First John: 1 John 3:12a-By Murdering His Brother, Cain Manifested the Characteristic He Possessed Which Originated with the Devil Lesson # 119

1 John 3:12 We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. (ESV)

“We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one” is composed of the following: (1) emphatic negative adverb ou (οὔ), “not” (2) adverb kathōs (καθώς), “like” (3) nominative masculine singular form of the proper name Kain (Κάϊν), “Cain” (4) preposition ek (ἐκ), “of” (5) articular genitive masculine singular form of the noun ponēros (πονηρός), “the evil one” (6) third person plural imperfect active indicative form of the verb eimi (εἰμί), “was.”

The apostle John under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is employing the figure of asyndeton in order to emphasize the solemn nature of the statement here in 1 John 3:12 that the recipients of First John must not imitate the conduct of Cain who murdered his brother Abel in light of the command to love one another in verse 11.

The proper name Kain refers to the first son of Adam and Eve who was the brother of Abel who he murdered (Gen. 4:1-16; cf. Heb. 11:4).

The adverb kathōs means “like” since the word is employed in a comparative sense.

Here this word is used to mark a comparison between connected ideas and specifically, it is marking a comparison between the the recipients of First John and Cain.

This comparison is emphatically negated by the emphatic negative emphatic negative adverb ou, which refers to a negation which is absolute and not subject to conditions or exceptions and speaks of something that is not subject to dispute or challenge.

Therefore, this emphatic negative comparison is expressing the idea that the recipients of this epistle must never conduct themselves toward each other as spiritual brothers and sisters like Cain did toward his biological brother.

The third person plural imperfect active indicative form of the verb eimi means “to possess a particular characteristic” which the rest of the verse identifies as being a murderer.

Therefore, this verb is expressing the idea that Cain possessed a characteristic of being a murderer which originated from the devil.

The adjective ponēros means “the evil one” referring to Satan and is the object of the preposition ek which means “from, originate from” since the word is functioning as a marker of source expressing the idea that the characteristic Cain possessed originated from the devil.

“And murdered his brother” is composed of the following: (1) conjunction kai (καί), “and” (2) third person singular aorist active indicative form of the verb sphazō (σφάζω), “murdered” (3) articular accusative masculine singular form of the noun adelphos (ἀδελφός), “brother” (4) genitive third person masculine singular form of the intensive personal pronoun autos (αὐτός), “his.”

The conjunction kai is epexegetical meaning it is introducing an assertion which defines specifically or identifies specifically for the recipients of First John, which characteristic Cain possessed which originated with the devil.

The verb sphazō means “to brutally murder someone” since the word pertains to killing someone violently, indiscriminately and mercilessly.

The third person singular form of this verb is referring of course to Cain and the word’s direct object is the articular accusative masculine singular form of the noun adelphos, which means “brother” since the word pertains in this context to a male having the same father and mother as the reference person.

The articular construction of this word is employed with the genitive third person masculine singular form of the intensive personal pronoun autos, which means “his” referring to Cain in order to denote possession.

This means that Cain’s brother received the action of being brutally murdered by his brother Cain.

Therefore, the verb sphazō is expressing the idea that Cain “brutally murdered” his brother whose name was Abel according to Genesis 4:1-16.

1 John 3:12 By no means like Cain who possessed the characteristic originating with the devil, namely, he brutally murdered his brother. Indeed, for what reason did he brutally murder his brother? Because his actions were evil but his brother’s were righteous. (My translation)

As we noted in our study of 1 John 3:11, this verse marks a transition to the sixth major section of the epistle, which is completed in 1 John 3:18 and emphasizes the importance of the Lord Jesus Christ’s command in John 13:34 to love one another as He loves.

The chiastic structure of First John reveals that 1 John 3:11-18 is the most important section in this letter since it is standing in the middle of the letter.

We also noted that 1 John 3:11 is a result clause which means that this verse is presenting the result of John’s teaching in 1 John 2:28-3:10, which presents the means by which God’s children are manifested.

1 John 2:28-3:10 teaches that God’s children are to be characterized as practicing the righteousness of God in their lives.

This would be equivalent to practicing the love of God with each other.

The recipients of First John were consequently taught the command to love one another from the beginning of their Christian instruction.

By obeying the command to love one another, they would be practicing the righteousness of God in their lives which is the subject in 1 John 2:28-3:10.

In 1 John 3:11, the apostle John states that the message to love one another was heard by the recipients of First John from the beginning of their instruction regarding the Christian way of life.

John is presenting an implicit command to the recipients of this epistle to continue making it their habit of obeying this command.

The recipients of this epistle were already obeying the command to love one another since John affirms in 1 John 2:12-14 that they were remaining faithful to his apostolic teaching and were thus rejecting the false doctrine taught by the proto-Gnostic teachers whose teaching originated with Satan and his kingdom.

In fact, the affirmations in these verses serve to commend the recipients of this epistle for remaining faithful.

If the believer is going to experience fellowship with God, they must exercise or demonstrate the love of God in their lives.

The believer who exercises God’s love toward their fellow human being is experiencing fellowship with God.

If they are loving their fellow believer as Jesus Christ has loved them and is loving them, then, they are experiencing fellowship with God.

If they are not exercising the love of God in their lives, then, they are not experiencing fellowship with God. It is an eternal spiritual truth.

Now, here in 1 John 3:12, the apostle John solemnly asserts that in light of the command to love one another in verse 11, the recipients of First John must not imitate the conduct of Cain who brutally murdered his brother Abel.

Cain was of course the first son of Adam and Eve who was the brother of Abel who he murdered (Gen. 4:1-16; cf. Heb. 11:4).

John uses the story of Cain and Abel in relation to the command to love one another since the recipients of First John were spiritual brothers and sisters and Cain and Abel were brothers biologically.

Therefore, John is solemnly asserting with the recipients of First John that they must not follow the example of Cain who hated his brother and manifested this hatred by brutally murdering him.

The implication is that they must continue to make it their habit of loving one another.

Thus, in 1 John 3:11-12, John is presenting an emphatic contrast between the recipients of First John who were loving each other with Cain who hated his brother and even murdered him.

John asserts in verse 12 that the recipients of First John must never be like Cain who possessed the characteristic which originated with the devil.

Then, by means of an epexegetical clause he identifies this characteristic of the devil as being a murderer since he asserts that Cain brutally murdered his brother.

The fact that the devil is murderer corresponds to Jesus Christ’s teaching recorded in John 8:44.

John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (ESV)