After the proposition of the false teachers has been mentioned and refuted (verse 6), the present verse describes what the true Christian should do and will experience.

If (here and in verse 9) is conditional.

We walk in the light expresses the opposite of “we walk in darkness” in verse 6b. The clause structures parallel each other. This parallelism should be preserved as much as possible when the clauses have to be restructured.

Light means here the radiance of light (compare comments on 1 John 1.5), for the reference seems to be to the domain of light, to a place or situation that is clear or bright. Accordingly the rendering to be used is in some languages different from that in verse 5; for example, ‘we walk where it is bright.’

As he is in the light indicates how, that is, to what degree, “we” should walk in the light. They should do so as completely and fully as God is, or exists, in the light, compare such a rendering as ‘whenever we live in the same light/brightness in which God eternally is/exists.’

Logically speaking there is a discrepancy between this clause and “God is light” in verse 5, for God cannot be the light and at the same time exist in the light. But one should bear in mind that John does not intend to give logical definitions but is hinting at aspects of a reality that by definition is undefinable. Accordingly the translator should not try to harmonize the two statements but leave the discrepancy as it stands. He may even be compelled to widen the discrepancy, namely, in those languages where the rendering of light here must differ from that used in verse 5; see above.

We have fellowship with one another. At first sight one might expect here “we have fellowship with God.” But that was not what was required by the situation confronting John. The false teachers whose opinions he is quoting and refuting in these verses boasted of their fellowship and communion with God, but they neglected the fellowship with men (compare the Introduction, page 4). John wants to remind them that they cannot have fellowship with God unless they have fellowship with other Christians.

The verb form we have is in the present tense. This is to indicate that the reference is to a reality existing at the moment of speaking.

The blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. This last clause of verse 7 serves to remind the reader that the Christian’s true relationship with God and man is made possible by Jesus’ death. At the same time the reference to sin forms the transition to the next verses (1.8–2.2), where John refutes his opponents’ claim of being without sin.

The statement made in this clause was probably a standing phrase in the Christian congregation. Its wording must be seen against the background of the sacrificial rites of Israel, as mentioned, for example, in Numbers 19. In those rites an animal was killed as sacrifice, and its blood was sprinkled on objects or men that had become ritually polluted. Thus they were made clean, that is, their ritual stains were removed.

John uses these sacrificial terms symbolically here, applying them (as the Letter to the Hebrews does more fully) to Jesus’ sacrificial, redemptive death and its results with regard to men’s moral stains, that is, their sins. The context is such that this symbolical meaning can be easily understood. Therefore one can, in most receptor languages, use a literal rendering, if necessary adding a footnote giving further explanation and a reference to the Old Testament background. See also TBT, 22.104f, 197l.

However, in some languages a literal rendering is undesirable or impossible. Then one must indicate somehow that blood stands for the shedding of blood, and ultimately for death; hence such renderings as ‘the shed blood of Jesus…,’ ‘the fact that Jesus … has shed his own blood,’ ‘because Jesus … died, shedding his own blood,’ or simply ‘the death of Jesus…,’ ‘because Jesus … died.’ By the same token “cleanses” may have to become ‘takes away,’ ‘removes,’ ‘causes to cease.’

The name Jesus has to be transliterated, of course. To take Isa (the Arabic form of “Jesus”) as the basis of transliteration is, as a rule, not advisable, especially because the connotation Isa has in Islam is the negation of what “Jesus” means in Christianity.

The appositional phrase his son is added to remind the reader that it is God who is acting in Jesus’ life and death; compare verse 9, where it is God himself who “will make us clean from all our wrongdoing” (Good News Translation). The pronominal reference may have to be specified; hence, ‘God’s Son.’

Cleanses us from all sin: the present tense expresses duration and serves to indicate that the cleansing is going on. The construction with “from” often has to be adjusted; for example, ‘cleanses us, lets (us) be free from all sin,’ ‘makes us clean, and causes to cease all sin,’ ‘takes away all stains from us, that is to say, all our sins,’ or simply ‘removes all our sins.’

All sin may primarily refer either to all sinful deeds, or to the quality of being sinful, here probably the former. If one has to shift from a nominal to a verbal construction, one may say something like ‘cleanses everyone of us, whenever he has sinned.’

† It may be necessary to make explicit the religious connotation of cleanses, or ‘causes to be clean’, for example, by saying ‘to make clean before God.’ The concept “clean/pure” is sometimes better expressed negatively; for example, by phrases like ‘without dirt,’ ‘not stained,’ ‘not mixed.’ The term to be used should not refer to the removal or neutralizing of magic power acquired by a person as the result of his taking part in religious ceremonies.

† Sin implies both the violation of a standard ultimately set by God, and the personal responsibility of the sinner. In several languages rather generic terms are used to render the word; for example, ‘bad deed,’ ‘mistake,’ and the like. Such renderings are often quite acceptable, provided that the context sufficiently indicates the specific connotation required. But in other cases it is preferable to indicate at least some of the specific components of meaning, using terms or phrases such as ‘evil in the head-heart,’ ‘what comes from a bad heart,’ ‘what makes one guilty,’ all three showing the personal involvement; or ‘leaving the road,’ ‘missing the mark,’ both adding the concept of not conforming to a standard. It is interesting to note that the last-mentioned expression is also at the base of the Greek verb for “to sin.” For further details see A Translator’s Handbook on the Gospel of Mark on 1.4.

Verses 8 and 9 contain the second quotation and refutation of the false teachers; compare the introductory remarks on 1.5–2.2.

Quoted with permission from Haas, C., de Jonge, M. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on The First Letter of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1972. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .