1 John 1:1-4

Ιωαννου α in A. B. Ιωαννου επιστολη α Cod. Sin. al. [other Codd. read επιστολη Ιωαννου τρωτη; l. r. Ιωαννου του αποστολου επιστολη καθολικη πρωτη.—M.].

I. THE EXORDIUM

1 John 1:1-4

OBJECT AND PURPOSE OF THE APOSTOLIC ANNUNCIATION (1 John 1:1-3). DESIGN OF THE EPISTLE. (1 John 1:4)

1That which1 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 2life; (For2 the life was manifested, and we have seen it,3 and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which4 was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) 3That which we have seen and heard declare5 we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship6 is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4And these things write7 we unto you that your joy8 may be full.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

The exordium (1 John 1:1-4) describes in vivid and definite language the object and purpose of the Apostolical annunciation and of this Epistle.—The affinity of this exordium with the prologue of the Gospel of St. John is unmistakable.

The Gospel.

The First Epistle.

John 1:1. In the beginning (ἐν ) was the Word.

1 John 1:1. What was from the beginning (ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς.)

John 1:1-2. And it was with God (πρὸς τὸν Θεόν.)

1 John 1:2. Which (Life) was with God [with the Father] (πρὸς τὸν θεὸν.)

John 1:1-4. The Word (λόγος) in Him was Life (ζωή.)

1 John 1:1. The word of the Life (τοῦ λόγου τῆς ζωῆς.)

John 1:5. The Life was the Light of men, and the Light shineth (φαίνει)—

1 John 1:2. The Life was manifested, appeared (ἐφανερώθη.)

John 1:9. He was the true Light, who lighteneth every man, come into the world.

John 1:14. We gazed upon His glory (ἐθεασάμεθα.)

1 John 1:2. What we have seen with our eyes, what we gazed upon (ἐθεασάμεθα.)

Equally unmistakable is the difference between the two exordia; the prologue of the Gospel is a monologue, a testimony and confession, where the Apostle, soaring aloft like an eagle, is raised in calm contemplation above all the tumults of life; the exordium of the Epistle, however, is written in profound emotion under the impressions of a blessed experience in the past, and of the present in hearty sympathy with and tender anxiety for the readers of the Epistle; its address is eloquent, pathetic and lively.

In point of form this exordium differs from that of almost all the Epistles of the New Testament, and resembles only the exordium of the Epistle to the Hebrews; it is alike devoid of the name of the writer, of a description of the readers, and of the salutation. But even in the second and third Epistles, although addressed to individuals, and specifying their name or description, the name of the author is not given, his office only being mentioned (ὁ πρεσβύτερος).—As in the Gospel, so in the Epistles, John loves to suppress his name (John 1:35; John 1:40; John 13:23; John 18:15; John 19:26; John 20:3; John 21:20, and cf. J. P. Lange, the Ev. Jo., p. 63. 2). But although he does not name himself, the Apostolical office and vocation of the author are accurately marked; and although the readers are not even designated, his relation to them is made sufficiently prominent, so that we must say that the Epistle is written not only for them, but to them. But the salutation (χαίρειν) may be alluded to in ἵνα ἡ χαρὰ ὑμῶν ᾖ πεπληρωμένη.

The structure, 1 John 1:1-3, owing to its liveliness, is not quite simple; it is repeatedly interrupted and has been variously given. The fundamental or leading word (the verbum finitum), is doubtless ἀπαγγέλλομεν, 1 John 1:3, which for the sake of clearness is appropriately placed between the object of the annunciation and its purpose. The purpose is simply and definitely indicated: ἵνα καὶ ὑμεῖς κοινωνίαν ἔχητε μεθ’ ἡμῖν. In defining the object, the Apostle seems to struggle for the right expressions, and renders it prominent in a double series of clauses, first, 1 John 1:1 : ὃ ἦν ’ ἀρχῆς—ἐψηλάφησαν; then 1 John 1:1 : περὶ τοῦ λόγου τῆς ζωῆς—ἐφανερώθη ἡμῖν. He marks it first according to its import and being, 1 John 1:1. ὃ ἦν ’ ἀρχῆς, in the second part of 1 John 1:1; περὶ τοῦ λόγου τῆς ζωῆς, and 1 John 1:2, ἡ ζωή ἡ αἰώνιος ἥτις ἦν πρὸς τὸν πατέρα, and then according to its manifestation, 1 John 1:1 : ὃ ἑωράκαμεν—ἐψηλάφησαν, 1 John 1:2 : ἐφανερώθη—ἡμῖν, or first according to its mysterious sublimity and fulness, and then according to the manifold internal relations in which it stood and stands to John and his associates. The Apostle, while strongly marking the object of the Apostolical annunciation after the first series of relative clauses by περὶ τοῦ λόγου τῆς ζωῆς, takes occasion to introduce with the Genitive ζωῆς a parenthesis, 1 John 1:2, which concludes with ἐφανερώθη ἡμῖν, and cannot be resolved or broken up. This constrains him to connect the sentence, thus interrupted by the parenthesis, with what goes before by ὃ ἑωράκαμεν καὶ , and so that, as the sentence begins with a relative, now that the object has been distinctly defined by περὶ τοῦ λόγου τῆς ζωῆς, it also concludes with a relative. We have therefore here no period with protasis and apodosis, but a simple sentence, much enlarged indeed and interrupted by long parentheses, the structure of which however is plain enough and does not allow any other construing.

The Object Of The Apostolical Annunciation. 1 John 1:1-3 a

a. The First Series of Clauses.

