EXEGESIS of 1 JOHN 1:5

1 John 1:5

And this keeps on being the message which we [apostles] have heard and it is still ringing in our ears from Him [Christ] and we are announcing [it] again to you [to your advantage], that God [as to His nature] is light and darkness in Him does not exist, not one bit.

THE BASIS FOR FELLOWSHIPING WITH GOD

5a] Καὶ ἔστιν αὕτη ἡ ἀγγελία ἣν ἀκηκόαμεν ἀπ̓ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀναγγέλλομεν ὑμῖν "And this keeps on being the message, which we [apostles] have heard and it is still ringing in our ears from Him [Christ] and we are announcing [it] again to you [to your advantage],...".

We start this segment with the continuative use of the conjunction KAI [2532] meaning AND. Next is the verb which according to English grammar is out of place. It should follow the subject. The action flows from the subject through the verb to the object. But this is Koine Greek, and when words are out of order, it usually means something significant. So let's delve into this interesting feature of the Greek language.

Grammar: When The Verb Is Out Of Proper Order

It is important to remember that in Koine Greek there is no punctuation, and for this reason, when a word is in an unusual place, it throws greater emphasis upon the statement being made. So John is highlighting a doctrinal principle he is about to make by placing the verb before the subject and the predicate. However, this creates the need to determine which noun following the verb is the subject since both are in the case of the subject, the nominative case. Is this to be translated " THIS is the message" or "The MESSAGE is this"?

If you said "what is the difference?" you would be correct. They seem to be equally valid or interchangeable. However, we should not conclude that it does not matter for in the next sentence the verb is again out of order, being last, and we still need to determine which noun is the subject, "God is light" or "Light is God." The reason is now apparent, for if John said, "Light is God," then he would be espousing pantheism.

The Greek grammarians help us out by identifying the grammatical clues in Koine Greek which aids us in determining the subject. ¹ The correct translation of the first sentence is "and this [pronoun] is [linking verb] the message [predicate nominative]." This corresponds to Rule number 4:

"When BOTH [substantives in nominative case] have the grammatical tags [they will be interchangeable - a controvertible proposition]. In this case: #4 The pronoun has the greatest priority: It will be the subject regardless of what grammatical tag the other substantive has."

So the subject is the demonstrative pronoun HOUTOS [3739] meaning THIS and pointing in a very specific way to "the message." The verb follows in translation which is the present active indicative 3rd person singular of the status quo verb EIMI "to be" [2076], which means KEEPS ON BEING. Present tense is the stative present which indicates a condition that always exists; that is, it is identical with the one that Jesus taught, "which the disciples heard from Him and are announcing again to you...". The message continues unchanged and uncorrupted. The active voice in the stative present means that the subject exists in the state of the verb. The indicative mood is declarative indicating a dogmatic statement of doctrine. The message is so alive and so powerful and so welcomed that it stands the test of time. The message has not changed, has not been altered, has not been embellished, has not been added to or diminished in any way. It had remained the same as when it was given by our Lord Jesus Christ to the Apostles.

This is followed by the predicate nominative, the articular nominative feminine singular of the noun ANGELIA [31] meaning THE MESSAGE. The expanded translation is "AND THIS KEEPS ON BEING THE MESSAGE."

Next is a relative clause repeating the previous testimony given in the Prologue. The antecedent is the message. We start with the accusative singular relative pronoun HOS [3739] meaning WHICH. Then the perfect active indicative 1st person plural of the verb AKOUO [191] meaning WE HAVE HEARD. This is the third time John uses this verb [verses 1 and 3] following the same verbal pattern. This is a dramatic perfect. The message was from Christ about the nature of God, and you can't find a message more extraordinary than that," we have heard and it is still ringing in our ears." The teaching of Christ was personal and real to them. John could close his eyes and still hear Jesus teaching these things. The subject produces the action of the verb so John must listen and therefore the active voice indicates his positive volition and desire to learn the Word of God. He hung upon His every Word. AKOUO means more than sounds passing through your ears. It was not the quality of His voice that was still so real to John, but the content of His teaching. He didn't say, "what we heard made me feel so good." It wasn't about how Jesus said it, but what Jesus said.

Now we get the authoritative source of this message "from Him." This is a prepositional phrase, and it contains the preposition of ultimate source APO [575] plus the genitive singular 3rd person personal pronoun AUTOS [846] referring to the Lord Jesus Christ. John once again is flexing his apostolic muscles. The message came from the ultimate source, directly, "from Him [Christ]." Very few could make such a claim.

