Chapter 26
The Missing Comma
Christians have often used the King James Version
translation found in Acts 19:12, where the expression sick
handkerchiefs appears, as an instance verifying that there is no
punctuation in the Greek language. The insertion of a comma between the
words sick and handkerchiefs would have indicated that the
term sick was not an adjective but a noun. Such a proof was given
in explanation to students of the Bible who were unacquainted with
Greek. It served to explain the misplacement of the comma after the word
thee in the following text:
And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To
day shalt thou be with me in paradise. Luke 23:43
Since this text has frequently been used to indicate
that a person goes to heaven upon death, it was necessary to point out
to those studying God’s Word that the placement of the comma was a
matter of judgment by the translators. The appropriate position for the
insertion of the comma is after the word To day, ensuring a
meaning consistent with the rest of Scripture, which asserts that the
dead have no conscious existence.
However, there is another "comma" which is omitted
from most modern translations, called the Johannine comma. This comma
has little to do with punctuation; it consists of the following text of
Scripture:
For there are three that bear record in heaven, the
Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. 1 John
5:7
Of all the omitted texts, this one has caused the
greatest difficulty to Bible students, for it must be admitted that
numerous Greek manuscripts do not contain it, although it is to be found
in the Latin Vulgate, a version of the Scripture to which most true
Protestants give little credence. This text, of course, is a powerful
evidence for the Godhead. Nevertheless, it is important for us to
examine the evidence for the validity of its inclusion in the Textus
Receptus.
The usual story circulated concerning the inclusion
of this passage in Tyndale’s English Scripture is that when the matter
of its omission was brought to his attention, Tyndale promised to
include it, provided a single manuscript could be found containing the
passage. It was promptly supplied. Thus to keep his word, Tyndale
included it. However, some stated the produced manuscript to be a
forgery. Those accepting this account clearly could have no confidence
in the authenticity of the text.
But is this superficial view a correct one? It has
been said that Tyndale included this text only in parentheses. For
example, Dr. Adam Clarke in his commentary The New Testament of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, in addressing 1 John 5:7 states:
Tindal [sic] was as critical as he was
conscientious; and though he admitted the words into the text of the
first edition of his New Testament printed in 1526, yet he
distinguished them by a different letter, and put them in brackets.
However, in the only extant first edition of
Tyndale’s Bible, in Bristol, England, no such parenthesis appears. Thus
Dr. Adam Clarke is incorrect in his statement. What is true is that in
the later edition of William Tyndale’s New Testament, published in 1534
after his execution, these words are in parentheses.
(For ther are thre that beare recorde in heuen, the
father, the word and the holy ghost. And these thre are one). 1 John
5:7, 1534 edition of William Tyndale’s New Testament
It is thought that the parentheses were added after
Tyndale’s death.
Perhaps no group of Christian believers more
diligently kept the purity of the faith alive in Europe than did the
Waldenses. Their missionaries went to many countries, including Hungary,
Czechoslovakia, France, England, Scotland and Italy. These Christian
believers refused to use the Latin Vulgate, but used the old Latin Bible
which was written in the Romaunt language. When the early leaders of the
Reformation entered the valleys of the Waldenses, it was agreed that
they would translate the Waldensian Bible into French, comparing it with
the original Hebrew and Greek. This translation became the Olivetan
Bible, the first Protestant Bible in the French language. The second
edition of the Olivetan Bible, which was later produced by Calvin,
became the basis of the Geneva Bible in the English language, a
forerunner of the King James Version. Since the Waldensians had
maintained their Scripture for over 900 years, it is instructive to
record that the Olivetan Bible and the Geneva Bible both contain the
passage of 1 John 5:7. It is recorded in the Olivetan Bible as follows:
Car il y en a trois qui rendent témoignage au ciel,
le Pére, la Parole, et le Saint Esprit: et ces trois-là sont un. 1
John 5:7 in the French edition of 1569
The English translation for the above is as follows:
For there are three who give witness in the
heavens, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit: and these three
are one.
John Calvin, in his Bible Commentary, made an
interesting statement upon this contested passage:
[Verse] 7 there are three that bear record in
heaven. The whole of this verse has been by some omitted. Jerome
thinks that this has happened through design rather than through
mistake, and that indeed only on the part of the Latins. But as even
the Greek copies do not agree, I dare not assert anything on the
subject. Since, however, the passage flows better when this clause is
added and as I see that it is found in the best and most approved
copies, I am inclined to receive it as the true reading. John Calvin,
Commentaries on the Catholic Epistles, 257
What did Calvin mean when he claimed that the passage
flowed better when it was included in the substance of the first epistle
of John? Dr. P.S. Ruckman has pointed out:
The evidence that shows the passage should be there
(if it was ever omitted) lies in the fact that when the Johannine
comma is removed (part of verses 7 and 8), we get the following
reading, which is grammatically impossible.1
Dr. P.S. Ruckman, Handbook of Manuscript
Evidence, 129
The problem with the Greek of the perverted
manuscripts is that in 1 John 5 the three words, Spirit, Water,
and Blood are neuter gender and thus require neuter articles.
