From now on sin no more. Really?

[tonychanyt]

Jesus commanded the woman caught in adultery in John 8 (ESV):

11b “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

Was Jesus demanding her to live a sinless life from now on?

No.

sin
ἁμάρτανε (hamartane)
Verb - Present Imperative Active - 2nd Person Singular

In Greek, the present tense carries a sense of ongoing, continuous action. There is no separate dedicated progressive continuous tense.

New International Version:

Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges:

go, and sin no more] Or, go and continue no longer in sin.

Elsewhere, Jesus healed an invalid in John 5:

14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.”

Here, we have the same verb form:
Present Imperative Active - 2nd Person Singular

Jesus didn't tell them: From now on, live a sinless life, or something worse may happen to them. Jesus told them: from now on, do not keep on sinning like before.

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

Jesus told them: from now on, do not keep on sinning like before.

Thank you. The thing is that most of us, as a culture, are too lazy to care about such careful distinction in meaning. Only a diligent effort by someone such as yourself doing the work, might make a dent. So lets' stay with this.

What is the difference you see between "sin no more" and "do not keep sinning"?


[καὶ] ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν μηκέτι ἁμάρτανε.]]

from now, sin no more.

méketi: no longer, not anymore
Original Word: μηκέτι
Part of Speech: Adverb, Negative
Transliteration: méketi
Phonetic Spelling: (may-ket'-ee)
Definition: no longer, not anymore
Usage: no longer, no more.

It doesn't seem to me to not be a matter of tense, but a matter of inclusivity.
What is included as '"sin" this specific act or something much larger, a lifestyle?.

I am thinking, yes, a lifestyle as well as a specific sin.

 

[Mark Quayle]

Thank you. The thing is that most of us, as a culture, are too lazy to care about such careful distinction in meaning. Only a diligent effort by someone such as yourself doing the work, might make a dent. So lets' stay with this.

What is the difference you see between "sin no more" and "do not keep sinning"?


[καὶ] ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν μηκέτι ἁμάρτανε.]]

from now, sin no more.

méketi: no longer, not anymore
Original Word: μηκέτι
Part of Speech: Adverb, Negative
Transliteration: méketi
Phonetic Spelling: (may-ket'-ee)
Definition: no longer, not anymore
Usage: no longer, no more.

It doesn't seem to me to not be a matter of tense, but a matter of inclusivity.
What is included as '"sin" this specific act or something much larger, a lifestyle?.

I am thinking, yes, a lifestyle as well as a specific sin.

ἁμάρτανε is present (continuous) imperative active

With its adverb, νῦν, "...no more be sinning."