NOTES: "And we are writing these things to ^plyou"
EVIDENCE: A^c C K L 049 056 0142 81 104 614 630 945 1241 1739 1881 2495 Byz Lect most lat vg syr most cop
TRANSLATIONS: KJV NKJV CSBn

COMMENTS: The verb in this passage has a first person plural ending that is translated "we." The text reading also has a first person plural pronoun "we" giving emphasis to the subject. In the notes reading this subject pronoun is replaced with a second person dative pronoun translated "to ^plyou." The words "we" and " to ^plyou" in Greek came to be pronounced almost alike, thus leading to confusion on the part of copyists.

1 John 1:4:

NOTES: "so that ^plyour joy may be made full."
EVIDENCE: A C K P 33 81 104 614 630 945 1739 1881 2495 some Byz some lat later vg syr(h,pal) cop(north)
TRANSLATIONS: KJV NKJV ASVn RSVn NRSVn ESVn NIVn TEVn CSBn

OTHER: "so that our joy in ^plyou may be made full"
EVIDENCE: syr(p)

COMMENTS: In later Greek "our" and "^plyour" were pronounced alike, so the variation is perhaps due to a mistake of the ear. There is a possibility that the reading "^plyour" was borrowed by copyists from John 16:24. The reading of the Syriac Peshitta translation is a combination of the two readings.

1 John 2:20:

NOTES: "from the Holy One, and ^plyou know all things."
EVIDENCE: A C K 33 81 104 614 630 945 1739 1881 2495 Byz Lect lat vg syr(p,h) cop(north)
TRANSLATIONS: KJV NKJV ASV RSVn NRSVn ESVn NASVn NIVn NEBn REBn CSBn

COMMENTS: The difference between the two readings is only one of two letters. Although it is possible that "know all things" was changed to "all know" by copyists who felt that "know all things" was too strong a statement, it is also possible that the reverse change was made by copyists who felt that the verb "know" needed an object.

1 John 2:25:

NOTES: "this is the promise he has promised ^plyou"
EVIDENCE: B 1241 1881 two lat
TRANSLATIONS: ASVn RSVn NRSVn ESVn

COMMENTS: In later Greek the words for "us" and "^plyou" were pronounced alike. Most likely the change from "us" to "^plyou" by a few copyists was due to a mistake of the ear.

1 John 3:5:

NOTES: "he appeared to take away our sins"
EVIDENCE: Aleph(א) C K L Psi 81 104 614 630 2495 Byz Lect vg syr(p) cop(south)
TRANSLATIONS: KJV NKJV NIV TEVn CSBn

COMMENTS: It seems likely that the word "our" was borrowed by copyists from passages such as 1 John 2:2 and 4:10.

1 John 3:7:

NOTES: "Children, let no one be leading ^plyou astray"
EVIDENCE: A C^vid P Psi 33 1739 1881
TRANSLATIONS: NRSV2021n

COMMENTS: The variation is between two Greek synonyms for children. John uses both terms elsewhere in 1 John to address the Christians to whom he is writing. The word for "little children" is also found in 2:1, 12, 28; 3:18; 4:4; 5:21. The word for "children" is also found in 2:14 and 18. Some copyists obviously replaced one of the words with it synonym used elsewhere. The third edition of the UBS text (used here) has the word for "little children"; the fifth edition of the UBS text has the word for "children." The NEB, REB, and TEV translate both words the same although the REB here chances the NEB translation. The text reading is found in earlier manuscripts.

1 John 4:3:

NOTES: "and every spirit which annuls Jesus"
EVIDENCE: 1739^margin most lat vg
TRANSLATIONS: ASVn NRSVn

COMMENTS: Although it is possible that "not confess" comes from negating verse 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 4:3:

NOTES: "confess that Jesus Christ has come in flesh"
EVIDENCE: K 049 056 0142 104 614 Byz Lect
TRANSLATIONS: KJV NKJV CSBn

OTHER: "confess that Jesus [as] Lord has come in flesh"
EVIDENCE: Aleph(א)

OTHER: "confess that Jesus has come in flesh"
EVIDENCE: Psi 33 81 630 2495 syr(p,h)

OTHER: "confess Jesus Christ"
EVIDENCE: two lat most cop

COMMENTS: The additional words "Christ has come in flesh" were apparently taken from the previous verse to balance the statement. Copyists often expanded the name "Jesus" by adding "Lord" and/or "Christ."

