Comma Johanneum
Encyclopedia
The Comma Johanneum is a comma
(a short clause) in the First Epistle of John
according to the Latin Vulgate text as transmitted since the Early Middle Ages
, based on Vetus Latina
minority readings dating to the 7th century. It was inserted into the Latin text based on a gloss
to that text; the gloss itself may date to as early as the 3rd or 4th century.
It was included in the Textus Receptus
(TR) compiled by Erasmus of Rotterdam because of its doctrinal importance in supporting Trinitarianism.
Owing to the widespread use of the Textus Receptus (TR) as the sole source, the comma is also contained in most translations published from 1522 until the latter part of the nineteenth century, Two earlier English versions that omitted the Comma were the editions of Daniel Mace
(1729) and The New Testament in an Improved Version (1808) of the Unitarians. for Protestant translation. After Erasmus included the Comma in the 3rd edition of his Greek New Testament of 1522 the Comma was included in all the Received Text editions of Erasmus, Stephanus, Beza and the Elzivirs.
In translations containing the clause, such as the King James Version
, reads as follows (with the Comma in bold print):
The resulting passage is often viewed as an explicit reference to the Trinity
of Father
, Son
and Holy Spirit
.Exceptions to this common understanding include Johannes Bugenhagen
, Pastor and student of Martin Luther, who called the verse an "Arian blasphemy", see Franz Posset. Hugo Grotius
(1583-1645) in his NT Annotations considered the verse an Arian addition Neque vero Arianis ablatas voces quasdam, sed potius additas. And John Jones
(Ben David) a non-Trinitarian who defended the verse in the Monthly Review (1826). Similarly, Edward Freer Hills in the King James Version Defended Ch. 8, 1956 hypothesized that the verse may have been allowed to drop from the Greek line by Trinitarians who saw the verse as favorable to Sabellianism. See also http://books.google.com/books?id=FF4UAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA536Frederick Nolan
in An Inquiry into the Integrity of the Greek Vulgate p. 536-547, 1815]. Nolan offers an earlier discourse of the Hills conjecture, including: "the orthodox were so far from having any inducement to appeal to this text, that they had every reason to avoid an allusion to it, as it apparently favored the tenets of their opponents. ... Sabellianism ... absolutely derives support from the text of the heavenly witnesses". The early usage by the non-Trinitarian Priscillian
is also discordant to the common understanding.
It does not appear in the older Greek manuscripts, nor in the passage as quoted by many of the early Church Fathers
. The words apparently crept into the Latin text of the New Testament during the Early Middle Ages, "[possibly] as one of those medieval glosses but were then written into the text itself by a careless copyist.
Erasmus omitted them from his first edition; but when a storm of protest arose because the omission seemed to threaten the doctrine of the Trinity, he put them back in the third and later editions, whence they also came into the Textus Receptus
, 'the received text'." Although many traditional Bible translations, most notably the Authorized King James Version (KJV), contain the Comma, modern Bible translations such as the New International Version
(NIV), the New American Standard Bible
(NASB), the English Standard Version
(ESV), the New Revised Standard Version
(NRSV) and others tend to either omit the Comma entirely, or relegate it to the footnotes. The Nova Vulgata, the modern revision of the Vulgate
approved for liturgical use by the Catholic Church, also excludes the Comma. The Greek Orthodox editions (ZWH Brotherhood and Antoniades) have the Comma in the main text in a smaller font.
The comma may have arisen as a gloss as early as the 4th century, and was worked into the epistle's text in the Latin Vulgate in around the year 800..
The comma is also absent from an extant fragment of Clement of Alexandria
(c. 200), through Cassiodorus
(6th century), with homily style verse references from 1 John, including verse 1 John 5:6 and 1 John 5:8 without verse 7, the heavenly witnesses. Charles Forster in A new plea for the authenticity of the text of the three heavenly witnesses p 54-55 (1867) notes that the quote of verse 6 is partial, bypassing phrases in verse 6 as well as verse 7. And that Clement's "words et iterum clearly mark the interpolation of other topics and intervening text, between the two quotations." Et iterum is "and again" in the English translation. In addition Bengel, John Gill, Ben David and Thomas Burgess see "Every promise is valid before two or three witnesses, before the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit; before whom, as witnesses and helpers, what are called the commandments ought to be kept." Eclogae propheticae 13.1| Ben David, Monthly Review, p. 277 (1826) from Clement as solid evidence that he knew the verse. . Tertullian
, in his Against Praxeas (c. 210), supports a Trinitarian view by quoting John 10:30Tertullian's use of tres unum sunt in Against Praxeas "Ita connexus Patris in Filio, et Filii in Paracleto, tres efficit cohaerentes alterum ex altero: qui tres unum sunt, non unus quomodo dictum est, Ego et Pater unum sumus" has been seen by many commentators as a textual allusion to 1 John 5:7. e.g. Latin Christianity: It's Founder, Tertullian p.631 (1903) where editor Arthur Cleveland Coxe says "It appears to me very clear that Tertullian is quoting I. John v. 7. in the passage now under consideration". The English section is on p. 621, left column, bottom..
Augustine of Hippo
, is completely silent on the matter, which has been taken as evidence that the comma did not exist as part of the epistle's text in his time.But this argumentum ex silentio was rejected by other scholars."The silence of Augustine, contrary to prevailing opinion, cannot be cited as evidence against the genuineness of the Comma. He may indeed have known it" Annotated bibliography of the textual criticism of the New Testament p. 113 Bruce Manning Metzger, 1955. Metzger was citing S. Augustinus gegen das Comma Johanneum? by Norbert Fickermann, 1934, who considers evidence that Augustine specifically avoided referencing the verse directly. In addition, some Augustine references have been seen as verse allusions. About |Contra Maximinum (2.22.3; PL 42.794-95) "But if we will inquire into the things signified by these, there not unreasonably comes into our thoughts the Trinity itself, which is the One, Only, True, Supreme God, Father and Son and Holy Ghost, of whom it could most truly be said, "There are Three Witnesses, and the Three are One:" Raymond Brown in the New Jerome Biblical Commentary wrote that Augustine "appealed to this text in combination with John 10:30". In Augustine's City of God the phrase “God, supreme and true, with his Word and Holy Spirit, which three are one” (book 5, chapter 11) is seen by Warren H. Hepokoski as an allusion "conveniently ignored by the critics".
No Syriac
manuscripts include the Comma, and its presence in some printed Syriac Bibles is due to back-translation from the Latin Vulgate. Coptic
manuscripts and those from Ethiopian churches also do not include it.
(died 258), in writing on the Unity of the Church, Treatise I section 6 quoted John 10:30 "The Lord says, 'I and the Father are one' " and added: "and again it is written of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, 'And these three are one.'" Daniel B. Wallace
says that "a Trinitarian interpretation was superimposed on the text by Cyprian". In noting this, Wallace is in agreement with the earlier critical edition of the New Testament (NA26
and UBS3) which consider Cyprian a witness against the Comma. The latest edition of UBS4 updated many early church writer references and has Cyprian for heavenly witnesses inclusion. Those who see Cyprian as a negative evidence assert that other theologians such as Athanasius of Alexandria
Traditionally, Athansius was considered to lend support to the authenticity of the verse, one reason being the Disputation with Arius at the Council of Nicea which circulated with the works of Athanasius. Where is found: "Likewise is not the remission of sins procured by that quickening and sanctifying ablution, without which no man shall see the kingdom of heaven, an ablution given to the faithful in the thrice-blessed name. And besides all these, John says, And the three are one." (Translation by Richard Porson, also given in Charles Forster's New Plea). Today, many scholars consider this a later work Pseudo-Athanasius, perhaps by Maximus the Confessor, although Forster argues for the writing as stylistically Athanasius. While the author and date are debated, this is a Greek verse reference directly related to the doctrinal Trinitarian-Arian controversies, and one that purports to be an account of Nicea when those doctrinal battles were raging. The reference was given in UBS-3 as supporting verse inclusion, yet was removed from UBS-4 for reasons unknown. The Synopsis of Scripture has also been referenced as showing Athanasian verse usage. and Origen
never quoted or referred to the passage, which they would have done if the verse was in the Bibles of that era. The contrasting position is that there are in fact such references Origen, discussing water baptism in his commentary on the Gospel of John, references only verse 8 the earthly witnesses: "And it agrees with this that the disciple John speaks in his epistle of the spirit, and the water, and the blood, as being one." In the scholium on Psalm 122 attributed to Origen is the phrase "spirit and body are servants to masters, Father and Son, and the soul is handmaid to a mistress, the Holy Ghost; and the Lord our God is the three (persons), for the three are one". This has been considered by many commentators, including the translation source Nathaniel Ellsworth Cornwall (1812-1879) in The Church Review p. 634 (1874) as an allusion to verse 7., and that evidences from silence arguments in terms of extant early church writer material should not be given much weight.
In the early 20th century, there was a theory according to which Priscillian of Ávila
(died 385) was the author of the comma.
This idea of a Priscillian origin for the Comma had a brief scholarship flourish but quickly lost support in textual circles.
The Priscillian citation was discovered in the late 1800s, and in the early 1900s Karl Künstle published a paper that proposed that "the insertion of the comma into the text of the Epistle is due to Priscillian himself", as summarized by Alan England Brooke, who references four difficulties cited in the 1909 paper by Ernest Babut.
