1 John 2:16

Proof of the preceding statement by shewing the fundamental opposition in detail.

πᾶν τὸ ἐν τῷ κ. Neuter singular: in 1 John 2:15 we had the neuter plural. The material contents of the universe cannot be meant. To say that these did not originate from God would be to contradict the Apostle himself (John 1:3; John 1:10) and to affirm those Gnostic doctrines against which he is contending. The Gnostics, believing everything material to be radically evil, maintained that the universe was created, not by God, but by the evil one, or at least by an inferior deity. By ‘all that is in the world’ is meant the spirit which animates it, its tendencies and tone. These, which are utterly opposed to God, did not originate in Him, but in the free and rebellious wills of His creatures, seduced by ‘the ruler of this world.’

The Latin writers, almost without exception, translate (with some differences of wording); “All that is in the world is the lust of the flesh.’ The est appears in Cyprian four times, in Ambrose, in Augustine frequently, in Jerome twice, in Ambrosiaster, Zeno of Verona, Gelasius, &c. See Appendix G.

ἡ ἐπιθυμία τῆς σαρκός. Not ‘the lust for the flesh,’ any more than ἡ ἐπ. τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν means ‘the lust for the eyes.’ In both instances the genitive is subjective, as is generally the case with genitives after ἐπιθυμία in N.T. Comp. ἐν ταῖς ἐπ. τῶν καρδιῶν (Romans 1:24); ἀνθρώπων ἐπιθυμίαις (1 Peter 4:2); τῆς ἐπ. τῆς ψυχῆς σου (Revelation 18:14). See also Galatians 5:16; Ephesians 2:3. The meaning is the lusts which have their seats in the flesh and in the eyes respectively.

“Tell me where is fancy bred.
It is engendered in the eyes.”

Merchant of Venice, III. ii.

The former, therefore, will mean the desire for unlawful pleasures of sense; for enjoyments which are sinful either in themselves or as being excessive.

Note that S. John does not say ἡ ἐπιθ. τοῦ σώματος. Σῶμα in N.T. is perhaps never used to denote the innately corrupt portion of man’s nature: for that the common term is ἡ σάρξ. S. John and S. Paul are here also in harmony: see on 1 John 1:3; 1 John 1:6; 1 John 2:1; 1 John 2:6; 1 John 2:19. Τὸ σῶμα is the neutral portion which may become either good or bad. It may be sanctified as the abode and instrument of the Spirit, or degraded under the tyranny of the flesh. See Introduction Chap. II. § vii.

ἡ ἐπιθ. τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν. The eyes are the chief channel between the flesh and the outside world; and ‘the lust of the eyes’ is the desire of seeing unlawful sights for the sake of the sinful pleasure to be derived from the sight; idle and prurient curiosity. Familiar as S. John’s readers must have been with the foul and cruel exhibition of the circus and amphitheatre, this statement would at once meet with their assent. Tertullian, though he does not quote this passage in his treatise De Spectaculis, is full of its spirit: “The source from which all circus games are taken pollutes them … What is tainted taints us” (VII., VIII.). Similarly S. Augustine on this passage; “This it is that works in spectacles, in theatres, in sacraments of the devil, in magical arts, in witchcraft; none other than curiosity.” See also Confessions VI. vii., viii, x. xxxv, 55. In the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs the second of the seven spirits of seduction is πνεῦμα ὁράσεως, μεθ ̓ ἦς γίνεται ἐπιθυμία (Lücke).

ἡ�. Or, as Tischendorf, Westcott and Hort prefer, ἡ�. β.: the vainglory of life. Latin writers vary much in their renderings: superbia vitae (Vulgate Old and New); ambitio saeculi (Cyprian, Augustine, Zeno Veron., Gelasius); jactantia vitae (Ambrose); superbia hujus vitae (Jerome). Ἀλαζονεία occurs elsewhere only James 4:16, and there in the plural; where A.V. has ‘boastings’ and R.V. ‘vauntings.’ The cognate adjective (ἀλαζών) occurs Romans 1:30 and 2 Timothy 3:2, where A.V. has ‘boasters’ and R.V. ‘boastful.’ Pretentious ostentation, as of a wandering mountebank, is the radical signification of the word. In Classical Greek the pretentiousness is the predominant notion; in Hellenistic Greek, the ostentation. Compare the account of this vice in Aristotle (Nic. Eth. IV. vii.) with Wis 5:8; 2Ma 9:8; 2Ma 15:6. Ostentatious pride in the things which one possesses is the signification of the term here; ‘life’ meaning ‘means of life, goods, possessions.’ Βίος must be carefully distinguished from ζωή. Βίος occurs again 1 John 3:17, and elsewhere in N.T. only 8 times. Ζωή occurs 13 times in this Epistle, and elsewhere in N.T. over 100 times. This is what we might expect from the meaning of the two words. Βίος means (1) period of human life, as 1 Timothy 2:2; 2 Timothy 2:4; (2) means of life, as here, 1 John 3:17; Mark 12:44; Luke 8:14; Luke 8:43; Luke 15:12; Luke 15:30; Luke 21:4. In 1 Peter 4:3 the word is not genuine. Ζωή means that vital principle which through Christ man shares with God (1 John 1:2; John 1:4). With the duration of mortal life and the means of prolonging it the Gospel has comparatively little to do. It is concerned rather with that spiritual life which is not measured by time (see on 1 John 1:2), and which is independent of material wealth and food. For this kind of life ζωή is invariably used. By ἡ�. τ. βίου, therefore, is meant ostentatious pride in the possession of worldly resources. See Trench, Synonyms of N.T., 87, 95; Cremer, 272.

These three evil elements or tendencies ‘in the world’ are co-ordinate: no one of them includes the other two. The first two are wrongful desires of what is not possessed; the third is a wrongful behaviour with regard to what is possessed. The first two may be the vices of a solitary; the third requires society. We can have sinful desires when we are alone, but we cannot be ostentatious without company. See Appendix A.

οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τ. πατρός. Does not derive its origin from (ἐκ) Him, and therefore has no natural likeness to Him or connexion with Him. S. John says ‘the Father’ rather than ‘God’ to emphasize the idea of parentage. Its origin is from the world and its ruler, the devil. Comp. ‘Ye are of (ἐκ) your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will to do’ (John 8:44). The phrase εἶναι ἐκ is highly characteristic of S. John.

ἀλλὰ ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου ἐστίν. Cyprian twice renders sed ex concupiscentia saeculi, and twice sed ex concupiscentia mundi. Zeno of Verona makes the same insertion. An instance of Western interpolation.