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Selected Verse: John 1:10 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Joh 1:10 |
King James |
He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
| He was in the world, &c.--The language here is nearly as wonderful as the thought. Observe its compact simplicity, its sonorousness--"the world" resounding in each of its three members--and the enigmatic form in which it is couched, startling the reader and setting his ingenuity a-working to solve the stupendous enigma of Christ ignored in His own world. "The world," in the first two clauses, plainly means the created world, into which He came, says Joh 1:9; "in it He was," says this verse. By His Incarnation, He became an inhabitant of it, and bound up with it. Yet it "was made by Him" (Joh 1:3-5). Here, then, it is merely alluded to, in contrast partly with His being in it, but still more with the reception He met with from it. "The world that knew Him not" (Jo1 3:1) is of course the intelligent world of mankind. (See on Joh 1:11-12). Taking the first two clauses as one statement, we try to apprehend it by thinking of the infant Christ conceived in the womb and born in the arms of His own creature, and of the Man Christ Jesus breathing His own air, treading His own ground, supported by substances to which He Himself gave being, and the Creator of the very men whom He came to save. But the most vivid commentary on this entire verse will be got by tracing (in His matchless history) Him of whom it speaks walking amidst all the elements of nature, the diseases of men and death itself, the secrets of the human heart, and "the rulers of the darkness of this world" in all their number, subtlety, and malignity, not only with absolute ease, as their conscious Lord, but, as we might say, with full consciousness on their part of the presence of their Maker, whose will to one and all of them was law. And this is He of whom it is added, "the world knew Him not!" |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
He was in the world - This refers, probably, not to his pre-existence, but to the fact that he became incarnate; that he dwelt among human beings.
And the world was made by him - This is a repetition of what is said in Joh 1:3. Not only "men," but all material things, were made by him. These facts are mentioned here to make what is said immediately after more striking, to wit, that men did not receive him. The proofs which he furnished that they ought to receive him were:
1. Those given while he was "in the world" - the miracles that he performed and his instructions; and,
2. The fact that the "world was made by him." It was remarkable that the world did not know or approve its own Maker.
The world knew him not - The word "knew" is sometimes used in the sense of "approving" or "loving," Psa 1:6; Mat 7:23. In this sense it may be used here. The world did not love or approve him, but rejected him and put him to death. Or it may mean that they did not understand or know that he was the Messiah; for had the Jews known and believed that he was the Messiah, they would not have put him to death, Co1 2:8; "Had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." Yet they might have known it, and therefore they were not the less to blame. |
| The Scofield Bible Commentary, by Cyrus Ingerson Scofield, [1917] |
world
Greek, "kosmos" means "mankind".
(See Scofield) - (Mat 4:8). |
| Vincent's Word Studies, by Marvin R. Vincent [1886] |
He was in the world
Not merely at His advent, but before His incarnation no less than after it. See on Joh 1:4, Joh 1:5.
Was made (ἐγένετο)
Came into being. See on Joh 1:3.
By Him. Or through Him (διά)
See on Joh 1:3.
Knew (ἔγνω)
Recognized. Though He was in the world and was its Creator, yet the world did not recognize him. This is the relation of ideas in these three clauses, but John expresses this relation after the Hebrew manner, by simply putting the three side by side, and connecting them by καὶ, and. This construction is characteristic of John. Compare Joh 8:20, where the point of the passage is, that though Jesus was teaching publicly, where He might easily have been seized, yet no man attempted his seizure. This is expressed by two parallel clauses with the simple copulative. "These words spake Jesus," etc., "and no man laid hands on Him."
Him (αὐτὸν)
The preceding him (αὐτοῦ) is, in itself, ambiguous as to gender. So far as its form is concerned, it might be neuter, in which case it would refer to the light, "the Word regarded as a luminous principle," as it, in Joh 1:5. But αὐτὸν is masculine, Him, so that the Word now appears as a person. This determines the gender of the preceding αὐτοῦ.
On the enlightened and unenlightened nature, compare the allegory in Plato's "Republic," at the beginning of Book 7, where he pictures men confined from childhood in an underground den, chained so that they can only see before them, and with no light save from a fire behind them. They mistake shadows for substance, and echoes for voices. When they are liberated and compelled to look at the light, either of the fire or of the sun, their unaccustomed eyes are pained, and they imagine that the shadows which they formerly saw are truer than the real objects which are now shown them. Finally, they will be able to see the sun, and will recognize him as the giver of the seasons and years, and the guardian of all that is in the visible world. "When the eye of the soul is turned round, the whole soul must be turned round from the world of becoming into that of being, and of the brightest and best of being, or, in other words, of the good."
Notice also the appropriateness of the two verbs joined with the neuter and the masculine pronouns. In Joh 1:5, with it, the Word, as a principle of light, κατέλαβεν, apprehended. Here, with Him, the Word, as a person, ἔγνω, recognized. |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| He was in the world - Even from the creation. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
He was in the world - From its very commencement - he governed the universe - regulated his Church - spake by his prophets - and often, as the angel or messenger of Jehovah, appeared to them, and to the patriarchs.
The world knew him not - Αυτον ουκ εγνω - Did not acknowledge him; for the Jewish rulers knew well enough that he was a teacher come from God; but they did not choose to acknowledge him as such. Men love the world, and this love hinders them from knowing him who made it, though he made it only to make himself known. Christ, by whom all things were made, Joh 1:3, and by whom all things are continually supported, Col 1:16, Col 1:17; Heb 1:3, has way every where, is continually manifesting himself by his providence and by his grace, and yet the foolish heart of man regardeth it not! See the reason, Joh 3:19 (note). |
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
6 For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
20 These words spake Jesus in the treasury, as he taught in the temple: and no man laid hands on him; for his hour was not yet come.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.