In the 6th century, Fulgentius of Ruspe
is quoted as a witness in favour of the Comma. Like Cyprian a father of the North African Church, he referred to Cyprian's remark in his Responsio contra Arianos ("Reply against the Arians" ). Fulgentius (Ad 10; CC 91A, 797): In the Father, therefore, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we acknowledge unity of substance, but dare not confound the persons. For St. John the apostle, testifieth saying, There are three that bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Spirit, and these three are one. Which also the blessed martyr Cyprian, in his epistle de unitate Ecclesiae (Unity of the Church), confesseth, saying, Who so breaketh the peace of Christ, and concord, acteth against Christ: whoso gathereth elsewhere beside the Church, scattereth. And that he might shew, that the Church of the one God is one, he inserted these testimonies, immediately from the scriptures; The Lord said, I and the Father are one.(John x, 30). And again, of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, it is written, and these three are one (1 John v. 7). "Anitjacobin Review, Sabellian Controversy, Letter XII, p. 595 William Hales, (1816) Additional heavenly witnesses references from Fulgentius are in Fragmenta contra Fabianum (Frag. 21.4: CC 01A,797) and De Trinitate (1.4.1; CC 91A 636) Anchor Bible, Epistle of John, Raymond Brown (1982), cited in Maynard p. 44. For the English translation of De Trinitate see Introduction to the Critical Study p. 512 Thomas Horne (1821), and Fabianum "The blessed Apostle, St John, evidently says, And the three are one,..." is given by Thomas Burgess in A letter to the Reverend Thomas Beynon p.56 (1829) ( (The Arian
heresy, which denied the Trinity, was particularly strong in North Africa);
manuscripts, namely the Codex Monacensis
(6th or 7th century) and Codex Legionensis
(7th century), besides the younger Codex Speculum
, an 8th- or 9th-century collection of New Testament quotations.
The comma then apparently became worked into copies of the Latin Vulgate roughly around the year 800.
It was subsequently back-translated into some Greek manuscripts.
Nestle-Aland
is aware of eight Greek manuscripts which contain the comma.
The date of the addition is late, probably dating to the time of Erasmus.
In one manuscript, back-translated into Greek from the Vulgate, the phrase "and these three are one" is not present.
The central figure in the sixteenth-century history of the Comma Johanneum is the humanist
Erasmus. Erasmus had been working for years on two projects: a collation of Greek texts and a fresh Latin New Testament. In 1512, he began his work on a fresh Latin New Testament. He collected all the Vulgate manuscripts he could find to create a critical edition. Then he polished the Latin. He declared, "It is only fair that Paul should address the Romans in somewhat better Latin." In the earlier phases of the project, he never mentioned a Greek text:
While his intentions for publishing a fresh Latin translation are clear, it is less clear why he included the Greek text. Though some speculate that he intended on producing a critical Greek text or that he wanted to beat the Complutensian Polyglot into print, there is no evidence to support this. Rather his motivation seems to be simpler: he included the Greek text to prove the superiority of his Latin version. He wrote, "There remains the New Testament translated by me, with the Greek facing, and notes on it by me." He further demonstrated the reason for the inclusion of the Greek text when defending his work:
Erasmus's new work was published by Froben of Basel
in 1516 and thence became the first published Greek New Testament, the Novum Instrumentum omne
, diligenter ab Erasmo Rot. Recognitum et Emendatum. The second edition used the more familiar term Testamentum instead of Instrumentum, and eventually became a major source for Luther's German
translation.
In his haste, Erasmus made a considerable number of transcription mistakes. He was unable to find manuscripts containing the entire Greek New Testament, so he compiled several different sources. After comparing what writings he could find, Erasmus wrote corrections between the lines of of the manuscripts he was using (among which was Minuscule 2
) and sent them as proofs to Froben. Erasmus said the resulting work was "thrown headlong rather than edited" ("prœcipitatum fuit verius quam editum"). He fixed many but not all of the resulting mistakes in the second edition, published in 1519. The Comma does not appear until the third edition, published in 1522.
Its absence from the first two editions has traditionally been explained as the result of the animosity this provoked among churchmen and scholars, led by Lopez de Zúñiga, one of the Complutensian editors. Erasmus is said to have replied to these critics that the Comma did not occur in any of the Greek manuscripts he could find, but that he would add it to future editions if it appeared in a single Greek manuscript. Such a manuscript was subsequently produced, some say concocted, by a Franciscan, and Erasmus, true to his word, added the Comma to his 1522 edition, but with a lengthy footnote setting out his suspicion that the manuscript had been prepared expressly to confute him. This Erasmus change was accepted into the Received Text
editions, the chief source for the King James Version, thereby fixing the Comma firmly in the English-language scriptures for centuries.
The story of Erasmus' promise has been accepted as fact by scholars, repeated by even so eminent an authority as Bruce M. Metzger
. Nevertheless, it can be traced back no further than 1790, and a 1980 paper by Professor H.J. De Jonge concludes that no such promise was ever made by Erasmus, and that he never suspected the Codex Britannicus (Minuscule 61, the text prepared by the Franciscan) of having been fraudulently prepared with the express purpose of forcing him to include the Comma. Rather, Erasmus included the Comma because he wished to avoid any suspicion of personal unorthodoxy which might undermine the acceptance of his translation:
The term Textus Receptus
commonly refers to one of Erasmus's later editions or one of the works derived from them. The Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia
, a Protestant
reference published in 1914, comments:
Isaac Newton
(1643–1727), best known today for his many contributions to mathematics
and physics
, also wrote extensively on Biblical matters. In a 1690 treatise entitled An Historical Account of Two Notable Corruptions of Scripture
, he summed up the history of the comma and his own belief that it was introduced, intentionally or by accident, into a Latin text during the fourth or fifth century, a time when he believed the Church to be ripe with corruption:
The history of the comma in the centuries following the Textus Receptus has been one of initial acceptance followed by near-total rejection. This history is summed up in the Introduction to the 1808 New Testament in an improved version, upon the basis of Archbishop Newcome
's new translation, which did not contain the Comma Johanneum, where the editors explained their reasons for rejecting the Textus Receptus as follows: "1. This text concerning the heavenly witnesses is not contained in any Greek manuscript which was written earlier than the fifteenth century. 2. Nor in any Latin manuscript earlier than the ninth century.The Freisinger Fragments, dated from the 5th to 7th century, were published in 1876 by Zeigler and were not known at the time of this list of negative evidences in 1808. Similarly, the 7th century dating of Codex Legionensis was not assigned until 20th century. 3. It is not found in any of the ancient versions. 4. It is not cited by any of the Greek ecclesiastical writers, though to prove the doctrine of the Trinity they have cited the words both before and after this text 5. It is not cited by any of the early Latin fathers, even when the subjects upon which they treat would naturally have led them to appeal to its authority. 6. It is first cited by Virgilius Tapsensis, a Latin writer of no credit, in the latter end of the fifth century, and by him it is suspected to have been forged. The Priscillian citation was discovered and published in the latter 1800s, fully refuting this conjecture of forgery. And leading to short-lived theories of Priscillian as the verse author, as described in the article.7. It has been omitted as spurious in many editions of the New Testament since the Reformation:—in the two first of Erasmus, in those of Aldus, Colinaus, Zwinglius, and lately of Griesbach. 8. It was omitted by Luther in his German version. In the old English Bibles of Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Elizabeth, it was printed in small types, or included in brackets: but between the years 1566 and 1580 it began to be printed as it now stands; by whose authority, is not known." The Cambridge Paragraph Bible of the authorized English version, an edition of the King James Version published in 1873, and edited by noted textual scholar F.H.A. Scrivener, one of the translators of the English Revised Version, set the Comma in italics
to reflect its disputed authenticity. Few later Authorized Version editions retained this formatting. Modern Bible translations such as the NIV, NASB, ESV
, NRSV and others tend to either omit the Comma entirely, or relegate it to the footnotes.
The Roman Catholic Church was slower to reject the comma. The Council of Trent
in 1546 defined the Biblical canon
as "the entire books with all their parts, as these have been wont to be read in the Catholic Church and are contained in the old Latin Vulgate," meaning that the comma was included. Yet although the revised Vulgate contained the Comma, the earliest known copies did not, leaving the status of the Comma Johanneum unclear. On 13 January 1897, during a period of reaction in the Church, the Holy Office
decreed that Catholic theologians could not "with safety" deny or call into doubt the Comma's authenticity. Pope Leo XIII
approved this decision two days later, though his approval was not in forma specifica—that is, Leo XIII did not invest his full papal authority in the matter, leaving the decree with the ordinary authority possessed by the Holy Office. Three decades later, on 2 June 1927, the more liberal Pope Pius XI
decreed that the Comma Johanneum was open to dispute. The updated Nova Vulgata (New Vulgate), published in 1979 following Second Vatican Council
, does not include the Comma, nor does the English-language New American Bible
.
In more recent years, the Comma has become relevant to the King-James-Only Movement
, a largely Protestant
development most prevalent within the fundamentalist and Independent Baptist
branch of the Baptist
churches. Many proponents view the Comma as an important Trinitarian text.
(NA27) and the United Bible Societies (UBS4) provide three variants. The numbers here follow UBS4, which rates its preference for the first variant as { A }, meaning "virtually certain" to reflect the original text. The second variant is a longer Greek version found in only four manuscripts, the margins of three others and in some minority variant readings of lectionaries. All of the hundreds of other Greek manuscripts that contain 1 John support the first variant. The third variant is found only in Latin, in one class of Vulgate
manuscripts and three patristic works. The other two Vulgate traditions omit the Comma, as do more than a dozen major Church Fathers
who quote the verses. The Latin variant is considered a trinitarian gloss
, explaining or paralleled by the second Greek variant.
The gradual appearance of the comma in the manuscript evidence is represented in the following tables:
In footnote 193 on page 257 in his 1815 book, Nolan quotes two small out of context excerpts from a letter that Eugenius Bulgaris (1716-1806), an expert in the Greek language, wrote in 1780. In that 1780 letter, Eugenius analyzes the Greek grammar in 1 John 5:7-8 in the Received Text. In footnote 193, Nolan claims that what Eugenius says regarding 1 John 5:7-8 in the Received Text in his 1780 letter is the same thing that he (Nolan) says regarding 1 John 5:7-8 in the Received Text on pages 257, 260 and 565 in his 1815 book. However, when one takes the time to read Eugenius' 1780 letter, one discovers that what Eugenius says in his 1780 letter (the gender of the verb's subject is determined by the natural gender of the idea being expressed, not by the grammatical gender of any noun, and not by gender attraction) is the opposite of what Nolan says on pages 257, 260 and 565 in his 1815 book (the gender of the verb's subject is determined by the grammatical genders of the nouns and by gender attraction, not by the natural gender of the idea being expressed). Instead of supporting it, Nolan's own expert (Eugenius) refutes Nolan's grammatical argument.
