John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned:

Spoken to
an individual

Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night. They discuss the nature of man's origin. Nicodemus asked how anyone is able to know these things himself.

KJV

John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

NIV

John 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

LISTENERS HEARD

The one trusting as much as him is not judged. The one not trusting already has been judged since he hasn't trusted as far as the name of this unique Son of God.

LOST IN TRANSLATION

The "believes on/in him" phrase is a play on words hidden in mistranslation. Unlike John 3:15, the phrase "in him" actually meant that. Here, the preposition changed from one meaning "in" to another preposition being "into" a place, but a person is not a place. In this context, it seems to mean "as much as him." This is the same as the "in him" in John 3:16.

The first two occurrences of "believeth" in the KJV are the present tense, as is the first occurrence of "condemned." However, the second "condemned" the final "believed" are both past perfect tense, indicating an action completed in the past.

The concept of a "name" had the meaning of someone's reputation and honor in Christ's era, much like talking about trusting someone's "word" in English.

The specific sense of the word translated as "only-begotten" means being someone's only kind, but it is more generally used to mean "unique." In either case, it is being used metaphorically, since God doesn't have "genes" as such. Remember, the larger context here is Jesus talking about being "born from above" and having two births, one of water and another of the spirit. The whole conversation starts with Nicodemus saying Jesus was clearly sent by God. Jesus is explaining the particulars.

MY TAKE

People choose their fate.

# KJV TRANSLATION ISSUES
12
  • CW - Confusing Word -- The "he" is not the common word usually translated as "he."
  • IW - Inserted Word -- The word "that" doesn't exist in the source.
  • WF - Wrong Form -  The "believeth" is not an active verb but a participle, "trusting."
  • WW - Wrong Word -- The word translated as "on" should be something more like "as much as."
  • CW - Confusing Word -- The "condemned" does not capture the specific meaning of the word.
  • OS -- Outdated Source -- The Greek word translated as "but" existed in the KJV Greek source but not the source we use today.
  • CW - Confusing Word -- The "he" is not the common word usually translated as "he."
  • IW - Inserted Word -- The word "that" doesn't exist in the source.
  • WF - Wrong Form -  The "believeth" is not an active verb but a participle, "trusting."
  • WT - Wrong Tense - The English verb "is" is the present tense, but Greek is in the past perfect, a completed action, "has been."
  • CW - Confusing Word -- The "condemned" does not capture the specific meaning of the word.
  • CW - Confusing Word -- The "not" does not capture the specific meaning of the word.
# NIV TRANSLATION ISSUES
14
  • CW - Confusing Word -- The "whoever" is not the common word usually translated as "whoever."
  • WF - Wrong Form -  The "believes" is not an active verb but a participle, "trusting."
  • WW - Wrong Word -- The word translated as "in" should be something more like "as much as."
  • CW - Confusing Word -- The "condemned" does not capture the specific meaning of the word.
  • IW - Inserted Word -- The word "but" doesn't exist in the source.
  • CW - Confusing Word -- The "whoever" is not the common word usually translated as "whoever."
  • IW - Inserted Word -- The word "that" doesn't exist in the source.
  • WF - Wrong Form -  The "believe" is not an active verb but a participle, "trusting."
  • WW - Wrong Word -- The word translated as "stands" should be something more like "has been."
  • WT - Wrong Tense - The English verb "is" is the present tense, but Greek is in the past perfect, a completed action, "has been."
  • CW - Confusing Word -- The "condemned" does not capture the specific meaning of the word.
  • WN  - Wrong Number- The word "they" is translated as plural but the Greek word is singular.
  • CW - Confusing Word -- The "not" does not capture the specific meaning of the word.
  • MW - Missing Word -- The word "the" before "God" is not shown in the English translation.
EACH WORD of KJV

He -- (CW)   -- The word translated as "he" is the Greek definite article, without a noun, it has the sense of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more. 

that -- (IW) There is nothing that can be translated as "it" in the Greek source. It was added because the next verb was translated as active rather than a participle.

believeth -- (WF) The Greek word translated as "believeth" does not apply to religious belief as much as it does trusting in other people, especially their word. Christ usually uses it in contexts, as the one here, that apply to trusting words. The negation of "belief" with the objective, instead of subjective, negative, equates trust with a fact. The word is not an active verb but an participle, "trusting."

