And now, little children: the author is going to enlarge on why and how his readers have to abide in Christ. To emphasize his exposition he uses the intimate form of address, little children; see comments on 1 John 2.1.
Now does not refer here to the present time but rather to the situation at a certain moment; hence, for example, ‘as things stand.’
The subordinate sentence beginning with so that consists of two verb clauses, each with a temporal qualification, when he appears, and at his coming, respectively. It may be necessary to repeat part of the main sentence before the second verb clause; for example, ‘and abide in him so that we may not shrink … at his coming.’ The connective used in the Greek may indicate purpose or expected result. Some versions have the former, but the latter interpretation seems more probable. If one has to shift to coordination, one may say ‘then we may…’ or ‘if you do so, we may….’
When he appears is often better transposed to a position after the clause it goes with. When serves to introduce an event that is expected to happen. It is used to show that Christ’s second coming is not viewed as a hypothetical possibility but as something that will certainly happen, only the time and circumstances being unknown (compare John 14.3). For “to appear” or ‘to reveal oneself,’ compare comments on “was made manifest” in 1.2.
The present clause (when he appears) and the last phrase of the verse (at his coming) have virtually the same meaning, since both refer to Christ’s second coming. Their renderings may partly, or even completely, resemble each other. Where this would sound too redundant, the two may better be rendered only once, as in ‘so that, not shrinking from him in shame, we may have confidence in him when he comes.’
We may have confidence: the syntactic structure may have to be changed; for example, ‘we may be confident’; and a phrase like ‘in his presence’ or ‘in him’ may have to be added.
† “To have confidence” is used in this Letter with reference to the future, namely, to Christ’s second coming (here) and to the day of judgment (4.17), or to the present, in which the Christian turns to God (3.21; 5.14).
The Greek noun referred originally to saying frankly all that needs to be said; then it came to mean “courage,” “boldness,” especially when speaking in the presence of persons of superior rank. It is used in these occurrences with two slightly different shades of meaning. Here and in 4.17 it refers to courage in the sense of not being affected by fear. In 3.21 and 5.14 it is used in a somewhat more active sense and means courage to do something, trusting that it will succeed.
Renderings used in the present verse are ‘to count on,’ ‘to await confidently,’ ‘to be at ease with,’ ‘to be without fear,’ ‘to have a heart made at rest (or a steady heart).’
We may … not shrink from him in shame renders a Greek verb in the passive voice, “to be made ashamed,” but which can also be interpreted as “to be ashamed.”
According to the latter interpretation the clause literally means “we may not be ashamed (away) from him.” This leads to a rendering like that of Revised Standard Version, or to “we may … need not hide in shame from him” (Good News Translation), ‘we will not be embarrassed to face him,’ ‘we will not feel shame in his presence.’ This meaning fits the preceding part of the clause, in as much as it also refers to the feelings we have.
It is also possible, however, to keep to the passive meaning. This leads to such renderings of the verb as ‘to be put to shame,’ ‘to suffer disgrace.’ Then from means “from the side of” and indicates where the disgrace comes from, or it introduces the one who makes others feel ashamed. With some further adjustments this may result in ‘we may not suffer disrepute before him,’ ‘he will not make us ashamed.’ This rendering agrees with the idea of judgment associated with Christ’s second coming and the basically juridical terms of verse 29. Therefore it seems to be the slightly better one.
Terms for shame are sometimes associated with sight; hence ‘one sees shame’ (in one African language), ‘one’s eyes are-ashamed’ (in one Indonesian language). Other languages have idiomatic expressions such as ‘the body is cold’ or ‘to have to sell face.’
At his coming, or ‘when he will come’: the Greek noun used (parousia) occurs only here in John’s writings. It means “presence,” then “arrival” (the first phase of presence, so to speak). It was especially used for the state visit of an emperor, king, or high official to the provinces. In the Christian church it became the technical term for Christ’s glorious second coming at the end of the present age.
Quoted with permission from Haas, C., de Jonge, M. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on The First Letter of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1972. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .