John 3:13

From Textus Receptus

(King James Version 2016 Edition, 2016) - buy the revised and updated printed 2023 Edition New Testament here

Interlinear

Commentary

Modern Omission

Notice that major modern version translations omit the phrase “which is in heaven:”

(NIV) No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man

(NASV) No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man.

(ESV) No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.

(HCSB) No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven —the Son of Man.

At the same time Jesus was then on earth, in His divinity as the Son of God, He remained omnipresent in heaven. Just as we now are on earth, but seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. This reading states:

1. Jesus came down from heaven (proving his divinity)
2. Jesus ascends up to heaven (further proving His divinity)
3. Jesus is The Son of man which is in heaven.

Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God and man and the eternal God. No mortal can accomplish all of these things.

Novatian

Novatian lived from 200 AD to 258 AD and during his life in the early third century he wrote “A Treatise of Novatian Concerning the Trinity.” He quotes John 3:13 during this time and says:

“Because, even to the highest, "not any one hath ascended into heaven save He who came down from heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven.” A Treatise of Novatian Concerning the Trinity.

This quotation is older that any manuscript we have of John 3:13 today.

Theodoret

Theodoret said in 380 AD: "If any one says that the Son of God, living in the flesh when he was on the earth, was not in heaven and with the Father, let him be anathema…" Ecclesiastical History 5.11

Gregory of Nazianzus

In Letter 101 of Gregory of Nazianzus in 382/3 A.D., he has:

“He is limited in the body, but unlimited in the Spirit; He is on the earth, and at the same time in Heaven.” Letter 101 382/383 A.D.

Early Church Writers

There are thirty-eight early church writers who recognize these words in this verse as found in the Textus Receptus. Some of the other fathers are as follows:

Origen (250 AD), pseudo Dionysius (265 AD), Athanasius (370 AD), Didymus (390 AD), Basil the Great (380 AD), Epiphanius (400 AD), Eustathius of Antioch (325 AD), Cyril of Jerusalem (385 AD), Amphilochius (390 AD), Lucifer of Calaris (370 AD), Victorinus (300 AD), Jerome (420 AD), Zeno (350 AD), Maximus (400 AD) - See Burgon, Revision Revised, p 133 for full listing & citation references.

By deleting “which is in heaven” it removes the testimony of deity from Christ. As eternal God, He still had authority in Heaven while still on Earth. The Gnostics did not believe that Christ was God because they taught that flesh was evil and that deity could not dwell in sinful flesh. They neglected the understanding of the virgin birth which had disallowed the sin nature to be passed to Him. When Christ was on Earth, He never ceased to be God. If He did, then He would never have been qualified to be our sin substitute. The word “is” is in the present tense which means that Christ was signifying that while He was on Earth, He was still in Heaven. The word “is” can also be translated “being.” It could read “which being in Heaven.” This is one of those great mysteries beyond the comprehension of the human mind and that is why the Gnostics chose to remove it since they could not explain it.

"For since we have PROVED that Origen and Didymus, Epiphanius and Cyril, Ambrose and Jerome, RECOGNIZE the words in dispute, of what possible Textual significancy can it be if presently (BECAUSE IT IS SUFFICIENT FOR THEIR PURPOSE) the same Fathers are observed [in other... See More places] to quote S. John iii. 13 no further than down to the words 'Son of man'? No person, (least of all a professed Critic), who adds to his learning a few grains of common sense and a little candour, can be misled by such a circumstance. Origen, Eusebius, Proclus, Ephraim Syrus, Jerome, Marius, when they are only insisting on the doctrinal significancy of the earlier words, naturally end their quotation at this place." Revision Revised, p 134

Bruce M. Metzger

Bruce M. Metzger said in his A Textual Commentary On The Greek New Testament:

"...the majority of the Committee... regarded the words "ο ων εν τω ουρανω" ["which is in heaven"] as an interpretative gloss, reflecting later Christological development." Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary On The Greek New Testament, 2nd Edition, United Bible Societies, p 175.

