1YHN 1:1 Parallel Verse View

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) 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.

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect 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 What was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched, regarding the Word of life—

UST I, John, am writing to you about Jesus, the Word of God, the one who gives life. He existed before there was anything else. We apostles listened to him as he taught people. We saw him personally. We looked at him and touched him. So we can testify that he was a real human being.

BSB § That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we have gazed upon and touched with our own hands—this is the Word of life.

BLB That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we have gazed upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life--

AICNT What was from the beginning, 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 –

OEB We write to you about the Word of life, which has been in existence from the beginning. We write of what we have heard, of what we have seen with our eyes, of what we watched reverently and touched with our hands.

WEBBE That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we saw, and our hands touched, concerning the Word of life

WMBB (Same as above)

NET This is what we proclaim to you: what was from the beginning, 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 –

LSV That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we beheld, and our hands handled, concerning the Word of Life—

FBV This letter is about the Word of Life which existed from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our very own eyes and gazed upon, and which our hands have touched.[fn]

1:1 The Greek sentence structure has been adjusted to make better sense in English.

TCNT We declare to you 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.

T4T I, John, am writing to you about the one who existed before there was anything else. He is the one whom we apostles listened to as he taught us! We saw him! We ourselves looked at him and touched him! He is the one who taught us the message that enables people to have eternal life (OR, live spiritually).

LEB What was from the beginning, 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—

BBE That which was from the first, which has come to our ears, and which we have seen with our eyes, looking on it and touching it with our hands, about the Word of life

Moff No Moff 1YHN (1JHN) book available

Wymth That which was from the beginning, which we have listened to, which we have seen with our own eyes, and our own hands have handled concerning the Word of Life—

ASV That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we beheld, and our hands handled, concerning the Word of life

DRA That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the word of life:

YLT That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we did behold, and our hands did handle, concerning the Word of the Life —

Drby That which was from [the] beginning, that which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes; that which we contemplated, and our hands handled, concerning the word of life;

RV That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we beheld, and our hands handled, concerning the Word of life

Wbstr That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the word of life;

KJB-1769 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

KJB-1611 ¶ That which was from y^e beginning, which wee haue heard, which wee haue seene with our eyes, which wee haue looked vpon, and our hands haue handled of the word of life.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation and punctuation)

Bshps That whiche was fro the beginning, whiche we haue heard, which we haue seene with our eyes, whiche we haue loked vpo, & our handes haue handeled of, the worde of lyfe:
(That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upo, and our hands have handeled of, the word of life:)

Gnva That which was from the beginning, which wee haue heard, which wee haue seene with these our eyes, which wee haue looked vpon, and these handes of ours haue handled of that Word of life,
(That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with these our eyes, which we have looked upon, and these hands of ours have handled of that Word of life, )

Cvdl That which was from ye begynnynge, which we haue herde, which we haue sene with or eyes, which we haue loked vpon, and or handes haue handled of the worde of life:
(That which was from ye/you_all beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with or eyes, which we have looked upon, and or hands have handled of the word of life:)

TNT That which was from the begynninge concerninge which we have hearde which we have sene with oure eyes which we have loked vpon and oure hondes have hadled of the worde of life.
(That which was from the beginning concerninge which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes which we have looked upon and our hands have hadled of the word of life. )

Wycl That thing that was fro the bigynnyng, which we herden, which we sayn with oure iyen, which we bihelden, and oure hondis touchiden, of the word of lijf; and the lijf is schewid.
(That thing that was from the beginning, which we heard, which we saw with our eyes, which we bihelden, and our hands touchiden, of the word of life; and the life is showed.)

Luth Das da von Anfang war, das wir gehöret haben, das wir gesehen haben mit unsern Augen, das wir beschauet haben, und unsere Hände betastet haben, vom Wort des Lebens
(The there from beginning was, the we/us gehöret have, the we/us seen have with unsern Augen, the we/us beschauet have, and unsere hands betastet have, from_the Wort the life)

ClVg Quod fuit ab initio, quod audivimus, quod vidimus oculis nostris, quod perspeximus, et manus nostræ contrectaverunt de verbo vitæ:[fn]
(That fuit away initio, that audivimus, that vidimus oculis nostris, that perspeximus, and hands nostræ contrectaverunt about verbo vitæ: )

1.1 Argumentum Rationem verbi, et quod Deus ipse sit charitas, manifestat, et susurrones fratrum nec Deum scire, nec pios fieri posse eousque dissertat, ut esse comprobet homicidas, eo quod odium sit interfectionis occasio. Quod fuit ab initio. In natura, seu vero esse Deitatis, quod audivimus, per legem et prophetas, quod vidimus, sensibiliter hominem venientem, quod perspeximus, Divinitatem advertentes in homine, et manus contrectaverunt, de Verbo vitæ: non fortuitu consentientes ei qui in carne visus, sed cum multa contrectatione Scripturas perhibentes testimonium de ipso Verbo. Quod vidit aliquis nuntiare potest aliis, quod perfecte conspexerit aliquando, non potest explicare verbis.

