1:14 Now 1 the Word became flesh 2 and took up residence 3 among us. We 4 saw his glory – the glory of the one and only, 5 full of grace and truth, who came from the Father.
1:23 John 6 said, “I am the voice of one shouting in the wilderness, ‘Make straight 7 the way for the Lord,’ 8 as Isaiah the prophet said.”
1 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic, the incarnation of the Word. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style generally does not.
2 tn This looks at the Word incarnate in humility and weakness; the word σάρξ (sarx) does not carry overtones of sinfulness here as it frequently does in Pauline usage. See also John 3:6.
3 tn Grk “and tabernacled.”
4 tn Grk “and we saw.”
5 tn Or “of the unique one.” Although this word is often translated “only begotten,” such a translation is misleading, since in English it appears to express a metaphysical relationship. The word in Greek was used of an only child (a son [Luke 7:12, 9:38] or a daughter [Luke 8:42]). It was also used of something unique (only one of its kind) such as the mythological Phoenix (1 Clem. 25:2). From here it passes easily to a description of Isaac (Heb 11:17 and Josephus, Ant., 1.13.1 [1.222]) who was not Abraham’s only son, but was one-of-a-kind because he was the child of the promise. Thus the word means “one-of-a-kind” and is reserved for Jesus in the Johannine literature of the NT. While all Christians are children of God, Jesus is God’s Son in a unique, one-of-a-kind sense. The word is used in this way in all its uses in the Gospel of John (1:14, 1:18, 3:16, and 3:18).
6 tn Grk “He”; the referent (John the Baptist) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 sn This call to “make straight” is probably an allusion to preparation through repentance.
8 sn A quotation from Isa 40:3.