καὶ ὁ κόσμος. Close connexion obtained by repetition, as in John 1:4-5; also the tragic tone, as in John 1:5. Moreover, there is a climax: ‘He was in the world;’ (therefore it should have known Him;) ‘and the world was His creature;’ (therefore it should have known Him;) ‘and (yet) the world knew Him not.’ Καί = καίτοι is very frequent in S. John, but it is best to translate simply ‘and,’ not ‘and yet:’ cf. John 1:5; John 1:11. It is erroneous to suppose that καί ever means ‘but’ either in S. John or elsewhere. Ὁ κόσμος is another of the expressions characteristic of S. John: it occurs nearly 80 times in the Gospel, and 22 times in the First Epistle.

Observe that ὁ κόσμος has not exactly the same meaning John 1:9-10 : throughout the New Testament it is most important to distinguish the various meanings of κόσμος. Connected with κομεῖν and comere, it means (1) ‘ornament;’ 1 Peter 3:3 : (2) ‘the ordered universe,’ mundus; Romans 1:20 : (3) ‘the earth;’ John 1:9; Matthew 4:8 : (4) ‘the inhabitants of the earth;’ John 1:29; John 4:42 : (5) ‘the world outside the Church,’ those alienated from God; John 12:31; John 14:17 and frequently. In this verse the meaning slips from (3) to (5).

αὐτόν. The masculine shews that S. John is again speaking of Christ as ὁ Λόγος, not (as in John 1:9) as τὸ Φῶς.

οὐκ ἔγνω. ‘Did not acquire knowledge’ of its Creator. Γιγνώσκειν is ‘to get to know, recognise, acknowledge.’ Cf. Acts 19:15.

Continues after advertising
Continues after advertising

Old Testament