1.1 Argumentum Rationem verbi, and that God exactly_that/himself let_it_be charitas, manifestat, and susurrones brothers but_not God scire, but_not pios to_be_done posse eousque dissertat, as esse comprobet homicidas, eo that odium let_it_be killedonis occasio. That fuit away initio. In natura, seu vero esse of_Godtatis, that audivimus, through legem and prophetas, that vidimus, sensibiliter hominem venientem, that perspeximus, Divinitatem advertentes in homine, and hands contrectaverunt, about Verbo vitæ: not/no fortuitu consentientes to_him who in carne visus, but when/with multa contrectatione Scripturas perhibentes testimony about ipso Verbo. That he_saw aliwho/any nuntiare potest aliis, that perfecte conspexerit aliquando, not/no potest explicare verbis.

UGNT ὃ ἦν ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς, ὃ ἀκηκόαμεν, ὃ ἑωράκαμεν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ἡμῶν, ὃ ἐθεασάμεθα, καὶ αἱ χεῖρες ἡμῶν ἐψηλάφησαν, περὶ τοῦ λόγου τῆς ζωῆς—
(ho aʸn ap’ arⱪaʸs, ho akaʸkoamen, ho heōrakamen tois ofthalmois haʸmōn, ho etheasametha, kai hai ⱪeires haʸmōn epsaʸlafaʸsan, peri tou logou taʸs zōaʸs—)

SBL-GNT Ὃ ἦν ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς, ὃ ἀκηκόαμεν, ὃ ἑωράκαμεν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ἡμῶν, ὃ ἐθεασάμεθα καὶ αἱ χεῖρες ἡμῶν ἐψηλάφησαν, περὶ τοῦ λόγου τῆς ζωῆς—
(Ho aʸn apʼ arⱪaʸs, ho akaʸkoamen, ho heōrakamen tois ofthalmois haʸmōn, ho etheasametha kai hai ⱪeires haʸmōn epsaʸlafaʸsan, peri tou logou taʸs zōaʸs—)

TC-GNT Ὃ ἦν ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς, ὃ ἀκηκόαμεν, ὃ ἑωράκαμεν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ἡμῶν, ὃ ἐθεασάμεθα, καὶ αἱ χεῖρες ἡμῶν ἐψηλάφησαν περὶ τοῦ λόγου τῆς ζωῆς.
(Ho aʸn ap arⱪaʸs, ho akaʸkoamen, ho heōrakamen tois ofthalmois haʸmōn, ho etheasametha, kai hai ⱪeires haʸmōn epsaʸlafaʸsan peri tou logou taʸs zōaʸs. )

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, orange:accents differ (from our SR-GNT base).

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: headings

If you are using section headings, you could put one here before verse 1. Suggested heading: “The Word of Life”

Note 2 topic: writing-pronouns

ὃ ἦν ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς, ὃ ἀκηκόαμεν, ὃ ἑωράκαμεν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ἡμῶν, ὃ ἐθεασάμεθα, καὶ αἱ χεῖρες ἡμῶν ἐψηλάφησαν, περὶ τοῦ λόγου τῆς ζωῆς—

what was from /the/_beginning what ˱we˲_/have/_heard what ˱we˲_/have/_seen ˱with˲_the eyes ˱of˲_us what ˱we˲_saw and the hands ˱of˲_us touched concerning the word ¬the ˱of˲_life

See the discussion in the General Notes to this chapter for how to translate the long sentence in 1:1–3. If you follow the suggestion to translate the phrase regarding the Word of life as a topical introduction to this letter, you will already have indicated that the four clauses in this verse refer to a person, Jesus. If you have pronouns in your language that refer to people, such as “he,” “who,” and “whom,” it would be appropriate to use them here. Alternate translation: [Regarding the Word of life—he is the one who has existed from all eternity, whom we heard speak, whom we saw with our own eyes, and whom we looked at and touched with our own hands]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς

from /the/_beginning

John uses the phrase from the beginning in various ways in this letter. Here it refers to the fact that Jesus has always existed. Alternate translation: [from all eternity]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / exclusive

ἀκηκόαμεν & ἑωράκαμεν & ἡμῶν & ἐθεασάμεθα & ἡμῶν

˱we˲_/have/_heard & ˱we˲_/have/_seen & ˱of˲_us & ˱we˲_saw & ˱of˲_us

Here the pronouns we and our are exclusive, since John is speaking on behalf of himself and the other eyewitnesses to the earthly life of Jesus, but the people to whom he is writing did not see Jesus. So use exclusive forms here if your language marks that distinction.

