Verse (Click for Chapter) New International Version That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. New Living Translation We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. English Standard Version That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— Berean Study Bible That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we have gazed upon and touched with our own hands—this is the Word of life. Berean Literal Bible That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we have gazed upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life-- King James Bible 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; New King James Version 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— New American Standard Bible What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— NASB 1995 What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life-- NASB 1977 What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of Life— Amplified Bible [I am writing about] what existed from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life [the One who existed even before the beginning of the world, Christ]— Christian Standard Bible What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have observed and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— Holman Christian Standard Bible What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have observed and have touched with our hands, concerning the Word of life-- American Standard Version That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we beheld, and our hands handled, concerning the Word of life Contemporary English Version The Word that gives life was from the beginning, and this is the one our message is about. Our ears have heard, our eyes have seen, and our hands have touched this Word. Douay-Rheims Bible 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: English Revised Version That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we beheld, and our hands handled, concerning the Word of life Good News Translation We write to you about the Word of life, which has existed from the very beginning. We have heard it, and we have seen it with our eyes; yes, we have seen it, and our hands have touched it. GOD'S WORD® Translation The Word of life existed from the beginning. We have heard it. We have seen it. We observed and touched it. International Standard Version What existed from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we observed and touched with our own hands—this is the Word of life! Literal Standard Version That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we beheld, and our hands handled, concerning the Word of Life— NET Bible This is what we proclaim to you: what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and our hands have touched (concerning the word of life-- New Heart English Bible That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we saw, and our hands touched, concerning the Word of life Weymouth New Testament That which was from the beginning, which we have listened to, which we have seen with our own eyes, and our own hands have handled concerning the Word of Life-- World English Bible That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we saw, and our hands touched, concerning the Word of life Young's Literal Translation That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we did behold, and our hands did handle, concerning the Word of the Life -- Additional Translations ... Study Bible The Word of Life1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we have gazed upon and touched with our own hands— this is the Word of life. 2And this is the life that was revealed; we have seen it and testified to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us.… Cross References Luke 1:2 just as they were handed down to us by the initial eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Luke 24:39 Look at My hands and My feet. It is I Myself. Touch Me and see--for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have." John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:4 In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 19:35 The one who saw it has testified to this, and his testimony is true. He knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe. John 20:27 Then Jesus said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and look at My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe." Acts 4:20 For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard." Hebrews 2:3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? This salvation was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, 2 Peter 1:16 For we did not follow cleverly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 1 John 1:2 And this is the life that was revealed; we have seen it and testified to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us. 1 John 1:3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. 1 John 2:13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father. 1 John 2:14 I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. 1 John 4:14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. Treasury of Scripture That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked on, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; That which. 1 John 2:13 I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father. Proverbs 8:22-31 The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old… Isaiah 41:4 Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he. which we have heard. 1 John 4:14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Luke 1:2 Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. and our. Luke 24:39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. John 20:27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. the Word. 1 John 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John 5:26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
