Favourite Bible Translations

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posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
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Am I the only one here that can see that these two translations say two completely different things?

1 John 3:9
King James Version

9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.


1 John 3:9
New American Standard Bible

9 No one who has been born of God practices sin, because His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin continually, because he has been born of God.
i agree they are giving two distinctly different impressions.

i am sure this has been discussed here in the BDF many times and both you & @Dino246 have been part of those threads -- with the conclusion being that the tense of the verb in 1 John 3:9 is a Greek language nuance that English doesn't have, making a distinction not only between past/present/future but also between simple, completed actions and actions that are ongoing. in both cases of the word root 'to sin' here in this verse, the verb is present-active, which is the current time and an ongoing activity, as opposed to a one-time action that is has a distinct beginning & end in time. so that the actual language John used here indicates the translation 'practices sin' more accurately conveys the meaning and 'commit sin' is potentially misleading.
reading a KJV without this knowledge it's my opinion you ought to be able to come to the same conclusion that the NASB makes plain; in the very same letter, just a few sentences previously, 1 John 1:8-9 & 2:1-2 in KJV make it clear that Christians do in fact sin and don't cease to become born of God because of their weakness. how else does James 5:16 exist? Hebrews 7:25, Romans 8:34, Proverbs 24:16, 2 Corinthians 12:9?

not that we are Greek scholars, but the people who actually are, who have participated in these types of threads, have said these things about the language of 1 John 3:9 to us in our hearing, impartial resources i have looked up seem to confirm it, and i haven't heard any convincing arguments to the contrary - that is, arguments that address the text itself rather than other arguments about the superiority of the KJV over the manuscripts it was translated from.

i'm typing all this hoping we can move on from re-hashing the same conversations. obviously new people move in and out of the forum and discussions have good reason to be repeated, but you & Dino surely have already had or have both read the same 1 John 3:9 back-and-forth at least once over the last few years here, right?
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
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doesn't scripture state that whoever adds to or takes away from the words of the book is condemned.
so you're saying we shouldn't make translations at all, but we should all learn to read the scripture in the language it was written?

that's understandable. it's a common among Muslims to say the Koran really needs to be read in Arabic, in fact, many people look down on translations being made of it in the first place, recognizing that the work of translating between languages necessarily adds and/or takes away from the original text.
 
Nov 23, 2013
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What's that, the original NASB or a Revised NASB?

It's screwed up too because it's got "his seed" capitalized like the seed is God. The seed is the mans own seed not God. And that's another place that COULD help a person understand what the devil REALLY is.

Now go ahead and accuse me of "you say it shouldn't be capitalize because the KJV doesn't capitalize it". That has absolutely nothing to do with why I KNOW it shouldn't be capitalized.
 

John146

Senior Member
Jan 13, 2016
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so you're saying we shouldn't make translations at all, but we should all learn to read the scripture in the language it was written?

that's understandable. it's a common among Muslims to say the Koran really needs to be read in Arabic, in fact, many people look down on translations being made of it in the first place, recognizing that the work of translating between languages necessarily adds and/or takes away from the original text.
Make all the translations you want, just don't call them Scripture or the word of God. Call them partial truths paraphrases.:)
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
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The Book of Revelation states that.
The Bible is a collection of books & translating it into other languages & dialects is not forbidden.

.
yes, and in Revelation it's specifically 'the words of this prophecy' in context.

similarly here, tho 'take away' isn't said, the subject is the words of God --

Every word of God is pure: He is a shield to those that trust in Him.
Put nothing unto His words, lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.
(Proverbs 30:5-6, 1599 GNV)
 
Nov 23, 2013
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i agree they are giving two distinctly different impressions.

i am sure this has been discussed here in the BDF many times and both you & @Dino246 have been part of those threads -- with the conclusion being that the tense of the verb in 1 John 3:9 is a Greek language nuance that English doesn't have, making a distinction not only between past/present/future but also between simple, completed actions and actions that are ongoing. in both cases of the word root 'to sin' here in this verse, the verb is present-active, which is the current time and an ongoing activity, as opposed to a one-time action that is has a distinct beginning & end in time. so that the actual language John used here indicates the translation 'practices sin' more accurately conveys the meaning and 'commit sin' is potentially misleading.
reading a KJV without this knowledge it's my opinion you ought to be able to come to the same conclusion that the NASB makes plain; in the very same letter, just a few sentences previously, 1 John 1:8-9 & 2:1-2 in KJV make it clear that Christians do in fact sin and don't cease to become born of God because of their weakness. how else does James 5:16 exist? Hebrews 7:25, Romans 8:34, Proverbs 24:16, 2 Corinthians 12:9?

