Joh 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God. John 1:2 The same (οὗτος) Literally, this one; the one first named; the Word. Was in the beginning with God In Joh_1:1 the elements of this statement have been given separately: the Word, the eternal being of the Word, and his active communion with God. Here they are combined, and with new force. This same Word not only was coeternal with God in respect of being (ἦν, was), but was eternally in active communion with Him (in the beginning with God: προ,ς τὸν Θεὸν): “not simply the Word with God, but God with God” (Moulton). Notice that here Θεὸν has the article, as in the second proposition, where God is spoken of absolutely. In the third proposition, the Word was God, the article was omitted because Θεὸς described the nature of the Word and did not identify his person. Here, as in the second proposition, the Word is placed in personal relation to God. This verse forms the transition point from the discussion of the personal being of the Word to His manifestation in creation. If it was this same Word, and no other, who was Himself God, and who, from all eternity, was in active communion with God, then the statement follows naturally that all things were created through Him, thus bringing the essential nature of the Word and His manifestation in creation into connection. As the idea of the Word involves knowledge and will, wisdom and force, the creative function is properly His. Hence His close relation to created things, especially to man, prepares the way for His incarnation and redeeming work. The connection between creation and redemption is closer than is commonly apprehended. It is intimated in the words of Isaiah (Isa_46:4), “I have made, and I will bear.” Redemption, in a certain sense, grows out of creation. Because God created man in His own image, He would restore him to that image. Because God made man, He loves him, educates him, bears with him carries on the race on the line of His infinite patience, is burdened with its perverseness and blindness, and expresses and effectuates all this in the incarnation and redemptive work of Jesus Christ. God is under the stress of the parental instinct (humanly speaking) to redeem man. Joh 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. John 1:3 All things (πάντα) Regarded severally. The reference is to the infinite detail of creation, rather than to creation as a whole, which is expressed by τὰ πάντα, the all (Col_1:16). For this reason John avoids the word κόσμος, the world, which denotes the world as a great system. Hence Bengel, quoted by Meyer, is wrong in referring to κόσμῳ (the world) of Joh_1:10 as a parallel. Were made (ἐγένετο) Literally, came into being, or became. Expressing the passage from nothingness into being, and the unfolding of a divine order. Compare Joh_1:14, Joh_1:17. Three words are used in the New Testament to express the act of creation: κτίζειν, to create (Rev_4:11; Rev_10:6; Col_1:16); ποιεῖν, to make (Rev_14:7; Mar_10:6), both of which refer to the Creator; and γίγνεσθαι, to become, which refers to that which is created. In Mar_10:6, both words occur. “From the beginning of the creation (κτίσεως) God made” (ἐποίησεν). So in Eph_2:10 : “We are His workmanship (ποίημα), created (κτισθέντες) in Christ Jesus.” Here the distinction is between the absolute being expressed by ἦν (see on Joh_1:1), and the coming into being of creation (ἐγένετο). The same contrast occurs in Joh_1:6, Joh_1:9. “A man sent from God came into being” (ἐγένετο); “the true Light was” (ἦν). “The main conception of creation which is present in the writings of St. John is expressed by the first notice which he makes of it: All things came into being through the Word. This statement sets aside the notions of eternal matter and of inherent evil in matter. There was when the world was not (Joh_17:5, Joh_17:24); and, by implication, all things as made were good. The agency of the Word, who was God, again excludes both the idea of a Creator essentially inferior to God, and the idea of an abstract Monotheism in which there is no living relation between the creature and the Creator; for as all things come into being through the Word, so they are supported in Him (Joh_1:3; compare Col_1:16 sq.; Heb_1:3). And yet more, the use of the term ἐγένετο, came into being, as distinguished from ἐκτίσθη, were created, suggests the thought that creation is to be regarded (according to our apprehension) as a manifestation of a divine law of love. Thus creation (all things came into being through Him) answers to the Incarnation (the Word became flesh). All the unfolding and infolding of finite being to the last issue lies in the fulfillment of His will who is love” (Westcott, on 1Jo_2:17). By Him (δἰ αὐτοῦ) Literally, through him. The preposition διά is generally used to denote the working of God through some secondary agency, as διὰ τοῦ προφήτου, through the prophet (Mat_1:22, on which see note). It is the