Lesson 97 - 1 John 3:12 … And why did Cain slay him? Because his own deeds were evil, while those of his brother were righteous.

(Photo by Tomáš Malík on Unsplash. Berean Standard Bible.)

Welcome to the Hope Bible School verse-by-verse Bible study of 1 John. This is Jeff M Newman. Get a new lesson every other week on Mondays at 12:00 PM Pacific.

In Lesson 97, we are going to the second part of 1 John 3:12.

Let’s read the verse:

1 John 3:12 …And why did Cain slay him? Because his own deeds were evil, while those of his brother were righteous.

Let’s start with the definitions of the words.

And (2532. kai) why (5484. charin) did Cain slay (4969. sphazó) him? (846. autos) — means “and for what reason did Cain slaughter him?” The word “him” refers to Abel.

Because (3754. hoti) — introduces the explanation for why Cain killed Abel.

His (846. autos) own (3588. ho, hé, to) deeds (2041. ergon) — refers to Cain’s actions or conduct.

Were (1510. eimi) evil (4190. ponéros) — means that his deeds were evil, wicked or bad. In this context, John is describing Cain’s actions as morally evil.

While (1161. de) those (3588. ho, hé, to) of (3588. ho, hé, to) his (846. autos) brother (80. adelphos) — introduces the contrast between Cain’s deeds and those of his brother Abel.

Were righteous (1342. dikaios) means “just,” “upright,” or “right in God’s sight.” Here, it describes Abel’s conduct as being consistent with what God considers right, in contrast to Cain’s evil conduct.