On pages 191-234 in the 1871 (volume 22) edition of the Southern Presbyterian Review journal, Robert Dabney (1820-1898) anonymously presents his 1871 article, The Doctrinal Various Readings of the New Testament Greek, which is in part a review of Nolan’s 1815 book. On page 221, Dabney repeats the grammatical argument that Nolan originally presents on pages 257, 260 and 565 in his 1815 book, except Dabney had apparently not read page 565 in Nolan’s 1815 book, where Nolan states that the gender attraction in his grammatical argument occurs between the participles in 1 John 5:7-8 in the Received Text, because Dabney states on page 221 in his 1871 article that the gender attraction in Nolan’s grammatical argument occurs between the nouns in 1 John 5:7-8 in the Received Text.
Either Dabney never actually accepted Nolan’s grammatical argument in the first place, despite presenting it on page 221 in his 1871 article, or Dabney subsequently rejected it, because on page 182 in the 1878 second edition of his book, Syllabus and Notes of the Course of Systematic and Polemic Theology, Dabney states that 1 John 5:7 in the Received Text is certainly of too doubtful genuineness to be used in defense of the Trinity, which is the same thing Dabney states on page 116 in the 1871 first edition of that book.
On pages 350-390 in the 1890 book, Discussions Theological and Evangelical, which is a compilation of the previous writings of Dabney, the anonymous 1871 article is presented as having been written by Dabney (pages 377-378 in the 1890 book corresponding to page 221 in the 1871 article).
In footnote 20 on page 237 in his 1978 book, The Epistles of John, Dr. I. Howard Marshall subscribes to the explanation that the verb’s subject in 1 John 5:7-8 in the Majority Text and Critical Text (which correlates with 1 John 5:8 in the Received Text) is masculine because the Spirit, water and Blood are a person and two things (masculine natural gender), the grammatical genders of the three added nouns being irrelevant.
In footnote 44 on page 332 in his 1996 book, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, Dr. Daniel B. Wallace subscribes to the explanation that the verb’s subject in 1 John 5:7-8 in the Majority Text and Critical Text (which correlates with 1 John 5:8 in the Received Text) is masculine because the men (την μαρτυριαν / the men) in the witness of the men (την μαρτυριαν των ανθρωπων / the witness of-the men) in verse 5:9, to whom the Spirit, water and Blood are being compared in verses 5:7-8 in the Majority Text and Critical Text (which correlate with verse 5:8 in the Received Text), are three persons (masculine natural gender), the grammatical genders of the three added nouns being irrelevant.
There are four instances in the Received Text in which three added (appositive) nouns are added as modifiers to the verb’s subject or direct object to provide additional information (Matthew 23:23, 1 John 2:16, 1 John 5:7 and 1 John 5:8 / 1 John 5:7-8 in the Majority Text and Critical Text correlates with 1 John 5:8 in the Received Text).
(Received Text) Matthew 23:23 .. τα βαρυτερα ... κρισιν ... ελεον ... πιστιν ...
23:23 … the weightier-things [the verb’s direct object / neuter for things because judgment, mercy and faith are three things] … judgment [feminine] … mercy [masculine] … faith [feminine] …
(Received Text) 1 John 2:16 … παν το … επιθυμια … επιθυμια … αλαζονεια …
2:16 … every the-thing [the verb’s subject / neuter for things because lust, lust and pride are three things] … lust [feminine] … lust [feminine] … pride [feminine] …
(Received Text) 1 John 5:7 … οι μαρτυρουντες … πατηρ … λογος … πνευμα …
5:7 … the-ones bearing-witness [the verb’s subject / masculine for persons because the Father, Word and Spirit are three persons] … Father [masculine] … Word [masculine] … Spirit [neuter] …
(Received Text) 1 John 5:8 … οι μαρτυρουντες … πνευμα … υδωρ … αιμα … 9 … την μαρτυριαν των ανθρωπων …
5:8 … the-ones bearing-witness [the verb’s subject / either (1) masculine for a person and two things because the Spirit, water and Blood are a person and two things (Dr. Marshall), or (2) masculine for three persons because the men in the witness of the men, to whom the Spirit, water and Blood are being compared, are three persons (Dr. Wallace), or (3) masculine for three persons because the Father, Word and Spirit, to whom the spirit, water and blood (three things, according to Eugenius) are being compared, are three persons (Eugenius)] … Spirit [neuter] … water [neuter] … Blood [neuter] … 9 … the witness of-the men …
In all four instances, the verb’s subject or direct object agrees with the natural gender of the idea being expressed, and the grammatical genders of the added nouns that are added to it are irrelevant. This corroborates the statements of Eugenius (Nolan's own expert), Dr. Marshall and Dr. Wallace, and it refutes the grammatical argument originally presented by Nolan on pages 257, 260 and 565 in his 1815 book and anonymously repeated by Dabney on page 221 in his 1871 article.
Comma (rhetoric)
In Ancient Greek rhetoric a comma is a short clause, something less than a colon, originally denoted by comma marks. It is shaped as a small swipe at the bottom of the line....
(a short clause) in the First Epistle of John
First Epistle of John
The First Epistle of John, often referred to as First John and written 1 John, is a book of the New Testament. This fourth catholic or "general" epistle is attributed to John the Evangelist, traditionally thought to be the author of the Gospel of John and the other two Epistles of John. This...
according to the Latin Vulgate text as transmitted since the Early Middle Ages
Early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages was the period of European history lasting from the 5th century to approximately 1000. The Early Middle Ages followed the decline of the Western Roman Empire and preceded the High Middle Ages...
, based on Vetus Latina
Vetus Latina
Vetus Latina is a collective name given to the Biblical texts in Latin that were translated before St Jerome's Vulgate Bible became the standard Bible for Latin-speaking Western Christians. The phrase Vetus Latina is Latin for Old Latin, and the Vetus Latina is sometimes known as the Old Latin Bible...
minority readings dating to the 7th century. It was inserted into the Latin text based on a gloss
Gloss
A gloss is a brief notation of the meaning of a word or wording in a text. It may be in the language of the text, or in the reader's language if that is different....
to that text; the gloss itself may date to as early as the 3rd or 4th century.
It was included in the Textus Receptus
Textus Receptus
Textus Receptus is the name subsequently given to the succession of printed Greek texts of the New Testament which constituted the translation base for the original German Luther Bible, the translation of the New Testament into English by William Tyndale, the King James Version, and for most other...
(TR) compiled by Erasmus of Rotterdam because of its doctrinal importance in supporting Trinitarianism.
Owing to the widespread use of the Textus Receptus (TR) as the sole source, the comma is also contained in most translations published from 1522 until the latter part of the nineteenth century, Two earlier English versions that omitted the Comma were the editions of Daniel Mace
Daniel Mace (biblical scholar)
Daniel Mace was an English textual critic of the New Testament. He was a Presbyterian minister at Newbury, Berkshire, from 1727 until his death. He anticipated some conclusions of the textual critics of a century later which then met with general acceptance, e.g. disproving the authenticity of the...
(1729) and The New Testament in an Improved Version (1808) of the Unitarians. for Protestant translation. After Erasmus included the Comma in the 3rd edition of his Greek New Testament of 1522 the Comma was included in all the Received Text editions of Erasmus, Stephanus, Beza and the Elzivirs.
In translations containing the clause, such as the King James Version
King James Version of the Bible
The Authorized Version, commonly known as the King James Version, King James Bible or KJV, is an English translation of the Christian Bible by the Church of England begun in 1604 and completed in 1611...
, reads as follows (with the Comma in bold print):
- 5:7 "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
- 5:8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one."
The resulting passage is often viewed as an explicit reference to the Trinity
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
of Father
God the Father
God the Father is a gendered title given to God in many monotheistic religions, particularly patriarchal, Abrahamic ones. In Judaism, God is called Father because he is the creator, life-giver, law-giver, and protector...
, Son
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
and Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of the Hebrew Bible, but understood differently in the main Abrahamic religions.While the general concept of a "Spirit" that permeates the cosmos has been used in various religions Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of...
.Exceptions to this common understanding include Johannes Bugenhagen
Johannes Bugenhagen
Johannes Bugenhagen , also called Doctor Pomeranus by Martin Luther, introduced the Protestant Reformation in the Duchy of Pomerania and Denmark in the 16th century. Among his major accomplishments was organization of Lutheran churches in Northern Germany and Scandinavia...
, Pastor and student of Martin Luther, who called the verse an "Arian blasphemy", see Franz Posset. Hugo Grotius
Hugo Grotius
Hugo Grotius , also known as Huig de Groot, Hugo Grocio or Hugo de Groot, was a jurist in the Dutch Republic. With Francisco de Vitoria and Alberico Gentili he laid the foundations for international law, based on natural law...
(1583-1645) in his NT Annotations considered the verse an Arian addition Neque vero Arianis ablatas voces quasdam, sed potius additas. And John Jones
John Jones (Unitarian)
John Jones LL.D. was a Welsh Unitarian minister, critic, tutor and lexicographer.-Life:He was born about 1766 near Llandovery, in the parish of Llandingat, Carmarthenshire. His father was a farmer...
