We love him, because he first loved us.
Him. Omitted in A B: 'Aleph (') has 'God.' 'We (emphatic, on our part) love (in general, Him, the brethren, and our fellowmen), because He (emphatic: answering to 'WE;' because it was He who) first loved us, in sending His Son (aorist of a definite act at one time). He was the first to love us: this thought ought to create in us love casting out fear (1 John 4:18).