Section 1:1–4

John explains his authority and his reasons for writing this letter

Read 1:1–4 carefully in both Berean Standard Bible and Good News Translation. Compare the two versions.

Section Theme: These verses form an introduction to the whole letter. In them John states the authority which he has for giving instructions to his readers. He also explains what his purpose is in writing the letter. His authority is the fact that he had personally been with Jesus Christ, the eternal Word of God. His purpose in writing the letter is that the people he is writing to may truly share the fellowship he has with God.

1:1–3 (Sentence Breaks)

These verses are all one long and complicated sentence in the Greek and in some English versions such as Revised Standard Version. The subject and main verb of this sentence come in verse 3, “We proclaim,” but its topic is at the end of verse 1, “the Word of life.” So in translation these verses may need to be split into shorter sentences and the parts may need to be reordered to make the meaning clear. See 1:1–3 in the Display.

1:1

(Good News Translation) We write to you: (Discourse Feature) The fact that this is a letter is obvious from the way John writes. In the Greek, however, there is no formal beginning to the letter, naming the writer and the people he is writing to, as there is in Paul’s letters. In your translation it may be necessary to add some simple introduction such as “We write to you,” so that readers are not confused about whether they are reading a letter or a history or some other sort of literature.

(Good News Translation) We: (Pronoun System) This letter was written by only one person, John, but throughout chapter 1 he uses the plural, We, because he is associating himself in what he is saying with the other apostles who also lived with Jesus. If this meaning will not be conveyed by We in your translation, it would be better to say “I write…,” and then “the other apostles and I have heard…,” etc. As an alternative the book introduction could contain an explanation of who John means by We.

That which was: (Pronoun Reference) This refers to the “Word of life” (see the note below). Since the “Word of life” is really Jesus, it may be better to refer to it as “he/him” in your translation.

from the beginning: (Meaning) This refers to the beginning of the world. John is saying that the Word existed even before the creation of the world. He does not mean that the Word came into existence when the world was created.

with our own eyes: (Focus) All the four statements, “we heard…,” “we saw…,” “we looked at…,” “we touched…,” are emphasizing the fact that although the Word had existed from before creation, John and the other apostles had actually been with Jesus, who was the Word, when he was in this world. None of the four statements is more prominent than the others, so if phrases such as with our eyes are unnatural in translation they can be left implicit. But make sure that the emphasis on John’s personal experience is being clearly communicated.

gazed upon: (Meaning) What is meant here is deliberate, continual, detailed observing, rather than the simple “seeing” of the previous clause.

our own hands: (Focus) See note on “with our eyes” above.

Word of life: (Meaning) This means the word which is life, the word which is the source of life, as in John 14:6. It refers to Jesus, but it would be wrong to make his name explicit as John is not here emphasizing Jesus as a person. He is emphasizing the fact that Jesus is the one who causes us to be truly alive by showing us what God is really like.

Word: (Special Biblical Term) This is a Biblical technical term as in John 1:1. It refers to God’s words or message to people in which he shows them what he is really like. In translation it may be necessary to make it clear that this is the “Word of God.”

(The Jerusalem Bible) who is life: (Pronoun Reference) If you need to make “God” explicit in the phrase “the Word of life” (or, “the Word, who is life”), make sure that this phrase who is life refers to the Word and not to God. See Display.

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