Prologue
1:1 What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked at intently and our hands touched, concerning the Word, the source of life –
1:2 This Life was revealed. We have seen it. And so, we testify to it and proclaim to you this Life, the Eternal Life, which was in the presence of the Father and was revealed to us.
1:3 – what we have seen and what we have heard we proclaim also to you so that you too may have fellowship with us. And indeed, this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. 1:4 We are writing these things so that our joy may be full.
Translation by the author from the SBL Greek New Testament.
Review
If you have not done so, read the previous post which explains in more detail the structure and purposes of the Prologue which are summarized below.
Structure of the Prologue
1. The Prologue is built on a chiasmus based on the verbs.
2. Verses 1:1 to 1:3 are one long, complex sentence in the original Greek.
3. Verse 1:2 is parenthetical information that states the focus of the chiasmus: “the Eternal Life“.
4. Verse 1:4 states the author’s purpose in writing.
Click here to open a PDF document that explains and visually illustrates the structure of the Prologue.
Click here for a full outline of First John.
Purposes of the Prologue
1. Establishes John’s authority.
2. Introduces the role of Jesus Christ.
3. States the purpose of John’s letter.
Verse 1:1
General Comments
Verses 1:1 to 1:3 are one long, complex sentence in the original Greek. The main verb is in verse 1:3 – “we proclaim” (ἀπαγγέλλομεν / apangellomen). The four relative clauses in verse 1:1 that begin with “what“:
1. Have been placed at the front by John for emphasis.
2. Function as direct objects of the main verb “we proclaim” in verse 3.
3. The first “what” clause is the main direct object.
4. The three “what” clauses that follow are in apposition providing additional information.
The Greek could be rearranged into English in a more typical order of subject/verb/indirect object/direct objects to read:
We proclaim to you what was from the beginning – what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked at intently and our hands touched…
What was from the beginning,
Verse 1:1 introduces the person of Jesus Christ without naming Him until the end of verse 1:3. John does this to create suspense and draw the listener into the message. The opening clause is an echo of the opening clause of the Gospel of John, where he also refers to Jesus Christ without naming Him:
In the beginning was the Word… (John 1:1)
In verse 1:1, the four occurrences of “what” clearly refer to Jesus Christ based on the context. However, the word is neuter rather than masculine. Why does John write “what” instead of “who was from the beginning“?
John probably uses “what” to express an all-encompassing view of Jesus Christ [BROWN p. 154] that includes His words (“what we have heard“), His works (“what we have seen“), and His person (“what we looked at intently and our hands touched“). He may also have in mind the gospel message that was incarnated and centered in Jesus. [MARSHALL p. 101, footnote 6; JOBES p. 44]
The verbs are all sensory verbs. God’s message was revealed to mankind in such a way that it could be audibly heard, visually seen, and yes, even physically touched. It took on a personal form in Jesus Christ.
“beginning” could refer to the time before the creation of the world or to the time of the incarnation of Jesus Christ. It is probably better to to take it as expressing the former, the same idea as in John 1:1 and implying the eternal nature of the Son of God who is mentioned in verse 3.
So, the “what” in this verse is the eternal Son of God who was there at the beginning of Creation, and became incarnate – took on humanity or become flesh. He was the embodiment of the gospel message.
what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes,
These clauses explain more about “what was from the beginning“.
By using “we” and “our” John claims at be an actual first-hand witness of the revelation of Jesus Christ as the source of life. This gives him authority to speak about what is required to have fellowship with God (verse 1:3), unlike the disruptors who were not eye-witnesses.
“we” and “our” includes a wider circle of those who were eyewitnesses of Jesus’ life and teaching, including other disciples and followers of Jesus. It does not include the recipients of this letter because they were not eyewitnesses.
Greek Note: we have heard / we have seen
The verbs “we have heard” (ἀκηκόαμεν / akēkoamen) and “we have seen” (ἑωράκαμεν / heōrakamen) are Perfect tense forms. There are at least three reasons why John uses the Perfect tense to begin his narrative. (1) The Perfect tense is sometimes used by an author to emphasize that a past action has ongoing relevance to what he is writing. [MERKLE p. 156] The fact that John heard and saw the revelation first-hand is relevant to his authority. The Perfect tense emphasizes John’s status as an eye-witness. [CULY p. 3] (2) The Perfect tense expresses an action in the past that has continuing results. Thus, the consequences of what was revealed still exist and have implications for the readers. (3) The Perfect tense adds a more dramatic tone to those two phrases. [See Dramatic Perfect in WALLACE p. 578; YOUNG p. 128; KÖSTENBERGER p. 300.] The original readers would appreciate this dramatic tone, but it can’t really be brought out in an English translation.
what we looked at intently and our hands touched,
This clause also has echoes of the Gospel of John, where John writes:
And the Word became flesh and lived among us and we looked intently at His glory… (John 1:14)
The same exact verb form is used in both First John and the Gospel of John – “we looked intently” (ἐθεασάμεθα / etheasametha). It means “to look upon with special interest”. [DANKER p.167] It is looking that goes beyond merely looking to include contemplation, perception, and forming a conclusion. It implies that John thought about what he heard and saw.
