the author’s envoy from receiving hospitality,” seeking to “secure hospitality for the author’s missionaries.”
23. Chapter and verse divisions are credited to Stephen Langton of the thirteenth century and Robert Estienne of the sixteenth century, respectively (Finegan 1974: 34).
24. Kummel 1975: 437.
25. Smalley 1984: xxxiii.
26. Culy 2004: xiii.
1 John
Unlike most Pauline epistles where we have a clear separation of doctrine (the indicative) from the practice (the imperative), with the latter based on the former, John’s structure does not separate the two so neatly. In any case, his exhortation on practical matters does not lack theological foundation. This will become clear as we note how John lays before his readers as bases for their action the nature of God as light and love, with Christ exercising love at the highest level possible. The outline, therefore (see above), is governed more by the content of the different passages of the epistles than some artificial reorganization of the material to come up with an outline that separates doctrine from practice.
Reliable Testimony and Its Goal (1:1–4)
(1:1) What was in existence from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands touched, concerning the word of life (2) and the life was revealed, and we have seen and bear witness and announce to you the life which is eternal, which was with the Father and was revealed to us (3) what we have seen and we have heard, we announce to you also, in order that you (yourselves) also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is also with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ (4) And these (things) we (ourselves27) write in order that our28 joy may have been made complete.
This passage revolves around the two verbs, “we bear witness” (martyroumen) in 1:2 and “we announce” (apangellomen), the latter occurring twice in the passage (1:2, 3).
The act of “bearing witness” or “testifying” (martyrein) is an important one for John. He uses it thirty-three times in the Gospel,29 ten times in his epistles,30 and four times in Revelation.31 The use of the nouns “witness” or “testimony” (martyria) also show the same interest.32 The idea behind the word, whether in form of a verb or noun, is that of passing on one’s experience to others for the purpose of having the readers or hearers stand with the testimony bearer on something that matters. In law courts for example, one who bears witness seeks to convince the judge and others who may be listening that the position the witness bearer takes on the matter is true. The fact that the English word “martyr” comes from it means that what one testifies to be true can also be costly. Within such a context, deep conviction precedes the testifying. This is not to say that there are no false witnesses. Most of those, however, do not bear witness on basis of deep conviction but as an act of pretense. John belabors the point to assert that the witness borne here is true. As Lieu observes, the experience of the “we” gives them the authority to proclaim to the “you” in this epistle.33
The act of announcing (apangellein) moves that personal experience to the public arena. Stott puts it well when he says that “to bear witness” carries with it “authority of experience” and “to announce” the “authority of commission.”34 As will be pointed out below, John’s personal experience (and that of other apostles) is not for private custody but for public utilization. It is for all to read and enjoy its blessings. In the present context, it bears full authority for public consumption in that it is not only true (shown by his use of different senses in establishing the matter, as will be shown below) but also its bearer has been commissioned.35 John sees it as the will of God that his readers will know the truth of his message and join the fellowship in which God the Father and the Son are a part of (1:3). John endeavors to accomplish this act of bearing witness and announcing by way of putting into writing what we have in this epistle (1:4). The acts of “bearing witness,” “announcing,” and “writing” are all expressed using the present tense.36
The acts of bearing witness and announcing are expressed using the first person plural “we” also.37 This could mean that John is including other apostles in the team. If this is so, we need to remember that John is doing so in their absence, as all of the apostles except John had died by this time.38 John could also be using the editorial “we” so as to avoid a display of “self” more than necessary.39 However, given that one of his chief concerns is to show that what he writes is reliable,40 the plural to convey plurality of witnesses is more likely. The principle of two or three witnesses in matters of importance (Deut 17:6; 19:15) was something he was aware of.41 His point is that what is borne witness of and announced, as he writes this epistle, is something beyond doubt. The guide provided on such matters has been followed and so the matter established. It is left to the hearers themselves to accept or not accept the well-established fact.
John uses four sensory verbs, covering three senses (seeing, hearing, and touching) to assure the readers that the witness comes from deep personal experience. Three times (1:1, 2, 3) he uses heōrakamen (a perfect tense, “we have seen”) and in one of them (1:1) adds tois ophthalmois hēmōn (“with our eyes”); the dative tois ophthalmois serving as dative of means and emphasizing that the witness is beyond doubt.42 The other three sensory verbs are akēkoamen (also a perfect, “we have heard”) which he uses twice (1:1, 3), etheasametha (an aorist, “we beheld”) found in 1:1, and epsēlaphēsan (an aorist, “they touched”) in 1:1. The subject of the act of touching is hai cheires hēmōn (“our hands”), again added for emphasis. The witness is firsthand. It is “our eyes” that saw and it was “our hands” that touched.
A question that arises naturally is why John uses two different tenses: perfect tense for hearing (akēkoamen) and seeing (heōrakamen43) but aorist tense for beholding (etheasametha) and touching (epsēlaphēsan). Some have seen some significance in this change. Stott, for example, views the perfect verbs as “suggesting the abiding possession which results from the hearing and seeing” while the aorist verbs “seem to refer to a particular time” specifically after the resurrection.44 It is doubtful, however, that apostle John lays different weight to the two pairs of verb tenses. They may be understood the same way (as perfects) if the two aorist forms are viewed as resultative aorist.45 This is why the NIV, for example, renders the four verbs as “have heard,” “have seen,” “have looked at,” and “have touched.”46 The four actions have abiding result in the production of witnesses who not only saw but also heard and who not only beheld but also touched. All that is needed for a reliable witness is there. In addition, the witness is not by one person but by many as the use of the “we” and “our” communicate.
John uses two different verbs here to present the sense of sight. He uses horan three times (1:1, 2, 3) and theasthai once (1:1). It is possible that theasthai has some nuances that horan does not have. Burdick, for example, says that theasthai was brought into the picture here so as “to emphasize the careful, inspective kind of seeing with which the disciples examined the revelation of God in Jesus Christ.”47 The difference, however, is not to be stressed to the degree that the act of seeing (horan) becomes of less significance in contributing to the witness here.48 The act of seeing (horan) cannot be devoid of careful examination in this context. It is who/what they saw (heōrakamen) that they proclaim (1:3). It cannot be less than accurately determined person and message.
The person and message they bear witness concerning, and announce, is presented as having been “from the beginning” (ēn ap’ archēs) in 1:1, “with the Father” (ēn pros ton patera) in 1:2, and “revealed” (ephanerōthē—stated twice in 1:2). This kind of description
