1 John 1:2

For the life was manifested Better, And the life&c. It is S. John's characteristic use of the simple conjunction. -Manifest" (φανεροῦν) also is one of S. John's characteristic words, frequent in Gospel and Epistle and occurring twice in Revelation. Words and phrases which connect the Epistle with the Gospel, or either of these with the Apocalypse, should be carefully noted. -Was manifested" means became such that He could be known by man. Note that the sentence does not begin with a relative, -which was manifested", but that the noun is repeated. This repetition, carrying on a part of one sentence into the next for further elucidation and development, is quite in S. John's style.

have seen This is the result of the manifestation: the Divine Life has become perceptible by the senses. In what way this took place is told us in 1 John 4:2 and John 1:14.

and bear witness The simple connexion of these sentences by -and" is also in S. John's style; and -bear witness" (μαρτυρεῖν) is another of his favourite words, occurring frequently in Gospel, Epistle, and Apocalypse. Testimony to the truth, with a view to producing belief in the Truth, on which eternal life depends, is one of his frequent thoughts. But the frequency of -bear witness" in his writings is much obscured in A. V., where the same verb is sometimes rendered -bear record" (1 John 5:7), -give record" (1 John 5:10), and -testify" (1 John 4:14; 1 John 5:9), and so also in the Gospel and the Revelation. Similarly the substantive -witness" (μαρτυρία) is sometimes translated -record" (1 John 5:10-11) and sometimes -testimony". The R.V. in this respect has made great improvements. Comp. -This Jesus did God raise up, whereof (or, of whom) we all are witnesses" (Acts 2:32).

and shew unto you Better, and declare unto you: it is the same verb as occurs in the next verse; rare in S. John (John 16:25, but not John 4:51 or John 20:18) but frequent in S. Luke. In this parenthetical verse, as in the main sentence of 1 John 1:1; 1 John 1:3, the Apostle emphatically reiterates that what he has to communicate is the result of his own personal experience. -He that hath seen hath borne witness, and his witness is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye also may believe" (John 19:35: comp. John 20:30-31; John 21:24).

that eternal life Rather, the life, the eternal(life). "The repetition of the article brings forward separately and distinctly the two notions of life and eternity" (Jelf). It is well known that the translators of 1611 did not perfectly understand the Greek article. Sometimes they ignore it, sometimes they insert it unwarrantably, sometimes (as here and 1 John 5:18) they exaggerate it by turning it into a demonstrative pronoun. Comp. - thatProphet", - thatChrist", - thatbread" (John 1:21; John 1:25; John 6:14; John 6:48; John 6:69; John 7:40). For -the Life" as a name for Christ comp. -I am the Resurrection and the Life": -I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life" (John 11:25; John 14:6). -Eternal life" is another of S. John's characteristic phrases, a fact somewhat obliterated in A.V. by the Greek phrase being often rendered -everlasting life" or -life everlasting". -Eternal" is better than -everlasting", although in popular language the two words are synonymous. S. John's -eternal life" has nothing to do with time, but depends on our relation to Jesus Christ. S. John tells us over and over again that eternal life can be possessed in this world (1 John 5:11; 1 John 5:13; 1 John 5:20; 1 John 3:15: see on John 3:36; John 5:24; John 6:47). He never applies -eternal" (αἰώνιος) to anything but life, excepting in Revelation 14:6, where he speaks of an -eternal gospel".

which was with the Father Or, which indeed was with the Father: it is not the simple but compound relative, denoting that what follows is a special attribute; -which was such as to bewith the Father". For the -was" see on 1 John 1:1. -With the Father" is exactly parallel to -with God" in John 1:1. It is anticipated in the passage on the Divine Wisdom; -Then I was by Him as one brought up with Him" (Proverbs 8:30). It indicates the distinct Personality of -the Life". Had the Apostle written -which was inGod", we might have thought that he meant a mere attribute of God. -With the Father" is apud Patrem, -face to face" or -at home with the Father". Comp. -to tarry a while withyou" (1 Corinthians 16:7); -when we were withyou" (1 Thessalonians 3:4); -whom I would fain have kept withme" (Philemon 1:13).

was manifested unto us Repeated from the beginning of the verse. In both cases we have a change from the imperfect tense (of the continuous preexistence of Christ) to the aorist (of the comparatively momentary manifestation). But S. John's repetitions generally carry us a step further. The manifestation would be little to us, if we had no share in it. But that Being who was from all eternity with the Father, has been made known, and made known to us.