1 John 5:12

5:12 The one who has the Son ¹  has this ²  eternal ³  life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have this ⁴  eternal ⁵  life.

1 John 5:20

5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us insight to know ⁶  him who is true, and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This one ⁷  is the true God and eternal life.

1 John 1:1-3

The Prologue to the Letter

1:1 This is what we proclaim to you: ⁸  what was from the beginning, ⁹  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 – 1:2 and the life was revealed, and we have seen and testify and announce ¹⁰  to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us). ¹¹  1:3 What we have seen and heard we announce ¹²  to you too, so that ¹³  you may have fellowship ¹⁴  with us (and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ).

1 John 4:9

4:9 By this ¹⁵  the love of God ¹⁶  is revealed in us: ¹⁷  that God has sent his one and only ¹⁸  Son into the world so that we may live through him.

John 1:4

1:4 In him was life, ¹⁹  and the life was the light of mankind. ²⁰ 

John 5:21

5:21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, ²¹  so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes. ²² 

John 5:26

5:26 For just as the Father has life in himself, thus he has granted the Son to have life in himself,

John 11:25-26

11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live ²³  even if he dies, 11:26 and the one who lives and believes in me will never die. ²⁴  Do you believe this?”

John 14:6

14:6 Jesus replied, ²⁵  “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. ²⁶  No one comes to the Father except through me.

Colossians 3:3-4

3:3 for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 3:4 When Christ (who is your ²⁷  life) appears, then you too will be revealed in glory with him.

Revelation 22:1

22:1 Then ²⁸  the angel ²⁹  showed me the river of the water of life – water as clear as crystal – pouring out ³⁰  from the throne of God and of the Lamb,

[5:12]  ¹ sn The one who has the Son. The expression “to have the Son” in 5:12 means to “possess” him in the sense that he is present in the individual’s life (see 1 John 2:23 for the use of the Greek verb “to have” to indicate possession of a divine reality). From the parallel statement in 5:10a it is clear that believing in the Son and thus having God’s testimony in one’s self is the same as “having” the Son here in 5:12a. This is essentially identical to John 3:16: “that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” In contrast, the negative statement in 5:12b reflects the author’s evaluation of the opponents: “the one who does not have the Son does not have (eternal) life.” The opponents, in spite of their claims to know God, do not possess (nor have they at any time possessed, cf. 2:19) eternal life.

[5:12]  ² tn “This” is a translation of the Greek anaphoric article.

[5:12]  ³ tn The word “eternal” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity, since the anaphoric article in Greek points back to the previous mention of eternal life in 5:11.

[5:12]  ⁴ tn “This” is a translation of the Greek anaphoric article.

[5:12]  ⁵ tn The word “eternal” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity, since the anaphoric article in Greek points back to the previous mention of eternal life in 5:11.

[5:20]  ⁶ tn The ἵνα (Jina) introduces a purpose clause which gives the purpose of the preceding affirmation: “we know that the Son of God has come and has given us insight (so that we may) know him who is true.”

[5:20]  ⁷ sn The pronoun This one (οὗτος, Joutos) refers to a person, but it is far from clear whether it should be understood as a reference (1) to God the Father or (2) to Jesus Christ. R. E. Brown (Epistles of John [AB], 625) comments, “I John, which began with an example of stunning grammatical obscurity in the prologue, continues to the end to offer us examples of unclear grammar.” The nearest previous antecedent is Jesus Christ, immediately preceding, but on some occasions when this has been true the pronoun still refers to God (see 1 John 2:3). The first predicate which follows This one in 5:20, the true God, is a description of God the Father used by Jesus in John 17:3, and was used in the preceding clause of the present verse to refer to God the Father (him who is true). Yet the second predicate of This one in 5:20, eternal life, appears to refer to Jesus, because although the Father possesses “life” (John 5:26, 6:57) just as Jesus does (John 1:4, 6:57, 1 John 5:11), “life” is never predicated of the Father elsewhere, while it is predicated of Jesus in John 11:25 and 14:6 (a self-predication by Jesus). If This one in 5:20 is understood as referring to Jesus, it forms an inclusion with the prologue, which introduced the reader to “the eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us.” Thus it appears best to understand the pronoun This one in 5:20 as a reference to Jesus Christ. The christological affirmation which results is striking, but certainly not beyond the capabilities of the author (see John 1:1 and 20:28): This One [Jesus Christ] is the true God and eternal life.

[1:1]  ⁸ tn The phrase “This is what we proclaim to you” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to clarify the English. The main verb which governs all of these relative clauses is ἀπαγγέλλομεν (apangellomen) in v. 3. This is important for the proper understanding of the relative clauses in v. 1, because the main verb ἀπαγγέλλομεν in v. 3 makes it clear that all of the relative clauses in vv. 1 and 3 are the objects of the author’s proclamation to the readers rather than the subjects. To indicate this the phrase “This is what we proclaim to you” has been supplied at the beginning of v. 1.

[1:1]  ⁹ tn Grk “That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard…”

[1:2]  ¹⁰ tn Or “proclaim.”

