1 John 5:7 Johann Albrecht Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament has conflicting words. It would seems to have and earlier and latter edition [1] & [2]. For the moment, the below is akin to the one that appears on studylight.org, which seems like an earlier edition:

Verse 7

1 John 5:7. Ὅτι τρεῖς εἰσιν οἱ μαρτυροῦντες, because there are three bearing witness) The participle, bearing witness, used instead of the noun, witnesses, implies that the act of bearing witness, and the effect of the testimony, are always present. Before also he had spoken of the spirit, in the neuter gender, τὸ πνεῦμά ἐστι το μαρτυρουν: now he speaks in the masculine gender, there are three who bear witness, of the spirit also; at the same saying, that the water and the blood bear witness, also in the masculine gender. Those feminines, faith, hope, charity, are said to be three (tria), in the neuter gender, 1 Corinthians 13:13; but here πνεῦμα, ὕδωρ, αἷμα, all of the neuter gender in Greek, that is, the spirit, the water, and the blood, are τρεῖς μαρτυροῦντες, in the masculine gender. To be bearing witness is properly applied to persons only: and the fact that three are described, by personification, as bearing witness on earth, just as though they were persons, is admirably adapted (subservient) to the personality of the three who bear witness in heaven; but yet neither the spirit (that is the truth of the Gospel), nor the water, nor the blood, are persons. Therefore the apostle, advancing from the preceding verse to the one now present, employs a trope, adapted to the brevity of the discourse, so as to say this: There are three classes of men (1 John 5:9, compared with John 5:34), who discharge the office of bearing witness on earth; (1st) that class of witnesses in general which is employed in preaching the Gospel; and, in particular, (2d) that class of witnesses, which administers baptism, as John the Baptist and the others; and also (3d) that class of witnesses, which beheld and puts on record the passion and death of the Lord. There is therefore a METALEPSIS, ^[20] and that of a most weighty kind: viz. one wherein (a) by a Synecdoche of number, instead of the whole class of witnesses, there is put one who witnesses; as though it were said, a prophet, baptist, apostle: for although these three functions might often meet in one man, yet of themselves they were divided: comp. Ephesians 4:11: and on that account the Metonymy is the more suitable, on which presently. The degrees of these three functions are found, Matthew 11:9; Matthew 11:11, where however the word prophet is used in a more restricted sense. (b) By Metonymy of the abstract term, instead of those who bear witness, as αὐτόπται καὶ ὑπηρέται (eye-witnesses and ministers), the spirit itself, the water, and the blood, are mentioned. ἐν τῇ γῇ, on earth) See below. τὸ πνεῦμα, καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ, καὶ τὸ αἷμα, the spirit, and the water, and the blood ) The apostle changes the order: for whereas before he had put the spirit in the third place, he now puts it in the first place, according to the natural order. The spirit, as was before said, bore witness before the water and the blood; and the spirit bears witness even without the testimony of the water and the blood, but the water and the blood never bear witness without the spirit. καὶ οἱ τρεῖς εἰς τὸ ἓν εἰσιν, and these three agree in one [concur towards one end]) The Prophet, the Baptist, and the Apostle are equally of the same earthly nature of themselves (comp. are one, 1 Corinthians 3:8), and are ordained altogether to one end, to testify of Jesus Christ, as of Him who is come into the world. Comp. εἶναι εἰς τὶ, Luke 5:17. Τὸ ἓν, with the article, denotes not so much one, as the same thing.

20. A twofold or manifold trope. See Append. on the figure. E.

Does this interpretation of the 7th verse seem somewhat weak? This complaint will presently be of service to our argument.

