Have a blessed Christmas

I'll be gone for a few days.

Remember that our Lord chose a humble birth in Bethlehem.
May we likewise choose to walk humbly.

peace,
--- marty ---

John 1:9

Ἦν τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινόν, ὃ φωτίζει πάντα ἄνθρωπον, ἐρχόμενον εἰς τὸν κόσμον


Ἦν verb imperfect indicative 3rd singular from εἰμί "was"

τὸ defininte article nominative neuter singular "the"

φῶς noun nominative neuter singular "light"

τὸ definite article nominative neuter singular "the"

ἀληθινόν adjective nominative neuter singular from ἀληθινός "true"

ὃ relative pronoun "which"

φωτίζει verb present active indicative 3rd singular from φωτίζω "enlightens"

πάντα adjective accusative masculine singular from πᾶς "every"

ἄνθρωπον noun accusative masculine singular "man"

ἐρχόμενον verb present middle participle accusative singular masculine from ἔρχομαι "while coming"

εἰς preposition accusative case "into"

τὸν definite article accusative masculine singular "the"

κόσμον noun accusative masculine singular "world"

Rough Translation:

was the light the true which enlightens every man (while) coming into the world

Smooth Translation:

The true light was, which enlightens every man while coming into the world.

Note: It seems that John is communicating two things here. 1.) That the true light WAS, and, 2.)This light, coming into the world, enlightens every man. This is not so easy to get across in a translation.

John 1:8

οὐκ ἦν ἐκεῖνος τὸ φῶς, ἀλλ' ἵνα μαρτυρήσῃ περὶ τοῦ φωτός.

οὐκ negative particle "not"

ἦν verb imperfect indicative 3rd singular from εἰμί "was"

ἐκεῖνος demonstrative pronoun nominative masculine singular "he"

τὸ definite article nominative neuter singular "the" (note:greekbiblestudy.org parses this as nominative, but I would call it accusative here...the form is the same. Perhaps it is just a predicate nominative. I'll do some more checking on this)

(ok, postnote: evidently when you have an "equative" verb like εἰμί the noun is a predicate nominative...something to tuck away in my grammer memory.)

φῶς noun nominative neuter singular "light"

ἀλλ' strong negative conjunction "but"

ἵνα conjunction subjunctive case "that"

μαρτυρήσῃ verb aorist active subjunctive 3rd singular from μαρτυρέω "he might testify"

περὶ prepostion with genitive "concerning"

τοῦ definite article genitive singular neuter "the"

φωτός noun genitive singular neuter "light"

Rough Translation:

not was he the light but that he might testify concerning the light

Smooth Translation:

He was not the light, but that he might testify concerning the light

John 1:7

οὗτος ἦλθεν εἰς μαρτυρίαν, ἵνα μαρτυρήσῃ περὶ τοῦ φωτός, ἵνα πάντες πιστεύσωσιν δι' αὐτοῦ.

οὗτος demonstrative pronoun "This one"

ἦλθεν verb aorist indicative 3rd singular from ἔρχομαι "came"

εἰς preposition "into"

μαρτυρίαν noun accusative feminine singular "testimony"

ἵνα conjunction subjunctive (the case for "possibility") "that"

μαρτυρήσῃ verb aorist active subjunctive 3rd singular from μαρτυρέω "he might testify"

περὶ prepostion with genitive "concerning"

τοῦ definite article genitive singular neuter "the"

φωτός noun genitive singular neuter "light"

ἵνα conjunction subjunctive (the case for "possibility") "that"

πάντες noun nominative masculine plural "all"

πιστεύσωσιν verb aorist active subjunctive 3rd plural from πιστεύω "they might believe"

δι' elided prepostion with genitive "through"

αὐτοῦ. pronoun genitive masculine singular "him" - note: Barrett indicates that the anticedant here is οὗτος rather than φωτός because John didn't use εἰς but δι' - we believe "in" Jesus, but "through" John.

Rough Translation:
this one came into testimony that he might testify concerning the light that all might believe through him

Smooth Translation:
This one came for testimony, that he might testify concerning the light, that all might believe through him.

John 1:6

Ἐγένετο ἄνθρωπος, ἀπεσταλμένος παρὰ θεοῦ, ὄνομα αὐτῷ Ἰωάννης·

Ἐγένετο verb aorist middle 3rd singular from γίνομαι "came to be"

ἄνθρωπος noun nominative masculine singular "a man"

ἀπεσταλμένος verb perfect passive participle (note:"men" in the middle) from ἀποστέλλω nom masc sing "having been sent"

παρὰ preposition with genative "from"

θεοῦ noun nominative masculine singular "God"

ὄνομα noun nominative singular neuter "name"

αὐτῷ pronoun dative singular masculine "to him"

Ἰωάννης proper noun nominative singular masculine "John"


Rough Translation:
came to be a man having been sent from God, name to him John

Smooth Translation:
A man came to be, having been sent from God, named John

John 1:5

καὶ τὸ φῶς ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ φαίνει, καὶ ἡ σκοτία αὐτὸ οὐ κατέλαβεν.

καὶ conjunction "and"

τὸ definite article nominative singular neuter "the"

φῶς noun nominative singular neuter "light"

ἐν prepostion with dative "in"

τῇ definite article dative singular feminine "the"

σκοτίᾳ noun dative singular feminine "darkness"

φαίνει verb present active indicative 3rd singular from phainw "it is shining"

καὶ conjunction "and"

ἡ definite article nominative singular feminine "the"

σκοτία noun nominative singular feminine "darkness"

αὐτὸ pronoun accusative singular neuter ( refering back to φῶς) "it"

οὐ negative particle "not"

κατέλαβεν verb aorist active indicative from katalambanw "took down" or "comprehended"

Rough Translation:
and the light in the darkness it is shining and the darkness it not took down or comprehended


Smooth Translation:
And the light is shining in the darkness and the darkness did not take it down or comprehend it.

note: My smooth translation may be a little verbose, but I prefer greater clarity.

John 1:4

ἐν αὐτῷ ζωὴ ἐστιν, καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ἦν τὸ φῶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων

ἐν preposition dative "in"

αὐτῷ pronoun dative masculine singular "him"

ζωὴ noun nominative feminine singular "life"

ἐστιν verb present indicative 3rd singular from eimi "is"

καὶ conjunction "and"

ἡ definite article nominative feminine singular "the"

ζωὴ noun nominative feminine singular "life"

ἦν verb imperfect indicative 3rd singular from eimi "was"

τὸ definite article nominative neuter singular "the"

φῶς noun nominative neuter singular "light"

τῶν definite article genative plural "the"

ἀνθρώπων noun genative masculine plural "of men"

Rough Translation:
in him life is and the life was the light the of men

Smooth Translation:
In him is life and the life was the light of men.

Comments and Questions:
Is there any significance to ἐστιν being present indicative?
Is this "historic present"? Most translations seem to treat it this way.
It is a "continuous" tense. Could John be pointing out that life is continuously in Jesus?


Note: UBS4 does not use ἐστιν here, but rather it uses ἦν, it appears that the version used by greekbiblestudy.org does.
This is a textual issue that is discussed by Wieland Wilker at http://www-user.uni-bremen.de/~wie/TCG/index.html in his pdf on John.