John 1:3

by him Rather, through Him. The universe was created bythe Father through the agencyof the Son. Comp. 1 Corinthians 8:6; Colossians 1:16 (where see Lightfoot's note); Romans 11:36; Hebrews 11:10. That no inferiority is necessarily implied by -through," as if the Son were a mere instrument, is shewn by 1 Corinthians 1:9, where the same construction is used of the Father, - throughWhom ye were called, &c." Note the climax in what follows; the sphere contracts as the blessing enlarges: existence for everything; life for the vegetable and animal world; light for men.

without him, &c. Better, apart from Him, &c. Comp. John 15:5. Antithetic parallelism; emphatic repetition by contradicting the opposite: frequent in Hebrew: one of the many instances of the Hebrew cast of S. John's style. Comp. John 1:20; John 10:28; 1 John 1:5; 1 John 2:4; 1 John 2:27-28; Psalms 89:30-31; Psalms 89:48, &c., &c.

not anything No, not one; not even one: stronger than -nothing." Every single thing, however great, however small, throughout all the realms of space, came into being through Him. No event takes place withoutHim, apart from His presence and power. Matthew 10:29; Luke 12:6.

that was made Better, that hath been made. The aorist refers to the fact of creation; the perfect to the permanent result of that fact. Contrast -was made" and -hath been made" here with -was" in John 1:1. -Was made" denotes the springing into life of what was once non-existent; -was" denotes the perpetual pre-existence of the Word.

Some both ancient and modern writers would give the last part of John 1:3 to John 1:4, thus: That which hath been made in Him was life; i.e. those who were born again by union with Him felt His influence as life within them. It is very difficult to decide between the two punctuations. Tatian (Orat. ad Graecos, xix.) has -All things [were] by Him and without Him hath been made not even one thing." See on John 1:5.