1 John 1.6-10 6 κοινωνία, ἡ = fellowship σκότος, τό = darkness ψεύδομαι = lie Ἐὰν εἴπωμεν ὅτι κοινωνίαν ἔχομεν μετ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐν τῷ σκότει περιπατῶμεν, ψευδόμεθα καὶ οὐ ποιοῦμεν τὴν ἀλήθειαν If we say we have fellowship with him and yet keep on walking in the darkness, we are lying and not practicing the truth. If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness. We are not living in the truth. If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we're obviously lying through our teeth--we're not living what we claim. What tense and mood is εἴπωμεν? Aor Subjn What tense and mood is περιπατῶμεν? Pres Subjn (Note the nice way that the Bible captures the difference in tenses.) o In what kind of construction are they occurring? Present General o What is the significance of this construction? Not claiming that anyone does or does not say we are fellowship, but the general case in such situations is that we are lying What does οὐ ποιοῦμεν τὴν ἀλήθειαν mean? Note how the translations render it. How might you translate its sense? doing the truth >> perhaps practicing the truth or living according to the truth
7 καθαρίζω = cleanse ἐὰν δὲ ἐν τῷ φωτὶ περιπατῶμεν ὡς αὐτός ἐστιν ἐν τῷ φωτί, κοινωνίαν ἔχομεν μετ ἀλλήλων καὶ τὸ αἷμα Ἰησοῦ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ καθαρίζει ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ πάσης ἁμαρτίας. But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. But if we walk in the light, as he also is in the light, we have fellowship one with another: And the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. But if we are living in the light of God's presence, just as Christ is, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from every sin. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God's Son, purges all our sin. What mood is περιπατῶμεν? Subjn In what kind of construction is it occurring? PresGeneral What tenses are the verbs? How are these significant? o περιπατῶμεν Pres: continue to walk o ἔχομεν Pres: the having is an ongoing experience o καθαρίζει Pres: an ongoing experience of being cleansed? To whom does αὐτός and αὐτοῦ refer? (It cannot be Jesus!) must be God named in v.5 (but then have contrast of God being the light v5 and being in the light v.6?? >> so perhaps in v.7 αὐτός = Jesus and αὐτοῦ = God?) Is ἁμαρτίας singular or plural? singular What difference does it make? (Be sure to look ahead to v.9?) Are we talking about sin as a condition of being or a specific act? The Greek here is actually ambiguous. It might mean either every sin or all sin. (Note that we are preserving the singular in both instances.) Cf. the sense note in the online/bw version of the Bible. sn From all sin. Sometimes a distinction between singular "sin" and plural "sins" has been suggested: Some would see the singular all sin of 1:7 as a reference to sinfulness before conversion and the plural sins of 1:9 as a reference to sins committed after one became a Christian. This amounts to making 1:7 refer to initial justification and 1:9 to sanctification. But the phrase all sin in 1:7 is so comprehensive that it can hardly be limited to preconversion sins, and the emphasis on "walking" in 1:7 strongly suggests that the Christian life is in view (not one's life before conversion). In 1 John 1:8 sin appears as a condition or characteristic quality, which in 1:10 is regarded as universal. Apart from forgiveness in Christ it results in alienation from God (2:15) and spiritual death (3:14). But according to 1 John 1:7, cleansing from sin is possible by the blood (representing the sacrificial death) of Jesus. Note other instances of ἁμαρτία used in the singular (1 Jn. 1:8; 3:4f, 8f; 5:16f) and the plural (1 Jn. 1:9; 2:2, 12; 3:5; 4:10).