(Ben David) a non-Trinitarian who defended the verse in the Monthly Review (1826). Similarly, Edward Freer Hills in the King James Version Defended Ch. 8, 1956 hypothesized that the verse may have been allowed to drop from the Greek line by Trinitarians who saw the verse as favorable to Sabellianism. See also http://books.google.com/books?id=FF4UAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA536Frederick Nolan
Frederick Nolan (theologian)
-Life:Born at Old Rathmines Castle, County Dublin, the seat of his grandfather, on 9 February 1784, third son of Edward Nolan of St. Peter's, Dublin, by his wife Florinda. In 1796 he entered Trinity College, Dublin, but did not graduate, and on 19 November 1803 matriculated as a gentleman commoner...
in An Inquiry into the Integrity of the Greek Vulgate p. 536-547, 1815]. Nolan offers an earlier discourse of the Hills conjecture, including: "the orthodox were so far from having any inducement to appeal to this text, that they had every reason to avoid an allusion to it, as it apparently favored the tenets of their opponents. ... Sabellianism ... absolutely derives support from the text of the heavenly witnesses". The early usage by the non-Trinitarian Priscillian
Priscillian
Priscillian was bishop of Ávila and a theologian from Roman Gallaecia , the first person in the history of Christianity to be executed for heresy . He founded an ascetic group that, in spite of persecution, continued to subsist in Hispania and Gaul until the later 6th century...
is also discordant to the common understanding.
It does not appear in the older Greek manuscripts, nor in the passage as quoted by many of the early Church Fathers
Church Fathers
The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were early and influential theologians, eminent Christian teachers and great bishops. Their scholarly works were used as a precedent for centuries to come...
. The words apparently crept into the Latin text of the New Testament during the Early Middle Ages, "[possibly] as one of those medieval glosses but were then written into the text itself by a careless copyist.
Erasmus omitted them from his first edition; but when a storm of protest arose because the omission seemed to threaten the doctrine of the Trinity, he put them back in the third and later editions, whence they also came into the Textus Receptus
Textus Receptus
Textus Receptus is the name subsequently given to the succession of printed Greek texts of the New Testament which constituted the translation base for the original German Luther Bible, the translation of the New Testament into English by William Tyndale, the King James Version, and for most other...
, 'the received text'." Although many traditional Bible translations, most notably the Authorized King James Version (KJV), contain the Comma, modern Bible translations such as the New International Version
New International Version
The New International Version is an English translation of the Christian Bible. Published by Zondervan in the United States and by Hodder & Stoughton in the UK, it has become one of the most popular modern translations in history.-History:...
(NIV), the New American Standard Bible
New American Standard Bible
The New American Standard Bible , also informally called New American Standard Version , is an English translation of the Bible....
(NASB), the English Standard Version
English Standard Version
The English Standard Version is an English translation of the Christian Bible. It is a revision of the 1971 edition of the Revised Standard Version...
(ESV), the New Revised Standard Version
New Revised Standard Version
The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible is an English translation of the Bible released in 1989 in the USA. It is a thorough revision of the Revised Standard Version .There are three editions of the NRSV:...
(NRSV) and others tend to either omit the Comma entirely, or relegate it to the footnotes. The Nova Vulgata, the modern revision of the Vulgate
Vulgate
The Vulgate is a late 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. It was largely the work of St. Jerome, who was commissioned by Pope Damasus I in 382 to make a revision of the old Latin translations...
approved for liturgical use by the Catholic Church, also excludes the Comma. The Greek Orthodox editions (ZWH Brotherhood and Antoniades) have the Comma in the main text in a smaller font.
Origins
The comma is also absent from an extant fragment of Clement of Alexandria
Clement of Alexandria
Titus Flavius Clemens , known as Clement of Alexandria , was a Christian theologian and the head of the noted Catechetical School of Alexandria. Clement is best remembered as the teacher of Origen...
(c. 200), through Cassiodorus
Cassiodorus
Flavius Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator , commonly known as Cassiodorus, was a Roman statesman and writer, serving in the administration of Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. Senator was part of his surname, not his rank.- Life :Cassiodorus was born at Scylletium, near Catanzaro in...
(6th century), with homily style verse references from 1 John, including verse 1 John 5:6 and 1 John 5:8 without verse 7, the heavenly witnesses. Charles Forster in A new plea for the authenticity of the text of the three heavenly witnesses p 54-55 (1867) notes that the quote of verse 6 is partial, bypassing phrases in verse 6 as well as verse 7. And that Clement's "words et iterum clearly mark the interpolation of other topics and intervening text, between the two quotations." Et iterum is "and again" in the English translation. In addition Bengel, John Gill, Ben David and Thomas Burgess see "Every promise is valid before two or three witnesses, before the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit; before whom, as witnesses and helpers, what are called the commandments ought to be kept." Eclogae propheticae 13.1| Ben David, Monthly Review, p. 277 (1826) from Clement as solid evidence that he knew the verse. . Tertullian
Tertullian
Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, anglicised as Tertullian , was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He is the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of Latin Christian literature. He also was a notable early Christian apologist and...
, in his Against Praxeas (c. 210), supports a Trinitarian view by quoting John 10:30Tertullian's use of tres unum sunt in Against Praxeas "Ita connexus Patris in Filio, et Filii in Paracleto, tres efficit cohaerentes alterum ex altero: qui tres unum sunt, non unus quomodo dictum est, Ego et Pater unum sumus" has been seen by many commentators as a textual allusion to 1 John 5:7. e.g. Latin Christianity: It's Founder, Tertullian p.631 (1903) where editor Arthur Cleveland Coxe says "It appears to me very clear that Tertullian is quoting I. John v. 7. in the passage now under consideration". The English section is on p. 621, left column, bottom..
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
, is completely silent on the matter, which has been taken as evidence that the comma did not exist as part of the epistle's text in his time.But this argumentum ex silentio was rejected by other scholars."The silence of Augustine, contrary to prevailing opinion, cannot be cited as evidence against the genuineness of the Comma. He may indeed have known it" Annotated bibliography of the textual criticism of the New Testament p. 113 Bruce Manning Metzger, 1955. Metzger was citing S. Augustinus gegen das Comma Johanneum? by Norbert Fickermann, 1934, who considers evidence that Augustine specifically avoided referencing the verse directly. In addition, some Augustine references have been seen as verse allusions. About |Contra Maximinum (2.22.3; PL 42.794-95) "But if we will inquire into the things signified by these, there not unreasonably comes into our thoughts the Trinity itself, which is the One, Only, True, Supreme God, Father and Son and Holy Ghost, of whom it could most truly be said, "There are Three Witnesses, and the Three are One:" Raymond Brown in the New Jerome Biblical Commentary wrote that Augustine "appealed to this text in combination with John 10:30". In Augustine's City of God the phrase “God, supreme and true, with his Word and Holy Spirit, which three are one” (book 5, chapter 11) is seen by Warren H. Hepokoski as an allusion "conveniently ignored by the critics".
No Syriac
Syriac Christianity
Syriac or Syrian Christianity , the Syriac-speaking Christians of Mesopotamia, comprises multiple Christian traditions of Eastern Christianity. With a history going back to the 1st Century AD, in modern times it is represented by denominations primarily in the Middle East and in Kerala, India....
manuscripts include the Comma, and its presence in some printed Syriac Bibles is due to back-translation from the Latin Vulgate. Coptic
Coptic Christianity
The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria is the official name for the largest Christian church in Egypt and the Middle East. The Church belongs to the Oriental Orthodox family of churches, which has been a distinct church body since the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451, when it took a different...
manuscripts and those from Ethiopian churches also do not include it.
Possible origins
The 3rd-century Church father CyprianCyprian
Cyprian was bishop of Carthage and an important Early Christian writer, many of whose Latin works are extant. He was born around the beginning of the 3rd century in North Africa, perhaps at Carthage, where he received a classical education...
(died 258), in writing on the Unity of the Church, Treatise I section 6 quoted John 10:30 "The Lord says, 'I and the Father are one' " and added: "and again it is written of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, 'And these three are one.'" Daniel B. Wallace
Daniel B. Wallace
Daniel Baird Wallace is a professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary where he has been tenured since 1995. He is also the founder of the Center of the Study of NT Manuscripts....
says that "a Trinitarian interpretation was superimposed on the text by Cyprian". In noting this, Wallace is in agreement with the earlier critical edition of the New Testament (NA26
Novum Testamentum Graece
Novum Testamentum Graece is the Latin name editions of the original Greek-language version of the New Testament.The first printed edition was the Complutensian Polyglot Bible by Cardinal Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros, printed in 1514, but not published until 1520...
and UBS3) which consider Cyprian a witness against the Comma. The latest edition of UBS4 updated many early church writer references and has Cyprian for heavenly witnesses inclusion. Those who see Cyprian as a negative evidence assert that other theologians such as Athanasius of Alexandria
Athanasius of Alexandria
Athanasius of Alexandria [b. ca. – d. 2 May 373] is also given the titles St. Athanasius the Great, St. Athanasius I of Alexandria, St Athanasius the Confessor and St Athanasius the Apostolic. He was the 20th bishop of Alexandria. His long episcopate lasted 45 years Athanasius of Alexandria [b....
