Verse a Day #2 · October 13, 2026

John 3:16

Alignment: Some drift John 3:16 in Greek, Latin and English

Four witnesses

Greek · SBLGNT

Οὕτως γὰρ ἠγάπησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν κόσμον ὥστε τὸν υἱὸν τὸν μονογενῆ ἔδωκεν, ἵνα πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων εἰς αὐτὸν μὴ ἀπόληται ἀλλὰ ἔχῃ ζωὴν αἰώνιον.

Houtōs gar ēgapēsen ho theos ton kosmon hōste ton huion ton monogenē edōken, hina pas ho pisteuōn eis auton mē apolētai alla echē zōēn aiōnion.

Latin · Vulgate

Sic enim Deus dilexit mundum, ut Filium suum unigenitum daret: ut omnis qui credit in eum, non pereat, sed habeat vitam aeternam.

KJV

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

ESV

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Key words

μονογενῆ (monogenē) → unigenitum → only begotten / only. Literally "one of a kind" or "unique." Jerome's unigenitum ("only-begotten") shaped the KJV. The ESV drops "begotten" and says "only Son," following the sense of uniqueness rather than a birth metaphor.
οὕτως … ὥστε (houtōs … hōste) → sic … ut → so … that. Houtōs can mean "in this way" (manner) as well as "so much" (degree). The ESV footnote offers "For this is how God loved the world." Latin sic and English "so" lean toward the degree reading most people hear.
ἠγάπησεν (ēgapēsen) → dilexit → loved. Aorist of agapaō: a decisive act of love, not a mood. Latin dilexit is Jerome's usual verb for that love. English "loved" carries it cleanly.

Alignment

Some drift. The big picture matches. Two places wobble: (1) critical Greek (SBLGNT) has "the only Son" without autou ("his"), while the Byzantine/Textus Receptus, Vulgate (suum), and KJV all keep "his"; (2) monogenēs becomes "only begotten" in Latin/KJV and plain "only" in the ESV.

The story

Martin Luther called John 3:16 "the gospel in miniature." Centuries later, when Tim Tebow wrote "John 3:16" in eye black for the 2009 BCS championship, it became the most-searched Bible verse on Google overnight — about 90 million people looked it up.

Sources

SBLGNT via Bible Hub (biblehub.com/texts/john/3-16.htm). Clementine Vulgate (biblehub.com/vul/john/3.htm). KJV (public domain). ESV (biblegateway.com).

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