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Selected Verse: 1 John 1:5 - King James

Verse	Translation	Text
1Jo 1:5	King James	This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
First division of the body of the Epistle (compare Introduction). declare--Greek, "announce"; report in turn; a different Greek word from Jo1 1:3. As the Son announced the message heard from the Father as His apostle, so the Son's apostles announce what they have heard from the Son. John nowhere uses the term "Gospel"; but the witness or testimony, the word, the truth, and here the message. God is light--What light is in the natural world, that God, the source of even material light, is in the spiritual, the fountain of wisdom, purity, beauty, joy, and glory. As all material life and growth depends on light, so all spiritual life and growth depends on GOD. As God here, so Christ, in Jo1 2:8, is called "the true light." no darkness at all--strong negation; Greek, "No, not even one speck of darkness"; no ignorance, error, untruthfulness, sin, or death. John heard this from Christ, not only in express words, but in His acted words, namely, His is whole manifestation in the flesh as "the brightness of the Father's glory." Christ Himself was the embodiment of "the message," representing fully in all His sayings, doings, and sufferings, Him who is LIGHT.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

First division of the body of the Epistle (compare Introduction).

declare--Greek, "announce"; report in turn; a different Greek word from Jo1 1:3. As the Son announced the message heard from the Father as His apostle, so the Son's apostles announce what they have heard from the Son. John nowhere uses the term "Gospel"; but the witness or testimony, the word, the truth, and here the message.

God is light--What light is in the natural world, that God, the source of even material light, is in the spiritual, the fountain of wisdom, purity, beauty, joy, and glory. As all material life and growth depends on light, so all spiritual life and growth depends on GOD. As God here, so Christ, in Jo1 2:8, is called "the true light."

no darkness at all--strong negation; Greek, "No, not even one speck of darkness"; no ignorance, error, untruthfulness, sin, or death. John heard this from Christ, not only in express words, but in His acted words, namely, His is whole manifestation in the flesh as "the brightness of the Father's glory." Christ Himself was the embodiment of "the message," representing fully in all His sayings, doings, and sufferings, Him who is LIGHT.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
This then is the message which we have heard of him - This is the substance of the announcement (ἐπαγγελία epangelia) which we have received of him, or which he made to us. The message here refers to what he communicated as the sum of the revelation which he made to man. The phrase "of him" (απ ̓ αὐτου ap' autou) does not mean respecting him, or about him, but from him; that is, this is what we received from his preaching; from all that he said. The peculiarity, the substance of all that he said, may be summed up in the declaration that God is light, and in the consequences which follow from this doctrine. He came as the messenger of Him who is light; he came to inculcate and defend the truths which flow from that central doctrine, in regard to sin, to the danger and duty of man, to the way of recovery, and to the rules by which men ought to live. That God is light - Light, in the Scriptures, is the emblem of purity, truth, knowledge, prosperity, and happiness - as darkness is of the opposite. John here says that "God is light" - φῶς phōs - not the light, or a light, but light itself; that is, he is himself all light, and is the source and fountain of light in all worlds. He is perfectly pure, without any admixture of sin. He has all knowledge, with no admixture of ignorance on any subject. He is infinitely happy, with nothing to make him miserable. He is infinitely true, never stating or countenancing error; he is blessed in all his ways, never knowing the darkness of disappointment and adversity. Compare the Jam 1:17 note; Joh 1:4-5 note; Ti1 6:16 note. And in him is no darkness at all - This language is much in the manner of John, not only affirming that a thing is so, but guarding it so that no mistake could possibly be made as to what he meant. Compare Joh 1:1-3. The expression here is designed to affirm that God is absolutely perfect; that there is nothing in him which is in any way imperfect, or which would dim or mar the pure splendor of his character, not even as much as the smallest spot would on the sun. The language is probably designed to guard the mind from an error to which it is prone, that of charging God with being the Author of the sin and misery which exist on the earth; and the apostle seems to design to teach that whatever was the source of sin and misery, it was not in any sense to be charged on God. This doctrine that God is a pure light, John lays down as the substance of all that he had to teach; of all that he had learned from him who was made flesh. It is, in fact, the fountain of all just views of truth on the subject of religion, and all proper views of religion take their origin from this.

