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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - 1 John 3:8 - 3:8
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8. ὁ ποιῶν τ. ἁμαρτ. He that doeth sin, as in 1Jn 3:4, to bring out the contrast with ‘he that doeth righteousness.’ Qui facit peccatum. The first half of this verse is closely parallel to the second half of 1Jn 3:7. The habitual doer of sin has the devil as the source (ἐκ), not of his existence, but of the evil which rules his existence and is the main element in it. “The devil made no man, begat no man, created no man: but whoso imitates the devil, becomes a child of the devil, as if begotten of him. In what sense art thou a child of Abraham? Not that Abraham begat thee. In the same sense as that in which the Jews, the children of Abraham, by not imitating the faith of Abraham, are become children of the devil” (S. Augustine). Jerome (Hom. in Jerem. vi.) quotes this passage thus; Omnis qui facit peccatum, ex zabulo natus est. Neither the omnis nor the natus is in the Vulgate or in the Greek. The form zabulus occurs in MSS. of Cyprian and Lactantius, and also in Hilary and Ambrose: it is not found in the Vulgate. (With zabulus for διάβολος comp. ζάχολος, ζαπληθής, ζάπυρος, ζάπλουτος, ζάχρυσος: and zeta for δίαιτα.) Jerome continues; Toties ex zabulo nascimur, quoties peccamus. Infelix iste qui semper generatur a zabulo. Rursumque multum beatus qui semper ex Deo nascitur. It is one of the characteristics of these closing words of N.T. that they mark with singular precision the personality of Satan, and his relation to sin, sinners, and redemption from sin.
ὄτι ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς ὁ δ. ἁμ. Because from the beginning the devil sinneth. Ab initio diabolus peccat (Vulgate): a primordio delinquit (Tertullian). ‘From the beginning’ stands first for emphasis. What does it mean? Various explanations have been suggested. (1) From the beginning of sin. The devil was the first to sin and has never ceased to sin. (2) From the beginning of the devil. This comes very near to asserting the Gnostic and Manichaean error of two co-eternal principles or Creators, one good and one evil. The very notion of sin involves departure from what is good. The good therefore must have existed first. To avoid this, (3) from the beginning of the devil as such, i.e. from the time of his becoming the devil, or (4) from the beginning of his activity; which is not very different from (3) if one believes that he is a fallen angel, or from (2) if one does not. (5) From the beginning of the world. (6) From the beginning of the human race. The first or last seems best. “The phrase ‘From the beginning’ intimates that there has been no period of the existence of human beings in which they have not been liable to the assaults of this Tempter; that accusations against God, reasons for doubting and distrusting Him, have been offered to one man after another, to one generation after another. This is just what the Scripture affirms; just the assumption which goes through the book from Genesis to the Apocalypse.” (Maurice.) Note the present tense: not he has sinned, but he is sinning; his whole existence is sin.
ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ. In special contrast to those habitual sinners who are morally the children of the devil. Origen here gives the reading γεγέννηται, which is probably a mere slip of memory. There seems to be no trace of it elsewhere. The metaphor in ἵνα λύσῃ has probably nothing to do with loosening bonds or snares. All destruction is dissolution. The word in a figurative sense is a favourite one with the Apostle: comp. Joh 2:19; Joh 5:18; Joh 7:23; Joh 10:35, where either notion, loosening or dissolving, is appropriate. Comp. χρῄζω οὖν πραότητος, ἐν ἧ καταλύεται ὁ ἄρχων τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου (Ign. Trall. IV). The ἔργα of the devil are the sins which he causes men to commit. Christ came to undo these sins, to ‘take away’ both them and their consequences. They are the opposite of τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Θεοῦ (Joh 9:3), the same as τὰ ἔργα τοῦ σκότους (Rom 13:12).
The recognition of the personality of the devil in this passage is express and clear, as in Joh 8:44, where we have Christ’s declaration on the subject. It is there implied that he is a fallen being; for he ‘did not stand firm in the truth’ (οὐκ ἔστηκεν). He is here the great opponent of the Son of God manifest in the flesh and the author of men’s sins. In both passages he appears as morally the parent of those who deliberately prefer evil to good. Nothing is said either as to his origin, or the origin of moral evil.