1 John 4:10:

NOTES: "In this is love, not that we loved God"
EVIDENCE: Aleph(א) A 048^vid Maj
TRANSLATIONS: KJV NKJV ASV RSV NRSV NASV NIV NEB CSB

COMMENTS: 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 4:19:

NOTES: "We love him"
EVIDENCE: K L Psi 049 056 0142 104 Byz Lect
TRANSLATIONS: KJV NKJV NRSVn CSBn

NOTES: "We love God"
EVIDENCE: Aleph(א) 33 81 614 630 2495 most lat later vg syr most cop(north)
TRANSLATIONS: NRSVn

OTHER: "We know"
EVIDENCE: most cop

COMMENTS: Apparently a number of copyists added an object to "love."

1 John 4:20:

NOTES: "whom he has seen, how can he be loving God whom he has not seen?"
EVIDENCE: A K L 048 33 81 104 614 945 1241 1881 Byz Lect lat vg syr(p) cop(north)
TRANSLATIONS: KJV NKJV ASVn RSVn ESVn NASV73n CSBn

COMMENTS: 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.

1 John 5:2:

NOTES: "whenever we are loving God and keeping his commandments"
EVIDENCE: Aleph(א) K L P (048^vid) 049 056 0142 104 630 945 1241 1881 Byz Lect one lat
TRANSLATIONS: KJV NKJV CSBn

COMMENTS: Apparently copyists replaced the rare expression "do commandments" with the more usual "keep commandments" found in verse 3. The NRSV and TEV translate both words with "obey."

1 John 5:7-8:

NOTES: "And the Spirit is the One who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. •[That is] because there are three who testify in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. •And there are three who testify in the earth: the Spirit, and the water, and the blood; and [these] three agree as one."
EVIDENCE: 61 88^margin 221^margin 429^margin 629 636^margin 918 2318 most lat later vg
TRANSLATIONS: KJV NKJV NRSVn NASVn NIVn CSBn

COMMENTS: A complete list of the Greek manuscripts that include this passage is given above, in spite of the fact that none of the manuscripts were copied before the tenth century. There is much variation among those who have it, and most of the old Latin manuscripts have the witnesses on earth before the witnesses in heaven. The expanded passage is a fourth century Latin gloss on verse 8 which found its way into the Latin text and was back-translated into a few Greek manuscripts.

1 John 5:10:

NOTES: "The one who does not believe the Son has made him a liar"
EVIDENCE: A 81 1241 1739* most lat vg
TRANSLATIONS: NRSVn

OTHER: "The one who does not believe the Son of God has made him a liar"
EVIDENCE: most cop

COMMENTS: Apparently copyists changed "God" to "Son" under the influence of the previous clause. The text reading is supported by the earliest manuscripts.

1 John 5:13:

NOTES: "to ^plyou who believe in the name of the Son of God so that ^plyou may know that ^plyou have eternal life and so that ^plyou may believe in the name of the Son of God"
EVIDENCE: P Byz
TRANSLATIONS: KJV NKJV NRSV2021n

OTHER: "to ^plyou so that ^plyou may know that ^plyou who believe have eternal life in the name of the Son of God"
EVIDENCE: Aleph(א)² A 33^vid

OTHER: "to ^plyou so that ^plyou may know that ^plyou have eternal life and so that ^plyou may believe in the name of the Son of God"
EVIDENCE: Psi 1739 1881

OTHER: "to ^plyou who believe in the name of the Son of God so that ^plyou may know that ^plyou who believe have eternal life and so that ^plyou may believe in the name of the Son of God"
EVIDENCE: 81

COMMENTS: Apparently copyists seemed to recall Jesus' statement in John 20:31 and added part of that here. On the other hand, the repetition may be due to a mistake of the eye. At least two other variations not listed are found in a few other minuscule manuscripts. The text reading is supported by early manuscripts of both the Alexandrian and Western text types.