Vincent's Word Studies, by Marvin R. Vincent [1886]
This then is (καὶ αὕτη ἐστὶν) Rev., correctly and literally, and this. According to the proper reading the verb stands first in order (ἐστὶν αὕτη), with emphasis, not merely as a copula, but in the sense "there exists this as the message." For a similar use of the substantive verb, see Jo1 5:16,Jo1 5:17; Jo1 2:15; Joh 8:50. Message (ἐπαγγελία) This word, however, is invariably used in the New Testament in the sense of promise. The best texts read ἀγγελία, message, which occurs only at Jo1 3:11; and the corresponding verb, ἀγγέλλω, only at Joh 10:18. We have heard of Him (ἀκηκόαμεν ἀπ' αὐτοῦ) A form of expression not found elsewhere in John, who commonly uses παρ' αὐτοῦ. See on Joh 6:46. The phrase here points to the ultimate and not necessarily the immediate source of the message. Not only John, but others in earlier times had heard this message. Compare Pe1 1:10, Pe1 1:11. Ἁπό points to the source παρά to the giver. Thus, Joh 5:41, " I receive not honor from (παρά) men." They are not the bestowers of honor upon me." Joh 5:44, "How can ye believe which receive honor from (παρά) one another;" the honor which men have to give, "and seek not the honor that cometh from (παρά) God;" the honor which God alone bestows. On the other hand, Jo1 3:22, "Whatsoever we ask we receive from (ἀπό) Him," the ultimate source of our gifts. So Mat 17:25 : "Of (ἀπό) whom do the kings of the earth take custom - of (ἀπό) their own children or of (ἀπό) strangers?" What is the legitimate and ultimate source of revenue in states? Declare (ἀναγγέλλομεν) Compare the simple verb ἀγγέλλειν to bring tidings, Joh 20:18, and only there. Ἀναγγέλλειν is to bring the tidings up to (ἀνά) or back to him who receives them. Ἀπαγέλλειν is to announce tidings as coming from (ἀπό) some one, see Mat 2:8; Joh 4:51. Καταγγέλλειν is to proclaim with authority, so as to spread the tidings down among (κατά) those who hear. See Act 17:23. Found only in the Acts and in Paul. God is Light (Θεὸς φῶς ἐστὶν) A statement of the absolute nature of God. Not a light, nor the light, with reference to created beings, as the light of men, the light of the world, but simply and absolutely God is light, in His very nature. Compare God is spirit, and see on Joh 4:24 : God is love, Jo1 4:8, Jo1 4:16. The expression is not a metaphor. "All that we are accustomed to term light in the domain of the creature, whether with a physical or metaphysical meaning, is only an effluence of that one and only primitive Light which appears in the nature of God" (Ebrard). Light is immaterial, diffusive, pure, and glorious. It is the condition of life. Physically, it represents glory; intellectually, truth; morally, holiness. As immaterial it corresponds to God as spirit; as diffusive, to God as love; as the condition of life, to God as life; as pure and illuminating, to God as holiness and truth. In the Old Testament, light is often the medium of God's visible revelations to men. It was the first manifestation of God in creation. The burning lamp passed between the pieces of the parted victim in God's covenant with Abraham. God went before Israel in a pillar of fire, descended in fire upon Sinai, and appeared in the luminons cloud which rested on the mercy-seat in the most holy place. In classical Greek φῶς light, is used metaphorically for delight, deliverance, victory, and is applied to persons as a term of admiring affection, as we say that one is the light of our life, or the delight of our eyes. So Ulysses, on seeing his son Telemachus, says, "Thou hast come, Telemachus, sweet light (γλυκερὸν φάος)" (Homer, "Odyssey," xvi., 23). And Electra, greeting her returning brother, Orestes, "O dearest light (φίλτατον φῶς)" (Sophocles, "Electra," 1223). Occasionally, as by Euripides, of the light of truth ("Iphigenia at Tauris," 1046). No modern writer has developed the idea of God as light with such power and beauty as Dante. His "Paradise" might truthfully be called a study of light. Light is the only visible expression of God. Radiating from Him, it is diffused through the universe as the principle of life. This key-note is struck at the very opening of "the Paradise." "The glory of Him who moveth everything Doth penetrate the universe, and shine In one part more and in another less. Within that heaven which most His light receives Was I." "Paradiso," i., 1-5. In the final, beatific vision, God Himself is imagined as a luminous point which pours its rays through all the spheres, upon which the spirits gazed, and in which they read the past, the present, and the future. "O grace abundant, by which I presumed To fix my sight upon the Light Eternal, So that the seeing I consumed therein! I saw that in its depth far down is lying Bound up with love together in one volume, What through the universe in leaves is scattered; Substance, and accident, and their operations, All interfused together in such wise That what I speak of is one simple light." "Paradiso," xxxiii., 82-90. "In presence of that light one such becomes, That to withdraw therefrom for other prospect It is impossible he e'er consent; Because the good, which object of will, Is gathered all in this, and out of it That is defective which is perfect there." "Paradiso," xxxiii., 100-105. "O Light eterne, sole in thyself that dwellest, Sole knowest thyself, and, know unto thyself And knowing, lovest and smilest on thyself! "Paradiso xxxiii., 124-126. Light enkindles love. "If in the heat of love I flame upon thee Beyond the measure that on earth is seen, So that the valor of thine eyes I vanquish, Marvel thou not thereat; for this proceeds From perfect sight, which, as it apprehends, To the good apprehended moves its feet. Well I perceive how is already shining Into thine intellect the eternal Light, That only seen enkindles always love." "Paradiso," v., 1-9 See also " Paradiso," cantos xxx., xxxi. In Him is no darkness at all (καὶ σκοτία οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν αὐτῷ οὐδεμία) It is characteristic of John to express the same idea positively and negatively. See Joh 1:7, Joh 1:8, Joh 1:20; Joh 3:15, Joh 3:17, Joh 3:20; Joh 4:42; Joh 5:24; Joh 8:35; Joh 10:28; Jo1 1:6, Jo1 1:8; Jo1 2:4, Jo1 2:27; Jo1 5:12. According to the Greek order, the rendering is: "And darkness there is not in Him, no, not in any way." For a similar addition of οὐδείς not one, to a complete sentence, see Joh 6:63; Joh 11:19; Joh 19:11. On σκοτία darkness, see on Joh 1:5.

