The first chapter of the Gospel of John has 51
verses and may be divided in three parts: • The Prologue or Hymn to the Word (verses 1–18) • The testimony of
John the Baptist (verses 19–34) • The first disciples (verses 35–51).
English language versions, which typically divide biblical chapters into sections, often have more divisions: for example, there are 5 sections in the
New International Version and the
Good News Translation, and 7 sections in the
New King James Version.
Hymn to the Word (verses 1–18) and the beginning of
Gospel of John on the same page in
Codex Vaticanus (4th century) from 995 AD The first part (verses 1–18), often called the
Hymn to the Word, is a prologue to the gospel as a whole, stating that the
Logos is "God" ('divine', 'god-like', or 'a god' according to some translations). Comparisons can be made between these verses and the narrative of Genesis 1, where the same phrase "In the beginning" first occurs along with the emphasis on the difference between the darkness (such as the "earth was formless and void",
Genesis 1:2 in the
King James Version) and the light.
Methodist founder
John Wesley summarised the opening verses of John 1 as follows: •
John 1:1–
2 describes the state of things before the creation •
John 1:3 describes the state of things in the creation •
John 1:4 describes the state of things in the time of man's innocence •
John 1:5 describes the state of things in the time of
man's corruption. According to the writers of the
Pulpit Commentary, the phrase "the light of men" (
John 1:4) "has been differently conceived by expositors.
John Calvin supposed that the "understanding" was intended—"that the life of men was not of an ordinary description, but was united to the light of understanding," and is that by which man is differentiated from
animals.
Hengstenberg regards it, in consequence of numerous associations of "light" with "salvation" in Holy Scripture, as equivalent to
salvation;
Christoph Ernst Luthardt with "holiness" and many with the "eternal life", which would introduce great tautology." The final verse of the prologue (
verse 18) recalls
verse 1, that no other possibility of human to know God except through Jesus Christ.
Verses 3–4 Some translations, including the
New American Bible (Revised Edition) and the
New Revised Standard Version, connect the final words of verse 3, with verse 4: The New American Bible (Revised Edition) explains that "the oldest manuscripts have no punctuation here, the corrector of
Bodmer Papyrus P75, some manuscripts, and the
Ante-Nicene Fathers take this phrase with what follows [in verse 4], as
staircase parallelism. Connection with John 1:3 reflects fourth-century anti-
Arianism."
Verse 5 English translations of this verse often translate the Greek as 'understanding' (such as in the New King James Version), but in other translations the meaning is given in terms of a struggle between darkness and light: "the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" (Revised Standard Version).
Verse 6 Verse 6 introduces "a man sent from God, whose name was John".
Joseph Benson notes that the name "
John" means 'grace': "a name fitly given to the Messiah's forerunner, who was sent to proclaim the immediate accomplishment of God's gracious intentions". Theologians differ in their interpretation of these verses. Wesley viewed "in the world" as meaning "even from the creation", whereas in
Albert Barnes' opinion, "He was in the world[...] refers, probably, not to his pre-existence, but to the fact that he became incarnate; that he dwelt among human beings".
Verse 14 The word
flesh is emphasized as a 'symbol of humanity', drawing the attention to "the entry of the Word into the full flow of human affairs". The first-person ‘we’ refers to the individuals Jesus lived with, implying that the narrator witnessed Jesus in the flesh.
Verse 17 The
incarnate Word's name is first mentioned in this verse; thereafter "John never uses the noun ,
the word, in this signification, throughout this whole book".
Testimony of John the Baptist (verses 19–34) , written in the 3rd century The second part of John 1 (verse 19 onwards) records the preparation that
John the Baptist was making for the coming of the
Messiah and the Messiah's first disciples. John has been introduced in
verse 6, "a man sent from God", and his witness, known already by the reader, has already been recalled: "This is the One I told you about". The Greek text has the past tense () but both H. W. Watkins, in
Charles Ellicott's
Commentary, and Alfred Plummer, in the
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, prefer a present tense translation such as "John bears witness". Verses 19 to 27 present John's manifesto, delivered in
Bethany, beyond the Jordan, to the
priests and
Levites sent by the
Pharisees to investigate his message and purpose. In response to their enquiries, John confesses that he is not the Messiah, nor the reappearance of the prophet
Elijah (contrast Matthew 11:14 RSV, NKJV, where Jesus states that John is "Elijah who is to come"), nor "the prophet", the one of whom
Deuteronomy 18:15, 18 had spoken. In this passage the Messiah and the foretold "prophet" are not necessarily identified with each other; "on the contrary", notes
Johann Bengel, "they looked on the prophet as a distinct person from the Christ" (cf. John 7:40–41: "Many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, "Truly this is the Prophet". Others said, "This is the Christ""). he directs his own disciples towards following Jesus (
John 1:35–
37). A fourth 'day' follows (
John 1:43) on which Jesus "wanted" or "decided" to go to
Galilee. Bengel calls these "Great Days!", because "the care of this Evangelist in marking times is remarkable". "an affirmation showing intimate knowledge", leaving Nathaniel thoroughly impressed by Jesus' foreknowledge of his personal character. ==The titles of Jesus==