OET interlinear 1 YHN (1 JHN) 5:6

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ ἐλθὼν δι’ ὕδατος καὶ αἵματος

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Οὗτος ἐστίν ὁ ἐλθών διʼ ὕδατος καί αἵματος Ἰησοῦς Χριστός οὐκ ἐν τῷ ὕδατι μόνον ἀλλʼ ἐν τῷ ὕδατι καί ἐν τῷ αἵματι Καί τό Πνεῦμα ἐστίν τό μαρτυροῦν ὅτι τό Πνεῦμα ἐστίν ἡ ἀλήθεια)

John is specifying here what it means to believe fully that “Jesus is the Son of God,” as he described in the previous verse. The terms water and blood are metonyms representing different important ways that the Son of God came to us. You may want to clarify these meanings in the text or do so in a footnote. The blood represents Jesus’ death on the cross, when he shed his blood as the Savior of the world. The water could stand for: (1) Jesus’ baptism. When John baptized Jesus in the water of the Jordan River, the Son of God began his ministry of reconciling the world to God. See the UST. (2) Jesus’ birth. There was the breaking of the birth water when the Son of God was born as a man. Alternate translation: [This is the one who came through the water of human birth and the blood of his sacrificial death]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

ὁ ἐλθὼν

the_‹one› (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Οὗτος ἐστίν ὁ ἐλθών διʼ ὕδατος καί αἵματος Ἰησοῦς Χριστός οὐκ ἐν τῷ ὕδατι μόνον ἀλλʼ ἐν τῷ ὕδατι καί ἐν τῷ αἵματι Καί τό Πνεῦμα ἐστίν τό μαρτυροῦν ὅτι τό Πνεῦμα ἐστίν ἡ ἀλήθεια)

If it would be helpful to your readers, you could state more explicitly what having come means, as UST does.

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

δι’ ὕδατος καὶ αἵματος

by water (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Οὗτος ἐστίν ὁ ἐλθών διʼ ὕδατος καί αἵματος Ἰησοῦς Χριστός οὐκ ἐν τῷ ὕδατι μόνον ἀλλʼ ἐν τῷ ὕδατι καί ἐν τῷ αἵματι Καί τό Πνεῦμα ἐστίν τό μαρτυροῦν ὅτι τό Πνεῦμα ἐστίν ἡ ἀλήθεια)

John is using a metaphor that pictures water and blood conveying Jesus to us or Jesus coming to us through water and through blood. The meaning is that Jesus became our Savior as he experienced baptism in water and submitted himself to death on the cross. Alternate translation: [as our Savior, undergoing baptism and death]

Note 4 topic: grammar-connect-exceptions

οὐκ ἐν τῷ ὕδατι μόνον, ἀλλ’ ἐν τῷ ὕδατι καὶ ἐν τῷ αἵματι

not by ¬the water only but by ¬the water (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Οὗτος ἐστίν ὁ ἐλθών διʼ ὕδατος καί αἵματος Ἰησοῦς Χριστός οὐκ ἐν τῷ ὕδατι μόνον ἀλλʼ ἐν τῷ ὕδατι καί ἐν τῷ αἵματι Καί τό Πνεῦμα ἐστίν τό μαρτυροῦν ὅτι τό Πνεῦμα ἐστίν ἡ ἀλήθεια)

If it sounds confusing in your language to say not in water … but in water, you could reword this to avoid repeating the phrase in water. Alternate translation: [not in water alone, but also in blood]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

τὸ Πνεῦμά ἐστιν ἡ ἀλήθεια

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Οὗτος ἐστίν ὁ ἐλθών διʼ ὕδατος καί αἵματος Ἰησοῦς Χριστός οὐκ ἐν τῷ ὕδατι μόνον ἀλλʼ ἐν τῷ ὕδατι καί ἐν τῷ αἵματι Καί τό Πνεῦμα ἐστίν τό μαρτυροῦν ὅτι τό Πνεῦμα ἐστίν ἡ ἀλήθεια)

Like the statement “God is love” in [4:8](../04/08.md) and [4:16](../04/16.md), which describes God’s character, this is a metaphor that describes the character of the Holy Spirit. Alternate translation: [the Spirit always tells the truth]