God & Savior

John 3:20

Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
John 3:20
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Study notes

Everyone who does evil hates the light and stays away from it, so their deeds are not exposed.

Explanation

Jesus explains why some refuse the light: coming into it would show their actions for what they are. Avoiding the light is a way of avoiding being exposed.

Original language
  • πράσσων (prassōn): to do/require
    Greek · Verb, present, active, participle, nominative, singular, masculine · Strong's G4238 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Practicing or doing.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, John 3:20, word 5

  • μισεῖ (misei): to hate
    Greek · Verb, present, active, indicative, 3rd person singular · Strong's G3404 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Hates.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, John 3:20, word 6

  • ἐλεγχθῇ (elegchthēa): to rebuke
    Greek · Verb, aorist, passive, subjunctive, 3rd person singular · Strong's G1651 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Be exposed.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, John 3:20, word 17

Cross-references
  • Ephesians 5:11-13 · Same theme

    Everything exposed by the light becomes visible.

  • Job 24:13-17 · Same theme

    Those who rebel against the light do their deeds in the dark.

Connected events
  • Nicodemus visits Jesus at night
    This verse is part of it · jerusalem

    This verse is part of the conversation.

    John 3:1-21

Sources

Original language and places

Reference data from open datasets, shown as published by their sources. Word-by-word English is a literal guide, not a translation.

Original language (Greek)

πᾶς γὰρ ὁ φαῦλα πράσσων μισεῖ τὸ φῶς καὶ οὐκ ἔρχεται πρὸς τὸ φῶς ἵνα μὴ ἐλεγχθῇ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ·

  1. πᾶςpas“Everyone”
    Adjective, nominative, singular, masculine · “all” · Strong's G3956
  2. γὰρgar“for”
    Conjunction · from γάρ · “for” · Strong's G1063
  3. ὁho“<the>”
    Article, nominative, singular, masculine · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  4. φαῦλαphaula“evil”
    Adjective, accusative, plural, neuter · from φαῦλος · “evil” · Strong's G5337
  5. πράσσωνprassōn“practicing”
    Verb, present, active, participle, nominative, singular, masculine · from πράσσω · “to do/require” · Strong's G4238
  6. μισεῖmisei“hates”
    Verb, present, active, indicative, 3rd person singular · from μισέω · “to hate” · Strong's G3404
  7. τὸto“the”
    Article, accusative, singular, neuter · from ὁ · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  8. φῶςphōs“Light”
    Noun, accusative, singular, neuter · “light” · Strong's G5457
  9. καὶkai“and”
    Conjunction · from καί · “and” · Strong's G2532
  10. οὐκouk“not”
    Particle, negative · from οὐ · “no” · Strong's G3756
  11. ἔρχεταιerchetai“comes”
    Verb, present, middle or passive (deponent), indicative, 3rd person singular · from ἔρχομαι · “to come/go” · Strong's G2064
  12. πρὸςpros“to”
    Preposition · from πρός · “to/with” · Strong's G4314
  13. τὸto“the”
    Article, accusative, singular, neuter · from ὁ · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  14. φῶςphōs“Light”
    Noun, accusative, singular, neuter · “light” · Strong's G5457
  15. ἵναina“so that”
    Conjunction · “in order that/to” · Strong's G2443
  16. μὴmē“not”
    Particle, negative · from μή · “not” · Strong's G3361
  17. ἐλεγχθῇelegchthēa“may be exposed”
    Verb, aorist, passive, subjunctive, 3rd person singular · from ἐλέγχω · “to rebuke” · Strong's G1651
  18. τὰta“the”
    Article, nominative, plural, neuter · from ὁ · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  19. ἔργαerga“works”
    Noun, nominative, plural, neuter · from ἔργον · “work” · Strong's G2041
  20. αὐτοῦ·autou“of him;”
    Personal pronoun, genitive, singular, masculine · from αὐτός · “he/she/it/self” · Strong's G0846
  • Prepared by the God & Savior team. Not yet reviewed by an editor.
  • Greek words: STEP Bible (STEPBible.org), based on work at Tyndale House, Cambridge. CC BY 4.0. Source (version ed476a8)