John 1 is the first chapter in the Gospel of John in the New Testament of the Holy Bible.
Text The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 51 verses.
Textual witnesses Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are: Papyrus 75 (written ) Papyrus 66 (; complete) Papyrus 5 (; extant verses: 23–31, 33–40)Philip W. Comfort and David P. Barrett. The Text of the Earliest New Testament Greek Manuscripts. Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers Incorporated, 2001, pp. 74–78. Papyrus 119 (; extant verses 21–28, 38–44) Papyrus 106 (3rd century) Codex Vaticanus () Codex Sinaiticus (; complete) Papyrus 120 (4th century; extant: verses 25–28, 38–44) Codex Bezae (; extant verses 1–15) Codex Washingtonianus () Codex Alexandrinus (; almost complete) Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (; extant verses 4–40) Codex Borgianus (5th century; extant verses 24–32 in Greek; 16–23 in Sahidic Coptic) Papyrus 55 (6th/7th century; extant verses 31–33, 35–38) Papyrus 59 (7th century; extant: verses 26, 28, 48, 51)
Old Testament references
Analysis The first chapter of the Gospel of John has 51 verses and may be divided in three parts: The Prologue or Hymn to the Word (verses 1–18) The testimony of John the Baptist (verses 19–34) The first disciples (verses 35–51).
English language versions, which typically divide biblical chapters into sections, often have more divisions: for example, there are 5 sections in the New International Version: NIV and the Good News Translation,: GNT and 7 sections in the New King James Version.: NKJV
Hymn to the Word (verses 1–18)
The first part (verses 1–18), often called the Hymn to the Word, is a prologue to the gospel as a whole, stating that the Logos is "God" ('divine', 'god-like', or 'a god'Duff, Jeremy, The Elements of New Testament Greek (3rd ed.), Cambridge University Press, 2005. . "[W]e can't tell if the author meant the word was θεός [a god] or ό θεός [God]", p. 63, footnote 3. according to some translations).
Comparisons can be made between these verses and the narrative of Genesis 1, where the same phrase "In the beginning" first occurs along with the emphasis on the difference between the darkness (such as the "earth was formless and void", Genesis 1:2 in the King James Version) and the light.
Methodist founder John Wesley summarised the opening verses of John 1 as follows: John 1:1–2 describes the state of things before the creation John 1:3 describes the state of things in the creation John 1:4 describes the state of things in the time of man's innocence John 1:5 describes the state of things in the time of man's corruption.Wesley, J., Notes on the Gospel according to Saint John on John 1:3, accessed 24 January 2015
According to the writers of the Pulpit Commentary, the phrase "the light of men" (John 1:4) "has been differently conceived by expositors. John Calvin supposed that the "understanding" was intended—"that the life of men was not of an ordinary description, but was united to the light of understanding," and is that by which man is differentiated from animals. Hengstenberg regards it, in consequence of numerous associations of "light" with "salvation" in Holy Scripture, as equivalent to salvation; Christoph Ernst Luthardt with "holiness" and many with the "eternal life", which would introduce great tautology."Pulpit Commentary on John 1, accessed 25 January 2016
The final verse of the prologue (verse 18) recalls verse 1, that no other possibility of human to know God except through Jesus Christ.
Verses 3–4
Some translations, including the New American Bible (Revised Edition) and the New Revised Standard Version, connect the final words of verse 3, with verse 4:
The New American Bible (Revised Edition) explains that "the oldest manuscripts have no punctuation here, the corrector of Bodmer Papyrus P75, some manuscripts, and the Ante-Nicene Fathers take this phrase with what follows [in verse 4], as staircase parallelism. Connection with John 1:3 reflects fourth-century anti-Arianism."Footnote c at John 1:3 in the New American Bible (Revised Edition), accessed 22 October 2020
Verse 5
English translations of this verse often translate the Greek as 'understanding' (such as in the New King James Version), but in other translations the meaning is given in terms of a struggle between darkness and light: "the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" (Revised Standard Version).
Verse 6
Verse 6 introduces "a man sent from God, whose name was John".: NKJV Joseph Benson notes that the name "John" means 'grace': "a name fitly given to the Messiah's forerunner, who was sent to proclaim the immediate accomplishment of God's gracious intentions".