Traditionally, Athansius was considered to lend support to the authenticity of the verse, one reason being the Disputation with Arius at the Council of Nicea which circulated with the works of Athanasius. Where is found: "Likewise is not the remission of sins procured by that quickening and sanctifying ablution, without which no man shall see the kingdom of heaven, an ablution given to the faithful in the thrice-blessed name. And besides all these, John says, And the three are one." (Translation by Richard Porson, also given in Charles Forster's New Plea). Today, many scholars consider this a later work Pseudo-Athanasius, perhaps by Maximus the Confessor, although Forster argues for the writing as stylistically Athanasius. While the author and date are debated, this is a Greek verse reference directly related to the doctrinal Trinitarian-Arian controversies, and one that purports to be an account of Nicea when those doctrinal battles were raging. The reference was given in UBS-3 as supporting verse inclusion, yet was removed from UBS-4 for reasons unknown. The Synopsis of Scripture has also been referenced as showing Athanasian verse usage. and Origen
Origen
Origen , or Origen Adamantius, 184/5–253/4, was an early Christian Alexandrian scholar and theologian, and one of the most distinguished writers of the early Church. As early as the fourth century, his orthodoxy was suspect, in part because he believed in the pre-existence of souls...
never quoted or referred to the passage, which they would have done if the verse was in the Bibles of that era. The contrasting position is that there are in fact such references Origen, discussing water baptism in his commentary on the Gospel of John, references only verse 8 the earthly witnesses: "And it agrees with this that the disciple John speaks in his epistle of the spirit, and the water, and the blood, as being one." In the scholium on Psalm 122 attributed to Origen is the phrase "spirit and body are servants to masters, Father and Son, and the soul is handmaid to a mistress, the Holy Ghost; and the Lord our God is the three (persons), for the three are one". This has been considered by many commentators, including the translation source Nathaniel Ellsworth Cornwall (1812-1879) in The Church Review p. 634 (1874) as an allusion to verse 7., and that evidences from silence arguments in terms of extant early church writer material should not be given much weight.
In the early 20th century, there was a theory according to which Priscillian of Ávila
Priscillian
Priscillian was bishop of Ávila and a theologian from Roman Gallaecia , the first person in the history of Christianity to be executed for heresy . He founded an ascetic group that, in spite of persecution, continued to subsist in Hispania and Gaul until the later 6th century...
(died 385) was the author of the comma.
This idea of a Priscillian origin for the Comma had a brief scholarship flourish but quickly lost support in textual circles.
The Priscillian citation was discovered in the late 1800s, and in the early 1900s Karl Künstle published a paper that proposed that "the insertion of the comma into the text of the Epistle is due to Priscillian himself", as summarized by Alan England Brooke, who references four difficulties cited in the 1909 paper by Ernest Babut.
In the 6th century, Fulgentius of Ruspe
Fulgentius of Ruspe
Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe was bishop of the city of Ruspe, North Africa, in the 5th and 6th century who was canonized as a Christian saint...
is quoted as a witness in favour of the Comma. Like Cyprian a father of the North African Church, he referred to Cyprian's remark in his Responsio contra Arianos ("Reply against the Arians" ). Fulgentius (Ad 10; CC 91A, 797): In the Father, therefore, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we acknowledge unity of substance, but dare not confound the persons. For St. John the apostle, testifieth saying, There are three that bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Spirit, and these three are one. Which also the blessed martyr Cyprian, in his epistle de unitate Ecclesiae (Unity of the Church), confesseth, saying, Who so breaketh the peace of Christ, and concord, acteth against Christ: whoso gathereth elsewhere beside the Church, scattereth. And that he might shew, that the Church of the one God is one, he inserted these testimonies, immediately from the scriptures; The Lord said, I and the Father are one.(John x, 30). And again, of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, it is written, and these three are one (1 John v. 7). "Anitjacobin Review, Sabellian Controversy, Letter XII, p. 595 William Hales, (1816) Additional heavenly witnesses references from Fulgentius are in Fragmenta contra Fabianum (Frag. 21.4: CC 01A,797) and De Trinitate (1.4.1; CC 91A 636) Anchor Bible, Epistle of John, Raymond Brown (1982), cited in Maynard p. 44. For the English translation of De Trinitate see Introduction to the Critical Study p. 512 Thomas Horne (1821), and Fabianum "The blessed Apostle, St John, evidently says, And the three are one,..." is given by Thomas Burgess in A letter to the Reverend Thomas Beynon p.56 (1829) ( (The Arian
Arianism
Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...
heresy, which denied the Trinity, was particularly strong in North Africa);
Introduction to the text of the epistle
The oldest evidence of the comma presented as part of the epistle's text are two Vetus LatinaVetus Latina
Vetus Latina is a collective name given to the Biblical texts in Latin that were translated before St Jerome's Vulgate Bible became the standard Bible for Latin-speaking Western Christians. The phrase Vetus Latina is Latin for Old Latin, and the Vetus Latina is sometimes known as the Old Latin Bible...
manuscripts, namely the Codex Monacensis
Codex Monacensis
Codex Monacensis designated by X or 033 , A3 , is a Greek uncial manuscript of the Gospels, dated palaeographically to the 9th or 10th century...
(6th or 7th century) and Codex Legionensis
Codex Legionensis
The Codex Legionensis, designated l or 67 , is a 7th century Latin script of the Old and New Testament. The text, written on vellum, is in a fragmentary condition. In some parts it represents the Old Latin version, while follows Jerome's Vulgate in others...
(7th century), besides the younger Codex Speculum
Codex Speculum
The Codex Speculum or Speculum Ps-Augustine, designated by m, is a 5th century Latin manuscript of the New Testament. The text, written on vellum, is a version of the old Latin. The manuscript contains passages from all the books of the New Testament except 3 John, Hebrews, and Philemon on 154...
, an 8th- or 9th-century collection of New Testament quotations.
The comma then apparently became worked into copies of the Latin Vulgate roughly around the year 800.
It was subsequently back-translated into some Greek manuscripts.
Nestle-Aland
Novum Testamentum Graece
Novum Testamentum Graece is the Latin name editions of the original Greek-language version of the New Testament.The first printed edition was the Complutensian Polyglot Bible by Cardinal Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros, printed in 1514, but not published until 1520...
is aware of eight Greek manuscripts which contain the comma.
The date of the addition is late, probably dating to the time of Erasmus.
In one manuscript, back-translated into Greek from the Vulgate, the phrase "and these three are one" is not present.
Erasmus and the Textus Receptus
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
Erasmus. Erasmus had been working for years on two projects: a collation of Greek texts and a fresh Latin New Testament. In 1512, he began his work on a fresh Latin New Testament. He collected all the Vulgate manuscripts he could find to create a critical edition. Then he polished the Latin. He declared, "It is only fair that Paul should address the Romans in somewhat better Latin." In the earlier phases of the project, he never mentioned a Greek text:
"My mind is so excited at the thought of emending Jerome’s text, with notes, that I seem to myself inspired by some god. I have already almost finished emending him by collating a large number of ancient manuscripts, and this I am doing at enormous personal expense."
While his intentions for publishing a fresh Latin translation are clear, it is less clear why he included the Greek text. Though some speculate that he intended on producing a critical Greek text or that he wanted to beat the Complutensian Polyglot into print, there is no evidence to support this. Rather his motivation seems to be simpler: he included the Greek text to prove the superiority of his Latin version. He wrote, "There remains the New Testament translated by me, with the Greek facing, and notes on it by me." He further demonstrated the reason for the inclusion of the Greek text when defending his work:
"But one thing the facts cry out, and it can be clear, as they say, even to a blind man, that often through the translator’s clumsiness or inattention the Greek has been wrongly rendered; often the true and genuine reading has been corrupted by ignorant scribes, which we see happen every day, or altered by scribes who are half-taught and half-asleep."
Erasmus's new work was published by Froben of Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
in 1516 and thence became the first published Greek New Testament, the Novum Instrumentum omne
Novum Instrumentum omne
Novum Instrumentum omne was the first published New Testament in Greek . It was prepared by Desiderius Erasmus and printed by Johann Froben of Basel. Although the first printed Greek New Testament was the Complutensian Polyglot , it was the second to be published...
, diligenter ab Erasmo Rot. Recognitum et Emendatum. The second edition used the more familiar term Testamentum instead of Instrumentum, and eventually became a major source for Luther's German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
translation.
In his haste, Erasmus made a considerable number of transcription mistakes. He was unable to find manuscripts containing the entire Greek New Testament, so he compiled several different sources. After comparing what writings he could find, Erasmus wrote corrections between the lines of of the manuscripts he was using (among which was Minuscule 2
Minuscule 2
Codex Basiliensis A. N. IV. 1, known as Minuscule 2 , ε 1214 . It is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, dated palaeographically to the 11th or 12th century. It was used by Erasmus in his edition of Greek text of the New Testament and became the basis for the Textus Receptus in the...
) and sent them as proofs to Froben. Erasmus said the resulting work was "thrown headlong rather than edited" ("prœcipitatum fuit verius quam editum"). He fixed many but not all of the resulting mistakes in the second edition, published in 1519. The Comma does not appear until the third edition, published in 1522.
Textus Receptus
Textus Receptus is the name subsequently given to the succession of printed Greek texts of the New Testament which constituted the translation base for the original German Luther Bible, the translation of the New Testament into English by William Tyndale, the King James Version, and for most other...
editions, the chief source for the King James Version, thereby fixing the Comma firmly in the English-language scriptures for centuries.
The story of Erasmus' promise has been accepted as fact by scholars, repeated by even so eminent an authority as Bruce M. Metzger
Bruce Metzger
Bruce Manning Metzger was a professor at Princeton Theological Seminary and Bible editor who served on the board of the American Bible Society. He was a scholar of Greek, New Testament and Old Testament, and wrote prolifically on these subjects.- Biography :Metzger was born in Middletown,...
. Nevertheless, it can be traced back no further than 1790, and a 1980 paper by Professor H.J. De Jonge concludes that no such promise was ever made by Erasmus, and that he never suspected the Codex Britannicus (Minuscule 61, the text prepared by the Franciscan) of having been fraudulently prepared with the express purpose of forcing him to include the Comma. Rather, Erasmus included the Comma because he wished to avoid any suspicion of personal unorthodoxy which might undermine the acceptance of his translation:
"For the sake of his ideal Erasmus chose to avoid any occasion for slander rather than persisting in philological accuracy and thus condemning himself to impotence. That was the reason why Erasmus included the Comma Johanneum even though he remained convinced that it did not belong to the original text of l John."
The term Textus Receptus
Textus Receptus
Textus Receptus is the name subsequently given to the succession of printed Greek texts of the New Testament which constituted the translation base for the original German Luther Bible, the translation of the New Testament into English by William Tyndale, the King James Version, and for most other...
commonly refers to one of Erasmus's later editions or one of the works derived from them. The Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia
Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge
The Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge is a religious encyclopedia. It is based on an earlier German encyclopedia, the Realencyklopädie für protestantische Theologie und Kirche. Like the Realencyklopädie, it focuses on Christianity from a primarily Protestant point of...
