were evil. 219 In contrast, Abel’s deeds are identified as being righteous, which leads
us to conclude that Abel himself must be considered righteous. Here again, we have the
dichotomy introduced in the LXX between the righteousness of Abel and the unrighteousness of
214
Translation by the author.
Raymond E Brown, The Gospel and Epistles of John (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1988), 108.
216
Ibid.
217
Ibid.
218
Ibid.
219
Maarten J. J. Menken, “Genesis in John’s Gospel and 1 John,” in Genesis in the New Testament, edited
by Maarten J. J. Menken & Steve Moyise, (London: Bloomsbury, 2012), 96.
215