God’s Word Translation
John 1:5
5The light shines in the dark, and the dark has never extinguished it.
John 1:5 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
- New International Version (NIV)The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
- English Standard Version (ESV)The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
- New King James Version (NKJV)And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
Context of John 1:5
3Everything came into existence through him. Not one thing that exists was made without him. 4He was the source of life, and that life was the light for humanity. The light shines in the dark, and the dark has never extinguished it. 6God sent a man named John to be his messenger. 7John came to declare the truth about the light so that everyone would become believers through his message.
Read all of John 1John 1:5 word by word
καὶ τὸ φῶς ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ φαίνει, καὶ ἡ σκοτία αὐτὸ οὐ κατέλαβεν.¶Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for John 1:5
- John 1:10He was in the world, and the world came into existence through him. Yet, the world didn’t recognize him.
- John 3:19This is why people are condemned: The light came into the world. Yet, people loved the dark rather than the light because their actions were evil.
- John 12:36While you have the light, believe in the light so that you will become people whose lives show the light.” After Jesus had said this, he was concealed as he left.
- Job 24:13“Such people are among those who rebel against the light. They are not acquainted with its ways. They do not stay on its paths.
- Proverbs 1:22“How long will you gullible people love being so gullible? How long will you mockers find joy in your mocking? How long will you fools hate knowledge?
- Romans 1:28And because they thought it was worthless to acknowledge God, God allowed their own immoral minds to control them. So they do these indecent things.
- 1 Corinthians 2:14A person who isn’t spiritual doesn’t accept the teachings of God’s Spirit. He thinks they’re nonsense. He can’t understand them because a person must be spiritual to evaluate them.
Commentaries on John 1:5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5And the light shineth in darkness - By darkness here may be understood: The heathen world, Ephesians 5:8. The Jewish people. The fallen spirit of man. Comprehended it not - , Prevented it not - hindered it not, says Mr. Wakefield, who adds the following judicious note: - "Even in the midst of that darkness of ignorance and idolatry which overspread the world, this light of Divine wisdom was not totally eclipsed: the Jewish nation was a lamp perpetually…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5The light shineth in darkness - Darkness, in the Bible, commonly denotes ignorance, guilt, or misery. See Isaiah 9:1-2; Matthew 4:16; Acts 26:18; Ephesians 5:8, Ephesians 5:11; Romans 13:12. It refers here to a wicked and ignorant people. When it is said that “the light shineth in darkness,” it is meant that the Lord Jesus came to teach an ignorant, benighted, and wicked world. This has always been the case. It was so when he sent his prophets; so during…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5the darkness has not overcome it: Or the darkness has not understood it; literally, the darkness cannot grasp it. The Greek word katalambanō (“grasp”) can mean either “understand” or “be hostile.” In John’s Gospel, it means "hostility." The darkness would try to destroy Jesus (the Light), but it would fail. The Light would successfully bring salvation to the world.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. shineth in darkness, &c.--in this dark, fallen world, or in mankind "sitting in darkness and the shadow of death," with no ability to find the way either of truth or of holiness. In this thick darkness, and consequent intellectual and moral obliquity, "the light of the Word" shineth--by all the rays whether of natural or revealed teaching which men (apart from the Incarnation of the Word) are favored with. the darkness comprehended it not--did not take…Read the comment
Topics related to John 1:5
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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