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1Jn_4:1. The apostle first exhorts them not to believe παντὶ πνεύματι . The idea πνεῦμα is in closest connection with ψευδοπροφῆται . The true prophets spoke, as we read in 2Pe_1:21 : ὑπὸ πνεύματος ἁγίου φερόμενοι ; the source of the revelations which they proclaim ( πρόφημι ) is the πνεῦμα ἅγιον or πν . τοῦ Θεοῦ , by which is meant not an affection of their mind, but the power of God, distinct from their own personality, animating and determining them ( δύναμις ὑψίστου , synonymous with πνεῦμα ἅγιον , Luk_1:35). This πνεῦμα speaks through the prophet, penetrating into his πνεῦμα and communicating to him the truth to be revealed; thus the πνεῦμα of the prophet himself becomes a πνεῦμα ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ . As every prophet has his own πνεῦμα , there exists, though the πνεῦμα ἅγιον is a single being, a plurality of prophetic spirits. The same relationship holds good, on the other hand, in the case of the false prophets. These also are under the influence of a spirit, namely, of the πνεῦμα which ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐκ ἔστι , of the πνεῦμα τῆς πλάνης ; this similarly is a single being, but inasmuch as with its lie it penetrates the πνεύματα of the false prophets and makes them like itself, it is true of the πνεῦμα of every individual prophet that it is not of God, not a πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας , but a πνεῦμα τῆς πλάνης . As John speaks here of a plurality of spirits ( παντὶ πνεύματι , τὰ πνεύματα ), we are to understand by πνεῦμα in this passage not the higher spirit different from the human spirit, but this spirit itself, penetrated, however, and filled with the former[253] (comp. 1Co_14:32, and Meyer on this passage). This spirit, however, may be spoken of, not merely in plurality, but also in unity, that is, in collective sense, for on each of the two sides all πνεῦματα , being animated by one and the same spirit,—whether the divine or that which is against God,—are of one nature, and so form together one unity. It is incorrect to understand by πνεῦμα here by metonymy, “the prophets” themselves (= ΛΑΛΟῦΝΤΕς ἘΝ ΠΝΕΎΜΑΤΙ , Lücke, de Wette, Calvin: pro eo, qui spiritus dono se praeditum esse jactat ad obeundum prophetae munus; so also Erdmann, Myrberg, etc.), or “their inspiration” (Socinus, Paulus), or even “the teaching of the prophet, his inspired word” (Lorinus, Cyril, Didymus, etc.).
ἈΛΛᾺ ΔΟΚΙΜΆΖΕΤΕ ΤᾺ ΠΝΕΎΜΑΤΑ ] The appearance of the ΨΕΥΔΟΠΟΡΟΦῆΤΑΙ , i.e. such teachers as, moved by the ungodly spirit, proclaimed instead of the truth the antichristian lie, under the pretext of speaking by divine inspiration, necessitated in the Christian Church a trial of the spirits (a διάκρισις of them, 1Co_12:10; 1Co_14:29); comp. 1Th_5:20-21; in order to know ΕἸ ἘΚ ΤΟῦ ΘΕΟῦ ἘΣΤΙΝ , i.e. (if ἐκ is to be retained in its exact meaning), if they originate in and proceed from God.
This trial is to be exercised by all (comp. Rom_12:2; Eph_5:10; 1Co_10:15; 1Co_11:13), for “alloquitur (apostolus) non modo totum ecclesiae corpus, sed etiam singulos fideles” (Calvin); against which Lorinus arbitrarily says: non omnium est probare; unum oportet in ecclesia summum judicem quaestionum de fide moribusque; is est sine dubio Pontifex Maximus.
The necessity of the trial John establishes by the words: ὅτι πολλοὶ ψευδοπροφῆται κ . τ . λ . These ΨΕΥΔΟΠΡΟΦῆΤΑΙ are the same as in chap. 1Jn_2:18 are called ἈΝΤΙΧΡΊΣΤΟΙ ; comp 1Jn_4:2-3. The name ΨΕΥΔΟΠΡΟΦῆΤΑΙ indicates that the teachers proclaimed their doctrine, not as the result of human speculation, but as a revelation communicated to them by the ΠΝΕῦΜΑ of God. The expression: ἘΞΕΛΗΛΎΘΑΣΙΝ ΕἸς ΤῸΝ ΚΌΣΜΟΝ , does not merely signify their public appearance (Socinus: existere et publice munus aliquod aggredi; Grotius: apparere populo), nor is “ ἐξ οἰκῶν αὐτῶν to be mentally supplied” (Ebrard), but it is to be explained by the fact that the prophets, as such, were sent (comp. Joh_17:18), and therefore go out from Him who sends them. It is He, however, that sends them, who through His πνεῦμα makes them prophets. The idea of ἘΞΈΡΧΕΣΘΑΙ is accordingly different here from what it is in chap. 1Jn_2:19 (contrary to Lorinus, Spener, etc.); a going out of the false prophets from the Church of the Lord is not here alluded to. With ΕἸς ΤῸΝ ΚΌΣΜΟΝ , compare Joh_6:14; Joh_10:36.
[253] Düsterdieck considers the expression as describing “the superhuman principle animating the man who prophesies,” and explains the plural in this way, that “those different principles reveal themselves differently in their different instruments;” but with this interpretation the plural would be used in a very figurative signification. Braune correctly: “The question is not about a dual, but about a plural; we must therefore understand the spirits of men, to whom the Spirit bears witness.”