both the idea of a Creator essentially inferior to God, and the idea of an abstract Monotheism in which there is no living relation between the creature and the Creator; for as all things come into being through' the Word, so they are supported 'in' Him (John i. 3; compare Col. i. 16 sq.; Heb. i. 3). And yet more, the use of the term éyéveto, came into being, as distinguished from exтlon, were created, suggests the thought that creation is to be regarded (according to our apprehension) as a manifestation of a divine law of love. Thus creation (all things came into being through Him) answers to the Incarnation (the Word became flesh). All the unfolding and infolding of finite being to the last issue lies in the fulfilment of His will who is love" (Westcott, on 1 John ii. 17).

By Him (Si aνTOû). Lit., through him. The preposition diá is generally used to denote the working of God through some secondary agency, as dià Tоû Tроþýтоν, through the prophet (Matt. i. 22, on which see note).* It is the preposition by which the relation of Christ to creation is usually expressed (see 1 Cor. viii. 6; Col. i. 16; Heb. i. 2), though it is occasionally used of the Father (Heb. ii. 10; Rom. xi. 36, and Gal. i. 1, where it is used of both). Hence, as Godet remarks, it does not lower the Word to the rank of a simple instrument," but merely implies a different relation to creation on the part of the Father and the Son.

Without (xwpis). Lit., apart from.

Compare xv. 5.

Was not anything made that was made (ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν, o yéyovev). Many authorities place the period after ev, and join ỏ yévovev with what follows, rendering, "without Him was not anything made. That which hath been made was life in Him." t

* So the Rev., but not consistently throughout. A. V., by. See my article on the Revised New Testament, Presbyterian Review, October, 1881.

†This reading is very earnestly defended by Canon Westcott, and is adopted in Westcott and Hort's text, and supported by Milligan and Moulton. It is rejected by Tischendorf and by the Revisers; also by Alford, De Wette, Meyer; and Godet. Grammatical considerations seem to be against it (see Alford on the passage), but Canon Westcott's defence is most ingenious and plausible.

Contra Philo

Made (éyéveto), as before, came into being.

Not anything (oùdè èv). Lit., not even one thing. Compare on Trávтa (all things) at the beginning of this verse.

That was made (ó yeyovev). Rev., more correctly, that hath been made, observing the force of the perfect tense as distinguished from the aorist (éyévero). The latter tense points back to the work of creation considered as a definite act or series of acts in the beginning of time. The perfect tense indicates the continuance of things created; so that the full idea is, that which hath been made and exists. The combination of a positive and negative clause (compare ver. 20) is characteristic of John's style, as also of James'. See note on "wanting nothing," Jas. i. 4.

4. In Him was life (ev aur (w v). He was the fountain of life-physical, moral, and eternal-its principle and source. Two words for life are employed in the New Testament: Bios and on. The primary distinction is that on means existence as contrasted with death, and Bíos, the period, means, or manner of existence. Hence Bíos is originally the higher word, being used of men, while wǹ is used of animals (Swa). We speak therefore of the discussion of the life and habits of animals as zoology; and of accounts of men's lives as biography. Animals have the vital principle in common with men, but men lead lives controlled by intellect and will, and directed to moral and intellectual ends. In the New Testament, Bíos means either living, i.e., means of subsistence (Mark xii. 44; Luke viii. 43), or course of life, life regarded as an economy (Luke viii. 14; 1 Tim. ii. 2; 2 Tim. ii. 4). Zwn occurs in the lower sense of life, considered principally or wholly as existence (1 Pet. iii. 10; Acts viii. 33; xvii. 25; Heb. vii. 3). There seems to be a significance in the use of the word in Luke xvi. 25: "Thou in thy lifetime (ev Tỷ (wy σov) receivedst thy good things;" the intimation being that the rich man's life had been little better than mere existence, and not life at all in the true sense. But throughout the New Testament Con is the

nobler word, seeming to have changed places with Bios. It expresses the sum of mortal and eternal blessedness (Matt. xxv. 46; Luke xviii. 30; John xi. 25; Acts ii. 28; Rom. v. 17; vi. 4), and that not only in respect of men, but also of God and Christ. So here. Compare John v. 26; xiv. 6; 1 John i. 2. This change is due to the gospel revelation of the essential connection of sin with death, and consequently, of life with holi"Whatever truly lives, does so because sin has never found place in it, or, having found place for a time, has since been overcome and expelled" (Trench).

ness.

Zon is a favorite word with John. See xi. 25; xiv. 6; viii. 12; 1 John i. 2; v. 20; John vi. 35, 48; vi. 63; Apoc. xxi. 6; xxii. 1, 17; vii. 17; John iv. 14; Apoc. ii. 7; xxii. 2, 14, 19; John xii. 50; xvii. 3; xx. 31; v. 26; vi. 53, 54; v. 40; iii. 15, 16, 36; x. 10; v. 24; xii. 25; vi. 27; iv. 36; 1 John v. 12, 16; John vi. 51.

