Verse Lens · Context pointer
1 John 2:12 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 12. 12I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
Verse 12 begins the reassurance sequence by telling the children that their sins are forgiven for Jesus' name.
Read It With
- 1 John 2:12-14
Read 1 John 2:12–14 as one complete movement. Two parallel sequences address little children, fathers, and young people, supplying reasons for reassurance. Verse 15 begins a prohibition against loving the world.
Why It Needs Context
Verse 12 begins the reassurance sequence by telling the children that their sins are forgiven for Jesus' name. Read it within 1 John 2:12–14 because the complete movement supplies the reasoning before and after this contribution.
Read 1 John 2:12–14 together
Why these verses belong together: Two parallel address cycles reassure the whole community before the warnings resume.
Verse 12. 12 I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake.
Verse 13. 13 I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.
Verse 14. 14 I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read 1 John 2:12–14 — The Community Is Reassured of Forgiveness, Knowledge, and VictorySources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: 1 John 2:12–14, pinned eBible/CrossWire eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording, clause relationships, repeated terms, and variation markers used for original-language analysis.
Exact location: Official SBLGNT repository, data/sblgnt/text/1John.txt, 2:12–14
Open the 1 John Greek text file ↗