In the Greek the verse is without connective; in other languages it may have to be introduced by a word such as ‘but,’ ‘however.’
If we confess our sins: in countering his opponents’ claim to be sinless, John urges his readers to confess their specific sinful deeds, that is, the evil they are actually doing. He is not interested in speculations about man’s sinfulness in general. The pronoun our refers to the persons who commit the sins. Accordingly the phrase our sins may have to be rendered by ‘that we have sinned,’ or ‘the sinful deeds we have done.’
† The verb confess, used in connection with sins, means “to avow one’s sins,” “to say openly that one has sinned,” “to accuse oneself of one’s own evil deeds.” Various idiomatic expressions are used; for example, ‘to pull out the heart’ (that the sins in it may be clearly seen), ‘to count up one’s sins’; or, bringing out the purifying function of confession, ‘to cause one’s sin to say good-by,’ ‘to whiten the stomach.’ Sometimes one must make explicit the implied direct discourse; for example, ‘to say, “It is true, I have done evil.” ’ And it may be desirable to add a reference to God, “if we confess our sins to God” (Good News Translation), ‘if we say openly before (or in the presence of) God that we have sinned.’ For some further details see A Translator’s Handbook on the Gospel of Mark on 1.5. In the other occurrences in this Letter, the verb is used in connection with Christ; see 2.23.
The next three clauses of verse 9 (b, c, and d) serve to indicate how God will act toward people who act as indicated in verse 9a. Such people will find God to be faithful and just (b). This means, according to (c) and (d), forgiveness and purification. To bring out this explanatory relationship between clause (b) and clauses (c) and (d), one may say ‘God is faithful…; he forgives…,’ ‘God shows himself so faithful…, that he forgives…,’ ‘God is faithful … enough to forgive….’ Where coordination is preferable, the verse may be rendered, for example, ‘We should confess our sins to God. Then he will show himself faithful and just. This means that he forgives….’
He is faithful and just. The third person singular pronoun and other third person forms refer to God and usually have to be specified as such at least once. In some versions ‘faithful’ and ‘just’ have changed places, probably because God’s being just is viewed as the basis for his being faithful, and therefore is mentioned first.
Faithful, that is, “reliable,” qualifying God as one who can be depended upon. The term has also been rendered ‘unchangeable,’ ‘firm of inner being,’ ‘keeping his promise,’ ‘causing to be done (or not passing over) what he has said.’
Just (or “righteous,” see 2.1), when said of men, means being or doing what is right in God’s eyes, living according to God’s will. When said of God it serves to express that God is always doing what is in accordance with his own will, which is to be good and merciful towards men. There is no contradiction therefore between God’s justice and his goodness, mercy, and forgiveness.
Renderings are often built on the term ‘straight’; for example, ‘having a straight heart/eye,’ ‘being straight in one’s thinking’; or on the concept of propriety; for example, ‘doing as it should be’; and sometimes simply on the word for ‘good’; compare such phrases as ‘having a good heart,’ ‘being completely good.’
And renders a Greek conjunction that may have final, resultative, or explanatory force. Here the latter is preferable, sometimes rendered ‘in that,’ ‘which means that,’ ‘which is why.’
(He) will forgive our sins. The aorist tense of this and the next verb serves to show that the reference is to the acts as such, not to their duration or result. The future tense in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation is a matter of English style which need not be imitated in translation. The clause may require another construction in the receptor language; for example, ‘he forgives us (as to) our sins,’ ‘he forgives (us) the sins we did,’ or simply ‘he forgives us,’ leaving the reference to sin to be supplied from what precedes.
† The majority of the renderings of the verb forgive (here and 2.12) fall under three types. The first is based on the attitude or action of the one who forgives; for example, ‘to lose sin from the heart,’ ‘not to remember sin.’ The second is based on how the sins are dealt with; for example, ‘to carry away sins.’ And the third is based on legal terminology; for example, ‘to remit the punishment for sins.’
(He will) cleanse us from all unrighteousness closely parallels the last words of verse 7, the verb and the construction being the same. Therefore the noun unrighteousness, which can mean ‘wickedness’ as an attitude, or ‘deeds that are not right,’ ‘wrong doing,’ as an activity, can best be taken here in the latter sense.
The subject of the Greek clause is God, not the means of cleansing, as in verse 7, “the blood of Jesus.” In some versions this difference makes it preferable to use another less specifically ritual term for “to cleanse.”
In some versions the renderings of “to cleanse” and “to forgive” coincide. This is understandable because they are in the same semantic field. Yet there is a distinction between the two, which should preferably be expressed in translation. One may say that the former implies that sin disappears as completely as dirt disappears from a person that is bathed. The latter expresses that sin and the resulting guilt are no longer taken into account (‘are no longer seen,’ as some languages render it), just as in the case with debts that have been canceled (compare Luke 7.42-43, 47-48).
Verses 1.10 and 2.1-2, containing the third quotation and refutation of the false teachers, have a structure which is different from that of verses 6-7 and verses 8-9. Compare also the introductory note 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 .