John Chapter 1, Verse 9
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9: ην το φως το αληθινον ο φωτιζει παντα ανθρωπον ερχομενον εις τον κοσμον
9: That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh
into the world.
9: That was the true light, which enlighteneth every man that cometh
into this world.
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ην το φως το κτλ
The construction of this sentence has been taken in different ways, and the ambiguity was noticed as far back as the time of Origen. (In Ioann., ed. Brooke, ii. 216).
(1) The Latin, Syriac, and Coptic versions take erchomenon with anthropon. The Light enlightens every man who comes into the world. But if this were the meaning, (a) we should expect panta ton erchomenon rather than panta authropon erchomenon (b) these words are wholly redundant, for they do not add anything to "every man"; (c) the expression "coming into the world" is not used elsewhere by Jn. of a man being born (Jn 16:21 is no exception, although it is found several times in the Talmud; see Lightfoot, Hor. Hebr, and cf. Schaltter, Spache u. Heimat. u.s.w., p18). This last consideration excludes also the rendering "every man, as he comes into the world," apart from the fact that, although Wordsworth suggests it in his Ode, the idea of any special Divine enlightenment of infants is not Scriptural.
(2) It is better to take erchomenon with phos (so R.V.). John several times uses the phrase "coming into the world" of the Advent of Christ (Jn 6:14 Jn 11:27 Jn 16:28 Jn 18:37); and elsewhere (Jn 3:19, Jn 12:46) in the Gospel Christ is spoken of as "light coming into the world." And if we render "the Light, which lighteth every man, was coming into the world," the constr. of en with the present participle as used for the imperfect is one which appears frequently in Jn. (see on Jn 1:28). en .. erchomenon means "was in the act of coming."
Westcott, while retaining this meaning, endeavours to combine with it the conception of the Light having a permanent existence (en, the verb used in v. i). "There was the Light, the true Light which lighteth every man; that Light was, and yet more, that Light was coming into the world." This seems, however, to attempt to get too much out of the words, and on our view of the whole passage the meaning is simpler.
We are still occupied with Jn.'s comment (vv. 6-9) on what the Logos Hymn has said about the Light (vv. 4, 5). The Baptist was not the perfect Light, but he came to bear witness to it; and this perfect Light was then coming into the world.
When Jn. wrote the First Epistle he could say, "The true Light already shineth " (1Jn 2:8), but it was only coming at the time when the Baptist's mission began. Jesus had come into the world, indeed; but He had not yet manifested Himself as the Light.
αληθινον
Christ is to phos to alethinon, not to be interpreted as "the true Light" (although such a rendering is convenient), for that suggests that all other lights are misleading, which is not implied; cf. Jn 5:35. alethinos is distinguished from alethes as the genuine from the true. The opposite of alethinos is not necessarily false, but it is imperfect, shadowy, or unsubstantial.
- The αληθης fulfils the promise of his lips, but the αληθινος the wider promise of his name. Whatever that name imports, taken in its highest, deepest, widest sense, whatever according to that he ought to be, that he is to the full" (Trench, Synonyms of N.T.).
Thus alethinos here is significant. Christ is not "the true and only Light," but rather "the perfect Light," in whose radiance all other lights seem dim, the Sun among the stars which catch their light from Him.
There are indeed a few passages where alethinos cannot be sharply distinguished from alethes: thus alethinos at Jn 19:35 stands for the veracity of the witness, just as alethes does at Jn 21:24. Moreover, the fact that alethes and its cognates are not found in the Apocalypse, while alethinos occurs in it 10 times, might suggest that the choice of the one adjective rather than the other was only a point of style. In the same way, pseustes is used 7 times in Jn. for a liar, but the word in the Apocalypse is pseudes.
Nevertheless the distinction between alethes and alethinos in Jn. is generally well marked. We have to phos to alethinon here (cf. 1Jn 2:8); hoi alethinoi proskunetai Jn 4:23; ho artos ho alethinos Jn 6:32; ho monos alethinos theos Jn 17:3 (cf. Jn 7:28, 1Jn 5:20); {{he alethine krisis Jn 8:16; he ampelos he alethine Jn 15:1. In all these passages the meaning "genuine" or "ideal" will bear to be pressed, as also in the only place where the word occurs in the Synoptists, for to alethinon of Lk 16:11 is the genuine riches. Even at Jn 4:37, where alethinos is applied to a proverb, something more is implied than veraciousness (see note in loc.).
Less clearly, but still with some plausibility, can the distinctive sense of alethinos be pressed in the Apocalypse, where it is applied to God's ways (Rev 15:3), His judgments (Rev 16:7 Rev 19:2), His words (Rev 19:9 Rev 21:5 Rev 22:6), to Himself (Rev 6:10), and to Christ (Rev 3:7 Rev 3:14 Rev 19:11). See further on Jn 17:3.
ο φωτιζει παντα ανθÏωπον
The verb photizei does not occur again in Jn., but cf. Lk 11:35f.
That the Servant of Yahweh would be a "light to the Gentiles" as well as to the Jews was the forecast of Deutero-Isaiah (Isa 42:6 Isa 49:6); but this passage suggests a larger hope, for the Coming Light was to enlighten every man. It was this great conception upon which the early Quakers fixed, urging that to every man sufficient light was offered; and some of them called this passage "the Quaker's text." The Alexandrian theologians, e.g. Clement, had much to say about the active operation of the Pre-Incarnate Word upon men's hearts; and it is interesting to observe that they did not appeal to this text, which is in fact not relevant to their thought, as it speaks only of the universal enlightenment which was shed upon mankind after the Advent of Christ.
