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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - John 1:9 - 1:9
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9. ἦν τὸ φῶς κ.τ.λ. Most Ancient Versions, Fathers, and Reformers take ἐρχόμενον with ἄνθρωπον, every man that cometh into the world; a solemn fulness of expression and not a weak addition. A number of modern commentators take ἐρχ. with ἦν; the true Light, which lighteth every man, was coming into the world. But ἦν and ἐρχ. are somewhat far apart for this. There is yet a third way; There was the true Light, which lighteth every man, by coming into the world. Observe the emphatic position of ἦν. ‘There was the true Light,’ even while the Baptist was preparing the way for Him.
τὸ ἀληθινόν. Ἀληθής = verax, ‘true’ as opposed to ‘lying:’ ἀληθινός = verus, ‘true’ as opposed to ‘spurious.’ Ἀληθινός is just the old English ‘very;’ e.g. in the Creed, ‘Very God of very God’ is a translation of θεὸν ἀληθινὸν ἐκ θεοῦ ἀληθινοῦ. Ἀληθινός = ‘genuine,’ ‘that which comes up to its idea,’ and hence ‘perfect.’ Christ is ‘the perfect Light,’ just as He is ‘the perfect Bread’ (Joh 6:32) and ‘the perfect Vine’ (Joh 15:1); not that He is the only Light, and Bread, and Vine, but that others are types and shadows, and therefore inferior. All words about truth are characteristic of S. John. Ἀληθινός occurs 9 times in the Gospel, 4 times in the First Epistle, 10 times in the Apocalypse; elsewhere only 6 times: ἀληθής, 14 times in the Gospel, twice in the First Epistle, once in the Second; elsewhere 9 times. Ἀλήθεια and ἀληθῶς are also very frequent.
πάντα ἄνθρωπον. The Light illumines every man, but not every man is the better for it; that depends on himself. Moreover it illumines ‘each one singly,’ not ‘all collectively’ (πάντα not πάντας). God deals with men separately as individuals, not in masses.