1 John 1:4
 
1 John 1:4
(KJV) And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
(1611 KJV) And these things write we vnto you, that your ioy may be full.
(1587 Geneva Bible) And these thinges write we vnto you, that that your ioy may be full.
(1568 Bishops Bible) And this write we vnto you, that your ioy may be full,
 
Counterfeit Versions
(1881 RV) and these things we write, that our joy may be fulfilled.
(1901 ASV) and these things we write, that our joy may be made full.
(AMP) And we are now writing these things to you so that our joy [in seeing you included] may be full [and your joy may be complete].
(CEB) We are writing these things so that our joy can be complete.
(CEV) We are writing to tell you these things, because this makes us truly happy.
(CSB) We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete
(ESV) And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
(GNB) We write this in order that our joy may be complete.
(HCSB) We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
(JB Phillips) We must write and tell you about it, because the more that fellowship extends the greater the joy it brings to us who are already in it.
(NASV) These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.
(NCV) We write this to you so we may be full of joy.
(2011 NIV) We write this to make our joy complete.
(1984 NIV) We write this to make our joy complete.
(NLV) We are writing this to you so our joy may be full.
(NLT) We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy.
(RSV) And we are writing this that our joy may be complete.
(NAB-Roman Catholic) We are writing this so that our joy may be complete
(NWT-Jehovah’s Witnesses) And so we are writing these things that our joy may be in full measure.
 
Textus Receptus - Traditional Text
και ταυτα γραφομεν υμιν ινα η χαρα υμων η πεπληρωμενη
 
Hort-Westcott - Critical Text
και ταυτα γραφομεν ημεις ινα η χαρα ημων η πεπληρωμενη
 
Corrupted Manuscripts
This verse is corrupted in the following manuscripts:
Aleph 01 - Sinaiticus - Nineteenth Century Counterfeit
A 02 - Alexandrinus - Fifth century (original)
B 03 - Vaticanus - Fourth century
P 025 - Ninth century
33 (Minuscule) - Ninth Century
 
Manuscripts which agree with the Textus Receptus for this verse
Byzantine Text (450-1450 A.D.)
Stephanus (1550 AD)
A 02 - Alexandrinus - Fifth century (corrected)
C 04 - Ephraemi Rescriptus - Fifth century
K 018 - Ninth century
L 020 - Ninth century
 
Published Critical Greek Texts with Corruptions
Omits “unto you” after “write we”
Tischendorf, Constantine - 1869
Tregelles, Samuel - 1857
Alford, Henry - 1849 revised in 1871
Westcott and Hort - 1881
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
Weiss, Bernhard - 1894
Von Soden, Freiherr - 1902
 
Affected Teaching
John writes to this group of Christians so that their joy may be made full. The King James Bible use the term ”unto you” while the modern versions omit this important word in the Greek. The word in the Greek is in the Dative case which expresses an act given toward an object. In this case the act is the writing of these deeper truths of the Scriptures to the object which is the Christians. This is why the word “your” is used instead of “our” which is used in the modern versions. John is desiring that the joy be focused on the ones he is writing to. The way the modern versions word it, it sounds like the group that is sending the letter will be the joyful ones based on the action of sending the letter. No doubt that John would have been joyful in sending these truths but the focus here is that John wanted these Christians he was writing to, to be filled with joy upon reading and understanding these truths. This is also a small figure of the entire Bible which was given to the Christians for the purpose of making their joy complete. Once again the King James Version brings out the truth of this passage while the modern versions muddy the waters.

Back