Verses 7-8

1 John 5:7-8. Ἐν τῇ γῇ · ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, on earth: in heaven ) The testimony is not given in heaven, but on earth: but they who bear witness, are some on earth and some in heaven; that is, the former are of an earthly and human nature, the latter of a divine and glorious nature. Moreover, because they who are witnessing on earth, and they who are witnessing in heaven, bear witness concerning Jesus Christ, and a true witness is present and not absent, not so much with reference to those to whom He witnesses, as with reference to the things which He witnesses: therefore they who are witnessing on earth, are said to witness concerning Jesus Christ in such a manner that their testimony chiefly has to do with the dwelling of Jesus on the earth, so that it may be testified that He is the Christ: whence He Himself is said to have come by water and blood, that is, to have come into the world; though the state of His exaltation is not excluded from this testimony, especially during the life of the apostles. But they who are bearing witness in heaven, bear witness of the same Jesus Christ, so that their testimony is chiefly concerned with the heavenly glory of Jesus, the Son of God, exalted to the right hand of the Father, without excluding His state of humiliation. Undoubtedly the testimony of water (for instance), or of baptism, was chiefly administered by John before the death, or rather before the manifestation, of Jesus Christ, as He walked on the earth; whereas the testimony of the Paraclete was reserved until the glorification of Jesus Christ. Whence the Lord had said respecting the apostles, μαρτυρεῖτε, ye bear witness, in the present; but respecting the Paraclete, μαρτυρήσει, He shall bear witness: John 15:27 [reading with the best authorities μαρτυρεῖτε, not as Engl. Vers., Ye shall bear witness], 26.

The seventh verse therefore, together with the sixth, contains a recapitulation of the whole economy of Jesus Christ, from His baptism until the day of Pentecost, Acts 2. The eighth verse contains a summary of the Divine economy from His exaltation and thenceforth: see John 8:28; John 14:20; Matthew 26:64. Wherefore Christ, on His ascension, commanded to baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Matthew 28:19; and the Apocalypse commences with announcing grace and peace from the Sacred Trinity.

Since these things are so, a new argument arises, that the arrangement of the verses, which first makes mention of the witnesses on earth and then of the witnesses in heaven [not vice versâ, as Engl. Vers.], is to be preferred, as containing a gradation most suitable to the subjects themselves.

