I JOHN 1:1

 

That which was

                             from the beginning,

which

          we have heard,

which

          we have seen with our eyes,

which

          we have looked upon,

and

          our hands have handled,

                                                of the Word of life.

 

 

 

That which was from the beginning                          Eternal                  Without beginning

 

          which we have heard,                                    Evidence                Witnessed

          which we have seen with our eyes.

          which we have looked upon

          and our hands have handled,

 

          of the Word of life.                                         Essence                 Word

 

 

Other versions:

 

NKJV:  That which was from the beginning which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life –

 

ESV:  That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life –

 

 

Definitions:

 

A.   Beginning

1.    Strong (746):  a commencement

2.    Thayer:  beginning, origin

3.    Vine:  to begin

 

B.   Handled

1.    Strong (5584):  to manipulate          :- feel after, handle, touch

2.    Thayer:  to handle, touch, feel

3.    Vine:  feel, touch, handle

 

C.   Eyes

1.    Strong (3788):  the eye (literally or figuratively) by implication vision

2.    Thayer:  the eye, metaphorically the eyes of the mind, the faculty of knowing

3.    Vine:  eye, of the physical organ, metaphorically, mental vision

 

 

D.   Have looked upon

1.    Strong (2300):  to look closely at, perceive

2.    Thayer:  to behold, look upon, view attentively, contemplate…to learn by looking

3.    Vine:  "to behold, view attentively, contemplate," had, in earlier Greek usage, the sense of a wondering regard. This idea was gradually lost. It signifies a more earnest contemplation than the ordinary verbs for "to see," "a careful and deliberate vision which interprets...its object,"

 

E.   Word

1.    Strong (3056):  something said…The Divine Expression (Christ)

2.    Thayer:  of speech, a word…embodies a conception or idea

3.    Vine:  the expression of thought…the title of the Son of God, the personal manifestation, not of a part of the divine nature, but of the whole deity.

 

F.    Life

1.    Strong (2222):  life

2.    Thayer:  of the absolute fulness of life, both essential and ethical, which belongs to God

3.    Vine:  of life as a principle, life in the absolute sense, life as God has it, that which the Father has in Himself

 

 

Personal thoughts:

 

1.    The Word, Jesus, was from the beginning.

2.    If He was at the beginning, then He existed prior to its coming into existence.  Thus, He is eternal.

3.    There was a beginning of all things.

4.    John heard, saw, looked upon, and handled Jesus Christ.  He was a real human being.

5.    How might John have “handled” the Christ?  hugs, hands, pat on the back, assistance when sick, etc.

6.    Jesus is the Word, the Divine Expression, of the Father.

7.    Jesus’ nature involves life.  He is the fountain, the source of life.

 

 

Commentators:

 

A.   Barnes:

1.    Beginning

 

“…does not here refer to his eternity, or his being in the beginning of all things… but rather means from the very commencement of his manifestation as the Son of God, the very first indications on earth of what he was as the Messiah” (e-sword).

 

2.    Looked upon

 

“The additional idea which is couched in this word seems to be that of desire or pleasure; that is, that he had looked on him with desire, or satisfaction, or with the pleasure with which one beholds a beloved object…There was an intense and earnest gaze, as when we behold one whom we have desired to see, or when one goes out purposely to look on an object. The evidences of the incarnation of the Son of God had been subjected to such an intense and earnest gaze” (e-sword).

 

3.    Hands have handled

 

“That is, the evidence that he was a man was subjected to the sense of touch. It was not merely that he had been seen by the eye, for then it might be pretended that this was a mere appearance assumed without reality; or that what occurred might have been a mere optical illusion; but the evidence that he appeared in the flesh was subjected to more senses than one; to the fact that his voice was heard; that he was seen with the eyes; that the most intense scrutiny had been employed; and, lastly, that he had been actually touched and handled, showing that it could not have been a mere appearance, an assumed form, but that it was a reality” (e-sword).

 

4.    Word of life

 

“The phrase “the Word of life,” means the Word in which life resided, or which was the source and fountain of life” (e-sword)

 

B.   Guy N. Woods, A Commentary on the New Testament Epistles, Vol. 7

1.    Introduction

 

“The Epistle opens with an exordium, or introduction (1:1-4), in which the author sets forth his personal experiences which had been his, thus enabling him to offer eyewitness testimony regarding the facts presented…” (209)

 

2.    The resemblance of 1 John with John 1.

 

1 John                                                              John 1

 

          That which was from the beginning (1:1)         In the beginning (1:1)

          The life which was with the Father (1:2)          And the Word was with God (1:1)

          The word of life (1:1)                                      In him was life (1:4)

          The life was manifested (1:2)                          The light shineth (1:9)

          Which we have looked upon (1:1)                    We beheld his glory (1:14)

 

3.    “That which”

 

This is not masculine gender, but a neuter relative.

