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1 John 1:8
New English Translation
1 John 1:8
New English Translation
8 If we say we do not bear the guilt of sin,[a] we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
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- 1 John 1:8 tn Grk “say we do not have sin.” The use of ἔχω + ἁμαρτία (echō + hamartia) is an expression limited to John and 1 John in the NT. On the analogy with other constructions where ἔχω governs an abstract noun (e.g., 1 John 1:3, 6, 7; 2:28; 3:3, 15, 21; 4:16, 17; 5:12-13), it indicates that a state is involved, which in the case of ἁμαρτία would refer to a state of sin. The four times the expression ἔχω + ἁμαρτία occurs in the Gospel of John (9:41; 15:22, 24; 19:11) all refer to situations where a wrong action has been committed or a wrong attitude has already existed, resulting in a state of sin, and then something else happens which further emphasizes the evil of that action or attitude. Here in 1 John 1:8 the sense is the same. The author is addressing people who have sinned (resulting in a state of sin), warning them that they cannot claim to be free from the guilt of that sin. The context of 1 John does not imply libertinism (where sins are flaunted as a way of demonstrating one’s “liberty”) on the part of the opponents, since the author makes no explicit charges of immoral behavior against his opponents. The worst the author explicitly says is that they have failed to love the brethren (1 John 3:17). It seems more likely that the opponents were saying that things a believer did after conversion were not significant enough to be “sins” that could challenge one’s intimate relationship with God (a relationship the author denies that the opponents have to begin with).
Psalm 130:3
New English Translation
Psalm 130:3
New English Translation
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Footnotes
- Psalm 130:3 tn Heb “observe.”
- Psalm 130:3 tn The words “before you” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The psalmist must be referring to standing before God’s judgment seat. The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No one.”
Psalm 143:2
New English Translation
Psalm 143:2
New English Translation
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- Psalm 143:2 tn Heb “do not enter into judgment with.”
- Psalm 143:2 tn Heb “for no one living is innocent before you.”
Proverbs 20:9
New English Translation
Proverbs 20:9
New English Translation
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- Proverbs 20:9 sn The verse is a rhetorical question; it is affirming that no one can say this because no one is pure and free of sin.
- Proverbs 20:9 tn The noun לֵב (lev) commonly translated “heart” includes the “mind” and embraces both motives and thoughts.
- Proverbs 20:9 tn In the Qal this verb, זָכָה (zakhah), means to be (morally) “clean; pure.” Here in the Piel it is factitive to “make clean” (so NRSV) or “keep clean” (so NIV). This verb only appears 8 times in the Bible, but this phrase “to cleanse the heart/mind” also occurs in Ps 73:13, where Asaph despairs of having cleansed his heart (or kept it clean). Ps 119:9 remarks that one can keep your path clean by carefully observing God’s word. And Isa 1:16 advises cleansing oneself by putting away and ceasing to do evil. In an ultimate sense, no one has kept a clean heart in every regard. However these other passages suggest that one can repent in order to cleanse the heart and attend to God’s word to keep it clean. The question thus points out the inherent lack of purity and poses the obligation to take steps to safeguard purity. In other words, since my heart is not (natively) pure, what do I need to do to keep it pure (as in being true to God not in a sense of works adding up to purity)?
- Proverbs 20:9 sn The Hebrew verb (טָהֵר, taher) means to “be clean; pure” and may refer to physical cleanliness or the absence of disease, mildew, infectants, or blemishes. As a Levitical term it normally refers to cleanness from infectants or religious ceremonial cleanness (though often the two are related). The term is applied morally (specifically “clean from sin” as in this verse) in Lev 16:30 as part of the Day of Atonement. After the High Priest confesses the sins of the people and makes the sacrifice on their behalf, the people are considered “clean.” So on the one hand, the question sounds rhetorical—no one can claim to be pure on their own merit. On the other hand, the cultic answer would be those who have confessed sin and offered a sacrifice are cleansed.
Isaiah 64:6-7
New English Translation
Isaiah 64:6-7
New English Translation
6 We are all like one who is unclean,
all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in your sight.[a]
We all wither like a leaf;
our sins carry us away like the wind.
7 No one invokes[b] your name,
or makes an effort[c] to take hold of you.
For you have rejected us[d]
and handed us over to our own sins.[e]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 64:6 tn Heb “and like a garment of menstruation [are] all our righteous acts”; KJV, NIV “filthy rags”; ASV “a polluted garment.”
- Isaiah 64:7 tn Or “calls out in”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “calls on.”
- Isaiah 64:7 tn Or “rouses himself”; NASB “arouses himself.”
- Isaiah 64:7 tn Heb “for you have hidden your face from us.”
- Isaiah 64:7 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and you caused us to melt in the hand of our sin.” The verb וַתְּמוּגֵנוּ (vattemugenu) is a Qal preterite second person masculine singular with a first person common plural suffix from the root מוּג (mug, “melt”). However, elsewhere the Qal of this verb is intransitive. If the verbal root מוּג (mug) is retained here, the form should be emended to a Polel pattern (וַתְּמֹגְגֵנוּ, vattemogegenu). The translation assumes an emendation to וַתְּמַגְּנֵנוּ (vattemaggenenu, “and you handed us over”). This form is a Piel preterite second person masculine singular with a first person common plural suffix from the verb מָגָן (magan, “hand over, surrender”; see HALOT 545 s.v. מגן and BDB 171 s.v. מָגָן). The point is that God has abandoned them to their sinful ways and no longer seeks reconciliation.
Matthew 19:17
New English Translation
Matthew 19:17
New English Translation
17 He said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
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Mark 10:18
New English Translation
Mark 10:18
New English Translation
18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good?[a] No one is good except God alone.
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- Mark 10:18 sn Jesus’ response, Why do you call me good?, was designed to cause the young man to stop and think for a moment about who Jesus really was. The following statement No one is good except God alone seems to point the man in the direction of Jesus’ essential nature and the demands which logically follow on the man for having said it.
Luke 18:19
New English Translation
Luke 18:19
New English Translation
19 Jesus[a] said to him, “Why do you call me good?[b] No one is good except God alone.
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- Luke 18:19 tn Grk “And Jesus.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
- Luke 18:19 sn Jesus’ response, Why do you call me good?, was designed to cause the ruler to stop and think for a moment about who Jesus really was. The following statement No one is good except God alone seems to point the man in the direction of Jesus’ essential nature and the demands which logically follow on the man for having said it.
1 John 1:10
New English Translation
1 John 1:10
New English Translation
10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us.
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