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OET OET-RV OET-LV ULT UST BSB BLB AICNT OEB WEB WMB NET LSV FBV TCNT T4T LEB BBE MOF JPS ASV DRA YLT DBY RV WBS KJB BB GNV CB TNT WYC SR-GNT UHB Related Parallel Interlinear Dictionary Search
parallelVerse INT GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOS JDG RUTH 1SA 2SA 1KI 2KI 1CH 2CH EZRA NEH EST JOB PSA PRO ECC SNG ISA JER LAM EZE DAN HOS JOEL AMOS OBA YNA MIC NAH HAB ZEP HAG ZEC MAL YHN MARK MAT LUKE ACTs ROM 1COR 2COR GAL EPH PHP COL 1TH 2TH 1TIM 2TIM TIT PHM HEB YAC 1PET 2PET 1YHN 2YHN 3YHN YUD REV
1Yhn 5 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21
Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible. This view is only designed for doing comparisons of different translations. Click on any Bible version abbreviation to see the verse in more of its context. 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.
OET (OET-RV) because there are three that testify:
OET-LV Because the ones testifying are three:
SR-GNT Ὅτι τρεῖς εἰσιν οἱ μαρτυροῦντες: ‡
(Hoti treis eisin hoi marturountes:)
Key: yellow:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).
ULT For there are three who are testifying:[fn]
Some older versions read For there are three that bear witness in heaven: However, the best copies do not have this reading.
UST So there are three ways by which we know that Jesus is the Messiah who came from God.
BSB For there are three that testify:[fn]
5:7 TR and GOC three that testify in heaven: The Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. 8 And there are three that testify on earth:
BLB For there are three bearing testimony:
AICNT For there are three that testify [[in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.
OEB Indeed three testify:
WEB For there are three who testify:[fn]
5:7 Only a few recent manuscripts add “in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. And there are three that testify on earth:”
NET For there are three that testify,
LSV because [there] are three who are testifying [[in Heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one;
FBV So there are three that give evidence:
TCNT For there are three [fn]that testify:
5:7 that testify: 87.3% ¦ who testify in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. And there are three that testify on earth: ANT TR 0.6%
T4T There are three ways by which we know that Christ came from God.
LEB For there are three that testify,[fn]
?:? Later Latin manuscripts add the following words to v. 7 and v. 8 : “in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one.8 And there are three that testify on earth”
BBE And the Spirit is the witness, because the Spirit is true.
MOF No MOF 1YHN (1JHN) book available
ASV And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is the truth.
DRA And there are three who give testimony in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one.
YLT because three are who are testifying [in the heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these — the three — are one;
DBY For they that bear witness are three:
RV And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is the truth.
WBS For there are three that bear testimony in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one.
KJB For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
BB For there are three which beare recorde in heauen, the father, the worde, and the holy ghost, and these three are one.
(For there are three which bear record in heaven, the father, the word, and the holy ghost, and these three are one.)
GNV For there are three, which beare recorde in heauen, the Father, the Worde, and the holy Ghost: and these three are one.
(For there are three, which bear record in heaven, the Father, the Worde, and the holy Ghost: and these three are one. )
CB (For there are thre which beare recorde in heauen: the father, the worde, and the holy goost, & these thre are one.)
((For there are three which bear record in heaven: the father, the word, and the holy ghost, and these three are one.))
TNT (For ther are thre which beare recorde in heuen the father the worde and the wholy goost. And these thre are one)
((For there are three which bear record in heaven the father the word and the wholy ghost. And these three are one) )
WYC For thre ben, that yyuen witnessing in heuene, the Fadir, the Sone, and the Hooli Goost; and these thre ben oon.
(For three ben, that given witnessing in heaven, the Fadir, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these three been one.)
LUT Denn drei sind, die da zeugen im Himmel: der Vater, das Wort und der Heilige Geist; und diese drei sind eins.
(Because three are, the there witness in_the heaven: the Vater, the Wort and the Heilige spirit; and diese three are eins.)
