John 3:16
Encyclopedia
John 3:16 is one of the most widely quoted verses from the Christian Bible, and has been called the most famous Bible verse. It has also been called the "Gospel in a nutshell" because it is considered a summary of the central dogma
of traditional Christianity
:
The verse occurs in a narrative in the New Testament
third chapter of John
taking place in Jerusalem. Nicodemus
, a member of the ruling council (sanhedrin
), comes to talk with Jesus
, whom he calls Rabbi
. Jesus' miracles have convinced Nicodemus that Jesus is sent from God. In reply, Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit." John 3:16 summarizes Jesus' lesson to Nicodemus: that belief in Jesus is the path to eternal life
.
in superscript):
This can be translated literally as:
A representative sample of published Bible translations renders it as follows. (It is worth noting that since this is perhaps the best-known verse, many translations have tried to maintain a traditional rendering.)
(See also Modern English Bible translations
.)
Theologians Gundry and Howell believe that the sense and syntax of the Greek Οὕτως…ὥστε make it likely that the author of the Gospel of John is emphasizing both (a) the degree to which God loved the world as well as (b) the manner in which God chose to express that love—by sending his only son. Gundry and Howell write that the Οὕτως term more frequently refers to the manner in which something is done (see BDAG 741-42 s.v. οὕτω/οὕτως). However, they add that the ὥστε clause that follows Οὕτως involves the indicative—meaning that it stresses an actual but usually unexpected result. They conclude that the sense and syntax of the Greek construction here focuses on the nature of God's love, addressing its mode, intensity, and extent. Accordingly, it emphasizes the greatness of the gift God has given.
There are other scholars agreeing with this assessment. "The 'so' (houtos) is an adverb of degree which points toward the clause which follows and here serves to express the idea of infinity, a love that is limitless, that is fully adequate." "The Greek construction…emphasizes the intensity of the love."
This understanding of the intent in the original Greek is reflected in various scholarly commentaries and translations such as these:
Based on their analysis of the original Greek parallelistic
structure of John 3:14-17, Gundry and Howell provide the following English translation showing the grammatical structure of that passage:
.
The text of the verse is incorporated into the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom
, the fourth century archbishop of Constantinople, as part of a prayer said by the celebrant. This Divine Liturgy
is still commonly used in the Eastern Orthodox Church
and in the Byzantine rite
of the Roman Catholic Church
.
The various translations differ on whether this is a direct quote of Jesus or a comment of the narrator of the Gospel.
Computer scientist Donald Knuth
is the author of 3:16 Bible Texts Illuminated, in which he examines the Bible by an analysis of chapter 3, verse 16 of each book
. Each verse is accompanied by a rendering in calligraphic
art, contributed by a group of calligraphers under the leadership of Hermann Zapf
. 3:16 was chosen because of this key passage in John. Knuth's Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About
reproduces a lecture series that he gave at MIT, centered on his process of production of his book.
David Pawson
challenged the meaning and interpretation of the verse in his 2007 book Is John 3:16 the Gospel?
Dogma
Dogma is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, or a particular group or organization. It is authoritative and not to be disputed, doubted, or diverged from, by the practitioners or believers...
of traditional Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
:
Biblical context
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
third chapter of John
John 3
John 3 is the third chapter of the Gospel of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible.- Nicodemus :The first part of the chapter begins with Nicodemus, said to be a member of the ruling council, coming to talk with Jesus, whom he calls Rabbi. Jesus' "miraculous signs" have convinced him...
taking place in Jerusalem. Nicodemus
Nicodemus
Saint Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, who, according to the Gospel of John, showed favour to Jesus...
, a member of the ruling council (sanhedrin
Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin was an assembly of twenty-three judges appointed in every city in the Biblical Land of Israel.The Great Sanhedrin was the supreme court of ancient Israel made of 71 members...
), comes to talk with Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
, whom he calls Rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
. Jesus' miracles have convinced Nicodemus that Jesus is sent from God. In reply, Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit." John 3:16 summarizes Jesus' lesson to Nicodemus: that belief in Jesus is the path to eternal life
Eternal life (Christianity)
In Christianity the term eternal life traditionally refers to continued life after death, rather than immortality. While scholars such as John H. Leith assert that...
