YHN 1:3 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

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

OET (OET-RV) Everything came into existence through the messenger[fn]—there’s not even one thing that came into existence that wasn’t made by him.

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 All things came into being through him, and without him came into being not one thing that has come into being.

UST God made everything through him. God made every single thing in the universe with him.

BLB All things came into being through Him, and without Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being.

AICNT All things were made through it,[fn] and without it not even one thing was made.
¶ What has been made

1:3, it: “It” is the theologically neutral rendering of GPT-4 that encompasses interpretations of the subject being a person, personification, or thing (concept). The Greek pronoun (αὐτοῦ) is understood as “him,” depending on whether one interprets the Word (Logos) as a person or personification, or “it” as an abstract concept pertaining to an aspect of God. It's a possibility that the Logos is being personified as a male although not actually a person, not unlike personified wisdom in Proverbs 1, 3, 8, and 9. In English, “it” can refer to either a person or a thing. The rendering of the pronoun as “it” is also exhibited in numerous 16th-century translations including Tyndale, Cloverdale Bible, Matthews Bible, The Great Bible, The Bishops Bible, and The Geneva Bible. Commentary for the Geneva Bible indicates that translators understood the Word to be both a concept and a person.

OEB through him all things came into being,
⇔ and nothing came into being apart from him.

CSB All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created.

NLT God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.

NIV Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

CEV And with this Word, God created all things. Nothing was made without the Word. Everything that was created

ESV All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

NASB All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

LSB All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

WEBBE All things were made through him. Without him, nothing was made that has been made.

WMBB (Same as above)

MSG ^(3-5)Everything was created through him;
  nothing—not one thing!—
  came into being without him.
What came into existence was Life,
  and the Life was Light to live by.
The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness;
  the darkness couldn’t put it out.

NET All things were created by him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created.

LSV all things happened through Him, and without Him not even one thing happened that has happened.

FBV Everything came into being through him; nothing came into being without him.

TCNT All things were made through him, and nothing that was made was made without him.

T4T He is the one by whom God caused everything to exist. He is the one who created absolutely everything [LIT].

LEB All things came into being through him, and apart from him not one thing came into being that[fn] has come into being.

1:3 Or “came into being. What …,” beginning a new sentence connected with the following verse. A major punctuation problem is involved, since the earliest manuscripts have no punctuation, but some important later ones place the punctuation before this phrase, effectively connecting it to v. 4: “What has come into being was life in him”

NRSV All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being

NKJV All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

TLB He created everything there is—nothing exists that he didn't make.

NAB All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be

BBE All things came into existence through him, and without him nothing was.

Moff through him all existence came into being,
⇔ no existence came into being apart from him.

Wymth All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing that exists came into being.

ASV All things were made through him; and without him was not anything made that hath been made.

DRA All things were made by him: and without him was made nothing that was made.

YLT all things through him did happen, and without him happened not even one thing that hath happened.

Drby All things received being through him, and without him not one [thing] received being which has received being.

RV All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that hath been made.
(All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that hath/has been made. )

SLT All things were by him; and without him out him was not one thing that was.

Wbstr All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

KJB-1769 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
(All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. )

KJB-1611 All things were made by him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps All thynges were made by it: and without it, was made nothyng that was made.
(All things were made by it: and without it, was made nothing that was made.)

Gnva All things were made by it, and without it was made nothing that was made.

Cvdl All thinges were made by the same, and without the same was made nothinge that was made.
(All things were made by the same, and without the same was made nothing that was made.)

TNT All thinges were made by it and with out it was made nothinge that was made.
(All things were made by it and with out it was made nothing that was made. )

Wycl Alle thingis weren maad bi hym, and withouten hym was maad no thing, that thing that was maad.
(All things were made by him, and without him was made no thing, that thing that was made.)

Luth Alle Dinge sind durch dasselbige gemacht, und ohne dasselbige ist nichts gemacht, was gemacht ist.
(All things are through the_same made, and without the_same is nothing made, what/which made is.)

ClVg Omnia per ipsum facta sunt: et sine ipso factum est nihil, quod factum est.[fn]
(Everything through him facts are: and without himself done it_is nothing, that done it_is. )

1.3 Omnia per ipsum facta sunt. AUG. Non est creatura per quem omnis creatura facta est, etc., usque ad quæ concordant cuncti potentiæ Divinitatis. Et sine ipso factum est nihil. ORIG. Ita distinguit: Et sine ipso factum est nihil. Ordo: Nihil est quod factum est sine ipso.

1.3 Everything through him facts are. AUG. Not/No it_is creature through which everyone creature facts it_is, etc., until to which concordant all of_power Divinitatis. And without himself done it_is nothing. ORIG. Ita distinguit: And without himself done it_is nothing. Order(n): Nothing it_is that done it_is without himself.

UGNT πάντα δι’ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν ὃ γέγονεν.
(panta di’ autou egeneto, kai ⱪōris autou egeneto oude hen ho gegonen.)

SBL-GNT πάντα διʼ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν. ὃ γέγονεν
(panta diʼ autou egeneto, kai ⱪōris autou egeneto oude hen. ho gegonen)

RP-GNT Πάντα δι' αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἓν ὃ γέγονεν.
(Panta di' autou egeneto, kai ⱪōris autou egeneto oude hen ho gegonen.)

