Creation of Adam, Michelangelo, 1509-1512 (Restored) Photo: Jim Zuckerman
1 In the beginning the Message already existed1, and the Message was with God in his home 2. In fact, the Message was Deity3. 2 He was with God in his home in the beginning. 3 All things were made4 through him, and without him not even one thing was made which has been made. 4 He was the source of life5, and the life was the life of mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not put it out.6
6 There came a man who was sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came to testify about the light, so all people might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came so he might testify about the light. 9 This was the genuine light who shines on every person, who was coming into the world. 10 The light was in the world, and the world was made through him, but the world did not know him. 11 He came to his home, and his own people did not welcome him. 12 But to those who did welcome him, to those who believed in him7, he gave the right to become God’s children. 13 They did not become God’s children by natural descent, or by a human desire, or by a husband’s desire; God fathered them.
14 The Message became human and lived for a while among us. We saw his divine nature8, the nature of the Father’s only9 Son10. He has completely revealed God’s kind love11and reality12. 15 John testified about him. He cried out, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘The one who comes after me has surpassed me, because he existed before me.’” 16 For from his abundance we all have received one blessing after another. 17 The Law was given through Moses, but God’s kind love and reality came through Jesus the Messiah13. 18 No one has ever seen God; God the only Son,14 who is in the Father’s arms, has explained15 him.
19 This was John’s testimony when the Jews16 from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not refuse to admit it, but admitted freely, “I am not the Messiah.”
21 They asked him, “Who are you, then? Are you Elijah17 ?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet18 ?”
He answered, “No.”
22 Then they said to him, “Who are you? We must give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
23 John answered in the words of Isaiah the prophet: “I am ‘a voice crying out in the desert: Make straight the Lord’s road!”19
24 Now some Pharisees who had been sent 25 asked him, “Why do you immerse20 then, if you are neither the Messiah nor Elijah nor the Prophet?”
26 John answered, “I immerse in water, but one has taken his stand among you whom you do not recognize. 27 He is the one coming after me. I am not worthy to untie the thongs of his sandals for him.” 28 These things happened in Bethany21 on the other side of the Jordan, where John was immersing.
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! God’s Lamb, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I said about, ‘The man who comes after me has surpassed me, because he existed before me.’ 31 I did not recognize him, but the reason I came immersing in water was so he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 Then John testified: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven like a dove and remain on him. 33 I would not have recognized him, except that the one who sent me to immerse in water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will immerse in the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”22
35 The next day, John stood there again with two of his followers. 36 He saw Jesus walking by and said, “Look! God’s Lamb!” 37 His two followers heard him say this and followed Jesus.
38 Jesus turned and saw them following him, then asked them: “What do you want?” They answered, Rabbi23 (which means24 Teacher), “where are you staying?”
39 He told them, “Come and you’ll see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and spent the rest of the day with him; it was about four in the afternoon.25
40 Now Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus. 41 First Andrew found his brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). 42 He led him to Jesus. Jesus saw him and said: “You are Simon, son of John; you will be called Cephas” (which means Stone).26
43 The next day, Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. He found Philip and said, “Follow me.”
44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, Andrew and Peter’s hometown. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one whom Moses wrote about in the Law and whom the prophets also wrote about—Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”
46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.
“Come and see,” said Philip.
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said about him, “Here is a genuine Israelite, in whom there is nothing deceitful.”27
48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
49 “Teacher,” responded Nathanael, “You are the Son of God, you are King of Israel!”28
50 Jesus said, “Do you believe29 because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” 51 He told him, “I tell you the truth, you will see heaven opened and God’s angels going up and coming down upon the Man.”30 31
Endnotes
1 Implied by the verb tense (Impf. indic., εἰμί [eimi])
2 Grk. πρὸς τὸν θεόν (pros ton theon). So also in v. 2. When used with the acc.*, as here, the prep. πρός (pros) regularly refers to personal relationship, not mere physical presence; see Mt. 13:56‖Mk. 6:3; Gal. 1:18; 1 Jn. 1:2; 2:1; 2 Jn. 12. A.T. Robertson stated that the Logos (Grk. λόγος, the Message) was “… in equal fellowship and nature” with God. He also compares 2 Cor. 5:8, where Paul longs to be “at home with” the Lord, πρός τὸν κύριον (pros ton kyrion),—MGT, 57.
