Bible Question: I have been studying the epistle of 1 John and I am looking for a little help clarifying 1 John 5:7-8. The KJV is somewhat confusing in verse 8 and in the NASB most of both verses are gone compared to the KJV. My question is why the discrepancy? Also, if we look at the KJV of the text, what does it mean by "...three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood;..." Thank you |
Bible Answer: Greetings Ecbntmkr! The short answer is that the verses in 1 John 5:7-8 were not found in any Greek manuscript of the New Testament until one was given to Erasmus in about 1520 when he was putting together the Textus Receptus (which is the Greek text upon which the KJV is based). Here is the story about this event which I posted earlier today! ************************ 1 John 5:7 was found in the Vulgate when Erasmus began work on his critical Greek text. However, Erasmus could not find any Greek text which contained the verse. So, he left it out. This infuriated powers that be, so Erasmus promised that he would included it in future editions of his text if he could find even one Greek text which included it. Amazingly, one appeared with the Comma Johanneum written into the margin. Many believe that the Greek manuscript had been produced on demand by a Franciscan friar named Froy at Oxford in 1520. Since that time, many more Greek manuscripts have been found. Thus far, only 3 out of thousands include the verse. Of these three, one is a 12th century manuscript which includes the verse in the margin in a 17th century hand. One is a 16th century manscript. One is a 14th century manuscript. Even the Latin Vulgate does not include the verse before 800 a.d. The oldest known citation of the Comma is in a 4th century Latin work called "Liber apologeticus". Therefore, you are entirely correct. This verse was not part of the orignal text of 1 John! ************************ So, there is really no evidence whatsoever that 1 John 5:7 was ever in the Bible until someone added it much later! I hope this helps! Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |