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1In the beginning was the Word,[#: also the first words of the Old Testament (Gn 1:1). : this verb is used three times with different meanings in this verse: existence, relationship, and predication. (Greek logos ): this term combines God’s dynamic, creative word (Genesis), personified preexistent Wisdom as the instrument of God’s creative activity (Proverbs), and the ultimate intelligibility of reality (Hellenistic philosophy). : the Greek preposition here connotes communication with another. : lack of a definite article with “God” in Greek signifies predication rather than identification.]
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
2He was in the beginning with God.
3All things came to be through him,[#: while the oldest manuscripts have no punctuation here, the corrector of Bodmer Papyrus P 75 , some manuscripts, and the Ante-Nicene Fathers take this phrase with what follows, as staircase parallelism. Connection with Jn 1:3 reflects fourth-century anti-Arianism.]
and without him nothing came to be.
What came to be
4through him was life,
and this life was the light of the human race;
5the light shines in the darkness,[#The ethical dualism of light and darkness is paralleled in intertestamental literature and in the Dead Sea Scrolls. : “comprehend” is another possible translation, but cf. Jn 12:35; Wis 7:29–30.; #3:19; 8:12; 9:5; 12:35, 46; Wis 7:29–30; 1 Thes 5:4; 1 Jn 2:8.]
and the darkness has not overcome it.
6A man named John was sent from God.[#John was just as Jesus was “sent” (Jn 4:34) in divine mission. Other references to John the Baptist in this gospel emphasize the differences between them and John’s subordinate role.; #Mt 3:1; Mk 1:4; Lk 3:2–3.]
7He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.[#: the testimony theme of John is introduced, which portrays Jesus as if on trial throughout his ministry. All testify to Jesus: John the Baptist, the Samaritan woman, scripture, his works, the crowds, the Spirit, and his disciples.; #1:19–34; 5:33.]
8He was not the light, but came to testify to the light.[#5:35.]
9The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.[#3:19; 8:12; 9:39; 12:46.]
10He was in the world,
and the world came to be through him,
but the world did not know him.
11He came to what was his own,
but his own people did not accept him.
12But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name,[#3:11–12; 5:43–44; 12:46–50; Gal 3:26; 4:6–7; Eph 1:5; 1 Jn 3:2.]
13who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision but of God.[#Believers in Jesus become children of God not through any of the three natural causes mentioned but through God who is the immediate cause of the new spiritual life. : the Greek verb can mean “begotten” (by a male) or “born” (from a female or of parents). The variant “he who was begotten,” asserting Jesus’ virginal conception, is weakly attested in Old Latin and Syriac versions.; #3:5–6.]
14And the Word became flesh[#: the whole person, used probably against docetic tendencies (cf. 1 Jn 4:2; 2 Jn 7). : literally, “pitched his tent/tabernacle.” Cf. the tabernacle or tent of meeting that was the place of God’s presence among his people (Ex 25:8–9). The incarnate Word is the new mode of God’s presence among his people. The Greek verb has the same consonants as the Aramaic word for God’s presence (Shekinah). : God’s visible manifestation of majesty in power, which once filled the tabernacle (Ex 40:34) and the temple (1 Kgs 8:10–11, 27), is now centered in Jesus. : Greek, monogenēs , but see note on Jn 1:18. : these words may represent two Old Testament terms describing Yahweh in covenant relationship with Israel (cf. Ex 34:6), thus God’s “love” and “fidelity.” The Word shares Yahweh’s covenant qualities.]
and made his dwelling among us,
and we saw his glory,
the glory as of the Father’s only Son,
full of grace and truth.
15John testified to him and cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘The one who is coming after me ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’”[#This verse, interrupting Jn 1:14, 16 seems drawn from Jn 1:30.; #1:30; 3:27–30.]
16From his fullness we have all received, grace in place of grace,[#: replacement of the Old Covenant with the New (cf. Jn 1:17). Other possible translations are “grace upon grace” (accumulation) and “grace for grace” (correspondence).]