Was the Light of men (ἦν τὸ φῶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων). Passing from the thought of creation in general to that of mankind, who, in the whole range of created things, had a special capacity for receiving the divine. The Light-the peculiar mode of the divine operation upon men, conformably to their rational and moral nature which alone was fitted to receive the light of divine truth. It is not said that the Word was light, but that the life was the light. The Word becomes light through the medium of life, of spiritual life, just as sight is a function of physical life. Compare xiv. 6, where Christ becomes the life through being the truth; and Matt. v. 8, where the pure heart is the medium through which God is beheld. In whatever mode of manifestation the Word is in the world, He is the light of the world; in His works, in the dawn of creation; in the happy conditions of Eden; in the Patriarchs, in the Law and the Prophets, in His incarnation, and in the subsequent history of the Church. Compare ix. 5. Of men, as a class, and not of individuals only.

from th

THE SECOND DIVISION OF THE PROLOGUE. THE WORD
DISOWNED.

Against the eternal being, light and life of the divine Word, a contrary principle emerges in the world-darkness. The purpose and work of God in creation having been set forth, we are now shown man's attitude toward these.

5. Shineth (palve). Note the present tense, indicating not merely the present point of time, but that the light has gone forth continuously and without interruption from the beginning until now, and is still shining. Hence paível, shineth, denoting the peculiar property of light under all circumstances, and not pwrite, lighteneth or illuminateth, as in ver. 9. The shining does not always illuminate. Compare 1 John ii. 8.

In the darkness (ἐν τῇ σκοτία). ZKOτla, darkness, is a word peculiar to later Greek, and used in the New Testament almost exclusively by John. It occurs once in Matt. x. 27, and once in Luke xii. 3. The more common New Testament word is σKÓTOS, from the same root, which appears in σriá, shadow, and σkηvý, tent. Another word for darkness, Códos, occurs only in Peter and Jude (2 Pet. ii. 4, 17; Jude 6, 13). See on 2 Pet. ii. 4. The two words are combined in the phrase blackness of darkness (2 Pet. ii. 17; Jude 13). In classical Greek σKóτos, as distinguished from Cópos, is the stronger term, denoting the condition of darkness as opposed to light in nature. Hence of death; of the condition before birth; of night. Zópos, which is mainly a poetical term, signifies gloom, half-darkness, nebulousness. Here the stronger word is used. The darkness of sin is deep. The moral condition which opposes itself to divine light is utterly dark. The very light that is in it is darkness. Its condition is the opposite of that happy state of humanity indicated in ver. 4, when the life was the light of men; it is a condition in which mankind has become the prey of falsehood, folly and sin. Compare 1 John i. 9-11. Rom. i. 21, 22.

Comprehended (Karéλaßev). Rev., apprehended. Wyc., took not it. See on Mark ix. 18; Acts iv. 13. Comprehended,

ماد

in the sense of the A. V., understood, is inadmissible. This meaning would require the middle voice of the verb (see Acts iv. 13; x. 34; xxv. 25). The Rev., apprehended, i.e., grasped or seized, gives the correct idea, which appears in John xii. 35, "lest darkness come upon you," i.e., overtake and seize. The word is used in the sense of laying hold of so as to make one's own; hence, to take possession of. Used of obtaining the prize in the games (1 Cor. ix. 24); of attaining righteousness (Rom. ix. 30); of a demon taking possession of a man (Mark ix. 18); of the day of the Lord overtaking one as a thief (1 Thess. v. 4). Applied to darkness, this idea includes that of eclipsing or overwhelming. Hence some render overcame (Westcott, Moulton). John's thought is, that in the struggle between light and darkness, light was victorious. The darkness did not appropriate the light and eclipse it. "The whole phrase is indeed a startling paradox. The light does not banish the darkness; the darkness does not overpower the light. Light and darkness coexist in the world side by side" (Westcott).

6. There was a man (éyévetо аvρwπоs). Better, Rev., "there came a man," éyéveto denoting the historical manifestation, the emergence of the Baptist into the economy of the revelation of the light. Compare iii. 1, there was a man (ĥv ǎvρwπos), where the mere fact that there was such a man as Nicodemus is stated. See remarks on v, ver. 1. A distinction is also intimated between the eternal being (iv) of the Word and the coming into being of his messenger.

Sent (ȧπeσтaμévos). See on Matt. x. 2, 16; Mark iv. 29; Luke iv. 18. The verb carries the sense of sending an envoy with a special commission. Hence it is used of the mission of the Son of God, and of His apostles; the word apostle being directly derived from it. It is thus distinguished from πéμπw, to send, which denotes simply the relation of the sender to the sent. See on xx. 21, and 1 John iii. 5. The statement is not merely equivalent to was sent. The finite verb and the participle are to be taken separately, as stating two distinct facts, the appear