.
Translations
The verse in the original Greek is as follows (associated Strong's NumberStrong's Concordance
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, generally known as Strong's Concordance, is a concordance of the King James Bible that was constructed under the direction of Dr. James Strong and first published in 1890. Dr. Strong was Professor of exegetical theology at Drew Theological Seminary at...
in superscript):
- 3779 1063 25 3588 2316 3588 2889, 5620 3588 5207 3588 3439 1325, 2443 3956 3588 4100 1519 846 3361 622 235 2192 2222 166
This can be translated literally as:
- For in this way God loved the world: that he gave the unique son, so that all the ones trusting in him would not perish, but have eternal life.
A representative sample of published Bible translations renders it as follows. (It is worth noting that since this is perhaps the best-known verse, many translations have tried to maintain a traditional rendering.)
| Century & distinctive features | Translation | John 3:16 |
|---|---|---|
| C1 Greek Greek language Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;... |
Original Koine Greek Koine Greek Koine Greek is the universal dialect of the Greek language spoken throughout post-Classical antiquity , developing from the Attic dialect, with admixture of elements especially from Ionic.... |
Houtōs gar ēgapēsen ho Theos ton kosmon, hōste ton Huion ton monogenē edōken, hina pas ho pisteuōn eis Auton mē apolētai all᾽ echē zōēn aiōnion. |
| C2 Syriac Syriac language Syriac is a dialect of Middle Aramaic that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent. Having first appeared as a script in the 1st century AD after being spoken as an unwritten language for five centuries, Classical Syriac became a major literary language throughout the Middle East from... |
Peshitta Peshitta The Peshitta is the standard version of the Bible for churches in the Syriac tradition.The Old Testament of the Peshitta was translated into Syriac from the Hebrew, probably in the 2nd century AD... Bible |
Hāḵanā gér ʼaḥeḇ ʼalāhā lʻālmā ʼaykanā dlaḇreh yḥyḏāyā yetel dkul man damhaymen beh lā naḇaḏ élā nehwuwn leh ḥayé dalʻālam. |
| C4 Latin | Vulgate Vulgate The Vulgate is a late 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. It was largely the work of St. Jerome, who was commissioned by Pope Damasus I in 382 to make a revision of the old Latin translations... |
Sic enim Deus dilexit mundum, ut Filium suum unigenitum daret: ut omnis qui credit in eum, non pereat, sed habeat vitam æternam. |
| C14 Middle English Middle English Middle English is the stage in the history of the English language during the High and Late Middle Ages, or roughly during the four centuries between the late 11th and the late 15th century.... |
Wyclif's Bible Wyclif's Bible Wycliffe's Bible is the name now given to a group of Bible translations into Middle English that were made under the direction of, or at the instigation of, John Wycliffe. They appeared over a period from approximately 1382 to 1395... |
For God louede so the world that he ȝaf his oon bigetun sone, that ech man that beliueth in him perische not, but haue euerlastynge lijf. |
| C16 Protestant | Tyndale Bible Tyndale Bible The Tyndale Bible generally refers to the body of biblical translations by William Tyndale. Tyndale’s Bible is credited with being the first English translation to work directly from Hebrew and Greek texts. Furthermore it was the first English biblical translation that was mass produced as a result... |
For God so loveth the world, that he hath given his only son, that none that believe in him, should perish: but should have everlasting life. |
| C16 Roman Catholic | Douay–Rheims Bible, Challoner Revision | For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting. |
| C17, replaced Latin as a long-lasting standard | Authorized King James Version | For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. |
| C19, forerunner of modern translations | Revised Version Revised Version The Revised Version of the Bible is a late 19th-century British revision of the King James Version of 1611. It was the first and remains the only officially authorized and recognized revision of the King James Bible. The work was entrusted to over 50 scholars from various denominations in Britain... |
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life. |
| C20, formal equivalence | New American Standard Bible New American Standard Bible The New American Standard Bible , also informally called New American Standard Version , is an English translation of the Bible.... |
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. |
| C20, dynamic equivalence | Good News Bible Good News Bible The Good News Bible , also called the Good News Translation , is an English language translation of the Bible by the American Bible Society, first published as the New Testament under the name Good News for Modern Man in 1966... |