 

“The reference is thus not to Christ contemplated as a person only, but to the attributes and characteristics which he, as the Word, possesses” (210)

 

4.    From the beginning

 

The term “beginning” is used in several different ways in John’s epistle (I John 2:7; 2:14; 3:8).

 

“In our text ‘from the beginning’ point to that period before creation, and there into the eternity which precedes it.  It is an affirmation of the eternal characteristics of the Lord and the attributes which he possesses” (210).

 

5.    The next “that which” phrases indicates John’s relationship to the Word

 

Heard, seen, beheld, handled

 

“Each of the verbs…in rising gradation, sharpens the concept and vivifies the thought intended by the writer” (211).

 

Hearing and seeing can be done voluntarily and without a true desire to hear or see.

 

“Looked upon”

 

“The word ‘beheld,’ however, indicates conscious and willful participation; it denotes more than seeing…suggests a steady and penetrating gaze designed to hold the object in view until all it characteristics are noted” (211).

 

“Also inherent in the meaning of the word is the idea of contemplating with pleasure, looking with delight, finding satisfaction in the object thus contemplated” (211).

 

“The verb ‘handled’ suggests the most tangible, intimate, and definite evidence which John offered.  In it there was physical contact” (211).

 

“The Lord was not a mere influence, nor yet a shadowy phantom, but a living, vibrant, tangible personality whose voice John heard, whose body he had seen, and whom he had touched with his own hands” (211).

 

6.    Word of life

 

Jesus, as the Word of life, is the full expression of life.

 

C.   Lenski, The Interpretation of I and II Epistles of Peter, the three Epistles of John, and the Epistle of Jude.

1.    Conclusion about 1 John1:1-4

 

“Yet a cutting edge against a terrible negation underlies every word.  Cerinthus and his supporters are not witnesses, have heard, seen, beheld, and touched nothing; deny the deity of Jesus, the Life eternal; destroy the fellowship of the believers with the Father and his Son; contradict what the apostles testify, declare, write, and attempt to turn their joy into grief” (370).

 

2.    That which

 

There are five neuters.  The fifth occurs in v. 3.

 

“The neuter conveys more than the masculine would, namely in addition to the person all that this person was and is and ever will be for us.  Throughout these neuter relative clauses speak of the person plus the grace, the power, the salvation, etc., that are conveyed to us by this person.  Jesus Christ cannot be separated from what he was and is for us.  Both belong together like the sun and its glorious light” (370-371).

 

3.    From the beginning

 

“This is the same ‘beginning’ as that mentioned in Gen. 1:1 and John 1:1.

 

“John looks forward from the beginning because he would call attention to the point that the Logos of the Life existed long, long before his manifestation in the fulness of time” (371).

 

4.    Heard, seen, beheld, handled

 

The word “we” includes all of the apostles.

 

“The four statements are cumulative, the evidence is piled up mountain-high.  Each added verb says more than the one that precedes it; the four progress, form a climax.  To see is more than to hear; to behold more than to see; to handle more than to behold” (373).

 

What was heard and seen continues to have an impact on the apostles.

The did actually behold and they actually handle the Word of life.

They saw it with their own eyes, and they handled him with their own hands.

 

5.    Word of life

 

Life.  “It is the divine essence itself in is personality and its activity” (372).

 

He notes this life three times in the first two verses.

 

…for he who is ‘the Life’ eternal and in eternity was manifested as he Bearer of life to us who were dead in our sins” (372).

Word.  “This is the second person of the Godhead who is called ‘the Word’ because he is the complete and final Revelator of the will and the thought of God” (373).

 

 

D.   Bruce, The Epistles of John

 

A.   That which was from the beginning…

 

Bruce notes that these words resemble those found in John 1:1.

 

“It is not necessary, however, to conclude that the two ‘beginnings’ are identical; more probably they are not” (34).

 

“…while in 1 John 1:1 it is the beginning of the gospel absolutely, the beginning as it was know to the one who was present at the time and directly witnessed the saving events” (35).

 

“John’s authority to speak about ‘that which was from the beginning’ is the authority of first-hand knowledge.  He could be described, in Luke’s language, as one of ‘those who from the beginning…were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word’ (Luke 1.2)” (35).

 

B.   Heard, Saw, Behold, Touched

1.    Heard His words.

2.    Saw His works.

3.    Beheld His glory (at the Transfiguration)

4.    Hands handled following the resurrection (Luke 24;39).

 

C.   Word of life

 

1 John 5:20

 

NOTE:

The next step in Bible study is to take all of these notes and arrange them in such a way that the student understands them and can present them well to others.