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parallelVerse INT GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1SA 2SA PSA AMOS HOS 1KI 2KI 1CH 2CH PRO ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL YHN MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC GAL 1TH 2TH 1COR 2COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1TIM TIT 1PET 2PET 2TIM HEB YUD 1YHN 2YHN 3YHN REV
Yhn Intro C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21
Yhn 1 V1 V3 V5 V7 V11 V13 V15 V17 V19 V21 V23 V25 V27 V29 V31 V33 V35 V37 V39 V41 V43 V45 V47 V49 V51
Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed for doing comparisons of different translations. Click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.
Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance=normal (All still tentative.)
OET (OET-RV) The true light which enlightens every person was coming into the world.
OET-LV It_was the the true light, which is_enlightening every person, coming into the world.
SR-GNT Ἦν τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινὸν, ὃ φωτίζει πάντα ἄνθρωπον, ἐρχόμενον εἰς τὸν κόσμον. ‡
(Aʸn to fōs to alaʸthinon, ho fōtizei panta anthrōpon, erⱪomenon eis ton kosmon.)
Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).
ULT The true light, which gives light to all men, was coming into the world.
UST That true light was Jesus, who revealed God’s truth and goodness to everyone. He was that light that was coming into the world.
BSB § The true Light who gives light to every man was coming into the world.
BLB The true Light who enlightens every man was coming into the world.
AICNT The true light, which enlightens every person, was coming into the world.[fn]
1:9, world: The Greek word can mean (1) that which serves to beautify through decoration, adornment, adorning, (2) condition of orderliness, orderly arrangement, order, (3) the sum total of everything here and now, the world, the (orderly) universe, (4) the sum total of all beings above the level of the animals, the world, (5) planet earth as a place of inhabitation, the world, (6) humanity in general, the world, (7) the system of human existence in its many aspects, the world, or (8) collective aspect of an entity, totality, sum total. (BDAG, κόσμος)
OEB That was the true light which enlightens everyone coming into the world.
CSB The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.
CEV The true light that shines on everyone was coming into the world.
LSB There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens everyone.
WEBBE The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world.
WMBB (Same as above)
NET The true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
LSV He was the true Light, which enlightens every man, coming into the world;
FBV The true light was coming into the world to give light to everyone.
TCNT The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
T4T While John was doing that, the one who was truly like a light was about to show himself to the world. He was the one who enables all people to know about God, as a light [MET] enables people to know what is in the darkness.
LEB The true light, who gives light to every person, was coming into the world.
BBE The true light, which gives light to every man, was then coming into the world.
Moff No Moff YHN (JHN) book available
Wymth The true Light was that which illumines every man by its coming into the world.
ASV There was the true light, even the light which lighteth every man, coming into the world.
DRA That was the true light, which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world.
YLT He was the true Light, which doth enlighten every man, coming to the world;
Drby The true light was that which, coming into the world, lightens every man.
RV There was the true light, even the light which lighteth every man, coming into the world.
Wbstr That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
KJB-1769 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
(That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh/comes into the world. )
KJB-1611 That was the true light, which lighteth euery man that commeth into the world.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation)
Bshps That lyght was the true lyght, which lyghteth euery man that commeth into the worlde.
(That light was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh/comes into the world.)
Gnva This was that true light, which lighteth euery man that commeth into the world.
(This was that true light, which lighteth every man that cometh/comes into the world. )
Cvdl That was the true light, which lighteth all men, that come in to this worlde.
(That was the true light, which lighteth all men, that come in to this world.)
TNT That was a true lyght which lyghteth all men that come into the worlde.
(That was a true light which lighteth all men that come into the world. )
Wycl There was a very liyt, which liytneth ech man that cometh in to this world.
(There was a very light, which lightneth each man that cometh/comes in to this world.)
Luth Das war das wahrhaftige Licht, welches alle Menschen erleuchtet die in diese Welt kommen.
(The what/which the wahrhaftige light, which all Menschen erleuchtet the in this/these world come.)
ClVg Erat lux vera, quæ illuminat omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum.[fn]
(Erat light vera, which illuminat omnem hominem venientem in this_one the_world. )
1.9 Erat lux vera. Omnis homo dicitur illa natura in homine, quæ ad imaginem et ad similitudinem Dei facta est. Alia omnia quæ sunt in homine inferiores partes hominis sunt, et quodammodo extra hominem sunt. In illa scilicet, anima velut in quodam mundo superiori vera lux lucet, et in illum mundum venientes, et per gratiam renascentes illuminat, quia quorum vita et conversatio in cœlis est, quasi in alio mundo sunt.
1.9 Erat light vera. Everyone human it_is_said that natura in homine, which to imaginem and to similitudinem of_God facts it_is. Alia everything which are in homine inferiores partes of_man are, and quodammodo extra hominem are. In that scilicet, anima velut in quodam mundo superiori vera light lucet, and in him the_world venientes, and through gratiam renascentes illuminat, because quorum vita and conversatio in cœlis it_is, as_if in alio mundo are.
UGNT ἦν τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινὸν, ὃ φωτίζει πάντα ἄνθρωπον, ἐρχόμενον εἰς τὸν κόσμον.
(aʸn to fōs to alaʸthinon, ho fōtizei panta anthrōpon, erⱪomenon eis ton kosmon.)
SBL-GNT ἦν τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινὸν ὃ φωτίζει πάντα ἄνθρωπον ἐρχόμενον εἰς τὸν κόσμον.
(aʸn to fōs to alaʸthinon ho fōtizei panta anthrōpon erⱪomenon eis ton kosmon.)
TC-GNT Ἦν τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινόν, ὃ φωτίζει πάντα ἄνθρωπον ἐρχόμενον εἰς τὸν κόσμον.
(Aʸn to fōs to alaʸthinon, ho fōtizei panta anthrōpon erⱪomenon eis ton kosmon. )
Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, orange:accents differ (from our SR-GNT base).
1:1-18 The beginning of this prologue (1:1-5) might be a poem or hymn sung by the earliest Christians. The prologue’s themes—the coming of the light into the world, the rejection of the light, and its gift of new life to believers—prepares readers for the story that follows.
The Word
John raises the curtain on his Gospel with a stunning description of Jesus Christ as “the Word” (Greek logos, John 1:1). Both Greek and Jewish listeners in the first century would immediately recognize the profound meaning of this title. Greeks would have thought of the seminal forces that sustain the universe. Jewish minds would have thought back to God creating the world with his word (Gen 1:3-28; Ps 33:6, 9). In Jesus’ day, the Word of God had taken on creative personal attributes. Jews viewed God’s Word as personifying divine Wisdom. Through Wisdom, God extended himself into the cosmos, creating the world (Prov 8:22-31).
John makes it clear that Jesus shares the same essence as God; the Son existed before time, and he was the agent of all creation. John anchors the divinity of Jesus in this ancient Jewish concept of Wisdom. The divine Wisdom that has existed with God from before time can now be known in Jesus Christ. In perhaps the most striking verse penned by an apostle, John writes that this Logos, this Wisdom, became flesh and lived among us as a human (John 1:14). What God is, the Logos is, and the Logos is Jesus Christ.
Passages for Further Study
Gen 1:3-28; Ps 33:6, 9; Prov 8:22-31; Isa 40:8; John 1:1-18; 1 Jn 1:1; Rev 19:13
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινὸν, ὃ
the light ¬the true which
Here John uses light to refer to Jesus as the one who both reveals the truth about God and is himself that truth. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [Jesus, who truly embodied God’s truth, who]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
ὃ φωτίζει πάντα ἄνθρωπον
which /is/_enlightening every person
Here, John uses light to refer to God’s truth and goodness. If this might confuse your readers, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [which reveals the true and good things of God to all men]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / gendernotations
ἄνθρωπον
person
Although the term men is masculine, John is using the word here in a generic sense that includes both men and women. Alternate translation: [people]