ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

1 John 3.10

Book: 1 John · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

8. he that doeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. To this end was the Son of God manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 9. Whosoever is begotten of God doeth no sin, because his seed abideth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is begotten of God.

10. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

  1. For this is the message which ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another: 12. not as Cain was of the evil one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his works were evil, and his brother's righteous. (1 John 3:8-12, ASV)
WEB

8. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. To this end the Son of God was revealed: that he might destroy the works of the devil. 9. Whoever is born of God doesn’t commit sin, because his seed remains in him; and he can’t sin, because he is born of God.

10. In this the children of God are revealed, and the children of the devil. Whoever doesn’t do righteousness is not of God, neither is he who doesn’t love his brother.

  1. For this is the message which you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; 12. unlike Cain, who was of the evil one, and killed his brother. Why did he kill him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s righteous. (1 John 3:8-12, WEB)
KJV

8. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 9. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

10. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

  1. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. message: or, commandment 12. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous. (1 John 3:8-12, KJV)
YLT

8. he who is doing the sin, of the devil he is, because from the beginning the devil doth sin; for this was the Son of God manifested, that he may break up the works of the devil; 9. every one who hath been begotten of God, sin he doth not, because his seed in him doth remain, and he is not able to sin, because of God he hath been begotten.

10. In this manifest are the children of God, and the children of the devil; every one who is not doing righteousness, is not of God, and he who is not loving his brother,

  1. because this is the message that ye did hear from the beginning, that we may love one another, 12. not as Cain, of the evil one he was, and he did slay his brother, and wherefore did he slay him? because his works were evil, and those of his brother righteous. (1 John 3:8-12, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: The letter is formally anonymous. Early and unanimous tradition assigns it to John the apostle (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.16.5 and 3.16.8, c. AD 180), and its vocabulary and style are closely shared with the Fourth Gospel.
  • Audience: Churches in Roman Asia, addressed after a secession: "they went out from us, but they were not really of us" (1 John 2:19). The departing teachers denied that Jesus is the Christ (2:22) and that He has come in the flesh (4:2).
  • Location: Traditionally Ephesus, the center of the Johannine circle in Asia Minor.
  • Time period: c. AD 85-95, late in the apostolic period. The stated purpose is assurance: "these things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life" (1 John 5:13).

Theological reading

"By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother."

Two families, one test. John allows no third category, and the test he gives is double: practicing righteousness and loving one's brother. The two are joined here for the first time in the letter and are treated as inseparable for the rest of it.

"Children of the devil." The phrase is harsh and it is not John's invention: Jesus says the same to opponents at John 8:44, "you are of your father the devil." In both cases the language is about derivation of character rather than of being; John has already said that everything was made through the Word (John 1:3), so there is no second creator in view. Dualist readings of the phrase run against the Johannine doctrine of creation.

"Practice." Poiōn, a present participle, habitual action, as throughout verses 4-10. This is what keeps the paragraph from contradicting 1 John 1:8, "if we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves." John distinguishes the direction of a life from its lapses, and the whole section is about the former.

"Are obvious." Phanera estin, manifest. In a letter written after a church split, the claim is that the division was not arbitrary and that the difference between the two groups is visible in conduct rather than in claimed experience.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

Quoted in

Lexicon:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.