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OET OET-RV OET-LV ULT UST BSB BLB AICNT OEB WEBBE WMBB NET LSV FBV TCNT T4T LEB BBE Moff JPS Wymth ASV DRA YLT Drby RV Wbstr KJB-1769 KJB-1611 Bshps Gnva Cvdl TNT Wycl SR-GNT UHB BrLXX BrTr Related Topics Parallel Interlinear Reference Dictionary Search
parallelVerse INT GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1SA 2SA PSA AMOS HOS 1KI 2KI 1CH 2CH PRO ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL YHN MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC GAL 1TH 2TH 1COR 2COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1TIM TIT 1PET 2PET 2TIM HEB YUD 1YHN 2YHN 3YHN REV
1Yhn 5 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 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. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed for doing comparisons of different translations. Click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side 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.
Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance=normal (All still tentative.)
OET (OET-RV) the spirit, the water, and the blood, and these three come together into one.
OET-LV the spirit, and the water, and the blood, and the three are_there in the one.
SR-GNT τὸ ˚Πνεῦμα, καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ, καὶ τὸ αἷμα, καὶ οἱ τρεῖς εἰς τὸ ἕν εἰσιν. ‡
(to ˚Pneuma, kai to hudōr, kai to haima, kai hoi treis eis to hen eisin.)
Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object.
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 the Spirit and the water and the blood, and the three are unto the one.[fn]
Some older versions read the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit. These three are one; and there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three are as one. However, the best copies do not have this reading.
UST Those three ways are: what God’s Spirit tells us, what happened when John baptized Jesus in water, and what happened when Jesus’ blood flowed from his body when he died on the cross. These three things all tell us the same thing, that Jesus came from God.
BSB the Spirit, the water, and the blood—and these three are in agreement.
BLB the Spirit and the water and the blood--and these are three in one.
AICNT And there are three that testify on earth]] the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and the three are in agreement.[fn]
5:7-8, in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. 8 And there are three that testify on earth: Later manuscripts add. TR ‖ This later addition is known as the Comma Johanneum, one of the most famous textual variants in the New Testament. Although present in the Latin Vulgate, this expanded text is not found as the base text in any Greek manuscript before the 12th century.
OEB the Spirit, the water, and the blood, and these three agree.
WEBBE the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and the three agree as one.
WMBB (Same as above)
NET the Spirit and the water and the blood, and these three are in agreement.
LSV and [there] are three who are testifying in the earth]]: the Spirit, and the water, and the blood, and the three are into the one.
FBV the Spirit, the water, and the blood, and all three agree as one.[fn]
5:8 The authenticity of verses 7 and 8 has been disputed.
TCNT the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three are in agreement.
T4T Those three ways are: What God’s Spirit tells us, what God said when Jesus was baptized [MTY] in/with water, and Jesus’ blood that flowed from his body when he died on the cross. These three things all tell us the same thing, that Jesus came from God.
LEB the Spirit and the water and the blood, and the three are in agreement[fn].
5:8 Literally “for the one”
BBE There are three witnesses, the Spirit, the water, and the blood: and all three are in agreement.
Moff No Moff 1YHN (1JHN) book available
Wymth and there is complete agreement between these three.
ASV For there are three who bear witness, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and the three agree in one.
DRA And there are three that give testimony on earth: the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three are one.
YLT and three are who are testifying in the earth], the Spirit, and the water, and the blood, and the three are into the one.
Drby the Spirit, and the water, and the blood; and the three agree in one.
RV For there are three who bear witness, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and the three agree in one.
Wbstr And there are three that bear testimony on earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.
KJB-1769 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.
KJB-1611 And there are three that beare witnesse in earth, the Spirit, and the Water, and the Blood, and these three agree in one.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation and punctuation)
Bshps And there are three which beare recorde in earth, the spirite, and water, and blood, and these three agree in one.
(And there are three which bear record in earth, the spirit, and water, and blood, and these three agree in one.)
Gnva And there are three, which beare record in the earth, the spirit, and the water and the blood: and these three agree in one.
(And there are three, which bear record in the earth, the spirit, and the water and the blood: and these three agree in one. )
Cvdl And there are thre which beare recorde in earth: the sprete, water and bloude, and these thre are one.
(And there are three which bear record in earth: the spirit, water and blood, and these three are one.)
TNT For there are thre which beare recorde (in erth:) the sprete and water and bloud: and these thre are one.
(For there are three which bear record (in earth:) the spirit and water and blood: and these three are one. )
Wycl `And thre ben, that yyuen witnessing in erthe, the spirit, water, and blood; and these thre ben oon.
(`And three ben, that given witnessing in earth, the spirit, water, and blood; and these three been one.)
Luth Und drei sind, die da zeugen auf Erden: der Geist und das Wasser und das Blut; und die drei sind beisammen.
(And three are, the there witness on earthn: the/of_the spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are beisammen.)
ClVg Et tres sunt, qui testimonium dant in terra: spiritus, et aqua, et sanguis: et hi tres unum sunt.
(And tres are, who testimony dant in terra: spiritus, and water, and sanguis: and hi tres one are. )
UGNT τὸ Πνεῦμα, καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ, καὶ τὸ αἷμα; καὶ οἱ τρεῖς εἰς τὸ ἕν εἰσιν.
(to Pneuma, kai to hudōr, kai to haima; kai hoi treis eis to hen eisin.)
SBL-GNT τὸ πνεῦμα καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ τὸ αἷμα, καὶ οἱ τρεῖς εἰς τὸ ἕν εἰσιν.
(to pneuma kai to hudōr kai to haima, kai hoi treis eis to hen eisin.)
TC-GNT τὸ πνεῦμα, καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ, καὶ τὸ αἷμα· καὶ οἱ τρεῖς εἰς τὸ ἕν εἰσιν.
(to pneuma, kai to hudōr, kai to haima; kai hoi treis eis to hen eisin. )
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 / metonymy
τὸ ὕδωρ, καὶ τὸ αἷμα
the the water and the blood
See how you decided to translate the terms water and blood in 5:6. Alternate translation: (1) “the baptism of Jesus and his death on the cross” or (2) “the birth of Jesus and his death on the cross”
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom
οἱ τρεῖς εἰς τὸ ἕν εἰσιν
the three in ¬the one ˱there˲_are
This is an idiom. If this does not communicate well in your language, you could use an equivalent idiom or use plain language. Alternate translation: [these three all say the same thing] or [these three all agree]