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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
1 Yhn 3 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23 V24
◄ ↨ 1 YHN (1 JHN) 3:1 ↓ → ► ║ ©
OET (OET-LV) See what_kind_of love the father has_given to_us, in_order_that we_may_be_called children of_god, and we_are.
Because_of this, the world is_ not _knowing us, because it_ not _knew him.
OET (OET-RV) Consider the amazing live that the father has given to us in order that we can be called God’s children, and indeed we are.
Read 2:28–4:6 carefully.
Section Theme: In this section (after the main theme in 2:28–29), John is saying that in order not to be ashamed when we meet Christ we must do the following:
3:1–10 | We should live pure and righteous lives as Christ did. |
3:11–18 | We should love and help our fellow Christians. |
3:19–24 | We should obey God’s commands to believe in his Son and to love one another. |
4:1–6 | We should carefully test what teachers say so that we know whether they are speaking for the Holy Spirit. |
Read 3:1–3 in both BSB and GNT. Compare the two versions.
Paragraph Theme: John is saying that we should be living pure lives now because when Christ returns we will be pure like him.
the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God: (Lexical Problem) These two terms, the Father and God, refer to the same person. In some languages it may be unnatural or confusing to have one person referred to in two different ways in the same sentence. If that is the case in your language you may need to translate the first reference as “God our Father,” and the second as “his children.” See the Display.
Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us,
¶ Think/See, God our Father has loved us(incl) very much indeed.
¶ Remember what God the Father has done for us by his great love.
Behold what manner of love: (Parenthesis) The first half of this verse is an exclamation. It interrupts the teaching about doing what is right. John just mentioned in 2:29 that we are God’s children, and now he exclaims that this shows how great God’s love for us is. In translation it is important to make it clear that this is an exclamation and that it is focusing on the greatness of God’s love.
that we should be called children of God.
He loves us so much that he even says about us that we are his children.
that we should be called: (Meaning) This indicates the result of the greatness of God’s love, not his purpose in loving us. See the Display.
be called: (Passive Construction) In translation it may be necessary to turn this into an active verb. The subject is “God” or “he.”
And that is what we are!
And we really have become God’s children in fact.
And that is what we are!: (Parenthesis) John ends his exclamation by saying that in addition to being called God’s children, that is also what we have really become. It is not just a name that God calls us by.
The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.
But the reason why the people of this world do not understand that we are God’s children is that they do not know God our Father.
the world: (Multiple Senses) This phrase is used here in a slightly different sense from how it was used in 2:15. Here it means those people who want the things of the world instead of wanting to do God’s will. See world in Key Biblical Terms.
does not know us: (Meaning) John means that the people of the world do not recognize or accept that we have become children of God.
it did not know Him: (Alternative Interpretations) There are different views about who this refers to:
John is writing here about our relationship to God, so it probably means that the people did not know or believe in God.
Some think it means that the people did not recognize who Christ was. (JBP)
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
ἴδετε
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἴδετε ποταπήν ἀγάπην δέδωκεν ἡμῖν ὁ Πατήρ ἵνα τέκνα Θεοῦ κληθῶμεν καί ἐσμέν Διά τοῦτο ὁ κόσμος οὒ γινώσκει ἡμάς ὅτι οὐκ ἔγνω αὐτόν)
John is using the term See to focus his reader's attention on what he is about to say. Your language may have a comparable expression that you could use in your translation. Alternate translation: [Consider]
Note 2 topic: guidelines-sonofgodprinciples
ὁ Πατὴρ
the the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἴδετε ποταπήν ἀγάπην δέδωκεν ἡμῖν ὁ Πατήρ ἵνα τέκνα Θεοῦ κληθῶμεν καί ἐσμέν Διά τοῦτο ὁ κόσμος οὒ γινώσκει ἡμάς ὅτι οὐκ ἔγνω αὐτόν)
Father is an important title for God. Alternate translation: [God the Father]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
ἵνα τέκνα Θεοῦ κληθῶμεν
in_order_that children ˱of˲_God ˱we˲_˓may_be˒_called
If your language does not use this passive form, you can express this with an active form. Alternate translation: [that God should call us his children]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
τέκνα Θεοῦ
children ˱of˲_God
Here John expresses the same metaphor as in [2:29](../02/29.md) in a slightly different way. See whether you decided to indicate the figurative meaning there. If you translate children using a literal term, choose a word that can refer to people of any age in relation to their father. Alternate translation: [spiritual children of God]
Note 5 topic: translate-textvariants
καὶ ἐσμέν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἴδετε ποταπήν ἀγάπην δέδωκεν ἡμῖν ὁ Πατήρ ἵνα τέκνα Θεοῦ κληθῶμεν καί ἐσμέν Διά τοῦτο ὁ κόσμος οὒ γινώσκει ἡμάς ὅτι οὐκ ἔγνω αὐτόν)
See the discussion of textual issues at the end of the General Notes to this chapter to decide whether to follow the reading of ULT and include these words or to follow the reading of some other versions and not include them.
