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As I was reading 1 John 3:5-10 & 1 John 5:18 in different bible translations belonging to either the Byzantine family or the Alexandrian family of manuscripts.

I noticed that the Alexandrian family of manuscripts( associated with NASB, ESV, et al.) generally takes the more practical, level-headed, down-to-earth translation approach by stating those who "practice righteousness" are born of God and those who "practice sin" are of the Devil.

I noticed that the Byzantine family of manuscripts( associated with KJV, NKJV, et al.) generally takes the more rhetorical hyperbole-like (figure of speech) translation approach by stating that those :Whoever has been born of God does Not sin" and those "who sin" are of the Devil. ( It's like saying "Good boys do Not cry" to little boys who come home crying to their parents about losing a sports game, but in reality that's Not completely true. It's meant more for affect than anything else.)

Would the aforementioned assessment/evaluation be accurate?

1 John 3:5-10 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
5 You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in Him sins; No one who sins has seen Him or [a]knows Him. 7 Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; 8 the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil [b]has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one who is [c]born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is [d]born of God. 10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: [e]anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.

1 John 3:5-10 King James Version (KJV)
5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is No sin. 6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth Not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. 7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. 8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Whosoever is born of God doth Not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth Not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

1 John 3:5-10 New King James Version (NKJV)
5 And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is No sin. 6 Whoever abides in Him does Not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. 8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Whoever has been born of God does Not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he canNot sin, because he has been born of God. 10 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does Not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.

1 John 5:18 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
18 We know that No one who is [a]born of God sins; but He who was [b]born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.

1 John 5:18 King James Version (KJV)
18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth Not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.

1 John 5:18 New King James Version (NKJV)
18 We know that whoever is born of God does Not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps[a] [b]himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.

If aforementioned assessment/evaluation is accurate then is there more evidence of this in different parts of the bible? If yes, where else?

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    You posting brings about an Interesting perspective. I need to read about the grammatical tenses, and "present active indicative" in order to get a better understanding as well. You should as well!!! :)
    – user1338998
    Commented May 2, 2020 at 11:31
  • Again, for the umpteenth time, if someone down votes then please give a sound reason in the comments section
    – user1338998
    Commented Feb 15, 2022 at 14:10
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    The translation diff in unrelated to Textual family type. It is interpretative change in modern versions that now change "commit/does" to "practice", I have explained elsewhere on the same issue that this new change of translation is deceptive and an epic fail, unfounded on basis of greek.
    – Michael16
    Commented Jul 24, 2022 at 14:00

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After checking all these texts in the original Greek text: Alexandrian (eg, W&H, NA28, UBS5, etc), vs Byzantine texts (eg, RP2005, GOC1904, etc) I find that in all the verses quoted by the OP, the Greek texts are almost identical (the one difference is very minor).

Therefore, the differences in these versions are nothing to do with the underlying Greeks texts whether Alexandrian or otherwise. It is simply a matter of the English style of the versions quoted by the OP. The KJV uses quite old English (early modern to be precise) and the NKJV preserves some of this flavour.

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    The Majority Text and TR are similar but different from the mGNT.
    – Revelation Lad
    Commented May 1, 2020 at 7:00

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