Bill Mounce

For an Informed Love of God

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1 John 1:1–2:5

We start with a relatively easy passage to move you smoothly into the class.Click on the biblical reference to see a short video explaining how to translate the verse.

1:1–4

1 John 1:1 The first verse of John has some peculiarities, like no verbs and relative pronouns that don't agree with their antecedent.
1 John 1:2 Verse 2 is pretty straight forward. It does have an unusual perfect and a relative clause with two verbs.
1 John 1:3 Beware of the postpositive, which is in an unusual position and is confusing with the καί.
1 John 1:4 Verse 4 is pretty easy to translate, but it does have a periphrastic construction (BBG 30:16). It also provides a good example of textual criticism and why you should never talk about a textual variant without talking about its significance.

1 John 1:5–7

1 John 1:5 An easy verse to translate, but we will review somethings about relative clauses and double negatives.
1 John 1:6 An easy verse to translate, but one that challenges the idea that it is okay for sin to have an ongoing role in your life.
1 John 1:7 While the verse is relatively easy to translate, it does contain a serious challenge to our lifestyles.

1 John 1:8–10

1 John 1:8 Again, an easier verse to translate but one that raises questions about the theological doctrine of perfectionism.
1 John 1:9 The important point to make here is that “faithful and just” describes the character of God as the basis for forgiveness. The Greek is pretty straight forward.
1 John 1:10 Be sure you know what a double accusative is. Check the exegesis section of chapter 6 in Basics of Biblical Greek.

1 John 2:1–2

1 John 2:1  
1 John 2:2  

1 John 2:3–6

1 John 2:3  
1 John 2:4  
1 John 2:5  
1 John 2:6