not that we are Greek scholars, but the people who actually are, who have participated in these types of threads, have said these things about the language of 1 John 3:9 to us in our hearing, impartial resources i have looked up seem to confirm it, and i haven't heard any convincing arguments to the contrary - that is, arguments that address the text itself rather than other arguments about the superiority of the KJV over the manuscripts it was translated from.

i'm typing all this hoping we can move on from re-hashing the same conversations. obviously new people move in and out of the forum and discussions have good reason to be repeated, but you & Dino surely have already had or have both read the same 1 John 3:9 back-and-forth at least once over the last few years here, right?
So you are telling me that that which is born of God CAN SIN but it just want sin habitually?
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
37,729
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It's screwed up too because it's got "his seed" capitalized like the seed is God. The seed is the mans own seed not God. And that's another place that COULD help a person understand what the devil REALLY is.
no mate, when it says "His seed abides in him" it's saying God's seed abides in him.
it makes no sense to say man cannot practice sin because man's own seed is in man.

i like the way the NASB & NKJV make it a point to capitalize pronouns that reference the LORD; that's one of the primary reasons that when i quote scripture here in the forum it's NKJV more often than not. when i quote something like KJV i go back and "fix" the capitalization myself.
 
Nov 23, 2013
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no mate, when it says "His seed abides in him" it's saying God's seed abides in him.
it makes no sense to say man cannot practice sin because man's own seed is in man.


i like the way the NASB & NKJV make it a point to capitalize pronouns that reference the LORD; that's one of the primary reasons that when i quote scripture here in the forum it's NKJV more often than not. when i quote something like KJV i go back and "fix" the capitalization myself.
1Jn 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
1Jn 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

The seed is the serpent seed, human DNA, the flesh. The son of God destroys the WORKS of the flesh but THE SERPENT SEED still remains in the man.

That which is born of God is the OPPOSITE of the flesh, it CAN NOT SIN.
 

Sipsey

Well-known member
Sep 27, 2018
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So you are telling me that that which is born of God CAN SIN but it just want sin habitually?
I curious: Are you aware of anyone in the OT that did not sin? You seem to imply that after Jesus went to be with the Father that anyone saved after that is incapable of sin, correct?
 

Dino246

Senior Member
Jun 30, 2015
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What's that, the original NASB or a Revised NASB?

It's screwed up too because it's got "his seed" capitalized like the seed is God. The seed is the mans own seed not God. And that's another place that COULD help a person understand what the devil REALLY is.

Now go ahead and accuse me of "you say it shouldn't be capitalize because the KJV doesn't capitalize it". That has absolutely nothing to do with why I KNOW it shouldn't be capitalized.
I think you are going to keep finding "errors" until you die, because you are convinced beyond all reason that the KJV is correct.
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
37,729
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his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
His seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God

how is it a person with Serpent-seed is born of God & cannot sin lol
 
Nov 23, 2013
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I curious: Are you aware of anyone in the OT that did not sin? You seem to imply that after Jesus went to be with the Father that anyone saved after that is incapable of sin, correct?
The flesh still sins but we are not under the law of the flesh, we are under the law of the Spirit. All things are lawful for us but not all things are expedient. That which is born of God is the spirit, not the flesh.
 
Nov 23, 2013
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His seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God

how is it a person with Serpent-seed is born of God & cannot sin lol
Because Christ destroyed the works of the flesh. We are not under the law of the flesh any more. All things are lawful for us how can we sin when there is no law against anything we do? I don't know how to explain it any more than that. Yes we still commit sins but it's not sin because there is no law.
 
Nov 23, 2013
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Galatians 2

Peter, born of God, was in sin. Paul corrected him. he didn't continue in it.
See my other posts, same answer sin is not imputed when there is no law.... that means there is no such as sin but there is. It's a quantum issue lol.