preposition by which the relation of Christ to creation is usually expressed (see 1Co_8:6; Col_1:16; Heb_1:2), though it is occasionally used of the Father (Heb_2:10; Rom_11:36, and Gal_1:1, where it is used of both). Hence, as Godet remarks, it “does not lower the Word to the rank of a simple instrument,” but merely implies a different relation to creation on the part of the Father and the Son. Without (χωρὶς) Literally, apart from. Compare Joh_15:5. Was not anything made that was made (ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν ὁ γέγονεν). Many authorities place the period after ἕν, and join ὁ γένονεν with what follows, rendering, “without Him was not anything made. That which hath been made was life in Him.” Made (ἐγένετο) As before, came into being. Not anything (οὐδὲ ἓν) Literally, not even one thing. Compare on πάντα (all things) at the beginning of this verse. That was made (ὁ γέγονεν) Rev., more correctly, that hath been made, observing the force of the perfect tense as distinguished from the aorist (ἐγένετο) The latter tense points back to the work of creation considered as a definite act or series of acts in the beginning of time. The perfect tense indicates the continuance of things created; so that the full idea is, that which hath been made and exists. The combination of a positive and negative clause (compare Joh_1:20) is characteristic of Johns style, as also of James. See note on “wanting nothing,” Jam_1:4. Joh 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. John 1:4 In Him was life (ἐν αὐτῷ ζωὴ ἦν) He was the fountain of life - physical, moral, and eternal - its principle and source. Two words for life are employed in the New Testament: βίος and ζωὴ. The primary distinction is that ζωὴ means existence as contrasted with death, and βίος, the period, means, or manner of existence. Hence βίος is originally the higher word, being used of men, while ζωὴ is used of animals (ζῶα). We speak therefore of the discussion of the life and habits of animals as zoology; and of accounts of mens lives as biography. Animals have the vital principle in common with men, but men lead lives controlled by intellect and will, and directed to moral and intellectual ends. In the New Testament, βίος means either living, i.e., means of subsistence (Mar_12:44; Luk_8:43), or course of life, life regarded as an economy (Luk_8:14; 1Ti_2:2; 2Ti_2:4). Ζωὴ occurs in the lower sense of life, considered principally or wholly as existence (1Pe_3:10; Act_8:33; Act_17:25; Heb_7:3). There seems to be a significance in the use of the word in Luk_16:25 : “Thou in thy lifetime (ἐν τῇ ζωῇ σου) receivedst thy good things;” the intimation being that the rich mans life had been little better than mere existence, and not life at all in the true sense. But throughout the New Testament ζωὴ is the nobler word, seeming to have changed places with βίος. It expresses the sum of mortal and eternal blessedness (Mat_25:46; Luk_18:30; Joh_11:25; Act_2:28; Rom_5:17; Rom_6:4), and that not only in respect of men, but also of God and Christ. So here. Compare Joh_5:26; Joh_14:6; 1Jo_1:2. This change is due to the gospel revelation of the essential connection of sin with death, and consequently, of life with holiness. “Whatever truly lives, does so because sin has never found place in it, or, having found place for a time, has since been overcome and expelled” (Trench). Ζωὴ is a favorite word with John. See Joh_11:25; Joh_14:6; Joh_8:12; 1Jo_1:2; 1Jo_5:20; Joh_6:35, Joh_6:48; Joh_6:63; Rev_21:6; Rev_22:1, Rev_22:17; Rev_7:17; Joh_4:14; Rev_2:7; Rev_22:2, Rev_22:14, Rev_22:19; Joh_12:50; Joh_17:3; Joh_20:31; Joh_5:26; Joh_6:53, Joh_6:54; Joh_5:40; Joh_3:15, Joh_3:16, Joh_3:36; Joh_10:10; Joh_5:24; Joh_12:25; Joh_6:27; Joh_4:36; 1Jo_5:12, 1Jo_5:16; Joh_6:51. Was the Light of men (ἦν τὸ φῶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων) Passing from the thought of creation in general to that of mankind, who, in the whole range of created things, had a special capacity for receiving the divine. The Light - the peculiar mode of the divine operation upon men, conformably to their rational and moral nature which alone was fitted to receive the light of divine truth. It is not said that the Word was light, but that the life was the light. The Word becomes light through the medium of life, of spiritual life, just as sight is a function of physical life. Compare Joh_14:6, where Christ becomes the life through being the truth; and Mat_5:8, where the pure heart is the medium through which God is beheld. In whatever mode of manifestation the Word is in the world, He is the light of the world; in His works, in the dawn of creation; in the happy conditions of Eden; in the Patriarchs, in the Law and the Prophets, in His incarnation, and in the subsequent history of the Church. Compare Joh_9:5. Of men, as a class, and not of individuals only.
Posted on: Mon, 06 Oct 2014 09:23:58 +0000
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