John 1:6

ἐγένετο ἄν. The contrast between ἐγένετο and ἦν is carefully maintained and should be preserved in translation: not ‘there was a man’ but ‘there arose a man;’ ἄνθρωπος, ‘a human being,’ in contrast to the Logos and also as an instance of that race which was illuminated by the Logos (John 1:4); comp. John 3:1. Note (as in John 1:1) the noble simplicity of language, and also the marked asyndeton between John 1:5-6. Greek is so rich in particles that asyndeton is generally remarkable.

ἀπεσταλμένος παρὰ θεοῦ. A Prophet. Cf. ‘I will send my messenger,’ Malachi 3:1; ‘I will send you Elijah the prophet,’ John 4:5. John’s mission proceeded, as it were, from the presence of God, the literal meaning of παρά with the genitive.

ὄνομα αὐτῷ Ἰωάννης. The clause is a kind of parenthesis, like Νικόδημος ὄνομα αὐτῷ, John 3:1. In the Fourth Gospel John is mentioned twenty times and is never once distinguished as ‘the Baptist.’ The other three Evangelists carefully distinguish ‘the Baptist’ from the son of Zebedee: to the writer of the Fourth Gospel there is only one John. This in itself is strong incidental evidence that he himself is the other John.