1 John 1:1

1 John 1:1. What was from the beginning.—The opening words remind us of John 1:1 : “In the beginning was the Word,” and of Genesis 1:1 : “In the beginning God created.” Not the moment of creation, but the purely eternal existence until the beginning of the world and its history. The word ἀρχή must always be defined by the context, e.g., in 1 John 2:7 : “Ye had from the beginning,” the beginning denotes the time when they became Christians, in 1 John 3:8, “the devil sinneth from the beginning,” i.e., from the time when he became the devil, which happened immediately after the creation of the world; in 1 John 2:13-14 : “Ye have known him that is from the beginning,” i.e., from eternity, Jesus Christ.—The beginning of the devil dates from the creation of the world (1 John 3:8), the beginning of faith lies in the life of the readers themselves (1 John 2:7), and the beginning here and at 1 John 2:13, denotes eternity before the creation of the world. The sense is clear from the parallel sentence, 1 John 1:2, “ἦν πρὸς τὸν πατέρα,” and corresponds with πρὸ πάντων Colossians 1:17, πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου Ephesians 1:4, πρὸ τοῦ τὸν κόσμον εἶναι John 17:5, or with ἀπὸ τῶν αἰώνων Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 1:26. But ἀπό does not equal πρὸ, nor is ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς equal to ἐν , John 1:1.—In the Gospel the Apostle describes and considers the Existence of the Logos with the Father before the Creation, and then proceeds to denote His agency in the creation; but here the Apostle passes from the Existence of the Logos to His manifestations in history. He was therefore before the world was, and He was, before He appeared in history [i.e., before His incarnation.—M.]. The Apostle looks back from his personal experience to the eternity from whence He came; His eye travels over thousands of years from the beginning to the time of His personal experience. As He became not the Logos when He became man, so He became not [began to exist—M.] when the world was made, began to exist. The reference is consequently not to the μυστήριον Θεοῡ (Theophylact, Oecumen.), or to the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Socinus), or to the res a Deo destinatæ (Grotius).—The simplest explanation of the designation of the personal Logos by the Neuter ὃ, is the supposition that the Apostle, moved by the mysterious sublimity and the fulness of essential [belonging to the Being or Essence of Christ—M.] glory (which will not be fully recognized and known before His ultimate revelation in His second advent, 1 John 3:2 : καθώς ἐστι), writes with a soaring sense of indefiniteness, and views the Person to whom he refers at the same time as the principle of the world and its history, although this does not pass into a reflecting consciousness [sic in German.—M.]. Similarly τὸ κατέχον precedes ὁ κατέχων in 2 Thessalonians 2:6; similar terms may also be seen in Luke 1:35; John 3:6; John 6:37; Hebrews 7:7; 1 Corinthians 1:27 sq.; Colossians 1:26; 1 John 5:4. The reference is consequently not to abstraction, the Word of Life, the Life (Huther), or to the connection of the Person of Jesus with His history and doctrine (Lücke Ebrard), or the taking together of His preëxistence and historical appearance (Düsterdieck), or to the mere designation of the Apostolical annunciation (Hofmann). [Braune’s explanation lacks perspicuity, and really seeks to combine the views of Huther and Düsterdieck, with the addition of a reference to the second coming of Christ; we doubt whether it will convince many readers, while Huther’s explanation, which we give in full, supplies a clear and natural reason for the use of the Neuter ὅ. “The Apostle points to the Apostolical annunciation, namely, the personal Christ, by the Neuter because he thinks of Him as ‘the Word of Life,’ or ‘the Life.’ The reference then being to an abstract (per se) or general idea, ζωή, the Neuter ὅ seems to be in place. The Apostle might indeed have used ὅς for ὅ, because this ζωή is to him the personal Christ; but considering that the characteristic import of Christ consists in His being the Life (not only a living individual) and that John, full of this idea, begins this Epistle, it was more natural that he should use ὅ than ὅς”—M.]

What we have heard—seen—gazed upon—handled is a rising gradation; hearing is the lowest degree of the climax, it strikes the ear from a certain distance, perhaps unsought for; with our eyes intensifies the word seen; seeing indeed may be involuntary, but the beginning of self-activity is already marked; gazing upon gives prominence to this self-activity [voluntary exercise of the sense of sight—M.], with the secondary idea of continuance; handled with our hands denotes the nearest and most direct intercourse. By “what we have heard” the Apostle naturally passes from the eternal existence of the Logos to His historical appearing; the λόγος ἄσαρκος becomes the λόγος ἔνσαρκος. He makes Himself known first and most naturally in the Word. Not what he had heard of Him in the Word of the Old Testament, in the prophecies until John the Baptist, but that he had heard Himself. “O cannot be another object than in the first clause; the same word, ὅ, is used in all the clauses, and designates the same object, the Logos; the perceptions and modes of revelation only differ. The Apostle had not only heard words of the mouth, words from human lips, but in such human words, and through them the speaker Himself, the Logos; not the Apostle’s ear, but he himself has heard, his soul of course through the instrumentality of the material organ of hearing.—He had seen, as he says, in order to lay peculiar emphasis on the testimony of his ears and eyes, with his own eyes, the form of a servant, the Son of man, but of course what lived therein shown forth therefrom in look and mien, in manner and motion; the soul of John, therefore, looked with bodily eyes into the Nature of the manifested, incarnate Logos. Hence again the same object. Indeed He says Himself: “He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father,” John 14:9 compared with John 12:45.

What we gazed upon—handled are Aorists, not Perfects, as just before. This change of tense is neither arbitrary nor inaccurate, but designed and wise. The Apostle had heard and seen in single moments; these are finished acts, facts with their effects; but now he intends by the use of these Aorists to point to the past as an expiring present, how he had ever and anon had continuous intercourse with Him in the most direct nearness and lively self-activity.—The verbs “heard” and “seen” rather denote involuntary perception, while the others, “gazed upon” and “handled,” signify voluntary, intentional perception for the purpose of making sure of the reality and nature of the Logos. (Huther).—The man Jesus only was gazed upon, His body only was handled, but through all that sensuousness the Son of God was recognized and felt, and His Divine glory perceived and experienced. We have, therefore, to deal with the same object throughout. The verb “gazed upon” reminds us of the language of John in his Gospel (John 1:14): “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we gazed upon (ἐθεασάμεθα) His glory;” the verb “handled” is connected with the words of the risen Saviour, Luke 24:39 : “Behold my hands and my feet that it is I myself; handle me (ψηλαφήσατέ με), and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have,” cf. John 20:27. John, who leaned on His bosom, John 13:23 : ἐν τῷ κόλπῳ, John 13:25; John 21:20 : ἐπὶ τὸ στῆθος, denotes thereby the most intimate relation, rendering shaking of hands and kissing proper, and thus places the real humanity and bodily existence of Christ beyond the possibility of doubt. “He patiently allowed murderers to handle Him, why should He not have suffered those who love Him to do the same.” (Pfenninger). Thus the Apostle marks here two things, first, the fulness of his perceptions, and, secondly, their authentication. Luther says correctly: “He multiplies words, and thus makes the matter great and important. We have, says he, looked and gazed upon with the utmost care and diligence; we have not been deceived, but are sure that it was not an illusion. He says this in order to make his hearers perfectly sure of the matter.” Thus both the glory of the incarnate Word, so difficult to understand, and the authentication of the testimony, so important in its bearing, are portrayed in such lively colours on account of the object.

b. The Second Series of Clauses.

