InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEUT JOB YEHO (JOS) HERO (JDG) RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG YOEL (JOEL) MIC ISA ZEP HAB YIR (JER) LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBAD DAN EZEK EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL 2 PS WIS TOB MAN BAR G DAN G ESD L ESD ESG JDT 3 MAC SIR 1 MAC 2 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL LAOD PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
InterlinearVerse 1 Yhn C1 C2 C4 C5
1 Yhn 3 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23 V24
◄ ← 1 YHN (1 JHN) 3:9 ↓ → ► ║ ≡ ©
People tagged in the matching LV passage: God
OET-LV Everyone which having_been_born of the god, is_ not _practicing sin, because the_seed of_him is_remaining in him, and he_is_ not _able to_be_sinning, because he_has_been_born of the god.
OET (OET-RV) Everyone who’s been reborn in God, doesn’t regularly sin because God’s seed of life remains in them and that person isn’t able to sin because they have been reborn in God.
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 3:7–10 in both BSB and GNT. Compare the two versions.
Paragraph Theme: John explains that our behavior shows whether we belong to God or to Satan.
Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin,
No person who has become a child of God should continually be sinning,
born of God: (Meaning) As in 2:29b, this means being a child of God. See GNT, NEB, JBP, LB.
practice sin: (Alternative Interpretations) See the note on “keeps on sinning” on 3:6a. The meaning is the same here.
because God’s seed abides in him;
because the nature/likeness of God is in his life/soul.
God’s seed abides in him: (Alternative Interpretations) There are different interpretations of the topic of this metaphor God’s seed and different interpretations of who him refers to:
It is generally thought to mean that something of God’s nature or God’s life is in God’s children. (GNT, RSV, JBP)
It may mean that God’s children remain in God. (RSV footnote)
he cannot go on sinning,
It is impossible for him to be continually sinning
He cannot be a person who continually does wrong
because he has been born of God.
because he is a child of God.
he cannot…born of God: (Logical Relationship) The second half of the verse (3:9c–d) is restating the same point as the first half (3:9a–b) in slightly stronger words. The link may need to be made clear in translation. See the Display. See also GNT.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
πᾶς ὁ γεγεννημένος ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ & ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ γεγέννηται
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Πᾶς ὁ γεγεννημένος ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἁμαρτίαν οὒ ποιεῖ ὅτι σπέρμα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ μένει καί οὒ δύναται ἁμαρτάνειν ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ γεγέννηται)
See how you translated this in 2:29. Alternate translation: [Everyone whose father is God … because God is his father]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
πᾶς ὁ γεγεννημένος ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ & ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ γεγέννηται
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Πᾶς ὁ γεγεννημένος ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἁμαρτίαν οὒ ποιεῖ ὅτι σπέρμα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ μένει καί οὒ δύναται ἁμαρτάνειν ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ γεγέννηται)
See whether in 2:29 you decided to explain this metaphor. Alternate translation: [Everyone whose spiritual father is God … because God is his spiritual father]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ἁμαρτίαν οὐ ποιεῖ & οὐ δύναται ἁμαρτάνειν
sin (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Πᾶς ὁ γεγεννημένος ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἁμαρτίαν οὒ ποιεῖ ὅτι σπέρμα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ μένει καί οὒ δύναται ἁμαρτάνειν ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ γεγέννηται)
See the discussion of the term “sin” in Part 3 of the Introduction to 1 John. The form of the verbs commit and able here may indicate a continual or habitual action. Alternate translation: [does not keep sinning … he is not able to keep sinning]
Note 4 topic: writing-pronouns
σπέρμα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ μένει
˓the˒_seed ˱of˲_him in him ˓is˒_remaining
In this phrase, his refers to God and him refers to the person who has been begotten from God. Alternate translation: [God’s seed remains in such a person]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
σπέρμα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ μένει
˓the˒_seed ˱of˲_him in him ˓is˒_remaining
See the discussion of the term “remain” in Part 3 of the Introduction to 1 John. In this instance, as in 2:27, it seems to refer to a continuing presence. Alternate translation: [God’s seed continues to be present in such a person]
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
σπέρμα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ μένει
˓the˒_seed ˱of˲_him in him ˓is˒_remaining
John is using the word seed here to represent something that God gives to every believer that marks that believer as belonging to God and empowered to live for him. It could represent: (1) the new life from God that comes from his Spirit. Alternate translation: [the new life that God gave to that person continues with him] or [the Spirit that God put within that person stays with him]; (2) the characteristics of a father that a child inherits from him. Alternate translation: [the characteristics that show that God is his father are always part of him]
OET-LV Everyone which having_been_born of the god, is_ not _practicing sin, because the_seed of_him is_remaining in him, and he_is_ not _able to_be_sinning, because he_has_been_born of the god.
OET (OET-RV) Everyone who’s been reborn in God, doesn’t regularly sin because God’s seed of life remains in them and that person isn’t able to sin because they have been reborn in God.
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.
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