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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
1 Yhn 1 V1 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10
OET (OET-LV) and the life was_revealed, and we_have_seen, and we_are_testifying, and we_are_reporting to_you_all, the life the eternal, which was with the father, and was_revealed to_us,
OET (OET-RV) 1-3 We are reporting to you and testifying about what existed from the beginning: Yeshua the messiah and son of God. We heard him, we saw him with our own eyes, and we touched him with our own hands. Concerning the message of life, we can also report and testify to you that that life was revealed—he is the eternal life that was with the father and was revealed to us. We report what we’ve seen and what we’ve heard so that you all also can have fellowship with us, and our fellowship is with the father and with his son.
Read 1:1–4 carefully in both BSB and GNT. Compare the two versions.
Section Theme: These verses form an introduction to the whole letter. In them John states the authority which he has for giving instructions to his readers. He also explains what his purpose is in writing the letter. His authority is the fact that he had personally been with Jesus Christ, the eternal Word of God. His purpose in writing the letter is that the people he is writing to may truly share the fellowship he has with God.
we have seen it
We(excl) saw him.
This verse is a comment about the Word of life, which John has just mentioned. In the next verse (1:3) he continues what he has been saying about the subject of his letter.
And this is the life that was revealed;
God showed to people this person who gives real life.
God caused him to become a human being so that people could see him.
And this is the life: (Meaning) This also refers to Jesus. See the note on 1:1 “Word of life” above.
was revealed: (Alternative Interpretations) Two interpretations of the form of the Greek verb are possible here:
It probably means “he was revealed (by God),” “God caused him to become a human being, who people could see.” (BSB, JB, NEB, KJV, RSV, LB)
Some think it means “he appeared,” “he became visible.” (NIV, GNT, JBP)
and testified to it,
So we are telling you(plur) the truth about him.
testified: (Meaning) This means to tell or confirm the truth about something which one has personally experienced or seen.
and we proclaim to you the eternal life
We are telling you that this person who gives life exists forever,
proclaim: (Meaning) This means to testify to something openly or publicly.
the eternal life: (Special Biblical Term) This is a biblical term which describes the type of life which God has and which he gives to us. It refers to both the length of that life and to its quality. It means life which is never-ending and which is heavenly rather than earthly. In this verse it refers to Jesus, just as “the life” does at the beginning of the verse. It is emphasizing that the life which Jesus brings us has always existed in heaven.
that was with the Father
and that from long ago he was together with God the Father,
with the Father: (Meaning) This is very similar to John 1:1 “the Word was with God.” It means that God and the Word (the Life) never existed separately, they were always together.
Father: (Expression) If it is necessary to specify whose father this is, say “our Father” here.
and was revealed to us.
but now God has shown him to us.(excl)
was revealed to us: (Alternative Interpretations) See the note on 1:2a “revealed.” The same two interpretations are found here.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ἐφανερώθη
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί ἡ ζωή ἐφανερώθη καί ἑωράκαμεν καί μαρτυροῦμεν καί ἀπαγγέλλομεν ὑμῖν τήν ζωήν τήν αἰώνιον ἥτις ἦν πρός τόν Πατέρα καί ἐφανερώθη ἡμῖν)
See the discussion of the term “appear” in Part 3 of the Introduction to 1 John. Here the term could mean one of two things. (1) John could be emphasizing how Jesus came to this earth, as modelled by the UST. It may be helpful to begin a new sentence here. Alternate translation: [Indeed, the life came right here] (2) John could be emphasizing how God revealed Jesus to the world and thereby revealed himself to the world through Jesus. To bring out that emphasis, you could translate this with a passive verbal form or, if your language does not use passive forms, you can use an active form and say who did the action. Alternate translation: [Indeed, the life was made visible] or [Indeed, God made the life visible]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy
ἡ ζωὴ
the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί ἡ ζωή ἐφανερώθη καί ἑωράκαμεν καί μαρτυροῦμεν καί ἀπαγγέλλομεν ὑμῖν τήν ζωήν τήν αἰώνιον ἥτις ἦν πρός τόν Πατέρα καί ἐφανερώθη ἡμῖν)
John is speaking of Jesus, whom he calls the “Word of life” in the previous verse, by referring to the life that is associated with him. In this case it seems to describe the life that Jesus embodies rather than the life that he gives. Alternate translation: [Jesus] or [Jesus, who is life]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / exclusive
ἑωράκαμεν & μαρτυροῦμεν & ἀπαγγέλλομεν & ἡμῖν
˱we˲_˓have˒_seen & ˱we˲_˓are˒_testifying & ˱we˲_˓are˒_reporting & ˱to˲_us
John is speaking on behalf of himself and the other eyewitnesses to the earthly life of Jesus, so the pronouns we and us are exclusive in this verse.