1 John 5:18:

NOTES: "but the one who was born of God keeps himself"
EVIDENCE: Aleph(א) A^c K P Psi 33 81 630 945 1241 1739 1881 Byz Lect syr(p) cop(south)?
TRANSLATIONS: KJV NKJV ASV NRSV2021n CSBn

COMMENTS: The difference in the two readings is only that of one letter. Elsewhere John uses the word translated "the One who was born" to refer to Christ, and a different form of the word to refer to the believer in Christ. Copyists who misunderstood the word as referring to the believer change the simple pronoun to the reflective "himself."

1 John 5:20:

NOTES: "so that we may know the true God"
EVIDENCE: A Psi 33 614 630 945 1739 1881 2495 most lat vg some cop(north)
TRANSLATIONS: NRSV2021n TEV CSBn

NOTES: "so that we may know what is true"
EVIDENCE: Aleph(א)* one lat most cop
COMMENTS: A number of copyists apparently felt the need to make the implied object explicit and added the word "God."

1 John 5:21:

NOTES: "Little children, guard †yourselves from idols. Amen."
EVIDENCE: K L P 049 056 0142 81 614 945 Byz Lect later vg
TRANSLATIONS: KJV NKJV NRSVn

COMMENTS: Copyists often added "Amen" to the end of a book they had copied.

NOTES: "from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ the Father's Son"
EVIDENCE: Aleph(א) K L P 049 056 0142 33 614 630 945 1881 2495 Byz Lect syr cop(north)
TRANSLATIONS: KJV NKJV NRSVn

COMMENTS: Copyists often expanded the name of Jesus by adding the title "Lord."

2 John 8:

NOTES: "that ^plyou may not lose what ^plyou have worked for"
EVIDENCE: Aleph(א) A Psi 0232^vid 33 81 614 630 1241 1739 1881 2495 lat vg syr(ph,h) cop(north)
TRANSLATIONS: ASVn RSV NRSVn ESVn NASV73n NIV84 NIV2011n TEVn CSBn

OTHER: "that we may not lose what we have worked for"
EVIDENCE: K P 104 945 Byz Lect
TRANSLATIONS: KJV NKJV

COMMENTS: The translations "we" and "^plyou" in this verse are from the verb endings which were not pronounced alike. Even though there is not much manuscript evidence for the text reading, it is the reading that was most likely to be changed by copyists: some changed "we" to "^plyou" to make it read "^plyou . . . ^plyou"; others changed "^plyou" to "we" to make it read "we . . . we."

2 John 9:

NOTES: "Anyone who transgresses"
EVIDENCE: K L P Psi 33 81 1739 Byz
TRANSLATIONS: KJV NKJV NRSV2021n

COMMENTS: The text reading is supported by the earliest manuscripts.

2 John 9:

NOTES: "the one who abides in the teaching of Christ"
EVIDENCE: K L P 056 0142 104 614 630 945 1241 2495 Byz Lect one lat cop(north)
TRANSLATIONS: KJV NKJV NRSV2021n

OTHER: "the one who abides in his teaching"
EVIDENCE: some lat syr(ph)

COMMENTS: Apparently copyists borrowed the phrase "of Christ" from the first part of the verse. The text reading is supported by the earliest manuscripts.

2 John 12:

NOTES: "so that ^plyour joy may be made full"
EVIDENCE: A B 33 81 1739 1881 lat vg cop(north)
TRANSLATIONS: ASV NRSV2021n NASV

OTHER: "so that my joy may be made full"
EVIDENCE: cop(south)

COMMENTS: In later Greek the words for "our" and "^plyour" were pronounced alike. It is likely that copyists misheard "our" as "^plyour," influenced by the two previous occurrences of "^plyou" in the verse.

2 John 13:

NOTES: "The children of your chosen sister greet you. Amen."
EVIDENCE: K L 049 056 0142 614 630 945 2495 Byz Lect syr
TRANSLATIONS: KJV NKJV NRSVn

COMMENTS: Copyists often added "Amen" to the end of a book they had copied.

NOTES: "by the church itself"
EVIDENCE: A*^vid
TRANSLATIONS: NRSV2021n

NOTES: "by the church and the truth itself"
EVIDENCE: (p^74*vid) C P(margin) syr(ph)
TRANSLATIONS: NRSV2021n

COMMENTS: One copyist replaced "truth" with "church" to make the testimony more concrete and a few others added "church" for the same reason.