◀ All Reading Plans / Book of Common Prayer / Ps. 146 147; Ps. 111 112 113; Exod. 14:5–22; 1 John 1:1–7; John 14:1–7 (New English Translation)

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Book of Common Prayer

Daily Old and New Testament readings based on the Book of Common Prayer.

Duration: 861 days

Psalm 146-147

Psalm 146^[a]

146 Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
²I will praise the Lord as long as I live.
I will sing praises to my God as long as I exist.
³Do not trust in princes,
or in human beings, who cannot deliver.^[b]
⁴Their life’s breath departs, they return to the ground.
On that day their plans die.^[c]
⁵How blessed is the one whose helper is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
⁶the one who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who remains forever faithful,^[d]
⁷vindicates the oppressed,^[e]
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord releases the imprisoned.
⁸The Lord gives sight to the blind.
The Lord lifts up all who are bent over.^[f]
The Lord loves the godly.
⁹The Lord protects the resident foreigner.
He lifts up the fatherless and the widow,^[g]
but he opposes the wicked.^[h]
¹⁰The Lord rules forever,
your God, O Zion, throughout the generations to come.^[i]
Praise the Lord!

Psalm 147^[j]

147 Praise the Lord,
for it is good to sing praises to our God.
Yes,^[k] praise is pleasant and appropriate.
²The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem,
and gathers the exiles of Israel.
³He heals^[l] the brokenhearted,
and bandages their wounds.
⁴He counts the number of the stars;
he names all of them.
⁵Our Lord is great and has awesome power;^[m]
there is no limit to his wisdom.^[n]
⁶The Lord lifts up the oppressed,
but knocks^[o] the wicked to the ground.
⁷Offer to the Lord a song of thanks.^[p]
Sing praises to our God to the accompaniment of a harp.
⁸He covers^[q] the sky with clouds,
provides the earth with rain,
and causes grass to grow on the hillsides.^[r]
⁹He gives food to the animals,
and to the young ravens when they chirp.^[s]
¹⁰He is not enamored with the strength of a horse,
nor is he impressed by the warrior’s strong legs.^[t]
¹¹The Lord takes delight in his faithful followers,^[u]
and in those who wait for his loyal love.
¹²Extol the Lord, O Jerusalem.
Praise your God, O Zion.
¹³For he makes the bars of your gates strong.
He blesses your children^[v] within you.
¹⁴He^[w] brings peace to your territory.^[x]
He abundantly provides for you^[y] the best grain.
¹⁵He^[z] sends his command through the earth;^[aa]
swiftly his order reaches its destination.^[ab]
¹⁶He sends the snow that is white like wool;
he spreads the frost that is white like ashes.^[ac]
¹⁷He throws his hailstones^[ad] like crumbs.
Who can withstand the cold wind he sends?^[ae]
¹⁸He then orders it all to melt;^[af]
he breathes on it,^[ag] and the water flows.
¹⁹He proclaims his word to Jacob,
his statutes and regulations to Israel.
²⁰He has not done so with any other nation;
they are not aware of his regulations.
Praise the Lord!

Footnotes

Psalm 146:1 sn Psalm 146. The psalmist urges his audience not to trust in men, but in the Lord, the just king of the world who cares for the needy.
Psalm 146:3 tn Heb “in a son of man, to whom there is no deliverance.”
Psalm 146:4 tn Heb “his spirit goes out, it returns to his ground; in that day his plans die.” The singular refers to the representative man mentioned in v. 3b.
Psalm 146:6 tn Heb “the one who guards faithfulness forever.”
Psalm 146:7 tn Heb “executes justice for the oppressed.”
Psalm 146:8 tn Perhaps “discouraged” (see Ps 57:6).
Psalm 146:9 sn God is depicted here as a just ruler. In the ancient Near Eastern world a king was responsible for promoting justice, including caring for the weak and vulnerable, epitomized by resident foreigners, the fatherless, and widows. Cf. Exod 22:21; Lev 19:33-34; Deut 10:18-19; 24:14, 17; 27:19; Jer 22:3; Zech 7:10; Mal 3:5.
Psalm 146:9 tn Heb “he makes the way of the wicked twisted.” The “way of the wicked” probably refers to their course of life (see Prov 4:19; Jer 12:1). God makes their path tortuous in the sense that he makes them pay the harmful consequences of their actions.
Psalm 146:10 tn Heb “for a generation and a generation.”
Psalm 147:1 sn Psalm 147. The psalmist praises the Lord for he is the sovereign ruler of the world who cares for the needs of his covenant people.
Psalm 147:1 tn Or “for.”
Psalm 147:3 tn Heb “the one who heals.”
Psalm 147:5 tn Heb “and great of strength.”
Psalm 147:5 tn Heb “to his wisdom there is no counting.”
Psalm 147:6 tn Heb “brings down.”
Psalm 147:7 tn Heb “sing to the Lord with thanksgiving.”
Psalm 147:8 tn Heb “the one who covers.”
Psalm 147:8 tn Heb “hills.”
Psalm 147:9 tn Heb “which cry out.”
Psalm 147:10 tn Heb “he does not desire the strength of the horse, he does not take delight in the legs of the man.” Here “the horse” refers to the war horse used by ancient Near Eastern chariot forces, and “the man” refers to the warrior whose muscular legs epitomize his strength.
Psalm 147:11 tn Heb “those who fear him.”
Psalm 147:13 tn Heb “your sons.”
Psalm 147:14 tn Heb “the one who.”
Psalm 147:14 tn Heb “he makes your boundary peace.”
Psalm 147:14 tn Heb “satisfies you with.”
Psalm 147:15 tn Heb “the one who.”
Psalm 147:15 tn Heb “the one who sends his word, the earth.” The Hebrew term אֶרֶץ (ʾerets, “earth”) is an adverbial accusative; one must supply a preposition before it (such as “through” or “to”) in the English translation.
Psalm 147:15 tn Heb “swiftly his word runs.”
Psalm 147:16 tn Heb “the one who gives snow like wool, frost like ashes he scatters.”
Psalm 147:17 tn Heb “his ice.”
Psalm 147:17 tn Heb “Before his cold, who can stand?”
Psalm 147:18 tn Heb “he sends his word and melts them.”
Psalm 147:18 tn Heb “he blows his breath.”