For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life. |
| C20, in-between approach, best-seller | New International Version New International Version The New International Version is an English translation of the Christian Bible. Published by Zondervan in the United States and by Hodder & Stoughton in the UK, it has become one of the most popular modern translations in history.-History:... |
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. |
| C21, formal equivalence | English Standard Version English Standard Version The English Standard Version is an English translation of the Christian Bible. It is a revision of the 1971 edition of the Revised Standard Version... (unchanged from RSV Revised Standard Version The Revised Standard Version is an English translation of the Bible published in the mid-20th century. It traces its history to William Tyndale's New Testament translation of 1525. The RSV is an authorized revision of the American Standard Version of 1901... ) |
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. |
| C21, paraphrase Paraphrase Paraphrase is restatement of a text or passages, using other words. The term "paraphrase" derives via the Latin "paraphrasis" from the Greek , meaning "additional manner of expression". The act of paraphrasing is also called "paraphrasis."... |
The Message The Message (Bible) The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language was created by Eugene H. Peterson and published in segments from 1993 to 2002. It is an idiomatic translation of the original languages of the Bible.-History:... |
This is how much God loved the world: he gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. |
| C21, "optimal equivalence" | HCSB Holman Christian Standard Bible The Holman Christian Standard Bible is a modern English Bible translation from Holman Bible Publishers. The first full edition was completed in March 2004, with the New Testament alone having been previously published in 1999.- Beginnings :... |
For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but have eternal life. |
(See also Modern English Bible translations
Modern English Bible translations
Many attempts have been made to translate the Bible into modern English, which is defined as the form of English in use after 1800 . Since the early nineteenth century, there have been several translational responses to the rapid spread of Christianity throughout the world...
.)
Sense and syntax
Recent translation scholarship has struggled most with the Greek adverb οὕτως (houtos) which traditionally has been simply translated as "so" as in "so loved" in the KJV.Theologians Gundry and Howell believe that the sense and syntax of the Greek Οὕτως…ὥστε make it likely that the author of the Gospel of John is emphasizing both (a) the degree to which God loved the world as well as (b) the manner in which God chose to express that love—by sending his only son. Gundry and Howell write that the Οὕτως term more frequently refers to the manner in which something is done (see BDAG 741-42 s.v. οὕτω/οὕτως). However, they add that the ὥστε clause that follows Οὕτως involves the indicative—meaning that it stresses an actual but usually unexpected result. They conclude that the sense and syntax of the Greek construction here focuses on the nature of God's love, addressing its mode, intensity, and extent. Accordingly, it emphasizes the greatness of the gift God has given.
There are other scholars agreeing with this assessment. "The 'so' (houtos) is an adverb of degree which points toward the clause which follows and here serves to express the idea of infinity, a love that is limitless, that is fully adequate." "The Greek construction…emphasizes the intensity of the love."
This understanding of the intent in the original Greek is reflected in various scholarly commentaries and translations such as these:
- "For God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son" (Schnackenburg).
- "Yes, God loved the world so much that He gave the only Son" (Brown).
- "God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son" (NEB).
- "God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son" (CEV).
- "For God loved the world so greatly that he gave the only Son" (Beasley-Murray).
Based on their analysis of the original Greek parallelistic
structure of John 3:14-17, Gundry and Howell provide the following English translation showing the grammatical structure of that passage:
Other information
Translations of this verse into various languages are a familiar part of the front matter of Gideon BiblesGideons International
Gideons International is an evangelical Christian organization dedicated to distributing copies of the Bible in over 94 languages and 194 countries of the world, most famously in hotel and motel rooms. The organization was founded in 1899 in Janesville, Wisconsin, as an early American parachurch...
.
