SIL Translator’s Notes on 1 John 2000 – Page 13

SIL Translator's Notes on 1 John 3:4

Paragraph 3:4–6

Read 3:4–6 in both Berean Standard Bible and Good News Translation. Compare the two versions.

Paragraph Theme: These verses show that it is impossible to continue sinning and at the same time remain in union with Christ.

3:4a

who practices sin: (Tense) The tense shows that John is here referring to continual or habitual sinning.

lawlessness: (Alternative Interpretations) The Greek word used here is the same as that for “lawlessness” in the second part of this verse. (See the next note.) There are two views of its meaning here:

(1) It probably means “rejects the authority of God’s law, rebels against God.” (Revised Standard Version, Living Bible)

(2) Some think it means “disobeys God’s law.” (Good News Translation, The Jerusalem Bible, King James Version, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

3:4b

lawlessness: (Emotive Impact) The Greek word here is a very strong word. It indicates the sort of terrible rebellion against God that no one would want to be accused of. This effect should be kept in your translation.

Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

SIL Translator's Notes on 1 John 4:16

4:16 (Alternative Interpretations)

There are different ways of understanding how this verse fits with the verses before and after it:

(1) The whole verse is probably the third part of the section 4:13–16. (See the note on 4:13–16, Theme.) It should therefore be linked to the previous verse by a conjunction like “And/Also,” or by no conjunction at all. There is then a paragraph break after this verse.

(2) Some think that the first sentence of this verse is a summary of 4:13–15, and that a new paragraph starts with the sentence “God is love.” In that case the verse should start with a phrase like “(And) so.” (New International Version (2011 Revision), Good News Translation, New English Bible)

4:16a

we: (Pronoun System) If your language distinguishes between exclusive and inclusive “we,” you should mark the pronoun in this and the following verses as inclusive. It means “we apostles and you believers,” and contrasts with the exclusive “we” of 4:14.

the love that God has for us: (Meaning) This may be translated “God’s love for us” or “God loves us.” (See The Jerusalem Bible and Display.) It refers to all God’s love, both his past love in sending Christ as our Savior, and his present love expressed by the Holy Spirit in us.

4:16b

God is love: (Meaning) See the note on 4:8b. The meaning is the same here.

4:16c

whoever abides…: (Logical Relationship) This is a result of the previous statement. It can be linked by a conjunction like “So,” or the two statements can be restructured as one sentence.

abides in love: (Collocation) In your language it may sound unnatural to say that a person abides in an abstract quality like love. If so, this should be treated as a metaphor, and the basic meaning could be translated, as in the Display.

love: (Lexical Problem) In your language you may need to use a verb here and to make clear the object of the person’s love. Since John is talking about love in general, it would be best to translate, “loves other people and God.”

Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

SIL Translator's Notes on 1 John 2:11

2:11b

walks in the darkness: (Metaphor) See the note on 2:6. However, John extends the metaphor in this verse by comparing this person with someone who walks about in a dark place and cannot see where he is going.

2:11c

where he is going: (Alternative Interpretations) There are two ways of understanding this:

(1) As stated in the previous note, it is probably just part of the picture of someone who cannot see where he is going in the dark.

(2) Some commentators say it means that the person who hates his brother “does not know he is going to Hell.” But this is unlikely, since John is not concerned with Hell in this letter.

2:11d

has blinded his eyes: (Metaphor) Here John extends the metaphor further by comparing this person with someone who has become blind. The meaning is that ignorance or rejection of God’s truth prevents one from knowing what one is really doing.

Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

SIL Translator's Notes on 1 John 3:15

3:15a

his brother: (Multiple Senses) This is used here in a slightly different sense to the way it was used in 3:14b. Here in 3:15a it means “his fellows” or “other people.”

is a murderer: (Meaning) John is teaching his readers that God considers hatred to be the same as murder.

3:15b

you know that: (Focus) The main point of 3:15b is that murderers do not have eternal life. The phrase you know that merely gives emphasis to this, so it may be translated as a parenthesis, or by some word which marks emphasis. See The Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible.

eternal life does not reside: (Meaning) John is not saying that a murderer cannot have eternal life. Rather he is saying that a person who murders is clearly not living the sort of life which God gives us, which we call “eternal.”

Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

SIL Translator's Notes on 1 John 5:7

5:7

three that testify: (Lexical Problem) John means that there are three things which show us the truth about Jesus. However, in your language it may not be possible to refer to the Holy Spirit and Jesus’ baptism and his death with one general term like “things.” See the Display for 5:7–8 for a suggested solution to this problem.

Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

SIL Translator's Notes on 1 John 2:22

Paragraph 2:22–25

Read 2:22–25 in both Berean Standard Bible and Good News Translation. Compare the two versions.

Paragraph Theme: On the basis of the reassurance he has just given in 2:18–21, John here urges his readers to reject false teaching and to live according to God’s truth.

