1 Yohanes 1:2-3

1:2 and the life was revealed, and we have seen and testify and announce ¹  to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us). ²  1:3 What we have seen and heard we announce ³  to you too, so that ⁴  you may have fellowship ⁵  with us (and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ).

1 Yohanes 2:14

2:14 I have written to you, children, that ⁶  you have known the Father. ⁷  I have written to you, fathers, that ⁸  you have known him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young people, that ⁹  you are strong, and the word of God resides in you, and you have conquered the evil one.

1 Yohanes 2:16

2:16 because all that is in the world (the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the arrogance produced by material possessions) ¹⁰  is not from the Father, but is from the world.

1 Yohanes 2:22

2:22 Who is the liar but the person who denies that Jesus is the Christ ¹¹ ? This one is the antichrist: the person who denies the Father and the Son.

1 Yohanes 2:24

2:24 As for you, what you have heard from the beginning must remain ¹²  in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.

1 Yohanes 3:1

3:1 (See what sort of love the Father has given to us: that ¹³  we should be called God’s children – and indeed ¹⁴  we are! ¹⁵  For this reason ¹⁶  the world does not know us: because it did not know him. ¹⁷ 

[1:2]  ¹ tn Or “proclaim.”

[1:2]  ² tn In the Greek text the prologue to 1 John (vv. 1-4) makes up a single sentence. This is awkward in Greek, and a literal translation produces almost impossible English. For this reason the present translation places a period at the end of v. 2 and another at the end of v. 3. The material in parentheses in v. 1 begins the first of three parenthetical interruptions in the grammatical sequence of the prologue (the second is the entirety of v. 2 and the third is the latter part of v. 3). This is because of the awkwardness of connecting the prepositional phrase with what precedes, an awkwardness not immediately obvious in most English translations: “what we beheld and our hands handled concerning the word of life…” As J. Bonsirven (Épîtres de Saint Jean [CNT], 67) noted, while one may hear about the word of life, it is more difficult to see about the word of life, and impossible to feel with one’s hands about the word of life. Rather than being the object of any of the verbs in v. 1, the prepositional phrase at the end of v. 1 (“concerning the word of life…”) is more likely a parenthetical clarification intended to specify the subject of the eyewitness testimony which the verbs in v. 1 describe. A parallel for such parenthetical explanation may be found in John 1:12 (τοῖς πιστεύουσιν εἰς τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, toi" pisteuousin ei" to onoma autou).

[1:3]  ³ tn Or “proclaim.”

[1:3]  ⁴ tn The ἵνα (Jina) here indicates purpose.

[1:3]  ⁵ tn Or “communion”; or “association” (a reality shared in common, so in this case, “genuine association”). This term also occurs in vv. 6, 7.

[2:14]  ⁶ tn See the note on “that” in v. 12.

[2:14]  ⁷ sn The versification of vv. 13 and 14 (so also NAB, NRSV, NLT) follows that of the NA²⁷ and UBS⁴ editions of the Greek text. Some English translations, however, break the verses between the sentence addressed to children and the sentence addressed to fathers (KJV, NKJV, NASB, NIV). The same material has been translated in each case; the only difference is the versification of that material.

[2:14]  ⁸ tn See the note on “that” in v. 12.

[2:14]  ⁹ tn See the note on “that” in v. 12.

[2:16]  ¹⁰ tn The genitive βίου (biou) is difficult to translate: (1) Many understand it as objective, so that βίος (bios, “material life”) becomes the object of one’s ἀλαζονεία (alazoneia; “pride” or “boastfulness”). Various interpretations along these lines refer to boasting about one’s wealth, showing off one’s possessions, boasting of one’s social status or lifestyle. (2) It is also possible to understand the genitive as subjective, however, in which case the βίος itself produces the ἀλαζονεία. In this case, the material security of one’s life and possessions produces a boastful overconfidence. This understanding better fits the context here: The focus is on people who operate purely on a human level and have no spiritual dimension to their existence. This is the person who loves the world, whose affections are all centered on the world, who has no love for God or spiritual things (“the love of the Father is not in him,” 2:15).

[2:16]  sn The arrogance produced by material possessions. The person who thinks he has enough wealth and property to protect himself and insure his security has no need for God (or anything outside himself).

[2:22]  ¹¹ tn Or “the Messiah”

[2:24]  ¹² tn The word translated “remain” may also be translated “reside” (3 times in 2:24). See also the notes on the translation of the Greek verb μένω (menw) in 2:6 and in 2:19. Here the word can really have both nuances of “residing” and “remaining” and it is impossible for the English reader to catch both nuances if the translation provides only one. This occurs three times in 2:24.

[3:1]  ¹³ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause is best understood (1) as epexegetical (or explanatory), clarifying the love (ἀγάπην, agaphn) that the Father has given to believers. Although it is possible (2) to regard the ἵνα as indicating result, the use of ποταπήν (potaphn, “what sort of”) to modify ἀγάπην suggests that the idea of “love” will be qualified further in the following context, and this qualification is provided by the epexegetical ἵνα clause.

[3:1]  ¹⁴ tn “Indeed” is not in the Greek text but is supplied to indicate emphasis.

[3:1]  ¹⁵ tc The phrase καὶ ἐσμεν (kai esmen, “and we are”) is omitted in 049 69 Ï. There seems to be no theological reason to omit the words. This has all the earmarks of a classic case of homoioteleuton, for the preceding word (κληθῶμεν, klhqwmen, “we should be called”) ends in -μεν (-men).

[3:1]  tn The indicative mood indicates that the verb ἐσμέν (esmen) at the end of 3:1a is not governed by the ἵνα (Jina) and does not belong with the ἵνα clause, since this would have required a subjunctive. If the verb ἐσμέν were subjunctive, the force of the clause would be “that we should be called children of God, and be (children of God).” With ἐσμέν as indicative, the clause reads “that we should be called children of God, and indeed we are (children of God).”

[3:1]  ¹⁶ tn Lexically it is clear that this phrase indicates reason, but what is not clear is whether (1) τοῦτο (touto) refers to what follows, (2) to what precedes, or (3) to both (as with the ἐν τοῦτο [en touto] phrases throughout 1 John). Διὰ τοῦτο (dia touto) occurs 15 times in the Gospel of John, and a pattern emerges which is so consistent that it appears to be the key to the usage here. Six times in the Gospel of John (5:16, 18; 8:47; 10:17; 12:18, 39) the phrase refers to what follows, and in each of these instances an epexegetical ὅτι (Joti) clause follows. Nine times in John (1:31, 6:65, 7:21-22, 9:23, 12:27, 13:11, 15:19, 16:15, 19:11) the phrase refers to what precedes, and in none of these instances is it followed by a ὅτι clause. The phrase διὰ τοῦτο is used three times in the Johannine Epistles. In two of these (1 John 4:5, 3 John 10) there is no ὅτι clause following, and so the διὰ τοῦτο should refer to preceding material. Here in 3:1 there is an epexegetical ὅτι clause following, so the διὰ τοῦτο should (unless it is the only exception in the Gospel of John and the Johannine Epistles) refer to what follows, that is, to the ὅτι clause itself. This is indicated by the colon in the translation.

[3:1]  ¹⁷ sn The pronoun him is a clear reference to Jesus Christ (compare John 1:10).