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / you
ὑμῖν
˱to˲_you_all
As the General Introduction explains, John is writing this letter to believers in various churches, and so the pronouns you, “your,” and “yourselves” are plural throughout the entire letter.
Note 5 topic: writing-pronouns
ἑωράκαμεν, καὶ μαρτυροῦμεν,
˱we˲_˓have˒_seen (Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί ἡ ζωή ἐφανερώθη καί ἑωράκαμεν καί μαρτυροῦμεν καί ἀπαγγέλλομεν ὑμῖν τήν ζωήν τήν αἰώνιον ἥτις ἦν πρός τόν Πατέρα καί ἐφανερώθη ἡμῖν)
If you decided to use personal pronouns in [1:1](../01/01.md), you could use them in these cases as well. Alternate translation: [we have seen him, and we are testifying that we saw him]
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism
μαρτυροῦμεν, καὶ ἀπαγγέλλομεν ὑμῖν
˱we˲_˓are˒_testifying (Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί ἡ ζωή ἐφανερώθη καί ἑωράκαμεν καί μαρτυροῦμεν καί ἀπαγγέλλομεν ὑμῖν τήν ζωήν τήν αἰώνιον ἥτις ἦν πρός τόν Πατέρα καί ἐφανερώθη ἡμῖν)
These two phrases mean similar things. John is likely using repetition for emphasis. If it would be helpful in your language, you could combine these phrases and express the emphasis in another way, as UST does. Alternate translation: [we are enthusiastically telling you about]
Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy
τὴν ζωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί ἡ ζωή ἐφανερώθη καί ἑωράκαμεν καί μαρτυροῦμεν καί ἀπαγγέλλομεν ὑμῖν τήν ζωήν τήν αἰώνιον ἥτις ἦν πρός τόν Πατέρα καί ἐφανερώθη ἡμῖν)
As earlier in the verse, John is speaking of Jesus by referring to the life that is associated with him. Alternate translation: [Jesus, the eternal life] or [Jesus, the one who has always been alive,]
Note 8 topic: guidelines-sonofgodprinciples
τὸν Πατέρα
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί ἡ ζωή ἐφανερώθη καί ἑωράκαμεν καί μαρτυροῦμεν καί ἀπαγγέλλομεν ὑμῖν τήν ζωήν τήν αἰώνιον ἥτις ἦν πρός τόν Πατέρα καί ἐφανερώθη ἡμῖν)
The title the Father is an important title for God. Alternate translation: [God the Father]
Note 9 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
καὶ ἐφανερώθη ἡμῖν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί ἡ ζωή ἐφανερώθη καί ἑωράκαμεν καί μαρτυροῦμεν καί ἀπαγγέλλομεν ὑμῖν τήν ζωήν τήν αἰώνιον ἥτις ἦν πρός τόν Πατέρα καί ἐφανερώθη ἡμῖν)
See how you translated appeared earlier in this verse. Alternate translation: [and came right to us] or [and was made visible to us] or [and whom God made visible to us]
OET (OET-LV) and the life was_revealed, and we_have_seen, and we_are_testifying, and we_are_reporting to_you_all, the life the eternal, which was with the father, and was_revealed to_us,
OET (OET-RV) 1-3 We are reporting to you and testifying about what existed from the beginning: Yeshua the messiah and son of God. We heard him, we saw him with our own eyes, and we touched him with our own hands. Concerning the message of life, we can also report and testify to you that that life was revealed—he is the eternal life that was with the father and was revealed to us. We report what we’ve seen and what we’ve heard so that you all also can have fellowship with us, and our fellowship is with the father and with his son.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.