Summary

The first chapter of the gospel of John equates Christ with God, and introduces John
the Baptist. The Baptist specifically points to Jesus as the Promised One. Jesus
collects the first five of His disciples. In this chapter, Jesus is given seven descriptive
names, including “The Word,” “The Son of God,” and “The King of Israel.” This
chapter sets the stage for the rest of the gospel, by giving the reader a sense of who
Jesus truly is, and why He has come. The rest of the gospel is an exploration of the
claims made in this initial passage.

Form
The poetic quality of the prologue is observable, even in translation.
C. F. Burney maintained that a retroversion of the passage into Aramaic
reveals the form of a hymn consisting of eleven couplets, interspersed with
comments; this hymn he saw preserved in W 1—5, 10—11, 14, 16—17 (Aramaic
Origin, 40—41). The suggestion of an Aramaic original, while accepted by
Bultmann, has been widely rejected, but the basic idea of a poem concerning
the Logos has found general acceptance.

Structure
As to its subject matter, there is widespread agreement on the division
the prologue, though the exegetes use various ways of describing the secti01
1t divides naturally into four, which may be enumerated as follows:
(i) W 1—5, The Word and Creation; (ii) W 6—8, The Witness to the Word by
john the Baptist; (iii) vv 9—13, The Reactions to the Word in the World; (iv) W
14—18, The Confession of the Word by the Church.

Translation
6.

Ἐγένετο ἄνθρωπος ἀπεσταλμένος παρὰ Θεοῦ ὄνομα αὐτῷ Ἰωάννης

There came a man having been sent from God [the] name to Him [was] John

7.
οὗτος ἦλθεν εἰς μαρτυρίαν ἵνα μαρτυρήσῃ περὶ τοῦ φωτός ἵνα πάντες
πιστεύσωσιν δι’ αὐτοῦ

He came as a witness that he might testify concering the Light that all might
believe through him

8.

οὐκ ἦν ἐκεῖνος τὸ φῶς ἀλλ ἵνα μαρτυρήσῃ περὶ τοῦ φωτός

Not was He the light but that he might witness concerning the Light

9.

Ἦν τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινὸν ὃ φωτίζει πάντα ἄνθρωπον ἐρχόμενον εἰς τὸν κόσμον

Was the Light true who enlightens every man coming into the world

10.

ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ἦν καὶ ὁ κόσμος δι’ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο καὶ ὁ κόσμος αὐτὸν οὐκ ἔγνω

In the world He was and the world through Him came into being and the world
Him not knew

11.

εἰς τὰ ἴδια ἦλθεν καὶ οἱ ἴδιοι αὐτὸν οὐ παρέλαβον

To the own He came and the own Him not received

12.
ὅσοι δὲ ἔλαβον αὐτόν ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς ἐξουσίαν τέκνα Θεοῦ γενέσθαι τοῖς
πιστεύουσιν εἰς τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ

As many as however received Him He gave to them authority children of God to

be to those believing in the name of Him

13.
οἳ οὐκ ἐξ αἱμάτων οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος σαρκὸς οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος ἀνδρὸς ἀλλ’ ἐκ
Θεοῦ ἐγεννήθησαν

who not of blood nor of will of flesh nor of will of man but of God were born

EXEGESES

Title

The Coming of the Word as the Light of the World ( 1 : 6 - 13 )

V. 6

Ἐγένετο ἄνθρωπος. 'There arose a man'.

The second division of the Prologue begins and for the first time the stage of
history is reached. The aorist éyéveto is to be contrasted with the continuous
tenses of vv. 1-5. Like Mark, John (after his reference to creation and cternity)
takes John the Baptist as the beginning of the gospel (cf. Acts 10.37); see on 1.19-
34... C. K Barrett. Pg. 159. It is a sentence quite distint from the verse of the
Logos Hymn which goes before. J. H Bernard.. Pg. 7
John's appearance seems to be interruption from the Evangelist citation from
the Logos Hymn, which presents John the Baptist as the one commissioned from
God to be a witness to the one and only Light of the world.. Wbc.. P. 11, 12
ἀπεσταλμένος παρὰ Θεοῦ. ' sent and commissioned from God' like Moses (Exod.
3.10-15) and the prophets (e.g. Isa. 6.8) ; like Jesus himself (3.17 and many other
passages); also like the Hellenistic philosopher (e.g. Epictctus, II, XXII, 23,
G&yyedos ard tod Aids d&tréotadtai). On the use of é&trootéAdew (and
téptrewv) in John sce on 20.21, The work of John the Baptist derives significance
only from the fact that he is sent... Barret.. P.. 159

ὄνομα αὐτῷ Ἰωάννης.

V. 7

οὗτος ἦλθεν εἰς μαρτυρίαν ἵνα μαρτυρήσῃ περὶ τοῦ φωτός ἵνα πάντες
πιστεύσωσιν δι’ αὐτοῦ

εἰς μαρτυρίαν. ' To bear Witness ' This plays an important role in the thought of
the Gospel. The words marturia, marturein, being frequent in John, while they
occur comparatively seldom in the rest of New Testament.... Bernard.. P. 8

ἵνα μαρτυρήσῃ, hina adjoint with a finite verb where in classical greek we should
expect an infinitive which is a common construct in Koine Greek and is specially
frequent in John... Bernard.. P 8, 9

περὶ τοῦ φωτός. John the Baptist says ( v. 33 ) that it was revealed to him that
Jesus was the Coming One... P 9

ἵνα πάντες πιστεύσωσιν δι’ αὐτοῦ ' that all might believe through him'. Autuo
refers here to Christ, autos throughout the Prologue being used for the Word.
Jesus for him, is the end and object of faith, rather than the medium through
which it is reached. Pistunein this verb is used absolutely, the object of faith
being understood without being expressed.... Bernard.. P. 9
Bultmann maid a statement about this information, " the fact that all men are to
be brought to faith by thr baptist shows that the evangelist was not thinking of
the historical situation of the Baptist's preaching, but that he was reffering to His
goodness as it was constantly represented through the tradition and which in this
way retains its actuality. ".. Ernest Haenchem.. P. 116

V. 8

οὐκ ἦν ἐκεῖνος τὸ φῶς ἀλλ ἵνα μαρτυρήσῃ περὶ τοῦ φωτός

οὐκ ἦν ἐκεῖνος τὸ φῶς. ' Not was He the light '. It is possible that the Evangelist's
time there were followers of John who claimed that he was the Light, i. e.,
rectified here.