, a Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
reference published in 1914, comments:
Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
(1643–1727), best known today for his many contributions to mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
and physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, also wrote extensively on Biblical matters. In a 1690 treatise entitled An Historical Account of Two Notable Corruptions of Scripture
An Historical Account of Two Notable Corruptions of Scripture
An Historical Account of Two Notable Corruptions of Scripture is a dissertation by the English mathematician and scholar Sir Isaac Newton. First published in 1754, 27 years after his death, it claimed to review all the textual evidence available from ancient sources on two disputed Bible passages: ...
, he summed up the history of the comma and his own belief that it was introduced, intentionally or by accident, into a Latin text during the fourth or fifth century, a time when he believed the Church to be ripe with corruption:
History of modern study
William Newcome
William Newcome was an Englishman and cleric of the Church of Ireland who was appointed to the bishoprics of Dromore , Ossory , Waterford and Lismore , and lastly to the Primatial See of Armagh .-Life:...
's new translation, which did not contain the Comma Johanneum, where the editors explained their reasons for rejecting the Textus Receptus as follows: "1. This text concerning the heavenly witnesses is not contained in any Greek manuscript which was written earlier than the fifteenth century. 2. Nor in any Latin manuscript earlier than the ninth century.The Freisinger Fragments, dated from the 5th to 7th century, were published in 1876 by Zeigler and were not known at the time of this list of negative evidences in 1808. Similarly, the 7th century dating of Codex Legionensis was not assigned until 20th century. 3. It is not found in any of the ancient versions. 4. It is not cited by any of the Greek ecclesiastical writers, though to prove the doctrine of the Trinity they have cited the words both before and after this text 5. It is not cited by any of the early Latin fathers, even when the subjects upon which they treat would naturally have led them to appeal to its authority. 6. It is first cited by Virgilius Tapsensis, a Latin writer of no credit, in the latter end of the fifth century, and by him it is suspected to have been forged. The Priscillian citation was discovered and published in the latter 1800s, fully refuting this conjecture of forgery. And leading to short-lived theories of Priscillian as the verse author, as described in the article.7. It has been omitted as spurious in many editions of the New Testament since the Reformation:—in the two first of Erasmus, in those of Aldus, Colinaus, Zwinglius, and lately of Griesbach. 8. It was omitted by Luther in his German version. In the old English Bibles of Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Elizabeth, it was printed in small types, or included in brackets: but between the years 1566 and 1580 it began to be printed as it now stands; by whose authority, is not known." The Cambridge Paragraph Bible of the authorized English version, an edition of the King James Version published in 1873, and edited by noted textual scholar F.H.A. Scrivener, one of the translators of the English Revised Version, set the Comma in italics
Italic type
In typography, italic type is a cursive typeface based on a stylized form of calligraphic handwriting. Owing to the influence from calligraphy, such typefaces often slant slightly to the right. Different glyph shapes from roman type are also usually used—another influence from calligraphy...
to reflect its disputed authenticity. Few later Authorized Version editions retained this formatting. Modern Bible translations such as the NIV, NASB, ESV
English Standard Version
The English Standard Version is an English translation of the Christian Bible. It is a revision of the 1971 edition of the Revised Standard Version...
, NRSV and others tend to either omit the Comma entirely, or relegate it to the footnotes.
The Roman Catholic Church was slower to reject the comma. The Council of Trent
Council of Trent
The Council of Trent was the 16th-century Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. It is considered to be one of the Church's most important councils. It convened in Trent between December 13, 1545, and December 4, 1563 in twenty-five sessions for three periods...
in 1546 defined the Biblical canon
Biblical canon
A biblical canon, or canon of scripture, is a list of books considered to be authoritative as scripture by a particular religious community. The term itself was first coined by Christians, but the idea is found in Jewish sources. The internal wording of the text can also be specified, for example...
as "the entire books with all their parts, as these have been wont to be read in the Catholic Church and are contained in the old Latin Vulgate," meaning that the comma was included. Yet although the revised Vulgate contained the Comma, the earliest known copies did not, leaving the status of the Comma Johanneum unclear. On 13 January 1897, during a period of reaction in the Church, the Holy Office
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , previously known as the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition , and after 1904 called the Supreme...
decreed that Catholic theologians could not "with safety" deny or call into doubt the Comma's authenticity. Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII , born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci to an Italian comital family, was the 256th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903...
approved this decision two days later, though his approval was not in forma specifica—that is, Leo XIII did not invest his full papal authority in the matter, leaving the decree with the ordinary authority possessed by the Holy Office. Three decades later, on 2 June 1927, the more liberal Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI , born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, was Pope from 6 February 1922, and sovereign of Vatican City from its creation as an independent state on 11 February 1929 until his death on 10 February 1939...
decreed that the Comma Johanneum was open to dispute. The updated Nova Vulgata (New Vulgate), published in 1979 following Second Vatican Council
Second Vatican Council
The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...
, does not include the Comma, nor does the English-language New American Bible
New American Bible
The New American Bible is a Catholic Bible translation first published in 1970. It had its beginnings in the Confraternity Bible, which began to be translated from the original languages in 1948....
.
In more recent years, the Comma has become relevant to the King-James-Only Movement
King-James-Only Movement
The "King James Only movement" advocates the superiority of the Authorized King James Version of the Protestant Bible. The topic increased in newsworthiness in 2011, the 400th anniversary of the translation's 1611 initial publication....
, a largely Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
development most prevalent within the fundamentalist and Independent Baptist
Independent Baptist
Independent Baptist churches are Christian churches generally holding to conservative Baptist beliefs. They are characterized by being independent from the authority of denominations or similar bodies. Members of such churches comprised three percent of the United States adult population according...
branch of the Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
churches. Many proponents view the Comma as an important Trinitarian text.
Manuscript evidence
Both Novum Testamentum GraeceNovum Testamentum Graece
Novum Testamentum Graece is the Latin name editions of the original Greek-language version of the New Testament.The first printed edition was the Complutensian Polyglot Bible by Cardinal Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros, printed in 1514, but not published until 1520...
(NA27) and the United Bible Societies (UBS4) provide three variants. The numbers here follow UBS4, which rates its preference for the first variant as { A }, meaning "virtually certain" to reflect the original text. The second variant is a longer Greek version found in only four manuscripts, the margins of three others and in some minority variant readings of lectionaries. All of the hundreds of other Greek manuscripts that contain 1 John support the first variant. The third variant is found only in Latin, in one class of Vulgate
Vulgate
The Vulgate is a late 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. It was largely the work of St. Jerome, who was commissioned by Pope Damasus I in 382 to make a revision of the old Latin translations...
manuscripts and three patristic works. The other two Vulgate traditions omit the Comma, as do more than a dozen major Church Fathers
Church Fathers
The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were early and influential theologians, eminent Christian teachers and great bishops. Their scholarly works were used as a precedent for centuries to come...
who quote the verses. The Latin variant is considered a trinitarian gloss
Glosses to the Bible
Biblical scholars use the word glossa or gloss, in connexion with glosses of Biblical texts. A gloss meant an explanation of a purely verbal difficulty of the text, to the exclusion of explanations required by doctrinal, ritual, historical, and other obscurities...
, explaining or paralleled by the second Greek variant.
- No Comma. [... witnessing, the spirit and the water and the blood.] Select evidence: Codex SinaiticusCodex SinaiticusCodex Sinaiticus is one of the four great uncial codices, an ancient, handwritten copy of the Greek Bible. It is an Alexandrian text-type manuscript written in the 4th century in uncial letters on parchment. Current scholarship considers the Codex Sinaiticus to be one of the best Greek texts of...
, Codex AlexandrinusCodex AlexandrinusThe Codex Alexandrinus is a 5th century manuscript of the Greek Bible,The Greek Bible in this context refers to the Bible used by Greek-speaking Christians who lived in Egypt and elsewhere during the early history of Christianity...
, Codex Vaticanus, and other codices; Uncial 048, 049Uncial 049Uncial 049 , α 2 . It is a Greek uncial manuscript of the New Testament. Paleographically it has been assigned to the 9th century.- Description :...
, 056Uncial 056Uncial 056 , O7 , is a Greek uncial manuscript of the New Testament, dated paleographically to the 10th century.- Description :...
, 0142Uncial 0142Uncial 0142 , O6 , is a Greek uncial manuscript of the New Testament, dated paleographically to the 10th century...
; the text of Minuscules 33Minuscule 33Minuscule 33 , δ 48 , formerly it was called Codex Colbertinus 2844, is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament on parchment, dated palaeographically to the 9th century. The manuscript is lacunose. It has marginalia...
, 81Minuscule 81Minuscule 81 , or α162 is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, on a parchment. It is dated by a colophon to the year 1044. Formerly it was labelled by 61a and 61p . The manuscript is lacunose...
, 88Minuscule 88Codex Regis , is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, on parchment leaves. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 12th century...
, 104Minuscule 104Minuscule 104 , α 103 , is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, on parchment leaves. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 12th century.Formerly it was labelled by 25a, 31p, and 7r....
, and other minuscules; the Byzantine majority textByzantine text-typeThe Byzantine text-type is one of several text-types used in textual criticism to describe the textual character of Greek New Testament manuscripts. It is the form found in the largest number of surviving manuscripts, though not in the oldest...
