1 John 1:1 NIV

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 1 John 1:1-4

I. INTRODUCTION: THE PURPOSE OF THE EPISTLE 1:1-4"This writing begins without any of the formal features characteristic of a letter, such as we found in 2 John and 3 John. Since the conclusion also lacks any typical features of a letter, we must conclude that the writing is not so much a letter as a written sermon or address." [Note: I. Howard Marshall, The Epistles of John, p. 99.] John began this epistle by explaining to his audience why he wrote. He said he wrote so his readers would enjoy... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - 1 John 1:1-10

Fellowship with God in Light1. Observe the grammatical form of 1 John 1:1-3. In 1 John 1:1 a sentence is begun which, interrupted by the parenthesis in 1 John 1:2, is continued in 1 John 1:3. The sense is, ’We declare unto you that which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, etc., concerning the Word of Life.’ From the beginning] cp. John 1:1. Heard.. handled] the evidence of eyewitness. The Docetists taught that Christ was a mere phantom: cp. Luke 24:39. Of the Word of life] RV... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - 1 John 1:1-4

[1.The Exordium (1 John 1:1-4).(1)OBJECT AND PURPOSE OF THE APOSTOLIC PREACHING: The setting forth of the historical Christ for the spread of human fellowship with the Father and the Son (1 John 1:1-3).(2)DESIGN OF THE EPISTLE: Fulness of joy for those who should read it (1 John 1:4).](1) That which was from the beginning.—The profound emotion, the hearty sympathy, the tender anxiety which St. John feels as he begins his counsels to his friends, mark off this introduction very distinctly from... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - 1 John 1:1-10

1 John 1:1 The ancient philosophers, too, spoke of a wise man who was the type and exemplar of all goodness, about whom strange paradoxes were affirmed that he was a king, that he might be happy on the rack, and the like. This was their mode of describing philosophy. But they never supposed that Socrates or Chrysippus, or any other great teacher, really fulfilled this ideal. They did not 'see with their eyes,' nor 'touch with their hands,' the Word of Life. Nevertheless the Greek ideal, which... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - 1 John 1:1

Chapter 6ST. JOHN’S GOSPEL HISTORICAL, NOT IDEOLOGICAL1 John 1:1OUR argument so far has been that St. John’s Gospel is dominated by a central idea and by a theory which harmonises the great and many-sided life which it contains, and which is repeated again at the beginning of the Epistle in a form analogous to that in which it had been cast in the procemium of the Gospel-allowing for the difference between a history and a document of a more subjective character moulded upon that history.There... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - 1 John 1:1-4

Analysis and Annotations I. THE LIFE MANIFESTED CHAPTER 1:1-4 The opening verses of this Epistle are very precious and are the key to the whole Epistle. Three Scriptures speak of what was in the beginning. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1 ). This is the beginning of all things which God called into existence out of nothing. “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1 ). This takes us beyond the first verse of... read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - 1 John 1:1

1:1 That {1} which was from the beginning, which we have {a} heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the {b} Word of life;(1) He begins with the description of the person of Christ who he makes one and not two: and him both God from everlasting(for he was with the Father from the beginning, and is that eternal life) and also made true man, whom John himself and his companions both heard, beheld, and handled.(a) I heard him speak, I saw... read more

L.M. Grant

L. M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible - 1 John 1:1-10

Unlike his second and third epistles, this first from John’s pen waits for no salutation, but more like Paul’s to the Hebrews, immediately begins with a precious declaration of the glory of the Person of Christ. “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.” Does it not almost startle us with wonder that this blessed Person should be so introduced by the use of impersonal... read more

James Gray

James Gray's Concise Bible Commentary - 1 John 1:1-10

GOD IS LIGHT First John is addressed to no particular church or individual, but it is thought that the apostle had in mind a cycle of churches like the seven of Asia (see Revelation 1:0 ). It is likely that the Christians to whom he wrote were of Gentile rather than Jewish origin, as judged by the few references to the Old Testament, and by such allusions as that in 1 John 5:21 . The epistle was written later than the Gospel by the same author, as gathered from the circumstances that an... read more

Joseph Parker

The People's Bible by Joseph Parker - 1 John 1:1-5

Beginnings 1Jn 1:1-5 IN beginning his Gospel the Apostle John says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." In writing this Epistle he says, "That which was from the beginning." The Apostle was a man who took in a whole horizon. A clever man only takes in points; a clever man can, therefore, be dogmatic and impudent. The inspired man is filled with a sense of inexpressibleness, and, therefore, he must be sometimes apparently indefinite, but always he... read more