3 Grk., θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος (theos ēn o logos). Τrad., “The Word was God”. This rendering could lead one to think that the Message was the same person as God the Father. Rather, John is saying that the Message has the same character and nature, the same essence, as the Father; that is, he is deity. (See further discussion on this in the note on “divine nature” in v. 14.) Some have suggested that since the word for “deity”, θεός (theos), lacks the def. art.* here, this means that the Logos was a lesser being, not equal with the Father. However, Grk. normally expresses the character of a person this way; thus, when John writes θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος (theos ēn o logos) here, logos is the subject because it has the art.* (o); theos is a subjective complement, which describes the character of the subject (See DM, 140). Morris, citing E.C. Colwell, notes that in the NT def. nouns which precede the vb. regularly lack the article*; the absence of the art.* does not make such nouns indefinite unless the context demands it (Morris, 77). Thus it is wrong to translate theos here as “a god”. The same construction also appears in vv. 6, 12, 13, and 18, where it applies to God the Father (Tenney, EBC, 30, n.2).
4 Or, “came into being”. So also in v. 10.
5 Formal equivalence (FE)* or word-for-word translation, “in him was life”, Grk. ἐν αὐτῷ ζωὴ ἦν (en autō zōē ēn). When used with the dat.* (or instr.*, as some classify it), as here, the prep. ἐν (en) often has the idea of means or agency. Cf. Wms., “It was by Him that life began to exist”. In effect, this indicates source. A number of recent Bible versions, such as CEB, CEV, NLT, as well as earlier ones such as Goodspeed, GNT, and NEB also accept this interpretation of the phrase. While the grammarians do not recognize a dative/instrumental of source, given that the Message is pictured as the Creator in this context, understanding the preposition as indicating the source of life makes sense. The Apostle John’s Grk. does not always follow the rules —nor, for that matter, does that of any ancient writer in every case.
6 Or, “did not understand it”.
7 FE trans., “who believed on/in his name” (my emphasis). In the ancient world, both Jews and Greeks frequently used name—Grk. ὄνομα (onoma), Heb. שֵׁם (shem), Aram. שֻׁם (shum)— to stand for the whole person. See further discussion at the note on “divine nature” in 12:28.
8 Trad., “glory”, Grk. δόξα (doxa), used in the LXX to translate the Heb. כָּבוֹד (kavod). When this term is used about God, it usually refers to the revelation of his true nature or character, as in Ex. 33:18-19. Cf. Ex. 34, where God’s “name” is used in a similar sense. In the Gospel of John δόξα (doxa) typically means “divine nature” when referring to Jesus or to God the Father. John also normally uses the vb. δοξάζω (doxazō), trad. trans. “glorify”, with the mng. “reveal the divine nature”. So also Bratcher, TBT, Oct. 1991, 401f. In a few contexts, however, δόξα (doxa) means “honor” or ”praise”.
9 Trad., “only begotten”, Grk. μονογενοῦς (monogenous). The Grk. is the gen.* of μονογενής (monogenēs). John also uses μονογενής (monogenēs) to refer to Jesus in 1:18 and in 3:16, 18 as well as in 1 Jn. 4:9.
10 Or, “only Son from the Father”
11 Trad., “grace”, Grk. χάρις (charis). The basic concept of this term is a favor done purely out of kindness and love. The component of “kindness” occurs in secular Grk. as well as the OT, while the “love” aspect comes from the OT, particularly from the Heb. חֶסֶד (chesed), which combined the two ideas (THJ, Apdx. II, 654; Schulz, 30-32, 67-68). χάρις is used in the same sense in v. 17.
12 Grk. ἀλήθεια (alētheia). As with the adj. ἀληθινός (alēthinos) in v. 9, in John the “truth” is usually what is genuine or real concerning God. The word is used in the same sense in v. 17 in contrast to the Mosaic Law. The Apostle is not saying there was no genuine revelation of God through the OT Law; rather he is saying that the ultimate revelation of God’s nature came through Jesus. Cf. Heb. 1:1—2, ἐν τοῖς προφήταις…ἐν υἱῷ (en tois prophētais…en uiō), contrasting God’s past revelation “by the prophets” with the last and greatest one “by his Son”.
13 Grk. Χριστός (christos), “Christ”. Χριστός is the translation of the Heb. מָשִׁיחַ (mashiach). The equiv. Aram.* term is מְשִׁיחָ (meshicha). The Grk. and Heb. nouns derive from the verbs χρίω (chriō) and מָשַׁח (mashach), respectively. Both nouns translate as “anointed one”—God’s chosen and promised Savior and King. Our Eng. word “Messiah” is from the Grk. spelling, Μεσσίας (messias), which comes from the Aram.* form; the Grk. form appears in Jn. 1:41 and 4:25. (BAGD, 508; NBD2, 770) In everyday use the Heb. vb. could refer to rubbing oil or paint on an object. In connection with religious ceremony, it involved applying oil to items such as the tabernacle and altar. Appointment of leaders was done by pouring oil on the person’s head. Kings, priests, and prophets were anointed to show they were separated by God for that service ( Harris, TWOT, II, p. 530). In the Gospels and Acts Χριστός, “Christ” functions as a title, even when the def. art* is not used, while in Paul’s writings, it appears to serve as a second name for Jesus. In the Gospels and Acts, “Christ” is evidently used in the sense of Jewish expectation of a deliverer and king, in fulfillment of God’s promises in the OT. (Even though the apostles and other early Christian teachers had to correct some misunderstandings that had become attached to the title, they used it nevertheless when teaching Jewish audiences.) The best way to bring this out in Eng. is to translate christos as “Messiah” when it appears in the Gospels and Acts, since even in Eng. secular usage “messiah” has overtones of “savior” or “rescuer”. In Paul’s letters, since he is primarily teaching and preaching to non-Jewish audiences, “Christ” does not appear to bear the Jewish connotations, but is more universal. As the occurrences in John’s Gospel are all in a Jewish context, or in one with a similar background (the Samaritans in ch. 4), it seems natural to use “Messiah” for Χριστός in these passages (except for 1:41 and 4:25, where John uses “Christ” to translate “Messiah” for the non-Jewish readers among the audience for his Gospel).
14 Grk. μονογενὴς θεὸς ( monogenēs theos), accepted by NA27 , UBS4, and the new SBL GNT, is both the earliest and more difficult reading; it is supported by P66, P75, 01*, B, C, L, 33, Sy-P, Sy-Hmg, bo, IrLat, Or, Cl. The later MSS read μονογενὴς υἱὸς (monogenēs uios). These witnesses, all Byz, include A, CC3, W5, X, Δ, Θ, Ψ, Ω, 063, 0141, f1, f13, 157 al., Maj., Lat., Sy-C, Sy-H, Sy-Pal, arm, geo, Tert, Hipp, Clpt, Chrys. While the latter reading is attractive in the context, theos is more likely to have been changed to uios than the other way around. Some have argued that since both θεος and υἱος were nomina sacra (Lat. “sacred names”), which scribes normally abbreviated as ΘC and YC (The C is the final letter Σ, sigma; in the older Grk. uncial script sigma was written thus in all positions.) the scribes who wrote θεός (ΘC) got it mixed up with υἱός (YC). As Willker notes, A. Wikgren (on the UBS committee for the 3rd and earlier eds.) argues for this in a minority vote. θεος does appear 7 times earlier in ch. 1. However, this is not sufficient to explain the variants because besides the ΘC/YC variation, several witnesses add the article to μονογενὴς. (Willker, TCG 2010, 16-17) The translation in the DDV does follow the reading θεός here, though it may not appear so to the English reader.
15 Or, “made him known”, Grk. ἐξηγέομαι (exēgeomai), the source of our words “exegete” and “exegesis”* (AHD, p. 641).
16 Use of this phrase in Bible versions has become controversial in recent years. For discussion, see Appendix 1.
17 Mal. 4:5—6 (H 3:23—24), Mal. 3:1.
18 Dt. 18:15—19; Acts 3:17—23
19 Isa. 40:3, LXX
20 Grk. βαπτίζεις (baptizeis), from the vb. βαπτίζω (baptizō) used in v. 26, is correctly rendered “immerse” or “dip”, but usually Bibles leave it disguised under the non-translation “baptize”. The trad. translation hides the mng. instead of giving it. For discussion of the evidence for this meaning and reasons why this key term needs to be translated, see the discussion of the Grk. term in my blog post at https://wp.me/p9aTup-bc which focuses on the usage in Acts 2:38. Similarly, the title given to John in the Synoptics*, ὁ βαπτιστής (o baptistēs), as in Mt. 3:1, is properly “the Immerser” as in the LO and McCord versions, or “the one who immersed people”, as in SEB.
21 Some later MSS read “Bethabara”, following the suggestion of Origen (3rd century A.D.); others read “Betharaba”.
22 Most witnesses read ὁ υἱός τοῦ θεοῦ (o uios tou theou), “the Son of God”. Against NA27/UBS4 and with SBLGNT, NET and NIV (2011), I prefer the reading ὁ ἐκλεκτός τοῦ θεοῦ (o eklektos tou theou),”the Chosen One of God” here, mainly on internal grounds. As Metzger (MTC, 172) noted, the age and diversity of the witnesses supporting υἱός is impressive, earning it a B rating. UBS4 lists these in its favor, among others: P66 75 א2 A B C L Wsupp Δ Θ Ψ 083 0141 0233vid f1f13 28 33 157 180 205 al. Byz [E F G H N P] Lect itaur, c, f, l, q vg syrp, h, palmss copbo arm eth geo slav Origen Asterius Chrysostom Cyril John-Damascus; Augustine3/4. As the NET note on the variants says, “Most scholars take this to be sufficient evidence to regard the issue as settled without much of a need to reflect on internal evidence”. UBS4 gives this evidence for ἐκλεκτός: P5vid א* itb, e, ff2* syrc, s Ambrose Augustine1/4. There is also the reading ὁ ἐκλεκτὸς υἱός (o eklektos uios), “the Chosen Son”, which combines the two, supported by ita ff2c vgmss syrpalmss (syrpalms ὁ μονογενὴς υἱός) copsa. This reading is clearly secondary, so may be ignored.
Wieland Willker (TCG 2010 and 2011) has a detailed discussion on the variants here (TVU 14 in 2010 ed., TVU 15 in 2011 ed.). He offers a useful discussion and reconstruction of the papryri P5 and P106, which are claimed as additional external support for ὁ ἐκλεκτός. Concerning the claimed support for ὁ ἐκλεκτός in P5, Willker has a reconstruction of the MS at this place (necessary because of a lacuna, or gap, in the text). He observes, “Space considerations clearly prefer υἱός. ἐκλεκτός appears too long.” Looking at his reconstruction of the text from P5, I have to agree. The editors of the NET argue the opposite, that the gap is too large for υἱός, especially if abbreviated YC. It seems to me that Willker has clearly shown the contrary to be correct. Willker then notes B. Aland’s conclusion that apparent support of this MS for the reading ἐκλεκτός “has to be canceled as too insecure”. However, he comes out in favor of P106 as supporting ἐκλεκτός, as does B. Aland.
It appears that the best arguments in favor of ἐκλεκτός are those from internal evidence. As the NET note points out, citing R.E. Brown (John, Anchor Bible comm.), “it is difficult to imagine that Christian scribes would change ‘the Son of God’ to ‘God’s chosen one,’ while a change in the opposite direction would be quite plausible. Harmonization with the Synoptic accounts of the baptism (‘You are [This is] my beloved Son’) would also explain the introduction of ‘the Son of God’ into John; the same phenomenon occurs in vi 69. Despite the weaker textual evidence, therefore, it seems best – with Lagrange, Barrett, Boismard, and others – to accept ‘God’s chosen one’ as original.”
23 Grk. ῥαββί, a transliteration of Aram.* רַבִי (from Heb.), mng. “teacher”.—BAGD, 733. John follows this with διδάσκαλε (didaskale), voc*. sg. of the Grk. for “teacher”, διδάσκαλος (didaskalos). John uses ῥαββί in v.49.
24 Or, “which is translated”; also in vv. 41-42.
25 FE trans., “the tenth hour”. The ordinary reckoning of time, whether Jewish or Roman, counted the hours from sunrise to sunset, or from approx. 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.; thus, the tenth hour would be 4 p.m. In contrast, the Roman civil day, by which leases and contracts were dated, was calculated from midnight to midnight (EGT, 699).
26 Grk. Κηφᾶς (Kephas), Cephas, from Aram.* כֵּיפַא (Kepha)—the final sigma [-s] in Kephas is required by Grk. spelling— and Peter, Grk. Πέτρος (Petros) both mean “stone”. (BAGD, 431, 654)
27 Jacob, Heb. יַעֲקֹב (Ya’akov), the son of Isaac and Rebekah, whose name means “deceiver”, later had his name changed to Israel, Heb. יִשְׂרָאֵל (Yisrael), “he struggles with God”, Gen. 25:26; 32:28. The Grk. forms are Ἰάκωβος (Iakobōs) and Ἰσραήλ (Israēl), respectively.
28 2 Sam. 7:14; Psa. 2:6—7; Jn. 20:31; Heb. 1:5.
29 Or, “You believe…” (statement rather than question)
30 See Gen. 28:12—13, where Jacob has a dream of a stairway or ladder to heaven. A foreshadowing or anticipation of the thought in 14:6 that Jesus is the only way to God the Father.
31 Grk. ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου (o uios tou anthrōpou), trad. “the Son of Man”. The Grk. is a FE trans. of the Aram.* בַּר אֱנָשׁ (bar-enash), Dan. 7:13; LXX has υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου—or בַּר נָשָׁא (bar-nasha), in everyday Aram.*, both meaning “man, human being”.—TDNT, VIII, 402-403. Similarly, several Psalms use the Heb. equivalents in parallelism. In Psa. 8:4 [H 8:5] we have אֱנוֹש\בֶּן אָדָם (enosh/ben-adam), LXX ἄνθρωπος/υι͑ὸς ἀνθρώπου (anthrōpos/uios anthrōpou). In Psa. 144:3 [G 143:3] the same terms are used, but in reverse order. In Ezekiel (2:1, etc.), Yahweh addresses the prophet with the Heb. בֶּן אָדָם (ben-adam), LXX υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου (uie anthrōpou). These OT usages all refer to mankind in his weakness and mortality. The Grk. phrase ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου (o uios tou anthrōpou) occurs over 80 times in the Gospels in reference to Jesus. Most of these are a substitute for “I”, which bar-enash can also mean in everyday Aram.* However, some 27 passages reflect the OT, combining the usage of the Psalms and Ezekiel with that of Dan. 7:13, where the בַּר אֱנָש (bar-enash) or υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου (LXX), is a heavenly being who is also human; this being is crowned as God’s king who is given dominion or authority, not only over Israel but also over all nations (Dan. 7:13—14). Jesus identified himself with the being in Daniel’s vision at his trial before the Jewish Sanhedrin, or Supreme Council (Mt. 26:63—64). Twelve of these passages reflecting the OT hope for the Messsiah are in John’s Gospel. Whenever Jesus uses the phrase in John, it is in this Messianic sense.
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Papyrus P66 showing the opening verses of John chapter 1. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons. For more info, see the About page.
The Creation of Adam, Michaelangelo, 1509-1512, Sistine Chapel. Photo by Jim Zuckerman/Corbis. In “The Measure of Genius: Michaelangelo’s Sistine Chapel at 500”, Jamie Katz. Smithsonian Magazine Online. April 9, 2009. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-measure-of-genius-michelangelos-sistine-chapel-at-500-123313873/
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