1YHN 4:6 Parallel View

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The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

OET (OET-RV) However we belong to God, and anyone who knows God listens to us, but anyone who doesn’t belong to God can’t accept what we’re saying. That’s how we can distinguish the spirit of truth from deceptive spirits.

Key: yellow:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, red:negative.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT We are from God. The one knowing God listens to us. Whoever is not from God does not listen to us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

UST As for us, God has sent us. Whoever lives in relationship with God believes and obeys what we teach. Whoever does not live in relationship with God does not believe or obey what we teach. That difference enables us to distinguish between people who teach true messages from God’s Spirit and people who teach false messages from the devil.

BSB We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. That is how we know the Spirit [fn] of truth and the spirit of deception.

4:6 Or spirit

BLB We are of God. The one knowing God listens to us. He who is not of God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

AICNT We are from God; the one who knows God listens to us; the one who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

OEB We come from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; the person who does not come from God does not listen to us. This is how we distinguish the spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.

WEB We are of God. He who knows God listens to us. He who is not of God doesn’t listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

NET We are from God; the person who knows God listens to us, but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.

LSV we are of God; he who is knowing God hears us; he who is not of God, does not hear us; from this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

FBV We belong to God and whoever knows God listens to us, while whoever doesn't belong to God doesn't listen to us. This is how we can distinguish the spirit of truth from the spirit of deception.

TCNT We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

T4T As for us (exc), because we belong to God, whoever ◄knows/has a close relationship with► God listens to us. But those who do not belong to God do not listen to us. That is how we can know whether the things that people are teaching [MTY] are true or whether they are false, and deceiving people.

LEB We are from God. The one who knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.
¶ 

BBE We are of God: he who has the knowledge of God gives ear to us; he who is not of God does not give ear to us. By this we may see which is the true spirit, and which is the spirit of error.

MOF No MOF 1YHN (1JHN) book available

ASV We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he who is not of God heareth us not. By this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

DRA We are of God. He that knoweth God, heareth us. He that is not of God, heareth us not. By this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

YLT we — of God we are; he who is knowing God doth hear us; he who is not of God, doth not hear us; from this we know the spirit of the truth, and the spirit of the error.

DBY We are of [fn]God; he that knows [fn]God hears us; he who is not of [fn]God does not hear us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

4.6 Elohim

RV We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he who is not of God heareth us not. By this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

WBS We are of God. He that knoweth God, heareth us; he that is not of God, heareth not us. By this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

KJB We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
(We are of God: he that knowth/knows God hears us; he that is not of God hears not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. )

BB We are of God. He that knoweth God, heareth vs: he that is not of God, heareth vs not. Hereby knowe we the spirite of veritie, and the spirite of errour.
(We are of God. He that knowth/knows God, hears us: he that is not of God, hears us not. Hereby know we the spirit of veritie, and the spirit of errour.)

GNV We are of God, he that knoweth God, heareth vs: he that is not of God, heareth vs not. Heereby knowe wee the spirit of trueth, and the spirit of errour.
(We are of God, he that knowth/knows God, hears us: he that is not of God, hears us not. Heereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of errour. )

CB We are of God, and he that knoweth God, herkeneth vnto vs: he that is not of God, heareth vs not. Here by knowe we the sprete of trueth, and ye sprete of erroure.
(We are of God, and he that knowth/knows God, herkeneth unto us: he that is not of God, hears us not. Here by know we the spirit of truth, and ye/you_all spirit of erroure.)

TNT We are of God. He that knoweth God heareth vs: he that is not of God heareth vs not. Herby knowe we the sprete of veritie and the sprete of erroure.
(We are of God. He that knowth/knows God hears us: he that is not of God hears us not. Herby know we the spirit of veritie and the spirit of erroure. )

WYC We ben of God; he that knowith God, herith vs; he that is not of God, herith not vs. In this thing we knowen the spirit of treuthe, and the spirit of errour.
(We been of God; he that knowth/knows God, hears us; he that is not of God, hears not us. In this thing we known the spirit of truth, and the spirit of errour.)

LUT Wir sind von GOtt, und wer GOtt erkennet, der höret uns; welcher nicht von GOtt ist, der höret uns nicht. Daran erkennen wir den Geist der Wahrheit und den Geist des Irrtums.
(Wir are from God, and wer God erkennet, the listent uns; which not from God is, the listent uns nicht. Daran erkennen wir the spirit the truth and the spirit the Irrtums.)

CLV Nos ex Deo sumus. Qui novit Deum, audit nos; qui non est ex Deo, non audit nos: in hoc cognoscimus Spiritum veritatis, et spiritum erroris.
(Nos ex Deo sumus. Who novit God, audit nos; who not/no it_is ex Deo, not/no audit nos: in hoc cognoscimus Spiritum veritatis, and spiritum erroris. )

UGNT ἡμεῖς ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐσμεν. ὁ γινώσκων τὸν Θεὸν, ἀκούει ἡμῶν; ὃς οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ, οὐκ ἀκούει ἡμῶν. ἐκ τούτου γινώσκομεν τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς πλάνης.
(haʸmeis ek tou Theou esmen. ho ginōskōn ton Theon, akouei haʸmōn? hos ouk estin ek tou Theou, ouk akouei haʸmōn. ek toutou ginōskomen to pneuma taʸs alaʸtheias kai to pneuma taʸs planaʸs.)