Psalm 111-113

Psalm 111^[a]

111 Praise the Lord!
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the assembly of the godly and the congregation.
²The Lord’s deeds are great,
eagerly awaited^[b] by all who desire them.
³His work is majestic and glorious,^[c]
and his faithfulness endures^[d] forever.
⁴He does^[e] amazing things that will be remembered;^[f]
the Lord is merciful and compassionate.
⁵He gives^[g] food to his faithful followers;^[h]
he always remembers his covenant.^[i]
⁶He announced that he would do mighty deeds for his people,
giving them a land that belonged to other nations.^[j]
⁷His acts are characterized by^[k] faithfulness and justice;
all his precepts are reliable.^[l]
⁸They are forever firm,
and should be faithfully and properly carried out.^[m]
⁹He delivered his people;^[n]
he ordained that his covenant be observed forever.^[o]
His name is holy and awesome.
¹⁰To obey the Lord is the fundamental principle for wise living;^[p]
all who carry out his precepts acquire good moral insight.^[q]
He will receive praise forever.^[r]

Psalm 112^[s]

112 Praise the Lord!
How blessed is the one^[t] who obeys^[u] the Lord,
who takes great delight in keeping his commands.^[v]
²His descendants^[w] will be powerful on the earth;
the godly^[x] will be blessed.
³His house contains wealth and riches;
his integrity endures.^[y]
⁴In the darkness a light^[z] shines for the godly,
for each one who is merciful, compassionate, and just.^[aa]
⁵It goes well for the one^[ab] who generously lends money,
and conducts his business honestly.^[ac]
⁶For he will never be shaken;
others will always remember one who is just.^[ad]
⁷He does not fear bad news.
He^[ae] is confident; he trusts in the Lord.
⁸His resolve^[af] is firm; he will not succumb to fear
before he looks in triumph on his enemies.
⁹He generously gives^[ag] to the needy;
his integrity endures.^[ah]
He will be vindicated and honored.^[ai]
¹⁰When the wicked^[aj] see this, they will worry;
they will grind their teeth in frustration^[ak] and melt away.
The desire of the wicked will perish.^[al]

Psalm 113^[am]

113 Praise the Lord.
Praise, you servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord.
²May the Lord’s name be praised
now and forevermore.
³From east to west^[an]
the Lord’s name is deserving of praise.
⁴The Lord is exalted over all the nations;
his splendor reaches beyond the sky.^[ao]
⁵Who can compare to the Lord our God,
who sits on a high throne?^[ap]
⁶He bends down to look^[aq]
at the sky and the earth.
⁷He raises the poor from the dirt,
and lifts up the needy from the garbage pile,^[ar]
⁸that he might seat him with princes,
with the princes of his people.
⁹He makes the barren woman of the family^[as]
a happy mother of children.^[at]
Praise the Lord.

Footnotes

Psalm 111:1 sn Psalm 111. The psalmist praises God for his marvelous deeds, especially the way in which he provides for and delivers his people. The psalm is an acrostic. After the introductory call to praise, every poetic line (twenty-two in all) begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
Psalm 111:2 tn Heb “sought out.”
Psalm 111:3 tn For other uses of the Hebrew phrase וְהָדָרהוֹד (hod v^ehadar, “majesty and splendor”) see 1 Chr 16:27; Job 40:10; Pss 21:5; 96:6; 104:1.
Psalm 111:3 tn Or “stands.”
Psalm 111:4 tn Or “did,” if this refers primarily to the events of the exodus and conquest period (see vv. 6, 9).
Psalm 111:4 tn Heb “a memorial he had made for his amazing deeds.”
Psalm 111:5 tn Or “gave,” if the events of the exodus and conquest period (see v. 6, 9) are primarily in view.
Psalm 111:5 tn Heb “those who fear him.”
Psalm 111:5 tn Or “he remembers his covenant forever” (see Ps 105:8).
Psalm 111:6 tn Heb “the strength of his deeds he proclaimed to his people, to give to them an inheritance of nations.”
Psalm 111:7 tn Heb “the deeds of his hands [are].”
Psalm 111:7 tn That is, fair and for man’s good.
Psalm 111:8 tn Heb “done in faithfulness and uprightness.” The passive participle probably has the force of a gerund. See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 89.
Psalm 111:9 tn Heb “redemption he sent for his people.”
Psalm 111:9 tn Heb “he commanded forever his covenant.”
Psalm 111:10 tn Heb “the beginning of wisdom [is] the fear of the Lord.”
Psalm 111:10 tn Heb “good sense [is] to all who do them.” The third masculine plural pronominal suffix must refer back to the “precepts” mentioned in v. 7. In the translation the referent has been specified for clarity. The phrase שֵׂכֶל טוֹב (sekhel tov) also occurs in Prov 3:4; 13:15 and 2 Chr 30:22.
Psalm 111:10 tn Heb “his praise stands forever.”
Psalm 112:1 sn Psalm 112. This wisdom psalm lists some of the benefits of living a godly life. The psalm is an acrostic. After the introductory call to praise, every poetic line (twenty-two in all) begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
Psalm 112:1 tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness [of] the man.” Hebrew wisdom literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The individual is representative of a larger group, called the “godly” in vv. 3-4. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender specific “man” with the more neutral “one.” The generic masculine pronoun is used in the following verses.
Psalm 112:1 tn Heb “fears.”
Psalm 112:1 tn Heb “in his commands he delights very much.” The words “in keeping” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Taking delight in the law is metonymic here for obeying God’s moral will. See Ps 1:2.
Psalm 112:2 tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”
Psalm 112:2 tn Heb “His seed will be mighty on the earth, the generation of the godly.” The Hebrew term דוֹר (dor, “generation”) could be taken as parallel to “offspring” and translated “posterity,” but the singular more likely refers to the godly as a class. See BDB 189-90 s.v. for other examples where “generation” refers to a class of people.
Psalm 112:3 tn Heb “stands forever.”
Psalm 112:4 tn In this context “light” symbolizes divine blessing in its various forms (see v. 2), including material prosperity and stability.
Psalm 112:4 tn Heb “merciful and compassionate and just.” The Hebrew text has three singular adjectives, which are probably substantival and in apposition to the “godly” (which is plural, however). By switching to the singular, the psalmist focuses on each individual member of the group known as the “godly.” Note how vv. 5-9, like vv. 1-2a, use the singular to describe the representative godly individual who typifies the whole group.
Psalm 112:5 tn Heb “man.”
Psalm 112:5 tn Heb “he sustains his matters with justice.”
Psalm 112:6 tn Heb “for an eternal memorial a just [one] will be.”
Psalm 112:7 tn Heb “his heart,” viewed here as the seat of the volition and emotions (see Ps 108:1).
Psalm 112:8 tn Heb “his heart,” viewed here as the seat of the volition.
Psalm 112:9 tn Heb “he scatters, he gives.”
Psalm 112:9 tn Heb “stands forever.”
Psalm 112:9 tn Heb “his horn will be lifted up in honor.” The horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (see Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt/lift up the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 89:17, 24; 92:10; Lam 2:17).
Psalm 112:10 tn The Hebrew text uses the singular; the representative wicked individual is in view as typifying the group (note the use of the plural form in v. 10).
Psalm 112:10 tn Heb “his teeth he will gnash.” In Pss 35:16 and 37:12 this action is associated with a vicious attack.
Psalm 112:10 tn This could mean that the desires of the wicked will go unfulfilled. Another possibility is that “desire” refers by metonymy to the object desired and acquired. In this case the point is that the wicked will lose what they desired so badly and acquired by evil means (see Ps 10:3).
Psalm 113:1 sn Psalm 113. The psalmist praises God as the sovereign king of the world who reaches down to help the needy.
Psalm 113:3 tn Heb “from the rising of the sun to its setting.” The extent is not temporal (“from sunrise to sunset”) but spatial (“from the place where the sun rises [the east] to the place where it sets [the west].” In the phenomenological language of OT cosmology, the sun was described as rising in the east and setting in the west.
Psalm 113:4 tn Heb “above the sky [is] his splendor.”
Psalm 113:5 tn Heb “the one who makes high to sit.”
Psalm 113:6 tn Heb “the one who makes low to see.”
Psalm 113:7 sn The language of v. 7 is almost identical to that of 1 Sam 2:8.
Psalm 113:9 tn Heb “of the house.”
Psalm 113:9 tn Heb “sons.”

Exodus 14:5-22

⁵When it was reported^[a] to the king of Egypt that the people had fled,^[b] the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people, and the king and his servants said,^[c] “What in the world have we done?^[d] For we have released the people of Israel^[e] from serving us!” ⁶Then he prepared^[f] his chariots and took his army^[g] with him. ⁷He took 600 select^[h] chariots, and all the rest of the chariots of Egypt,^[i] and officers^[j] on all of them.

⁸But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he chased after the Israelites. Now the Israelites were going out defiantly.^[k] ⁹The Egyptians chased after them, and all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh and his horsemen and his army overtook them camping by the sea, beside Pi Hahiroth, before Baal Zephon. ¹⁰When^[l] Pharaoh got closer,^[m] the Israelites looked up,^[n] and there were the Egyptians marching after them,^[o] and they were terrified.^[p] The Israelites cried out to the Lord,^[q] ¹¹and they said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the desert?^[r] What in the world^[s] have you done to us by bringing^[t] us out of Egypt? ¹²Isn’t this what we told you^[u] in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone so that we can serve the Egyptians,^[v] because it is better for us to serve^[w] the Egyptians than to die in the desert!’”^[x]

¹³Moses said to the people, “Do not fear!^[y] Stand firm^[z] and see^[aa] the salvation^[ab] of the Lord that he will provide^[ac] for you today; for the Egyptians that you see today you will never, ever see again.^[ad] ¹⁴The Lord^[ae] will fight for you, and you can be still.”^[af]

¹⁵The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.^[ag] ¹⁶And as for you,^[ah] lift up your staff and extend your hand toward the sea and divide it, so that^[ai] the Israelites may go through the middle of the sea on dry ground. ¹⁷And as for me, I am going to harden^[aj] the hearts of the Egyptians so that^[ak] they will come after them, that I may be honored^[al] because^[am] of Pharaoh and his army and his chariots and his horsemen. ¹⁸And the Egyptians will know^[an] that I am the Lord when I have gained my honor^[ao] because of Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

¹⁹The angel of God, who was going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them, and the pillar^[ap] of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them. ²⁰It came between the Egyptian camp and the Israelite camp; it was a dark cloud^[aq] and it lit up the night so that one camp did not come near the other^[ar] the whole night.^[as] ²¹Moses stretched out his hand toward the sea, and the Lord drove the sea apart^[at] by a strong east wind all that night, and he made the sea into dry land, and the water was divided. ²²So the Israelites went through the middle of the sea on dry ground, the water forming a wall^[au] for them on their right and on their left.

Footnotes

Exodus 14:5 tn Heb “and it was told.” The present translation uses “reported,” since this involves information given to a superior.
Exodus 14:5 tn The verb must be given a past perfect translation because the fleeing occurred before the telling.
Exodus 14:5 tn Heb “and they said.” The referent (the king and his servants) is supplied for clarity.
Exodus 14:5 tn The question literally is “What is this we have done?” The demonstrative pronoun is used as an enclitic particle for emphasis (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).
Exodus 14:5 tn Heb “released Israel.” By metonymy the name of the nation is used collectively for the people who constitute it (the Israelites).
Exodus 14:6 tn Heb “bound.”
Exodus 14:6 tn Heb “his people.”
Exodus 14:7 tn The passive participle of the verb “to choose” means that these were “choice” or superb chariots.
Exodus 14:7 tn Heb “every chariot of Egypt.” After the mention of the best chariots, the meaning of this description is “all the other chariots.”
Exodus 14:7 tn The word שָׁלִשִׁם (shalishim) means “officers” or some special kind of military personnel. At one time it was taken to mean a “three man chariot,” but the pictures of Egyptian chariots only show two in a chariot. It may mean officers near the king, “men of the third rank” (B. Jacob, Exodus, 394). So the chariots and the crew represented the elite. See the old view by A. E. Cowley that linked it to a Hittite word (“A Hittite Word in Hebrew,” JTS 21 [1920]: 326), and the more recent work by P. C. Craigie connecting it to Egyptian “commander” (“An Egyptian Expression in the Song of the Sea: Exodus XV.4, ” VT 20 [1970]: 85).
Exodus 14:8 tn Heb “with a high hand”; the expression means “defiantly,” “boldly,” or “with confidence.” The phrase is usually used for arrogant sin and pride, the defiant fist, as it were. The image of the high hand can also mean the hand raised to deliver a blow (Job 38:15). So the narrative here builds tension between these two resolute forces.
Exodus 14:10 tn The disjunctive vav introduces a circumstantial clause here.
Exodus 14:10 tn Heb “drew near.”
Exodus 14:10 tn Heb “lifted up their eyes,” an expression that indicates an intentional and careful looking—they looked up and fixed their sights on the distance.
Exodus 14:10 tn The construction uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) with the participle, traditionally rendered “and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them.” The deictic particle calls attention in a dramatic way to what was being seen. It captures the surprise and the sudden realization of the people.
Exodus 14:10 tn The verb “feared” is intensified by the adverb מְאֹד (m^eʾod): “they feared greatly” or “were terrified.” In one look their defiant boldness seems to have evaporated.
Exodus 14:10 sn Their cry to the Lord was proper and necessary. But their words to Moses were a rebuke and disloyal, showing a lack of faith and understanding. Their arrogance failed them in the crisis because it was built on the arm of flesh. Moses would have to get used to this murmuring, but here he takes it in stride and gives them the proper instructions. They had cried to the Lord, and now the Lord would deliver.
Exodus 14:11 sn B. Jacob (Exodus, 396-97) notes how the speech is overly dramatic and came from a people given to using such exaggerations (Num 16:14), even using a double negative. The challenge to Moses brings a double irony. To die in the desert would be without proper burial, but in Egypt there were graves—it was a land of tombs and graves! Gesenius notes that two negatives in the sentence do not nullify each other but make the sentence all the more emphatic: “Is it because there were no graves…?” (GKC 483 §152.y).
Exodus 14:11 tn The demonstrative pronoun has the enclitic use again, giving a special emphasis to the question (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).
Exodus 14:11 tn The Hebrew term לְהוֹצִּיאָנוּ (l^ehotsiʾanu) is the Hiphil infinitive construct with a suffix, “to bring us out.” It is used epexegetically here, explaining the previous question.
Exodus 14:12 tn Heb “Is not this the word that we spoke to you.”
Exodus 14:12 sn U. Cassuto (Exodus, 164) explains this statement by the people as follows: “The question appears surprising at first, for we have not read previously that such words were spoken to Moses. Nor is the purport of the protest of the Israelite foremen (v 21 [5:21]) identical with that of the words uttered now. However, from a psychological standpoint the matter can be easily explained. In the hour of peril the children of Israel remember that remonstrance, and now it seems to them that it was of a sharper character and flowed from their foresight, and that the present situation justifies it, for death awaits them at this moment in the desert.” This declaration that “we told you so,” born of fright, need not have been strictly accurate or logical.
Exodus 14:12 tn Heb “better for us to serve.”
Exodus 14:12 tn Since Hebrew does not use quotation marks to indicate the boundaries of quotations, there is uncertainty about whether the Israelites’ statement in Egypt includes the end of v. 12 or consists solely of “leave us alone so that we can serve the Egyptians.” In either case, the command to Moses to leave them alone rested on the assumption, spoken or unspoken, that serving Egypt would be less risky than what Moses was proposing. Now with the Egyptian army on the horizon, the Israelites are sure that their worst predictions are about to take place.
Exodus 14:13 tn The use of אַל (ʾal) with the jussive has the force of “stop fearing.” It is a more immediate negative command than לֹא (loʾ) with the imperfect (as in the Decalogue).
Exodus 14:13 tn The force of this verb in the Hitpael is “to station oneself” or “stand firm” without fleeing.
Exodus 14:13 tn The form is an imperative with a vav (ו). It could also be rendered “stand firm and you will see” meaning the result, or “stand firm that you may see” meaning the purpose.
Exodus 14:13 tn Or “victory” (NAB) or “deliverance” (NIV, NRSV).
Exodus 14:13 tn Heb “do,” i.e., perform or accomplish.
Exodus 14:13 tn The construction uses a verbal hendiadys consisting of a Hiphil imperfect (“you will not add”) and a Qal infinitive construct with a suffix (“to see them”)—“you will no longer see them.” Then the clause adds “again, for ever.”sn U. Cassuto (Exodus, 164) notes that the antithetical parallelism between seeing salvation and seeing the Egyptians, as well as the threefold repetition of the word “see” cannot be accidental; so too the alliteration of the last three words beginning with ʿayin (ע).
Exodus 14:14 tn The word order places emphasis on “the Lord” (Heb “Yahweh”).
Exodus 14:14 tn The imperfect tense needs to be interpreted in contrast to all that Yahweh will be doing. It may be given a potential imperfect nuance (as here), or it may be obligatory to follow the command to stand firm: “you must be still.”
Exodus 14:15 tn The text literally says, “speak to the Israelites that they may journey.” The intent of the line, using the imperative with the subordinate jussive or imperfect expressing purpose is that the speaking is the command to move.
Exodus 14:16 tn The conjunction plus pronoun (“and you”) is emphatic—“and as for you”—before the imperative “lift up.” In contrast, v. 17 begins with “and as for me, I….”
Exodus 14:16 tn The imperfect (or jussive) with the vav (ו) is sequential, coming after the series of imperatives instructing Moses to divide the sea; the form then gives the purpose (or result) of the activity—“that they may go.”
Exodus 14:17 tn הִנְנִי (hin^eni) before the participle gives it the force of a futur instans participle, meaning “I am about to harden” or “I am going to harden” their heart.
Exodus 14:17 tn The form again is the imperfect tense with vav (ו) to express the purpose or the result of the hardening. The repetition of the verb translated “come” is interesting: Moses is to divide the sea in order that the people may cross, but God will harden the Egyptians’ hearts in order that they may follow.
Exodus 14:17 tn For the comments on this verb see the discussion in v. 4. God would get glory by defeating Egypt.
Exodus 14:17 tn Or “I will get glory over.”
Exodus 14:18 tn The construction is unusual in that it says, “And Egypt will know.” The verb is plural, and so “Egypt” must mean “the Egyptians.” The verb is the perfect tense with the vav consecutive, showing that this recognition or acknowledgment by Egypt will be the result or purpose of the defeat of them by God.
Exodus 14:18 tn The form is בְּהִכָּבְדִי (b^ehikkav^edi), the Niphal infinitive construct with a preposition and a suffix. For the suffix on a Niphal, see GKC 162-63 §61.c. The word forms a temporal clause in the line.
Exodus 14:19 sn B. Jacob (Exodus, 400-401) makes a good case that there may have been only one pillar, one cloud; it would have been a dark cloud behind it, but in front of it, shining the way, a pillar of fire. He compares the manifestation on Sinai, when the mountain was on fire but veiled by a dark cloud (Deut 4:11; 5:22). See also Exod 13:21; Num 14:14; Deut 1:33; Neh 9:12, 19; Josh 24:7; Pss 78:14; 105:39.
Exodus 14:20 tn The two nouns “cloud” and “darkness” form a nominal hendiadys: “and it was the cloud and the darkness” means “and it was the dark cloud.” Perhaps this is what the Egyptians saw, preventing them from observing Moses and the Israelites.
Exodus 14:20 tn Heb “this to this”; for the use of the pronouns in this reciprocal sense of “the one to the other,” see GKC 448 §139.e, n. 3.
Exodus 14:20 tc The LXX reads very differently at the end of this verse: “and there was darkness and blackness and the night passed.” B. S. Childs (Exodus [OTL], 218) summarizes three proposals: (1) One takes the MT as it stands and explains it along the lines of the Targum and Jewish exegesis, that there was one cloud that was dark to one group and light to the other. (2) Another tries to reconstruct a verb from the noun “darkness” or make some use of the Greek verb. (3) A third seeks a different meaning for the verb “lit,” “gave light” by comparative philology, but no consensus has been reached. Given that there is no easy solution apart from reconstructing the text, and given that the MT can be interpreted as it is, the present translation follows the MT.
Exodus 14:21 tn Or “drove the sea back” (NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV). The verb is simply the Hiphil of הָלַךְ (halakh, “to walk, go”). The context requires that it be interpreted along the lines of “go back, go apart.”
Exodus 14:22 tn The clause literally reads, “and the waters [were] for them a wall.” The word order in Hebrew is disjunctive, with the vav (ו) on the noun introducing a circumstantial clause.sn S. R. Driver (Exodus, 119), still trying to explain things with natural explanations, suggests that a northeast wind is to be thought of (an east wind would be directly in their face he says), such as a shallow ford might cooperate with an ebb tide in keeping a passage clear. He then quotes Dillmann about the “wall” of water: “A very summary poetical and hyperbolical (xv. 8) description of the occurrence, which at most can be pictured as the drying up of a shallow ford, on both sides of which the basin of the sea was much deeper, and remained filled with water.” There is no way to “water down” the text to fit natural explanations; the report clearly shows a miraculous work of God making a path through the sea—a path that had to be as wide as half a mile in order for the many people and their animals to cross between about 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. (W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:389). The text does not say that they actually only started across in the morning watch, however.

