The Three Witnesses

The textual authenticity of 1 John 5:7, commonly known as the Johannine Comma, represents one of the most significant textual variants in New Testament manuscript tradition. This passage, which explicitly references the Trinity, appears in some biblical texts but is absent from the earliest and most reliable manuscripts. The following examination presents the scholarly consensus regarding this passage and demonstrates its treatment across various modern translations.

Scholarly Consensus on Manuscript Evidence

Modern Biblical scholarship largely agrees that 1 John 5:7 seen in Latin and Greek texts after the 4th century and found in later translations such as the King James Translation, cannot be found in the oldest Greek and Latin texts. Verse 7 is known as the Johannine Comma, which most scholars agree to be a later addition by a later copyist or what is termed a textual gloss and not part of the original text.

This verse is absent from the Ethiopic, Aramaic, Syriac, Slavic, Armenian, Georgian, and Arabic translations of the Greek New Testament.

— Wikipedia (Metzger & Ehrman 1968, p. 101)

While the King James Version holds historical and devotional significance for many believers, textual criticism relies on manuscript evidence to determine original biblical texts. The absence of this passage from all Greek manuscripts before the 14th century provides strong evidence of later addition.

Textual Variants Across Major Translations

The textual variant is evident when comparing different Bible translations:

For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. — 1 John 5:7-8 (KJV)

For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. — 1 John 5:7-8 (ESV)

For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. — 1 John 5:7-8 (NIV)

So we have these three witnesses — the Spirit, the water, and the blood — and all three agree. — 1 John 5:7-8 (NLT)

For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement — 1 John 5:7-8 (NASB95)

For they that bear witness are three: the Spirit, and the water, and the blood; and the three agree in one. — 1 John 5:7-8 (DARBY)

For there are three that testify: the Spirit, as the water, and the blood — and these three are in agreement. — 1 John 5:7-8 (CSB)

For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water, and the blood — and these three are in agreement. — 1 John 5:7-8 (HCSB)

There are three witnesses: the Spirit, the water, and the blood. These three witnesses agree. — 1 John 5:7-8 (GW)

There are three witnesses: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and all three give the same testimony. — 1 John 5:7-8 (GNB)

Conclusion

The overwhelming consensus among biblical scholars and textual critics confirms that 1 John 5:7, as it appears in the King James Version with its explicit Trinitarian formula, represents a later textual addition rather than original apostolic writing. This conclusion is supported by its absence from the earliest Greek and Latin manuscripts, its omission from ancient translations in multiple languages, and its exclusion from the vast majority of modern scholarly translations. The comparative analysis of translations demonstrates how contemporary biblical scholarship has largely corrected this textual variant, with only older translations like the King James Version retaining the expanded reading.