The text of the verse is incorporated into the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom
Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom
The Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom is the most celebrated Divine Liturgy in the Byzantine Rite. It is named after the anaphora with the same name which is its core part and it is attributed to Saint John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople in the 5th century.It reflects the work of...
, the fourth century archbishop of Constantinople, as part of a prayer said by the celebrant. This Divine Liturgy
Divine Liturgy
Divine Liturgy is the common term for the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine tradition of Christian liturgy. As such, it is used in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches. Armenian Christians, both of the Armenian Apostolic Church and of the Armenian Catholic Church, use the same term...
is still commonly used in the Eastern Orthodox Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
and in the Byzantine rite
Byzantine Rite
The Byzantine Rite, sometimes called the Rite of Constantinople or Constantinopolitan Rite is the liturgical rite used currently by all the Eastern Orthodox Churches, by the Greek Catholic Churches , and by the Protestant Ukrainian Lutheran Church...
of the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
.
The various translations differ on whether this is a direct quote of Jesus or a comment of the narrator of the Gospel.
Computer scientist Donald Knuth
Donald Knuth
Donald Ervin Knuth is a computer scientist and Professor Emeritus at Stanford University.He is the author of the seminal multi-volume work The Art of Computer Programming. Knuth has been called the "father" of the analysis of algorithms...
is the author of 3:16 Bible Texts Illuminated, in which he examines the Bible by an analysis of chapter 3, verse 16 of each book
Books of the Bible
The Books of the Bible are listed differently in the canons of Judaism and the Catholic, Protestant, Greek Orthodox, Slavonic Orthodox, Georgian, Armenian Apostolic, Syriac and Ethiopian churches, although there is substantial overlap. A table comparing the canons of some of these traditions...
. Each verse is accompanied by a rendering in calligraphic
Calligraphy
Calligraphy is a type of visual art. It is often called the art of fancy lettering . A contemporary definition of calligraphic practice is "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious and skillful manner"...
art, contributed by a group of calligraphers under the leadership of Hermann Zapf
Hermann Zapf
Hermann Zapf is a German typeface designer who lives in Darmstadt, Germany. He is married to calligrapher and typeface designer Gudrun Zapf von Hesse....
. 3:16 was chosen because of this key passage in John. Knuth's Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About
Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About
Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About is a book by Donald E. Knuth, published by CLSI Publications of Stanford, California. The book contains the annotated transcripts of six public lectures given by Donald E. Knuth at MIT on the subject of relations between religion and science...
reproduces a lecture series that he gave at MIT, centered on his process of production of his book.
David Pawson
David Pawson
J. David Pawson is a prominent Bible teacher based in Great Britain. He is the author of more than thirty books.-Biography:According to his autobiography, Pawson's immediate ancestors were all farmers, Methodist preachers or both - dating back to John Pawson, a friend and follower of John Wesley....
challenged the meaning and interpretation of the verse in his 2007 book Is John 3:16 the Gospel?
See also
- Perfect contritionPerfect contritionPerfect contrition in Catholic theology is a repentance for sins which is motivated by the love of God...
- Conversion to ChristianityConversion to ChristianityConversion to Christianity is the religious conversion of a previously non-Christian person to some form of Christianity. It has been called the foundational experience of Christian life...
- MonogenesMonogenēsMonogenēs is a Greek word which may be used both as an adjective monogenēs pais only child, or only legitimate child, special child, and also on its own as a noun; o monogenēs "the only one", or "the only legitimate child"....
- O Monogenes YiosO Monogenes YiosO Monogenes Yios , is a hymn ascribed to Pope Athanasius I of Alexandria. It was written after the First Ecumenical Council at Nicea as an affirmation of the Christological Formula set down by Athanasius. It was first used in the Church of Alexandria but was distributed by Athanasius to all the...
- Modern English Bible translationsModern English Bible translationsMany attempts have been made to translate the Bible into modern English, which is defined as the form of English in use after 1800 . Since the early nineteenth century, there have been several translational responses to the rapid spread of Christianity throughout the world...
External links
- John 3:16 in Pop Culture, TimeTime (magazine)Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine photo essay (2009)