John also mentions that Jesus was someone his “hands touched” (ἐψηλάφησαν / epsēlaphēsan). This implies that Jesus was a real physical person, and not just a spiritual phenomena. (See Luke 24:39 where Jesus invites the disciples to touch Him after His resurrection to prove that He was not a spirit but “flesh and bones”.)
Greek Note: we looked at intently / touched
The verbs “we looked at intently” (ἐθεασάμεθα / etheasametha) and “touched” (ἐψηλάφησαν / epsēlaphēsan) are Aorist tense forms. John switches from Perfect tense verbs to Aorist tense verbs to simply present supporting information.
concerning the Word, the source of life
Everything John heard, saw, contemplated, and touched was in relation to “the Word, the source of life“. He will interrupt his long sentence to explain more about this in verse 1:2.
Most English bibles translate this clause literally as “concerning the Word of life“. In the Greek, “life” is in the Genitive case. The Genitive case describes or defines, which is often expressed simply in translation by the English word “of”. Thus, “the Word of life“.
However, “of” can express many concepts in English, such as:
possession – cup of John → John’s cup
content – cup of water → a cup containing water
material – cup of plastic → a cup made of plastic
source/product – cup of bitterness → something that produces a bitter result
I have tried to translate the clause more fully to give some sense of how “life” describes “the Word“. I chose what is called a Genitive of Product [see WALLACE p. 106]. It is the “Word that produces life“, or “the Word that supplies life“, or “the Word that is the source of life“. Jesus Christ is the source of life, and not just any kind of life, but Eternal Life as revealed in verse 1:2.
Verse 1:2
General Comments
Verse 1:2 is parenthetical information that interrupts the flow of the complex sentence but explains more about the “Word, the source of life” that was introduced at the end of verse 1:1. The fact that it interrupts the flow brings attention to its importance. [MARSHALL p. 103] The verse also contains the focus of the chiasmus that runs through verses 1:1 to 1:3.
This Life was revealed. We have seen it.
This clause plainly states what was implied in verse 1:1. It is important to John that the reader understands that “the Word, the source of life” took physical form and could be seen. Based on what John tells us in the Gospel of John, the life was revealed in the historical person of Jesus Christ. The original readers would know this because they would have been taught it after becoming believers.
This life “was revealed” in the sense that it was made visible for the eyewitnesses to see. This verb is one of the words John uses for lexical cohesion throughout First John. [See Post 02 regarding Lexical Cohesion.] It is used in verses 1:2 (2x), 2:19, 2:28, 3:2 (2x), 3:5, 3:8, and 4:9. “Revealed” is from the Greek verb φανερόω / phaneroō (G5319).
Greek Note: this Life was revealed
The Greek text behind “this Life was revealed” is ἡ ζωὴ ἐφανερώθη, which is literally “the life was revealed“. The Greek article ἡ (“the“) is used here in a manner that grammarians call anaphoric or previous reference – it points back to something that was previously mentioned. In this case, it points back to the “life” that was mentioned at the end of verse 1:1, indicating John is still writing about this same life in his parenthetical statement in verse 1:2. “This” is considered an acceptable way to translate the article in this kind of construction. [See WALLACE p. 217ff / MATHEWSON p. 79]
And so, we testify to it and proclaim to you…
“testify” – Based on the fact the John and others were eyewitnesses, he vouches for the truthfulness of what he is writing.
“proclaim” – John is passing on these truths to the church members who have doubts in order to encourage and reassure them that they are following the truth, in spite of what the disruptors are telling them. The disruptors did not see, hear, and touch Jesus – they had no first-hand knowledge.
this Life, the Eternal Life…
The nature of this “Life” is that that it is eternal. This Eternal Life is what was incarnated and is now available to those who believe in Jesus Christ.
Greek Note: this Life, the Eternal Life
The placement of the adjective “eternal” (αἰώνιον / aiōnion) in the Greek text adds a degree of emphasis to the noun “life” (ζωήν / zōēn). In the Greek, “eternal” is in what is called the second attributive position in relation to the noun “life” which adds emphasis (τὴν ζωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον). [See WALLACE p. 306; YOUNG p. 81.] The emphasis is brought out in my translation by rendering it, “this Life, the Eternal Life“, rather than simply “this Eternal Life“.
which was in the presence of the Father and was revealed to us.
“In the presence of the Father” could be translated simply as “with the Father” which most English translations do. The phrase has echoes of the Gospel of John 1:1 where the same prepositional construction is used to state that “the Word was with God.” My translation tries to explain what “with” means. John is making an important theological statement about the Son of God – He existed before He was born as Jesus (He was preexistent). The Son of God existed before Creation and before time in the presence of the Father.
Go back to the Prologue Overview
Go forward to Verses 1:3-4
Your Personal Study
Read First John 1:1-4 above and answer the questions below related to verses 1:3 and 1:4.
1. How do you define fellowship?
2. Who is involved in the fellowship that John is writing about?
3. Based on what John has written in these four verses, what is the way to fellowship with God?
4. How does joy come about because of what John is writing?
First John Translation.
First John Translation with Outline and Notes.
Bibliography of source information used for this series of posts.
Title Slide Image Credit: First John in Codex Alexandrinus, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Unless otherwise noted, English translations of Bible verses are by the author from the Greek text and are not quotations from any copyrighted Bible version or translation.
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