17because while the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.[#7:19; Ex 31:18; 34:28.]
18No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him.[#: while the vast majority of later textual witnesses have another reading, “the Son, the only one” or “the only Son,” the translation above follows the best and earliest manuscripts, monogenēs theos , but takes the first term to mean not just “Only One” but to include a filial relationship with the Father, as at Lk 9:38 (“only child”) or Heb 11:17 (“only son”) and as translated at Jn 1:14. The Logos is thus “only Son” and God but not Father/God.; #5:37; 6:46; Ex 33:20; Jgs 13:21–22; 1 Tm 6:16; 1 Jn 4:12.]
John the Baptist’s Testimony to Himself.
19And this is the testimony of John. When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites [to him] to ask him, “Who are you?”[#The testimony of John the Baptist about the Messiah and Jesus’ self-revelation to the first disciples. This section constitutes the introduction to the gospel proper and is connected with the prose inserts in the prologue. It develops the major theme of testimony in four scenes: John’s negative testimony about himself; his positive testimony about Jesus; the revelation of Jesus to Andrew and Peter; the revelation of Jesus to Philip and Nathanael.; #: throughout most of the gospel, the “Jews” does not refer to the Jewish people as such but to the hostile authorities, both Pharisees and Sadducees, particularly in Jerusalem, who refuse to believe in Jesus. The usage reflects the atmosphere, at the end of the first century, of polemics between church and synagogue, or possibly it refers to Jews as representative of a hostile world (Jn 1:10–11).]
20he admitted and did not deny it, but admitted, “I am not the Messiah.”[#: the anointed agent of Yahweh, usually considered to be of Davidic descent. See further the note on Jn 1:41.; #3:28; Lk 3:15; Acts 13:25.]
21So they asked him, “What are you then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.”[#: the Baptist did not claim to be Elijah returned to earth (cf. Mal 3:19; Mt 11:14). : probably the prophet like Moses (Dt 18:15; cf. Acts 3:22).; #Dt 18:15, 18; 2 Kgs 2:11; Sir 48:10; Mal 3:1, 23; Mt 11:14; 17:11–13; Mk 9:13; Acts 3:22.]
22So they said to him, “Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us? What do you have to say for yourself?”
23He said:
“I am ‘the voice of one crying out in the desert,
“Make straight the way of the Lord,”’
as Isaiah the prophet said.”
24Some Pharisees were also sent.[#: other translations, such as “Now they had been sent from the Pharisees,” misunderstand the grammatical construction. This is a different group from that in Jn 1:19; the priests and Levites would have been Sadducees, not Pharisees.]
25They asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet?”[#Ez 36:25; Zec 13:1; Mt 16:14.]
26John answered them, “I baptize with water; but there is one among you whom you do not recognize,[#: the synoptics add “but he will baptize you with the holy Spirit” (Mk 1:8) or “…holy Spirit and fire” (Mt 3:11; Lk 3:16). John’s emphasis is on purification and preparation for a better baptism.; #Mt 3:11; Mk 1:7–8; Lk 3:16; Acts 13:25.]
27the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.”
28This happened in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.[#: site unknown. Another reading is “Bethabara.”]
John the Baptist’s Testimony to Jesus.
29The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.[#: the background for this title may be the victorious apocalyptic lamb who would destroy evil in the world (Rev 5–7; 17:14); the paschal lamb, whose blood saved Israel (Ex 12); and/or the suffering servant led like a lamb to the slaughter as a sin-offering (Is 53:7, 10).; #1:36; Ex 12; Is 53:7; Rev 5–7; 17:14.]
30He is the one of whom I said, ‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’[#: possibly as Elijah (to come, Jn 1:27); for the evangelist and his audience, Jesus’ preexistence would be implied (see note on Jn 1:1).; #1:15; Mt 3:11; Mk 1:7; Lk 3:16.]