on  --  (WW) The word translated as "on" means "into" a place, "towards" as a direction, "in regards to" a subject, and "up to" limits in time and measure. None of this fit that well, but it also means "as much as (of measure or limit)," and that meaning does fit with a person. It is not the Greek word usually translated as "on."

him - The word translated as "him" is the Greek word commonly translated as third-person pronouns in English. 

is -- This helping verb "is" indicates that the verb is passive. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.

not -- The Greek word translated as "not" is the Greek negative used to deny objective facts, not opinions. It means "no," "not," or"no truly."

condemned:-- (CW) The term used here for "condemned" is a much more complicated idea. He can mean "judge," "criticize," "decide," "discriminate," and "separate," depending on the context.

but -- (OS) There is nothing in the Greek that can be translated as "but" in the source we use today but it does exist in the source that the KJV translators used.

he -- (CW)   -- The word translated as "he" is the Greek definite article, without a noun, it has the sense of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more. 

that -- (IW) There is nothing that can be translated as "it" in the Greek source. It was added because the next verb was translated as active rather than a participle.

believeth -- (WF) The Greek word translated as "believeth" does not apply to religious belief as much as it does trusting in other people, especially their word. Christ usually uses it in contexts, as the one here, that apply to trusting words. The negation of "belief" with the objective, instead of subjective, negative, equates trust with a fact. The word is not an active verb but an participle, "trusting."

not -- The negative used here is the Greek negative of a subjective opinion, commands, and requests. The sense is that "you don't want" or "think" something, not that it isn't done or thought.  

is -- (WT) This helping verb "is" indicates that the verb is passive. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English. However, the tense is not the present but the past perfect, "has been."

condemned:-- (CW) The term used here for "condemned" is a much more complicated idea. He can mean "judge," "criticize," "decide," "discriminate," and "separate," depending on the context.

already, -- "Already" is a Greek adverb meaning "by this time," "forthwith," "after," "immediately," and "now." It means proximity in time, but also place.

because -- The word translated as "that" introduces a statement of fact or cause, "for what," "because," "since," and "wherefore."

he -- This is from the third-person, singular form of the verb.

hath -- This helping verb "hath" indicates that the verb is the tense indicating an action completed in the past.

not -- (CW) The negative used here is the Greek negative of a subjective opinion, commands, and requests. The sense is that "you don't want" or "think" something, not that it isn't done or thought.

believed -- The Greek word translated as "believe" does not apply to religious belief as much as it does trusting in other people, especially their word. Christ usually uses it in contexts, as the one here, that apply to trusting words. The negation of "belief" with the objective, instead of subjective, negative, equates trust with a fact.

in -- The word translated as "in" means "into" a place, "towards" as a direction, "in regards to" a subject, and "up to" limits in time and measure.

the   -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article, without a noun, it has the sense of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more. 

name - The Greek word translated as "name" is much more complicated than it might at first appear. It can simply mean a "name" as it does in English, but it doesn't mean the things themselves, but what people call it. For example, it can mean a "false name," or "a pretense" as we say "this is a marriage in name only." It can also mean representing another person's authority, as we say, "he is acting in the name of the boss." See this article for more.

of -- This word "of"  comes from the genitive case of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English.  The most common is the "of" of possession.

the   -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article, without a noun, it has the sense of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more. 

only begotten  -  - The term translated as "only-begotten" means "one of a kin" but more generally it means "unique" and "singular." In grammar, it also means a word having the same form in all genders, and it is kind of funny that the word, monogenes, is itself a monogenic word, having the same form in all genders. Using this word, Jesus is clearly implying that he is in some way the only son of God, the same blood and kin.

Son -- The word translated as "son" more generally means "child" or "children." It can refer to all offspring in later generations, just like "father" refers to all previous generations.

of -- This word "of"  comes from the genitive case of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English.  The most common is the "of" of possession.

God.- The word translated as "God" means "God" and "deity."  The uncommon thing here is that it is not introduced by an article.

