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Rebecca Stark is the author of The Good Portion: God, the second title in The Good Portion series.

The Good Portion: God explores what Scripture teaches about God in hopes that readers will see his perfection, worth, magnificence, and beauty as they study his triune nature, infinite attributes, and wondrous works. 

                     

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Tuesday
Apr232019

Theological Term of the Week: Comma Johanneum

DateTuesday, April 23, 2019 at 6:00AM

 

Comma Johanneum
A sequence of words which appear in 1 John 5:7-8 in four late Greek manuscripts; also called the Johannine Comma. (Four other manuscripts include the words as a marginal note rather than part of the text.) The Comma Johanneum was almost certainly not originally included in 1 John. However, a translation of the comma is included the King James Version of the Bible. 

  • 1 John 5:7-8 from the KJV, which includes a translation of the Comma Johanneum. (The words that translate the Comma are italicized.):

    • 7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

    8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.

  • I John 5:7-8 from the ESV, which does not include a translation of the Comma Johanneum:

    7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree.

  • From The Johannine Comma (Bible Research):

    These extra words are generally absent from the Greek manuscripts. In fact, they only appear in the text of four late medieval manuscripts. They seem to have originated as a marginal note added to certain Latin manuscripts during the middle ages, which was eventually incorporated into the text of most of the later Vulgate manuscripts.

 

Learn more:

  1. Got Questions: What is the Comma Johannine (1 John 5:7-8)?
  2. Theopedia: Johannine Comma
  3. Daniel Wallace: The Textual Problem in 1 John 5:7-8
  4. Bible Research: The Johaninne Comma
  5. Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry: 1 John 5:7-8 and King James Onlyism

 

Related terms:

Filed under Scripture

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