1 John 1:4

1:4 Thus we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.


tn “Thus” is supplied to indicated the resultative nature of the Greek conjunction καί (kai) at the beginning of v. 4.

tn The ἵνα (Jina) here indicates purpose.

tc A number of mss, some of them important (A C K P 33 81 1505 1739 pm syh bo), read ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “your”) rather than ἡμῶν (Jhmwn, “our”), which is found in somewhat better witnesses (א B L Ψ 049 1241 pm syp sa). Although the majority of Byzantine minuscules are split between the two readings, the Textus Receptus reads ὑμῶν. It is possible that ὑμῶν represents a scribal assimilation to John 16:24. As far as the immediate context is concerned, either reading could possibly be original, since the recipients have already been mentioned in 1:2 (ὑμῖν, Jumin) and 1:3 (ὑμῖν), while it might seem more natural for the author to be concerned about the fulfillment of his own joy than his readers’ (cf. 2 John 4, 12; 3 John 3). Overall, the first person pronoun is preferred on both external and internal grounds.

tn Grk “be fulfilled.”