Jesus Is God Because He Is The Only God

Formal Equivalence (Word-For-Word)

  • Received Text (Textus Receptus)

    No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. — John 1:18 KJV (48.83% / 66.58%)

    No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. — John 1:18 NKJV (60.32% / 65.21%)

    No one has seen God at any time. The only Son, who is at the Father’s side, has made Him known. — John 1:18 MEV (Modern English Version)

  • Majority Text

    No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has declared him. — John 1:18 WEB (World English Bible)

  • Critical Text

    No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. — John 1:18 LSB (NASB ‘95 61.65% / 67.99%)

    No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. — John 1:18 ESV (62.36% / 68.74%)

Dynamic Equivalence (Thought-For-Thought)

  • Critical Text

    No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us. — John 1:18 NLT (70.08% / 39.90%)

    No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known. — John 1:18 NIV (67.20% / 53.10%)

    No one has ever seen God. The only one,[a] himself God, who is in closest fellowship with[b] the Father, has made God[c] known.[d] — John 1:18 NET (66.28% / 53.94%)

  • NET Bible Translator Notes

    a. John 1:18 NET tc The textual problem μονογενὴς θεός (monogenēs theos, “the only God”) versus ὁ μονογενὴς υἱός (ho monogenēs huios, “the only son”) is a notoriously difficult one. Only one letter would have differentiated the readings in the mss, since both words would have been contracted as nomina sacra: thus qMs or uMs. Externally, there are several variants, but they can be grouped essentially by whether they read θεός or υἱός. The majority of mss, especially the later ones (A C3 Θ Ψ ƒ1,13 M lat), read ὁ μονογενὴς υἱός. P75 א1 33 have ὁ μονογενὴς θεός, while the anarthrous μονογενὴς θεός is found in P66 א* B C* L. The articular θεός is almost certainly a scribal emendation to the anarthrous θεός, for θεός without the article is a much harder reading. The external evidence thus strongly supports μονογενὴς θεός. Internally, although υἱός fits the immediate context more readily, θεός is much more difficult. As well, θεός also explains the origin of the other reading (υἱός), because it is difficult to see why a scribe who found υἱός in the text he was copying would alter it to θεός. Scribes would naturally change the wording to υἱός however, since μονογενὴς υἱός is a uniquely Johannine christological title (cf. John 3:16, 18; 1 John 4:9). But θεός as the older and more difficult reading is preferred. As for translation, it makes the most sense to see the word θεός as in apposition to μονογενής, and the participle ὁ ὤν (ho ōn) as in apposition to θεός, giving in effect three descriptions of Jesus rather than only two. (B. D. Ehrman, The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture, 81, suggests that it is nearly impossible and completely unattested in the NT for an adjective followed immediately by a noun that agrees in gender, number, and case, to be a substantival adjective: “when is an adjective ever used substantivally when it immediately precedes a noun of the same inflection?” This, however, is an overstatement. First, as Ehrman admits, μονογενής in John 1:14 is substantival. And since it is an established usage for the adjective in this context, one might well expect that the author would continue to use the adjective substantivally four verses later. Indeed, μονογενής is already moving toward a crystallized substantival adjective in the NT [cf. Luke 9:38; Heb 11:17]; in patristic Greek, the process continued [cf. PGL 881 s.v. 7]. Second, there are several instances in the NT in which a substantival adjective is followed by a noun with which it has complete concord: cf., e.g., Rom 1:30; Gal 3:9; 1 Tim 1:9; 2 Pet 2:5.) The modern translations which best express this are the NEB (margin) and TEV. Several things should be noted: μονογενής alone, without υἱός, can mean “only son,” “unique son,” “unique one,” etc. (see 1:14). Furthermore, θεός is anarthrous. As such it carries qualitative force much like it does in 1:1c, where θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος (theos ēn ho logos) means “the Word was fully God” or “the Word was fully of the essence of deity.” Finally, ὁ ὤν occurs in Rev 1:4, 8; 4:8; 11:17; and 16:5, but even more significantly in the LXX of Exod 3:14. Putting all of this together leads to the translation given in the text.tn Or “The unique one.” For the meaning of μονογενής (monogenēs) see the note on “one and only” in 1:14.

    b. John 1:18 tn Grk “in the bosom of” (an idiom for closeness or nearness; cf. L&N 34.18; BDAG 556 s.v. κόλπος 1).

    c. John 1:18 tn Grk “him”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

    d. John 1:18 sn Has made God known. In this final verse of the prologue, the climactic and ultimate statement of the earthly career of the Logos, Jesus of Nazareth, is reached. The unique One (John 1:14), the One who has taken on human form and nature by becoming incarnate (became flesh, 1:14), who is himself fully God (the Word was God, 1:1c) and is to be identified with the ever-living One of the Old Testament revelation (Exod 3:14), who is in intimate relationship with the Father, this One and no other has fully revealed what God is like. As Jesus said to Philip in John 14:9, “The one who has seen me has seen the Father.”

Messianic Bible translations

  • Critical Text

    No one has ever seen God; but the one and only God, in the Father’s embrace, has made Him known. — John 1:18 TLV (Tree of Life Version, Formal Equivalent)

    No one has ever seen God; but the only and unique Son, who is identical with God and is at the Father’s side — he has made him known. — John 1:18 CJB (Complete Jewish Bible, Dynamic Equivalent)

    No one has ever seen Hashem [Ex 33:20]. It is Elohim the Ben Yachid [who shares the nature of Hashem, the Chochman Ben Elohim at his side, see very importantly Mishle 8:30; 30:4)], it is he, the one being in the kheyk (bosom) of HaAv, this one is Hashem’s definitive midrash (exegesis). — John 1:18 OJB (Orthodox Jewish Bible)

Highly Idiomatic Translation / Paraphrase

  • Critical Text

    We all live off his generous abundance, gift after gift after gift. We got the basics from Moses, and then this exuberant giving and receiving, This endless knowing and understanding— all this came through Jesus, the Messiah. No one has ever seen God, not so much as a glimpse. This one-of-a-kind God-Expression, who exists at the very heart of the Father, has made him plain as day. — John 1:18 MSG (The Message)

Conclusion

In this particular verse, only some Critical Text derived translations explicitly state Jesus uniqueness and deity. The Textus Receptus and Majority Text only reveal his uniqueness.