31I did not know him, but the reason why I came baptizing with water was that he might be made known to Israel.”[#: this gospel shows no knowledge of the tradition (Lk 1) about the kinship of Jesus and John the Baptist. : in this gospel, John’s baptism is not connected with forgiveness of sins; its purpose is revelatory, that Jesus may be made known to Israel.]
32John testified further, saying, “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from the sky and remain upon him.[#: a symbol of the new creation (Gn 8:8) or the community of Israel (Hos 11:11). : the first use of a favorite verb in John, emphasizing the permanency of the relationship between Father and Son (as here) and between the Son and the Christian. Jesus is the permanent bearer of the Spirit.]
33I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the holy Spirit.’[#Sg 5:2; Is 11:2; Hos 11:11; Mt 3:16; Mk 1:10; Lk 3:21–22.; #Is 42:1; Mt 3:11; Mk 1:8; Lk 3:16.]
34Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”[#: this reading is supported by good Greek manuscripts, including the Chester Beatty and Bodmer Papyri and the Vatican Codex, but is suspect because it harmonizes this passage with the synoptic version: “This is my beloved Son” (Mt 3:17; Mk 1:11; Lk 3:22). The poorly attested alternate reading, “God’s chosen One,” is probably a reference to the Servant of Yahweh (Is 42:1).; #Is 42:1; Mt 3:17; Mk 1:11; Lk 9:35.]
The First Disciples.
35The next day John was there again with two of his disciples,
36and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.”[#John the Baptist’s testimony makes his disciples’ following of Jesus plausible.]
37The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus.[#: Andrew (Jn 1:40) and, traditionally, John, son of Zebedee (see note on Jn 13:23).]
38Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?”
39He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about four in the afternoon.[#: literally, the tenth hour, from sunrise, in the Roman calculation of time. Some suggest that the next day, beginning at sunset, was the sabbath; they would have stayed with Jesus to avoid travel on it.]
40Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus.
41He first found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed).[#: the Hebrew word māšîaḥ , “anointed one” (see note on Lk 2:11), appears in Greek as the transliterated messias only here and in Jn 4:25. Elsewhere the Greek translation christos is used.; #4:25.]
42Then he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you will be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).[#: in Mt 16:17, Simon is called Bariōna , “son of Jonah,” a different tradition for the name of Simon’s father. : in Aramaic = the Rock; cf. Mt 16:18. Neither the Greek equivalent nor, with one isolated exception, is attested as a personal name before Christian times.; #Mt 16:18; Mk 3:16.]
43The next day he decided to go to Galilee, and he found Philip. And Jesus said to him, “Follow me.”[#: grammatically, could be Peter, but logically is probably Jesus.]
44Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the town of Andrew and Peter.
45Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”[#21:2.]
46But Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
47Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Here is a true Israelite. There is no duplicity in him.”[#: Jacob was the first to bear the name “Israel” (Gn 32:29), but Jacob was a man of duplicity (Gn 27:35–36).]
48Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.”[#: a symbol of messianic peace (cf. Mi 4:4; Zec 3:10).; #Mi 4:4; Zec 3:10.]
49Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”[#: this title is used in the Old Testament, among other ways, as a title of adoption for the Davidic king (2 Sm 7:14; Ps 2:7; 89:27), and thus here, with , in a messianic sense. For the evangelist, also points to Jesus’ divinity (cf. Jn 20:28).; #12:13; Ex 4:22; Dt 14:1; 2 Sm 7:14; Jb 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; Ps 2:7; 29:1; 89:27; Wis 2:18; Sir 4:10; Dn 3:92; Hos 11:1; Mt 14:33; 16:16; Mk 13:32.]
50Jesus answered and said to him, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.”[#Possibly a statement: “You [singular] believe because I saw you under the fig tree.”]
51And he said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see the sky opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”[#The double “Amen” is characteristic of John. is plural in Greek. The allusion is to Jacob’s ladder (Gn 28:12).; #Gn 28:10–17; Dn 7:13.]