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1 John Chapter 5

1 John Chapter 5

(Underlining marks a quotation/allusion. [Brackets] mark a textual variant.fnWhen two (or more) different copies of an original manuscript disagree on any given word or phrase — addition, omission, word order, etc. — the disagreement is called a "textual variant". ~99% of existing textual variants are either minor (like spelling), obviously not original (often appearing only in a few late manuscripts), or don't affect meaning (like "Jesus Christ" vs. "Christ Jesus"). The ~1% that remain do not affect any central doctrine of Christianity. The BOS Bible only marks significant textual variants that affect the meaning; smaller variants that do not affect meaning won't be marked for readability.  "Love" with a caret ("^love") is agapé.fn"agapé" The Greek words ἀγάπη (agapé, noun), and ἀγαπάω (agapaó; verb) are typically translated "love".  However, unlike our English word "love" – which primarily speaks of affection and feelings — agapé centers on choice and behavior.  It’s the "love" based on will, choice, behavior, and action; not feelings.  (Feelings-based love is the Greek word φιλέω (phileó), which properly means "brotherly love/affection".)  Thus, you could hate someone passionately and still treat him with "agapé".  Agapé "love" is best understood as the pursuit of what is most beneficial to someone or something, regardless of the cost to yourself or the type of response received from the person or thing.  It can also indicate a preference for someone or something over other things. An asterisk (*) indicates a verb in the Greek perfect tense.fnThe Greek perfect tense signifies a completed action in the past with a result and/or an ongoing state that extends into the present. For example, Hebrews 12:2 says in part: "He *sat down at the right hand of the throne of God"; the verb for "sat" is in the perfect tense, indicating that He sat down once (completed action in the past), and also that He remains seated until the present moment (ongoing state).)

Glossary

Note: this glossary is currently a work in progress; entries that do not expand will be added as time permits

Ages/of ages
“ages” and “of ages” are the Greek words “αἰών” (aión, noun form) and “αἰώνιος” (aiónios, adjective form) respectively.  The adjective form is typically translated “eternal”, as in “eternal life”. The noun form refers to a whole time period, (Keizer, “Life Time Entirety”) such as a person’s lifetime (an older Greek sense), an age/epoch (e.g., 2 Cor 4:4), or even time in its entirety, making its meaning similar to “forever” (e.g., John 14:16). The adjective form is similarly context-dependent, and the New Testament context often dictates a meaning similar to “forever” (but not always: e.g. 2 Tim 1:9).  Alternately or additionally, it can indicate the quality of a time period — indicating greatness/severity — like the English idiom “of ages” (e.g. “battle of the ages”). Thus, “of ages” was chosen for the adjective form so that both the time and quality senses remain visible.

Clean/unclean

Covenant

Faith

Flesh

Forgive/forgiveness

Grace
The Greek word is “χάρις” (charis), most often translated “grace”, “gift”, or “thanks”. It was a technical term in the 1st century, referring to the Patronage system in place. The Patron (from “pater” = “father”) would give gifts or do favors (both called a charis). A charis was always given/done freely to anyone who would be grateful for it, and this person then became a “client” of the patron. The clients were expected to reciprocate by telling everyone what the patron had done, and offering their services to the patron whenever the patron needed them. This reciprocal act was also called “charis”, and the ones who reciprocated were “being faithful” by giving thanks in this way. Both were done out of gratitude, not legal obligation. A client who wasn’t faithful and grateful probably wouldn’t receive any more charis from his patron, or any other patrons. The patron was responsible for taking care of all his clients, and making sure their needs were met. New Testament usage typically casts God the Father as a Heavenly Patron, to whom Christians should be grateful and faithful because of the gifts He has given us. (e.g. salvation, provision, protection, etc.)

Holy

Justification

Law (Torah)

Make purification

Pure/Impure

Purification offering
In the Old Testament, this is typically the Hebrew “חַטָּ֖את” (khat-tat); in the New Testament, it’s typically “περὶ ἁμαρτίας” (peri hamartias), which is what the Septuagint (an ancient translation of the Old Testament into Greek) used to translate the Hebrew. It’s traditionally translated “sin offering”, but that translation has less support in high-level scholarship. The Hebrew word can mean “sin”, but it can also mean “purification” (e.g. Numbers 8:7). This offering was used to purify uncleanness, whether or not a sin was committed. Thus, it was required even when no sin was committed, such as after childbirth (Leviticus 12:1-8), for certain diseases (Leviticus 14), etc. High-level, peer-reviewed scholarship dedicated to the field (e.g. Milgrom, Levine, Gane, Sklar, Wright, Gorman, etc.) is largely united on the “purification offering” understanding. The BOS Bible has aligned itself with that high-level, peer-reviewed scholarship in its translation.