TC-GNT Πάντα δι᾽ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἓν ὃ γέγονεν.
(Panta di autou egeneto, kai ⱪōris autou egeneto oude hen ho gegonen. )

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, orange:accents differ, 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 1:1–5

In this paragraph John introduced his Gospel by writing about a person whom he calls the Word. He emphasized that from the beginning the Word was with God and that the Word was God. God created everything through the Word. Read Genesis 1:1–5 before you translate this section. It is good to use the same words for “beginning,” “made/created,” and “light” that are used there.

This paragraph has a lot of images in it like a poem and may have been a song or hymn.

1:3a

Through Him all things were made,

¶ Through the Word everything began to exist.
¶ God created all things by means of the Word.
¶ The Word was God’s agent to make all things.

Through Him all things were made: The clause that the BSB translates as Through Him all things were made is more literally “all things were/became.” This clause indicates that it was through the Word that the universe began. God created all things through the Word. This includes things that are alive and things that are not alive. It includes planets and stars, water and rocks, plants, animals, and humans. Here the author John continued to connect the Word with the story of creation in Genesis 1. See also 1 Corinthians 8:6, Hebrews 1:2, and Colossians 1:16–17.

Here are other ways to translate this clause:

Everything began to exist by means of him.

Through him God made all things. (GNT)

God created everything through him. (NLT)

God worked through the Word to cause everything to exist

Through Him: The Greek word that the BSB translates as Through here means “by means of.” It refers to the person who made something happen. Here it refers to the way or agent that God used to make everything. It was “by means of” or Through the Word that God created all things. For example:

By means of him.

With the Word as God’s agent

Him: This pronoun continues to refer to the Word. In some languages it may be natural to make this explicit. For example:

And with this Word, God created all things. (NET)

1:3b

and without Him nothing was made that has been made.

Nothing in all creation was made without him.
God did not create anything at all apart from the Word.
Nothing in the whole universe was created without the Word.

and without Him nothing was made that has been made: There are two ways to connect that has been made to the surrounding clauses:

It is the end of the sentence that begins with 1:3a–b. It should be translated as “that was made” (RSV) or “that was created.” For example:
^3bwithout him nothing was made ^3cthat has been made. ^4aIn him was life (NIV) (BSB, NIV, KJV, NASB, ESV, RSV, GW, NET, NCV, GNT, NLT96, ESV)
It is the beginning of a new sentence that continues in 1:4. It should be translated as “What has come into being” (NRSV) or “Everything that was created” (CEV). For example:
^3bNothing was made without the Word. ^3cEverything that was created ^4areceived its life from him (CEV) (NJB, CEV, NLT, NRSV)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). Interpretation (1) is more in agreement with John’s style and doctrine, and makes more sense in the context.For more information, see Bruce Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the New Testament, pp. 195–96. Metzger disagreed with the decision of the UBS Committee, which supported interpretation (2), and wrote about interpretation (1), “It is more consistent with the Johannine repetitive style, as well as with Johannine doctrine (cf. 5:26, 39; 6:53), to say nothing concerning the sense of the passage, to punctuate with a full stop after [that has been made].” Also, most English translations follow this interpretation. The NIV has therefore been used in the Display.

The meaning of interpretation (1) is that nothing that was made was made apart from the Word. It is a negative way of saying what 1:3a says in a positive way. No one else made anything that was made. The Word made everything that was made.

Here are other ways to translate these clauses:

not one thing in all creation was made without him (GNT)

Not one thing that exists was made without him. (GW)

and: The common Greek conjunction that the BSB translates as and here introduces a statement that repeats the idea of 1:3a. This restatement uses a negative instead of a positive verb. In some languages it may be natural to leave this conjunction untranslated, as the GNT has done.

without Him nothing was made that has been made: This clause means “only with/through the Word has anything begun to exist.” This is another way of saying “Through him all things were made” (1:3a). This restatement emphasizes the information.

Here are other ways to translate this clause:

nothing was made without him (NCV)

God did not make anything without him (EE)

In some languages it may be natural to translate the double negative with a positive statement. For example:

only through him has anything come into being

without Him: This phrase means “without the Word,” meaning apart from the person or activity of the Word. Here is another way to translate this phrase:

apart from him (NET)

nothing was made that has been made: This expression is more literally “nothing came into being.” Here are other ways to translate this clause:

no created thing came into being (REB)

nothing that God made began to exist

General Comment on 1:3a-b

These clauses mean the same thing. 1:3a uses a positive statement and 1:3b uses a negative statement. This repetition emphasizes the idea. In some languages it is more natural to emphasize the idea with one strong statement. For example:

all things without exception were made through/by the Word

absolutely nothing was made except (lit. if not) through him (Kankanaey Back Translation)

God created absolutely everything with the Word.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

πάντα δι’ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Παντᾶ διʼ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο καί χωρίς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδέ ἕν ὅ γέγονεν)

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 made all things through him]

Note 2 topic: writing-pronouns

αὐτοῦ

him

The pronoun him is referring to Jesus, the one who is called “the Word.” If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: [Jesus] or [the Word]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / doublenegatives

χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν ὃ γέγονεν

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Παντᾶ διʼ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο καί χωρίς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδέ ἕν ὅ γέγονεν)

If this double negative would be misunderstood in your language, you could translate it as a positive statement. Alternate translation: [with him came into being everything that came into being]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν ὃ γέγονεν

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Παντᾶ διʼ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο καί χωρίς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδέ ἕν ὅ γέγονεν)

Parallel YHN 1:3

Section 1:1–18: The Word became flesh

Paragraph 1:1–5

1:3a

1:3b

General Comment on 1:3a-b