1–6. THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH AND THE SPIRIT OF ERROR 1–6. This section is an amplification of the sentence with which the preceding chapter ends. We certainly have the Holy Spirit as an abiding gift from God, for otherwise we could not believe and confess the truth of the Incarnation. As usual, S. John... [ Continue Reading ]
1 John 2:29 to 1 John 5:12. GOD IS LOVE There seems to be no serious break in the Epistle from this point onwards until we reach the concluding verses which form a sort of summary (1 John 5:13-21). The key-word ‘love’ is distributed, and not very unevenly, over the whole, from 1 John 3:1 to 1 John 5... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΓΑΠΗΤΟΊ. See on 1 John 3:2. The tender address once more introduces a matter of deep practical importance: comp. 1 John 3:21. ΜῊ ΠΑΝΤῚ ΠΝΕΎΜΑΤΙ ΠΙΣΤΕΎΕΤΕ. This exhortation does not give us the main subject of the section, any more than ‘Marvel not, brethren, if the world hate you’ (1 John 3:12) gav... [ Continue Reading ]
2. For γινώσκετε ([706]3[707][708][709][710]) [711]1 has γινώσκομεν: [712], Peschito, and Vulgate have γινώσκεται. For ἐληλυθότα ([713][714][715]) [716] has ἐληλυθέναι: see also possibly the Vulgate (_venisse_). [706] 4th century. Discovered by Tischendorf in 1859 at the monastery of S. Catherine on... [ Continue Reading ]
3. For ὃ μὴ ὁμολογεῖ (all Greek MSS. and all Versions except the Latin) some ‘old copies’ mentioned by Socrates read ὃ λύει, which is supported by nearly all Latin authorities with _solvit_ or _destruit_. After Ἰησοῦν omit Χριστὸν ἐν σαρκὶ ἐληλυθότα with [717][718], Vulgate, and Thebaic against [719... [ Continue Reading ]
ὙΜΕΙ͂Σ. _Ye_, with emphasis and in marked contrast to the false teachers, _are of God_. The emphasis is intensified by the asyndeton. ΝΕΝΙΚΉΚΑΤΕ ΑΥ̓ΤΟΎΣ. In the masculine S. John passes from the antichristian spirits to the false prophets who are their mouthpieces. By not listening to these seducer... [ Continue Reading ]
ΑΥ̓ΤΟῚ ἘΚ Τ. Κ. ΕἸΣΊΝ. The pronouns at the beginning of all three verses are in emphatic opposition; ὑμεῖς … αὐτοὶ … ἡμεῖς. That they, the antichristian teachers, are ‘of the world’ was implied in 1 John 2:19, where it is stated that they are ‘not of us’: for there is no middle neutral position. The... [ Continue Reading ]
6. For ἐκ τούτου ([723][724][725][726], Peschito) [727], Vulgate, and Thebaic have ἐν τούτῳ. [723] 4th century. Discovered by Tischendorf in 1859 at the monastery of S. Catherine on Mount Sinai, and now at Petersburg. All three Epistles. [724] 4th century. Brought to Rome about 1460. It is entered... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΓΑΠΗΤΟΊ, ἈΓΑΠΩ͂ΜΕΝ�. See on 1 John 3:2 and 1 John 4:11. The transition seems abrupt, as if the Apostle had summarily dismissed an unwelcome subject. But the connexions of thought in S. John’s writings are often so subtle, that it is rash to assert anywhere that two consecutive verses or sections ar... [ Continue Reading ]
7–21. LOVE IS THE MARK OF THE CHILDREN OF THE GOD WHO IS LOVE... [ Continue Reading ]
Ὁ ΜῊ�. For the μἡ comp. 1 John 3:10; 1 John 3:14; 1 John 2:4. οὐκ ἔγνω. Literally, _knew not God_, i.e. never attained to a knowledge of Him. Comp. 1 John 3:1; John 16:3. We have here a remarkable instance of S. John’s habit of not making the second part of an antithesis the exact counterpart of the... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΝ ΤΟΎΤΩΙ ἘΦ. For the sake of uniformity with 1 John 4:10; 1 John 4:13; 1 John 4:17, Herein _was manifested_: we have the same Greek in all four verses. ‘Herein’ plainly refers to what follows: comp. 1 John 3:16 and see on 1 John 3:19. For ἘΦΑΝΕΡΏΘΗ see on 1 John 1:2. This is a second reason for our... [ Continue Reading ]
