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NASB | John 3:16 ¶ "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 3:16 ¶ "For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life. |
Bible Question: But I would like to push the reflexion a little further. Being a teacher of theology (evangelical) I want to know what is the meaning of "the world" according to John? |
Bible Answer: Greetings, richilou, and Welcome to the Study Bible Forum! According to the NASB Exhaustive Concordance, the word "world" in John 3:16 is explained as follows.. "G2889 'kosmos' (Greek) a prim. word; order, the world:—adornment (1), world (184), world’s (1)." Strong's Exhaustive Concordance states, "G2889 'kosmos' (Greek) Probably from the base of G2865 'kolumbao'; orderly arrangement, that is, decoration; by implication the world (in a wide or narrow sense, including its inhabitants, literally or figuratively [morally]):—adorning, world." I am one to believe that this would suggest that the word "world" here is referring to the entire human race. The Nelson NKJV Study Bible states, "God so loved the world: God’s love is not restricted to any one nation or to any spiritual elite. World here may also include all of creation (see Rom. 8:19–22; Col. 1:20)." Hope this helps! Nolan |