[1:2]  ¹¹ tn In the Greek text the prologue to 1 John (vv. 1-4) makes up a single sentence. This is awkward in Greek, and a literal translation produces almost impossible English. For this reason the present translation places a period at the end of v. 2 and another at the end of v. 3. The material in parentheses in v. 1 begins the first of three parenthetical interruptions in the grammatical sequence of the prologue (the second is the entirety of v. 2 and the third is the latter part of v. 3). This is because of the awkwardness of connecting the prepositional phrase with what precedes, an awkwardness not immediately obvious in most English translations: “what we beheld and our hands handled concerning the word of life…” As J. Bonsirven (Épîtres de Saint Jean [CNT], 67) noted, while one may hear about the word of life, it is more difficult to see about the word of life, and impossible to feel with one’s hands about the word of life. Rather than being the object of any of the verbs in v. 1, the prepositional phrase at the end of v. 1 (“concerning the word of life…”) is more likely a parenthetical clarification intended to specify the subject of the eyewitness testimony which the verbs in v. 1 describe. A parallel for such parenthetical explanation may be found in John 1:12 (τοῖς πιστεύουσιν εἰς τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, toi" pisteuousin ei" to onoma autou).

[1:3]  ¹² tn Or “proclaim.”

[1:3]  ¹³ tn The ἵνα (Jina) here indicates purpose.

[1:3]  ¹⁴ tn Or “communion”; or “association” (a reality shared in common, so in this case, “genuine association”). This term also occurs in vv. 6, 7.

[4:9]  ¹⁵ tn Once again there is the problem of determining whether the phrase ἐν τούτῳ (en toutw) refers (1) to what precedes or (2) to what follows. This is the first of 5 uses of the phrase in the present section (4:9, 10, 13, 17; 5:2). In this case (as also in the next two instances) there is a ὅτι (Joti) clause following which is related and which explains (i.e., which is epexegetical to) the phrase ἐν τούτῳ. Thus the meaning here is, “By this the love of God is revealed in us: that God has sent his only Son into the world in order that we might live through him.”

[4:9]  ¹⁶ tn In terms of syntax the force of the genitive τοῦ θεοῦ (tou qeou) may be (1) objective, (2) subjective, or (3) both. The phrase occurs for the first time in the letter in 2:5. Here in 4:9 the epexegetical ὅτι (Joti) clause which follows makes it clear that this is a subjective genitive, emphasizing God’s love for us rather than our love for God, because it describes God’s action in sending his Son into the world.

[4:9]  ¹⁷ tn This phrase is best understood as the equivalent of a dative of sphere, but this description does not specify where the love of God is revealed with regard to believers: “in our midst” (i.e., among us) or “within us” (i.e., internally within believers). The latter is probable, because in the context the concept of God’s indwelling of the believer is mentioned in 4:12: “God resides (μένει, menei) in us.”

[4:9]  ¹⁸ sn Although the word translated one and only (μονογενής, monogenhs) is often rendered “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 bird called the Phoenix (1 Clement 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 alone in the Johannine literature of the NT. While all Christians are children of God (τέκνα θεοῦ, tekna qeou), 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, 18; 3:16, 18).

[1:4]  ¹⁹ tn John uses ζωή (zwh) 37 times: 17 times it occurs with αἰώνιος (aiwnios), and in the remaining occurrences outside the prologue it is clear from context that “eternal” life is meant. The two uses in 1:4, if they do not refer to “eternal” life, would be the only exceptions. (Also 1 John uses ζωή 13 times, always of “eternal” life.)

[1:4]  ²⁰ tn Or “humanity”; Grk “of men” (but ἄνθρωπος [anqrwpo"] is used in a generic sense here, not restricted to males only, thus “mankind,” “humanity”).

[5:21]  ²¹ tn Grk “and makes them live.”

[5:21]  ²² tn Grk “the Son makes whomever he wants to live.”

[11:25]  ²³ tn That is, will come to life.

[11:26]  ²⁴ tn Grk “will never die forever.”

[14:6]  ²⁵ tn Grk “Jesus said to him.”

[14:6]  ²⁶ tn Or “I am the way, even the truth and the life.”

[3:4]  ²⁷ tc Certain mss (B^[*^] D¹ H 0278 1739 Ï sy sa) read ἡμῶν (Jhmwn, “our”), while others (Ì⁴⁶ א C D* F G P Ψ 075 33 81 1881 al latt bo) read ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “your”). Internally, it is possible that the second person pronoun arose through scribal conformity to the second person pronoun used previously in v. 3 (i.e., ὑμῶν) and following in v. 4 (ὑμεῖς, Jumeis). But in terms of external criteria, the second person pronoun has superior ms support (though there is an Alexandrian split) and ἡμῶν may have arisen through accident (error of sight) or scribal attempt to universalize the statement since all Christians have Jesus as their life. See TCGNT 557.

[22:1]  ²⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[22:1]  ²⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the angel mentioned in 21:9, 15) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:1]  ³⁰ tn Grk “proceeding.” Water is more naturally thought to pour out or flow out in English idiom.