The Johannine Comma

The Johannine Comma is the disputed longer clause about the Father, Word, and Holy Ghost in 1 John 5:7–8. This page compares the KJV wording of 1 John 5:7–8, based on the longer Textus Receptus form, with the shorter form printed in modern eclectic critical editions. The KJV is an English translation, while the Textus Receptus is a family of printed Greek editions. The longer heavenly-witness clause is not the reading of the Byzantine manuscript majority.

The Robinson and Ala-Konni transcription of the Orthodox Patriarchal edition retains the clause in double brackets, marking small italic type in the printed edition. It also supplies an excerpt from the introduction: the clause was retained on the Holy Synod’s judgment despite lacking the Eastern support ordinarily used by the editors. Appendix I discusses the textual history and the sources behind this comparison. A critical apparatus supplies the fuller evidence: these are scholarly notes listing variant readings and the witnesses that support them.

The wording of a passage matters, but no core Christian doctrine should be made to depend on one disputed reading. Each variant must be judged on its own textual evidence. This variant has no bearing on the seventh-day Sabbath passages used elsewhere in the book.

Loading comparison...

Related reading: Appendix I: The Battle for the Bible