The Johannine Comma

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 authorized Patriarchal edition retains it in double brackets and smaller type by direction of the Holy Synod, while its introduction says that it lacked the ordinary Eastern manuscript and liturgical support used elsewhere in the edition. The evidence summarized here comes from the audited study cited in Appendix G; this page is not a substitute for a current critical apparatus.

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.

Print version: Appendix H: Other Bible Versions