Note 6 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result
διὰ τοῦτο, ὁ κόσμος οὐ γινώσκει ἡμᾶς, ὅτι οὐκ ἔγνω αὐτόν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἴδετε ποταπήν ἀγάπην δέδωκεν ἡμῖν ὁ Πατήρ ἵνα τέκνα Θεοῦ κληθῶμεν καί ἐσμέν Διά τοῦτο ὁ κόσμος οὒ γινώσκει ἡμάς ὅτι οὐκ ἔγνω αὐτόν)
If it would be helpful in your language, you could reverse the order of these phrases, since the second phrase gives the reason for the result that the first phrase describes. Alternate translation: [Because the world did not know God, for that reason it does not know us]
Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy
διὰ τοῦτο, ὁ κόσμος οὐ γινώσκει ἡμᾶς, ὅτι οὐκ ἔγνω αὐτόν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἴδετε ποταπήν ἀγάπην δέδωκεν ἡμῖν ὁ Πατήρ ἵνα τέκνα Θεοῦ κληθῶμεν καί ἐσμέν Διά τοῦτο ὁ κόσμος οὒ γινώσκει ἡμάς ὅτι οὐκ ἔγνω αὐτόν)
John uses world to mean various things in this letter. Here it refers to people who do not honor God and who do not live as God wishes. Alternate translation: [because ungodly people have not known God, for that reason they do not know us]
Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom
οὐ γινώσκει ἡμᾶς & οὐκ ἔγνω αὐτόν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἴδετε ποταπήν ἀγάπην δέδωκεν ἡμῖν ὁ Πατήρ ἵνα τέκνα Θεοῦ κληθῶμεν καί ἐσμέν Διά τοῦτο ὁ κόσμος οὒ γινώσκει ἡμάς ὅτι οὐκ ἔγνω αὐτόν)
John is using the word know in two different senses. See the discussion of the word “know” in Part 3 of the Introduction to 1 John. If your language has different words for these different senses, it would be appropriate to use them in your translation. Alternate translation: [does not recognize who we are … it did not become acquainted with him]
Note 9 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
οὐ γινώσκει ἡμᾶς
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἴδετε ποταπήν ἀγάπην δέδωκεν ἡμῖν ὁ Πατήρ ἵνα τέκνα Θεοῦ κληθῶμεν καί ἐσμέν Διά τοῦτο ὁ κόσμος οὒ γινώσκει ἡμάς ὅτι οὐκ ἔγνω αὐτόν)
If it would be helpful to your readers, you could state explicitly what the world does not know about believers in Jesus. Alternate translation: [does not recognize that we are God’s children]
Note 10 topic: writing-pronouns
αὐτόν
him
The pronoun him refers to God here. If this is not clear for your readers, you could supply this from the previous sentence. Alternate translation: [God]
3:1-3 When Christ returns, we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. God’s children bear the image of Christ and will share in his glory (see Rom 8:18-30).
• Those who have this hope keep themselves pure, seeking to become more like Christ in anticipation of his glorious appearing. It is partly for this reason that God’s children will not be ashamed when Christ comes (1 Jn 2:29).
OET (OET-LV) See what_kind_of love the father has_given to_us, in_order_that we_may_be_called children of_god, and we_are.
Because_of this, the world is_ not _knowing us, because it_ not _knew him.
OET (OET-RV) Consider the amazing live that the father has given to us in order that we can be called God’s children, and indeed we are.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.