1 John 1:1-3 a.

Of the word of the Life is neither an independent appositive addition to the preceding definitions of the object (Huther), nor governed by the last verb, ἐψηλάφησαν (Erasmus, al.), nor, indeed, by ἧν ̓ ἀρχῆδ (S. G. Lange, “What happened to the Word of Life from the beginning!”). It is the beginning of a new clause, parallel with the series of relative clauses as to matter (Düsterdieck), which terminates with them in ἀπαγγέλλομεν. That which before had been taken indefinitely as a Neuter, is here described for the first time as a Person. The Word of Life, per se, may stand both for the Gospel of Life and the Personal Logos of Life, and taken as the Apostolical Word, or the hypostatical Word. If it be taken in the former sense as verbum simpliciter (Bengel), the Genitive τῆδ ζωῆδ may designate the quality (Socinus, Grotius), like ὁ ἄρτος τῆς ζωῆδ, John 6:35, τὸ φῶδ τῆδ ζωῆδ, or the object (Luther: “we speak of the life,” Düsterdieck), as in 1 Corinthians 1:18 : ὁ λόγοδ τοῦ σταυροῦ. But this construction of περὶ τοῦ λόγου τῆδ ζωῆδ is impossible, because it must be connected with ἀπαγγέλλομεν (1 Thessalonians 1:9 : περὶ ἡμῶν ); the construction with περὶ instead of the Accusative is designed to guard against the possible misunderstanding of making the Word designate the Gospel and not Christ. To speak the Gospel concerning, respecting the Word, although in the manner of a declaration, pertains rather to the province of science, is more the work of the theologian than of the Apostle. But grammatically it is inadmissible to infer from the parenthesis after ζωῆδ, namely from the words ἀπαγγέλλομεν τὴν ζωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον, that λόγοδ τῆδ ζωῆς is equal to said words, i.e., the declaration or annunciation of life. The Word, ὁ λόγος, the object of the Apostolic annunciation, must be, as in John 1:1, sqq., the original, eternal, personal Word, the eternal Son of the eternal Father, and fully accords with ο͂ ἧν ̓ ἀρχῆδ, with the sole difference that the neutrum becomes a masculinum, in order to bring out the personal character of the Logos according to His historical manifestation. On ὁ λόγοδ see J. P. Lange, The Gospel According to John, p. 38, sq., Germ. edition.—The Genitive τῆδ ζωῆδ is explained by John 1:4 : ἐν αὐτῷ ζωὴ ἦν. The Word has Life in itself, is Life Itself, and imparts Life to others. It is the true, eternal, primal Life, and this Life is the Nature of the Logos, but the object of the annunciation is the Logos Himself. (Düsterdieck).

1 John 1:2. And the Life was manifested.—καὶ adds in a vivid manner an explanation by introducing a parenthesis and interrupting the sentence; ἐφανερώθη recalls John 1:4-5, “And the Life was the Light, and the Light shineth (φαίνει) in the darkness.” The Life of the Logos appeared, was manifested, so that we may infer His Being and Nature from His Life, and thus acquire a knowledge of the Son. This epiphany is the immediate consequence of the Incarnation, of the ἐνσάρκωσιδ. John 1:14 : ὁ λόγοδ σάρξ ἐγένετο.

And we have seen—testify—declare.—Antithesis of John 1:5, “And the darkness has (Luther: had) not comprehended it.” The climax is: ἑωράκαμεν connected with ἐφανερώθη, he had been a spectator, but did not see in vain; for he became a witness through intercourse with the manifested One, and in his capacity of witness he fixes his eye on what had become visible, the acts and events which he had experienced: what he thus sees and utters is purely objective without reference to his hearers and their wants or relations, but in the interest in and for the matter itself. But he does not stop there; he now declares also what he has seen; he explains and applies at the same time; he unfolds in their fulness, and with a special interest in his readers, the thoughts and facts comprised in his personal experience. The objective is brought near through the subjective. Thus he joyfully recalls to himself that blessed manifestation, and is constrained to testify for himself, and to declare to others, that they also may have such an experience. ̓Απαγγέλλειν καταγγέλλειν, Acts 17:27; and =κηρύσσειν, Romans 10:14, sq., cf. Matthew 28:8; Matthew 28:11; Acts 26:20. In John’s writings, ὁρᾷν and μαρτυρεῖν are frequently joined together, John 1:34; John 3:32; John 19:35; but the last of these passages, like John 15:27, is without an object, which, however, may be readily supplied from the context. The object of the three verbs is the Eternal Life (Oecumenius, Lücke, Huther), and not only of ἀπαγγέλλειν (Fritsche, de Wette, Düsterdieck). The life is called eternal, ἡ αἰώνιοδ, because it did not take its beginning in the world, but rather gave a beginning to the world and the life in the world. It is Absolute Life, the source and root of all life in the world, physical and ethical (Lücke on John 1:4). It was before it appeared, became visible; it did not become [come into being] perchance, when it appeared. On that account the Apostle adds ἥτιδ ἧν πρὸδ τὸν πατέρα.—The relative ἥτιδ is not=ἥ, but = ut quæ, hence, eternal life as which it was, that is to say, which was (ἦν) as such before its revelation in the direction towards the Father, not with, alongside of Him; it denotes not a mere juxtaposition, but a being together, having mutual intercourse; it is directed towards Him, turned to Him, longing for and leading to Him, according to its nature. It is not in the Father, but from Him, and hence directed towards Him. Here is asserted of the ζωή what John 1:1 predicates of the λόγοδ; in Him truly is such life, in Him also it has become manifest. Because John had just had such a lively conception of the Life of the Logos, he was able to begin in the Neuter, ο͂ ἦν ̓ ἀρχῆδ; for it is without the world, before the world, with and for God in the Logos.

