2 Yohanes 1:12

Conclusion

1:12 Though I have many other ¹  things to write to you, I do not want to do so with ²  paper and ink, ³  but I hope to come visit you and speak face to face, ⁴  so that our joy may be complete. ⁵ 

2 Yohanes 1:3

1:3 Grace, mercy, and ⁶  peace will be with us from God the Father and from ⁷  Jesus Christ the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

Yohanes 1:13

1:13 – children not born ⁸  by human parents ⁹  or by human desire ¹⁰  or a husband’s ¹¹  decision, ¹²  but by God.

[1:12]  ¹ tn “Other” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity in English.

[1:12]  ² tn Grk “by means of.”

[1:12]  ³ sn Presumably the author means he would rather say the additional things he wants to say to the recipients in person rather than by letter (with paper and ink).

[1:12]  ⁴ tn Grk “speak mouth to mouth,” an idiom for which the English equivalent is “speak face to face.”

[1:12]  ⁵ tn Grk “be fulfilled.”

[1:3]  ⁶ tn “And” is not in the Greek text. It is supplied for smoothness in English.

[1:3]  ⁷ tc Most witnesses, including some early and important ones (א P 33 Ï sy), have κυρίου (kuriou, “Lord”) before ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ (Ihsou Cristou, “Jesus Christ”), but this is a typical scribal addition, motivated by pietistic and liturgical concerns. Further, early and excellent mss (A B Ψ 048 0232 81 323 1739 al) lack κυρίου. Thus, both internally and externally, the shorter reading is strongly preferred.

[1:13]  ⁸ tn The Greek term translated “born” here also involves conception.

[1:13]  ⁹ tn Grk “of blood(s).” The plural αἱμάτων (Jaimatwn) has seemed a problem to many interpreters. At least some sources in antiquity imply that blood was thought of as being important in the development of the fetus during its time in the womb: thus Wis 7:1: “in the womb of a mother I was molded into flesh, within the period of 10 months, compacted with blood, from the seed of a man and the pleasure of marriage.” In John 1:13, the plural αἱμάτων may imply the action of both parents. It may also refer to the “genetic” contribution of both parents, and so be equivalent to “human descent” (see BDAG 26 s.v. αἷμα 1.a). E. C. Hoskyns thinks John could not have used the singular here because Christians are in fact ‘begotten’ by the blood of Christ (The Fourth Gospel, 143), although the context would seem to make it clear that the blood in question is something other than the blood of Christ.

[1:13]  ¹⁰ tn Or “of the will of the flesh.” The phrase οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος σαρκός (oude ek qelhmato" sarko") is more clearly a reference to sexual desire, but it should be noted that σάρξ (sarx) in John does not convey the evil sense common in Pauline usage. For John it refers to the physical nature in its weakness rather than in its sinfulness. There is no clearer confirmation of this than the immediately following verse, where the λόγος (logos) became σάρξ.

[1:13]  ¹¹ tn Or “man’s.”

[1:13]  ¹² tn The third phrase, οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος ἀνδρός (oude ek qelhmato" andros), means much the same as the second one. The word here (ἀνηρ, anhr) is often used for a husband, resulting in the translation “or a husband’s decision,” or more generally, “or of any human volition whatsoever.” L. Morris may be right when he sees here an emphasis directed at the Jewish pride in race and patriarchal ancestry, although such a specific reference is difficult to prove (John [NICNT], 101).