1 John 1:1-7

The Prologue to the Letter

1 This is what we proclaim to you:^[a] what was from the beginning,^[b] what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and our hands have touched (concerning the word of life— ²and the life was revealed, and we have seen and testify and announce^[c] to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us).^[d] ³What we have seen and heard we announce^[e] to you too, so that^[f] you may have fellowship^[g] with us (and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ). ⁴Thus^[h] we are writing these things so that^[i] our^[j] joy may be complete.^[k]

God Is Light, So We Must Walk in the Light

⁵Now^[l] this is the gospel^[m] message^[n] we have heard from him^[o] and announce to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.^[p] ⁶If we say we have fellowship with him and yet keep on walking^[q] in the darkness, we are lying and not practicing^[r] the truth. ⁷But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses^[s] us from all sin.^[t]

Footnotes

1 John 1:1 tn The phrase “This is what we proclaim to you” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to clarify the English. The main verb which governs all of these relative clauses is ἀπαγγέλλομεν (apangellomen) in v. 3. This is important for the proper understanding of the relative clauses in v. 1, because the main verb ἀπαγγέλλομεν in v. 3 makes it clear that all of the relative clauses in vv. 1 and 3 are the objects of the author’s proclamation to the readers rather than the subjects. To indicate this the phrase “This is what we proclaim to you” has been supplied at the beginning of v. 1.
1 John 1:1 tn Grk “That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard…”
1 John 1:2 tn Or “proclaim.”
1 John 1:2 tn In the Greek text the prologue to 1 John (vv. 1-4) makes up a single sentence. This is awkward in Greek, and a literal translation produces almost impossible English. For this reason the present translation places a period at the end of v. 2 and another at the end of v. 3. The material in parentheses in v. 1 begins the first of three parenthetical interruptions in the grammatical sequence of the prologue (the second is the entirety of v. 2 and the third is the latter part of v. 3). This is because of the awkwardness of connecting the prepositional phrase with what precedes, an awkwardness not immediately obvious in most English translations: “what we beheld and our hands handled concerning the word of life…” As J. Bonsirven (Épîtres de Saint Jean [CNT], 67) noted, while one may hear about the word of life, it is more difficult to see about the word of life, and impossible to feel with one’s hands about the word of life. Rather than being the object of any of the verbs in v. 1, the prepositional phrase at the end of v. 1 (“concerning the word of life…”) is more likely a parenthetical clarification intended to specify the subject of the eyewitness testimony which the verbs in v. 1 describe. A parallel for such parenthetical explanation may be found in John 1:12 (τοῖς πιστεύουσιν εἰς τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, tois pisteuousin eis to onoma autou).
1 John 1:3 tn Or “proclaim.”
1 John 1:3 tn The ἵνα (hina) here indicates purpose.
1 John 1:3 tn Or “communion”; or “association” (a reality shared in common, so in this case, “genuine association”). This term also occurs in vv. 6, 7.
1 John 1:4 tn “Thus” is supplied to indicate the resultative nature of the Greek conjunction καί (kai) at the beginning of v. 4.
1 John 1:4 tn The ἵνα (hina) here indicates purpose.
1 John 1:4 tc A number of mss, some of them quite significant (A C K P 5 33 81 442 1243 1505 1611 1735 1739 1852 1881 2344 pm sy^h bo), read ὑμῶν (humōn, “your”) rather than ἡμῶν (hēmōn, “our”), which is found in somewhat better witnesses (א B L Ψ 049 436 1175 1241 pm sy^p sa). Although the majority of Byzantine minuscules are split between the two readings, the Textus Receptus reads ὑμῶν. It is possible that ὑμῶν represents a scribal assimilation to John 16:24, where the Greek purpose clause is identical to the wording here with ὑμῶν (“so that your joy may be complete”). As far as the immediate context is concerned, either reading could possibly be original, since the recipients have already been mentioned in 1:2 (ὑμῖν, humin) and 1:3 (ὑμῖν), while it might seem more natural for the author to be concerned about the fulfillment of his own joy than his readers’ (cf. 2 John 4, 12; 3 John 3). Overall, the first person pronoun is preferred on both external and internal grounds. Although previous editions of the UBS text gave the first person pronoun reading an “A” rating, UBS⁵ strips out any rating at all and, along with NA²⁸, ranks ὑμῶν as an equally viable alternative initial reading by placing it in the apparatus with a diamond.
1 John 1:4 tn Grk “be fulfilled.”sn This is what we proclaim to you…so that our joy may be complete. The prologue to 1 John (1:1-4) has many similarities to the prologue to the Gospel of John (1:1-18). Like the prologue to the Fourth Gospel, the prologue to 1 John introduces the reader to important themes which will be more fully developed later in the body of the work. In the case of 1 John, three of these are: (1) the importance of eyewitness testimony to who Jesus is (cf. 4:14; 5:6-12), (2) the importance of the earthly ministry of Jesus as a part of God’s revelation of himself in Jesus Christ (cf. 4:2; 5:6), and (3) the eternal life available to believers in Jesus Christ (5:11-12; 5:20). Like the rest of the letter, the prologue to 1 John does not contain any of the usual features associated with a letter in NT times, such as an opening formula, the name of the author or sender, the name(s) of the addressee(s), a formal greeting, or a health wish or expression of remembrance. The author of 1 John begins the prologue with an emphasis on the eyewitness nature of his testimony. He then transitions to a focus on the readers of the letter by emphasizing the proclamation of this eyewitness (apostolic) testimony to them. The purpose of this proclamation is so that the readers might share in fellowship with the author, a true fellowship which is with the Father and the Son as well. To guarantee this maintenance of fellowship the author is writing the letter itself (line 4a). Thus, in spite of the convoluted structure of the prologue in which the author’s thought turns back on itself several times, there is a discernible progression in his thought which ultimately expresses itself in the reason for the writing of the letter (later expressed again in slightly different form in the purpose statement of 5:13).
1 John 1:5 tn The καί (kai) at the beginning of 1:5 takes on a resumptive force, indicated by the phrase “heard from him and announce to you,” which echoes similar phrases in 1:2 and 1:3.
1 John 1:5 tn The word “gospel” is not in the Greek text but is supplied to clarify the meaning. See the note on the following word “message.”
1 John 1:5 tn The word ἀγγελία (angelia) occurs only twice in the NT, here and in 1 John 3:11. It is a cognate of ἐπαγγελία (epangelia) which occurs much more frequently (some 52 times in the NT) including 1 John 2:25. BDAG 8 s.v. ἀγγελία 1 offers the meaning “message” which suggests some overlap with the semantic range of λόγος (logos), although in the specific context of 1:5 BDAG suggests a reference to the gospel. (The precise “content” of this “good news’ is given by the ὅτι [hoti] clause which follows in 1:5b.) The word ἀγγελία here is closely equivalent to εὐαγγέλιον (euangelion): (1) it refers to the proclamation of the eyewitness testimony about the life and ministry of Jesus Christ as proclaimed by the author and the rest of the apostolic witnesses (prologue, esp. 1:3-4), and (2) it relates to the salvation of the hearers/readers, since the purpose of this proclamation is to bring them into fellowship with God and with the apostolic witnesses (1:3). Because of this the adjective “gospel” is included in the English translation.
1 John 1:5 tn The referent of the pronoun “him” is not entirely clear in the Greek text; it could be either (1) God the Father, or (2) Jesus Christ, both of whom are mentioned at the end of v. 3. A reference to Jesus Christ is more likely because this is the nearest possible antecedent, and because God (the Father) is specifically mentioned in the following clause in v. 5.
1 John 1:5 tn The key to understanding the first major section of 1 John, 1:5-3:10, is found in the statement in v. 5: “God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.” The idea of “proclamation”—the apostolic proclamation of eyewitness testimony which the prologue introduces (1:2, 3)—is picked up in 1:5 by the use of the noun ἀγγελία (angelia) and the verb ἀναγγέλλομεν (anangellomen), cognate to the verb in 1:3. The content of this proclamation is given by the ὅτι (hoti) clause in 1:5 as the assertion that God is light, so this statement should be understood as the author’s formulation of the apostolic eyewitness testimony introduced in the prologue. (This corresponds to the apostolic preaching elsewhere referred to as κήρυγμα [kērugma], although the term the Apostle John uses here is ἀγγελία.)sn Following the theme statement in 1:5, God is light and in him there is no darkness at all, the author presents a series of three claims and counterclaims that make up the first unit of 1 John (1:5-2:2). The three claims begin with “if” (1:6, 8, 10) and the three counterclaims begin with “but if” (1:7, 9; 2:1) in the English translation.
1 John 1:6 tn The context of this statement in 1:6 indicates clearly that the progressive (continuative or durative) aspect of the present tense must be in view here.sn The relationship of the phrase keep on walking to if we say is very important for understanding the problem expressed in 1:6. If one should say (εἴπωμεν, eipōmen) that he has fellowship with God, and yet continues walking (περιπατῶμεν, peripatōmen) in the darkness, then it follows (in the apodosis, the “then” clause) that he is lying and not practicing the truth.
1 John 1:6 tn Or “living according to…”
1 John 1:7 tn Or “purifies.”
1 John 1:7 tn BDAG 50 s.v. ἁμαρτία 1 defines this term as “a departure fr. either human or divine standards of uprightness” (see 1 John 5:17 where ἁμαρτία [hamartia] and ἀδικία [adikia] are related). This word occurs 17 times in 1 John, of which 11 are singular and 6 are plural.sn From all sin. Sometimes a distinction between singular “sin” and plural “sins” has been suggested: Some would see the singular all sin of 1:7 as a reference to sinfulness before conversion and the plural sins of 1:9 as a reference to sins committed after one became a Christian. This amounts to making 1:7 refer to initial justification and 1:9 to sanctification. But the phrase all sin in 1:7 is so comprehensive that it can hardly be limited to preconversion sins, and the emphasis on “walking” in 1:7 strongly suggests that the Christian life is in view (not one’s life before conversion). In 1 John 1:8 sin appears as a condition or characteristic quality, which in 1:10 is regarded as universal. Apart from forgiveness in Christ it results in alienation from God (2:15) and spiritual death (3:14). But according to 1 John 1:7, cleansing from sin is possible by the blood (representing the sacrificial death) of Jesus.

