1 John 1:1-10

Fellowship with God in Light

1. Observe the grammatical form of 1 John 1:1. In 1 John 1:1 a sentence is begun which, interrupted by the parenthesis in 1 John 1:2, is continued in 1 John 1:3. The sense is, 'We declare unto you that which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, etc., concerning the Word of Life.' From the beginning] cp. John 1:1. Heard.. handled] the evidence of eyewitness. The Docetists taught that Christ was a mere phantom: cp. Luke 24:39. Of the Word of life] RV 'concerning the Word of life': cp. 'bread of life,' John 6:35. For 'the Word' (Logos) see on John 1:1.

2. This v. is parenthetical, reiterating the fact that the preëxistent Eternal Word was manifested to men. In 1 John 1:3 this manifestation is said to determine man's relation to God.