Vincent's Word Studies, by Marvin R. Vincent [1886]

This then is (καὶ αὕτη ἐστὶν)

Rev., correctly and literally, and this. According to the proper reading the verb stands first in order (ἐστὶν αὕτη), with emphasis, not merely as a copula, but in the sense "there exists this as the message." For a similar use of the substantive verb, see Jo1 5:16,Jo1 5:17; Jo1 2:15; Joh 8:50.

Message (ἐπαγγελία)

This word, however, is invariably used in the New Testament in the sense of promise. The best texts read ἀγγελία, message, which occurs only at Jo1 3:11; and the corresponding verb, ἀγγέλλω, only at Joh 10:18.

We have heard of Him (ἀκηκόαμεν ἀπ' αὐτοῦ)

A form of expression not found elsewhere in John, who commonly uses παρ' αὐτοῦ. See on Joh 6:46. The phrase here points to the ultimate and not necessarily the immediate source of the message. Not only John, but others in earlier times had heard this message. Compare Pe1 1:10, Pe1 1:11. Ἁπό points to the source παρά to the giver. Thus, Joh 5:41, " I receive not honor from (παρά) men." They are not the bestowers of honor upon me." Joh 5:44, "How can ye believe which receive honor from (παρά) one another;" the honor which men have to give, "and seek not the honor that cometh from (παρά) God;" the honor which God alone bestows. On the other hand, Jo1 3:22, "Whatsoever we ask we receive from (ἀπό) Him," the ultimate source of our gifts. So Mat 17:25 : "Of (ἀπό) whom do the kings of the earth take custom - of (ἀπό) their own children or of (ἀπό) strangers?" What is the legitimate and ultimate source of revenue in states?

