01.22. I JOHN

I JOHN

1Jn 2:2 : “And not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” So R.V. But it should be “FOR THE WHOLE WORLD also,” emphasizing by contrast the pronoun “ours.”¹³

¹³The word “ours” is not the same as “our” in the former part of the verse. The first “our” is ἡμεῶν (heemōn), the ordinary personal pronoun. But the second “ours” is a special word, ἡμετερών (heemeterōn), and is very emphatic, meaning ours as distinct from others; i.e., ours as Jews, as distinct from Gentiles. See Acts 2:11, “our tongues”; Acts 24:6, “our law”; Acts 26:5, “our religion”; Rom 15:4, “our learning”; 2Ti 4:15, “our words”; Tit 3:14, “ours”; 1Jn 1:3, “our fellowship.” The meaning here is that whereas the propitiation was, under the Law, for the Jewish nation only, henceforward it was to be for all without any such distinction, so that a people might be taken out for the Lord from all peoples and nations.

1Jn 3:4 : “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law.” This is idiomatically correct. The R.V. translates it literally, and departs from the letter by misplacing the καί – “doeth also lawlessness.”

1Jn 4:11 : “If God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.” The R.V. correctly, “WE also ought to love,” etc.