Chuck Larsen

Greek

ουτος       ηλθεν εις μαρτυριαν ινα μαρτυρηση περι του φωτος ινα παντες πιστευσωσιν δι αυτου

This man  came  as a witness    in order to testify concerning the light so all men through him would believe

Latin

hic venit in testimonium ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine ut omnes crederent per illum

DRB: This man came for a witness, to give testimony of the light, that all men might believe through him.

English Translations with variant readings:

NEB:  he came as a witness to testify to the light, that all might become believers through him.

CJB: He came to be a testimony, to bear witness concerning the light; so that through him, everyone might put his trust in God and be faithful to him.

CEV: who came to tell about the light and to lead all people to have faith.

GW: John came to declare the truth about the light so that everyone would become believers through his message.

TM: to point out the way to the Life-Light. He came to show everyone where to look, who to believe in.

NCV: He came to tell people the truth about the Light so that through him all people could hear about the Light and believe.

Comments and Commentaries:

John was the pivot of biblical history, for we read in Luke that “the Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John” (Luke 16:16). This means that John was the last of the Old Testament prophets and, hence, the last of the representatives of the old order. After this Jesus came preaching the Kingdom of God, which was entered from that time forward by faith in his person. John was also the herald of the new dispensation. ^[1]

John was not only of the same status as Moses but also of all the Old Testament prophets also.

The central theme and purpose of John’s whole life, is purpose, was to Make Jesus known as the savior of the world.

Most of the events recording in the other gospels about John the Baptist are omitted in this Gospels account. There is no mention of John’s preaching of repentance. He doesn’t engage in water baptism. When John encounters the religious leaders in the other gospels there is conflict and confrontation. In this Gospel that is not the case. This Gospel does not report that John the Baptist baptized Jesus.

In John’s Gospel the sole purpose of John the Baptist was to “testify” as a witness to the truth of the “light of life.” He does not exhort or preach, he simply testifies. One commentator caught this and wrote, “The final proof of this unique interest on the part of John is that the words for “witness” replace those for “preaching” (Matt. 3:1; Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3) and “exhortation” (Luke 3:18), which the synoptic writers use of the Baptist’s ministry. Thus, in John’s evaluation the Baptist emerges as the first and greatest witness to the person and ministry of the Lord. John indicates his interest in him precisely as a witness to the Lord.^[2]

Don’t overlook the fact that John, the author of the gospel, makes it clear that all his writings are intentionally directed at the fulfillment of his purpose.  In John 20:31 we read, “but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

CLV (Chuck Larsen Version): This man, John, came as a witness to the light in order to testify to the truth of it so that all men would believe in the light through his testimony.

^[1] James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of John: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005), 51.

^[2] James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of John: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005), 53.

Greek

ουκ ην εκεινος    το φως αλλ ινα μαρτυρηση περι του φωτος

not was that one the light but s o to testify     concerning the light

 Latin

non erat ille lux sed ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine

DRB: He was not the light, but was to give testimony of the light.

English Translations with variant readings:

NEB: He was not himself the light; he came to bear witness to the light.

CEV: John wasn’t that light. He came only to tell about the light.

GW: John was not the light, but he came to declare the truth about the light.

LB: John himself was not the Light; he was only a witness to identify it.

TM: John was not himself the Light; he was there to show the way to the Light

NCV: John was not the Light, but he came to tell people the truth about the Light.

NLT: John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light.

 Comments and Commentaries:

John understood clearly the he (the Baptist) was not the “light.” He had a clear mission and it had nothing to do with elevating himself or making much of what he did or didn’t do. It wasn’t about himself. Too often we make ourselves the subject of the bible and act as if it was written and we read it as if it was about us and how we can be happier more content and fulfilled people. The truth is it’s all about Jesus.

John made his testimony all about Jesus. Only Jesus can lead people to eternal life, neither John the Baptist or John the author could do that so both made it their mission to simply tell others about Jesus.

To be a “witness” is to tell the truth, as you know and understand it, to others. The term in this case seems to be suggestive of a court of law and that being called to the witness stand one must tell what they know to be true. What is true about Jesus. John knew it wasn’t about himself, it was about Jesus. What do you know is true about Jesus.

