The Meaning of 1 John 5:8 Explained

1 John 5:8

KJV: And there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.

YLT: and three are who are testifying in the earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood, and the three are into the one.

Darby: the Spirit, and the water, and the blood; and the three agree in one.

ASV: For there are three who bear witness, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and the three agree in one.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And  there are  three  that bear witness  in  earth,  the Spirit,  and  the water,  and  the blood:  and  these three  agree  in  one. 

What does 1 John 5:8 Mean?

Study Notes

in earth Omit "in earth."
agree Or, are to one point or purpose.

Verse Meaning

Really there are three witnesses to the truth. These witnesses are the Holy Spirit teaching through the apostles and prophets, the water of Jesus" baptism, and the blood of His crucifixion. John personified the latter two in this verse. The testimony of eyewitnesses and prophets as well as that of the historical events affirmed the divine and human character of Jesus Christ.
A few late manuscripts of1John insert other witnesses between the words "bear witness" and "the Spirit." The addition reads, "... in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth ..."
"Not a single manuscript contains the Trinitarian addition before the fourteenth century, and the verse is never quoted in the controversies over the Trinity in the first450 years of the church era." [1]

Context Summary

1 John 5:1-12 - The Victorious Life
The "begotten" children of God are constantly referred to in this Epistle. The word indicates the communication, in regeneration, of the divine nature, of which the first evidence is love. This love is not a weak sentimentality, but a, strong, vigorous response to the motions of the divine love.
God's life in the soul also manifests itself in our faith; and as faith is the substance of the unseen and eternal world, it overcomes the fascination and glamour of this transient scene. Let your faith entwine around the risen Lord and you will be weaned from all else. Jesus must become all-in-all to you, else you will miss the crown!
We need not only the water of repentance, but also the blood of propitiation. When these two are admitted, the Holy Spirit will bear His secret witness to the soul. God is ever bearing witness to the Son by the eternal life that He gives to and maintains in those who believe. Eternity begins even here for those who have the Son as their indwelling guest. [source]

Chapter Summary: 1 John 5

1  He who loves God loves his children, and keeps his commandments;
3  which to the faithful are not grievous
9  Jesus is the Son of God;
14  and able to hear our prayers

Greek Commentary for 1 John 5:8

The Spirit and the water and the blood [το πνευμα και το υδωρ και το αιμα]
The same three witnesses of 1 John 5:6, 1 John 5:7 repeated with the Spirit first. [source]
The three [οι τρεις]
The resumptive article.Agree in one (εις το εν εισιν — eis to hen eisin). “Are for the one thing,” to bring us to faith in Jesus as the Incarnate Son of God, the very purpose for which John wrote his Gospel (John 20:31). [source]
Agree in one [εις το εν εισιν]
“Are for the one thing,” to bring us to faith in Jesus as the Incarnate Son of God, the very purpose for which John wrote his Gospel (John 20:31). [source]
Agree in one [εἰς τὸ ἕν εἰσιν]
Lit., are for the one. They converge upon the one truth, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, come in the flesh. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for 1 John 5:8

John 3:3 Be born again [γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν]
See on Luke 1:3. Literally, from the top (Matthew 27:51). Expositors are divided on the rendering of ἄνωθεν , some translating, from above, and others, again or anew. The word is used in the following senses in the New Testament, where it occurs thirteen times: 1. From the top: Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38; John 19:23. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
2. From above: John 3:31; John 19:11; James 1:17; James 3:15, James 3:17. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
3. From the beginning: Luke 1:3; Acts 26:5. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
4. Again: Galatians 4:9, but accompanied by πάλιν , again. In favor of the rendering from above, it is urged that it corresponds to John's habitual method of describing the work of spiritual regeneration as a birth from God (John 1:13; 1 John 3:9; 1 John 4:7; 1 John 5:1, 1 John 5:4, 1 John 5:8); and further, that it is Paul, and not John, who describes it as a new birth. In favor of the other rendering, again, it may be said: 1. that from above does not describe the fact but the nature of the new birth, which in the logical order would be stated after the fact, but which is first announced if we render from above. If we translate anew or again, the logical order is preserved, the nature of the birth being described in John 3:5. 2. That Nicodemus clearly understood the word as meaning again, since, in John 3:4, he translated it into a second time. 3. That it seems strange that Nicodemus should have been startled by the idea of a birth from heaven. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
Canon Westcott calls attention to the traditional form of the saying in which the word ἀναγεννᾶσθαι , which can only mean reborn, is used as its equivalent. Again, however, does not give the exact force of the word, which is rather as Rev., anew, or afresh. Render, therefore, as Rev., except a man be born anew. The phrase occurs only in John's Gospel. [source]

Acts 10:47 Water [τὸ ὕδωρ]
Note the article: the water; co-ordinating the water with the Spirit (see 1 John 5:8), and designating water as the recognized and customary element of baptism. [source]
1 John 5:7 For there are three who bear witness [οτι τρεις εισιν οι μαρτυρουντες]
At this point the Latin Vulgate gives the words in the Textus Receptus, found in no Greek MS. save two late cursives (162 in the Vatican Library of the fifteenth century, 34 of the sixteenth century in Trinity College, Dublin). Jerome did not have it. Cyprian applies the language of the Trinity and Priscillian has it. Erasmus did not have it in his first edition, but rashly offered to insert it if a single Greek MS. had it and 34 was produced with the insertion, as if made to order. The spurious addition is: εν τωι ουρανωι ο πατηρ ο λογος και το αγιον πνευμα και ουτοι οι τρεις εν εισιν και τρεις εισιν οι μαρτυρουντες εν τηι γηι — en tōi ouranōi ho patērho logos kai to hagion pneuma kai houtoi hoi treis hen eisin kai treis eisin hoi marturountes en tēi gēi (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 last clause belongs to 1 John 5:8. The fact and the doctrine of the Trinity do not depend on this spurious addition. Some Latin scribe caught up Cyprian‘s exegesis and wrote it on the margin of his text, and so it got into the Vulgate and finally into the Textus Receptus by the stupidity of Erasmus. [source]

What do the individual words in 1 John 5:8 mean?

the Spirit and water blood these three in - one are
τὸ Πνεῦμα καὶ ὕδωρ αἷμα οἱ τρεῖς εἰς τὸ ἕν εἰσιν

Πνεῦμα  Spirit 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Neuter Singular
Root: πνεῦμα  
Sense: a movement of air (a gentle blast.
ὕδωρ  water 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Neuter Singular
Root: ὕδωρ  
Sense: water.
αἷμα  blood 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Neuter Singular
Root: αἷμα  
Sense: blood.
οἱ  these 
Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
τρεῖς  three 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: τρεῖς 
Sense: three.
τὸ  - 
Parse: Article, Accusative Neuter Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
ἕν  one 
Parse: Adjective, Accusative Neuter Singular
Root: εἷς  
Sense: one.