John did not hoard the truth for himself but passed it on. We start with the simple connecting KAI and then the present active indicative of the verb ANANGELLO [312] WE ARE ANNOUNCING AGAIN. The preposition ANA is prefixed to the verb reminding the believers he has taught them these things before. Repetition is necessary if you want to teach Biblical truth. The present tense is the customary present for an action that regularly occurs. John has been teaching for over sixty years at this point. The active voice indicates John is producing the report. With this is the dative plural indirect object of the 2nd person plural pronoun SU [5213] meaning TO YOU. This is a dative of advantage. It indicates the ones who are being blessed by the action of the verb. Doctrine is a great blessing to those who are positive, the ones who will listen and learn.

Summary

John wanted to help them know how to have fellowship with God, so He assures them that he has first-hand knowledge of how to fellowship with Christ. This is not conjecture. This is not hearsay, "It was told me by so and so." I was there. I was there when he began his ministry. I was there at the cross when he said, "Mother behold thy son, son behold thy mother." He put his mother's care into my hands. John was a faithful student as well as one of the Lord's longest and closes friends.

Now after John established his authority, He states the principle of doctrine that is important to know if we are to fellowship with God, "that God is light and in Him, there is no darkness at all."

THE BASIS FOR FELLOWSHIPING WITH GOD

5b] ὅτι ὁ θεὸς φῶς ἐστιν - "...that God is light...".

We begin with the conjunction HOTI [3754] meaning THAT. HOTI is used here to introduce an appositional clause that describes the content of the "message." Next is the articular nominative singular of the noun THEOS [2316] meaning GOD. The article is not translated for it acts as a function marker to point out the subject of the sentence. This is an important principle in Greek grammar for the nouns, "God" and "Light" are not interchangeable. Whenever you have a linking verb such as EIMI, you are faced with the problem of choosing which one is the subject. Referencing to our guide in footnote one the grammatical clue is in statement #2:

If there an articular noun in the nominative clause, then #2, the subject will be the articular word. THEOS has the article, so it is the subject.

Following the English order in sentence structure, we have the present active indicative 3rd person singular of the status quo verb EIMI [2076] KEEPS ON BEING. The stative present expresses the action as constantly existing. It is durative action meaning that it does not emphasize the beginning or the end, but a continuing state. Next is the qualitative predicate nominative of the noun PHOS [5457] which means LIGHT. ³ There is no article for the stress is not on identity but quality, and so we translate this sentence in this manner "THAT GOD AS TO HIS NATURE IS LIGHT."

5c] καὶ σκοτία ἐν αὐτῷ οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδεμία "...and darkness in Him does not exist not one bit.

This sentence begins with the continuative use of KAI [2532]. It connects the positive statement on the nature of God with a negative statement, what God as to His nature is not like. The subject is the nominative singular noun SKOTIA [4653] meaning DARKNESS. ⁴ This is a technical word frequently used to represent Satan's system.

This is followed by a prepositional phrase EN [1722] plus AUTOS [846] meaning IN HIM, that is IN HIS NATURE. Next is the present active indicative 3rd person singular of the status quo verb EIMI [2076] plus the negative OUK [3756] DOES NOT EXIST. The verb is used the third time in this verse and follows the same verbal pattern. It is durative action meaning that it does not emphasize the beginning or the end, but a continuing state. Our final word is the predicate adjective OUDEMIA [3762] forming a double negative NOT ONE BIT. This word is a combination of "ou," meaning NO and "heis," meaning ONE, and together "NO ONE" or "NO MAN." It is a very strong negative. In 1 John 1:5 the feminine OUDEMIA is used in an absolute sense: There is no darkness in God, not one bit of it. God does not compromise with Satan, no, not ever. It expresses an utterly impossible concept. In our idiom:"not in a million years."

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ENDNOTES

¹ Grammar: Determine the subject of a linking verb using grammatical keys:

1. If there is a pronoun in the nominative clause?

Rule #1 The subject will be the pronoun, whether stated or implied in the verb.

2. If there is an articular noun in the nominative clause?

Rule #2 The subject will be the articular word.

3. If there is a proper name in the nominative clause?

Rule #3 The subject will be a proper name.

When BOTH have the grammatical tags above; they will be interchangeable - a controvertible proposition. In this case:

Rule #4 The pronoun has the greatest priority: It will be the subject regardless of what grammatical tag the other substantive has.

Rule#5 Articular nouns and proper names seem to have equal priority. In instances where one substantive is articular, and the other is a proper name (or where both are articular), word order becomes the determining factor. [See also Wallace, pg 43]

² The New Testament: An Expanded Translation, Kenneth S Wuest.

³ See Lexical Study on LIGHT. [See Reference Section]

⁴ See lexical Study on DARKNESS. [See Reference Section]