EACH WORD of NIV

Whoever -- (CW)   -- The word translated as "whoever" is the Greek definite article, without a noun, it has the sense of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more. 

believes -- (WF) The Greek word translated as "believes" does not apply to religious belief as much as it does trusting in other people, especially their word. Christ usually uses it in contexts, as the one here, that apply to trusting words. The negation of "belief" with the objective, instead of subjective, negative, equates trust with a fact. The word is not an active verb but an participle, "trusting."

in  --  (WW) The word translated as "in" means "into" a place, "towards" as a direction, "in regards to" a subject, and "up to" limits in time and measure. None of this fit that well, but it also means "as much as (of measure or limit)," and that meaning does fit with a person. It is not the Greek word usually translated as "on."

him - The word translated as "him" is the Greek word commonly translated as third-person pronouns in English. 

is -- This helping verb "is" indicates that the verb is passive. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.

not -- The Greek word translated as "not" is the Greek negative used to deny objective facts, not opinions. It means "no," "not," or"no truly."

condemned:-- (CW) The term used here for "condemned" is a much more complicated idea. He can mean "judge," "criticize," "decide," "discriminate," and "separate," depending on the context.

but -- (IW) There is nothing in the Greek that can be translated as "but" in the source we use today.

whoever -- (CW)   -- The word translated as "he" is the Greek definite article, without a noun, it has the sense of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more. 

does -- This helping verb is used to create questions, commands, negative statements, and smooth word flow in English, but the Greek could be either a question or a statement.

not -- The negative used here is the Greek negative of a subjective opinion, commands, and requests. The sense is that "you don't want" or "think" something, not that it isn't done or thought.  

believe -- (WF) The Greek word translated as "believeth" does not apply to religious belief as much as it does trusting in other people, especially their word. Christ usually uses it in contexts, as the one here, that apply to trusting words. The negation of "belief" with the objective, instead of subjective, negative, equates trust with a fact. The word is not an active verb but a participle, "trusting."

stands -- (WW, WT) This helping verb "stands" indicates that the verb is passive. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English. However, the tense is not the present but the past perfect, "has been."

condemned:-- (CW) The term used here for "condemned" is a much more complicated idea. He can mean "judge," "criticize," "decide," "discriminate," and "separate," depending on the context.

already, -- "Already" is a Greek adverb meaning "by this time," "forthwith," "after," "immediately," and "now." It means proximity in time, but also place.

because -- The word translated as "that" introduces a statement of fact or cause, "for what," "because," "since," and "wherefore."

they -- (WN) This is from the third-person, singular form of the verb. It is not plural.

have -- This helping verb "have " indicates that the verb is the tense indicating an action completed in the past.

not -- (CW) The negative used here is the Greek negative of a subjective opinion, commands, and requests. The sense is that "you don't want" or "think" something, not that it isn't done or thought.

believed -- The Greek word translated as "believe" does not apply to religious belief as much as it does trusting in other people, especially their word. Christ usually uses it in contexts, as the one here, that apply to trusting words. The negation of "belief" with the objective, instead of subjective, negative, equates trust with a fact.

in -- The word translated as "in" means "into" a place, "towards" as a direction, "in regards to" a subject, and "up to" limits in time and measure.

the   -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article, without a noun, it has the sense of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more. 

name - The Greek word translated as "name" is much more complicated than it might at first appear. It can simply mean a "name" as it does in English, but it doesn't mean the things themselves, but what people call it. For example, it can mean a "false name," or "a pretense" as we say "this is a marriage in name only." It can also mean representing another person's authority, as we say, "he is acting in the name of the boss." See this article for more.

of -- This word "of"  comes from the genitive case of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English.  The most common is the "of" of possession.

God- - The word translated as "God" means "God" and "deity."  The uncommon thing here is that it is not introduced by an article.

’s  - -- This word ";s"  comes from the genitive case of the previous word that requires the addition of either an apostrophe "s" or a preposition in English.  The most common is the "of" of possession.

missing "the"  -- (MW) The untranslated word is the Greek definite article, which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those"). See this article for more. 

one and only  -  - The term translated as "one and only" means "one of a kin" but more generally it means "unique" and "singular." In grammar, it also means a word having the same form in all genders, and it is kind of funny that the word, monogenes, is itself a monogenic word, having the same form in all genders. Using this word, Jesus is clearly implying that he is in some way the only son of God, the same blood and kin.

Son -- The word translated as "son" more generally means "child" or "children." It can refer to all offspring in later generations, just like "father" refers to all previous generations.

COMPARISON: GREEK to KJV

[821 verses](article sg masc dat)  "He that" is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the"). 

πιστεύων [69 verses](part sg pres act masc nom) "Believeth" is pisteuo, which means "to trust, put faith in, or rely on a person," "to believe in someone's words," "to comply," "to feel confident in a thing," and "to entrust in a thing."

εἰς [325 verses](prep) "I\On" is eis, which means "into (of place)," "up to (of time)," "until (of time)," "as much as (of measure or limit)," "as far as (of measure or limit)," "towards (to express relation)," "in regard to (to express relation)," "of an end or limit," and "for (of purpose or object)."

