notes
Main point summary
John states that he is proclaiming what he has experienced first hand regarding the "Word of Life" so that his readers can enter into fellowship with him and God. He anticipates that this common fellowship will complete his joy, which is the reason why he is writing to them.
Arc
editing
NT
1 John 1:1-4
na28
nasb
schl
Ὃ ἦν ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς, ὃ ἀκηκόαμεν, ὃ ἑωράκαμεν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ἡμῶν, ὃ ἐθεασάμεθα καὶ αἱ χεῖρες ἡμῶν ἐψηλάφησαν περὶ τοῦ λόγου τῆς ζωῆς —
What was a from the beginning, what we have b heard, what we have c seen with our eyes, what we d have looked at and e touched with our hands, concerning the f Word of Life—
Was von Anfang war, was wir gehört, was wir mit unsren Augen gesehen haben, was wir beschaut und was unsre Hände betastet haben, vom Wort des Lebens
καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ἐφανερώθη, καὶ ἑωράκαμεν καὶ μαρτυροῦμεν καὶ ἀπαγγέλλομεν ὑμῖν τὴν ζωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον
and a the life was manifested, and we have b seen and c testify and proclaim to you d the eternal life,
und das Leben ist erschienen, und wir haben gesehen und bezeugen und verkündigen euch das ewige Leben,
ἥτις ἦν πρὸς τὸν πατέρα καὶ ἐφανερώθη ἡμῖν —
which was e with the Father and was a manifested to us—
welches bei dem Vater war und uns erschienen ist;
ideaexplanation
ὃ ἑωράκαμεν καὶ ἀκηκόαμεν, ἀπαγγέλλομεν καὶ ὑμῖν,
what we have a seen and b heard we proclaim to you also,
was wir gesehen und gehört haben, das verkündigen wir euch,
ἵνα καὶ ὑμεῖς κοινωνίαν ἔχητε μεθʼ ἡμῶν.
so that you too may have fellowship with us;
damit auch ihr Gemeinschaft mit uns habet.
καὶ ἡ κοινωνία δὲ ἡ ἡμετέρα μετὰ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ μετὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ.
and indeed our c fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
Und unsere Gemeinschaft ist mit dem Vater und mit seinem Sohne Jesus Christus.
actionpurpose
καὶ ταῦτα γράφομεν ἡμεῖς,
a These things we write,
Und solches schreiben wir euch,
ἵνα ἡ χαρὰ ἡμῶν ᾖ πεπληρωμένη.
so that our b joy may be made complete.
damit eure Freude vollkommen sei.
actionresult
"v. 4 A number of mss, some of them quite significant (A C K P 5 33 81 442 1243 1505 1611 1735 1739 1852 1881 2344 pm syh bo), read ὑμῶν (humōn, “your”) rather than ἡμῶν (hēmōn, “our”), which is found in somewhat better witnesses (א B L Ψ 049 436 1175 1241 pm syp sa). Although the majority of Byzantine minuscules are split between the two readings, the Textus Receptus reads ὑμῶν. It is possible that ὑμῶν represents a scribal assimilation to John 16:24, where the Greek purpose clause is identical to the wording here with ὑμῶν (“so that your joy may be complete”). As far as the immediate context is concerned, either reading could possibly be original, since the recipients have already been mentioned in 1:2 (ὑμῖν, humin) and 1:3 (ὑμῖν), while it might seem more natural for the author to be concerned about the fulfillment of his own joy than his readers’ (cf. 2 John 4, 12; 3 John 3). Overall, the first person pronoun is preferred on both external and internal grounds. Although previous editions of the UBS text gave the first person pronoun reading an “A” rating, UBS5 strips out any rating at all and, along with NA28, ranks ὑμῶν as an equally viable alternative initial reading by placing it in the apparatus with a diamond." from the NET Bible Notes
na28
discourse
Phrase
1 John 1:1-4
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—
and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life,
which was with the Father and was manifested to us—
what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also,
so that you too may have fellowship with us;
and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
These things we write,
so that our joy may be made complete.
phrasing
Phrase Greek
1 John 1:1-4
na28
Ὃ ἦν ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς,
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—
Was von Anfang war, was wir gehört, was wir mit unsren Augen gesehen haben, was wir beschaut und was unsre Hände betastet haben, vom Wort des Lebens
ὃ ἀκηκόαμεν,
ὃ ἑωράκαμεν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ἡμῶν,
ὃ ἐθεασάμεθα
καὶ αἱ χεῖρες ἡμῶν ἐψηλάφησαν
περὶ τοῦ λόγου τῆς ζωῆς —
καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ἐφανερώθη,
and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us—
und das Leben ist erschienen, und wir haben gesehen und bezeugen und verkündigen euch das ewige Leben, welches bei dem Vater war und uns erschienen ist;
καὶ ἑωράκαμεν
καὶ μαρτυροῦμεν
καὶ ἀπαγγέλλομεν ὑμῖν τὴν ζωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον
ἥτις ἦν πρὸς τὸν πατέρα
καὶ ἐφανερώθη ἡμῖν —
ὃ ἑωράκαμεν
what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
was wir gesehen und gehört haben, das verkündigen wir euch, damit auch ihr Gemeinschaft mit uns habet. Und unsere Gemeinschaft ist mit dem Vater und mit seinem Sohne Jesus Christus.
