1 John 4

1 John 4:3

:TEXT: “·and every spirit which does not confess Jesus”

S A B K Psi 33 81 104 614 630 945 1241 1739text 1881 2495 Byz Lect one lat syr(p,h) cop

KJV ASV RSV NASV NIV NEB TEV RANK: CNOTES: “·and every spirit which annuls Jesus”

1739margin most lat vg

ASVnCOMMENTS: Although it is possible that “not confess” comes from negating verse 1 John 4:2, it is more likely that the reading “annuls” comes from a second century polemic against Gnostics who said there was a difference between the earthly Jesus and the heavenly Christ.

1 John 4:10

:TEXT: “·In this is love, not that we have loved God”

B Psi 81vid 945 1241 1739

NASVn TEV RANK: -NOTES: “·In this is love, not that we loved God”

S A 048vid Maj

KJV ASV RSV NASV NIV : The difference between the perfect tense (text) and the aorist tense is that of only one letter. Since in the next phrase “he loved us,” the word “love” is in the aorist tense, it is likely that copyists changed the perfect to the aorist to make the tenses the same.

1 John 4:20

:TEXT: “whom he has seen cannot be loving God whom he has not seen.”

S B Psi 630 1739 2495 syr(h) cop(south)

ASV RSV NASV NIV NEB TEV RANK: BNOTES: “whom he has seen, how can he be loving God whom he has not seen?”

A K L 048 33 81 104 614 945 1241 1881 Byz Lect lat vg syr(p) cop(north)

KJV ASVn RSVn NASVnCOMMENTS: Although it is possible that some copyists substituted “not” for “how” to make the meaning clear, it is also possible that other copyists substituted “how” for “not” to heighten the rhetorical style.