εις τον κοσμον
The term kosmos is used of the universe by Plato (Gorg. 508) and Aristotle (de mund. 2), Plutarch (Mor. 886 B) affirming that Pythagoras was the first to use the word thus, the order of the material world suggesting it. This idea of a totality of the natural order is thoroughly Greek, and is without early Hebrew counterpart, ×¢×•×œ× not being used in this meaning until the later days of Jewish literature. (Dalman, Words of Jesus, pp 162, 171)
In the LXX kosmos appears in the sense of "ornament," and occasionally to describe the ordered host of the heavenly bodies, but it is not used for "universe " until we reach the later Hellenistic books, e.g. Wis 11:17. Paul has kosmos 46 times, and the Synoptists 14 times ; but Jn. has it 100 times. Primarily, in the N.T. it is used of the material universe as distinct from God (cf. Jn 21:25). But man is the chief inhabitant of the world as we know it, and thus kosmos usually in Jn. includes the world of moral agents as well as the sum of physical forces. That is, it stands for mankind at large, as well as for the earth which is man's habitation (Jn 6:51 {{Jn|7|4} Jn 12:19).
When, however, a term which was the product of Greek philosophy began to be used in connexion with the Hebrew doctrine of God and man, it inevitably gathered to itself the associations connected with Hebrew belief as to the Fall. To the Stoic, the kosmos was perfect. This could not be held by a Jew. Inasmuch, then, as the Fall introduced disorder into that which in the beginning was "good" (Gen 1:31), the term kosmos when used of the visible order frequently carries with it a suggestion of imperfection, of evil, of estrangement from the Divine. The kosmos cannot receive the Spirit of Truth (Jn 14:17); it hates Christ (Jn 7:7); it hates His chosen (Jn 15:19 Jn 17:14); they are forbidden to love it (1Jn 2:15). The world which is aloof from God may easily pass into an attitude of hostility to God, and the phrase "this world" (see on Jn 8:23) calls special attention to such enmity.
According to Philo (quod deus imm. 6 and de mund 7), the kosmos is the father of time, God being the Father of the kosmos; a picturesque expression which brings out his view that the universe was created by God, who brought Cosmos out of Chaos, while its genesis goes back beyond the beginning of time.
A striking parallel to this verse is found in the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (Levi, c. 14): to phos tou nomou to dothen en humin eis photismon pantos anthropon. Charles, indeed (note in loc), holds that Jn 1:9 is based on this passage; but the date of the Greek versions of the Testaments is by no means certain, and there is no sufficient evidence of their existence in their present form before the time of Origen. (cf. Burkitt, JTS Oct 1908; Plummer Comm. on St. Matthew, p 34f).
There are unmistakable allusions to the verse in the Christian Apocalypse known as "The Rest of the Words of Baruch," where Jeremiah addresses God as to phos to alethinon to photizon me (ix. 3). In the same section the writer calls Christ to phos ton aionon panton, ho asbestos luchnos (ix. 13), and speaks of Him as erchomenon eis ton kosmon epi to opos ton elaion (ix. 18).
That was the true Light. Not John, but the Messiah. He was not a false, uncertain, dangerous guide, but was one that was true, real, steady, and worthy of confidence. A false light is one that leads to danger or error, as a false beacon on the shores of the ocean may lead ships to quicksands or rocks; or an ignis fatuus to fens, and precipices, and death. A true light is one that does not deceive us, as the true beacon may guide us into port or warn us of danger. Christ does not lead astray. All false teachers do.
That lighteth. That enlightens. He removes darkness, error, ignorance, from the mind.
Every man. This is an expression denoting, in general, the whole human race -- Jews and Gentiles. John preached to the Jews. Jesus came to be a light to lighten the Gentiles, as well as to be the glory of the people of Israel, Lk 2:32.
That cometh into the world. The phrase in the original is ambiguous. The word translated "that cometh" may either refer to the light, or to the word man; so that it may mean either "this true light that cometh into the world enlightens all," or "it enlightens every man that cometh into the world." Many critics, and, among the fathers, Cyril and Augustine, have preferred the former, and translated, "The true light was he who, coming into the world, enlightened every man." The principal reasons for this are,
1st. That the Messiah is often spoken of as he that cometh into the world. See Jn 6:14, Jn 18:37.
2nd. He is often distinguished as "the light that cometh into the world." Jn 3:19: "This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world." Jn 12:46: "I am come a light into the world." Christ may be said to do what is accomplished by his command or appointment. This passage means, therefore, that by his own personal ministry, and by his Spirit and apostles, light or teaching is afforded to all. It does not mean that every individual of the human family is enlightened with the knowledge of the gospel, for this never yet has been; but it means,
1st. That this light is not confined to the Jews, but is extended to all -- Jews and Gentiles.
2nd. That it is provided for all and offered to all.
3rd. It is not affirmed that at the time that John wrote all were actually enlightened, but the word "lighteth" has the form of the future. This is that light so long expected and predicted, which, as the result its coming into the world, will ultimately enlighten all nations.