Verses 10–11
Verses 10 and 11 state that "He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him". Theologians differ in their interpretation of these verses. Wesley viewed "in the world" as meaning "even from the creation", the Pulpit Commentary speaks of the "pre-Incarnation activity" of the Word and Joseph Benson wrote that "He was in the world[...] from the beginning, frequently appearing, and making known to his servants, the patriarchs and prophets, the divine will, in dreams and visions, and various other ways",Benson Commentary on John 1, accessed 27 January 2016 whereas in Albert Barnes' opinion, "He was in the world[...] refers, probably, not to his pre-existence, but to the fact that he became incarnate; that he dwelt among human beings".Barnes' Notes on the Bible on John 1, accessed 27 January 2016
Verse 14
The word flesh is emphasized as a 'symbol of humanity', drawing the attention to "the entry of the Word into the full flow of human affairs". The first-person ‘we’ refers to the individuals Jesus lived with, implying that the narrator witnessed Jesus in the flesh.
Verse 17
The incarnate Word's name is first mentioned in this verse; thereafter "John never uses the noun , the word, in this signification, throughout this whole book".Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament on John 1, accessed 31 January 2016
Testimony of John the Baptist (verses 19–34)
The second part of John 1 (verse 19 onwards) records the preparation that John the Baptist was making for the coming of the Messiah and the Messiah's first disciples. John has been introduced in verse 6, "a man sent from God",Sent "by" God in the New Century Version and some other translations and his witness, known already by the reader, has already been recalled: "This is the One I told you about". The Greek text has the past tense () but both H. W. Watkins, in Charles Ellicott's Commentary, and Alfred Plummer, in the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, prefer a present tense translation such as "John bears witness".Watkins, H. W., Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers on John 1, and Plummer, A. (1902), Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges on John 1, accessed on 28 January 2016
Verses 19 to 27 present John's manifesto, delivered in Bethany, beyond the Jordan,: New American Standard Bible to the priests and Levites sent by the Pharisees to investigate his message and purpose. In response to their enquiries, John confesses that he is not the Messiah, nor the reappearance of the prophet Elijah (contrast Matthew 11:14 RSV, NKJV, where Jesus states that John is "Elijah who is to come"), nor "the prophet", the one of whom Deuteronomy 18:15, 18 had spoken. In this passage the Messiah and the foretold "prophet" are not necessarily identified with each other; "on the contrary", notes Johann Bengel, "they looked on the prophet as a distinct person from the Christ" (cf. John 7:40–41: "Many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, "Truly this is the Prophet". Others said, "This is the Christ"").
The evangelist divides this series of events into four 'days': the day (or period) when the Jerusalem delegation met John to enquire into his identity and purpose (John 1:19–28) is followed by John seeing Jesus coming towards him "the next day" (John 1:29), and on "the next day again"Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges on John 1, accessed 31 January 2016 he directs his own disciples towards following Jesus (John 1:35–37). A fourth 'day' follows (John 1:43) on which Jesus "wanted" or "decided" to go to Galilee. Bengel calls these "Great Days!", because "the care of this Evangelist in marking times is remarkable".
Jesus' first disciples (verses 35–51) As the chapter progresses further, the gospel describes how Jesus calls his first disciples, Andrew and an unnamed disciple (verses 35–40). The unnamed disciple was possibly John, the evangelist. Andrew finds his brother Simon (verses 41–42), and Jesus changes Simon's name to Cephas (Peter) (verse 42). Cephas, original Greek: (), means "a rock" (Young's Literal Translation) or "a stone" (King James Version). This provided a powerful analogy as to the role Peter would have after the crucifixion; to lead the development of the church. Name changes occur in other places in the Bible and demonstrate God's authority as well as what that person would become, do, or had done, such as Abram to Abraham, Jacob to Israel and Saul to Paul.
On the day when Jesus decided to go to Galilee, he invited Philip, from Bethsaida, to follow him (John 1:43-44).
Jesus' first active sign of insight comes in verse 47, in his recognition of Nathaniel: "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile",: RSV, NKJV "an affirmation showing intimate knowledge", leaving Nathaniel thoroughly impressed by Jesus' foreknowledge of his personal character.
The titles of Jesus Within these verses Jesus is given the following titles: the true light (John 1:9) the Word and the Word made flesh (John 1:1, 14), identified by the Christian theology with the second divine person of the Most Holy Trinity the Son of God () and the Unigenitus Son of God (John 1:14) and the Nicene Creed) the Lamb of God () Rabbi, meaning Teacher or Master () the Messiah, or the Christ () Jesus of Nazareth, son of Joseph () the King of Israel () the "Son of Man" or "Son of Humanity" () the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit () the one of whom Moses wrote in the law (, referring to : "The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren: him you shall hear")
The disciple whom Jesus loved