Greek

Textus Receptus

1514 (Complutensian Polyglot)

Desiderius Erasmus

1516 (Erasmus 1st Novum Instrumentum omne)
1519 (Erasmus 2nd)
1522 (Erasmus 3rd Novum Testamentum omne)
1527 (Erasmus 4th)
1535 (Erasmus 5th)

Colinæus

1534 (Colinæus)

Stephanus (Robert Estienne)

1546 (Robert Estienne (Stephanus) 1st)
1549 (Robert Estienne (Stephanus) 2nd)
1550 (Robert Estienne (Stephanus) 3rd - Editio Regia)
1551 (Robert Estienne (Stephanus) 4th)

Theodore Beza

1565 (Beza 1st)
1565 (Beza Octavo 1st)
1567 (Beza Octavo 2nd)
1580 (Beza Octavo 3rd)
1582 (Beza 2nd)
1589 (Beza 3rd)
1590 (Beza Octavo 4th)
1598 (Beza 4th)

See Also John 3:13 Beza 1598 (Beza)

1604 (Beza Octavo 5th)

Elzevir

1624 (Elzevir)
1633 (Elzevir)
1641 (Elzevir)

Scholz

1841 (Scholz)

Scrivener

1894 καὶ οὐδεὶς ἀναβέβηκεν εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν, εἰ μὴ ὁ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβάς, ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ὁ ὤν ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ.

Other Greek

These Greek manuscripts omit the phrase.

Aleph 01 - Sinaiticus - Fourth century
B 03 - Vaticanus - Fourth century
L 019 - Rome - Ninth Century
T 029 - Citta Del Vaticano - Fifth century
W 032 - Fourth/Fifth century

Tischendorfs 8th Ed. has:

καὶ οὐδεὶς ἀναβέβηκεν εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν εἰ μὴ ὁ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβάς, ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ὁ ὢν ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ.

Westcott and Hort:

καὶ οὐδεὶς ἀναβέβηκεν εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν εἰ μὴ ὁ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβάς, ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου,

1857 (Tregelles' Greek New Testament)
(Tischendorf 8th Ed.)
1881 (Westcott & Hort)
(Greek orthodox Church)

Anglo Saxon Translations

1000 (Anglo-Saxon Gospels Manuscript 140, Corpus Christi College by Aelfric)

1200 (Anglo-Saxon Gospels Hatton Manuscript 38, Bodleian Library by unknown author)

English Translations

1380 (Wyclif's Bible by John Wycliffe)

1395 (Wyclif's Bible by John Wycliffe)

1534 (Tyndale Bible by William Tyndale)

1535 (Coverdale Bible)

1539 (Great Bible First Edition - Miles Coverdale)

1540 (Great Bible Second Edition - Miles Coverdale)

1549 (Matthew's Bible - John Rogers)

1557 (Geneva 1557)

1560 (Geneva Bible) First Edition

1568 (Bishop's Bible First Edition

1582 (Rheims 1582)

1587 (Geneva Bible) by William Whittingham

1599 (Geneva Bible) by William Whittingham

1611 (King James Version)

1729 (Mace New Testament)

1745 (Mr. Whiston's Primitive New Testament)

1762 (King James Version)

1769 (King James Version - Benjamin Blayney)

1770 (Worsley Version by John Worsley)

1790 (Wesley Version by John Wesley)

1795 (A Translation of the New Testament from the Original Greek by Thomas Haweis)

1833 (Webster Version - by Noah Webster)

1835 (Living Oracles by Alexander Campbell)

1849 (Etheridge Translation by John Etheridge)

1850 (King James Version by Committee)

1851 (Murdock Translation)

1855 Calvin Bible by the Calvin Translation Society

1858 (The New Testament Translated from the Original Greek by Leicester Sawyer)

1865 (The Emphatic Diaglott by Benjamin Wilson)

1865 (The New Testament of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ 1865 by American Bible Union)

1869 (Noyes Translation by George Noyes)

1873 (King James Version) by Frederick Scrivener)

1885 (Revised Version also called English Revised Version - Charles Ellicott editor)

1890 (Darby Version 1890 by John Darby)

1898 (Young's Literal Translation by Robert Young)

1901 (American Standard Version - Philip Schaff)

1902 (The Emphasised Bible Rotherham Version)

1902 (Translation of the New Testament from the Original Greek by William Godbey)

1904 (The New Testament: Revised and Translated by Adolphus Worrell)

1904 (Twentieth Century New Testament by Ernest Malan and Mary Higgs)

1911 (Syrus Scofield)

1912 (Weymouth New Testament)

1918 (The New Testament Translated from the Sinaitic Manuscript by Henry Anderson)

1923 (Edgar Goodspeed)

1982 (New King James Version)

1984 (New International Version)

1995 (New American Standard Bible) (©1995)

