YHN 1:17 Parallel Verse View

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Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=important (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, pink:genitive/possessor.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth came about through Jesus Christ.

UST This is because God gave his laws to the Israelites by Moses. But God’s kind acts and true message came into full existence by Jesus the Messiah.

BLB For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

AICNT For the law was given through Moses; [[But]][fn] grace and truth came through Jesus [Christ].[fn]

1:17, But: Some manuscripts include. P66 Latin(a b ff² )

1:17, Christ: Absent from ℵ(01) . ‖ The Greek word for Christ means (1) fulfiller of Israelite expectation of a deliverer, the Anointed One, the Messiah, the Christ, or (2) the personal name ascribed to Jesus, Christ. (BDAG, Χριστός)

OEB for the Law was given through Moses,
⇔ love and truth came through Jesus Christ.

LSB For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

WEBBE For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth were realised through Jesus Christ.[fn]

1:17 “Christ” means “Anointed One”.

WMBB For the Torah was given through Moses. Grace and truth were realised through Yeshua the Messiah.[fn]

1:17 “Messiah” means “Anointed One”.

NET For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came about through Jesus Christ.

LSV for the Law was given through Moses, the grace and the truth came through Jesus Christ.

FBV The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

TCNT For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

T4T Moses proclaimed God’s laws to our ancestors. But what Jesus Christ did for us was much better. He acted in kindness toward us in ways we did not deserve and told us the truth about God.

LEB For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came about through Jesus Christ.

BBE For the law was given through Moses; grace and the true way of life are ours through Jesus Christ.

Moff while the Law was given through Moses, grace and reality are ours through Jesus Christ.

Wymth For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

ASV For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

DRA For the law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

YLT for the law through Moses was given, the grace and the truth through Jesus Christ did come;

Drby For the law was given by Moses: grace and truth subsists through Jesus Christ.

RV For the law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

SLT For the law was given by Moses; grace and truth were by Jesus Christ.

Wbstr For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

KJB-1769 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

KJB-1611 For the Law was giuen by Moses, but grace and trueth came by Iesus Christ.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation)

Bshps For the lawe was geuen by Moyses: but grace and trueth came by Iesus Christe.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from marking of added words (and possibly capitalisation and punctuation))

Gnva For the Lawe was giuen by Moses, but grace, and trueth came by Iesus Christ.
(For the Law was given by Moses, but grace, and truth came by Yesus/Yeshua Christ. )

Cvdl For the lawe was geuen by Moses, grace and trueth came by Iesus Christ.
(For the law was given by Moses, grace and truth came by Yesus/Yeshua Christ.)

TNT For the lawe was geven by Moses but grace and truthe came by Iesus Christ.
(For the law was given by Moses but grace and truthe came by Yesus/Yeshua Christ. )

Wycl For the lawe was youun bi Moises; but grace and treuthe `is maad bi Jhesu Crist.
(For the law was given by Moses; but grace and truth is made by Yhesu Christ.)

Luth Denn das Gesetz ist durch Mose gegeben; die Gnade und Wahrheit ist durch JEsum Christum worden.
(Because the law is through Moses given; the grace and truth is through Yesum Christum been.)

ClVg quia lex per Moysen data est, gratia et veritas per Jesum Christum facta est.[fn]
(because the_law through Moysen data it_is, grace and the_truth through Yesus Christ/Messiah facts it_is. )

1.17 Per Moysen. Per Moysen servum prænuntiatio, per Dominum Jesum salutis impletio.

1.17 Per Moysen. Per Moysen a_servant beforenuntiatio, through the_Master Yesus health fillsio.

UGNT ὅτι ὁ νόμος διὰ Μωϋσέως ἐδόθη, ἡ χάρις καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐγένετο.
(hoti ho nomos dia Mōuseōs edothaʸ, haʸ ⱪaris kai haʸ alaʸtheia dia Yaʸsou Ⱪristou egeneto.)

