Kejadian 8:1-22

8:1 But God remembered ¹  Noah and all the wild animals and domestic animals that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to blow over ²  the earth and the waters receded. 8:2 The fountains of the deep and the floodgates of heaven were closed, ³  and the rain stopped falling from the sky. 8:3 The waters kept receding steadily ⁴  from the earth, so that they ⁵  had gone down ⁶  by the end of the 150 days. 8:4 On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ark came to rest on one of the mountains of Ararat. ⁷  8:5 The waters kept on receding ⁸  until the tenth month. On the first day of the tenth month, the tops of the mountains became visible. ⁹ 

8:6 At the end of forty days, ¹⁰  Noah opened the window he had made in the ark ¹¹  8:7 and sent out a raven; it kept flying ¹²  back and forth until the waters had dried up on the earth.

8:8 Then Noah ¹³  sent out a dove ¹⁴  to see if the waters had receded ¹⁵  from the surface of the ground. 8:9 The dove could not find a resting place for its feet because water still covered ¹⁶  the surface of the entire earth, and so it returned to Noah ¹⁷  in the ark. He stretched out his hand, took the dove, ¹⁸  and brought it back into the ark. ¹⁹  8:10 He waited seven more days and then sent out the dove again from the ark. 8:11 When ²⁰  the dove returned to him in the evening, there was ²¹  a freshly plucked olive leaf in its beak! Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth. 8:12 He waited another seven days and sent the dove out again, ²²  but it did not return to him this time. ²³ 

8:13 In Noah’s six hundred and first year, ²⁴  in the first day of the first month, the waters had dried up from the earth, and Noah removed the covering from the ark and saw that ²⁵  the surface of the ground was dry. 8:14 And by the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth ²⁶  was dry.

8:15 Then God spoke to Noah and said, 8:16 “Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. 8:17 Bring out with you all the living creatures that are with you. Bring out ²⁷  every living thing, including the birds, animals, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Let them increase ²⁸  and be fruitful and multiply on the earth!” ²⁹ 

8:18 Noah went out along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives. 8:19 Every living creature, every creeping thing, every bird, and everything that moves on the earth went out of the ark in their groups.

8:20 Noah built an altar to the Lord. He then took some of every kind of clean animal and clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. ³⁰  8:21 And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma ³¹  and said ³²  to himself, ³³  “I will never again curse ³⁴  the ground because of humankind, even though ³⁵  the inclination of their minds ³⁶  is evil from childhood on. ³⁷  I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done.

8:22 “While the earth continues to exist, ³⁸ 

planting time ³⁹  and harvest,

cold and heat,

summer and winter,

and day and night will not cease.”

Kejadian 14:1

The Blessing of Victory for God’s People

14:1 At that time ⁴⁰  Amraphel king of Shinar, ⁴¹  Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations ⁴² 

Kejadian 16:14

16:14 That is why the well was called ⁴³  Beer Lahai Roi. ⁴⁴  (It is located ⁴⁵  between Kadesh and Bered.)

Markus 12:29-31

12:29 Jesus answered, “The most important is: ‘Listen, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 12:30 Love ⁴⁶  the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ ⁴⁷  12:31 The second is: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁸  There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Lukas 10:27

10:27 The expert ⁴⁹  answered, “Love ⁵⁰  the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, ⁵¹  and love your neighbor as yourself.” ⁵² 

Galatia 5:13-22

Practice Love

5:13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; ⁵³  only do not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge your flesh, ⁵⁴  but through love serve one another. ⁵⁵  5:14 For the whole law can be summed up in a single commandment, ⁵⁶  namely, “You must love your neighbor as yourself.” ⁵⁷  5:15 However, if you continually bite and devour one another, ⁵⁸  beware that you are not consumed ⁵⁹  by one another. 5:16 But I say, live ⁶⁰  by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. ⁶¹  5:17 For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires ⁶²  that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to ⁶³  each other, so that you cannot do what you want. 5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 5:19 Now the works of the flesh ⁶⁴  are obvious: ⁶⁵  sexual immorality, impurity, depravity, 5:20 idolatry, sorcery, ⁶⁶  hostilities, ⁶⁷  strife, ⁶⁸  jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions, ⁶⁹  factions, 5:21 envying, ⁷⁰  murder, ⁷¹  drunkenness, carousing, ⁷²  and similar things. I am warning you, as I had warned you before: Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God!

5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit ⁷³  is love, ⁷⁴  joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ⁷⁵ 

Filipi 1:9

1:9 And I pray this, that your love may abound even more and more in knowledge and every kind of insight

Kolose 3:14

3:14 And to all these ⁷⁶  virtues ⁷⁷  add ⁷⁸  love, which is the perfect bond. ⁷⁹ 

Kolose 3:1

Exhortations to Seek the Things Above

3:1 Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Titus 1:5

Titus’ Task on Crete

1:5 The reason I left you in Crete was to set in order the remaining matters and to appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.

Titus 1:2

1:2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the ages began. ⁸⁰ 

Titus 1:7

1:7 For the overseer ⁸¹  must be blameless as one entrusted with God’s work, ⁸²  not arrogant, not prone to anger, not a drunkard, not violent, not greedy for gain.

Titus 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ⁸³  a slave ⁸⁴  of God and apostle of Jesus Christ, to further the faith ⁸⁵  of God’s chosen ones and the knowledge of the truth that is in keeping with godliness,

Yohanes 4:7-9

4:7 A Samaritan woman ⁸⁶  came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me some water ⁸⁷  to drink.” 4:8 (For his disciples had gone off into the town to buy supplies. ⁸⁸ ) ⁸⁹  4:9 So the Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you – a Jew ⁹⁰  – ask me, a Samaritan woman, for water ⁹¹  to drink?” (For Jews use nothing in common ⁹²  with Samaritans.) ⁹³ 

Yohanes 4:2

4:2 (although Jesus himself was not baptizing, but his disciples were), ⁹⁴ 

Yohanes 1:4-6

1:4 In him was life, ⁹⁵  and the life was the light of mankind. ⁹⁶  1:5 And the light shines on ⁹⁷  in the darkness, ⁹⁸  but ⁹⁹  the darkness has not mastered it. ¹⁰⁰ 

1:6 A man came, sent from God, whose name was John. ¹⁰¹ 

[8:1]  ¹ tn The Hebrew word translated “remembered” often carries the sense of acting in accordance with what is remembered, i.e., fulfilling covenant promises (see B. S. Childs, Memory and Tradition in Israel [SBT], especially p. 34).

[8:1]  ² tn Heb “to pass over.”

[8:2]  ³ tn Some (e.g., NIV) translate the preterite verb forms in this verse as past perfects (e.g., “had been closed”), for it seems likely that the sources of the water would have stopped before the waters receded.

[8:3]  ⁴ tn The construction combines a Qal preterite from שׁוּב (shuv) with its infinitive absolute to indicate continuous action. The infinitive absolute from הָלָךְ (halakh) is included for emphasis: “the waters returned…going and returning.”

[8:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “the waters.” The pronoun (“they”) has been employed in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[8:3]  ⁶ tn The vav (ו) consecutive with the preterite here describes the consequence of the preceding action.

[8:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “on the mountains of Ararat.” Obviously a boat (even one as large as the ark) cannot rest on multiple mountains. Perhaps (1) the preposition should be translated “among,” or (2) the plural “mountains” should be understood in the sense of “mountain range” (see E. A. Speiser, Genesis [AB], 53). A more probable option (3) is that the plural indicates an indefinite singular, translated “one of the mountains” (see GKC 400 §124.o).

[8:4]  sn Ararat is the Hebrew name for Urartu, the name of a mountainous region located north of Mesopotamia in modern day eastern Turkey. See E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 29-32; G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:184-85; C. Westermann, Genesis, 1:443-44.

[8:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “the waters were going and lessening.” The perfect verb form הָיָה (hayah) is used as an auxiliary verb with the infinitive absolute חָסוֹר (khasor, “lessening”), while the infinitive absolute הָלוֹךְ (halokh) indicates continuous action.

[8:5]  ⁹ tn Or “could be seen.”

[8:6]  ¹⁰ tn The introductory verbal form וַיְהִי (vayÿhi), traditionally rendered “and it came to pass,” serves as a temporal indicator and has not been translated here.

[8:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “opened the window in the ark which he had made.” The perfect tense (“had made”) refers to action preceding the opening of the window, and is therefore rendered as a past perfect. Since in English “had made” could refer to either the ark or the window, the order of the phrases was reversed in the translation to clarify that the window is the referent.

[8:7]  ¹² tn Heb “and it went out, going out and returning.” The Hebrew verb יָצָא (yatsa’), translated here “flying,” is modified by two infinitives absolute indicating that the raven went back and forth.

[8:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Noah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:8]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew text adds “from him.” This has not been translated for stylistic reasons, because it is redundant in English.

[8:8]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew verb קָלָל (qalal) normally means “to be light, to be slight”; it refers here to the waters receding.

[8:9]  ¹⁶ tn The words “still covered” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[8:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Noah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:9]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the dove) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and he brought it to himself to the ark.”

[8:11]  ²⁰ tn The clause introduced by vav (ו) consecutive is translated as a temporal clause subordinated to the following clause.

[8:11]  ²¹ tn The deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) draws attention to the olive leaf. It invites readers to enter into the story, as it were, and look at the olive leaf with their own eyes.

[8:12]  ²² tn The word “again” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[8:12]  ²³ tn Heb “it did not again return to him still.” For a study of this section of the flood narrative, see W. O. E. Oesterley, “The Dove with the Olive Leaf (Gen VIII 8–11),” ExpTim 18 (1906/07): 377-78.

[8:13]  ²⁴ tn Heb In the six hundred and first year.” Since this refers to the six hundred and first year of Noah’s life, the word “Noah’s” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[8:13]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and saw and look.” As in v. 11, the deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) invites readers to enter into the story, as it were, and look at the dry ground with their own eyes.

[8:14]  ²⁶ tn In v. 13 the ground (הָאֲדָמָה, ha’adamah) is dry; now the earth (הָאָרֶץ, ha’arets) is dry.

[8:17]  ²⁷ tn The words “bring out” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[8:17]  ²⁸ tn Following the Hiphil imperative, “bring out,” the three perfect verb forms with vav (ו) consecutive carry an imperatival nuance. For a discussion of the Hebrew construction here and the difficulty of translating it into English, see S. R. Driver, A Treatise on the Use of the Tenses in Hebrew, 124-25.

[8:17]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and let them swarm in the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”

[8:20]  ³⁰ sn Offered burnt offerings on the altar. F. D. Maurice includes a chapter on the sacrifice of Noah in The Doctrine of Sacrifice. The whole burnt offering, according to Leviticus 1, represented the worshiper’s complete surrender and dedication to the Lord. After the flood Noah could see that God was not only a God of wrath, but a God of redemption and restoration. The one who escaped the catastrophe could best express his gratitude and submission through sacrificial worship, acknowledging God as the sovereign of the universe.

[8:21]  ³¹ tn The Lord “smelled” (וַיָּרַח, vayyarakh) a “soothing smell” (רֵיחַ הַנִּיהֹחַ, reakh hannihoakh). The object forms a cognate accusative with the verb. The language is anthropomorphic. The offering had a sweet aroma that pleased or soothed. The expression in Lev 1 signifies that God accepts the offering with pleasure, and in accepting the offering he accepts the worshiper.

[8:21]  ³² tn Heb “and the Lord said.”

[8:21]  ³³ tn Heb “in his heart.”

[8:21]  ³⁴ tn Here the Hebrew word translated “curse” is קָלָל (qalal), used in the Piel verbal stem.

[8:21]  ³⁵ tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) can be used in a concessive sense (see BDB 473 s.v. כִּי), which makes good sense in this context. Its normal causal sense (“for”) does not fit the context here very well.

[8:21]  ³⁶ tn Heb “the inclination of the heart of humankind.”

[8:21]  ³⁷ tn Heb “from his youth.”

[8:22]  ³⁸ tn Heb “yet all the days of the earth.” The idea is “[while there are] yet all the days of the earth,” meaning, “as long as the earth exists.”

[8:22]  ³⁹ tn Heb “seed,” which stands here by metonymy for the time when seed is planted.

[14:1]  ⁴⁰ tn The sentence begins with the temporal indicator וַיְהִי (vayÿhi) followed by “in the days of.”

[14:1]  ⁴¹ sn Shinar (also in v. 9) is the region of Babylonia.

[14:1]  ⁴² tn Or “king of Goyim.” The Hebrew term גּוֹיִם (goyim) means “nations,” but a number of modern translations merely transliterate the Hebrew (cf. NEB “Goyim”; NIV, NRSV “Goiim”).

[16:14]  ⁴³ tn The verb does not have an expressed subject and so is rendered as passive in the translation.

[16:14]  ⁴⁴ sn The Hebrew name Beer Lahai Roi (בְּאֵר לַחַי רֹאִי, bÿ’er lakhay ro’i) means “The well of the Living One who sees me.” The text suggests that God takes up the cause of those who are oppressed.

[16:14]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “look.” The words “it is located” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[12:30]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “You will love.” The future indicative is used here with imperatival force (see ExSyn 452 and 569).

[12:30]  ⁴⁷ sn A quotation from Deut 6:4-5 and Josh 22:5 (LXX). The fourfold reference to different parts of the person says, in effect, that one should love God with all one’s being.

[12:31]  ⁴⁸ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.

[10:27]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “And he”; the referent (the expert in religious law, shortened here to “the expert”) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[10:27]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “You will love.” The future indicative is used here with imperatival force (see ExSyn 452 and 569).

[10:27]  ⁵¹ sn A quotation from Deut 6:5. The fourfold reference to different parts of the person says, in effect, that one should love God with all one’s being.

[10:27]  ⁵² tn This portion of the reply is a quotation from Lev 19:18. The verb is repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[5:13]  ⁵³ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.

[5:13]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “as an opportunity for the flesh”; BDAG 915 s.v. σάρξ 2.c.α states: “In Paul’s thought esp., all parts of the body constitute a totality known as σ. or flesh, which is dominated by sin to such a degree that wherever flesh is, all forms of sin are likew. present, and no good thing can live in the σάρξ…Gal 5:13, 24;…Opp. τὸ πνεῦμα…Gal 3:3; 5:16, 17ab; 6:8ab.”

[5:13]  ⁵⁵ tn It is possible that the verb δουλεύετε (douleuete) should be translated “serve one another in a humble manner” here, referring to the way in which slaves serve their masters (see L&N 35.27).

[5:14]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “can be fulfilled in one commandment.”

[5:14]  ⁵⁷ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.

[5:15]  ⁵⁸ tn That is, “if you are harming and exploiting one another.” Paul’s metaphors are retained in most modern translations, but it is possible to see the meanings of δάκνω and κατεσθίω (daknw and katesqiw, L&N 20.26 and 88.145) as figurative extensions of the literal meanings of these terms and to translate them accordingly. The present tenses here are translated as customary presents (“continually…”).

[5:15]  ⁵⁹ tn Or “destroyed.”

[5:16]  ⁶⁰ tn Grk “walk” (a common NT idiom for how one conducts one’s life or how one behaves).

[5:16]  ⁶¹ tn On the term “flesh” (once in this verse and twice in v. 17) see the note on the same word in Gal 5:13.

[5:17]  ⁶² tn The words “has desires” do not occur in the Greek text a second time, but are repeated in the translation for clarity.

[5:17]  ⁶³ tn Or “are hostile toward” (L&N 39.1).

[5:19]  ⁶⁴ tn See the note on the word “flesh” in Gal 5:13.

[5:19]  ⁶⁵ tn Or “clear,” “evident.”

[5:20]  ⁶⁶ tn Or “witchcraft.”

[5:20]  ⁶⁷ tn Or “enmities,” “[acts of] hatred.”

[5:20]  ⁶⁸ tn Or “discord” (L&N 39.22).

[5:20]  ⁶⁹ tn Or “discord(s)” (L&N 39.13).

[5:21]  ⁷⁰ tn This term is plural in Greek (as is “murder” and “carousing”), but for clarity these abstract nouns have been translated as singular.

[5:21]  ⁷¹ tc ‡ φόνοι (fonoi, “murders”) is absent in such important mss as Ì⁴⁶ א B 33 81 323 945 pc sa, while the majority of mss (A C D F G Ψ 0122 0278 1739 1881 Ï lat) have the word. Although the pedigree of the mss which lack the term is of the highest degree, homoioteleuton may well explain the shorter reading. The preceding word has merely one letter difference, making it quite possible to overlook this term (φθόνοι φόνοι, fqonoi fonoi).

[5:21]  ⁷² tn Or “revelings,” “orgies” (L&N 88.287).

[5:22]  ⁷³ tn That is, the fruit the Spirit produces.

[5:22]  ⁷⁴ sn Another way to punctuate this is “love” followed by a colon (love: joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control). It is thus possible to read the eight characteristics following “love” as defining love.

[5:22]  ⁷⁵ tn Or “reliability”; see BDAG 818 s.v. πίστις 1.a.

[3:14]  ⁷⁶ tn BDAG 365 s.v. ἐπί 7 suggests “to all these” as a translation for ἐπὶ πᾶσιν δὲ τούτοις (epi pasin de toutoi").

[3:14]  ⁷⁷ tn The term “virtues” is not in the Greek text, but is included in the translation to specify the antecedent and to make clear the sense of the pronoun “these.”

[3:14]  ⁷⁸ tn The verb “add,” though not in the Greek text, is implied, picking up the initial imperative “clothe yourselves.”

[3:14]  ⁷⁹ tn The genitive τῆς τελειότητος (th" teleiothto") has been translated as an attributive genitive, “the perfect bond.”

[1:2]  ⁸⁰ tn Grk “before eternal ages.”

[1:7]  ⁸¹ sn The overseer is another term for the same official position of leadership as the “elder.” This is seen in the interchange of the two terms in this passage and in Acts 20:17, 28, as well as in the parallels between these verses and 1 Tim 3:1-7.

[1:7]  ⁸² tn Grk “as God’s steward.”

[1:1]  ⁸³ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ⁸⁴ tn Traditionally, “servant” or “bondservant.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:1]  sn Undoubtedly the background for the concept of being the Lord’s slave or servant is to be found in the Old Testament scriptures. For a Jew this concept did not connote drudgery, but honor and privilege. It was used of national Israel at times (Isa 43:10), but was especially associated with famous OT personalities, including such great men as Moses (Josh 14:7), David (Ps 89:3; cf. 2 Sam 7:5, 8) and Elijah (2 Kgs 10:10); all these men were “servants (or slaves) of the Lord.”

[1:1]  ⁸⁵ tn Grk “for the faith,” possibly, “in accordance with the faith.”

[4:7]  ⁸⁶ tn Grk “a woman from Samaria.” According to BDAG 912 s.v. Σαμάρεια, the prepositional phrase is to be translated as a simple attributive: “γυνὴ ἐκ τῆς Σαμαρείας a Samaritan woman J 4:7.”

[4:7]  ⁸⁷ tn The phrase “some water” is supplied as the understood direct object of the infinitive πεῖν (pein).

[4:8]  ⁸⁸ tn Grk “buy food.”

[4:8]  ⁸⁹ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author, indicating why Jesus asked the woman for a drink (for presumably his disciples also took the water bucket with them).

[4:9]  ⁹⁰ tn Or “a Judean.” Here BDAG 478 s.v. ᾿Ιουδαίος 2.a states, “Judean (with respect to birth, nationality, or cult).” The same term occurs in the plural later in this verse. In one sense “Judean” would work very well in the translation here, since the contrast is between residents of the two geographical regions. However, since in the context of this chapter the discussion soon becomes a religious rather than a territorial one (cf. vv. 19-26), the translation “Jew” has been retained here and in v. 22.

[4:9]  ⁹¹ tn “Water” is supplied as the understood direct object of the infinitive πεῖν (pein).

[4:9]  ⁹² tn D. Daube (“Jesus and the Samaritan Woman: the Meaning of συγχράομαι [Jn 4:7ff],” JBL 69 [1950]: 137-47) suggests this meaning.

[4:9]  sn The background to the statement use nothing in common is the general assumption among Jews that the Samaritans were ritually impure or unclean. Thus a Jew who used a drinking vessel after a Samaritan had touched it would become ceremonially unclean.

[4:9]  ⁹³ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[4:2]  ⁹⁴ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[1:4]  ⁹⁵ tn John uses ζωή (zwh) 37 times: 17 times it occurs with αἰώνιος (aiwnios), and in the remaining occurrences outside the prologue it is clear from context that “eternal” life is meant. The two uses in 1:4, if they do not refer to “eternal” life, would be the only exceptions. (Also 1 John uses ζωή 13 times, always of “eternal” life.)

[1:4]  sn An allusion to Ps 36:9, which gives significant OT background: “For with you is the fountain of life; In your light we see light.” In later Judaism, Bar 4:2 expresses a similar idea. Life, especially eternal life, will become one of the major themes of John’s Gospel.

[1:4]  ⁹⁶ tn Or “humanity”; Grk “of men” (but ἄνθρωπος [anqrwpo"] is used in a generic sense here, not restricted to males only, thus “mankind,” “humanity”).

[1:5]  ⁹⁷ tn To this point the author has used past tenses (imperfects, aorists); now he switches to a present. The light continually shines (thus the translation, “shines on”). Even as the author writes, it is shining. The present here most likely has gnomic force (though it is possible to take it as a historical present); it expresses the timeless truth that the light of the world (cf. 8:12, 9:5, 12:46) never ceases to shine.

[1:5]  sn The light shines on. The question of whether John has in mind here the preincarnate Christ or the incarnate Christ is probably too specific. The incarnation is not really introduced until v. 9, but here the point is more general: It is of the very nature of light, that it shines.

[1:5]  ⁹⁸ sn The author now introduces what will become a major theme of John’s Gospel: the opposition of light and darkness. The antithesis is a natural one, widespread in antiquity. Gen 1 gives considerable emphasis to it in the account of the creation, and so do the writings of Qumran. It is the major theme of one of the most important extra-biblical documents found at Qumran, the so-called War Scroll, properly titled The War of the Sons of Light with the Sons of Darkness. Connections between John and Qumran are still an area of scholarly debate and a consensus has not yet emerged. See T. A. Hoffman, “1 John and the Qumran Scrolls,” BTB 8 (1978): 117-25.

[1:5]  ⁹⁹ tn Grk “and,” but the context clearly indicates a contrast, so this has been translated as an adversative use of καί (kai).

[1:5]  ¹⁰⁰ tn Or “comprehended it,” or “overcome it.” The verb κατέλαβεν (katelaben) is not easy to translate. “To seize” or “to grasp” is possible, but this also permits “to grasp with the mind” in the sense of “to comprehend” (esp. in the middle voice). This is probably another Johannine double meaning – one does not usually think of darkness as trying to “understand” light. For it to mean this, “darkness” must be understood as meaning “certain people,” or perhaps “humanity” at large, darkened in understanding. But in John’s usage, darkness is not normally used of people or a group of people. Rather it usually signifies the evil environment or ‘sphere’ in which people find themselves: “They loved darkness rather than light” (John 3:19). Those who follow Jesus do not walk in darkness (8:12). They are to walk while they have light, lest the darkness “overtake/overcome” them (12:35, same verb as here). For John, with his set of symbols and imagery, darkness is not something which seeks to “understand (comprehend)” the light, but represents the forces of evil which seek to “overcome (conquer)” it. The English verb “to master” may be used in both sorts of contexts, as “he mastered his lesson” and “he mastered his opponent.”

[1:6]  ¹⁰¹ sn John refers to John the Baptist.