καὶ ἀκηκόαμεν,
ἀπαγγέλλομεν καὶ ὑμῖν,
ἵνα καὶ ὑμεῖς κοινωνίαν ἔχητε μεθʼ ἡμῶν.
καὶ ἡ κοινωνία δὲ ἡ ἡμετέρα μετὰ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ μετὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ.
καὶ ταῦτα γράφομεν ἡμεῖς,
These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.
Und solches schreiben wir euch, damit eure Freude vollkommen sei.
ἵνα ἡ χαρὰ ἡμῶν ᾖ πεπληρωμένη.
Ὃ ἦν ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς, ὃ ἀκηκόαμεν, ὃ ἑωράκαμεν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ἡμῶν, ὃ ἐθεασάμεθα καὶ αἱ χεῖρες ἡμῶν ἐψηλάφησαν περὶ τοῦ λόγου τῆς ζωῆς —
καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ἐφανερώθη, καὶ ἑωράκαμεν καὶ μαρτυροῦμεν καὶ ἀπαγγέλλομεν ὑμῖν τὴν ζωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον ἥτις ἦν πρὸς τὸν πατέρα καὶ ἐφανερώθη ἡμῖν —
ὃ ἑωράκαμεν καὶ ἀκηκόαμεν, ἀπαγγέλλομεν καὶ ὑμῖν, ἵνα καὶ ὑμεῖς κοινωνίαν ἔχητε μεθʼ ἡμῶν. καὶ ἡ κοινωνία δὲ ἡ ἡμετέρα μετὰ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ μετὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ.
καὶ ταῦτα γράφομεν ἡμεῖς, ἵνα ἡ χαρὰ ἡμῶν ᾖ πεπληρωμένη.
Diagram
scripturetext
components
1 John 1:1-4
na28
subjectverb
solid
drop
equal
revrocket
line
pred
ἀπαγγέλλομεν
καὶ
indirectobj
pstack
cword
ὑμῖν
directobject
shelf
vertical
rocketship
Ὃ
ἦν
prepphrase
ἀπʼ
ἀρχῆς
ἀκηκόαμεν
ὃ
ἑωράκαμεν
ὃ
τοῖς
ὀφθαλμοῖς
ἡμῶν
dblrocketship
ἑωράκαμεν
ἀκηκόαμεν
ὃ
καὶ
ἐθεασάμεθα
αἱ
χεῖρες
ἐψηλάφησαν
ἡμῶν
καὶ
obtuse
ὑμεῖς
ἔχητε
καὶ
κοινωνίαν
μεθʼ
ἡμῶν
ἵνα
bracket
table
περὶ
τοῦ
λόγου
τῆς
ζωῆς
καὶ
ἡ
ζωὴ
ἐφανερώθη
ἑωράκαμεν
ἀπαγγέλλομεν
μαρτυροῦμεν
τὴν
ζωὴν
τὴν
αἰώνιον
ὑμῖν
καὶ
καὶ
καὶ
ἥτις
ἦν
πρὸς
τὸν
πατέρα
ἐφανερώθη
ἡμῖν
καὶ
smartline
dashed
free
ttext
ὃ
text
v1a
v1b
v1c
v1d
v1e
v1f
v2a
v2b
v2e
v2f
v2d
v2c
v3a
v3b
v3c
v3d
καὶ
δὲ
ἡ
κοινωνία
ἡ
ἡμετέρα
μετὰ
τοῦ
πατρὸς
μετὰ
τοῦ
υἱοῦ
αὐτοῦ
equals
Ἰησοῦ
Χριστοῦ
καὶ
v3e
ἡμεῖς
γράφομεν
ταῦτα
ἡ
χαρὰ
ᾖ
ἡμῶν
participle
πεπληρωμένη
ἵνα
καὶ
v4a
v4b
The five relative pronouns in this compound unit refer to the "word of life" in v1f. Regarding the difference in gender between "what" (neuter) and "word" (masculine), in the UBS Handbooks we read, "That which represents the neuter of the Greek relative pronoun. It is used here notwithstanding the fact that the Greek term it ultimately refers to, namely, logos "word," is masculine in gender. This grammatical incongruity serves a purpose. It suggests (but not more than "suggests") that the situation and qualities of the Word cannot clearly and unequivocally be described in human language."
diagram