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

ὃ ἀκηκόαμεν

what what ˱we˲_/have/_heard

The implication is that what John and the other eyewitnesses heard was Jesus speaking. If it would be helpful in your language, you could include this information, as in the UST. Alternate translation: [whom we heard speak]

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism

ὃ ἑωράκαμεν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ἡμῶν, ὃ ἐθεασάμεθα

what what what ˱we˲_/have/_seen ˱with˲_the eyes ˱of˲_us what ˱we˲_saw

These two phrases mean the same thing. John is likely using repetition for emphasis. If it would be helpful in your language, you could combine these phrases and show the emphasis in another way. Alternate translation: [whom we saw clearly ourselves]

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / explicitinfo

ὃ ἑωράκαμεν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ἡμῶν

what what what ˱we˲_/have/_seen ˱with˲_the eyes ˱of˲_us

In your language, it might seem that this phrase expresses unnecessary extra information. If so, you could abbreviate it. However, your language may have its own way of using such extra information for emphasis, and you could also do that in your translation. Alternate translation: [whom we saw] or [whom we saw with our own eyes]

Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / explicitinfo

αἱ χεῖρες ἡμῶν ἐψηλάφησαν

the hands ˱of˲_us touched

Note 9 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

ἑωράκαμεν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ἡμῶν & αἱ χεῖρες ἡμῶν ἐψηλάφησαν

˱we˲_/have/_seen ˱with˲_the eyes ˱of˲_us & the hands ˱of˲_us touched

The false teachers were denying that Jesus was a real human being and saying that he was only a spirit. But the implications of what John is saying here are that Jesus was a real human being. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could state that explicitly, as in the UST.

Note 10 topic: figures-of-speech / infostructure

περὶ τοῦ λόγου τῆς ζωῆς

concerning the word ¬the ˱of˲_life

As the General Notes to this chapter suggest, you could put your translation of this phrase, regarding the Word of life, at the beginning of this verse and present it as a sentence of its own as a topical introduction to the letter, as UST does. Alternate translation: [This is about Jesus, the Word of life]

Note 11 topic: writing-pronouns

περὶ τοῦ λόγου τῆς ζωῆς

concerning the word ¬the ˱of˲_life

Letter writers of this time typically began by giving their own names. That is the case for most of the letters in the New Testament. This letter is an exception, but if it would be helpful to your readers, you could supply John’s name here, as UST does. As noted above, John uses the plural pronoun “we” because he is speaking on behalf of himself and the other eyewitnesses to Jesus’ earthly life. But it may be more natural in your language for him to refer to himself with a singular pronoun, and if so, you could also do that in your translation, as in the UST. Alternate translation: [This is John, writing to you about Jesus, the Word of life]

Note 12 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

τοῦ λόγου τῆς ζωῆς

the word ¬the ˱of˲_life

Here, the Word of life is implicitly a description of Jesus. As the General Introduction explains, there are many similarities between this letter and the Gospel of John. That gospel begins by saying about Jesus, “In the beginning was the Word.” So when John speaks in this letter of the Word of life that was from the beginning, he is also speaking about Jesus. ULT indicates this by capitalizing Word to indicate that this is a title for Jesus. Alternate translation: [Jesus, the Word of God, who gives life]

Note 13 topic: figures-of-speech / possession

τῆς ζωῆς

¬the ˱of˲_life

This could be referring either to the life that Jesus has or to the life that Jesus gives. But since John is writing this letter to reassure believers, it seems more likely that this expression is referring to the life that “the Word” (Jesus) gives to those who believe. Alternate translation: [who gives life to everyone who believes in him]

Note 14 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

τῆς ζωῆς

¬the ˱of˲_life

In this letter, John uses life in different ways, either to refer literally to physical life or to spiritual life. Here the reference is to spiritual life. Alternate translation: [of spiritual life]

Parallel 1YHN 1:1