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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comRobertson Word Pictures - 1 John 3:9 - 3:9
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Doeth no sin (hamartian ou poiei). Linear present active indicative as in 1Jo 3:4 like hamartanei in 1Jo 3:8. The child of God does not have the habit of sin.
His seed (sperma autou). God’s seed, “the divine principle of life” (Vincent). Cf. John 1.
And he cannot sin (kai ou dunatai hamartanein). This is a wrong translation, for this English naturally means “and he cannot commit sin” as if it were kai ou dunatai hamartein or hamartēsai (second aorist or first aorist active infinitive). The present active infinitive hamartanein can only mean “and he cannot go on sinning,” as is true of hamartanei in 1Jo 3:8 and hamartanōn in 1Jo 3:6. For the aorist subjunctive to commit a sin see hamartēte and hamartēi in 1Jo 2:1. A great deal of false theology has grown out of a misunderstanding of the tense of hamartanein here. Paul has precisely John’s idea in Rom 6:1 epimenōmen tēi hamartiāi (shall we continue in sin, present active linear subjunctive) in contrast with hamartēsōmen in Rom 6:15 (shall we commit a sin, first aorist active subjunctive).