And was manifested unto us.—Eternal Life has appeared, and just now become manifest to us the Apostles. Thus closes the parenthesis with a return to the thought at the beginning, and it is because of this conclusion (ἐφανερώθη) that John resumes the interrupted sentence, the words “what we have seen and heard” being placed before, and, in consequence of the prolonged interruption, breaks off and drops the series of clauses beginning with περὶ τοῦ λόγου, and resumes the first series of clauses, in a brief and concise form. The object is the same as in 1 John 1:1.

The Subject of the Annunciation, 1 John 1:3.

On ἀπαγγέλλομεν see the notes on 1 John 1:2.

1 John 1:3 a. Declare we also to you.—Καὶ ἱμῖν places the readers of this Epistle alongside of other Churches who had heard the Apostolical annunciation; hence John, in using the Plural in the verbs from 1 John 1:1 onward and ἡμῖν in 1 John 1:2, probably did not only refer to himself after the manner of authors, but to himself and his brethren, more particularly to the disciples of Jesus and the Apostles; the opposition of ἡμῖν and ὑμῖν is only the opposition of the first Christians and the immediate disciples of the Lord, or the Apostles and the Churches formed by the instrumentality of the former, or founded by the agency of the latter. John is fond of including himself among the whole of Christendom, 1 John 1:6-8; 1 John 2:1; 1 John 2:28; 1 John 3:1. But the comparison of John 15:27 seems to render it probable that John in this place speaks of himself as connected with the Apostles, the reference being to the founding and conservation of Christian Churches. He does not stand alone, but like him all the Apostles have heard, seen and handled, and bear witness with him.

Purpose of the Annunciation, 1 John 1:3 b.

1 John 1:3 b. That ye also may have fellowship with us.—The word also, καὶ before ὑμεῖδ after the preceding καὶ ὑμῖν, renders it very prominent that the purpose of the Apostolical annunciation is always and every where the same with all the Apostles in all Churches, namely: unity and fellowship. Fellowship with us is not the same as fellowship such as we have it, like us, with the Father and the Son (Socinus, Episcopius, Bengel); The position of the words forbids such a construction. It is rather the fellowship with us, the Church-fellowship of Christians among themselves.—Μετά (from μέσοδ, between, among) τινοδ denotes the circle into which one enters, consequently cöexistence, whereas σύν τινι signifies connection with, coherence (so Krüger). The Church of the first disciples, of the Apostles, is the primitive Church into which they must enter in order to partake [of its fellowship—M.]; mere connection with it is not sufficient. The Apostles are and remain the foundation on which we must take our stand (Ephesians 2:20), the mediators who must take us by the hand (Ephesians 4:11-12); they are the stem out of which the Churches break forth and grow like branches. All (καὶ) the Churches are to be in Church-fellowship with the Apostles.—ἔχητε is not: acquire (Fritzsche), nor does it denote progress (à Lapide [who says: “pergere et in ea, κοινωνίᾳ, proficere et confirmari”—M.]), but indicates simply permanent possession, constancy.

And our fellowship indeed is with the Father, etc.—καὶ does not connect with the preceding clause, so that also that which follows depends on ἵνα (Luther: and our fellowship be, so Augustine, Calvin, Grotius, Ebrard); for there is also a δὲ after κοινωνία [see Appar. Crit. 5:3:5.—M.]. The reference, therefore, is to a κοινωνία, here as well as in the preceding clause, hence καὶ ἡ κοινωνία ἡμετέρα; but this fellowship is yet another μετὰ τοῦ πατρὸδ, etc. The other stands, in some sort of antithesis to this; it must go beyond the former, and in it come to the latter, hence δὲ. Similar is the construction, John 6:51; John 8:17; Matthew 16:18; Mark 4:36; Luke 2:35. Winer, p. 393. We have here a separate clause, in which ἐστί must be supplied, which adds a new and somewhat different particular, as if we did read: καὶ ἡμεῖδ ἔχομεν κοινωνίαν μετὰ ψοῦ πατρὸδ κ. τ. λ., so that they have not only fellowship with the Apostles, but also with the Father and the Son. The thought itself forbids a close connection with ἵνα. The purpose of the Apostolical annunciation is not to effect a union with the Father and the Son, for that is the office of Jesus Christ, the Mediator. The Apostle insists upon Church-fellowship, and that is sufficient, because in it is the fellowship with the Father and the Son; a fellowship with God in Christ is not to be created from Church-fellowship; the Church-fellowship is not without the former, and the former is in the latter; otherwise the Church-fellowship would be no Church-fellowship, the Apostolical fellowship, no fellowship with the Apostles. Κοινωνία is a fellowship with the Father and the Son, so that we form part of Them and are personally united with Them, They are in us and we in Them (John 14:23), Their Life is our Life (1 John 1:6). Besides the Father, His Son Jesus Christ is particularly named, and thus the full designation of Him ὅ ἦν ̓ ἀρχῆδ, of the λόγοδ τῆδ ζωῆδ serves to show His identity with the Incarnate Saviour; and thus the conclusion is found. Cf. John 17:22-26. [This κοινωνία is one of essence and being, founded on the circumstance that its subjects are begotten of the same σπέρμα θεοῦ (1 John 3:9), and that the same power of a heavenly and glorified life animates them; so Sander. The definition of Zuinglius deserves transcribing: “De qua loquatur societate, quodque intelligat consortium, exponit; non qua homines hominibus solum pace, concordia et amicitia fraterna juguntur, sed qua homines Deo animo, mente atque adeo fide hic uniuntur indissolubiter et posthanc cum eo aeternum viventes. Hoc est quod Christus orat Patrem, John 17:0.”—M.].

The Epistle and its Design, 1 John 1:4.

1 John 1:4. And these things we write unto you.—And not only connects, but continues, leads us further, and marks the next progress; the fellowship just described promotes joy, operates in the depth of the heart. Ταῦτα is neither what precedes (Sander), nor what follows immediately (Socinus), but the whole contents of the Epistle (Lücke Wette, Düsterdieck, Huther, Ebrard). John considers the Epistle with its contents as documentary evidence connected with the oral annunciation.

We write.—Although the personal relation of the Apostle to the readers is here more prominent than in the Plurals of the preceding clauses, the Plural is not used, after the manner of authors, for the Singular. John continues impressed with the convictions of the common Apostolical annunciation; he knows that he is in perfect agreement with all the Apostles, that he speaks as they speak, and that their speech is like his; nor does he stand alone, but has his associates and assistants, like Paul (1 Corinthians 1:1, Παῦλος και Σωσθένης ὁ ; 2 Corinthians 1:1; Colossians 1:1; Philemon 1:1, Παῦλος καὶ Τιμόθεος; Philippians 1:1, Παῦλος καὶ Τιμόθεος δοῦλοι; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:1 : Παῦλος καὶ Σιλουανὸς καὶ Τιμόθεος). Writing is indeed another species of μαρτυρία, coördinate with oral communication. Bengel:—Testimonium genus; species duæ: annuntiatio et scriptio; annuntiatio ponit fundamentum, scriptio superædificat.” The Epistle seems only to build up and perfect the life already existing in the readers. Düsterdieck.

That your joy may be fulfilled.—The reading ἡμῶν would make the joy of the Apostles over the Churches [i.e., joy, because their word yields fruit among their hearers. Theophylact: “ἡμῶν γὰρ ὑμῖν κοινωνούντων πλείστην ἔχομεν τὴν χαρὰν ἡμῶν, ἥν ταῖς θερισταῖς ὁ χαίρων σπορεὺς ἐν τῇ τοῦ μισθοῦ , χαιρόντων καὶ τούτων ὁ.τι τῶν πόνων αὐτῶν .”—M.]. So does Bede with reference to Philippians 2:2; “gaudium doctorum sit plenum, cum multos prædicando ad sanctæ ecclesiæ societatem perducant.” John 17:13; John 15:11 cannot be adduced in support of this reading; said passages, besides the reason already stated above in Appar. Crit. [1 John 5:4; 1 John 5:8—M.], may have suggested this reading. The identical language occurs at John 16:24 : ἵνα ἡ χαρὰ ὑμῶν ᾖ πεπληρωμένη. To be sure, according to John 15:11 : ἵνα ἡ χαρὰ ἡ ἐμὴ ἐν ὑμῖν ᾖ καὶ ἡ χαρὰ ὑυῶν πληρωθῇ, the joy of Christians is the joy of Christ, of which they had become partakers. For Christ has in Himself the Life, Life eternal, true, full, unobstructed Life, which is happiness and peace. Whoso derives Life from Christ becomes a convalescent, recovers health, the health of the soul, and that is peace and joy. Surely, he who is holy, must be happy, and none but the holy and sanctified are happy. If Christ’s high-priestly intercession (John 17:13) still continues the object and ground of great joy, it contemplates also the growth of joy in individuals going on to eternity, even as John remarks in a private Epistle addressed to a friend (2 John 1:12).—Hence Christ speaks of His joy, which shall become our joy, even as Christ’s Life shall become our Life through faith; hence χαρὰ πίστεως, Philippians 1:25.—Given is the joy by Him, but only like a grain of wheat, which must grow in order to become perfect and to yield fruit. But that which is to be perfected must exist. The perfection, however, is not instantaneous, magical or miraculous, but has its stages and maladies of development,—struggles—dangers; hence: ᾖ πεπληρωμένη. Now this takes place in the fellowship, both in that of the Church and in that with the Father and the Son; there, joy is not only a transient emotion, but an habitual state becoming ever more perfect. Luther (Schol. ed. Bruns.):—“Principium hujus gaudii est, quum incipimus credere; postea quum fides augescit meditando, docendo, studendo, tum fit plenum gaudium.” The reason why the Apostle dwells on joy (χαρὰ) rather than on peace, may be that at the beginning of the Epistle he thinks with reference to the readers of the greeting, χαίρειν, which, apart from the Epistle of Claudius Lysias to Felix (Acts 23:26-30), occurs only in the circular of the Apostles at the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:23) and at James 1:1. [Wordsworth contrasts the πλήρωμα χαρᾶς with the πλήρωμα of the Gnostics.—M.]

[Düsterdieck:—“The peace of reconciliation, the blessed consciousness of sonship, the happy growth in holiness, the bright prospect of future completion and glory,—all these, are but simple details of that which in all its length and breadth is embraced by one word, Eternal Life, the real possession of which is the immediate source of our joy. We have joy, Christ’s joy, because we are blessed, because we have Life itself in Christ.” Compare the beautiful extract from Augustine, below in Doctrinal and Ethical, No. 7.—M.]

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. On the word λόγος cf. J. P. Lange on John 1:1, Vol. IV., p. 41, sq., of the Bibelwerk, German edition.—It is characteristic of John, and perfectly analogous to the Gospel, to start from the historical stand-point, John 10:1-3., cf. John 1:14, and draw the à posteriori conclusion of the Eternal Being and Nature, and then taking there, as it were, a firm position, to trace the epiphanies and operations of the Logos in the world, in time and among men. On this account the Apostle begins here, as in the Gospel, with the Prëexistence of the Logos (ο͂ ἦν ̓ ἀρχῆς ἡ ζωή ἡ , ἥτις ἧν πρὸς τὸν πατέρα). He does not lose himself in the genesis of the Logos, like the Gnostics with their theogonies, but only dwells upon His Being, as ζωὴ αἰώνιος, in relation to the Father (πρὸς τὸν πατέρα). Hence we must not connect the λόγος and the ζωὴ as a (third) syzygy with Valentinus (†160 on the island of Cyprus), “that most profound, spiritual, thoughtful, intelligent and imaginative” Gnostic (see Gieseler, K. G., I., p. 155; particularly Kurtz, K. G., I., 136, sqq.). Eternal, true, full life is only the Being of the Logos, as it is the Being of the Father. But this Life He has not only in Himself as a possession, as John 1:4 : ἐν αὐτῷ ζωὴ ἦν, but He Himself was truly and altogether Life, eternal Life in His Being (1 John 1:2), of the same Life-substance with God the Father, indissolubly united with Him, although different from Him in Person, there is nothing in Him which is not likewise in the Father, but He is self-dependent, turned to and belonging to the Father (πρὸς τὸν πατέρα).

2. Threefold is the mode of existence of the Logos: a. anterior to the world of time; b. earthly-human; c. glorified. The first is made prominent in the beginning of this Epistle: ο͂ ἦν ̓ ἀρχῆς, ὁ λόγος τῆς ζωῆς, the second is intimated in ἐφανερώθη, and in conjunction with the third in υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ̓Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ. For λόγος and υἱός are to be distinguished, so that the historical Christ is called Son, cf. John 10:1-3 with John 1:1; John 1:14. But in reality it is the same Person. The incarnate Logos does not become the Son of God, and this designation is not so much of ethical as of metaphysical import. He is called and is the Son of God only because of the relation essential to His Person, and of His eternal and ante-temporal relation to God.

