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Joh_1:8. ἦν is emphatic, and is therefore placed in the front: he was not the Light, but he was to bear witness of the Light; and hence, in the second clause, μαρτυρήσῃ emphatically takes the lead. The object of making this antithesis prominent is not controversy, nor has it the slightest reference to the disciples of John (see the Introduction), but to point out[80] the true position of the Baptist in face of the historical fact, that when he first appeared, men took him for the Messiah Himself (comp. Joh_1:20; Luk_3:15), so that his witnessshall appear in its proper historical aspect. Comp. Cyril.
ἀλλʼ ἵνα , κ . τ . λ .] From what precedes, we must understand ἦλθεν before ἵνα ; a rapid hastening away to the main thought (comp. Joh_9:3, Joh_13:18, Joh_15:25; 1Jn_2:19; Fritzsche, ad Matt. 840 f.; Winer, p. 297 [E. T. p. 398]); not imperative (De Wette), nor dependent upon ἦν (Lücke, Lange, Godet): not the latter, because εἶναι , ἵνα (instead of εἰς τό ), even if it were linguistically possible, is here untenable on account of the emphasis placed upon the ἦν ; while to take ἦν in the sense of aderat, as again understood before ἵνα (Godet), would be more forced and arbitrary than to supply ἦλθεν from Joh_1:7.
[80] Not: to bring more fully to light the greatness of Christ, through the subordination to Him of the greatest men and prophets, as Hengstenb. asserts. In this case John ought to have been described according to his own greatness and rank, and not simply as in ver. 6.