SBL-GNT ὅτι ὁ νόμος διὰ Μωϋσέως ἐδόθη, ἡ χάρις καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐγένετο.
(hoti ho nomos dia Mōuseōs edothaʸ, haʸ ⱪaris kai haʸ alaʸtheia dia Yaʸsou Ⱪristou egeneto.)

RP-GNT Ὅτι ὁ νόμος διὰ Μωσέως ἐδόθη, ἡ χάρις καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια διὰ Ἰησοῦ χριστοῦ ἐγένετο.
(Hoti ho nomos dia Mōseōs edothaʸ, haʸ ⱪaris kai haʸ alaʸtheia dia Yaʸsou ⱪristou egeneto.)

TC-GNT Ὅτι ὁ νόμος διὰ [fn]Μωσέως ἐδόθη, ἡ χάρις καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐγένετο.
(Hoti ho nomos dia Mōseōs edothaʸ, haʸ ⱪaris kai haʸ alaʸtheia dia Yaʸsou Ⱪristou egeneto. )

1:17 μωσεως ¦ μωυσεως ANT CT

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 1:1–18: The Word became flesh

In this section the author introduces the subject of his book, Jesus Christ. However, he does not mention Jesus by name until near the end of this section, in 1:17. Instead, he uses figurative language, referring to him as the Word and the light.

Here are other possible section headings:

The Word brought life and light to all people

Jesus is the Word and the light

Paragraph 1:14–18

This paragraph declares that the Word became a human being and lived on earth. John the Baptist announced his coming and his greatness. The Word is revealed as Jesus Christ.

1:17a

For the law was given through Moses;

For the law was given long ago through Moses,
God gave the law to his people through Moses.

For the law was given through Moses: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as the law refers to the Torah. The Torah was the collected laws, rules, commands, and instructions in the OT. Many hundreds of years before Jesus was born, God communicated his law to the people of Israel. He used the prophet Moses as his messenger to do that. These laws are recorded in the first five books of the Old Testament. They include the Ten Commandments and also many other laws and instructions. See KBT Law 2.

For: The Greek word that the BSB translates as For here is the same word that appeared at the beginning of verse 16. It is often translated as “because” or “for.” Scholars say that it introduces further grounds for verse 14, or grounds for verse 16, or an explanation of verse 16. Some English translations, such as the GNT, do not translate this word explicitly. However, many translations (BSB, NIV, NET, NASB, ESV, REB, NLT) translate it as “for.”

Introduce the next clause in a way that is natural in your language.

was given: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as was given is passive. Here are some ways to translate it:

as a passive verb. For example:
the Teachings were given through Moses (GW)
as an active verb. God is the implied actor. For example:
God gave his law through Moses.
God caused Moses to give the laws to the people.

Use the verb form that is most natural in your language.

1:17b

grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

but/and grace and truth came to us^(incl) through Jesus Christ.
God showed us^(incl) mercy and revealed to us his truth/faithfulness through/in Jesus the Messiah.

In the Greek text, there is no conjunction to connect 1:17a and 1:17b. Many English translations include the word “but” (CEV, KJV, REB, NET, GW, GNT, NLT, NCV). This is done to indicate the contrast between the law coming through Moses (1:17a) and grace and truth coming through Jesus Christ (1:17b). You may want to indicate this contrast if that is natural in your language. However, your translation should not imply that there was no grace or truth in the law that came through Moses.

grace and truth came through Jesus Christ: The Greek clause grace and truth came through Jesus Christ indicates that Jesus Christ brought grace and truth to the human race. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

Jesus Christ brought us undeserved kindness and truth. (CEV)

It is through Jesus Christ that we^(incl) learned about God’s love and faithfulness that do not fail.