3. The humanity of the Logos is referred to with marked emphasis, in the terms ἀκούειν, ὁρᾶν, θεᾷσθαι, ψηλαφᾶν, John 10:1-3. The Son of Man has become audible, visible, sensible to the children of men. His being ἐφανερώθη to the disciples was only brought about by His human nature, but so that He really σορξ ἐγένετο and ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν(John 1:14). He is perfect man. But His becoming man is not brought out as much, by John as by the other Apostles with reference to His humiliation, because John recognized the Divine glory in the form of the Servant, the Divine attributes in the form of His human appearing, sought their traces with peculiar love, and found them with a jubilant soul. John was more concerned with what the Son of God brought with Him, His eternal Life which He had in Himself, than with what He did assume, human flesh and blood. The Apostle sees in all the epiphanies and exhibitions of the Incarnate One, in all the humiliations of His earthly-human Being and Life, the Love, the Wisdom and the Power of Christ; he follows their traces with ardent attachment, and he follows them not in vain. He bears more testimony to the κρύψις than the κένωσις, but also more to the Lutheran intermixture [German: Into-one-another—M.] of the Divine and the Human in Christ.—Traces of the transcendency and immanency of God may also be found and proved here, and how both have to be held fast together.

4. Christ is the eternal principle of the life of men and of the world in general; He is the Mediator of all the activity of the Father exerted with reference to the world. The thought expressed in the Epistle to the Hebrews by φέρων τὰ πάντα τῷ ῥήματι τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτο͂υ is the fundamental pre-supposition of ο͂ ἦν ̓ ἀρχῆς, ζωὴ αἰώνις, ἥτις ἦν πρὸς τὸν πατέρα, κοινωνία μετὰ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ μετὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ ̓Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ, as well as of ἵνα—πεπληρωμένη. John, by the use of ἀπ̓ ἀρχῆς—, which, as opposed to ἐν , John 1:1, within the beginning, points as a definite sphere, and as opposed to κατ̓ ἁρχὰς (Hebrews 1:10) along the beginnings, following the beginnings,—points, although fastened to a longer line, more than ἐξ , John 6:64, out of the beginning as out of a fountain, to a source of history after the beginning—intends to mark the power existing in eternity as present and real in time and the course of history. [The peculiarly involved and occasionally obscure style of Dr. Braune will tax the patience of the reader, as it does that of the translator, who tries his best to express B’s meaning in idiomatic English. The last sentence was peculiarly difficult, but the use of dashes and other marks of punctuation will, it is hoped, enable the reader to catch the author’s meaning.—M.]. But it must be remembered that the Apostle is more concerned with the life of individuals, of the Apostles and of Churches, than with that of the whole world. Still what holds good in the case of individual man, the microcosm, must also apply to the whole world, the macrocosm. Christ could not be the principle of salvation to individuals, unless He were potent and destined for the whole world. Because in the creation He is the Mediator of the beginning of the world’s life (John 1:3) so also in the redemption He is of course the Mediator of the consummation of the world’s life. The earth requires no new suns, and mankind no other Saviour. The truth of Christ is the only and eternal truth for all nations and times. Christ is not a world-historical personage, like Alexander the Great, but the Living One that has the keys of hell and of death (Revelation 1:18).

4. 1 John 1:3 indicates the relation of Churchliness and Christianness, of Church-dom and Christianity, [I am not altogether satisfied with these terms, but they express as nearly as possible the German words, Kirchlichkeit, the quality of being Church-like, Christlichkeit, the quality of being Christ-like, or Christian, Kirchenthum, the state, existence or establishment of the Church, and Christenthum, the religion taught by Christ.—M.] For ἡ κοινωνία μεθ̓ ἡμῶν, the fellowship of the Churches with the Apostles and among themselves is Church, while κοινωνία μετὰ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ ̓Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ denotes the nature of Christianity. John insists only on Church-fellowship for the promotion of Christianness. It is Apostolical that the Churches should keep to the Apostles and their annunciation, and be united among each other without independentism, but it is equally and only Apostolical that the Christ-like or the Christian-like should be the basis and aim of the Churchly. The Churchly must ever be measured and adjusted by the Christ-like.

5. The Church is a whole, an organization embracing heaven and earth in the Church militant and triumphant, and in the Church militant all the different local Churches (καὶ ὑμῖν, καὶ ὑμεῖς, 1 John 1:3), and all the Churches of all centuries (ἀπαγγέλλομεν) gathered by the Apostolical ministry in general, with its continuous activity (Lücke). What Paul says (1 Corinthians 3:9 to 1 Corinthians 11:16; Ephesians 2:20 sq.; cf. 1 Peter 2:5) of the Church, that it is a building of the temple of God founded on Christ the corner-stone, or a body of which Christ is the head (Ephesians 1:22 sq.; Ephesians 5:23; Colossians 1:18), is here also present to the mind of John, who, with a leaning to John 15:1, seems to think of a growth, in which the Church is the stem founded by Christ, out of which believers come forth on all sides like branches (John 17:20).

6. The Apostolical annunciation, ἀπαγγελία, presupposes an eventful experience from personal intercourse with the Redeemer, and is accompanied by the Apostolical writings (γραφόμεν). All information derived from oral communication must be strengthened, guided, cleared and completed by the written communication. He only is able to work for the Lord and the brethren that has lived with Him in intimate converse, to whom He did yield Himself and whom he did draw to Himself, so that he “cannot but speak the things which he has seen and heard,” (Acts 4:19-20).

