1st John Bible Nerd-Study - Week 33

Week 33 —1st John Bible Nerd-Study

*Missed last week? Click here for 1st John Bible Nerd-Study - Week 32

Williams + Manna/Memory 1 John 3:18-24 + Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

1 John (Williams)

1 John (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown)

Hey everyone! Back to a new and odd translation - Williams. This one is a thought for thought translation from 1937 (revised 1950). Moody Press published it so it automatically gains some respect. Williams wanted to have the translation in a language for the people (remember this is 1937), but without it being a paraphrase. This is before NIV, NCV, HCSB, etc. He followed the Westcott and Hort Greek text (not the Textus Receptus), so that may bother some. He even used a bit of the Vatican manuscript whenever there were real conflicts in the Greek texts. You may notice in some Bibles there is a footnote by the story of the adulteress from John's Gospel. It's not in some of the medieval manuscripts and some take issue with it. Others feel it was always there but at a different section of John's Gospel (FF Bruce, one of my top 3 Bible nerd hero's thought this). Just mentioning that issue because Williams removed it altogether. So he's a little bit liberal (esp. for a Southern Baptist) in his translation thinking. Still, we should respect what he did and take note of his translation efforts. Remember that his purpose was for it to be understood - not for the tenses and exact words to all be in the right spots. As long as we catch what he's doing here, we'll benefit from a 1 John read-through (and not be offended anywhere).

Let's press on with 3:18-24 for memorizing. As we meditate on these verses remember to update your outline and notes with any new discoveries.

For the commentary this time we'll take on one of the most famous ones: Jamieson-Fausset-Brown. Fausset did the 1st John notes. I've used this commentary in a general way soon after I started to use commentaries at all. Many of the other commentaries I've read end up quoting these 3 anyway. They call it a critical commentary. It's not a devotional one, but it is a careful one by some who seriously cared to get all things correct. This is the type of commentary that's helpful for the odd things that you would never know (without history research or language research). It's also great for digging into a sentence and the words used in the original language. It's not the commentary that's always going to give you the revelation and spiritual help intended from the Bible. But this is a nerd-study, so we need to learn some nerdy things that may end up helping us to more revelation and spiritual benefit. In our meditations we should be very devotional, seeking His voice and revelation. In our study with commentaries, we should purpose to gain the facts so we're better equipped for meditation later on. I almost always find something new and neat in this commentary. But it is the perfect example of a commentary that you should NOT turn to before you've had your own study. It will potentially take the life out of word and replace it with some facts you can show off to others.

https://www.ccel.org/j/jfb/jfb/JFB62.htm