1999 (American King James Version)AKJV

2005 (Today’s New International Version)

(BBE)
No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven —the Son of Man. (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
(21st Century King James Version)
(Common English Bible)
(GOD’S WORD Translation)
(ESV)No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.
No one has gone up to heaven except the Son of Man, who came down from there. (Contemporary English Version)
(NCV) The only one who has ever gone up to heaven is the One who came down from heaven—the Son of Man.
No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven. (New Living Translation)
(Amplified Bible)
"No one has ever gone up into the presence of God except the One who came down from that Presence, the Son of Man. (The Message)
(NASV) No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man.
No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man (New International Version)
"No one has ever gone into heaven except the One who came from heaven. He is the Son of Man. (New International Reader's Version)
(RSV) No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man.
(Wycliffe New Testament)
(NAB-Roman Catholic) No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.
(NWT-Jehovah’s Witnesses) Moreover, no man has ascended into heaven but he that descended from heaven, the Son of man.

Foreign Language Versions

Arabic

وليس احد صعد الى السماء الا الذي نزل من السماء ابن الانسان الذي هو في السماء (Arabic Smith & Van Dyke)

Aramaic

(Aramaic Peshitta)

Basque

Ecen nehor ezta igan cerura, cerutic iautsi dena baicen, cein baita guiçonaren Seme ceruän dena.

Bulgarian

1940 (Bulgarian Bible)

Chinese

1 除了从天降下、仍旧在天的人子，没有人升过天。 (Chinese Union Version (Simplified))

1 除了從天降下、仍舊在天的人子，沒有人升過天。 (Chinese Union Version (Traditional))

French

Et personne n'est monte au ciel, sinon celui qui est descendu du ciel, le fils de l'homme qui est dans le ciel. (French Darby)

1744 Car personne n'est monté au ciel, sinon celui qui est descendu du ciel, [savoir] le Fils de l'homme qui est au ciel. (Martin 1744)

1744 (Ostervald 1744)

German

1545 (Luther 1545)

1871 (Elberfelder 1871)

1912 Und niemand fährt gen Himmel, denn der vom Himmel herniedergekommen ist, nämlich des Menschen Sohn, der im Himmel ist. (Luther 1912)

Italian

1649 Or niuno è salito in cielo, se non colui ch’è disceso dal cielo, cioè il Figliuol dell’uomo, ch’è nel cielo. (Giovanni Diodati Bible 1649)

1927 E nessuno è salito in cielo, se non colui che è disceso dal cielo: il Figliuol dell’uomo che è nel cielo. (Riveduta Bible 1927)

Japanese

1928 (Naoji Nagai)

Latin

et nemo ascendit in caelum nisi qui descendit de caelo Filius hominis qui est in caelo Latin Vulgate

1527 (Erasmus 1527)

1527 (Erasmus Vulgate 1527)

Pidgin

1996 (Pidgin King Jems)

Romainian

2010 (Biblia Traducerea Fidela în limba româna)

Russian

1876 Никто не восходил на небо, как только сшедший с небес Сын Человеческий, сущий на небесах. Russian Synodal Version

Phonetically:

Spanish

(RVG Spanish)

Swedish

1917 Och likväl har ingen stigit upp till himmelen, utom den som steg ned från himmelen, Människosonen, som var i himmelen. (Swedish - Svenska 1917)

Tagalog

1905 At walang umakyat sa langit, kundi ang nanggaling sa langit, sa makatuwid baga'y ang Anak ng tao, na nasa langit. (Ang Dating Biblia 1905)

Tok Pisin

1996 (Tok Pisin King Jems)

Vietnamese

1934 Chưa hề có ai lên trời, trừ ra Ðấng từ trời xuống, ấy là Con người vốn ở trên trời. (VIET)

External Links

Which is in Heaven by Scott Jones

The King James Version 2023 Edition New Testament is now complete and in print format here.

Internal Links

Old Testament - New Testament KJV 1900

New Testament KJV 2016

Scrivener's 1894 Textus Receptus

2016 Urdu New Testament (TR Based)

Russian Synodal Version (TR Based)

Reina Valera Gómez Spanish (TR Based)

Marginal Notes in the 1611 Authorized Version

Ephesians 3:9

Why We Should Not Passover Easter 1, 2, & 3

Will Kinney

List of TR/KJV based foreign bibles

List of New Testament minuscules

List of New Testament lectionaries

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