[1.The Exordium (1John 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 (1John 1:1-3). (2)DESIGN OF THE EPISTLE: Fulness of joy for those who should read it (1John 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 the parallel passage in the Gospel. There it was calm contemplation of the height and depth of Christ's existence; here he vehemently insists on the personal relation between the Word and those to whom He had been revealed. As in the Gospel, he starts with the grandeur of an indefiniteness beyond which no eye can pierce: At the beginning of all that concerns us, be it world or universe or all creation, there was----that which we are announcing. "That which," not "Him who," because it is not merely the Person of Christ which he is going to declare, but also His Being, all that relates to Him, His gospel, the treasures of wisdom that lay in Him, His truth, all that could be known about Him by human ken. The vibrating eloquence of the passage makes the construction at first sight obscure. But take "that declare we unto you" (1John 1:3) as the principal verb, set aside 1John 1:2 as a parenthesis, notice the rising climax of 1John 1:1 (heard, seen, looked upon, handled), pause at the end of 1John 1:1 to sum up the results of this climax in the words "of (or, that which concerns) the Word of life," and at the beginning of 1John 1:3 resume the thoughts interrupted by the parenthesis, and all is at once clear. Which we have heard.--All those gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth, enough to fill countless books could they have been noted down. St. John has given us more of these than any other of the Evangelists; and their effect upon him was such that it is almost the same as if he had written down nothing at all of his own; for the thought and style of Him who had loved him more intimately than others, had moulded his own thought and style into a strikingly close resemblance. "We" includes ail the eye-witnesses. (Comp. Luke 1:2.) Which we have seen.--All that is meant by the Word of God in its fullest sense had been seen in the human Person of Jesus of Nazareth during His earthly sojourn, and especially during the three years' ministry. In a similar sense Jesus Himself said, "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father," John 14:9. (Comp. 1John 4:14; Isaiah 40:5; 2Peter 1:16.) With our eyes.--This gives the same force as "the Word was made flesh;" it was an actual personal visible revelation, as opposed to the evolving of a religious system out of the inner consciousness or reflection. Which we have looked upon.--A more deliberate and closer contemplation; for which John had special opportunities, as one of the inner three, and again as he who lay on Jesus' bosom. There is a change of tense implying emphasis on the historic fact, "which in those days we gazed upon." And our hands have handled.--Comp. Matthew 26:49; Luke 24:39; John 20:27. This and the foregoing expressions might be directed against Cerinthus and the Doketists--those that held that Christ was only a phantom. Of the Word of life.--All that concerns the Word of the true Life, the Reason, or Son, or Express Image of God, in whom was inherent all life, material as well as moral or religious. (Comp. John 1:4; John 5:26; John 11:25; Colossians 1:16-17; Hebrews 1:3.) (2) For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us.--The parenthesis reiterates with redoubled force that the whole essence of the relation of God to man lies in the audible, visible, tangible, historical appearance of God in Jesus. After the manner of St. John, the word "life" at the end of the last sentence suggests the form of the phrasing in the new sentence: Jesus was that Eternal Life which was at the side of the Father, in communion with Him, in equal intercourse with Him; that Life on which all other existence, physical and spiritual, depend (1) for its license to exist, (2) for its fulfilment of the end for which it was created. (See Note on John 1:4.) Verse 1. - The first clause states what or how the object is in itself; the next three state St. John's relation to it; "which," in the first clause nominative, in the others is accusative. The neuter (ὅ) expresses a collective and comprehensive whole (John 4:22; John 6:37; John 17:2; Acts 17:23, etc.); the attributes of the Λόγος rather than the Λόγος himself are indicated. Or, as Jelf expresses it, "the neuter gender denotes immaterial personality, the masculine or feminine material personality." In the beginning is not quite the same as in John 1:1; there St. John tells us that the Word was in existence before the world was created; here that he was in existence before he was manifested. Thus far all is indefinite; the philosopher, about to expound a law of nature, might begin, "That which was from the beginning declare we unto you." What follows is in a climax, making the meaning clearer at each step: seeing is more than hearing, and handling than seeing. The climax is in two pairs, of perfects and of aorists; the aorists giving the past acts, the perfects the permanent results. Together they sum up the apostolic experience of that boundless activity of Christ, of which the world could not contain the full account (John 21:25). Beheld ἐθεασάμεθα is more than have seen ἑωράκαμεν. Seeing might be momentary; beholding implies that steady contemplation, for which the beloved disciple had large and abundantly used opportunities. In our hands handled we may see a reference to Luke 24:39, where the same verb is used ψηλαφήσατε; and still more to John 20:27, where the demanded test of handling is offered to St. Thomas, provoking the confession of faith to which the whole Gospel leads up, "My Lord and my God!" Had St. John merely said "heard," we might have thought that he meant a doctrine. Had he merely