SBL-GNT ἡμεῖς ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐσμεν· ὁ γινώσκων τὸν θεὸν ἀκούει ἡμῶν, ὃς οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ οὐκ ἀκούει ἡμῶν. ἐκ τούτου γινώσκομεν τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς πλάνης.
(haʸmeis ek tou theou esmen; ho ginōskōn ton theon akouei haʸmōn, hos ouk estin ek tou theou ouk akouei haʸmōn. ek toutou ginōskomen to pneuma taʸs alaʸtheias kai to pneuma taʸs planaʸs. )

TC-GNT Ἡμεῖς ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐσμεν· ὁ γινώσκων τὸν Θεόν, ἀκούει ἡμῶν· ὃς οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ, οὐκ ἀκούει ἡμῶν. Ἐκ τούτου γινώσκομεν τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς πλάνης.
(Haʸmeis ek tou Theou esmen; ho ginōskōn ton Theon, akouei haʸmōn; hos ouk estin ek tou Theou, ouk akouei haʸmōn. Ek toutou ginōskomen to pneuma taʸs alaʸtheias kai to pneuma taʸs planaʸs. )

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, orange:accents differ (from our SR-GNT base).

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / exclusive

ἡμεῖς & ἡμῶν & ἡμῶν

we & ˱from˲_us & ˱from˲_us

The pronouns We and us in the first three sentences of this verse are probably exclusive, and so if your language marks that distinction, we recommend using the exclusive form in your translation. John appears to be speaking here of himself and his fellow eyewitnesses of the resurrection as teachers of the truth about Jesus. He has already said that the believers to whom he is writing are from God in 4:4.

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

ἡμεῖς ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐσμεν

we of ¬the God are

Here, from God could mean: (1) that John and his fellow eyewitnesses teach the truth about Jesus because God has sent them to do that. Alternate translation: “God has sent us” (2) the same thing as it does in 4:4 and in 4:1–3. Alternate translation: “We belong to God”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

ἡμεῖς ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐσμεν

we of ¬the God are

If you have decided that We are from God means “God has sent us,” and if it would be helpful to your readers, either here or in a footnote you could state explicitly what God has sent John and the other eyewitnesses to do. Alternate translation: “God has sent us to teach the truth about Jesus as eyewitnesses to his life on earth”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

ὁ γινώσκων τὸν Θεὸν

the_‹one› knowing ¬the God

As in 2:3–4, John is using the word knowing in a specific sense. See how you translated it there. Alternate translation: “Anyone who has a close relationship with God”

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

ἀκούει ἡμῶν & οὐκ ἀκούει ἡμῶν

/is/_hearing ˱from˲_us & not /is/_hearing ˱from˲_us & (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἡμεῖς ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐσμεν ὁ γινώσκων τὸν Θεὸν ἀκούει ἡμῶν ὃς οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐκ ἀκούει ἡμῶν ἐκ τούτου γινώσκομεν τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς πλάνης)

As in 4:5, the word listens is an idiom that means “believes” or “is persuaded by.” Alternate translation: “believes what we teach … does not believe what we teach”

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

ὃς οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ

whoever not is of ¬the God

The expression from God means the same thing in this verse as in 4:4. See how you translated it there. Alternate translation: “Whoever does not belong to God” or “Whoever is not living in relationship with God”

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

ἐκ τούτου γινώσκομεν

of of by this ˱we˲_/are/_knowing

This is an idiomatic expression. It means the same thing as the expression “in this we know” which John uses several times in this letter. Alternate translation: “This is how we can recognize”

Note 8 topic: writing-pronouns

ἐκ τούτου γινώσκομεν

of of by this ˱we˲_/are/_knowing

Here, this refers back to what John has just written in the previous two sentences. We can know if someone is teaching a true message if it agrees with what John and the other apostles teach, and that it is a false message if it does not. John may have intended for this to also include what he said in 4:2–3.

Note 9 topic: figures-of-speech / exclusive

γινώσκομεν

˱we˲_/are/_knowing

In the last sentence of this verse, John is once again speaking of himself and the believers to whom he is writing. If your language has an inclusive form of we, then use that in your translation here. This inclusive usage continues through 4:13.

Note 10 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς πλάνης

the spirit ¬the ˱of˲_truth and the spirit ¬the ˱of˲_deception

See the discussion of the word spirit in the General Notes to this chapter. In these instances, the word may refer to: (1) spirits that inspire messages of a certain kind. In this case, the spirit of truth would refer to God’s Spirit, and the spirit of error would refer to the devil. These would also be what John refers to as “the one in you” and “the one in the world” in 4:4. See the UST. (2) the character of something. In this case, John would be using spirit to refer to people whose teaching has a certain character. Alternate translation: “whose teaching is true and whose teaching is false”

Note 11 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς πλάνης

the spirit ¬the ˱of˲_truth and the spirit ¬the ˱of˲_deception

If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the idea behind the abstract nouns truth and error with the adjectives “true” and “false.” Alternate translation: “the spirit whose messages are true and the spirit whose messages are false”

Parallel 1YHN 4:6