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Text and Translation
Greek Text
15. μὴ ἀγαπᾶτε τὸν κόσμον μηδὲ τὰ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ. ἐάν τις ἀγαπᾷ τὸν κόσμον, οὐκ ἔστιν ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ πατρὸς, ἐν αὐτῷ·
16. ὅτι πᾶν τὸ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ, ἡ ἐπιθυμία τῆς σαρκὸς, καὶ ἡ ἐπιθυμία τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν, καὶ ἡ ἀλαζονεία τοῦ βίου, οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς ἀλλʼ ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου ἐστί.
17. καὶ ὁ κόσμος παράγεται, καὶ ἡ ἐπιθυμία αὐτοῦ· ὁ δὲ ποιῶν τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ μένει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.
English Translation
15. Do not love the world or those things in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father, but is from the world.
17. And the world is passing away along with its lust; but the one who does the will of God abides forever.
Graphical Grammar
Weighty Words
- ἐπιθυμία – fem. sing. nom. ▶ ἐπιθυμία: desire, lust.
- ποιῶν – pres. act. ptc. masc. sing. nom. ▶ ποιέω: make, do.
Syntax Sense
τὰ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ → the things of the world
The Greek article is tremendously flexible, as you certainly know. One of its many powers is to turn grammatical structures into substantives. It can essentially turn various grammatical structures into what we think of as a noun. When the Greek article precedes a prepositional phrase and does not modify a later explicit noun (in the same case and number as the article), the article is acting to substantivize the prepositional phrase. In this clause, τὰ is creating a “noun-package” out of the words “in the world”:
- ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ: a location description.
- τὰ: preceding that location description with the article turns the entire location description into a collective noun package.
- → it becomes “the things in the world.”
This is covered thoroughly in elementary Greek, but it’s one of those things that doesn’t necessarily land until you see it in context. Let me explain. An article before a prepositional phrase may be acting attributively where there is another noun following the prepositional phrase. For example, if we had οἱ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ νόμοι, οἱ is not substantivizing anything. That would be “the in-the-world laws, or in better English, “the laws that are in the world.”
Similarly, the article could be functioning as a weak demonstrative. In such case, the article is pointing backward or forward to another noun to step in and replace a specific noun previously mentioned in the text. For example, we could have οἱ τοῦ κόσμου (“they of the world” or “those belonging to the world”). Here, the article, οἱ, stands entirely alone. It doesn’t modify a noun, and it doesn’t wrap around a phrase to make a category. Instead, it acts as a shortcut pointer (a pronoun) to step in and replace a specific group of people previously mentioned in the text (e.g., “But as for the citizens, those of the world do not listen…”).
ὁ δὲ ποιῶν τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ
We have seen this construction a lot, even two lessons ago. Let’s nail it down. When the article + participle is a singular masculine or feminine (not neuter) and has no expressed noun, Greek readers instantly supply “the person who…” It’s the Greek equivalent of English “whoever” or “anyone who.” (Smyth §§1124 and 2050.) Examples across the NT:
- ὁ ποιῶν τὸ θέλημα = “whoever does the will” (Matt 7:21; 1 John 2:17);
- ὁ ἀγαπῶν τὸν ἀδελφόν = “the one who loves his brother” (1 John 2:10); and
- ὁ λέγων = “the one who says” (1 John 2:4, 2:6, 2:9)
Greek just drops the ἄνθρωπος/τις because the article + participle already says “person” to Greek speakers. Greek can pack “the person who does X” into two words (ὁ ποιῶν) while English needs five (“the one who does”). It’s pure linguistic elegance.
Demystifying the Discourse
John moves to conclude the section beginning in 2:1 concerning walking in the light. What is his conclusion? Do not love the world or the things in the world. The world is not from the Father, and it is passing away. The Father’s love cannot abide in someone who simultaneously loves the world. These two loves cannot coexist.
Your turn!
Let’s use this straightforward Greek to take a breather and expand our focus outside of 1 John.
After translating this passage, take a tour through the New Testament and see if you can find:
- one attributive prepositional phrase;
- one substantivized prepositional phrase; and
- one example of the article functioning as a weak demonstrative.
Try working from the English first and then confirming your observations in the Greek. Also, try this without digital tools initially. But if you get stuck, by all means, use them.
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Return to TBWM – I John
See complete translation of I John here.