Question:  Why does John 1:16 in The AV7 Bible read:

"Of His fullness we have all received, 
and "grace  for everyone
instead of grace  for a favored few"?

Different versions and paraphrases of the Bible translate this verse in many different ways ...  but no other version has a translation like The AV7 Bible.   Why is that?

Answer:  The reason why The AV7 Bible translation is so different from most if not all other translations of the Bible is because AV7 makes a clear distinction between the two significantly different kinds of "grace" that are presented in this verse.

Examine many different versions of the Bible and you will find nearly as many different translations and paraphrases as there are different versions,  including these:

  • grace upon grace
  • grace after grace
  • grace instead of grace
  • grace because of his grace
  • one blessing after another
  • gift after gift after gift
  • favor on top of favor
  • one gift after another
  • ... and many, many more variations.
    • All of which can leave a reader very confused.  Which is correct?  Obviously, all of these very different translations, paraphrases, and readings cannot possibly be equally correct and trustworthy  ...  because:

    There can never be such a thing as
    different versions of the truth in any given language.

    The answer to determine what translation is correct is to look at the original Greek language source text to see and understand the two different Greek words with two different meanings.  Both correctly -- but incompletely -- translated as "grace." However, the Greek word between them is "anti" (which means "against" or "instead of"), and this gives us a very revealing clue.  Obviously, "grace instead of grace" makes no sense.  So, we need to carefully examine and understand the full meanings of the two different Greek words.

    Each of the following Greek words (transliterated into English characters) can be translated "grace;"  however each is spelled differently and has a unique meaning:

  • #5484 charin favor, on account of, before cause of, for sake of
  • #5485 charis graciousness, gratifying, divine influence upon the heart and its reflection in the life, gratitude, acceptable, benefit, favor, gift, grace, joy, pleasure, thankworthy.
  • #5486 charisma gratuity, deliverance, endowment, qualification, miraculous faculty, free gift.
  • #5487 charitoo grace, indue with special honor, make acceptable, be highly favored. To summarize:
    #5484 means grace offered to everyone
    #473 is "anti" which means against or instead of
    #5487 means grace extended to a highly favored or highly honored few.  as, for example,  it is used in addressing the "highly favored" virgin Mary in Luke 1:28.