The Word Became Flesh
1 In the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome [Or understood ] it.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) 16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and [Some manuscripts but the only Son, who] is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
John the Baptist Denies Being the Messiah
19 Now, this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders [The Greek term traditionally translated the Jews (hoi Ioudaioi) refers here and elsewhere in John’s Gospel to those Jewish leaders who opposed Jesus; also in 5:10, 15, 16; 7:1, 11, 13; 9:22; 18:14, 28, 36; 19:7, 12, 31, 38; 20:19. ] in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”
21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
22 Finally, they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”[Isaiah 40:3]
24 Now the Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
26 “I baptize with [Or in; also in verses 31 and 33 (twice) ] water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
John Testifies About Jesus
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”
32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”[See Isaiah 42:1; many manuscripts is the Son of God.]
John’s Disciples Follow Jesus
35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”
They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”
So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.
40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter [Cephas (Aramaic) and Peter (Greek) both mean rock. ]).
Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael
43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”
44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.
“Come and see,” said Philip.
47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”
48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”
50 Jesus said, “You believe [Or Do you believe … ?] because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” 51 He then added, “Very truly I tell you, [The Greek is plural.] you [The Greek is plural.] will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’[Gen. 28:12] the Son of Man.”
NOTES:
1:1–18 The prologue states the main themes of the gospel:
life, light, truth, the world, testimony, and the preexistence of Jesus Christ,
the incarnate Logos, who reveals God the Father. In origin, it was probably an
early Christian hymn. Its closest parallel is in other christological hymns,
Col 1:15–20 and Phil 2:6–11. Its core (Jn 1:1–5, 10–11, 14) is poetic in
structure, with short phrases linked by “staircase parallelism,” in which the
last word of one phrase becomes the first word of the next. Prose inserts (at
least Jn 1:6–8, 15) deal with John the Baptist.
1:1 In the beginning: also the first words of the Old
Testament (Gn 1:1). Was: this verb is used three times with different meanings
in this verse: existence, relationship, and predication. The Word (Greek
logos): this term combines God’s dynamic, creative word (Genesis), personified
preexistent Wisdom as the instrument of God’s creative activity (Proverbs), and
the ultimate intelligibility of reality (Hellenistic philosophy). With God: the
Greek preposition here connotes communication with another. Was God: lack of a
definite article with “God” in Greek signifies predication rather than
identification.
1:3 What came to be: while the oldest manuscripts have no
punctuation here, the corrector of Bodmer Papyrus P75, some manuscripts, and
the Ante-Nicene Fathers take this phrase with what follows, as staircase
parallelism. Connection with Jn 1:3 reflects fourth-century anti-Arianism.
1:5 The ethical dualism of light and darkness is paralleled
in intertestamental literature and in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Overcome:
“comprehend” is another possible translation, but cf. Jn 12:35; Wis 7:29–30.
1:6 John was sent just as Jesus was “sent” (Jn 4:34) in
divine mission. Other references to John the Baptist in this gospel emphasize
the differences between them and John’s subordinate role.
1:7 Testimony: the testimony theme of John is introduced,
which portrays Jesus as if on trial throughout his ministry. All testify to
Jesus: John the Baptist, the Samaritan woman, scripture, his works, the crowds,
the Spirit, and his disciples.
1:11 What was his own…his own people: first a neuter,
literally, “his own property/possession” (probably = Israel), then a masculine,
“his own people” (the Israelites).
1:13 Believers in Jesus become children of God not through
any of the three natural causes mentioned but through God who is the immediate
cause of the new spiritual life. Were born: the Greek verb can mean “begotten”
(by a male) or “born” (from a female or of parents). The variant “he who was
begotten,” asserting Jesus’ virginal conception, is weakly attested in Old
Latin and Syriac versions.
1:14 Flesh: the whole person, used probably against docetic
tendencies (cf. 1 Jn 4:2; 2 Jn 7). Made his dwelling: literally, “pitched his
tent/tabernacle.” Cf. the tabernacle or tent of meeting that was the place of
God’s presence among his people (Ex 25:8–9). The incarnate Word is the new mode
of God’s presence among his people. The Greek verb has the same consonants as
the Aramaic word for God’s presence (Shekinah). Glory: God’s visible
manifestation of majesty in power, which once filled the tabernacle (Ex 40:34)
and the temple (1 Kgs 8:10–11, 27), is now centered in Jesus. Only Son: Greek,
monogenēs, but see note on Jn 1:18. Grace and truth: these words may represent
two Old Testament terms describing Yahweh in covenant relationship with Israel
(cf. Ex 34:6), thus God’s “love” and “fidelity.” The Word shares Yahweh’s
covenant qualities.
1:15 This verse, interrupting Jn 1:14, 16 seems drawn from
Jn 1:30.
1:16 Grace in place of grace: replacement of the Old
Covenant with the New (cf. Jn 1:17). Other possible translations are “grace
upon grace” (accumulation) and “grace for grace” (correspondence).
1:18 The only Son, God: while the vast majority of later
textual witnesses have another reading, “the Son, the only one” or “the only
Son,” the translation above follows the best and earliest manuscripts,
monogenēs theos, but takes the first term to mean not just “Only One” but to
include a filial relationship with the Father, as at Lk 9:38 (“only child”) or
Hb 11:17 (“only son”) and as translated at Jn 1:14. The Logos is thus “only
Son” and God but not Father/God.