2:22a

Who is the liar: (Rhetorical Question) This is a rhetorical question used for emphasis. John is stating emphatically that the worst possible lie is that Jesus was not the Christ. This is what those people who had left the church were teaching. In your translation you may need to turn this into an emphatic statement, as The Jerusalem Bible has done.

the one who: (Meaning) This is not referring to a particular man but rather to anyone or everyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ.

the Christ: (Biblical Term) Here Christ is not just a name. It is the title or description of the one who God would send from heaven to save and rule his people. It is the same as the title “Messiah.”

2:22b

This is the antichrist: (Logical Relationship) John is saying that if someone denies that Jesus is the Christ, he is making himself an enemy of Christ just like that enemy of Christ who will come at the end of the world.

who denies the Father…: (Logical Relationship) This shows how we know that such a person is the enemy of Christ. When he denies that Jesus is the Christ he is also denying that Jesus is God’s son, and so he is rejecting God the Father also.

denies: (Multiple Senses) In the first use of denies in this verse (“denies that Jesus is the Christ”), it means he “says that it is not true that Jesus is the Christ.” In 2:22b (“he denies the Father and the Son”), it means he “refuses to accept the Father and the Son.” It is used again in this sense in the next verse.

Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

SIL Translator's Notes on 1 John 4:4

Paragraph 4:4–6

Read 4:4–6 in both Berean Standard Bible and Good News Translation. Compare the two versions.

Paragraph Theme: Since John has just given his readers a warning, he now reassures them that they have the Holy Spirit in them, and so they will know who is truly speaking messages from the Holy Spirit.

4:4a

from God: (Meaning) The Greek phrase used here is the same as that used in 3:10a and other places meaning “children/people of God.”

4:4b

have overcome them: (Metaphor) This does not refer to a physical conflict. John is talking about how the Christians were not persuaded when these other people tried to convince them to accept their false teaching. They had been able to answer all the arguments of the false prophets.

them: (Pronoun Reference) This refers to the false prophets. It is clear from the whole book that they are the same people as the “enemies of Christ” (Good News Translation) mentioned in 2:18–19. As the last reference to them was in 4:1, many translations refer to them here with a noun phrase meaning “false prophets.”

4:4c

greater is: (Lexical Problem) It is clear from the rest of this verse that this means greater in respect to power and authority. See Good News Translation, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, Living Bible.

He who is in you: (Alternative Interpretations) There are two interpretations of who this refers to:

(1) It probably means the Holy Spirit (see Good News Translation), since the Holy Spirit is in focus in this passage.

(2) Some think it means Christ, or God.

he who is in the world: (Alternative Interpretations) There are two interpretations of who this refers to:

(1) It probably refers to the spirit and power of the antichrist as mentioned in 4:3 (Good News Translation). See the note on 4:3b.

(2) Some think it refers to Satan, or to the antichrist himself (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English).

the world: (Multiple Senses) This is used here in the sense of “the people of the world who do not know God.”

Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

SIL Translator's Notes on 1 John 5:18

Paragraph 5:18–21

Read 5:18–21 in both Berean Standard Bible and Good News Translation. Compare the two versions.

Paragraph Theme: Finally John reminds the readers that God protects them from the temptation to sin and that they really do know God, so they should reject all false teaching.

5:18a

anyone born of God does not keep on sinning: (Meaning) The Greek for this clause is almost exactly the same as 3:9, “Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin.” It means that no child of God should be continually or habitually sinning.

5:18b

(Logical Relationship) The rest of the verse gives the reason why Christians do not continually sin. This connection may be clearer if a conjunction such as “because” is used.

the One who was born of God: (Tense) The tense of the Greek verb here is different from the tense of “anyone born of God” in 5:18a. It indicates that in 5:18b John is referring to a specific person who was once born of God. Several translations make this reference clearer by translating it as “the Son of God.” See Good News Translation, The Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, Living Bible.

protects him: (Connotation) This implies that the Son of God keeps that person safe from Satan’s attempts to lead him into sin.

5:18c

and: (Logical Relationship) The clause in 5:18c can be considered as a result of the Son of God keeping the Christian safe. So it may be clearer in translation to link it with a conjunction such as “and so” or “so that.”

the evil one: (Meaning) As in 2:13e, this is a common way of referring to Satan.

touch: (Connotation) This word implies the idea of touching someone with the intention of doing something bad to that person. It may therefore be clearer to translate it by “harm.” See Good News Translation and later editions of New International Version (2011 Revision).

Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

Search

Step into the multitudes of languages of the Bible and join the worldwide conversation!

Source: SIL Translator's Notes on 1 John 2000

SIL Translator's Notes on 1 John 3:4

SIL Translator's Notes on 1 John 4:16

SIL Translator's Notes on 1 John 2:11

SIL Translator's Notes on 1 John 3:15

SIL Translator's Notes on 1 John 5:7

SIL Translator's Notes on 1 John 2:22

SIL Translator's Notes on 1 John 4:4

SIL Translator's Notes on 1 John 5:18

Search

Step into the multitudes of languages of the Bible and join the worldwide conversation!

American Bible Society