1. Beloved. Again the recognition of danger from false spirits prompts this affectionate address. Compare iii. 21.
Try (Soxiudtere). Better, as Rev., prove. See on 1 Pet. i.7; Luke xii. 55. Compare the phrase discerning of spirits, 1 Cor. xii. 10.
Cc? OL [25 ¢
FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN. Of God (x). Out of: proceeding from.
False prophets (revdorpopijra:). The term is applied in the New Testament to rivals of true prophets under the old dispensation (Luke vi. 26; 2 Pet. ii. 1), and to rivals of the apostles under the gospel economy (Matt. vii. 15; xxiv. 11, 24; Mark xiii. 22). In the Apocalypse to “the embodied power of spiritual falsehood” (xvi. 13; xix. 20; xx. 10). The false prophet supports his claims by signs and portents (Matt. xxiv. 24; Acts xiii. 6; Apoc. xix. 20) and is thus distinguished from the false teacher. See 2 Pet. ii. 1, where the two terms occur together.
Are gone out (e€eAndU3acw). The perfect tense indicates that the influence of their going out on their false mission is in operation at the present.
2. Hereby (év tovTw). See on ii. 3. Know ye (ywecxere). Perceive. See on John ii. 24. Confesseth (ouoroye?). See on Matt. vii. 23; x. 32.
That Jesus Christ is come in the flesh (Incoiv Xpsctov év capxi énrvSora). Lit., Jesus Christ having come, etc. The whole phrase forms the direct object of the verb confesseth.
Of God. Compare 1 Cor. xii. 3.
3. Is come in the flesh. Omit. Render, confesseth not Jesus. So Rev. An ancient reading is Aves tov Inooiv “ an- nulleth or destroyeth Jesus.” The simple /esws emphasizes the humanity of our Lord considered in itself. See Rom. iii. 26; x. 9; 2Cor. xi.4; Eph. iv. 21; Heb. ii. 9.
This (rod). Not this sprit, but this non-confession, sum- med up in all its manifestations.
Cometh. See on ii. 18.
356 WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 4. Have overcome. See on ii. 13.
Greater. Compare iii. 20.
In you. The Christian society. Compare John vi. 56; xiv. 90; xv. 4-10; xvii. 23, 26; Gal. ii. 20 (of the individual).
He that is in the world. In v. 19, the world is said to be in the evil one. Compare Eph. ii. 2.
5. Of the world (é« Tod Kdapov). Proceeding from, as their source (éx). Different from é« rijs ys from the earth (John iii. 31), as marking the whole worldly economy morally considered.
Speak they of the world (éx tod Kécpov Aadodow). An ambiguous rendering, which might readily be interpreted “they speak concerning the world.” Literally it is: ‘‘ they speak owt of the world; «.¢., the character of their utterances corresponds to their origin. Rev., “speak they as of the world.” The po- sition of of the world in the sentence is emphatic: “it is out of the world that they speak.”
6. He that knoweth (6 yuvdoxwv). Lit., the one knowing : he who is habitually and ever more clearly perceiving and re- cognizing God as his Christian life unfolds. The knowledge is regarded as progressive and not complete. Compare Philip. iii. 12, and He who is calling (6 xadév, 1 Thess. v. 24), also 6 ayaTrav he that loves (ver. 7).
Hereby (é« rovrov). Not the same as the common ev TOUT® (ver. 2). It occurs only here in the Epistle. "Ev tovr is in this: é« rovrou, from this. The former marks the restdeng or consisting of the essence or truth of a thing in something the apprehension of which conveys to us the essential nature of the thing itself. The latter marks the enference or deduction of the truth from something, as contrasted with its immediate perception in that something. Rev., by thes.