7. Joy is the essence of Christianity. Augustine, Conf., 10, 22, says: “Est enim gaudium, quod non datur impiis, sed iis tantum, qui te gratis colunt, quorum, gaudium tu ipse es. Et ipsa est beata vita gaudere ad te, de te, propter te, ipsa est et non altera.”—The Christian faith does not move in a circle of different objects, thoughts, words and works, some of which must be done and others shunned; but it moves in that which it does gladly, and shuns that which it scorns to do. The Word and Life of Christ are as much the Christian’s element as air is the element of birds, and water that of fishes. The exercises of godliness are to him not charms against an evil, or the worship of God a slave-work, or prayer a burden. The godliness, which is kindled by the loving-kindness of God is true happiness and felicity. The fear of God does not bring to the Christian gloomy self-denial and renouncing of the world, as if the Christian’s life consisted solely in the suppression of ardent desires and want, but in joys which he experiences, according to the exhortation of the Apostle Paul in the Epistle for the fourth Sunday in Advent (Philippians 4:4): “Rejoice in the Lord alway; and again I say rejoice.” Or according to the Lord’s promise in the Gospel for the third Sunday after Easter (John 16:22): “Your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.” Hence the reiterated monition: “Be not afraid,” and the promise of the Comforter and of peace. In the praise and love of God we have a token and a standard of true Christianity. Delight in the Lord (Psalms 37:4) with His creating, preserving, overruling, pardoning, atoning and glorifying (John 3:2) love, is the Christian’s duty and life. Only that he abide, and the joy or Christ abide in him, and that his joy may be full (John 15:1-11).

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Seek Jesus and His light; all without that is unprofitable.—Seek in all your experience in time for that which is from all eternity.—Seek in all sensuous manifestations for the supersensuous kernel with its life, which continues to all eternity, even as it is from all eternity.—Nothing is more sure than that which is of Christ: He is from all eternity, and brings His own into the Kingdom of the Father.—Learn more and more that God is not only above thee, but in the world, not far from thee, but very nigh thee.—Speak of Christ only as His witness. Speak of Him, because thou hast known and felt Him within thee, not because thou art a preacher or a theologian, or because thou art baptized.—Do not despise Church-fellowship; it contains a blessing, even an eternal blessing.—Be not satisfied with thy churchliness (churchmanship) unless it make thee more happy in, and more sure of the Father and the Son.—Christian knowledge, like all science, is possible only in fellowship with the whole, especially in going back to the fountain-head in the writings and the testimony of the Apostles.—Holiness and joy are indissolubly united in the Christian, but impiety and lust in the worldly-minded.—Be ashamed, if for want of faith or courage, or even because of a desponding mind, thou dost not rejoice in thy Lord.—Be afraid lest thy joy in Christ and the Kingdom of heaven decrease.—Strive that thy joy in Christ grow fuller and fuller. Delight in the Lord is thy duty, in order that thy duty become thy joy and honour, not thy task and burden.—A Christian must be joyful, for his is the truth which maketh free, the righteousness that availeth with God, the liberty of the children of God, the peace that passeth all understanding, the joy that no man may take away, the Divine sonship and inheritance, the life which death cannot kill, and the happiness which endureth and groweth forever.

Starke:—Christ is Absolute Life, and our life depends upon Him, not only this earthly life, but also blessed, eternal life through faith in Him.—He that despises the word of the Gospel, despises also the Absolute Word of God, for Christ is the star and kernel of the whole Bible.—Christ liveth, and the believers shall live too. Glorious consolation! Mighty strengthening of our faith, in adversity and temptation and in the hour of death! Because Life and Light have appeared unto us in Christ Jesus, we should most diligently use them, for sure he will be without excuse that notwithstanding remaineth in darkness and blindness.—What shall it profit an unconverted teacher, to testify of Christ the Life, and to urge the people to receive Him, if he himself remains in death and in his life and by his works denies Him?—In order to be saved, it is not enough that a man know and believe Christ to have come into the world, but he must know and believe Him to have also risen and shone as the Morning-star in his heart.—The design of the Gospel is to lead men to fulness of joy, for God has not called us to sadness, but to joy.—If our joy turns sometimes into sorrow when affliction without and temptation within, as it were, threaten to take it by storm, we know, for our edification and comfort, that Christ will come again and turn our sorrow into joy. [Cf. Dr. Muhlenberg’s hymn, “I would not live alway.”—M.]

Spener:—Our life in Christ is eternal life, and out of (extra) Him there is no life; although hidden now, it shall be revealed hereafter.—The Divine word of the Gospel is given unto us for the purpose of restoring us to the fellowship with God, and it is therefore an inestimable benefit that it gives us not only the knowledge of certain truths, but actually bestows upon us the blessings which it announces.—The written Word of God is not less potent to produce faith than the preached word, and this Word the Apostles have left us as a legacy which may be heard and read at all times, and therefore we ought to consider the written Word as more sure and trusty than the declarations of men.

Lange:—In spiritual matters every man should for himself examine and understand the truths of God, and not blindly believe the report of others, lest like a blind man he be led astray and miserably cheated.—All human fellowship should be so arranged and constituted that it do not oppose the fellowship with God. We should regard the Epistles of the Apostles as Epistles of God addressed to ourselves, and know that they are most surely addressed to us in order that we may become, as it were, living Epistles of God, known and read of all men.

Besser:—There is no fellowship with the Head of the Church apart from the instrumentality of the joints of the Apostles. Those who are inserted in the edifice of the Church, rest upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ Himself as the chief corner-stone.—Out of infinite Love the Son of God became what we are, in order that He might give us power to become what He is; He became partaker of our nature, that we should become partakers of the Divine nature. (Irenæus.)

Heubner:—Christianity demands a solemn and deep contemplation wholly absorbed in Christ [or entering into Christ.—M.]; hasty and superficial looking and hurrying away is unprofitable; Christianity wants profound natures.—Christianity rests mainly on facts, as external revelations of God, in order that thus the Godhead may become visible to the sensuous man [to our senses.—M.], without any injury being done to its dignity.—The Apostles as such eye-and-ear-witnesses are also most sure and reliable, and it is impossible that their account of so many facts, their harmonious and many-sided account, could have been fabricated or be spurious.—These Apostolical writings compensate us for that which we can no longer see with our own eyes. We have, moreover, the testimony of the Church for those facts, for without them it [the Church.—M.] could not have come into existence.—The vocation of the Apostles was most philanthropic and beneficent: the design of their testimony and of the preached Gospel in general, is to lead all men to the fellowship of the same life which was enjoyed by the Apostles. The Apostles did not wish to keep their life to themselves, but loved to communicate it. The true nature of life is its impulse, wherever it is, to pour itself into others. The Apostles were to the first Christians, and are still to all Christians, channels and conductors to the Life Eternal; without the Apostles we should have neither Christ nor Christianity. The Apostles conduct us to it. Those who reject the Apostles and their testimony, cannot reasonably continue to discourse of Christianity; they have only left to them a Christianity of their own making.—Holy Scripture is a standing monument of history that may not be interpolated; it remains a pure and ever-accessible fountain; oral delivery would have grown more and more unreliable, the memory would have lost much, and our delight in the enjoyment of the Gospel would have lessened.—The evangelical history the most sublime history: 1. We will convince ourselves of it, it comes from God, continues in God, and leads us to God; and, 2. Lay to heart the conclusions we draw: behold the poverty of those who despise and neglect it! Give more attention and diligence to it!