Ransom

Redemption

Repent/repentance

Righteous/righteousness

Salvation/save

Soul
“soul” is the Greek word “ψυχή/psuché” and Hebrew word “נֶפֶשׁ/nephesh”. The BOS Bible translates these words as “soul” for consistency, and so the full meaning of “soul” isn’t obscured by different translations in different places. They closely overlap in meaning and are typically translated “soul” or “life”. They refer to the animating force of a living thing, and thus can also refer to its life, or to the whole of any person or creature, including animals (e.g. fish in Revelation 8:9 and Genesis 1). They are frequently used as an emphatic reference to a person’s whole self, including longings, deep emotions, and inner life. (e.g. Ps 42:11) Note: while “soul” has significant overlap in meaning with “spirit”, the words have distinct meanings and usages throughout scripture. For example, lions tear apart a soul in Psalm 7:2, and a “dead soul” is mentioned in Leviticus 21:11; “spirit” has no analogous usages, and it returns to God at death (Ecc 12:7; Acts 7:59). The adjective forms of soul and spirit are contrasted in 1 Corinthians 2:14-15; see also: Hebrews 4:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:23.

Sin

Click to Collapse the Glossary
Belief, Obedience, and Testimony
  1. Every man believing that Jesus is the Anointed was *born from God.  And every man ^loving the One who fathered Him also ^loves the man who was *born from Him.
  2. By this we know that we ^love the children of God, when we ^love God and keep His commandments.
  3. For this is the ^love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments aren’t burdensome,
  4. because everything *born from God overcomes the world.  And this is the victory which overcame the world: our faith.
  5. And who is the man overcoming the world except the man believing that Jesus is the Son of God?
  6. He is the One who came through water and blood, Jesus the Anointed; not by water only, but by the water and by the blood.  And the Spirit is the One testifying because the Spirit is the truth.
  7. For there are three testifyingfnquotation/allusion to Deuteronomy 19:15 and Deuteronomy 17:6, the standard of evidence requiring two or three witnesses to establish a fact at law. [in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.
  8. And there are three testifyingfnquotation/allusion to Deuteronomy 19:15 and Deuteronomy 17:6, the standard of evidence requiring two or three witnesses to establish a fact at law. on earth:]fnThis textual variant commonly called the “Johannine Comma”, which is one of the most significant textual variants in scripture. It’s absent from nearly all Greek manuscripts, but present in nearly all Latin ones. It was cited as scripture in the early 200s by Cyprian, and possibly earlier by Tertullian, though the latter’s allusion is more vague.  Jerome (347-420 AD) specifically mentions this as a passage which was removed by “unfaithful translators” (likely a reference to the Arians, who controlled much of the Greek-speaking church for a time).  There is a strong grammatical argument for its inclusion as well, as omitting it causes a major grammatical error that even children likely wouldn’t make, much less a brilliant author like John. Gregory of Nazanzius (329-390 AD) made this same grammatical argument.  However, the modern scholarly consensus is that this wasn’t original to John based on the paucity of Greek manuscripts which contain it.  The debate is ongoing. the Spirit, and the water, and the blood; and these three are in one accord.
  9. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, because this is the testimony of God that He has testified concerning His Son.
  10. The man believing in the Son of God has the testimony in himself.  The man not believing God has made Him a liar because he hasn’t believed in the testimony that God has testified concerning His Son.
  11. And the testimony is this: that God gave the life of ages to us, and this life is in His Son.
  12. The man having the Son has the life.  The man not having the Son of God doesn’t have the life.
  13. I wrote these things to you – the men believing in the name of the Son of God – so you might *know that you have the life of ages [and so you might believe in the name of the Son of God].
  14. And this is the confidence that we have towards Him, that if we ask something according to His will, He hears us.
  15. And if we *know that He hears whatever our requests are (if we ask), then we *know that we have the requests that we *asked from Him.
Final Instruction
  1. If someone sees his brother sinning a sin that doesn’t lead to death, he shall ask and He will give life to him, to the men sinning a sin not leading to death.  There is sin that leads to death;fnpossible quotation/allusion to Numbers 15:30-31 I don’t say that he should ask concerning that sin.
  2. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin that doesn’t lead to death.
  3. We *know that every man *born from God doesn’t continually sin, but the One born from God keeps him, and the evil one doesn’t touch him.
  4. We *know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the evil one’s power.
  5. And we *know that the Son of God is present and has given us understanding so we might know Him who is true, and we are in the true One, in His Son Jesus the Anointed.  He is the true God and the life of ages.
  6. Little children, guard yourselves from idols.fnquotation/allusion to Deuteronomy 4:15–16, and also the numerous warnings against idols generally such as Exodus 20:3–5 and Deuteronomy 5:7–9 in the Ten Commandments  [Amen]

 

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