Lesson 96 - 1 John 3:12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother...

(Photo by VIJENDRA SINGH 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 96, we are going to study the first part of 1 John 3:12.

Let’s read this part of the verse:

1 John 3:12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother...

Let’s start with the definitions of the words.

Do not be (3756. ou, ouk, ouch) like (2531. kathos) — means do not conduct yourself in the manner of.

Cain (2535. Kain) — This is the first son of Adam and Eve and brother of Abel.

Who belonged to (1510. eimi) the (3588. ho, hé, to) evil one (4190. ponéros) — means “was of the evil one,” referring to Satan. Cain's actions showed that he was aligned with the evil one.

And murdered (4969. sphazó) — means “to slaughter,” “to kill,” or “to slay violently.” In this context, it refers to Cain’s deliberate and violent murder of Abel.

His (846. autos) brother (80. adelphos) — means “his male sibling.” Here it refers to Abel, Cain’s brother.

In other words, do not conduct yourself in the manner of Cain, the first son of Adam and Eve and brother of Abel, who was of the wicked one, or Satan, and whose character and conduct were aligned with the evil one as he violently killed his brother Abel.