ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

1 John 3.8

Book: 1 John · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

6. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither knoweth him. 7. My little children, let no man lead you astray: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous:

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.

  1. 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 John 3:6-10, ASV)
WEB

6. Whoever remains in him doesn’t sin. Whoever sins hasn’t seen him and doesn’t know him. 7. Little children, let no one lead you astray. He who does righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.

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.

  1. 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 John 3:6-10, WEB)
KJV

6. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. 7. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.

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.

  1. 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 John 3:6-10, KJV)
YLT

6. every one who is remaining in him doth not sin; every one who is sinning, hath not seen him, nor known him. 7. Little children, let no one lead you astray; he who is doing the righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous,

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;

  1. 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 John 3:6-10, 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

"The one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil."

A purpose statement for the incarnation. The New Testament gives several: to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15), to bear witness to the truth (John 18:37), to serve and give His life as a ransom (Mark 10:45), and here, to destroy the devil's works. Christus Victor readings of the atonement take this verse and Hebrews 2:14 as their primary anchors.

"Destroy." Lysē, from lyō, to loose, untie, or dissolve. The image is of undoing a knot rather than annihilating a substance, which fits the account of evil as parasitic on good; see Privation.

"The devil has sinned from the beginning." Ap' archēs. The phrase does not date the fall, and John gives no narrative of it; the parallel at John 8:44 says the devil "was a murderer from the beginning" and "does not stand in the truth", implying a standing lost. The verse is one of the load-bearing texts for the doctrine that Satan fell rather than being created evil. See God Created Satan Knowing He Would Rebel Objection Defeater.

"The one who practices sin." The present tense is habitual, and the whole context (verses 4-10) is about settled pattern rather than individual failure, which is what keeps it from contradicting 1 John 1:8, "if we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves."

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

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Lexicon:

Passages:

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.