John 3:13
 
John 3:13
(KJV) And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
(1611 KJV) And no man hath ascended vp to heauen, but hee that came downe from heauen, euen the Sonne of man which is in heauen.
(1587 Geneva Bible) For no man ascendeth vp to heauen, but he that hath descended from heauen, that Sonne of man which is in heauen.
(1526 Tyndale) And no man ascendeth vp to heaven but he that came doune from heaven that is to saye the sonne of man which is in heaven.
 
Counterfeit Versions
(CSB) No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven ​— ​the Son of Man.
(NIV) No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man
(NASV) No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man.
(THE MESSAGE) "No one has ever gone up into the presence of God except the One who came down from that Presence, the Son of Man.
(ESV) No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.
(HCSB) No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven —the Son of Man.
(RSV) No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man.
(NAB-Roman Catholic) No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.
(NWT-Jehovah’s Witnesses) Moreover, no man has ascended into heaven but he that descended from heaven, the Son of man.
 
Textus Receptus - Traditional Text
kai oudeiV anabebhken eiV ton ouranon ei mh o ek tou ouranou katabaV o uioV tou anqrwpou o wn en tw ouranw
 
Hort-Westcott- Critical Text
kai oudeiV anabebhken eiV ton ouranon ei mh o ek tou ouranou katabaV o uioV tou anqrwpou
 
Corrupted Manuscripts
This verse is corrupted in the following manuscripts:
Aleph 01 - Sinaiticus - Nineteenth Century Counterfeit
B 03 - Vaticanus - Fourth century
L 019 - Seventh century
W 032 - Fourth/fifth century
33 (Minuscule) - Ninth Century
P 66 - circa 200 A.D.
P 75 - Third Century
 
Manuscripts which agree with the Textus Receptus for this verse
Byzantine Text (450-1450 A.D.)
A 02 - Alexandrinus - Fifth century
K 017 - Ninth century
Gamma 036 - Ninth or Tenth century
Delta 037 - Ninth century
Theta 038 - Ninth century
1 (Minuscule) - Seventh century
13 (Minuscule) - Eighth century
 
Published Critical Greek Texts with Corruptions
Omit “which is in Heaven”
Westcott and Hort - 1881
Weiss, Bernhard - 1894
Nestle - 1927 as revised in seventeenth edition in 1941
Nestle-Aland - 1979 - Twenty Sixth Edition
Nestle-Aland - 1993 - Twenty Seventh Edition
United Bible Societies - 1983 - Fourth Edition
Von Soden, Freiherr - 1902

 

“He is limited in the body, but unlimited in the Spirit; He is on the earth, and at the same time in Heaven.”   382/383 A.D.  From letter 101 by Gregory of Nazianzus who lived 330-390 A.D.
 
Affected Teachings
Here is an attack upon the Omnipresence of the Lord Jesus Christ. Omnipresence is a characteristic of God. In this John 3 discourse, Jesus was speaking with Nicodemus and was telling him that He had descended from Heaven, yet at the same time He was in Heaven. This is a revelation of the omnipresence of Christ that at the same time He was on Earth, He was still in Heaven. By deleting “which is in heaven” it removes the testimony of deity from Christ. As eternal God, He still had authority in Heaven while still on Earth. The Gnostics did not believe that Christ was God because they taught that flesh was evil and that deity could not dwell in sinful flesh. They neglected the understanding of the virgin birth which disallowed the sin nature to be passed to Him. When Christ was on Earth, He never ceased to be God. If He did, then He would never have been qualified to be our sin substitute. The word “is” is in the present tense which means that Christ was signifying that while He was on Earth, He was still in Heaven. The word “is” can also be translated “being.” It could read “which being in Heaven.” This is one of those great mysteries beyond the comprehension of the human mind and that is why the Gnostics chose to remove it since they could not explain it.

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