1 John 1:3

3. Before ὑμῖν insert καί ([420][421][422][423]).

[420] 4th century. Discovered by Tischendorf in 1859 at the monastery of S. Catherine on Mount Sinai, and now at Petersburg. All three Epistles.
[421] 5th century. Brought by Cyril Lucar, Patriarch of Constantinople, from Alexandria, and afterwards presented by him to Charles I. in 1628. In the British Museum. All three Epistles.
[422] 4th century. Brought to Rome about 1460. It is entered in the earliest catalogue of the Vatican Library, 1475. All three Epistles.
[423] 5th century. A palimpsest: the original writing has been partially rubbed out and the works of Ephraem the Syrian have been written over it. In the National Library at Paris. Part of the First and Third Epistles; 1 John 1:1 to 1 John 4:2; 3 John 1:3-14. Of the whole N.T. the only Books entirely missing are 2 John and 2 Thessalonians.

3. In returning to his main sentence he repeats part of it, but from a different point of view and with a change of thought. In 1 John 1:1 he is leading up to the Incarnation and thinking mainly of what he has to declare, viz. One existing from all eternity and intimately known to himself. In 1 John 1:3 he is starting from the Incarnation and thinking mainly of why he declares this, viz. to promote mutual fellowship.

ἀπαγγ. καὶ ὑμῖν. Declare we to you also. It may seem a trifle, but it is worth while to distinguish between πρὸς ὑμᾶς κ.τ.λ. after verbs of speaking, ‘unto you’ and ὑμῖν ‘to you’; all the more so as the former construction is a characteristic of S. Luke’s writings. The ‘also’ may mean either ‘the declaration is made by us to you as well as by others to us,’ or (more simply) ‘to you as well as to others whom we have already told.’ Comp. “We cannot but speak the things which we saw and heard” (Acts 4:20). Where does S. John declare Him who was from the beginning and was so well known to him and to others? Not in this Epistle, for no such declaration is found in it; but in the Gospel, which consists of such a declaration. Some persons, however, make these opening verses the declaration. We shall miss the purport of the Epistle if we do not bear constantly in mind that it was written as a companion to the Gospel. “See whether his Epistle does not bear witness to his Gospel” (Augustine). Parallels between the two abound: in what follows we have a striking one. ‘That ye also may have fellowship with us’ is the counterpart of ‘that they may be one, even as We are’ (John 17:11). The Apostle’s purpose is identical with his Master’s prayer. See on 1 John 1:4. ‘Ye also, who have not seen, or heard, or handled, may have a blessing at least equal to ours, who have’ (John 20:29). Just as it is possible for every Christian to share the blessedness of Christ’s mother by obedience (Matthew 12:49-50); so it is possible for them to share the blessedness of His Apostles by faith. In N.T. κοινωνία is rare, excepting in this chapter and in S. Paul’s writings. It is almost always used of fellowship with persons (1 Corinthians 1:9; 1 Corinthians 13:13; Galatians 2:9; Philippians 2:1) or with things personified (2 Corinthians 6:14). It “generally denotes the fellowship of persons with persons in one and the same object, always common to all and sometimes whole to each” (T. S. Evans in Speaker’s Comm. on 1 Corinthians 10:16). In 2 Corinthians 9:13 and Romans 15:26 it has the special sense of almsgiving as an expression of fellowship. In S. John’s idea of the Church each member of it possesses the Son, and through Him the Father: and in this common possession each has communion with all other members. Κοινωνίαν ἔχειν (1 John 1:3; 1 John 1:6-7) is stronger than κοινωνεῖν (2 John 1:11), and is still further strengthened by the μετά instead of the simple genitive (Philippians 3:10; Philemon 1:6).

καὶ ἡ κοιν. δὲ ἡ ἡμετέρα. Yea and our fellowship. For καὶ … δὲ … comp. John 6:51; John 8:16-17; John 15:27. Grammarians are not agreed as to which of the two conjunctions connects the clauses and which adds emphasis to the substantive: Winer, 553; Ellicott on 1 Timothy 3:10. Anyhow we have here a double emphasis, first through the double conjunctions and secondly through the double article: see on τὴν ζωὴν τὴν αἰών. (1 John 1:2). ‘Yea and the fellowship which I mean, the fellowship which is ours’ is the full force. S. John in the intense earnestness of his style is very fond of the double article: ἡ ἐντολὴ ἡ παλαιά, τὸ φῶς τὸ�, ὁ υἱὸς ὁ μονογενής (John 2:7-8; John 4:9), τοῖς ἔργοις αὐτοῦ τοῖς πονηροῖς, τῆς� (2 John 1:11; 2 John 1:13): comp. John 4:9; John 5:30; John 6:38; John 6:42; John 6:44; John 6:50-51; John 6:58, &c., &c. This is specially the case with ἐμός in Christ’s discourses; ὁ λογὸς ὁ ἐμός (John 8:31; John 8:43; John 8:51), ἡ χαρἀ ἡ ἐμή (John 15:11; John 17:13): comp. John 5:30; John 6:38; John 7:6; John 7:8; John 14:15; John 14:27, &c. The Vulgate rendering, et societas nostra sit cum Patre, accepted by Beza, is excluded by the δέ which shews that καὶ ἡ κοιν, κ.τ.λ. cannot be dependent upon ἵνα, but is a separate statement. In N.T. the indicative ἐστί is frequently omitted, the subjunctive ᾖ very rarely—even in S. Paul, who at times leaves so much to be understood: 2 Corinthians 8:11; 2 Corinthians 8:13; Romans 4:16.

μετὰ τοῦ π. καὶ μετὰ τ. υἱ. He shews what the fellowship that is ours really means: not merely communion with us, but with the Father and the Son. The title of the Son is given with solemn fulness, as in 1 John 3:23 and 2 John 1:3; perhaps to indicate that the Christian Church is a family in which all in their relation to God share in the Sonship of Christ. S. Paul uses a similar fulness of expression in stating the same fact: πιστὸς ὁ Θεὸς δι ̓ οὗ ἐκλήθητε εἰς κοινωνίαν τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ Ἰ. Χρ. τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν (1 Corinthians 1:9 : comp. 2 Corinthians 1:19). S. Paul also teaches our fellowship with the Father through the Son (Romans 8:17). The repetition of the μετά and of the τοῦ marks emphatically the distinction and equality between the Son and the Father. Thus two fundamental truths, which the philosophical heresies of the age were apt to obscure or deny, are here clearly laid down at the outset; (1) the distinctness of personality and equality of dignity between the Father and the Son; (2) the identity of the eternal Son of God with the historical person Jesus Christ. The verse forms another parallel with the Gospel: comp. John 17:20-23, esp. John 17:21, to the two halves of which the two halves of this verse fit, each to each.

ἵνα πάντες ἒν ὦσιν,

ἵνα καὶ ὑμεῖς κοινωνίαν

καθὼς σὺ, πάτερ, ἐν ἐμοὶ

ἔχητε μεθ ̓ ἡμῶν·

κἀγὼ ἐν σοί,

ἵνα καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐν ἡμῖν

καὶ ἡ κ. δὲ ἡ ἡμετ.

ὦσιν.

μετὰ τ. π. κ. μ. τ. υἱ.