John 1:51

(KJV)   And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

(1611 KJV) And hee saith vnto him, Uerily, verily I say vnto you, heereafter yee shall see heauen open, and the Angels of God ascending, and descending vpon the sonne of man.

(1587 Geneva Bible) And he saide vnto him, Verely, verely I say vnto you, hereafter shall yee see heauen open, and the Angels of God ascending, and descending vpon that Sonne of man.

(1568 Bishops Bible) And he sayth vnto hym: Ueryly, veryly I say vnto you, hereafter shall ye see heauen open, and the Angels of God ascendyng & descendyng vpon the sonne of man.

(1539 Great Bible) And he sayeth vnto him: Uerely, verely, I saye vnto you: herafter shall ye se heauen open, & the angels of God ascendynge & descendynge ouer the sonne of man.

(1535 Coverdale) And he sayde vnto him: Verely verely I saye vnto you: Fro this tyme forth shal ye se the heauen open, and the angels of God goinge vp & downe ouer the sonne of man.

(1526 Tyndale) And he sayde vnto him: Verely verely I saye vnto you: herafter shall ye se heven open and the angels of God ascendynge and descendynge over the sonne of man.

 

Counterfeit Versions

(1881 RV) And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

(1901 ASV) And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

(AMP) Then He said to him, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man [the bridge between heaven and earth].”

(CEB) I assure you that you will see heaven open and God’s angels going up to heaven and down to earth on the Human One.”

(CEV) I tell you for certain that you will see heaven open and God’s angels going up and coming down on the Son of Man.”

(CSB) Then he said, “Truly I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

(Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition) And he saith to him: Amen, amen I say to you, you shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

(ERV) Then he said, “Believe me when I say that you will all see heaven open. You will see ‘angels of God going up and coming down’ on the Son of Man.”

(ESV) And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

(GNB) And he said to them, “I am telling you the truth: you will see heaven open and God's angels going up and coming down on the Son of Man.”

(HCSB) Then He said, “I assure you: You will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

(ISV) Then he told him, “Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, you will see heaven standing open and the angels of God going up and coming down to the Son of Man.”

(JB PHILLPS) “Do you believe in me,” replied Jesus, “because I said I had seen you underneath that fig-tree? You are going to see something greater than that! Believe me,” he added, “I tell you all that you will see Heaven wide open and God’s angels ascending and descending around the Son of Man!”

(LEB) And he said to him, “Truly, truly I say to all of you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

(LB) You will even see heaven open and the angels of God coming back and forth to me, the Messiah.”

(THE MESSAGE) Jesus said, “You’ve become a believer simply because I say I saw you one day sitting under the fig tree? You haven’t seen anything yet! Before this is over you’re going to see heaven open and God’s angels descending to the Son of Man and ascending again.”

(NABRE) And he said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see the sky opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

(NASV) And He *said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

(NCV) And Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and ‘angels of God going up and coming down’ on the Son of Man.”

(NET) He continued, “I tell all of you the solemn truth—you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

(NIRV) Then he said to the disciples, “What I’m about to tell you is true. You will see heaven open. You will see the angels of God going up and coming down on the Son of Man.”

(NIV) He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.”

(NLV) For sure, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and God’s angels going up and coming and down on the Son of Man.”

(NLT) Then he said, “I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth.”

(NRSV) And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

(RSV) And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.”

(TLV) And He said, “Amen, amen I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God going up and coming down on the Son of Man!”

(THE VOICE) I tell you the truth: before our journey is complete, you will see the heavens standing open while heavenly messengers ascend and descend, swirling around the Son of Man.

(NWT-Jehovah’s Witnesses)  He then said to him: “Most truly I say to you men, you will see heaven opened up and the angels of God ascending and descending to the Son of man.”

 

Textus Receptus – Traditional Text

και λεγει αυτω αμην αμην λεγω υμιν απ αρτι οψεσθε τον ουρανον ανεωγοτα και τους αγγελους του θεου αναβαινοντας και καταβαινοντας επι τον υιον του ανθρωπου

 

Hort-Westcott – Critical Text

και λεγει αυτω αμην αμην λεγω υμιν οψεσθε τον ουρανον ανεωγοτα και τους αγγελους του θεου αναβαινοντας και καταβαινοντας επι τον υιον του ανθρωπου

 

Corrupted Manuscripts

This verse is corruopted in the following manuscripts:

P 66 - Circa 200 A.D.

P 75 - Third Century

Aleph 01 - Sinaiticus - Nineteenth Century Counterfeit
B 03 - Vaticanus - Fourth century

L 019 - Seventh century

W 032 - Fourth/fifth century

1241 - (Minuscule) - Twelfth 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

X 033 - Tenth 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

Omits “hereafter” before “ye shall see”

Lachmann, Karl - 1842

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

Nestle-Aland - 2012 - Twenty Eighth Edition

United Bible Societies - 1983 - Fourth Edition

Weiss, Bernhard - 1894

 

Affected Teaching

The word “hereafter” is a specific point of time that Jesus is referring to.  He is telling Nathanael that hereafter or from this moment on, you will see the Heavens opened.  The modern versions do not give a specific time reference when this will occur.  They only claim that they “will see” but no starting time is given.

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