Jesus Christ showed us^(incl) how kind and faithful God is.

grace: The Greek word that the BSB translates as grace refers to God’s favor and kindness to people that do not deserve them. In some languages it may be natural to translate it as an adjective:

[Jesus Christ showed us that God is] kind/gracious to those who do not deserve it.

truth: The Greek word that the BSB translates as truth here refers to God’s faithfulness. He is faithful to himself, to his own righteous character, and also to his people. In some languages it may be natural to translate it as an adjective:

true/faithful

Christ: The word Christ is a title. It is not just one of Jesus’ names. This title refers to the person whom God had appointed and promised to send as king and savior. The title Christ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word “Messiah,” which means “the anointed one.” In Old Testament times, kings and priests were anointed with oil (oil was put on their head). That was done to show that God had chosen and appointed them as leaders.

Here are some ways to translate Christ:

Transliterate the word Christ (or “Messiah”) if the word is known in your area and means “savior.” Indicate in some way that it is a title. For example:
the Krais
the Kirisita
the Massie
Translate the meaning of Christ with a descriptive phrase. For example:
the One God Appointed
The savior God promised
God’s chosen one
the King who rescues his people
It is better to use both a transliteration of Christ or “Messiah” and include a phrase that explains the meaning. In this way, people will learn the meaning of Christ. (You may choose to include the descriptive phrase only for the first uses of the term. Then later you may use only Christ or Messiah.) For example:
the Krais, the appointed one
Cristo, the savior God promised
the Messias, the King-who-rescues

If you do not indicate the meaning of Christ in the text, you may want to include a footnote to explain it. Or you may want to explain the meaning in a glossary. For example:

“Christ” and “Messiah” both mean the same thing. “Christ” is based on a Greek word, and “Messiah” is based on the same word/title in Hebrew. They both refer to the king and savior whom God had promised to send to his people. The word means “anointed,” which means to pour oil on someone to show that God chose him for a special purpose.

It may also help to explain the meaning more completely than that in a glossary.

See also KBT Christ, Messiah, sense 1(a).

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-logic-contrast

ὁ νόμος διὰ Μωϋσέως ἐδόθη, ἡ χάρις καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐγένετο

the law (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ὅτι ὁ νόμος διά Μωϋσέως ἐδόθη ἡ χάρις καί ἡ ἀλήθεια διά Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐγένετο)

John placed the two sentences in this verse next to each other without any connecting word in order to show a contrast between the law of Moses and the grace and truth of Jesus. This does not mean that the law of Moses did not have grace and truth. Rather, John is indicating that the grace and truth revealed by Jesus is more complete than that revealed in the law of Moses. Although God revealed himself and his will through the law of Moses, he did so much more clearly though Jesus, who is God in human form. Alternate translation: [the law was given through Moses. In contrast, grace and truth came about through Jesus Christ]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

ὁ νόμος διὰ Μωϋσέως ἐδόθη

the law (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ὅτι ὁ νόμος διά Μωϋσέως ἐδόθη ἡ χάρις καί ἡ ἀλήθεια διά Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐγένετο)

If your language does not use the passive form in this way, you could express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. If you must state who did the action, John implies that God did it. Alternate translation: [God gave the law through Moses]

Note 3 topic: grammar-collectivenouns

ὁ νόμος & ἐδόθη

the law & ˓was˒_given

The word law is a singular noun that refers to the many laws and instructions that God gave to the Israelites. If your language does not use singular nouns in that way, you can use a different expression. Alternate translation: [the group of laws was given] or [God’s laws were given]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

ἡ χάρις καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια

¬the grace ¬the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ὅτι ὁ νόμος διά Μωϋσέως ἐδόθη ἡ χάρις καί ἡ ἀλήθεια διά Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐγένετο)

If your language does not use abstract nouns for the ideas of grace and truth, you could express the same ideas in other ways. Alternate translation: [God’s gracious and faithful character] or [Kind acts and true teachings]

Parallel YHN 1:17

Section 1:1–18: The Word became flesh

Paragraph 1:14–18

1:17a

1:17b