John 14:1-7

Jesus’ Parting Words to His Disciples

14 “Do not let your hearts be distressed.^[a] You believe in God;^[b] believe also in me. ²There are many dwelling places^[c] in my Father’s house.^[d] Otherwise, I would have told you, because^[e] I am going away to make ready^[f] a place for you.^[g] ³And if I go and make ready^[h] a place for you, I will come again and take you^[i] to be with me,^[j] so that where I am you may be too. ⁴And you know the way where I am going.”^[k]

⁵Thomas said,^[l] “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How can we know the way?” ⁶Jesus replied,^[m] “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.^[n] No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷If you have known me, you will know my Father too.^[o] And from now on you do know him and have seen him.”

Footnotes

John 14:1 sn The same verb is used to describe Jesus’ own state in John 11:33; 12:27, and 13:21. Jesus is looking ahead to the events of the evening and the next day, his arrest, trials, crucifixion, and death, which will cause his disciples extreme emotional distress.
John 14:1 tn Or “Believe in God.” The translation of the two uses of πιστεύετε (pisteuete) is difficult. Both may be either indicative or imperative, and as L. Morris points out (John [NICNT], 637), this results in a bewildering variety of possibilities. To complicate matters further, the first may be understood as a question: “Do you believe in God? Believe also in me.” Morris argues against the KJV translation which renders the first πιστεύετε as indicative and the second as imperative on the grounds that for the writer of the Fourth Gospel, faith in Jesus is inseparable from faith in God. But this is precisely the point that Jesus is addressing in context. He is about to undergo rejection by his own people as their Messiah. The disciples’ faith in him as Messiah and Lord would be cast into extreme doubt by these events, which the author makes clear were not at this time foreseen by the disciples. After the resurrection it is this identification between Jesus and the Father which needs to be reaffirmed (cf. John 20:24-29). Thus it seems best to take the first πιστεύετε as indicative and the second as imperative, producing the translation “You believe in God; believe also in me.”
John 14:2 tn Many interpreters have associated μοναί (monai) with an Aramaic word that can refer to a stopping place or resting place for a traveler on a journey. This is similar to one of the meanings the word can have in secular Greek (Pausanius 10.31.7). Origen understood the use here to refer to stations on the road to God. This may well have been the understanding of the Latin translators who translated μονή (monē) by mansio, a stopping place. The English translation “mansions” can be traced back to Tyndale, but in Middle English the word simply meant “a dwelling place” (not necessarily large or imposing) with no connotation of being temporary. The interpretation put forward by Origen would have been well suited to Gnosticism, where the soul in its ascent passes through stages during which it is gradually purified of all that is material and therefore evil. It is much more likely that the word μονή should be related to its cognate verb μένω (menō), which is frequently used in the Fourth Gospel to refer to the permanence of relationship between Jesus and the Father and/or Jesus and the believer. Thus the idea of a permanent dwelling place, rather than a temporary stopping place, would be in view. Luther’s translation of μοναί by Wohnungen is very accurate here, as it has the connotation of a permanent residence.
John 14:2 sn Most interpreters have understood the reference to my Father’s house as a reference to heaven, and the dwelling places (μονή, monē) as the permanent residences of believers there. This seems consistent with the vocabulary and the context, where in v. 3 Jesus speaks of coming again to take the disciples to himself. However, the phrase in my Father’s house was used previously in the Fourth Gospel in 2:16 to refer to the temple in Jerusalem. The author in 2:19-22 then reinterpreted the temple as Jesus’ body, which was to be destroyed in death and then rebuilt in resurrection after three days. Even more suggestive is the statement by Jesus in 8:35, “Now the slave does not remain (μένω, menō) in the household forever, but the son remains (μένω) forever.” If in the imagery of the Fourth Gospel the phrase in my Father’s house is ultimately a reference to Jesus’ body, the relationship of μονή to μένω suggests the permanent relationship of the believer to Jesus and the Father as an adopted son who remains in the household forever. In this case the “dwelling place” is “in” Jesus himself, where he is, whether in heaven or on earth. The statement in v. 3, “I will come again and receive you to myself,” then refers not just to the parousia, but also to Jesus’ postresurrection return to the disciples in his glorified state, when by virtue of his death on their behalf they may enter into union with him and with the Father as adopted sons. Needless to say, this bears numerous similarities to Pauline theology, especially the concepts of adoption as sons and being “in Christ” which are prominent in passages like Eph 1. It is also important to note, however, the emphasis in the Fourth Gospel itself on the present reality of eternal life (John 5:24; 7:38-39, etc.) and the possibility of worshiping the Father “in the Spirit and in truth” (John 4:21-24) in the present age. There is a sense in which it is possible to say that the future reality is present now. See further J. McCaffrey, The House With Many Rooms (AnBib 114).
John 14:2 tc A number of significant mss (P^66c א A B C* D K L W Ψ ƒ¹³ 33 565 579 892 al lat) have ὅτι (hoti) here, while the majority lack it (P^66* C² Θ M). Should the ὅτι be included or omitted? The external evidence is significantly stronger for the longer reading. Most Alexandrian and Western mss favor inclusion (it is a little unusual for the Alexandrian to favor the longer reading), while most Byzantine mss favor omission (again, a little unusual). However, the reading of P^66*, which aligns with the Byzantine, needs to be given some value. At the same time, the scribe of this papyrus was known for freely omitting and adding words, and the fact that the ms was corrected discounts its testimony here. But because the shorter reading is out of character for the Byzantine text, the shorter reading (omitting the ὅτι) may well be authentic. Internally, the question comes down to whether the shorter reading is more difficult or not. And here, it loses the battle, for it seems to be a clarifying omission (so TCGNT 206). R. E. Brown is certainly right when he