But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.
John was one of Jesus' closest disciples, writing to early Christian communities — people who had recently come to faith and were navigating what it meant to live differently together. He's addressing real fractures forming within these communities. This verse makes a stark claim: hating a fellow believer doesn't just damage a relationship — it puts you in spiritual darkness. In John's writing, "darkness" is a recurring image for separation from God, who is described elsewhere as light. The most unsettling detail is in the final phrase: hatred doesn't just lead you the wrong direction — it blinds you so completely that you don't even know you're lost. The damage isn't only to the other person; it warps your own ability to see clearly.
God, I don't always want to admit when hatred is living in me — especially when I feel like the other person deserves it. But I don't want to keep walking in the dark. Give me the honesty to name what I'm carrying, and enough grace to begin loosening my grip on it, even slowly. Amen.
Hatred feels like power. When someone has really wronged you — and some people really do wrong others — there's something that feels almost righteous about the cold shoulder, the cut contact, the quiet decision to write them off permanently. The feelings are real. The hurt is real. John doesn't dismiss any of that. But he says something that stops you cold: the person walking in hatred doesn't know where they're going. Not "they're headed in the wrong direction." They don't know where they're going at all. Hatred doesn't just steer you wrong — it takes away your ability to read the map. This verse isn't calling for toxic positivity or the performance of forgiveness you don't feel yet. John isn't saying "just get over it." He's saying that when hatred takes root — even understandable, arguably earned hatred — it does something to you internally. It dims things gradually, in ways you may not notice because the darkness starts to feel normal. If there's someone you've quietly written off — a family member, an old friend, someone from a church that hurt you — it's worth asking honestly: what has carrying this cost you? Not them. You. What would it mean to bring that specific weight to God today?
John uses the strong word "hatred" — but what are the milder, more everyday versions of this same attitude that might be easier to recognize in yourself?
Have you ever experienced the blindness John describes — where bitterness toward one person seemed to affect your clarity and judgment in other areas of your life too? What did that feel like from the inside?
John says the person in darkness "does not know where he is going." Do you believe hatred truly distorts our perception beyond just that one relationship? How have you seen that play out?
Is there a meaningful difference between refusing to reconcile with someone who harmed you and genuinely hating them? Where would you draw that line?
Is there a relationship in your life right now where resentment is quietly sitting? What is one small, honest step you could take — with God or with that person — this week?
Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
Galatians 6:2
He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.
1 John 2:9
Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.
Leviticus 19:17
Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;
Romans 12:10
If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
1 John 4:20
For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
Titus 3:3
But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
Matthew 6:23
Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.
John 12:35
But the one who habitually hates (works against) his brother [in Christ] is in [spiritual] darkness and is walking in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
AMP
But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
ESV
But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
NASB
But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.
NIV
But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
NKJV
But anyone who hates a fellow believer is still living and walking in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness.
NLT
But whoever hates is still in the dark, stumbles around in the dark, doesn't know which end is up, blinded by the darkness.
MSG