1:19–51 The testimony of John the Baptist about the Messiah
and Jesus’ self-revelation to the first disciples. This section constitutes the
introduction to the gospel proper and is connected with the prose inserts in
the prologue. It develops the major theme of testimony in four scenes: John’s
negative testimony about himself; his positive testimony about Jesus; the
revelation of Jesus to Andrew and Peter; the revelation of Jesus to Philip and
Nathanael.
1:19 The Jews: throughout most of the gospel, the “Jews”
does not refer to the Jewish people as such but to the hostile authorities,
both Pharisees and Sadducees, particularly in Jerusalem, who refuse to believe
in Jesus. The usage reflects the atmosphere, at the end of the first century,
of polemics between church and synagogue, or possibly it refers to Jews as a representative of a hostile world (Jn 1:10–11).
1:20 Messiah: the anointed agent of Yahweh, usually
considered to be of Davidic descent. See further the note on Jn 1:41.
1:21 Elijah: the Baptist did not claim to be Elijah returned
to earth (cf. Mal 3:19; Mt 11:14). The Prophet: probably the prophet like Moses
(Dt 18:15; cf. Acts 3:22).
1:23 This is a repunctuation and reinterpretation (as in the
synoptic gospels and Septuagint) of the Hebrew text of Is 40:3 which reads, “A
voice cries out: In the desert prepare the way of the Lord.”
1:24 Some Pharisees: other translations, such as “Now they
had been sent from the Pharisees,” misunderstand the grammatical construction.
This is a different group from that in Jn 1:19; the priests and Levites would
have been Sadducees, not Pharisees.
1:26 I baptize with water: the synoptics add “but he will
baptize you with the holy Spirit” (Mk 1:8) or “…holy Spirit and fire” (Mt 3:11;
Lk 3:16). John’s emphasis is on purification and preparation for a better
baptism.
1:28 Bethany across the Jordan: site unknown. Another
reading is “Bethabara.”
1:29 The Lamb of God: the background for this title may be
the victorious apocalyptic lamb who would destroy evil in the world (Rev 5–7;
17:14); the paschal lamb, whose blood saved Israel (Ex 12); and/or the
suffering servant led like a lamb to the slaughter as a sin-offering (Is 53:7,
10).
1:30 He existed before me: possibly as Elijah (to come, Jn
1:27); for the evangelist and his audience, Jesus’ preexistence would be
implied (see note on Jn 1:1).
1:31 I did not know him: this gospel shows no knowledge of
the tradition (Lk 1) about the kinship of Jesus and John the Baptist. The
reason why I came baptizing with water: in this gospel, John’s baptism is not
connected with forgiveness of sins; its purpose is revelatory, that Jesus may
be made known to Israel.
1:32 Like a dove: a symbol of the new creation (Gn 8:8) or
the community of Israel (Hos 11:11). Remain: the first use of a favorite verb
in John, emphasizing the permanency of the relationship between Father and Son
(as here) and between the Son and the Christian. Jesus is the permanent bearer
of the Spirit.
1:34 The Son of God: this reading is supported by good Greek
manuscripts, including the Chester Beatty and Bodmer Papyri and the Vatican
Codex, but is suspect because it harmonizes this passage with the synoptic
version: “This is my beloved Son” (Mt 3:17; Mk 1:11; Lk 3:22). The poorly
attested alternate reading, “God’s chosen One,” is probably a reference to the
Servant of Yahweh (Is 42:1).
1:36 John the Baptist’s testimony makes his disciples’
following of Jesus plausible.
1:37 The two disciples: Andrew (Jn 1:40) and, traditionally,
John, son of Zebedee (see note on Jn 13:23).
1:39 Four in the afternoon: literally, the tenth hour, from
sunrise, in the Roman calculation of time. Some suggest that the next day,
beginning at sunset, was the sabbath; they would have stayed with Jesus to
avoid travel on it.
1:41 Messiah: the Hebrew word māšîaḥ, “anointed one” (see
note on Lk 2:11), appears in Greek as the transliterated messias only here and
in Jn 4:25. Elsewhere the Greek translation christos is used.
1:42 Simon, the son of John: in Mt 16:17, Simon is called
Bariōna, “son of Jonah,” a different tradition for the name of Simon’s father.
Cephas: in Aramaic = the Rock; cf. Mt 16:18. Neither the Greek equivalent
Petros nor, with one isolated exception, Cephas is attested as a personal name
before Christian times.
1:43 He: grammatically, could be Peter, but logically is
probably Jesus.
1:47 A true Israelite. There is no duplicity in him: Jacob
was the first to bear the name “Israel” (Gn 32:29), but Jacob was a man of
duplicity (Gn 27:35–36).
1:48 Under the fig tree: a symbol of messianic peace (cf. Mi
4:4; Zec 3:10).
1:49 Son of God: this title is used in the Old Testament,
among other ways, as a title of adoption for the Davidic king (2 Sm 7:14; Ps
2:7; 89:27), and thus here, with King of Israel, in a messianic sense. For the
evangelist, Son of God also points to Jesus’ divinity (cf. Jn 20:28).
1:50 Possibly a statement: “You [singular] believe because I
saw you under the fig tree.”
1:51 The double “Amen” is characteristic of John. You is
plural in Greek. The allusion is to Jacob’s ladder (Gn 28:12).
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