John 1
The chapter in full, then the passages inside it that are worth stopping on — what each one claims, what the Greek or Hebrew shows, and how the reading is arrived at.
John 1 WEB
- 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
- 2 The same was in the beginning with God.
- 3 All things were made through him. Without him, nothing was made that has been made.
- 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
- 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn't overcome it.
- 6 There came a man sent from God, whose name was John.
- 7 The same came as a witness, that he might testify about the light, that all might believe through him.
- 8 He was not the light, but was sent that he might testify about the light.
- 9 The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world.
- 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world didn't recognize him.
- 11 He came to his own, and those who were his own didn't receive him.
- 12 But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God's children, to those who believe in his name:
- 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
- 14 The Word became flesh and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the only born Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.
- 15 John testified about him. He cried out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me, for he was before me.'"
- 16 From his fullness we all received grace upon grace.
- 17 For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.
- 18 No one has seen God at any time. The only born Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has declared him.
- 19 This is John's testimony, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"
- 20 He declared, and didn't deny, but he declared, "I am not the Christ."
- 21 They asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the prophet?" He answered, "No."
- 22 They said therefore to him, "Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?"
- 23 He said, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord,' as Isaiah the prophet said."
- 24 The ones who had been sent were from the Pharisees.
- 25 They asked him, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?"
- 26 John answered them, "I baptize in water, but among you stands one whom you don't know.
- 27 He is the one who comes after me, who is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I'm not worthy to loosen."
- 28 These things were done in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
- 29 The next day, he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
- 30 This is he of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who is preferred before me, for he was before me.'
- 31 I didn't know him, but for this reason I came baptizing in water, that he would be revealed to Israel."
- 32 John testified, saying, "I have seen the Spirit descending like a dove out of heaven, and it remained on him.
- 33 I didn't recognize him, but he who sent me to baptize in water said to me, 'On whomever you will see the Spirit descending and remaining on him is he who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.'
- 34 I have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God."
- 35 Again, the next day, John was standing with two of his disciples,
- 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!"
- 37 The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.
- 38 Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them, "What are you looking for?" They said to him, "Rabbi" (which is to say, being interpreted, Teacher), "where are you staying?"
- 39 He said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about the tenth hour.
- 40 One of the two who heard John and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.
- 41 He first found his own brother, Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah!" (which is, being interpreted, Christ).
- 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas" (which is by interpretation, Peter).
- 43 On the next day, he was determined to go out into Galilee, and he found Philip. Jesus said to him, "Follow me."
- 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
- 45 Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets, wrote: Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
- 46 Nathanael said to him, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."
- 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and said about him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!"
- 48 Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you."
- 49 Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are King of Israel!"
- 50 Jesus answered him, "Because I told you, 'I saw you underneath the fig tree,' do you believe? You will see greater things than these!"
- 51 He said to him, "Most certainly, I tell you all, hereafter you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."
John's Gospel opens without a genealogy or a birth narrative — the other three evangelists give Jesus a human beginning; John gives him no beginning at all. The prologue (1:1–18) is a theological overture, likely drawing on hymnic or liturgical material, stating in advance everything the rest of the book will spend twenty chapters demonstrating. What follows is the Baptist's testimony and the first days of the disciples gathering around Jesus — the narrative equivalent of the prologue's claims being cashed out in real encounters.
1:1 In the beginning was the Word
Three clauses, each doing separate work. "In the beginning" (ἐν ἀρχῇ) echoes Genesis 1:1 deliberately — this is not a story that starts with Jesus' conception; it reaches back before creation itself. "The Word was with God" (πρὸς τὸν Θεόν) uses a preposition suggesting face-to-face relation, not mere proximity — a distinct person in communion with God. Then the clause that has generated the most argument: "the Word was God" (Θεὸς ἦν ὁ Λόγος). In Greek word order, Θεὸς stands first for emphasis, without the definite article that appears on the earlier "God" (τὸν Θεόν). Some groups — notably the Jehovah's Witnesses' New World Translation — have rendered this "the Word was a god," treating the missing article as proof of a lesser, created being. Greek grammar does not support this. An anarthrous predicate noun preceding the verb, as here, standardly describes the quality or nature of the subject rather than making it one member of a class; the rule (Colwell's) that governs such constructions was worked out precisely because Greek regularly drops the article on predicate nouns without demoting them. The clause says the Word possesses the nature of God fully, while remaining distinct in person from "the God" (ὁ Θεός) just named — one being, two identifiable in relation. This is the seedbed of Nicene trinitarian language four centuries later: not three gods, not one person wearing masks, but one Θεός known in more than one Πρός.
1:3 All things were made through him
"Without him, nothing was made that has been made" is not decorative repetition; it closes off any reading in which the Word is simply the first and greatest of God's creations. Colossians 1:16 makes the identical claim about Christ — "all things have been created through him" — and Genesis 1:1 stands behind both. The Word is not part of the "all things"; he is the agent through whom the category exists at all. Arius, in the fourth century, argued that "begotten" language implied the Son had a beginning and was therefore a creature, however exalted. The council of Nicaea (325) answered directly from texts like this one: if all things without exception came into being through him, he cannot be counted among them.
1:5 The light shines in the darkness
"Hasn't overcome" translates κατέλαβεν, a verb that carries both "overpower" and "comprehend, grasp" — the darkness neither extinguishes the light nor understands it. Both senses matter for what follows: the world's rejection of Jesus (1:10–11) is presented not as a contest the light might lose but as blindness that cannot process what it sees. John returns to this light/darkness pairing repeatedly (8:12, 12:46, 3:19) — it is a controlling image for the whole Gospel, not a one-off metaphor.
1:11-13 He came to his own, and his own received him not
The rejection is stated plainly and without excuse-making: "those who were his own didn't receive him" (1:11). John does not soften this into a misunderstanding to be forgiven; it is named as failure. But 1:12–13 immediately turns to what happens on the other side of that failure — some did receive him, and to them is given "the right to become God's children," a status explicitly not achieved by pedigree: "not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Jewish identity by birth, family will, or human effort of any kind is ruled out as the basis; the new birth in 1:13 is God's act alone. This verse is the seed of the "born again" language John develops at length in chapter 3, and it forecloses any reading of sonship-to-God as a natural human possession — it is given, not inherited.
1:14 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us
Ἐσκήνωσεν — "tabernacled," the verb built on the noun for the wilderness tent where God's glory dwelt among Israel (Exodus). John is claiming that what the tabernacle and later the temple only anticipated — God's glory pitching a tent in the midst of his people — has now happened in a body. This is the hinge of the whole prologue: the Word who was with God and was God has become σάρξ, flesh, the plainest possible word for the vulnerable, mortal stuff of a human being. The claim is not diminished divinity taking a costume; it is full deity taking on full, unedited humanity. Athanasius later summarized the stakes of this verse for the whole doctrine of salvation: "God became man so that man might become God" (On the Incarnation) — not meaning humans acquire divine essence, but that the Word's assumption of flesh is what makes possible the "children of God" status just described in 1:12.
What the chapter asks
The chapter does not ask whether Jesus was a good teacher or a compelling moral example; it states, in its first eighteen verses, that the man who will shortly turn water to wine and call fishermen from their nets is the eternal Word through whom the universe itself exists, now come in flesh into a world that — on the whole — did not recognize him. Everything from the Baptist's denials ("I am not the Christ," 1:20) to Nathanael's confession ("You are the Son of God! You are King of Israel!" 1:49) is measured against that claim already laid down. The chapter presses a single question forward into the rest of the Gospel: having been told plainly who this is, what will be done with him — received, or not received.
The verses this turns on
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος, καὶ ὁ Λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν Θεόν, καὶ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ Λόγος.
- Ἐν ἐν preposition G1722
- ἀρχῇ ἀρχή noun · dative singular feminine G746
- ἦν εἰμί verb · imperfect active indicative, 3rd person singular G1510
- ὁ ὁ article · nominative singular masculine G3588
- Λόγος, λόγος noun · nominative singular masculine G3056
- καὶ καί conjunction G2532
- ὁ ὁ article · nominative singular masculine G3588
- Λόγος λόγος noun · nominative singular masculine G3056
- ἦν εἰμί verb · imperfect active indicative, 3rd person singular G1510
- πρὸς πρός preposition G4314
- τὸν ὁ article · accusative singular masculine G3588
- Θεόν, θεός noun · accusative singular masculine G2316
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
- John 17:5 Now, Father, glorify me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world existed.
- Revelation 19:13 He is clothed in a garment sprinkled with blood. His name is called "The Word of God."
- Colossians 1:17 He is before all things, and in him all things are held together.
- John 1:14 The Word became flesh and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the only born Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.
All things were made through him. Without him, nothing was made that has been made.discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
πάντα δι’ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν ὃ γέγονεν.
- πάντα πᾶς adjective · nominative plural neuter G3956
- δι’ διά preposition G1223
- αὐτοῦ αὐτός personal pronoun · genitive singular masculine G846
- ἐγένετο, γίνομαι verb · aorist middle deponent indicative, 3rd person singular G1096
- καὶ καί conjunction G2532
- χωρὶς χωρίς adverb G5565
- αὐτοῦ αὐτός personal pronoun · genitive singular masculine G846
- ἐγένετο γίνομαι verb · aorist middle deponent indicative, 3rd person singular G1096
- οὐδὲ οὐδέ conjunction · nominative G3761
- ἕν εἷς adjective · nominative singular neuter G1520
- ὃ ὅς relative pronoun · nominative singular neuter G3739
- γέγονεν. γίνομαι verb · perfect active indicative, 3rd person singular G1096
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- Colossians 1:16 For by him all things were created in the heavens and on the earth, visible things and invisible things, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things have been created through him and for him.
- 1 Corinthians 8:6 yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we live through him.
- Revelation 4:11 "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, the Holy One, to receive the glory, the honor, and the power, for you created all things, and because of your desire they existed and were created!"
- Psalm 33:6 By Yahweh's word, the heavens were made: all their army by the breath of his mouth.
- Genesis 1:26 God said, "Let's make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn't overcome it.discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
καὶ τὸ φῶς ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ φαίνει, καὶ ἡ σκοτία αὐτὸ οὐ κατέλαβεν.
- καὶ καί conjunction G2532
- τὸ ὁ article · nominative singular neuter G3588
- φῶς φῶς noun · nominative singular neuter G5457
- ἐν ἐν preposition G1722
- τῇ ὁ article · dative singular feminine G3588
- σκοτίᾳ σκοτία noun · dative singular feminine G4653
- φαίνει, φαίνω verb · present active indicative, 3rd person singular G5316
- καὶ καί conjunction G2532
- ἡ ὁ article · nominative singular feminine G3588
- σκοτία σκοτία noun · nominative singular feminine G4653
- αὐτὸ αὐτός personal pronoun · accusative singular neuter G846
- οὐ οὐ particle · nominative G3756
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- John 3:19 This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their works were evil.
- John 12:36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become children of light." Jesus said these things, and he departed and hid himself from them.
- 1 Corinthians 2:14 Now the natural man doesn't receive the things of God's Spirit, for they are foolishness to him; and he can't know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
- Job 24:13 "These are of those who rebel against the light. They don't know its ways, nor stay in its paths.
- John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world didn't recognize him.
He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world didn't recognize him.discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ἦν, καὶ ὁ κόσμος δι’ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ ὁ κόσμος αὐτὸν οὐκ ἔγνω.
- ἐν ἐν preposition G1722
- τῷ ὁ article · dative singular masculine G3588
- κόσμῳ κόσμος noun · dative singular masculine G2889
- ἦν, εἰμί verb · imperfect active indicative, 3rd person singular G1510
- καὶ καί conjunction G2532
- ὁ ὁ article · nominative singular masculine G3588
- κόσμος κόσμος noun · nominative singular masculine G2889
- δι’ διά preposition G1223
- αὐτοῦ αὐτός personal pronoun · genitive singular masculine G846
- ἐγένετο, γίνομαι verb · aorist middle deponent indicative, 3rd person singular G1096
- καὶ καί conjunction G2532
- ὁ ὁ article · nominative singular masculine G3588
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- John 17:25 Righteous Father, the world hasn't known you, but I knew you; and these knew that you sent me.
- 1 John 3:1 See how great a love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God! For this cause the world doesn't know us, because it didn't know him.
- 1 Corinthians 2:8 which none of the rulers of this world has known. For had they known it, they wouldn't have crucified the Lord of glory.
- 1 Corinthians 1:21 For seeing that in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom didn't know God, it was God's good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save those who believe.
- Matthew 11:27 All things have been delivered to me by my Father. No one knows the Son, except the Father; neither does anyone know the Father, except the Son and he to whom the Son desires to reveal him.
He came to his own, and those who were his own didn't receive him.discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
εἰς τὰ ἴδια ἦλθεν, καὶ οἱ ἴδιοι αὐτὸν οὐ παρέλαβον.
- εἰς εἰς preposition G1519
- τὰ ὁ article · accusative plural neuter G3588
- ἴδια ἴδιος adjective · accusative plural neuter G2398
- ἦλθεν, ἔρχομαι verb · aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular G2064
- καὶ καί conjunction G2532
- οἱ ὁ article · nominative plural masculine G3588
- ἴδιοι ἴδιος adjective · nominative plural masculine G2398
- αὐτὸν αὐτός personal pronoun · accusative singular masculine G846
- οὐ οὐ particle · nominative G3756
- παρέλαβον. παραλαμβάνω verb · aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural G3880
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- Luke 19:14 But his citizens hated him, and sent an envoy after him, saying, 'We don't want this man to reign over us.'
