Comma Johanneum
From Textus Receptus
The Comma Johanneum is a comma (a short clause) contained in most translations of the First Epistle of John This text is variously referred to as the Comma Johanneum, the Johannine Comma, the Heavenly Witnesses, 1 John 5:7 or 1 John v:7. The question of the authenticity of the verse, with the phrase:
- there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one.
has been a major subject of debate from the 1500s to today. The debate on 1 John 5:7 has also been a primary focus of discussions on the integrity of the New Testament documents and scribal fealty to the Bible text. The varying doctrinal and Christological interpetations of the verse have been a major part of these debates.
In translations containing the clause, such as the King James Version, 1 John 5:7-8 reads as follows (with the Comma in bold print):
The resulting passage is an explicit reference to the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Contents |
Comma Johanneum displayed in English, Latin, and Greek
The bold print is the Johannine Comma.
- 1 John 5:7-8 Authorized King James Version
- 7. For there are three that bear record in heaven,
- the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost:
- and these three are one.
- 8. And there are three that bear witness in earth,
- the spirit, and the water, and the blood:
- and these three agree in one.
Latin: quoniam tres sunt qui testimonium dant in caelo pater verbum et spiritus sanctus et hi tres unum sunt et tres sunt qui testimonium dant in terra spiritus et aqua et sanguis et tres unum sunt
- Greek
- ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ Α΄ 5:7 ὅτι τρεῖς εἰσιν οἱ μαρτυροῦντες εν τῷ οὐρανῷ, ὁ πατήρ, ὁ λόγος, καὶ τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα· καὶ οὗτοι οἱ τρεῖς ἕν εἰσι·
- ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ Α΄ 5:8 καὶ τρεῖς εἰσιν οἱ μαρτυροῦντες ἕν τῇ γῇ, τὸ πνεῦμα, καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ, καὶ τὸ αἷμα· καὶ οἱ τρεῖς εἰς τὸ ἕν εἰσὶν.
Bible version without the Johannine Comma.
- 7. For there are three that testify:
- 8. the Spirit and the water and the blood;
- and the three are in agreement.
Although technically the Comma refers to text that overlaps verses 7 and 8, it is common to refer to the text as verse seven, or 1 John 5:7. In versions without the Comma the verse ordering depends on the version. Most common is the method used by the NASB, which has the phrase "For...testify" as verse 7 and the rest "the Spirit...in agreement" as verse 8. The ASV and the ERV bring part of the traditional verse 6 down as verse 7. Weymouth splits the verses in another fashion.
Bibles that include or omit Comma
Although many traditional Bible translations, most notably the Authorized King James Version (KJV), contain the Comma, modern Bible translations from the Critical Text such as the New International Version (NIV), the New American Standard Bible (NASB), the English Standard Version (ESV), the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) tend to either omit the Comma entirely, or relegate it to the footnotes.[]
In the Roman Catholic tradition, the Latin Nova Vulgata (New Vulgate), published in 1979 following the Second Vatican Council, based on the Critical Text and approved for liturgical use, does not include the Comma.[] Nor does the English-language New American Bible. Today there are Bible translations with a Roman Catholic church imprimatur both with and without the verse, as the traditional Rheims New Testament and the Ronald Knox translation of the Vulgate include the verse.
In the Greek Orthodox tradition, earlier translations into Modern Greek by Maximus Callipolites, printed in 1638 for Cyrillus Lucaris, and by Neophytus Vamvas completed in 1850, include the Comma in the text. The editions of the ZWH Brotherhood and Antoniades have the Comma in the main text in a smaller font.[]
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. The AV-1611 page and almost all AV editions use a normal font.
Owing to the widespread use of the Textus Receptus (TR) as the principal source-language text for Bible editions, with the widespread use of the Geneva and then the Authorized Version, the comma is contained in most Bible editions and printings published from 1522 until the latter part of the nineteenth century. Other new translations varied in their approach to the verses. [] Bibles based on the Received Text with the Comma in the text include Young's, the KJ3 Literal Translation and the New King James.
Omissions
1 John 5:7 appears is the large majority of reformation bibles, but is lacking in most modern versions.
John Calvin (10 July 1509 – 27 May 1564)- "However, the passage flows better when this clause is added, and as I see that IT IS FOUND IN THE BEST AND MOST APPROVED COPIES, I am inclined to receive it as the true reading."
John Gill (23 de novembro de 1697 - 14 Outubro 1771)- commenting on 1 John 5:7 - "As to the old Latin interpreter, it is certain it is to be seen in many Latin manuscripts of an early date, and stands in the Vulgate Latin edition of the London Polyglot Bible: and the Latin translation, which bears the name of Jerom[e] (382 AD), has it, and who, in an epistle of his to Eustochium, prefixed to his translation of these canonical epistles, complains of the omission of it by unfaithful interpreters."
Manuscript Evidence
1 John 5:7 is found in: Greek manuscript 61, codex Ravianus and Britannicus, it's also in the margins of 88 and 629, manuscript E (735 AD; has Acts 8:37). Likewise, it is found in the old Latin manuscripts Codex Freisingensis (Latin "r", "Beuron 64"; AD *500*), leon 1 (various readings of 1 John 5:7-8; AD 913-923), leon 2 (margin, 930 AD; has Acts 8:37) harl 2 (AD 752), Codex Toletanus (988 AD; has Acts 8:37, 9:5, 9:6), Codex Demidovianus (1150 AD; has Acts 8:37), Codex Colbertinus (AD 1150), Codex Perpinianus (AD 1250; has Acts 8:37), and Speculum (Latin "m" AD *450*, within a century of Sinaiticus and Vaticanus)
It is found in 68mg(mg=margin), 636mg and 918. It is also found in omega 110, 429mg, 221, and 2318. It's in the Montfort MS and Codex Wizanburgens (8th century). It is found in the margin of Codex Ottobonianus (629, 14th century).
It is also found in the Ulmensis manuscript (AD 850), and Codex pal Legionensis (AD *650*). It is found in the German manuscript The Augsburger Bibelhandschrift (2 Cod 3)(AD 1350).
See Also
External Links
- Anonymous Author on 1 John 5:7
- KJV Today: 1 John 5:7 A fuller picture of the corruption of 1 John 5:6-7. (Includes photographs of manuscripts and other visual aids)
- A complete list of New Testament manuscripts that verify 1 John 5:7
- Wikipedia Article on Comma Johanneum