Declare (ἀναγγέλλομεν)

Compare the simple verb ἀγγέλλειν to bring tidings, Joh 20:18, and only there. Ἀναγγέλλειν is to bring the tidings up to (ἀνά) or back to him who receives them. Ἀπαγέλλειν is to announce tidings as coming from (ἀπό) some one, see Mat 2:8; Joh 4:51. Καταγγέλλειν is to proclaim with authority, so as to spread the tidings down among (κατά) those who hear. See Act 17:23. Found only in the Acts and in Paul.

God is Light (Θεὸς φῶς ἐστὶν)

A statement of the absolute nature of God. Not a light, nor the light, with reference to created beings, as the light of men, the light of the world, but simply and absolutely God is light, in His very nature. Compare God is spirit, and see on Joh 4:24 : God is love, Jo1 4:8, Jo1 4:16. The expression is not a metaphor. "All that we are accustomed to term light in the domain of the creature, whether with a physical or metaphysical meaning, is only an effluence of that one and only primitive Light which appears in the nature of God" (Ebrard). Light is immaterial, diffusive, pure, and glorious. It is the condition of life.

Physically, it represents glory; intellectually, truth; morally, holiness. As immaterial it corresponds to God as spirit; as diffusive, to God as love; as the condition of life, to God as life; as pure and illuminating, to God as holiness and truth. In the Old Testament, light is often the medium of God's visible revelations to men. It was the first manifestation of God in creation. The burning lamp passed between the pieces of the parted victim in God's covenant with Abraham. God went before Israel in a pillar of fire, descended in fire upon Sinai, and appeared in the luminons cloud which rested on the mercy-seat in the most holy place. In classical Greek φῶς light, is used metaphorically for delight, deliverance, victory, and is applied to persons as a term of admiring affection, as we say that one is the light of our life, or the delight of our eyes. So Ulysses, on seeing his son Telemachus, says, "Thou hast come, Telemachus, sweet light (γλυκερὸν φάος)" (Homer, "Odyssey," xvi., 23). And Electra, greeting her returning brother, Orestes, "O dearest light (φίλτατον φῶς)" (Sophocles, "Electra," 1223). Occasionally, as by Euripides, of the light of truth ("Iphigenia at Tauris," 1046). No modern writer has developed the idea of God as light with such power and beauty as Dante. His "Paradise" might truthfully be called a study of light. Light is the only visible expression of God. Radiating from Him, it is diffused through the universe as the principle of life. This key-note is struck at the very opening of "the Paradise."

"The glory of Him who moveth everything

Doth penetrate the universe, and shine

In one part more and in another less.

Within that heaven which most His light receives

Was I."

"Paradiso," i., 1-5.

In the final, beatific vision, God Himself is imagined as a luminous point which pours its rays through all the spheres, upon which the spirits gazed, and in which they read the past, the present, and the future.

"O grace abundant, by which I presumed

To fix my sight upon the Light Eternal,

So that the seeing I consumed therein!

I saw that in its depth far down is lying

Bound up with love together in one volume,

What through the universe in leaves is scattered;

Substance, and accident, and their operations,

All interfused together in such wise

That what I speak of is one simple light."

"Paradiso," xxxiii., 82-90.

"In presence of that light one such becomes,

That to withdraw therefrom for other prospect

It is impossible he e'er consent;

Because the good, which object of will,

Is gathered all in this, and out of it

That is defective which is perfect there."

"Paradiso," xxxiii., 100-105.

"O Light eterne, sole in thyself that dwellest,

Sole knowest thyself, and, know unto thyself

And knowing, lovest and smilest on thyself!