John never lost sight of his purpose in the book and he suggests in this short verse that John the Baptist had similar convictions. It wasn’t about himself, it was all about Jesus and both Johns talked about Jesus with others both in person and in their writings with a goal in mind. They wanted and looked for those who heard their testimony to believe in Jesus Christ as the light that came into to the world to reveal the true character and person of God himself to us all.

At the risk of overtranslation, we might render the verse, ‘He was not the light, but it was necessary that he bear witness to the light.’^{14  [1]}

CLV (Chuck Larsen Version): This man, John, was not himself the light. He came to testify concerning the truth of the Light.

¹⁴ Cf. E. Delebeque, Etudes Classiques 54, 1986, pp. 147–158.

^[1] 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), 121.

Greek

ην το φως το αληθινον ο φωτιζει      παντα ανθρωπον ερχομενον εις τον κοσμον

was the true light         to enlighten    all men             coming         into the world

 Latin

erat lux vera quae inluminat omnem hominem venientem in mundum

DRB: That was the true light, which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world^[1]

English Translations with variant readings:

NEB: The real light which enlightens every man was even then coming into the world. [Or: The light was in being, light absolute, enlightening every man born unto the world.]

Darby: The true light was that which, coming into the world, lightens every man.

AMP: There it was—the true Light [was then] coming into the world [the genuine, perfect, steadfast Light] that illumines every person.

CJB: This was the true light, which gives light to everyone entering the world.

CEV: The true light that shines on everyone was coming into the world.

GW: The real light, which shines on everyone, was coming into the world.

GN: This was the real light—the light that comes into the world and shines on everyone.

HCSB: The true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

ISV: This was the true light that enlightens every person by his coming into the world.

NET: The true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

NLT: The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

Alfred Plummer: There was the true Light, which lighteth every man, by coming into the world

Comments and Commentaries:

The major question we see in this verse is the last phrase: “coming into the world.” Is that phrase referring to the light or the all people that enter the world. Because of the placing of the phrase in the Greek text and the agreement with the vulgate, I’ve chosen to see it as all people who are entering the world.

On the other hand, the context of the light coming to his own and coming into the world leads many translators to see it the opposite way.

But that expression is always plural; the construction here is singular. It is best to take ‘coming into the world’ as a neuter form attached to ‘light’, adopting the translation of niv: The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. The most convincing support for this rendering is the fact that ‘coming into the world’ or being sent into the world is in this Gospel repeatedly predicated of him who is the Word. Moreover the peculiar Greek syntax this translation presupposes is a common feature of John’s style (cf. 1:28; 2:6; 3:23; 10:40; 11:1; 13:23; 18:18, 25).¹⁵ What this means is that in this verse it is the Word, the light, that is coming into the world, in some act distinct from creation. If incarnation is not spelled out as forcefully as in v. 14, it is the same special visitation that is in view. Few could read the Fourth Gospel for the second time without recognizing that the coming of the Word into the world, described in the Prologue, is nothing other than the sending of the Son into the world, described in the rest of the book.^[2]

The focus on the light being the “true” light is important because according to the OT is was common to see the law as the light. David says, “your laws are lamps to my feet and lights to my path.” But John’s focus on Jesus being the “true” light emphasizes a new understanding.

The Greek word for “enlighten” may mean to give knowledge or understanding as when a light bulb goes on above our heads in the cartoons. This might support the idea of translating that the darkness didn’t “understand or comprehend” the light when it came into the world.

The Handbook for translators has a pretty good argument for agreeing with those translations that say it’s the “light” that’s coming into the world not “all men.” It says, “Although both renderings are grammatically possible, at least two reasons favor this interpretation: (1) In the context the focus is on light, and not on mankind. (2) John elsewhere speaks of Jesus as “coming into the world” (6:14; 9:39; 11:27; 16:28), and in 12:46 Jesus says “I have come into the world as light”; but nowhere in John’s Gospel are men spoken of as “coming into the world.”^[3]

CLV (Chuck Larsen Version):The light was the true light that enlightens all people who will be coming into the world.

Or with Alford, “There was the true Light, which enlightens every man, by coming into the world.”

^[1] The Holy Bible, Translated from the Latin Vulgate (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009), Jn 1:9.

niv New International Version.

¹⁵ For another possibility, cf. Borgen, Logos, p. 103.

^[2] 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), 121–122.

^[3] Barclay Moon Newman and Eugene Albert Nida, A Handbook on the Gospel of John, UBS Handbook Series (New York: United Bible Societies, 1993), 16.