ἡμᾶς µυστήριον͵ ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐξ ἀρχῆς μὲν ἀεὶ τυγχάνειν αὐτὸ viv δὲ πεφανερῶσθαι ἐν τῷ Κυρίῳ. ἀκηκόαμεν, ‘we have heard”; either the editorial “we” (cf. Rom. i. 5; Col. iv. 3); or, with Lightfoot, St. John and the elders of Ephesus who had certified the authorship and authen; ticity of the Gospel (xxi. 24); or “1 and the rest of the Apostles ””—not hearsay but the testimony of eye - witnesses. ἐθεασάμεθα, “we beheld”—a spectacle which broke on our astonished vision. This seems to be the force of the transi- tion from perfect to aorist, though it may be simply an instance of the decay of the distinction between perfect and aorist
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f Johni. 1, 4.
6 Johni. 7, XXi. 24 5
Acts i. 8, ii. 32.
h Heb. viii. ἀκηκόαμεν, ἀπαγγέλλομεν ὑμῖν, ἵνα καὶ ὑμεῖς ος na της , p Var eel / A A x x x µεθ᾽ ἡμῶν: καὶ ' ἡ κοινωνία δὲ ἡ ἡμετέρα μετὰ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ μετὰ
6; Mark iv. 20; Phil. iv. 3.
Γτοῦ λόγου τῆς ζωῆς: 2. καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ἐφανερώθη, καὶ ἑωράκαμεν, καὶ ς μαρτυροῦμεν, καὶ ἀπαγγέλλομεν ὑμῖν τὴν ἵωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον, he a i x x , be | ’ αι ae ‘ ἥτις ἣν i πρὸς τὸν πατέρα, καὶ ἐφανερώθη Huiv: 3. ὃ ἑωράκαμεν καὶ
k , ” κοινωνίαν εχητε
- . a A An A A ” A a iJohni.1, τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ: 4. καὶ ταῦτα ™ γράφομεν ὑμῖν, ἵνα 2
k Acts ii. 42.
lii. 24; John xvii. 21 ; 2 Cor. xiii. 13.
m ii. 12, 13.
1και υμιν SABCP, Syrvg, Sah., Aeth., Arm., edd.
(see Moulton’s Gram. of Ν.Τ. Gk., i. pp. 142f.). ἐψηλάφησαν : the word is used of the fumbling of a blind man in Gen. xxvii. 12 LXX py ποτε ψηλαφήσῃ µε ὁ πατὴρ. περὶ, in Betreff des Wortes des Lebens (Holtzmann); i.e. “‘ We did not grasp all the wonder but only its skirts”. ‘ Vom Worte des Lebens will er verktindigen, denn thn selbst verktin- digen zu Κόππεπ, dazu fihlte er sich nicht in Stande” (Rothe). τοῦ Λόγου τῆς ζωῆς, “the Word who gives life,” “des Wortes, ohne welches es kein Leben gibt” (Holtzmann). Calvin: ‘* Genitivus loco epitheti pro Vivifico”’. Rothe’s “‘ das Wort vom Leben (the word concerning life)” is Pauline (cf. Phil. ii. 16) but not Johannine.
Ver. 2. A parenthesis reiterating the assurance of the reality of the manifesta- tion. The Apostle heaps assurance upon assurance with elaborate emphasis, and the cumbrousness of his language should not be removed by devices of construc- tion or punctuation, making ver. I a complete sentence: (1) ‘ That which was from the beginning (is) that which we have heard, etc.”; (2) ‘‘ That which was from the beginning, which we have seen... beheld, our hands also handled”. Cf. Tert. in crit. Π. pap- τυροῦμεν, according to the Lord’s parting charge (cf. John xv. 27; Luke xxiv. 48; Acts i. 8). 4 paptupta ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ (Rey. i. 2, 9, xix. 10) was the apostolic ἀπαγγελία. ἀπαγγέλλομεν, κ.τ.λ. : 6 ΎΝπεποε we gather that Christ cannot be preached to us without the Heavenly Kingdom being opened to us, so that, being wakened from death, we may live the life of God” (Calvin). Observe the note of wonder in the Apostle’s language. Speech fails him. He labours for ex- pression, adding definition to definition.
Ver. 3. 6 éwp. καὶ ἀκ., not merely a resumption but a reiteration of the pro- tasis. καὶ ὑμεῖς, “ye also” who have not seen Jesus. µκοινωνίαν, not merely knowledge through hearsay of what the Apostles had known as eye-witnesses,
but personal and direct communion with the living Lord. This St. John proceeds to make plain. The phrasexat.. « δὲ, et... vero, atque etiam, introduces an important addition or explanation (cf. John vi. 51, viii. 16, 17, xv. 27; Acts xxl, 29; Heb: ix. 205 ο ο ος]. ‘Christ walks no longer in the flesh among us, but He appears still continu- ally to the world of men and reveals Him- self to those who love Him. Through faith a real personal contact with the Christ now glorified in the Spirit is possible” (Rothe). There is a gracious constraint on all who know this blessed fellowship to bring others into it. Cf. 1 Cor. ix. 16. Bunyan, preface to The Ferusalem- Sinner Saved : “JT have been vile my- self, but have obtained mercy, and I would have my companions in sin par- take of mercy too, and therefore I have writ this little book”.