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1 John 2:17 – NASB vs HCSB vs ESV
NASB (17) The world is passing away, and [also] its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.
HCSB (17) And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does God’s will remains forever.
ESV (17) And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
Sometimes the difference between the singular and plural is very important (Gal.3:16). While not the same in theological weight, I think there is an important lesson here. Both the NASB and ESV translate epithymia as a plural: lusts or desires. The HCSB is the most literal of the three because epithymia is singular. What significance could this have? We consider the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life as three separate categories. Often we categorize sins as falling into one of those headings. What if every sin contains all three? The original sin did (Gen.3). The point is that every lust (singular) of the world contains the flesh, eyes, and pride of life. It makes temptation more involved than we normally think, and therefore more dangerous. By being literal to the point of making lust singular, the HCSB not only is the most literal but brings out an aspect of the text missed by pluralizing lusts.
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