; the majority of Lectionaries, in particular the menologion of Lectionary 598; the Vulgate (John WordsworthJohn WordsworthThe Right Reverend John Wordsworth was an English prelate. He was born at Harrow on the Hill, to the Reverend Christopher Wordsworth, nephew of the poet William Wordsworth...
and Henry Julian WhiteHenry Julian WhiteHenry Julian White was a biblical scholar. He was born in Islington and educated at Oxford. He was ordained in 1886, becoming the domestic chaplain of John Wordsworth in the same year. He taught at Oxford from 1895 and King's College London from 1905. He assisted Wordsworth in producing an edition...
edition and the Stuttgart), Syriac, Coptic (both Sahidic and Bohairic), and other translations; Clement of AlexandriaClement of AlexandriaTitus Flavius Clemens , known as Clement of Alexandria , was a Christian theologian and the head of the noted Catechetical School of Alexandria. Clement is best remembered as the teacher of Origen...
(died 215), OrigenOrigenOrigen , or Origen Adamantius, 184/5–253/4, was an early Christian Alexandrian scholar and theologian, and one of the most distinguished writers of the early Church. As early as the fourth century, his orthodoxy was suspect, in part because he believed in the pre-existence of souls...
(died 254), and other quotations in the Church Fathers. - The Comma in Greek. All non-lectionary evidence cited: Minuscules Codex Montfortianus (Minuscule 61 Gregory-Aland, c. 1520), 629Minuscule 629Minuscule 629 , α 460 , is a Latin–Greek diglot minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, on parchment. It is known as Codex Ottobonianus. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 14th century. The manuscript is lacunose. It is known for the Comma Johanneum.Formerly it was labeled by 162a and...
(Codex Ottobonianus, 14/15th cent.), 918 (16th cent.), 2318 (18th cent.). - The Comma at the margins of Greek at the margins of minuscules 88Minuscule 88Codex Regis , is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, on parchment leaves. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 12th century...
(Codex Regis, 11th cent. with margins added at the 16th cent.), 221Minuscule 221Minuscule 221 , α69 , is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, on parchment. Paleographically it has been assigned to the 10th century...
(10th cent. with margins added at the 15/16th cent.), 429Minuscule 429Minuscule 429 , α 398 , is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, on cotton paper. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 14th century .- Description :...
(14th cent. with margins added at the 16th cent.), 636Minuscule 636Minuscule 636 , α 598 , is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, on paper. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 15th century. The manuscript has complex contents...
(16th cent.); some minority variant readings in lectionaries. - The Comma in Latin. testimonium dicunt [or dant] in terra, spiritus [or: spiritus et] aqua et sanguis, et hi tres unum sunt in Christo Iesu. 8 et tres sunt, qui testimonium dicunt in caelo, pater verbum et spiritus. [... giving evidence on earth, spirit, water and blood, and these three are one in Christ Jesus. 8 And the three, which give evidence in heaven, are father word and spirit.] All evidence from Fathers cited: Clementine edition of VulgateSixto-Clementine VulgateVulgata Sixto-Clementina, is the edition of Latin Vulgate from 1592, prepared by Pope Clement VIII. It was the second edition of the Vulgate authorised by this Pope, and it was used until the 20th century.- Clementine edition :...
translation; Pseudo-Augustine's Speculum Peccatoris (V), also (these three with some variation) CyprianCyprianCyprian was bishop of Carthage and an important Early Christian writer, many of whose Latin works are extant. He was born around the beginning of the 3rd century in North Africa, perhaps at Carthage, where he received a classical education...
, Ps-Cyprian, & PriscillianPriscillianPriscillian was bishop of Ávila and a theologian from Roman Gallaecia , the first person in the history of Christianity to be executed for heresy . He founded an ascetic group that, in spite of persecution, continued to subsist in Hispania and Gaul until the later 6th century...
(died 385) Liber Apologeticus. And Contra-Varimadum, and Ps-Vigilius, Fulgentius of RuspeFulgentius of RuspeSaint Fulgentius of Ruspe was bishop of the city of Ruspe, North Africa, in the 5th and 6th century who was canonized as a Christian saint...
(died 527) Responsio contra Arianos.
The gradual appearance of the comma in the manuscript evidence is represented in the following tables:
| Latin manuscripts | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Name | Place | Other information |
| 7th cent. | Codex Legionensis Codex Legionensis The Codex Legionensis, designated l or 67 , is a 7th century Latin script of the Old and New Testament. The text, written on vellum, is in a fragmentary condition. In some parts it represents the Old Latin version, while follows Jerome's Vulgate in others... |
Leon Cathedral | Spanish |
| 7th cent. | Frisingensia Fragmenta Frisingensia Fragmenta The Codex Frisingensis, designated by r and q or 64 , is a 6th or 7th century Latin manuscript of the New Testament. The text, written on vellum, is a version of the old Latin. The manuscript contains the text of the Pauline epistles with numerous lacunae on only 26 parchment leaves.The manuscript... |
Spanish | |
| 9th cent. | Codex Cavensis | Spanish | |
| 9th cent. | Codex Ulmensis | Spanish | |
| 927 A.D. | Codex Complutensis I Codex Complutensis I The Codex Complutensis I, designated by C, is a 10th century Latin manuscript of the Old and New Testament. The text, written on vellum, is a version of the Latin Vulgate Bible... |
Spanish | |
| 10th cent. | Codex Toletanus Codex Toletanus The Codex Toletanus, designated by T, is a 10th century Latin manuscript of the Old and New Testament. The text, written on vellum, is a version of the Latin Vulgate Bible, which contains the entire Bible, including the trinity reference Comma Johanneum.... |
Spanish | |
| 8th–9th cent. | Codex Theodulphianus Codex Theodulphianus The Codex Theodulphianus, designated Θ, is a 10th century Latin manuscript of the Old and New Testament. The text, written on vellum, is a version of the Latin Vulgate Bible... |
Paris (BnF) | Franco-Spanish |
| 8th–9th cent. | Codex Sangallensis 907 Codex Sangallensis 907 The Codex Sangallensis 907, designated S, is an 8th century Latin manuscript of the New Testament. The text, written on vellum, is a version of the Latin Vulgate Bible. It contains the text of the Catholic epistles, Book of Revelation, and non-biblical material... |
St. Gallen St. Gallen St. Gallen is the capital of the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. It evolved from the hermitage of Saint Gall, founded in the 7th century. Today, it is a large urban agglomeration and represents the center of eastern Switzerland. The town mainly relies on the service sector for its economic... |
Franco-Spanish |
| 9th–10th cent. | Codex Sangallensis 63 Codex Sangallensis 63 The Codex Sangallensis 63, designated S, is a 9th century Latin manuscript of the New Testament. The text, written on vellum, is a version of the Latin Vulgate Bible and contains the text of the Acts of the Apostles, Epistles, Book of Revelation, and non-biblical material... |
St. Gallen St. Gallen St. Gallen is the capital of the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. It evolved from the hermitage of Saint Gall, founded in the 7th century. Today, it is a large urban agglomeration and represents the center of eastern Switzerland. The town mainly relies on the service sector for its economic... |
marginal gloss |
| Greek manuscripts | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Manuscript No. | Name | Place | Other information |
| c. 1520 | 61 Minuscule 61 Codex Montfortianus designated by 61 , and known as minuscule 61, Erasmus named it Codex Britannicus, is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament on paper. It is dated to the early 16th century, though a 15th century date is possible on palaeographic grounds.The manuscript is famous for... |
Codex Montfortianus | Dublin | Original. Reads "Holy Spirit" instead of simply "Spirit". Articles are missing before the "three witnesses" (spirit, water, blood). |
| 14th–15th cent. | 629 Minuscule 629 Minuscule 629 , α 460 , is a Latin–Greek diglot minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, on parchment. It is known as Codex Ottobonianus. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 14th century. The manuscript is lacunose. It is known for the Comma Johanneum.Formerly it was labeled by 162a and... |
Codex Ottobonianus | Vatican Vatican Library The Vatican Library is the library of the Holy See, currently located in Vatican City. It is one of the oldest libraries in the world and contains one of the most significant collections of historical texts. Formally established in 1475, though in fact much older, it has 75,000 codices from... |
Original. Latin text along the Greek text, revised to conform to the Latin. The Comma was translated and copied back into the Greek from the Latin. |
| 16th cent. | 918 Minuscule 918 (Gregory-Aland) Minuscule 918 , 0 66 , is a 16th-century Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament on paper, with a commentary. The manuscript is famous for the Comma Johanneum.- Description :... |
Escorial (Spain) |
Original. | |
| 18th cent. | 2318 | Bucharest Bucharest Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River.... |
Original. Thought to be influenced by the Vulgata Clementina. |
|
| 18th cent. | 2473 | Athens Athens Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state... |
Original. | |
| 11th cent. | 88 Minuscule 88 Codex Regis , is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, on parchment leaves. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 12th century... |
Codex Regis | Naples | Marginal gloss: 16th cent. |
| 11th cent. | 177 Minuscule 177 Minuscule 177 , α 106 , is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, on parchment. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 11th century. Formerly it was labelled by 179a, 128p, and 82r... |
BSB Cod. graec. 211 | Munich | Marginal gloss: late 16th cent. |
| 10th cent. | 221 Minuscule 221 Minuscule 221 , α69 , is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, on parchment. Paleographically it has been assigned to the 10th century... |
Oxford Oxford The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through... |
Marginal gloss: 15th or 16th cent. | |
| 14th cent. | 429 Minuscule 429 Minuscule 429 , α 398 , is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, on cotton paper. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 14th century .- Description :... |
Codex Wolfenbüttel | Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, located on the Oker river about 13 kilometres south of Brunswick. It is the seat of the District of Wolfenbüttel and of the bishop of the Protestant Lutheran State Church of Brunswick... (Germany) |
Marginal gloss: 16th cent. |
| 16th cent. | 636 Minuscule 636 Minuscule 636 , α 598 , is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, on paper. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 15th century. The manuscript has complex contents... |
Naples | Marginal gloss: 16th cent. | |
The Grammar in 1 John 5:7-8
On pages 257, 260 and 565 in his 1815 book, An Inquiry into the Integrity of the Greek Vulgate, Frederick Nolan (1784-1864) is the first person to claim (1) that the verb’s subject (οι μαρτυρουντες / the-ones bearing-witness / a substantival articular participle / masculine) in 1 John 5:7 in the Received Text agrees with the grammatical genders (masculine, masculine, neuter) of the three added (appositive) nouns (πατηρ, λογος, πνευμα / Father, Word, Spirit / three persons / masculine natural gender) that are added to it, and (2) that the verb’s subject (οι μαρτυρουντες / the-ones bearing-witness / a substantival articular participle / masculine) in 1 John 5:8 in the Received Text should agree with the grammatical genders (neuter, neuter, neuter) of the three added (appositive) nouns (πνευμα, υδωρ, αιμα / Spirit, water, Blood / a person and two things / masculine natural gender) that are added to it, and (3) that the reason that this does not occur in verse 5:8 is that the verb’s subject in verse 5:8 is attracted in gender to the verb’s subject in verse 5:7, and (4) that this proves that John wrote verse 5:7.In footnote 193 on page 257 in his 1815 book, Nolan quotes two small out of context excerpts from a letter that Eugenius Bulgaris (1716-1806), an expert in the Greek language, wrote in 1780. In that 1780 letter, Eugenius analyzes the Greek grammar in 1 John 5:7-8 in the Received Text. In footnote 193, Nolan claims that what Eugenius says regarding 1 John 5:7-8 in the Received Text in his 1780 letter is the same thing that he (Nolan) says regarding 1 John 5:7-8 in the Received Text on pages 257, 260 and 565 in his 1815 book. However, when one takes the time to read Eugenius' 1780 letter, one discovers that what Eugenius says in his 1780 letter (the gender of the verb's subject is determined by the natural gender of the idea being expressed, not by the grammatical gender of any noun, and not by gender attraction) is the opposite of what Nolan says on pages 257, 260 and 565 in his 1815 book (the gender of the verb's subject is determined by the grammatical genders of the nouns and by gender attraction, not by the natural gender of the idea being expressed). Instead of supporting it, Nolan's own expert (Eugenius) refutes Nolan's grammatical argument.