states: “all in all, the translation without ὅτι makes the best sense” (John [AB], 2:620). But this tacitly argues for the authenticity of the word. Thus, on both external and internal grounds, the ὅτι should be regarded as authentic. tn If the ὅτι (hoti) is included (see tc above), there are no less than four possible translations for this sentence: The sentence could be either a question or a statement, and in addition the ὅτι could either indicate content or be causal. How does one determine the best translation? (1) A question here should probably be ruled out because it would imply a previous statement by Jesus that either there are many dwelling places in his Father’s house (if the ὅτι is causal) or he was going off to make a place ready for them (if the ὅτι indicates content). There is no indication anywhere in the Fourth Gospel that Jesus had made such statements prior to this time. So understanding the sentence as a statement is the best option. (2) A statement with ὅτι indicating content is understandable but contradictory. If there were no dwelling places, Jesus would have told them that he was going off to make dwelling places. But the following verse makes clear that Jesus’ departure is not hypothetical but real—he is really going away. So understanding the ὅτι with a causal nuance is the best option. (3) A statement with a causal ὅτι can be understood two ways: (a) “Otherwise I would have told you” is a parenthetical statement, and the ὅτι clause goes with the preceding “There are many dwelling places in my Father’s house.” This would be fairly awkward syntactically, however; it would be much more natural for the ὅτι clause to modify what directly preceded it. (b) “Otherwise I would have told you” is explained by Jesus’ statement that he is going to make ready a place. He makes a logical, necessary connection between his future departure and the reality of the dwelling places in his Father’s house. To sum up, all the possibilities for understanding the verse with the inclusion of ὅτι present some interpretive difficulties, but last option given seems best: “Otherwise, I would have told you, because I am going to make ready a place.” Of all the options it provides the best logical flow of thought in the passage without making any apparent contradictions in the context.
John 14:2 tn Or “to prepare.”
John 14:2 tn Or “If not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?” What is the meaning of the last clause with or without the ὅτι? One of the questions that must be answered here is whether or not τόπος (topos) is to be equated with μονή (monē). In Rev 12:8 τόπος is used to refer to a place in heaven, which would suggest that the two are essentially equal here. Jesus is going ahead of believers to prepare a place for them, a permanent dwelling place in the Father’s house (see the note on this phrase in v. 2).
John 14:3 tn Or “prepare.”
John 14:3 tn Or “bring you.”
John 14:3 tn Grk “to myself.”
John 14:4 tc Most mss (P^66* A C³ D Θ Ψ ƒ^1,13 M lat sy sa) read “You know where I am going, and you know the way” (καὶ ὅπου [ἐγὼ] ὑπάγω οἴδατε καὶ τὴν ὁδόν οἴδατε, kai hopou egō hupagō oidate kai tēn hodon oidate). The difference between this reading and the wording in NA²⁸ (supported by P^66c א B C* L Q W 33 579) is the addition of καί before τὴν ὁδόν and οἴδατε after. Either assertion on the part of Jesus would be understandable: “you know the way where I am going” or “you know where I am going and you know the way,” although the shorter reading is a bit more awkward syntactically. In light of this, and in light of the expansion already at hand in v. 5, the longer reading appears to be a motivated reading. The shorter reading is thus preferred because of its superior external and internal evidence.sn Where I am going. Jesus had spoken of his destination previously to the disciples, most recently in John 13:33. Where he was going was back to the Father, and they could not follow him there, but later he would return for them and they could join him then. The way he was going was via the cross. This he had also mentioned previously (e.g., 12:32) although his disciples did not understand at the time (cf. 12:33). As Jesus would explain in v. 6, although for him the way back to the Father was via the cross, for his disciples the “way” to where he was going was Jesus himself.
John 14:5 tn Grk “said to him.”
John 14:6 tn Grk “Jesus said to him.”
John 14:6 tn Or “I am the way, even the truth and the life.”
John 14:7 tc There is a difficult textual problem here: The statement reads either “If you have known (ἐγνώκατε, egnōkate) me, you will know (γνώσεσθε, gnōsesthe) my Father” or “If you had really known (ἐγνώκειτε, egnōkeite) me, you would have known (ἐγνώκειτε ἄν or ἂν ἤδειτε [egnōkeite an or an ēdeite]) my Father.” The division of the external evidence is difficult, but can be laid out as follows: The mss that have the perfect ἐγνώκατε in the protasis (P⁶⁶ [א D* W] 579 it) also have, for the most part, the future indicative γνώσεσθε in the apodosis (P⁶⁶ א D W [579] sa bo), rendering Jesus’ statement as a first-class condition. The mss that have the pluperfect ἐγνώκειτε in the protasis (A B C D¹ L Θ Ψ ƒ^1,13 33 M) also have, for the most part, a pluperfect in the apodosis (either ἂν ἤδειτε in B C* [L] Q Ψ 1 33 565 al, or ἐγνώκειτε ἄν in A C³ Θ ƒ¹³ M), rendering Jesus’ statement a contrary-to-fact second-class condition. The external evidence slightly favors the first-class condition, since there is an Alexandrian-Western alliance supported by P⁶⁶. As well, the fact that the readings with a second-class condition utilize two different verbs with ἄν in different positions suggests that these readings are secondary. However, it could be argued that the second-class conditions are harder readings in that they speak negatively of the apostles (so K. Aland in TCGNT 207); in this case, the ἐγνώκειτε…ἐγνώκειτε ἄν reading should be given preference. Although a decision is difficult, the first-class condition is to be slightly preferred. In this case Jesus promises the disciples that, assuming they have known him, they will know the Father. Contextually this fits better with the following phrase (v. 7b) which asserts that “from the present time you know him and have seen him” (cf. John 1:18).

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Book of Common Prayer

Psalm 146[a]

Psalm 147[j]

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Psalm 111[a]

Psalm 112[s]

Psalm 113[am]

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Footnotes

The Prologue to the Letter

God Is Light, So We Must Walk in the Light

Footnotes

Jesus’ Parting Words to His Disciples

Footnotes

Psalm 146^[a]

Psalm 147^[j]

Psalm 111^[a]

Psalm 112^[s]

Psalm 113^[am]