1 John 4:5

They are of the world This follows, though it has not yet been stated, from their not being -of us" (1 John 2:19): for there is no middle position. The verse is another reminiscence of the Lord's farewell discourses: -If ye were of the world, the world would love its own" (John 15:19; comp. John 17:14).

therefore speak they of the world Or, therefore of the world they speak: as in John 3:31, the Greek order is impressive and worth preserving. (See on 1 John 3:1; but here διὰ τοῦτο is not followed by ὅτι.) The impressive repetition of -the world" is very characteristic of S. John's style; e.g. John 1:10; John 3:17; John 15:19; John 17:14. Comp. -He that is of the earth, of the earth he is, and of the earth he speaketh" (John 3:31): where, however, -to speak of the earth" or - earthly things" is to speak of God's work on earth; whereas -to speak of the world" is to speak what is alien from God's work and opposed to it. -To speak of" (λαλεῖν ἐκ) is not the same as -to speak concerning" (λέγειν περί) 1 John 5:16; John 1:22; John 1:47; John 2:21, &c. -To speak of the world" is to have the world as the sourceof one's words, so that one's inspiration flows from it: and of course the world -heareth", i.e. loves to hear, the wisdom derived from itself.