However, the articles retained in verse 8 are masculine gender and thus
indicate that the presence of verse seven is needed to make the passage
grammatically correct.
No doubt there is another reason which compelled
Ruckman to observe:
But Origen and W.H. [Westcott and Hort] never
hesitated to violate the rules of Freshman Greek Grammar if it
afforded an opportunity to destroy the despised Reformation! Ibid.
Indeed, very careful research has been undertaken to
evaluate the authenticity of the Johannine comma. One such researcher
was Dr. Frederick Nolan who concluded that the Johannine comma was
indeed part of the original biblical manuscript.
Dr. Nolan, who had already acquired fame for his
Greek and Latin scholarship and researches into Egyptian chronology,
and was a lecturer of note, spent twenty-eight years to trace back the
Received Text to its apostolic origin. He was powerfully impressed to
examine the history of the Waldensian Bible. He felt certain that
researches in this direction would demonstrate that the Italic New
Testament, or the New Testament of those primitive Christians of
northern Italy whose lineal descendants were the Waldenses would turn
out to be the Received Text. D.O. Fuller, Which Bible?,
212-213
Frederick Nolan’s conclusions were as follows:
The author perceived, without any labor of inquiry,
that it derives its names from that diocese, which has been termed the
Italick, as contra-distinguished from the Roman. This is a
supposition, which received a sufficient confirmation from the
fact,—that the principal copies of that version have been preserved in
that diocese, the metropolitan church of which was situated in Milan.
The circumstance is at present mentioned, as the author thence formed
a hope that some remains of the primitive Italick version might be
found in the early translations made by the Waldenses, who were the
lineal descendants of the Italick Church; and who have asserted their
independence against the usurpations of the Church of Rome, and have
ever enjoyed the free use of the Scriptures.
In the search to which these considerations have
led the author, his fondest expectations have been fully realized. It
has furnished him with abundant proof on that point to which his
inquiry was chiefly directed; as it has supplied him with an
unequivocal testimony of a truly apostolical branch of the primitive
church, that the celebrated text of the heavenly witnesses [1 John
5:7] was adopted in the version which prevailed in the Latin Church
previously to the introduction of the modern Vulgate. Frederick Nolan,
Integrity of the Greek Vulgate, xvii-xviii
Here is sound evidence that the disputed passage from
1 John 5:7 was included in manuscripts prior to the publication of the
Latin Vulgate. Indeed,
The Reformers held that the Waldensian Church was
formed about A.D. 120, from which date on, they passed down from
father to son the teachings they received from the apostles. The Latin
Bible, the Italic, was translated from the Greek not later than A.D.
157. Scrivener, Introduction, vol. 2, 43 quoted in D.O. Fuller,
Which Bible?, 208
Even Augustine, bishop of Hippo, admitted about the
year 400:
Now among translators themselves the Italian
(Itala) is to be preferred to the others, for it keeps closer to the
words without prejudice to clearness of expression. Nicene and
Post-Nicene Fathers, Christian Lit. Ed. vol. 2, 542, quoted in
ibid.
However, so ingrained has it become in the thinking
of modern students of the Bible that this passage has no place in
Scripture, that when Greek manuscripts support its authenticity, often
there is a sense of dejection. Thus, Ruckman reported:
Observe the "conservative" scholar, F.F. Bruce,
bemoaning the fact that a Greek manuscript was found which
backed up the A.V. [Authorized Version] text of 1 John 5:7! (F.F.
Bruce, The Books and the Parchments, 210.) It would have
pleased the "conservative" if the Greek manuscript had never showed
up! Dr. P.S. Ruckman, Handbook of Manuscript Evidence, 199
When translating the Authorized Version in 1611, the
translators had
before them four Bibles which had come from
Waldensian influences: the Diodati in Italian, the Olivetan in French,
the Lutheran in German, and the Genevan in English. We have every
reason to believe that they had access to at least six Waldensian
Bibles written in the old Waldensian vernacular. D.O. Fuller, Which
Bible?, 212
Thus the translators of the Authorized Version were
very indebted to the Waldensian biblical traditions for including 1 John
5:7 as an authentic portion of Scripture.
Many critics of this passage are unacquainted with
the powerful evidence for its validity, and accept the attacks upon it
by those who have no love for the pure Word of God.
1
Editor's note: To illustrate, an English construction which is
grammatically impossible would be, for instance, She agrees with
themselves. |
