What is the Johannine Comma?

By CopticBot.ai (Coptic Space Inc.) · Last reviewed 2026-10-10

The Johannine Comma (Comma Johanneum) refers to a short, disputed passage found in 1 John 5:7–8 in certain later manuscripts and translations. The passage contains an explicit statement of Trinitarian theology:

"For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one."

In the earliest biblical manuscripts, the passage reads simply:

"For there are three that bear witness: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one."

1. Manuscript Evidence

Greek Manuscripts

The Comma is entirely absent from all ancient Greek biblical codices, including:

• Codex Vaticanus (4th century)
• Codex Sinaiticus (4th century)
• Codex Alexandrinus (5th century)

Out of thousands of known Greek New Testament manuscripts, the Comma appears only in a tiny handful of very late manuscripts (dating from the 10th to the 16th century), often written in the margin or clearly translated back into Greek from Latin. The earliest Greek manuscript containing the Comma in the text itself is Codex 629 (14th century), which contains a parallel Latin and Greek text.

Ancient Coptic Versions

In the ancient Coptic versions—both Sahidic and Bohairic—the Johannine Comma does not exist in any ancient manuscript.

The original Coptic text bears witness only to the three earthly witnesses:

• The Spirit: (pi-pnevma, where is a Greek loanword)
• The water: pi-mōou*, native Coptic
• The blood: pi-snof*, native Coptic

The Comma is likewise absent from the ancient Syriac (Peshitta), Ethiopic (Ge'ez), Armenian, and Georgian versions.

Latin Tradition

The Comma first arose within the Latin West. It is believed to have originated as an allegorical marginal gloss interpreting the "Spirit, water, and blood" as symbols of the Holy Trinity. Over time, Latin scribes incorporated this marginal explanation directly into the biblical text. The earliest quotation resembling the Comma appears in the 4th-century Latin writings of the Spanish bishop Priscillian (d. 385 AD). It gradually became widespread in later manuscripts of the Latin Vulgate.

2. Patristic Witness

The most decisive evidence against the original authenticity of the Comma is its complete absence in the writings of the Greek Church Fathers during the fierce Trinitarian controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries:

• St. Athanasius the Apostolic (20th Pope of Alexandria): During his lifelong defense against the Arian heresy, St. Athanasius scoured the canonical Scriptures for every passage demonstrating the consubstantiality of the Father and the Son. He never once cited 1 John 5:7. Had this verse existed in the Alexandrian Greek text, it would have been a primary theological weapon against Arius.
• St. Didymus the Blind: As dean of the Catechetical School of Alexandria, he wrote a comprehensive treatise, On the Holy Trinity, yet he commented on 1 John 5 without mentioning the heavenly witnesses.
• St. Cyril of Alexandria: He defended Trinitarian and Christological dogma extensively and quoted 1 John frequently, but never with the Comma.
• The Cappadocian Fathers: St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian, and St. Gregory of Nyssa never cited the verse in their defense of the divinity of the Holy Spirit.

3. Entry into Printed Bibles and Arabic Translations

When Desiderius Erasmus compiled the first printed Greek New Testament in 1516 (Novum Instrumentum omne), he rightly omitted the Comma because it was absent from every Greek manuscript available to him. Under pressure from Western scholars, Erasmus reluctantly promised to include it if a single Greek manuscript containing it could be produced.

A 16th-century manuscript containing the Comma (Codex Montfortianus / Minuscule 61), likely translated deliberately from the Latin Vulgate to satisfy the challenge, was presented to him. Erasmus inserted it into his third edition (1522). This edition served as the primary basis for the Textus Receptus, which was later translated into:

• The English King James Version (KJV) (1611)
• The 19th-century Protestant Smith-Van Dyck Arabic translation (1865), which remains widespread in Egypt and the Middle East today.

4. Theological Standing

The dogma of the Holy Trinity—Father, Son (, native Coptic; or, Greek loanword), and Holy Spirit—does not depend upon a late scribal gloss.

The orthodox doctrine of the consubstantial Trinity is grounded firmly upon authentic Apostolic Scripture and Tradition:

• The Great Commission: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19).
• The baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ at the Jordan River (Theophany).
• The prologue of St. John's Gospel (John 1:1–14).
• The farewell discourses in John 14–16.
• The Apostolic blessing in 2 Corinthians 13:14.

The Johannine Comma is a theological gloss that crept into late Western textual traditions. While its theological assertion is orthodox in its affirmation of the Trinity, it is not part of the original, inspired text of the First Epistle of St. John.