αὐτὸν [720 verses](adj sg masc acc) "Him" (adj sg masc acc) "Him" is autos, which means "the same," and the reflexive pronouns, "myself," "yourself," "himself," "herself," "itself," or the oblique case of the pronouns, "him," "her," and "it." It also means "one's true self," that is, "the soul" as opposed to the body and "of one's own accord." In the adverbial form, it  means "just here" or "exactly there."

οὐ [269 verses](partic) "Not" is ou ( οὒ ) which is the negative adverb for facts and statements, negating both single words and sentences.  The other negative adverb, μή applies to will and thought; οὐ denies, μή rejects; οὐ is absolute, μή relative; οὐ objective, μή subjective.

κρίνεται [30 verses] (3rd sg pres ind mp) "Condemned" is krino, which primarily means "to separate," "to put asunder," and "to distinguish." It has a lot of other secondary meanings, including "to pick out," "to choose," "to decide" disputes or accounts, "to win" a battle, "to judge" especially in the sense of "estimate," "to expound," or "to interpret" in a particular way.

μὴ [447 verses](conj) "Not" is me , which is the negative used in prohibitions and expressions of doubt meaning "not" and "no." As οὐ (ou) negates fact and statement; μή rejects, οὐ denies; μή is relative, οὐ absolute; μή subjective, οὐ objective. With pres. or aor. subj. used in a warning or statement of fear, "take care" It can be the conjunction "lest" or "for fear that."

[821 verses](article sg masc dat)  "That" is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the"). 

πιστεύων [69 verses](part sg pres act masc nom) "Believeth" is pisteuo, which means "to trust, put faith in, or rely on a person," "to believe in someone's words," "to comply," "to feel confident in a thing," and "to entrust in a thing."

ἤδη [13 verses](adv) "Already" is ede, which means "already," "by this time," "forthwith," "after," "immediately," and "now." It means proximity in time, but also place.

κέκριται [30 verses] (verb 3rd sg perf ind mp ) "Condemned" is krino, which primarily means "to separate," "to put asunder," and "to distinguish." It has a lot of other secondary meanings, including "to pick out," "to choose," "to decide" disputes or accounts, "to win" a battle, "to judge" especially in the sense of "estimate," "to expound," or "to interpret" in a particular way.

ὅτι [332 verses](adv/conj) "That" is hoti, which introduces a statement of fact "with regard to the fact that," "seeing that," and acts as a causal adverb meaning "for what," "because," "since," and "wherefore."

μὴ [447 verses](conj) "Not" is me , which is the negative used in prohibitions and expressions of doubt meaning "not" and "no." As οὐ (ou) negates fact and statement; μή rejects, οὐ denies; μή is relative, οὐ absolute; μή subjective, οὐ objective. With pres. or aor. subj. used in a warning or statement of fear, "take care" It can be the conjunction "lest" or "for fear that."

πεπίστευκεν [69 verses] (3rd sg perf ind act) "Believed" is pisteuo, which means "to trust, put faith in, or rely on a person," "to believe in someone's words," "to comply," "to feel confident in a thing," and "to entrust in a thing."

εἰς [325 verses](prep) "In" is eis, which means "into (of place)," "up to (of time)," "until (of time)," "as much as (of measure or limit)," "as far as (of measure or limit)," "towards (to express relation)," "in regard to (to express relation)," "of an end or limit," and "for (of purpose or object)."

τὸ [821 verses](article sg neut nom/acc)  "The" is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the"). 

ὄνομα [47 verses](noun sg neut nom/acc) "Name" is onoma, which means "name." It means both the reputation of "fame," and "a name and nothing else," as opposed to a real person. Acting in someone's name means to act on their behalf, as their representative.

τοῦ [821 verses](article sg masc gen)  "The" is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the"). 

μονογενοῦς  [2 verses](adj sg masc gen) "Only begotten" is monogenes, which means "the only member of a kin," "only," "single," "unique," "one and the same blood," [in grammar] "having the same form in all genders," and [of plants] "growing only in one place."

υἱοῦ [157 verses](noun sg masc gen) "The Son" is from huios, which means a "son," and more generally, a "child."

τοῦ [821 verses](article sg masc gen)  "The" is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the"). 

θεοῦ [144 verses](noun sg masc gen) "God" is theos, which means "God," "divine," and "Deity."

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