1 John 3:21

21. With [674][675] omit ἡμῶν after καρδία. [676][677] omit ἡμῶν after καταγινώσκῃ.

[674] 5th century. Brought by Cyril Lucar, Patriarch of Constantinople, from Alexandria, and afterwards presented by him to Charles I. in 1628. In the British Museum. All three Epistles.
[675] 4th century. Brought to Rome about 1460. It is entered in the earliest catalogue of the Vatican Library, 1475. All three Epistles.
[676] 4th century. Brought to Rome about 1460. It is entered in the earliest catalogue of the Vatican Library, 1475. All three Epistles.
[677] 5th century. A palimpsest: the original writing has been partially rubbed out and the works of Ephraem the Syrian have been written over it. In the National Library at Paris. Part of the First and Third Epistles; 1 John 1:1 to 1 John 4:2; 3 John 1:3-14. Of the whole N.T. the only Books entirely missing are 2 John and 2 Thessalonians.

21. ἀγαπητοί. See on 1 John 3:2.

ἐὰν ἡ καρδία μὴ καταγ. An argument à fortiori: if before God we can persuade conscience to acquit us, when it upbraids us, much more may we have assurance before Him, when it does not do so. It is not quite evident whether ‘condemn us not’ means ‘ceases to condemn us,’ because we have persuaded it, or ‘does not condemn us from the first,’ because it had no misgivings about us. Either makes good sense. Καταγινώσκειν occurs elsewhere in N.T. Galatians 2:11 only, ὅτι κατεγνωσμένος ἦν. Comp. Sir 14:2, ‘Blessed is he whose conscience hath not condemned him’ (οὐ κατέγνω).

παρρ. ἔχομεν. We have boldness: see on 1 John 2:28. The ‘then’ of A.V. is not needed. With πρὸς τὸν Θεόν here comp. ἀπρόσκοπον συνείδησιν ἔχειν πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν καὶ τοὺς� (Acts 24:16). We approach Him boldly as children, not fearfully as criminals. Comp. 1 John 5:14. This is not the same as ‘persuading our heart before Him,’ but is a natural result of it. Comp. Romans 5:1.