Christian joy is from its very nature the highest joy. For,I. a. Whence is it? Of God, of heavenly origin. b. What does it aim at? The eternal salvation of our souls. c. For whom does it exist? For all in the same manner (without exception).

II. (Conditions on our part): a. Acquire a thorough understanding of the truth that sin is our common misery, and that none can save us therefrom but Jesus Christ alone, b. Believe in Jesus, the Son of God. c. Animate this faith by habits of devotion.

The Apostolical testimony of the Word of Life.—1. How it is attested (as to its verification); 2. How joyful it is (as to its object: the Life was manifested, and as to its effects: Fellowship of Christians among themselves and with God).

The firm foundation of our faith.—It rests, 1, upon the Apostolical annunciation of the witnesses of Him who is the Beginner, Fulfiller and Object of our faith (1 John 1:1); 2, on its joyful object (contents, German) 1 John 1:2, which could not have spontaneously entered into any man’s heart; 3, on the testimony of the Holy Ghost in those who receive the word of faith from the lips of the aforesaid witnesses.

Spurgeon:—It is indeed written (Proverbs 14:10): “A stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy.” The secret is with them that fear Him, and their joy no man taketh from them. But we would remind you of the proverb, “Still waters run deep.” The brook rushing over the stones dries up in summer, but the deep river flows uniformly along in freshets, or in heat and drought, and yet glides calmly through the fields. We do not speak or boast so loudly of our joys, as you do of your pleasures, because it is unnecessary; ours are as well known in silence as in lively company. We do not want your company to indulge our joy, still less the manifold condiments with which you try to flavour your joy. We require no cups, no banquets, no fiddles, no dance in order to be joyful.—Our joy does not depend on transitory things, but rests in the eternal, unchangeable Creator of all things. I know very well, notwithstanding all we shall say, the slander will continue that the children of God are a wretched people.—We have joy, we have delights, so precious that we would not exchange an ounce of ours with a ship-load of yours; not drops of our delight for rivers of your pleasures. Our delight is not tinsel, painted joy, but solid reality; our joys are such as we take along with us to our quiet resting place beneath the dust; joys which sleep with us in the grave and will wake with us in eternity, joys on which we may courageously look back, and which, therefore, we enjoy a second time in memory; joys also which we enjoy beforehand, and know already here below as the antepast of eternal joy and delight. Our joys are no soap-bubbles which only glitter and sparkle in divers colours in order to burst, they are no apples of Sodom which crumble in your hand into ashes; true joys are real, true, solid, lasting, enduring, eternal! What more shall I say? Joy and true piety are eternally joined together like root and blossoms, as inseparably as truth and assurance; they are indeed two precious jewels, set side by side in the same gold setting.”

[Sermons and Sermon-Themes:

Ch. I. II. Binning, Hugh: Fellowship with God, or twenty-eight sermons on the first and second chapters of the first Epistle of St. John. Works, II., 177.

1 John 1:1-3. Mill, W. H.: The Word Incarnate, the essential basis of individual and social Christianity. Sermons, (Advent, 1846), I.

1 John 1:3. The same author: The Word Incarnate in the totality of His exhibition in the Church, the true centre of Christianity. Sermons, (Advent, 1846), XXVIII.

Bradley, C.: Fellowship with God. Sacramental, 216.—M.]

Footnotes:

1 John 1:1; 1 John 1:1. German [“What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we gazed upon and our hands handled, of the Word of the Life.”—M.]

1 John 1:2; 1 John 1:2. German [“And the Life was manifested, and we have seen and testified and declare unto you the eternal Life, as which it was with the Father and was manifested unto us.”—M.]

[3][It, supplied by E. V., not necessary; it is better to construe ἐωράκαμεν, μαρτυροῦμεν and ἀπαγγέλλομεν with ζωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον. So Lachm., Hahn, Theile, Tischend. and Lillie.—M.]

[4][On the whole, the rendering of E. V., “that eternal Life which was with the Father,” is preferable to the German, and the meaning is clear without the adoption of the Greek idiom, “Life Eternal,” by Wordsworth.—M.]

[5] 1 John 1:3. [German: “What we have seen and heard, declare we also to you, that ye us; and our fellowship indeed is with Christ.” καὶ—δὲ; the καὶ adds something, and δὲ is slightly adversative, cf. 2 Peter 1:5, also Matthew 16:18; Mark 4:36; Luke 2:35; Acts 3:24; Acts 22:29; Hebrews 9:21; John 6:51; John 8:16-17; John 15:27.—Indeed or truly seem to bring out this slightly adversative sense better than again (Lillie).—M.]

Cod. Sin. has καὶ . The first καὶ occurs also in Theoph. and Vulg. (Cod. Amiatinus; it may have crept in from 1 John 5:2). The second καὶ is found in A. B. C. Cod. Sin. has before this second καὶ an erased ι, as if ἲνα καὶ ὑμεῖς was to have followed forthwith; καὶ ὑμῖν seems therefore to be copied.

[6]Cod. Sin. has ὑμῶν after ἡμετέρα, but a disapproval in the margin.

1 John 1:4; 1 John 1:4. B. ἡμεῖς for ὑμῶν, [Cod. Sin. ἡμεῖς and ἡμῶν.—M.]

[8] B. G. al. ἡμῶν; so Vulgate with the variation, “ut gaudeatis et gaudium nostrum sit plenum.” Both ἡμεῖς and ἡμῶν have probably arisen from the μεθ’ ἠμῶν and ἠμετέρα of 1 John 5:3, [ἠ χαρὰ ὑμῶν. A. C. K. al. Copt.; Tischend.—M.]

[German: “And these things we write unto you that your joy may be fulfilled.” Wordsworth: “filled up to the full;” but fulfilled is better.—M.]

[German:—And this is the message, which we have heard from Him, and announce yon again, that God is Light and darkness in Him is none whatsoever.—M.]