Verse 8

1 John 5:8. Καὶ τρεῖς εἰσιν οἱ μαρτυροῦντες, and there are three that bear witness) The testimony of the spirit, and the water, and the blood, by a remarkable gradation and addition of strength (Epitasis), is corroborated by the additional testimony of three who give greater testimony. Comp. altogether John 3:8; John 3:11. ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, in heaven ) See below. ὁ Πατὴρ, the Father ) Under this name the name of God is also understood; as under the name of the Word (respecting which, however, see what shortly follows), the Son is understood; according to the nature of the relatives. Comp. 1 Corinthians 15:28. ὁ Λόγος, the Word ) The name, Word, is remarkably adapted to the testimony. The Word testifies respecting Himself, as respecting the Son of God. Revelation 1:5; Revelation 19:13. Some of the Fathers in this place write Filius (the Son), according to the more frequent usage of Scripture. And even the Florentine and Reutlingensian Latin Manuscripts have this reading (Filius). τὸ Πνεῦμα, the Spirit) In this passage, and everywhere throughout the Epistle, John, when speaking of the Holy Spirit, understands the epithet Holy. Jesus Christ, before His passion, spake openly of His own testimony and that of the Father: there is added, especially after His glorification, the testimony of the Holy Spirit: ch. 1 John 2:27; John 15:26; Acts 5:32; Romans 8:16. Wherefore, as before a pair of witnesses was urged, John 8:17-18, so now there is a Trinity. καὶ οὗτοι οἱ τρεῖς ἓν εἰσι , and these three are one ) The preceding verse has, and these three agree in one: now it is said, these three are one. There is a carefully weighed difference of expression, although in other places εἰς is either inserted or omitted indifferently. These three are one: just as the two, the Father and the Son, are one. The Spirit is inseparable from the Father and the Son: for unless the Spirit together with the Father and the Son were one, it would be right for us to say, that the Father and the Son, who are one, together with the Spirit, are two: but this would be opposed to the entire sum of the Divine revelation. They are one in essence, in knowledge, in will, and moreover in the agreement of their testimony: John 10:30; John 10:38; John 14:9-11. The three are not opposed conjointly to the other three, but separately, each to each, as though it were said, Not only does the Spirit testify, but the Father also, John 5:37: not only the water, but the Word also, John 3:11; John 10:41: not only the blood, but the Spirit also, John 15:26-27. Now it becomes evident how necessary is the reading of the 8th verse. It was impossible for John to think respecting the testimony of the spirit, and the water, and the blood, and add the testimony of God as greater, without thinking also of the testimony of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and making mention of it in an enumeration so solemn; nor can any reason be imagined why, without the three who bear witness in heaven, he should mention those that bear witness on earth, and those as three. Enumerations of this kind are usually not single, but manifold, as Proverbs 30; how much more so in this place? The 7th verse, of whatever importance it is, has a respective force, and tends to this object, that there should be a progressive advance from the 6th verse to the 8th; and here lies the advantage of the complaint above noticed. Whether the 7th verse, respecting the three that bear witness on earth, be compared with the preceding or with the following verse, the 8th is necessary. For the 6th verse and the 7th have some things the same, and some different. Those which are the same, are only repeated on this account, that they may be adapted to the 8th verse: those which are different, and either vary the expression, or add something more to the sentiment, have a still plainer reference to the 8th verse. For instance, in the absolute expression, the Spirit only is said to be bearing witness: in the respective (relative) expression, the water also and the blood are spoken of. In like manner the 7th and 8th verses have some words in common; in others, when the expression is changed, the sentiment itself introduces something different, as in one, and one. The Trinity of heaven, archetypal, fundamental, unchangeable, plainly supports the triad of witnesses on earth, in an accommodated sense. The apostle might either have fixed the number of those who bear witness on earth as greater; comp. 1 John 5:9; or he might have referred [reduced] them all to [under] one spirit; comp. 1 John 5:6; but he reduces them to a triad, solely with reference to the three who bear witness in heaven. From the circumstance, that the Father, and the Word, and the Spirit, are properly three, and are bearing witness, and are one, the same things also are, by a trope, predicated of the spirit, and the water, and the blood; although, it is evident of itself, that the things thus predicated are of themselves less applicable to the subjects spoken of: and this has been perceived by those who, in the verse respecting the spirit, and the water, and the blood, have changed the masculine (tres) into the neuter (tria). ^[21] See Apparatus, pp. 750, 755. If there is any relation between those who bear witness on earth and those who bear witness in heaven, the arrangement of the words, the spirit, and the water, and the blood, requires, that the spirit be referred to the Father, the water to the Word, and the blood to the Spirit: but this is confirmed only by the express reading of the Father, and the Word, and the Spirit: in the absence of which reading a variously fluctuating allegory has changed the order of the words. See Appar., pp. 757, 764. The apostle, in asserting that the commandments of God are not grievous, deduces their observance not only from the sacraments, but chiefly also from faith in the Sacred Trinity, as the Lord Himself does, Matthew 28:19-20. This whole paragraph shows, on the part of John, a perception derived from God, and a style worthy of this perception. They who do not admit the 8th verse, can give no suitable explanation of the 7th. They reduce the Metalepsis, which we noticed above, into an open Catachresis: ^[22] but the 8th verse being admitted, the Metalepsis is altogether softened down, and the order in which the spirit is placed, before the water and the blood, is explained, and an account is given of all the words. In short, there is an intimate connection between both verses, a complete rhythm, an inseparable parody (correspondence between the verses); and the one without the other is as a compound period, or a poetical strophe, where the half is wanting.

21. Origen 4, 143 c says, “The disciple John has described the spirit, the water, and the blood, τὰ τρία (neuter) εἰς ἓν γινόμενα, the three things, as concurring in one.” E.

22. See Append.

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