10. For ἠγαπήσαμεν ([728]3[729]) we should perhaps read ἠγαπήκαμεν ([730]): [731]1 has the impossible ἠγάπησεν. [728] 4th century. Discovered by Tischendorf in 1859 at the monastery of S. Catherine on Mount Sinai, and now at Petersburg. All three Epistles. [729] 5th century. Brought by Cyril Lucar,... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΓΑΠΗΤΟΊ. For the sixth and last time the Apostle uses this appropriate address. Here also it affectionately emphasizes a deduction of practical importance. See on 1 John 3:2 and comp. 1 John 4:7. No address of any kind occurs again until the last verse of the Epistle. ΕἸ ΟὝΤΩΣ Ὁ Θ. ἨΓ. ἩΜΑ͂Σ. ‘If,... [ Continue Reading ]
12. ΘΕῸΝ ΟΥ̓ΔΕῚΣ ΠΏΠΟΤΕ ΤΕΘΈΑΤΑΙ. As R.V., _No man hath_ BEHELD _God at any time_, to mark the shade of difference between this and Θεὸν οὐδεὶς ἙΏΡΑΚΕΝ πώποτε (John 1:18). Here gazing and contemplation are implied; there not. Each word suits its own context. The order here is striking: _God no man e... [ Continue Reading ]
13. This should be compared with 1 John 3:24, to which it is closely parallel. There, as here, the gift of the Spirit is the proof of God’s abiding presence: but there this is connected with keeping His commandments; here it is connected with the special duty of brotherly love. ἘΚ ΤΟΥ͂ ΠΝΕΎΜΑΤΟΣ ΑΥ̓... [ Continue Reading ]
14. ΤΕΘΕΆΜΕΘΑ ΚΑῚ ΜΑΡΤ. As R.V., _we have_ BEHELD _and_ BEAR WITNESS: see on 1 John 4:12 and 1 John 1:2. ἩΜΕΙ͂Σ is emphatic, and as in the Prologue and in 1 John 4:6, means S. John and the other Apostles. See on 1 John 1:4 and 1 John 4:6. With their own eyes the Twelve saw the Son working out His mi... [ Continue Reading ]
15. After Ἰησοῦς [732] inserts Χριστός. [732] 4th century. Brought to Rome about 1460. It is entered in the earliest catalogue of the Vatican Library, 1475. All three Epistles. 15. ὋΣ ἊΝ ὉΜΟΛ. _Quicunque confessus fuerit_ (Vulgate): less well, _Si quis confessus fuerit_ (Jerome _Adv. Jovin._ II. 2... [ Continue Reading ]
16. After ἐν αὐτῷ we should perhaps insert μένει with [733][734][735][736] and Thebaic against [737] and Vulgate. [733] 4th century. Discovered by Tischendorf in 1859 at the monastery of S. Catherine on Mount Sinai, and now at Petersburg. All three Epistles. [734] 4th century. Brought to Rome about... [ Continue Reading ]
17. ἘΝ ΤΟΎΤΩΙ Τ. Ἡ�. ΜΕΘ ̓ ἩΜΩ͂Ν. Here R.V. _Herein is love_ MADE PERFECT WITH US, or the margin of A.V. _Herein is_ LOVE WITH US _made perfect_, is to be preferred to A.V. Most earlier English Versions agree with R. V.; and μεθ ̓ ἡμῶν probably belongs to τετελείωται, not to ἡ�. So also the Vulgate... [ Continue Reading ]
18. Proof of the preceding statement that perfect love will give us boldness, by shewing the mutually exclusive nature of love and fear. Love moves towards others in the spirit of self-sacrifice: fear shrinks from others in the spirit of self-preservation. The two are to be understood quite generall... [ Continue Reading ]
19. After ἡμεῖς [738], Peschito, and Vulgate insert οὖν. After ἀγαπῶμεν omit αὐτόν with [739][740] against [741][742]. For αὐτόν [743] has τὸν Θεόν. For αὐτός ([744][745][746][747], Thebaic) [748] and Vulgate have ὁ Θεός. [738] 5th century. Brought by Cyril Lucar, Patriarch of Constantinople, from A... [ Continue Reading ]
20. For πῶς δύναται ([749][750][751], Peschito, Vulgate) read οὐ δύναται ([752][753], Thebaic). [749] 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. [750] 9th centur... [ Continue Reading ]
21. For ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ ([754][755][756]) [757] and Vulgate have ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ. [758] omits from τόν to τόν: _homoeoteleuton_. [754] 4th century. Brought to Rome about 1460. It is entered in the earliest catalogue of the Vatican Library, 1475. All three Epistles. [755] 9th century. All three Epistles. [75... [ Continue Reading ]