8 πλανάω = deceive ἐὰν εἴπωμεν ὅτι ἁμαρτίαν οὐκ ἔχομεν, ἑαυτοὺς πλανῶμεν καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν ἡμῖν. If we say we do not bear the guilt of sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we say we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth. If we claim that we're free of sin, we're only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. Beginning with ἐὰν, what kind of construction is this verse? PresGeneral Analyze πλανῶμεν? PresActIndic1S Note that as an α-contract verb, it can be either Indicative or Subjunctive. Would it make sense to translate it as a hortatory subjunctive here? (Let us ) Let us be deceiving ourselves!?!?! Is the Bible translation appropriate ( bear the guilt of sin )? Cf. the Bible note. tn Grk "say we do not have sin." The use of ἔχω + ἁμαρτία (echoò + hamartia) is an expression limited to John and 1 John in the NT. On the analogy with other constructions where ἔχω governs an abstract noun (e.g., 1 John 1:3, 6, 7; 2:28; 3:3, 15, 21; 4:16, 17; 5:12-13), it indicates that a state is involved, which in the case of ἁμαρτία would refer to a state of sin. The four times the expression ἔχω + ἁμαρτία occurs in the Gospel of John (9:41; 15:22, 24; 19:11) all refer to situations where a wrong action has been committed or a wrong attitude has already existed, resulting in a state of sin, and then something else happens which further emphasizes the evil of that action or attitude. Here in 1 John 1:8 the sense is the same. The author is addressing people who have sinned (resulting in a state of sin), warning them that they cannot claim to be free from the guilt of that sin. The context of 1 John does not imply libertinism (where sins are flaunted as a way of demonstrating one's "liberty") on the part of the opponents, since the author makes no explicit charges of immoral behavior against his opponents. The worst the author explicitly says is that they have failed to love the brethren (1 John 3:17). It seems more likely that the opponents were saying that things a believer did after conversion were not significant enough to be "sins" that could challenge one's intimate relationship with God (a relationship the author denies that the opponents have to begin with).
9 καθαρίζω = cleanse ἀδικία, ἡ = unrighteousness, wrongdoing ἐὰν ὁμολογῶμεν τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν, πιστός ἐστιν καὶ δίκαιος, ἵνα ἀφῇ ἡμῖν τὰς ἁμαρτίας καὶ καθαρίσῃ ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ πάσης ἀδικίας. But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all iniquity. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. On the other hand, if we admit our sins--make a clean breast of them--he won't let us down; he'll be true to himself. He'll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. What tense and mood is ὁμολογῶμεν? PresSubjn Why this tense? Envisions ongoing/repeated/regular confession What kind of sentence construction is this? PresGeneral What are the tenses and moods of: o ἀφῇ AorSubjn (Be sure to note the various ways the translations render this word.) o καθαρίσῃ AorSubjn Are these Aor here (cf. v7) because have point of confession in mind? (note variant reading which is FutIndic) What is the sense of the ἵνα clause in which they occur: purpose (answering, why?) or result (answering, with what result?) Result (Be sure to note the various ways the translations try to render the clause.) Note that ἁμαρτίας is plural here. (Cf. v. 7) Note how the final clause here parallels that of v. 7: καθαρίζει ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ πάσης ἁμαρτίας. How do you translate πάσης ἀδικίας here? Paralleling v.7, it appears that πάσης ἁμαρτίας and πάσης ἀδικίας are basically synonymous, so here it would seem that all unrighteousness is better than every unrighteousness. Be sure to note the cognates of δίκαιος... and ἀδικίας. How might your translation reflect this? righteous unrighteousness.
10 ψεύστης, ὁ = liar ἐὰν εἴπωμεν ὅτι οὐχ ἡμαρτήκαμεν, ψεύστην ποιοῦμεν αὐτὸν καὶ ὁ λόγος αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν ἡμῖν. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar: and his word is not in us. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts. If we claim that we've never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God--make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God. What tense and mood is εἴπωμεν? AorSubjn In what kind of construction is it occurring? PresGeneral What tense is ἡμαρτήκαμεν? Perf What is the GNC of ψεύστην? MAS Note that ψεύστην here ties back to ψευδόμεθα in v. 6. Note that the first halves of v. 8 and v.10 are parallel. What progress has been made from v. 8 to v. 10 that shows up in the second half of each verse? 8 If we say we do not bear the guilt of sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. A) Worse than deceiving ourselves, it turns out that we make God into a liar. B) The truth is God s word.