On pages 191-234 in the 1871 (volume 22) edition of the Southern Presbyterian Review journal, Robert Dabney (1820-1898) anonymously presents his 1871 article, The Doctrinal Various Readings of the New Testament Greek, which is in part a review of Nolan’s 1815 book. On page 221, Dabney repeats the grammatical argument that Nolan originally presents on pages 257, 260 and 565 in his 1815 book, except Dabney had apparently not read page 565 in Nolan’s 1815 book, where Nolan states that the gender attraction in his grammatical argument occurs between the participles in 1 John 5:7-8 in the Received Text, because Dabney states on page 221 in his 1871 article that the gender attraction in Nolan’s grammatical argument occurs between the nouns in 1 John 5:7-8 in the Received Text.
Either Dabney never actually accepted Nolan’s grammatical argument in the first place, despite presenting it on page 221 in his 1871 article, or Dabney subsequently rejected it, because on page 182 in the 1878 second edition of his book, Syllabus and Notes of the Course of Systematic and Polemic Theology, Dabney states that 1 John 5:7 in the Received Text is certainly of too doubtful genuineness to be used in defense of the Trinity, which is the same thing Dabney states on page 116 in the 1871 first edition of that book.
On pages 350-390 in the 1890 book, Discussions Theological and Evangelical, which is a compilation of the previous writings of Dabney, the anonymous 1871 article is presented as having been written by Dabney (pages 377-378 in the 1890 book corresponding to page 221 in the 1871 article).
In footnote 20 on page 237 in his 1978 book, The Epistles of John, Dr. I. Howard Marshall subscribes to the explanation that the verb’s subject in 1 John 5:7-8 in the Majority Text and Critical Text (which correlates with 1 John 5:8 in the Received Text) is masculine because the Spirit, water and Blood are a person and two things (masculine natural gender), the grammatical genders of the three added nouns being irrelevant.
In footnote 44 on page 332 in his 1996 book, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, Dr. Daniel B. Wallace subscribes to the explanation that the verb’s subject in 1 John 5:7-8 in the Majority Text and Critical Text (which correlates with 1 John 5:8 in the Received Text) is masculine because the men (την μαρτυριαν / the men) in the witness of the men (την μαρτυριαν των ανθρωπων / the witness of-the men) in verse 5:9, to whom the Spirit, water and Blood are being compared in verses 5:7-8 in the Majority Text and Critical Text (which correlate with verse 5:8 in the Received Text), are three persons (masculine natural gender), the grammatical genders of the three added nouns being irrelevant.
There are four instances in the Received Text in which three added (appositive) nouns are added as modifiers to the verb’s subject or direct object to provide additional information (Matthew 23:23, 1 John 2:16, 1 John 5:7 and 1 John 5:8 / 1 John 5:7-8 in the Majority Text and Critical Text correlates with 1 John 5:8 in the Received Text).
(Received Text) Matthew 23:23 .. τα βαρυτερα ... κρισιν ... ελεον ... πιστιν ...
23:23 … the weightier-things [the verb’s direct object / neuter for things because judgment, mercy and faith are three things] … judgment [feminine] … mercy [masculine] … faith [feminine] …
(Received Text) 1 John 2:16 … παν το … επιθυμια … επιθυμια … αλαζονεια …
2:16 … every the-thing [the verb’s subject / neuter for things because lust, lust and pride are three things] … lust [feminine] … lust [feminine] … pride [feminine] …
(Received Text) 1 John 5:7 … οι μαρτυρουντες … πατηρ … λογος … πνευμα …
5:7 … the-ones bearing-witness [the verb’s subject / masculine for persons because the Father, Word and Spirit are three persons] … Father [masculine] … Word [masculine] … Spirit [neuter] …
(Received Text) 1 John 5:8 … οι μαρτυρουντες … πνευμα … υδωρ … αιμα … 9 … την μαρτυριαν των ανθρωπων …
5:8 … the-ones bearing-witness [the verb’s subject / either (1) masculine for a person and two things because the Spirit, water and Blood are a person and two things (Dr. Marshall), or (2) masculine for three persons because the men in the witness of the men, to whom the Spirit, water and Blood are being compared, are three persons (Dr. Wallace), or (3) masculine for three persons because the Father, Word and Spirit, to whom the spirit, water and blood (three things, according to Eugenius) are being compared, are three persons (Eugenius)] … Spirit [neuter] … water [neuter] … Blood [neuter] … 9 … the witness of-the men …
In all four instances, the verb’s subject or direct object agrees with the natural gender of the idea being expressed, and the grammatical genders of the added nouns that are added to it are irrelevant. This corroborates the statements of Eugenius (Nolan's own expert), Dr. Marshall and Dr. Wallace, and it refutes the grammatical argument originally presented by Nolan on pages 257, 260 and 565 in his 1815 book and anonymously repeated by Dabney on page 221 in his 1871 article.
See also
- Textual criticismTextual criticismTextual criticism is a branch of literary criticism that is concerned with the identification and removal of transcription errors in the texts of manuscripts...
- David Martin (French divine)David Martin (French divine)David Martin , a learned French Protestant theologian, was born at Revel, in the diocese of Lavaur.He was educated at Montauban, and at the academy of the reformed at Nîmes. He afterwards studied divinity at Puy-Laurent, whither the academy of Montauban had been removed...
– the French Bible translator who also defended the authenticity of the Comma Johanneum. - Codex RavianusCodex RavianusCodex Ravianus is a manuscript rewritten from Complutensian Polyglot Bible. Formerly it was listed as a Greek manuscript of the New Testament, but it was removed from the list in 1908...
Other disputed New Testament passages
- The Longer Ending of Mark
- Pericope AdulteræPericope AdulteræThe Pericope Adulterae or Pericope de Adultera is a traditional name for a famous passage about Jesus and the woman taken in adultery from verses of the Gospel of John. The passage describes a confrontation between Jesus and the scribes and Pharisees over whether a woman, caught in an act of...
- Matthew 16:2b–3
- Christ's agony at GethsemaneChrist's agony at GethsemaneChrist's agony at Gethsemane is a passage in the Gospel of Luke , describing a prayer of Jesus, after which he receives strength from an angel, on the Mount of Olives prior to his betrayal and arrest...
- John 5:3b-4
- Doxology to the Lord's Prayer
- Luke 22:19b-20
External links
- Comma Johanneum in Manuscript Comparator — allows two or more New Testament manuscript editions' readings of the passage to be compared in side-by-side and unified views (similar to diffDiffIn computing, diff is a file comparison utility that outputs the differences between two files. It is typically used to show the changes between one version of a file and a former version of the same file. Diff displays the changes made per line for text files. Modern implementations also...
output) - Bible.org: The Textual Problem in 1 John 5:7–8 by Daniel B. WallaceDaniel B. WallaceDaniel Baird Wallace is a professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary where he has been tenured since 1995. He is also the founder of the Center of the Study of NT Manuscripts....
. - Latin Manuscript Evidence Concerning 1 John 5:7–8 (1998) A Debate between Dr. Gregory S. Neal and Dr. Thomas Holland
- Ancient Manuscript evidence and Pre Lutheran examples of 1 John 5:7–8
- The Comma Johanneum and Cyprian by Daniel B. WallaceDaniel B. WallaceDaniel Baird Wallace is a professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary where he has been tenured since 1995. He is also the founder of the Center of the Study of NT Manuscripts....
. - Response to Daniel Wallace Regarding 1 John 5:7 by Martin A. Shue
- A Defense of the Johannine Comma Setting the Record Straight on I John 5:7-8 By Timothy W. Dunkin
- A History of the Debate over 1 John 5:7-8: a Tracing of the Longevity of the Comma Johanneum, with Evaluations of Arguments Against its Authenticity By Michael Maynard
- Laparola apparatus for 1 John 5:7
- The Johannine Comma, Greek Manuscript Evidence