Darby Bible
John 1:4
4In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
John 1:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
- New International Version (NIV)In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.
- English Standard Version (ESV)In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
- New King James Version (NKJV)In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
Context of John 1:4
2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things received being through him, and without him not one [thing] received being which has received being. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5And the light appears in darkness, and the darkness apprehended it not. 6There was a man sent from God, his name John.
Read all of John 1John 1:4 word by word
ἐν αὐτῷ ζωὴ ἦν, καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ἦν τὸ φῶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων,Read the interlinear
Cross-references for John 1:4
- John 5:21For even as the Father raises the dead and quickens [them], thus the Son also quickens whom he will:
- John 11:25Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life: he that believes on me, though he have died, shall live;
- John 14:6Jesus says to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father unless by me.
- 1 Corinthians 15:45Thus also it is written, The first man Adam became a living soul; the last Adam a quickening spirit.
- Colossians 3:4When the Christ is manifested who [is] our life, then shall ye also be manifested with him in glory.
- 1 John 1:2(and the life has been manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and report to you the eternal life, which was with the Father, and has been manifested to us:)
- 1 John 5:11And this is the witness, that God has given to us eternal life; and this life is in his Son.
- Revelation 22:1And he shewed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, going out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
- John 1:8He was not the light, but that he might witness concerning the light.
- John 8:12Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world; he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
- John 9:5As long as I am in the world, I am [the] light of the world.
- John 12:35Jesus therefore said to them, Yet a little while is the light amongst you. Walk while ye have the light, that darkness may not overtake you. And he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes.
- Psalms 84:11For Jehovah Elohim is a sun and shield: Jehovah will give grace and glory; no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
- Isaiah 35:4Say to them that are of a timid heart, Be strong, fear not; behold your God: vengeance cometh, the recompense of God! He will come himself, and save you.
- Isaiah 42:6I, Jehovah, have called thee in righteousness, and will take hold of thy hand; and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the nations,
- Psalms 49:6They depend upon their wealth, and boast themselves in the abundance of their riches. ...
Commentaries on John 1:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4In him was life - Many MSS., versions, and fathers, connect this with the preceding verse, thus: All things were made by him, and without him was nothing made. What was made had life in it; but This Life was the light of men. That is, though every thing he made had a principle of life in it, whether vegetable, animal, or intellectual, yet this, that life or animal principle in the human being, was not the light of men; not that light which could guide…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4In him was life - The evangelist had just affirmed John 5:3 that by the ́ Logosor “Word” the world was originally created. One part of that creation consisted “in breathing into man the breath of life,” Genesis 2:7. God is declared to be “life,” or the “living” God, because he is the source or fountain of life. This attribute is here ascribed to Jesus Christ. He not merely made the material worlds, but he also gave “life.” He was the agent by which the…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4In Him was life: Life was God’s original gift to his creatures at creation (Genesis 1:20–28; 2:7). Now the logos gives people the possibility of new life, which comes through rebirth from God (John 1:13). This means receiving new life from God, not a second physical birth. It describes a spiritual beginning in which God gives people new life through faith, making them his children As one of his first creative acts, God brought light into the world…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. In Him was life--essentially and originally, as the previous verses show to be the meaning. Thus He is the Living Word, or, as He is called in 1Jo 1:1, 2, "the Word of Life." the life ... the light of men--All that in men which is true light--knowledge, integrity, intelligent, willing subjection to God, love to Him and to their fellow creatures, wisdom, purity, holy joy, rational happiness--all this "light of men" has its fountain in the essential…Read the comment
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In the dictionaries
Commentaries on John 1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Catena Aurea
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- John Lightfoot Commentary
- Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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