"Paradiso xxxiii., 124-126.

Light enkindles love.

"If in the heat of love I flame upon thee

Beyond the measure that on earth is seen,

So that the valor of thine eyes I vanquish,

Marvel thou not thereat; for this proceeds

From perfect sight, which, as it apprehends,

To the good apprehended moves its feet.

Well I perceive how is already shining

Into thine intellect the eternal Light,

That only seen enkindles always love."

"Paradiso," v., 1-9

See also " Paradiso," cantos xxx., xxxi.

In Him is no darkness at all (καὶ σκοτία οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν αὐτῷ οὐδεμία)

It is characteristic of John to express the same idea positively and negatively. See Joh 1:7, Joh 1:8, Joh 1:20; Joh 3:15, Joh 3:17, Joh 3:20; Joh 4:42; Joh 5:24; Joh 8:35; Joh 10:28; Jo1 1:6, Jo1 1:8; Jo1 2:4, Jo1 2:27; Jo1 5:12. According to the Greek order, the rendering is: "And darkness there is not in Him, no, not in any way." For a similar addition of οὐδείς not one, to a complete sentence, see Joh 6:63; Joh 11:19; Joh 19:11. On σκοτία darkness, see on Joh 1:5.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
And this is the sum of the message which we have heard of him - The Son of God. That God is light - The light of wisdom, love, holiness, glory. What light is to the natural eye, that God is to the spiritual eye. And in him is no darkness at all - No contrary principle. He is pure, unmixed light.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
This then is the message - This is the grand principle on which all depends, which we have heard of απ' αυτου, From him; for neither Moses nor the prophets ever gave that full instruction concerning God and communion with him which Jesus Christ has given, for the only-begotten Son, who was in the bosom of the Father, has alone declared the fullness of the truth, and the extent of the blessings, which believers on him are to receive. See Joh 1:18. God is light - The source of wisdom, knowledge, holiness, and happiness; and in him is no darkness at all - no ignorance, no imperfection, no sinfulness, no misery. And from him wisdom, knowledge, holiness, and happiness are received by every believing soul. This is the grand message of the Gospel, the great principle on which the happiness of man depends. Light implies every essential excellence, especially wisdom, holiness, and happiness. Darkness implies all imperfection, and principally ignorance, sinfulness, and misery. Light is the purest, the most subtile, the most useful, and the most diffusive of all God's creatures; it is, therefore, a very proper emblem of the purity, perfection, and goodness of the Divine nature. God is to human soul, what the light is to the world; without the latter all would be dismal and uncomfortable, and terror and death would universally prevail: and without an indwelling God what is religion? Without his all-penetrating and diffusive light, what is the soul of man? Religion would be an empty science, a dead letter, a system unauthoritated and uninfluencing, and the soul a trackless wilderness, a howling waste, full of evil, of terror and dismay, and ever racked with realizing anticipations of future, successive, permanent, substantial, and endless misery. No wonder the apostle lays this down as a first and grand principle, stating it to be the essential message which he had received from Christ to deliver to the world.

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⁸ Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.

³ That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
² The same was in the beginning with God.
³ All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

¹⁶ Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.

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.

¹⁷ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

⁵ And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

¹¹ Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.

¹⁹ And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.

⁶³ It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

¹² He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

²⁷ But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

⁴ He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

⁶ If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

²⁸ And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

³⁵ And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.

²⁴ Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

⁴² And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.

²⁰ For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

¹⁷ For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

¹⁵ That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

²⁰ And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.

⁸ He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

⁷ The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

¹⁶ And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

⁸ He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

²⁴ God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

²³ For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.

⁵¹ And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth.

⁸ And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.

¹⁸ Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.

²⁵ He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers?

²² And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

⁴⁴ How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?

⁴¹ I receive not honour from men.

¹¹ Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.

¹⁰ Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:

⁴⁶ Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.

¹⁸ No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

¹¹ For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

⁵⁰ And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth.

¹⁵ Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

¹⁷ All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.

¹⁶ If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.

¹⁸ No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.