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1 Yhn 4 V1 V2 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21
◄ ← 1 YHN (1 JHN) 4:3 ↓ → ► ║ ©
OET (OET-LV) and every spirit that is_ not _confessing the Yaʸsous, is not of the god.
And this is the spirit of_the anti-messiah, which you_all_have_heard that it_is_coming, and now is already in the world.
OET (OET-RV) but if the spirit won’t confess Yeshua, then it’s not from God but rather it’s the spirit of the false messiah, whom you’ve heard is coming, and is now already in the world.
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 4:1–3 in both BSB and GNT. Compare the two versions.
Paragraph Theme: John warns his readers to test anyone who claims to have a message from the Holy Spirit.
and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.
But anyone who says that Jesus did not come to this world as a human being does not have the Holy Spirit of God in him.
And if someone says that Jesus was not born as a human being, you can be sure that he did not receive his teaching from the Holy Spirit.
does not confess Jesus: (Ellipsis) The full meaning here is “does not acknowledge that Jesus Christ has come as a human being.”
This is the spirit of the antichrist,
That person has the spirit/power of the well-known enemy of Christ in him causing him to say those things.
the spirit of the antichrist: (Meaning) John means that such a person is preaching and teaching by the power of the antichrist or by an evil spirit sent by the antichrist.
the antichrist: (Biblical Term) See antichrist in Key Biblical Terms.
which you have heard is coming
You have heard that that spirit/power will come to this world,
which: (Pronoun Reference) The word which refers to the spirit of the antichrist, not to the antichrist himself.
and which is already in the world at this time.
and so it has come, and it is in this world even now.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy
πᾶν πνεῦμα ὃ μὴ ὁμολογεῖ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί παν πνεῦμα ὅ μή ὁμολογεῖ τόν Ἰησοῦν ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐκ ἐστίν Καί τοῦτο ἐστίν τό τοῦ ἀντιχρίστου ὅ ἀκηκόατε ὅτι ἔρχεται καί νῦν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ἐστίν ἤδη)
See how you translated the similar expression in [4:2](../04/02.md). Alternate translation: [every prophet who does not teach]
Note 2 topic: translate-textvariants
Ἰησοῦν
Jesus
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 say Jesus here or to follow the reading of some other manuscripts and say “Jesus Christ having come in the flesh.”
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy
τὸν Ἰησοῦν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί παν πνεῦμα ὅ μή ὁμολογεῖ τόν Ἰησοῦν ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐκ ἐστίν Καί τοῦτο ἐστίν τό τοῦ ἀντιχρίστου ὅ ἀκηκόατε ὅτι ἔρχεται καί νῦν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ἐστίν ἤδη)
If you follow the variant reading “Jesus Christ having come in the flesh,” see how you translated that expression in the previous verse. Alternate translation: [that Jesus Christ had a real human body]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
τὸν Ἰησοῦν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί παν πνεῦμα ὅ μή ὁμολογεῖ τόν Ἰησοῦν ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐκ ἐστίν Καί τοῦτο ἐστίν τό τοῦ ἀντιχρίστου ὅ ἀκηκόατε ὅτι ἔρχεται καί νῦν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ἐστίν ἤδη)
Even if you do not follow the reading of the textual variant here, you may wish to explain more fully what John means by Jesus in this context in order to make the implied information explicit for your readers. Alternate translation: [that Jesus Christ had a real human body]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom
ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐκ ἔστιν
of ¬the God not (Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί παν πνεῦμα ὅ μή ὁμολογεῖ τόν Ἰησοῦν ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐκ ἐστίν Καί τοῦτο ἐστίν τό τοῦ ἀντιχρίστου ὅ ἀκηκόατε ὅτι ἔρχεται καί νῦν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ἐστίν ἤδη)
See how you translated the similar expression in the previous verse. Alternate translation: [is not inspired by God] or, if your language does not use passive forms, [God is not inspiring] placing that phrase before “every spirit” or “every prophet.”
Note 6 topic: writing-pronouns
τοῦτό ἐστιν τὸ τοῦ ἀντιχρίστου
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί παν πνεῦμα ὅ μή ὁμολογεῖ τόν Ἰησοῦν ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐκ ἐστίν Καί τοῦτο ἐστίν τό τοῦ ἀντιχρίστου ὅ ἀκηκόατε ὅτι ἔρχεται καί νῦν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ἐστίν ἤδη)
The word this refers to every spirit that does not confess Jesus in the previous sentence and the word that here is a shorter way to say “the one” or “the spirit.” Alternate translation: [every spirit that does not confess Jesus is the spirit of the antichrist]
Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
τοῦτό ἐστιν τὸ τοῦ ἀντιχρίστου
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί παν πνεῦμα ὅ μή ὁμολογεῖ τόν Ἰησοῦν ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐκ ἐστίν Καί τοῦτο ἐστίν τό τοῦ ἀντιχρίστου ὅ ἀκηκόατε ὅτι ἔρχεται καί νῦν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ἐστίν ἤδη)
Since that the word that means “the spirit,” see the discussion of the word “spirit” in the General Notes to this chapter. In this instance, John is referring to either: (1) the characteristic attitude of something, or (2) a supernatural being who inspires that attitude. Also see how you translated the term antichrist in [2:18](../02/18.md). Alternate translation: [this is the false teaching that is opposed to Jesus]
Note 8 topic: writing-pronouns
ὃ ἀκηκόατε ὅτι ἔρχεται, καὶ νῦν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ἐστὶν ἤδη
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί παν πνεῦμα ὅ μή ὁμολογεῖ τόν Ἰησοῦν ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐκ ἐστίν Καί τοῦτο ἐστίν τό τοῦ ἀντιχρίστου ὅ ἀκηκόατε ὅτι ἔρχεται καί νῦν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ἐστίν ἤδη)
The word which refers to the spirit of the antichrist, which was already in the world at the time when John wrote. It does not refer to the antichrist himself, who was not yet in the world. It may be helpful to begin a new sentence here. Alternate translation: [You have heard that this false teaching is coming, and it is now already circulating among people]
Note 9 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy
ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ
in the world
John uses world to mean various things in this letter. Here, while it could possibly mean the literal earth (so this expression would mean “on this earth”), it more likely refers to the people living in the world. Alternate translation: [circulating among people]
4:1-6 Those who belong to God (4:4) can distinguish spiritual truth from error, because the Spirit’s presence (3:23-24) teaches them (see 2:20, 27; John 14:15-26; 16:5-15). Yet John provides concrete tests for the believers to apply so that there will be no confusion. These tests are a starting point for true teachers, not an exhaustive set; they were designed to address the false teachings that were being promoted in the churches of John’s readers.
OET (OET-LV) and every spirit that is_ not _confessing the Yaʸsous, is not of the god.
And this is the spirit of_the anti-messiah, which you_all_have_heard that it_is_coming, and now is already in the world.
OET (OET-RV) but if the spirit won’t confess Yeshua, then it’s not from God but rather it’s the spirit of the false messiah, whom you’ve heard is coming, and is now already in the world.
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.