What’s that 'for'?

The most memorised Bible verse in the world was John 3:16 from the KJB: 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. (See this verse and other translations here.)

So here’s my first question: What does the conjunction 'For' mean in that sentence? You see, I don’t start sentences with 'For' in my New Zealand English dialect (except perhaps in the short sentence 'For what?' where it’s a preposition). Perhaps it means 'Because' in John 3:16, but if we substitute that in, then the sentence sounds wrong out of context because it seems to need to connect to something (which it actually should—it should be connected to the previous verses). However, ‘Because' does seem to be the correct modern replacement for 'For'.

So now my second question: In your dialect of English, how often do you start sentences with 'For'? I've been listening carefully for over a year now and have never heard or read it in that time. (Please contact me with the sentence and the context if you hear someone say it.) Yet 'For' is still there even in many modern English Bible translations, e.g., this fairly modern one. (Search the page for the capitalised conjunction 'For' and for the conjunction 'for' after a comma. I counted seven in John 3 in NET.)

So here’s the rub: If so-called 'modern' English Bible translations frequently use the conjunction 'For’, but if it’s never/rarely used in our speech, then the conclusion surely must be that those Bibles are not translated into MY language! (I discovered this when talking to people on the street about the Bible and finding out how strange it sounded to them.)

The Open English Translation of the Bible aims to translate the Hebrew and Greek scriptures into the language that we actually speak.

The Readers’ Version (still in 'draft' status) starts the verse with 'Because’, because v16 is connected back to v14-15.

Because in that same way, God loves the people of the world enough to cause his only son to be born and to give him to the world, so that everyone who believes this will not die, but will live forever. (John 3:16 OET-RV)

The Literal Version aims to show all the words that are there in the original language:

For/Because thus the god loved the world, so_that he_gave the the only_begotten son, in_order_that everyone which believing in him may_ not _perish, but may_be_having eternal life. (John 3:16 OET-LV)

Robert Hunt, December 2023.
Street and door-to-door evangelist, public school chaplain, prison Bible-study leader, Bible teacher/preacher, and professional Bible translator.

See also the booklet essay For God so loved…, which discusses “so” and the connection with John 3:14–15.