How great (4217) (potapos possibly from pote = interrogative adverb [when?] + pou = where?) is firstly an interrogative adjective which means "of what sort or what kind?" (speaking of quality). When potapos is used (as in the present passage) in an exclamation, the context conveys the sense of admiration = "how great!"; "how wonderful!", "how glorious!" (cp Mk 13:1) John Stott says potapos always implies astonishment.
Vine...
primarily, “from what country,” then, “of what sort”...
Steven Cole adds
It’s as if John thinks about the Father’s great love and says, “Where does this come from? It must be from heaven, because there’s nothing like it in this world!” (The Father's Great Love)
Potapos - 7x in 6v - Matt 8:27; Mark 13:1; Luke 1:29; 7:39; 2 Pet 3:11; 1 John 3:1. NAS = how great(1), what kind of(2), what sort of(1), what sort of person(1), what wonderful (2). Potapos is not found in the non-apocryphal Septuagint.
Wuest...comments on how great ("what manner of"1Jn 3:1KJV)
“What manner of” is potapēn, “from what country, race or tribe?” The word speaks of something foreign. The translation could read, “Behold, what foreign kind of love the Father has bestowed upon us.” The love of God is foreign to the human race. It is not found naturally in humanity. When it exists there, it is in a saved individual, and by reason of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Smith suggests, “from what far realm? What unearthly love,… how other-worldly.” (Wuest, K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans or Logos)
Hiebert notes that potapos...
implies a reaction of astonishment, and usually of admiration, upon viewing some person or thing. The expression conveys both a qualitative and quantitative force, "what glorious, measureless love!" This love, originating with God, ever seeks the true welfare of those being loved; it is amazing in-deed when we remember the personal destitution of those He loves. God's is a love that works visible, transforming results in the lives of its recipients. (The Epistles of John An Expositional Commentary by D. Edmond Hiebert)
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