said "heard and seen," we might have understood it of the effects of Christ's doctrine. But "our hands handled" shows clearly that the attributes of the Word become flesh are what St. John insists on, and probably as a contradiction of Docetism. "Those who read his letter could have no doubt that he was referring to the time when he saw the face of Jesus Christ, when he heard his discourses, when he grasped his hand, when he leaned upon his breast" (Maurice). Between the first clause and what follows lies the tremendous fact of the Incarnation; and St. John piles verb on verb, and clause on clause, to show that he speaks with the authority of full knowledge, and that there is no possible room for Ebionite or Cerinthian error. The first clause assures us that Jesus was no mere man; the others assure us that he was really man. Precisely that Being who was in existence from the beginning is that of whom St. John and others have had, and still possess, knowledge by all the means through which knowledge can have access to the mind of man. (For "seeing with the eyes," cf. Luke 2:30; for θεᾶσθαι of contemplating with delight [Stark 16:11, 14], John 1:14, 34; Acts 1:11.) Concerning the Word of life. "Concerning" περί may depend on "have heard," and, by a kind of zengma, on the other three verbs also; or on the main verb," we declare." "The Word of life" means "the Word who is the Life," like "the city of Rome,... the Book of Genesis;" the genitive case is "the characterizing or identifying genitive." The περί is strongly against the interpretation, "the word of life," i.e., the life-giving gospel. Had St. John meant this, he would probably have written ὅν ἀκηκόαμεν... τὸν λόγον τῆς ζωῆς ἀπαγγέλλομεν (John 5:24, 37; John 8:43; John 14:24); περί is very frequent of persons (John 1:7, 8, 15, 22, 30, 48, etc.). Moreover, the evident connexion between the introductions to his Gospel and Epistle compels us to understand ὁ Λόγος in the same sense in both (see on John 1:1 in this Commentary, and in the 'Cambridge Greek Testament' or 'Bible for Schools'). What St. John has to announce is his own experience of the Eternal Word incarnate, the Eternal Life made manifest (John 14:6); his hearing of his words, his seeing with his own eyes his Messianic works, his contemplation of the Divinity which shone through both; his handling of the body of the risen Redeemer.Parallel Commentaries ... Lexicon That whichὋ (Ho) Personal / Relative Pronoun - Nominative Neuter Singular Strong's Greek 3739: Who, which, what, that. was ἦν (ēn) Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Strong's Greek 1510: I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist. from ἀπ’ (ap’) Preposition Strong's Greek 575: From, away from. A primary particle; 'off, ' i.e. Away, in various senses. [the] beginning, ἀρχῆς (archēs) Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular Strong's Greek 746: From archomai; a commencement, or chief. which ὃ (ho) Personal / Relative Pronoun - Accusative Neuter Singular Strong's Greek 3739: Who, which, what, that. we have heard, ἀκηκόαμεν (akēkoamen) Verb - Perfect Indicative Active - 1st Person Plural Strong's Greek 191: To hear, listen, comprehend by hearing; pass: is heard, reported. A primary verb; to hear. which ὃ (ho) Personal / Relative Pronoun - Accusative Neuter Singular Strong's Greek 3739: Who, which, what, that. we have seen ἑωράκαμεν (heōrakamen) Verb - Perfect Indicative Active - 1st Person Plural Strong's Greek 3708: Properly, to stare at, i.e. to discern clearly; by extension, to attend to; by Hebraism, to experience; passively, to appear. with τοῖς (tois) Article - Dative Masculine Plural Strong's Greek 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the. our own ἡμῶν (hēmōn) Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 1st Person Plural Strong's Greek 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I. eyes, ὀφθαλμοῖς (ophthalmois) Noun - Dative Masculine Plural Strong's Greek 3788: The eye; fig: the mind's eye. From optanomai; the eye; by implication, vision; figuratively, envy. which ὃ (ho) Personal / Relative Pronoun - Accusative Neuter Singular Strong's Greek 3739: Who, which, what, that. we have gazed upon ἐθεασάμεθα (etheasametha) Verb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 1st Person Plural Strong's Greek 2300: A prolonged form of a primary verb; to look closely at, i.e. perceive; by extension to visit. and καὶ (kai) Conjunction Strong's Greek 2532: And, even, also, namely. touched [with] ἐψηλάφησαν (epsēlaphēsan) Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural Strong's Greek 5584: From the base of psallo; to manipulate, i.e. Verify by contact; figuratively, to search for. our ἡμῶν (hēmōn) Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 1st Person Plural Strong's Greek 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I. [own] αἱ (hai) Article - Nominative Feminine Plural Strong's Greek 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the. hands— χεῖρες (cheires) Noun - Nominative Feminine Plural Strong's Greek 5495: A hand. [this is ] περὶ (peri) Preposition Strong's Greek 4012: From the base of peran; properly, through, i.e. Around; figuratively with respect to; used in various applications, of place, cause or time. the τοῦ (tou) Article - Genitive Masculine Singular Strong's Greek 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the. Word Λόγου (Logou) Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular Strong's Greek 3056: From lego; something said; by implication, a topic, also reasoning or motive; by extension, a computation; specially, the Divine Expression. of life. ζωῆς (zōēs) Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular Strong's Greek 2222: Life, both of physical (present) and of spiritual (particularly future) existence. From zao; life. 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