CLV Quoniam tres sunt, qui testimonium dant in cælo: Pater, Verbum, et Spiritus Sanctus: et hi tres unum sunt.[fn]
(Quoniam tres are, who testimonium dant in cælo: Pater, Verbum, and Spiritus Sanctus: and hi tres one are.)
5.7 Quoniam tres sunt. Per hoc apparel, quod Jesus est veritas, verus Deus, verus homo. Et de utroque habemus certum testimonium, de Deitate quidem per Patrem, et Filium, et Spiritum sanctum: de humanitate per animam, aquam, et sanguinem. Pater dedit testimonium Deitatis quando dixit: Hic est Filius meus dilectus. Ipse Filius dedit, quando in monte transfiguratus est, et potentiam Divinitatis et spem æternæ beatitudinis ostendit. Spiritus sanctus dedit, quando super baptizatum in specie columbæ requievit, vel quando ad vocationem nominis Christi corda credentium implevit.
5.7 Quoniam tres are. Per hoc apparel, that Yesus it_is veritas, verus God, verus homo. And about utroque habemus certum testimonium, about Godtate quidem per Patrem, and Son, and Spiritum sanctum: about humanitate per animam, waterm, and sanguinem. Pater he_gave testimonium Godtatis when dixit: Hic it_is Filius mine dilectus. Ipse Filius he_gave, when in mountain transfiguratus it_is, and potentiam Divinitatis and spem æternæ beatitudinis ostendit. Spiritus sanctus he_gave, when super baptizatum in specie columbæ requievit, or when to vocationem nominis Christi corda credentium implevit.
UGNT ὅτι τρεῖς εἰσιν οἱ μαρτυροῦντες:
(hoti treis eisin hoi marturountes:)
SBL-GNT ὅτι τρεῖς εἰσιν οἱ μαρτυροῦντες,
(hoti treis eisin hoi marturountes, )
TC-GNT Ὅτι τρεῖς εἰσιν οἱ [fn]μαρτυροῦντες,
(Hoti treis eisin hoi marturountes,)
5:7 μαρτυρουντες 87.3% ¦ μαρτυρουντες εν τω ουρανω ο πατηρ ο λογος και το αγιον πνευμα και ουτοι οι τρεις εν εισι και τρεις εισιν οι μαρτυρουντες εν τη γη ANT TR 0.6%
Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs (from our SR-GNT base).
5:7-8 three witnesses: The Spirit descended on Christ at his baptism (see John 1:32-34). The water is the water in which Christ was baptized (see Matt 3:13-15; Mark 1:9-11). The blood is the blood that Christ shed at his crucifixion (see Mark 15:37-39). All three proclaim Jesus as God’s Son (1 Jn 5:6).
• After the phrase three witnesses, a few very late manuscripts add in heaven—the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. And we have three witnesses on earth. The longer version was written in Latin several centuries after John to explain the three elements (water, blood, and Spirit) as symbols of the Trinity. This explanation found its way into some Latin editions of 1 John, including later copies of the Latin Vulgate. Eventually, Erasmus translated it into Greek and included it in what became the Textus Receptus, the “received text,” which is why it was included in the King James Version. The longer version cannot be found in any Greek manuscript prior to the 1700s and was never cited by any of the early fathers of the church. For these reasons, few modern English translations recognize the longer version as part of the authentic text.
Early Christian Heresies
The Greek word hairesis, originally meaning “choice,” designates a sect or faction. For example, the Sadducees were a sect within Judaism (Acts 5:17), as were the Pharisees (Acts 15:5). The early believers in Jesus as the Messiah were known as “the sect of the Nazarenes” (Acts 24:5). In each of these verses, the word hairesis denotes nothing more than a sect.
After the church grew and developed, any factious group within a local church was called a hairesis—that is, a sect that held opinions contrary to the truths established by the apostles. This is what Paul meant when he warned the Corinthian church that factious sects would develop among them (1 Cor 11:19).
Eventually, the word heresy came to connote teaching that deviates from the norm and causes individuals to break away from orthodoxy. Thus, Peter warned Christians about false teachers who would try to deceive believers with their heretical teachings (2 Pet 2:1). In the modern era, this is how the word heresy is usually understood; it is unorthodox teaching that damages the faith of some believers and causes divisive factions within the church.
Two heresies were particularly prevalent in the church around the time of John’s writings: Gnosticism and Docetism.
Gnosticism is characterized by claims to obscure and mystical knowledge. Many Gnostics believed in a hierarchy of beings in which there was an eternal god, from whom came a series of emanations of lesser spiritual beings, including the creator god, who was considered evil. This creator god fashioned the material world, including human beings. Thus, bearing similarities with Platonic thought, this strand of Gnostics believed that everything material was evil and that there was a more “real” spiritual realm. The goal for these Gnostics was to discover the spiritual seed within them—through secret knowledge (gnōsis)—which would enable them to leave the physical realm and join the spiritual realm. This generated varied responses to the physical realm, with some Gnostics practicing strict, ascetic avoidance of physical pleasure, while others indulged heavily in the “flesh,” regarding their actions in relation to this world as inconsequential.
Gnosticism developed through the interweaving of Christianity with Greek philosophy and emphasizes the need for additional, special knowledge that redefines the terms and practices of orthodox Christianity into something quite different. The Gnostics often incorporated Christ into their belief system, considering the Christ to be one of the various emanations from the supreme being. According to many Gnostics, this Christ taught some of his followers how to discover the spiritual spark within them and join the spiritual realm.
A significant amount of Christian writings from the first couple of centuries of the church’s existence were penned as a response to Gnostic heresy.
Docetism, a form of Gnosticism, held that Christ only seemed to have a human body with physical birth, death, and resurrection (dokeō is a Greek verb meaning “to seem”). An early Docetist was Cerinthus, who argued that the spiritual “Christ” came upon the human Jesus at his baptism and was present with him during his ministry, but departed prior to his suffering and death. This movement was concerned with protecting the divinity of God from being polluted by the human nature of Jesus. According to early church tradition, John vehemently opposed Cerinthus’s teachings (see Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.3.4; cp. 1 Jn 5:5-8; 2 Jn 1:7).
True Christians believe in the Incarnation—God becoming a real human being with flesh and blood. Jesus’ humanity was not a facade. He was truly human, sharing our flesh and blood, so that he could provide salvation for humanity through his own flesh and blood. Ignatius, a student of the apostle John and later the bishop of Antioch, wrote a series of letters refuting Docetism. Ignatius was the first one outside the New Testament writers to speak of the virgin birth of Jesus. He also emphasized the fact that the apostles touched the body of their risen Lord, and he said it was possible for him to face martyrdom with courage because of the real suffering of Jesus Christ on the cross and his physical resurrection.
Passages for Further Study
Acts 8:9-24; 2 Cor 11:1-15; Col 1:23; 2:6-23; 1 Tim 6:20; 2 Pet 2:1-22; 1 Jn 4:2-3; 5:5-8; 2 Jn 1:7-11; 3 Jn 1:9-12; Rev 2:2, 14-16, 20-25
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ὅτι τρεῖς εἰσιν οἱ μαρτυροῦντες
because three are the_‹ones› testifying
In this statement, John reaffirms that the three things that he mentions in verse 6 give us confidence that Jesus is the Son of God and came from him. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could indicate this explicitly. Alternate translation: “So there are three who testify that Jesus is God’s Son and came from him”
Note 2 topic: translate-textvariants
ὅτι τρεῖς εἰσιν οἱ μαρτυροῦντες
because three are the_‹ones› testifying
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 or to follow the reading of some late manuscripts and say in your translation, “For there are three who testify in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. And there are three who testify on earth.” As the General Notes recommend, if you decide to use the longer reading, put it inside square brackets [ ] to indicate that it was most likely not in the original version of 1 John.
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / personification
οἱ μαρτυροῦντες
the_‹ones› testifying
Here, John speaks of water and blood as though they were people who could testify, or speak about what they saw. If this might be confusing for your readers, you could express this meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “ways that God has given us to know that he sent Jesus”