Tuesday, June 10, 2025

Lorenzo Valla and the Johannine Comma

Lorenzo Valla's annotations on the New Testament, as published by Erasmus, included only about one third of one page on 1 John:


Notice that the only material relevant to the Johannine Comma is less than one line:


Transcription: Et hi tres unum sunt: graece est et hi tres in unum sunt. εἰς τὸ ἕν εἰσι

Translation: And these three are one: Greek is And these three are in one. εἰς τὸ ἕν εἰσι (eis to en eisi)

It is interesting that Valla notes the difference between "are one" and "are in one" but does not address the elephant in the room, namely the non-inclusion of "Father, Word, and Holy Spirit."  We could speculate about why he does not mention it, but suffice to say that he does not discuss it.


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