1 John 3
See what sort of love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God — the base text carries ‘and we are’, which the Received Text lacks. What we will be has not yet been manifested; when he is manifested we will be like him — ‘be manifested’ comes four times in this chapter and ‘are manifest’ at v.10 is the same root. Everyone who has this hope purifies himself just as that one is pure — one root twice, which Korean does not keep. The one who does sin also does lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. That one was manifested to take away the sins — the verb John the Baptist used of the Lamb, with the same object. The one who does sin is of the slanderer — this edition does not turn it into ‘devil’. The Son of God was manifested to loose the works of the slanderer — the word for untying. Everyone born of God does not do sin, because his seed abides in him — whose seed is not said. The message heard from the beginning is that we should love one another — at 1:5 the same word carried ‘God is light’. Not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother — Cain is the only name in this letter, and ‘slay’ is the word for killing a sacrifice, kept apart from the ‘kill’ of Matt 22:6. We know we have passed over from death into life — the verb and phrase of John 5:24. Whoever hates his brother is a man-killer — at John 8:44 the slanderer was one. By this we have known love: that one laid down his life for us — the phrase of the good shepherd, and his life is one while our lives are many. Whoever has the living of the world and sees his brother in need and shuts his bowels from him — how does the love of God abide in him? ‘Bowels’ is the body-word of Col 3:12. Let us not love in word nor with the tongue but in work and in truth — the first two are datives and the last two take a preposition. Even if our heart finds fault with us, God is greater than our heart — how the two ὅτι of v.20 hang is not said. The commandment is one and holds two things — believing and loving, the first aorist and the second present. The one who keeps his commandments abides in him, and by the Spirit he gave us we know it — a close that opens ch.4.
Why this rendering
1John.3.6 Observation
Syntactic observation
ἴδετε ποταπὴν ἀγάπην δέδωκεν ἡμῖν ὁ πατὴρ … the base text carries ⸂καὶ ἐσμέν⸃ ‘and we are’ — the Received Text lacks it and the sentence ends at ‘be called’ · ποταπός ‘what sort of’ is the word of Matt 8:27, and it came at 2 Pet 3:11 as well · τέκνα θεοῦ ‘children of God’ is the phrase of John 1:12 · φανερόω ‘be manifested’ comes four times in this chapter (twice at v.2, and at vv.5 and 8), and φανερός at v.10 is the same root · τί ἐσόμεθα ‘what we will be’ at v.2 is neuter · who the subject of ἐὰν φανερωθῇ is the text does not say · ἁγνίζω and ἁγνός come on one root at v.3 · v.4 binds sin and lawlessness with a copula — ‘sin is lawlessness’ · αἴρω ‘take away’ is the verb of John 1:29, with the same object · ἁμαρτάνω ‘sin’ comes six times at vv.4-9, in the present, so it is a continuing thing.
Rendering options · 3
Basis The Received Text lacks it; the base text carries it.
Basis It is the verb John the Baptist used of the Lamb, with the same object.
Basis The text does not say whether it is he or it.
Lost in translation
καὶ ἐσμέν (v.1) — carried by the base text, absent from the Received Text. Both follow the base text.
φανερόω four times and φανερός (vv.2 · 5 · 8 · 10) — one root five times. Both keep it.
ἁγνίζω / ἁγνός (v.3) — one root in one verse. English splits ‘purify’ and ‘pure’.
αἴρω (v.5) — the verb of John 1:29, with the same object. Both stand alike.
Six presents (vv.4-9) — a continuing thing. Both render the present.
τί ἐσόμεθα (v.2) — neuter, so ‘what’. Both render the neuter.
Why this rendering
1John.3.10 Observation
Syntactic observation
ὁ ποιῶν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐκ τοῦ διαβόλου ἐστίν … διάβολος ‘slanderer’ comes three times in this chapter, the word this edition has settled, so it is not turned into ‘devil’ · λύω ‘loose’ takes works as its object — the word for untying, not for abolishing · whose seed σπέρμα αὐτοῦ names the text does not say — God’s or the one born · γεννάω comes twice in the perfect passive at v.9, carrying on from 2:29 · οὐ δύναται ἁμαρτάνειν ‘he cannot sin’ — the text gives the reason and not the manner · v.10 closes with ‘are manifest’, taking up the ‘be manifested’ of vv.2, 5 and 8 · ποιέω ‘do’ comes six times at vv.4, 7, 8, 9 and 10 — one does sin, one does righteousness · the last phrase of v.10 hangs on short — ‘nor is the one who does not love his brother’.
Rendering options · 3
Basis This edition settled ‘slanderer’ at John 8:44.
Basis It is the word for untying — ‘destroy’ would take another verb’s place.
Basis The text does not say — ‘God’s seed’ would close one side.
Lost in translation
διάβολος three times (vv.8 · 10) — the word of John 8:44. Both keep it.
λύω (v.8) — the word for untying. Both keep it so.
σπέρμα αὐτοῦ (v.9) — whose seed is not said. Both leave it unfilled.
γεννάω twice in the perfect passive (v.9) — carrying on from 2:29. Both keep one word.
ποιέω six times (vv.4-10) — doing sin, doing righteousness. Both keep one verb.
The hanging phrase at the end of v.10. Both keep it hanging.
Why this rendering
1John.3.15 Observation
Syntactic observation
Ὅτι αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ ἀγγελία ἣν ἠκούσατε ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς … ἀγγελία ‘message’ returns from 1:5 — there it was ‘God is light’, here ‘that we should love one another’ · Cain is the only figure of old named in this letter, and the only name in it at all · σφάζω ‘slay’ is the word for killing a sacrifice, standing in Revelation eight times and here twice — a different word from ἀποκτείνω ‘kill’ at Matt 22:6 · χάριν τίνος ‘for what reason’ is a rare construction · ἀνθρωποκτόνος ‘man-killer’ is the word of John 8:44, where it names the slanderer — two places in the New Testament · μεταβαίνω ‘pass over’ is the verb of John 5:24, and the phrase is the same · vv.14 and 15 face each other on μένω — abiding in death, and life not abiding · ἀδελφός ‘brother’ comes seven times at vv.10-17.
Rendering options · 3
Basis It is the word for slaughtering a sacrifice, the verb Revelation uses of the Lamb.
Basis The phrase is the same as John 5:24.
Basis There the slanderer is one; here whoever hates his brother becomes one.
Lost in translation
ἀγγελία (v.11) — the word of 1:5. Both stand alike.
σφάζω twice (v.12) — the word for slaughter. Both keep it apart from ἀποκτείνω.
μεταβαίνω (v.14) — the verb and phrase of John 5:24. Both stand alike.
ἀνθρωποκτόνος (v.15) — the word of John 8:44. Both stand alike.
μένω (vv.14 · 15) — abiding in death, life not abiding. Both keep one word.
χάριν τίνος (v.12) — a rare construction. Neither locale carries it.
Why this rendering
1John.3.24 Observation
Syntactic observation
ἐν τούτῳ ἐγνώκαμεν τὴν ἀγάπην, ὅτι ἐκεῖνος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἔθηκεν — τίθημι τὴν ψυχήν ‘lay down the life’ is the phrase of John 10:11 — what the good shepherd did for the sheep the congregation must do for the brothers · ψυχή shifts from singular to plural — his one life, our lives · βίος ‘living’ returns from 2:16 · σπλάγχνα ‘bowels’ is a word of the body, that of Col 3:12 · κλείω ‘shut’ takes ‘from him’ · v.18 puts word and tongue in the dative and work and truth under a preposition — theshapes differ · καταγινώσκω ‘find fault with’ comes at vv.20 and 21, a different place from the passive at Gal 2:11 · the two ὅτι of v.20 stack and the text does not say how they hang · παρρησία ‘openness’ returns from 2:28 · v.23 puts two things in one commandment — believing and loving, the first aorist and the second present · v.24 closes with ‘by the Spirit’, opening ch.4.
Rendering options · 3
Basis It is the phrase of the good shepherd.
Basis Col 3:12 and Phil 1:8 already keep ‘bowels’.
Basis The text does not say how they hang — dropping one would lose the stacking.
Lost in translation
τίθημι τὴν ψυχήν (v.16) — the phrase of John 10:11. Both stand alike.
Singular to plural (v.16) — his one life, our lives. Both render the number.
σπλάγχνα (v.17) — the body-word of Col 3:12. Both keep the body.
The shapes at v.18 — two datives against one preposition. Neither locale carries the split.
Two ὅτι (v.20) — how they hang is not said. Both leave it unfilled.
Aorist and present (v.23) — believing and loving differ in tense. Neither locale carries it.