Greek
και το φως εν τη σκοτια φαινει και η σκοτια αυτο ου κατελαβεν
And the light in the darknes shines and the darkness it did not comprehend
Latin
et lux in tenebris lucet et tenebrae eam non conprehenderunt
And the light shined in darkness: and the darkness did not comprehend it.
English Translations with variant readings:
Traditional: And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
NEB: The light shines on in the dark, and the darkness has never mastered it.
AMP: And the Light shines on in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it [put it out or absorbed it or appropriated it, and is unreceptive to it].
CJB: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not suppressed it.
HCSB: That light shines in the darkness, yet the darkness did not overcome it.
LB: His life is the light that shines through the darkness—and the darkness can never extinguish it.
TM: The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn’t put it out.
NCV: The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overpowered it.
NIRV: he light shines in the darkness. But the darkness has not understood it
NLT: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.
YLT: And the light in the darkness did shine, and the darkness did not perceive it.
Comments and Commentaries:
Possible translations of κατελαβεν are: comprehend, catch, overcome, overtake. The Lexham dictionary says that John 1:5 should be defined as “overcome.” The analytical Greek Lexicon says “overpower, seize, grasp with force, gain control over.”
The most popular translation by the English translators seems to have something to do with overpowering or overcoming the light. Only a few translations refer to it as “understanding.”
All these translations are right. The darkness certainly did not understand the light. It did not overcome it. And yet, there is another meaning of the word that I believe comes even closer to John’s true meaning and is more appropriate. It is “to quench,” “to extinguish,” or “to eclipse,” the concepts employed by J. B. Phillips and the New English Bible. Thus, to use the terms of astronomy, which may certainly be involved here, we can say that God’s light is shining in the darkness and that it has never been eclipsed.[1]
In World War II during the blackouts in London, on a clear night a lighted match could be seen for twenty miles from the air. Our Lord is a light shining in the darkness.[2]
In fact, wherever it is true that the light shines in the darkness, it is also true that the darkness has not understood it (taking katelaben as in the niv). Reading v. 5 this way anticipates the rejection theme that becomes explicit in vv. 10–11.[3]
CLV (Chuck Larsen Version): This light of life is shining in the darkness, and the darkness cannot make the light go out.
[1] James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of John: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005), 48.
[2] R. Kent Hughes, John: That You May Believe, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1999), 25.
niv New International Version.
[3] D. A. Carson, The Gospel according to John, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans, 1991), 120.