- Isaiah 53:2 For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no good looks or majesty. When we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
- John 3:32 What he has seen and heard, of that he testifies; and no one receives his witness.
- Acts 7:51 "You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so you do.
- Luke 20:13 The lord of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. It may be that seeing him, they will respect him.'
But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God's children, to those who believe in his name:discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
ὅσοι δὲ ἔλαβον αὐτόν, ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς ἐξουσίαν τέκνα Θεοῦ γενέσθαι, τοῖς πιστεύουσιν εἰς τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ,
- ὅσοι ὅσος correlative pronoun · nominative plural masculine G3745
- δὲ δέ conjunction G1161
- ἔλαβον λαμβάνω verb · aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural G2983
- αὐτόν, αὐτός personal pronoun · accusative singular masculine G846
- ἔδωκεν δίδωμι verb · aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular G1325
- αὐτοῖς αὐτός personal pronoun · dative plural masculine G846
- ἐξουσίαν ἐξουσία noun · accusative singular feminine G1849
- τέκνα τέκνον noun · nominative plural neuter G5043
- Θεοῦ θεός noun · genitive singular masculine G2316
- γενέσθαι, γίνομαι verb · aorist middle deponent infinitive G1096
- τοῖς ὁ article · dative plural masculine G3588
- πιστεύουσιν πιστεύω verb · present active participle, dative plural masculine G4100
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- Galatians 3:26 For you are all children of God, through faith in Christ Jesus.
- Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God.
- 1 John 3:1 See how great a love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God! For this cause the world doesn't know us, because it didn't know him.
- 2 Corinthians 6:17 Therefore "'Come out from among them, and be separate,' says the Lord. 'Touch no unclean thing. I will receive you.
- Galatians 4:6 And because you are children, God sent out the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, "Abba, Father!"
who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
οἳ οὐκ ἐξ αἱμάτων οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος σαρκὸς οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος ἀνδρὸς ἀλλ’ ἐκ Θεοῦ ἐγεννήθησαν.
- οἳ ὅς relative pronoun · nominative plural masculine G3739
- οὐκ οὐ particle · nominative G3756
- ἐξ ἐκ preposition G1537
- αἱμάτων αἷμα noun · genitive plural neuter G129
- οὐδὲ οὐδέ conjunction · nominative G3761
- ἐκ ἐκ preposition G1537
- θελήματος θέλημα noun · genitive singular neuter G2307
- σαρκὸς σάρξ noun · genitive singular feminine G4561
- οὐδὲ οὐδέ conjunction · nominative G3761
- ἐκ ἐκ preposition G1537
- θελήματος θέλημα noun · genitive singular neuter G2307
- ἀνδρὸς ἀνήρ noun · genitive singular masculine G435
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- James 1:18 Of his own will he gave birth to us by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
- 1 John 3:9 Whoever is born of God doesn't commit sin, because his seed remains in him, and he can't sin, because he is born of God.
- 1 Peter 1:23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which lives and remains forever.
- 1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
- John 3:5 Jesus answered, "Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and Spirit, he can't enter into God's Kingdom.
The Word became flesh and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the only born Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
Καὶ ὁ Λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν, καὶ ἐθεασάμεθα τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, δόξαν ὡς μονογενοῦς παρὰ Πατρός, πλήρης χάριτος καὶ ἀληθείας.
- Καὶ καί conjunction G2532
- ὁ ὁ article · nominative singular masculine G3588
- Λόγος λόγος noun · nominative singular masculine G3056
- σὰρξ σάρξ noun · nominative singular feminine G4561
- ἐγένετο γίνομαι verb · aorist middle deponent indicative, 3rd person singular G1096
- καὶ καί conjunction G2532
- ἐσκήνωσεν σκηνόω verb · aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular G4637
- ἐν ἐν preposition G1722
- ἡμῖν, ἐγώ personal pronoun G1473
- καὶ καί conjunction G2532
- ἐθεασάμεθα θεάομαι verb · aorist middle deponent indicative, 1st person plural G2300
- τὴν ὁ article · accusative singular feminine G3588
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- 1 John 4:9 By this God's love was revealed in us, that God has sent his only born Son into the world that we might live through him.
- 1 Timothy 3:16 Without controversy, the mystery of godliness is great: God was revealed in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, and received up in glory.
- Galatians 4:4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent out his Son, born to a woman, born under the law,
- John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
- Isaiah 40:5 Yahweh's glory shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it."
From the interpretive tradition
God became man so that man might become God.
The Scriptures are the product of the Spirit of God, and are therefore in the highest and truest sense the Word of God, though given through the instrumentality of men.