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OET OET-RV OET-LV ULT UST BSB BLB AICNT OEB WEB WMB NET LSV FBV TCNT T4T LEB BBE MOF JPS ASV DRA YLT DBY RV WBS KJB BB GNV CB TNT WYC SR-GNT UHB Related Parallel Interlinear Reference Dictionary Search
interlinearVerse INT GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOS JDG RUTH 1SA 2SA 1KI 2KI 1CH 2CH EZRA NEH EST JOB PSA PRO ECC SNG ISA JER LAM EZE DAN HOS JOEL AMOS OBA YNA MIC NAH HAB ZEP HAG ZEC MAL YHN MARK MAT LUKE ACTs ROM 1COR 2COR GAL EPH PHP COL 1TH 2TH 1TIM 2TIM TIT PHM HEB YAC 1PET 2PET 1YHN 2YHN 3YHN YUD REV
OET (OET-LV) If we_may_say that we_are_having fellowship with him, and_yet we_may_be_walking in the darkness, we_are_lying and we_are_ not _practicing the truth.
OET (OET-RV) If we say that we and him are relating well together and yet we’re walking in the darkness, then we’re lying and not living the truth.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / hypo
ἐὰν εἴπωμεν ὅτι κοινωνίαν ἔχομεν μετ’ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐν τῷ σκότει περιπατῶμεν, ψευδόμεθα καὶ οὐ ποιοῦμεν τὴν ἀλήθειαν
if ˱we˲_/may/_say that fellowship ˱we˲_/are/_having with him and_yet in the darkness ˱we˲_/may_be/_walking ˱we˲_/are/_lying and not ˱we˲_/are/_practicing the truth
John is using a hypothetical situation to help his readers recognize the importance of consistency between their words and their actions. Alternate translation: “Suppose we say that we have fellowship with him, but we walk in darkness. Then we are lying and are not doing the truth”
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
ἐὰν εἴπωμεν ὅτι κοινωνίαν ἔχομεν μετ’ αὐτοῦ
if ˱we˲_/may/_say that fellowship ˱we˲_/are/_having with him
If your language does not use an abstract noun for fellowship, see how you expressed this idea in 1:3. Alternate translation: “If we say that we are close friends with God”
Note 3 topic: writing-pronouns
μετ’ αὐτοῦ
with him
Here, him refers back to “God” in the previous verse. If it would be helpful in your language, you could repeat the word “God” here. Alternate translation: “with God”
Note 4 topic: grammar-connect-logic-contrast
καὶ
and_yet
John is using the word and here to introduce the contrast of a person claiming to have fellowship with God and behaving differently than that. In your translation, indicate this contrast in a way that is natural in your language. Alternate translation: “but”
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
ἐν τῷ σκότει περιπατῶμεν
in the darkness ˱we˲_/may_be/_walking
John is using the word walk to mean how a person lives and behaves. Alternate translation: “do what is evil”
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
ἐν τῷ σκότει περιπατῶμεν
in the darkness ˱we˲_/may_be/_walking
As in 1:5, John is using the word darkness to mean evil. Alternate translation: “do what is evil”
Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism
ψευδόμεθα καὶ οὐ ποιοῦμεν τὴν ἀλήθειαν
˱we˲_/are/_lying and not ˱we˲_/are/_practicing the truth
These two phrases mean similar things. It is likely that John is using repetition for emphasis. If it would be helpful in your language, you could combine these phrases and express the emphasis in another way. Alternate translation: “we are really not truthful at all”
Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
οὐ ποιοῦμεν τὴν ἀλήθειαν
not ˱we˲_/are/_practicing the truth
If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of truth, you could express the same idea in another way. Alternate translation: “we are not living according to God’s true message”
1:6 This is the first of several instances in which John challenges the claims of the Gnostics, who had broken away from the apostolic fellowship and were thus living in spiritual darkness. They claimed to have fellowship with God but did not express his character, which is light. Jesus had warned the Jewish leaders of his day not to let the light they thought they had be darkness (Matt 6:23)—their religious beliefs had blinded them to the spiritual illumination they could have received from Christ. In like manner, these Gnostic teachers thought they were enlightened but were actually darkened by their so-called illuminations. They claimed to have spiritual experiences from God, yet they rejected fellowship with the ones who had actually seen God in the flesh, namely, John and the other apostles.
OET (OET-LV) If we_may_say that we_are_having fellowship with him, and_yet we_may_be_walking in the darkness, we_are_lying and we_are_ not _practicing the truth.
OET (OET-RV) If we say that we and him are relating well together and yet we’re walking in the darkness, then we’re lying and not living the truth.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the SR-GNT.