DAILY DEVOTIONS FROM THE ORIGINAL GREEK – 1 John 1:2 by Abidan Paul Shah

Daily Devotions from the Original Greek – 1 John 1:2 by Abidan Paul Shah

1 John 1:2 – Καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ἐφανερώθη, καὶ ἑωράκαμεν, καὶ μαρτυροῦμεν, καὶ ἀπαγγέλλομεν ὑμῖν τὴν ζωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον, ἥτις ἦν πρὸς τὸν πατέρα, καὶ ἐφανερώθη ἡμῖν.

Parsing[1]:

Καὶ = And (conjunction coordinating from καί)

ἡ = the (definite article nominative feminine singular from ὁ)

ζωὴ = life (noun nominative feminine singular common from ζωή)

ἐφανερώθη = was revealed (verb indicative aorist passive 3rd person singular from φανερόω)

καὶ = and (conjunction coordinating from καί)

ἑωράκαμεν, = we have seen (verb indicative perfect active 1st person plural from ὁράω)

καὶ = and (conjunction coordinating from καί)

μαρτυροῦμεν, = we testify (verb indicative present active 1st person plural from μαρτυρέω)

καὶ = and (conjunction coordinating from καί)

ἀπαγγέλλομεν = we report (verb indicative present active 1st person plural from ἀπαγγέλλω)

ὑμῖν = to you (pronoun personal dative plural from σύ)

τὴν = the (definite article accusative feminine singular from ὁ)

ζωὴν = life (noun accusative feminine singular from ζωή)

τὴν = the (definite article accusative feminine singular from ὁ)

αἰώνιον, = eternal (adjective accusative feminine singular no degree from αἰώνιος)

ἥτις = whoever (adjective pronoun relative nominative feminine singular from ὅστις)

ἦν = was (verb indicative imperfect active 3rd person singular from εἰμί)

πρὸς = with (preposition from πρός)

τὸν = the (definite article accusative masculine singular from ὁ)

πατέρα, = father (noun accusative masculine singular from πατήρ)

καὶ = and (conjunction coordinating from καί)

ἐφανερώθη = was revealed (verb indicative aorist passive 3rd person singular from φανερόω)

ἡμῖν. = to us (pronoun personal dative plural from ἐγώ)

My Translation:

1 John 1:2 – And the life was revealed and we have seen and we testify and we report to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was revealed to us.

Some Devotional Thoughts:

John tells his readers that Jesus the life was revealed to this world. In other words, Jesus did not come through the agency of any human being or institution. He was revealed from above. As one of the disciples he was privileged to see Him. He is so sure of this that he is willing to testify about it. Now he wants to go about reporting about this eternal life. Again, the origin of the eternal life was not with human beings but with the Father. Once again, it is so awesome to see how much John is consumed with the appearance of Jesus. It was unlike anything on earth. In fact, Jesus is eternal life come down from the Father.

Here are some questions for all of us – “Are we consumed with Jesus?” “How much does He occupy our minds, thoughts, and daily conversation?” “Are we willing to testify to others that we have seen Jesus, albeit spiritually?” “What have we substituted for Jesus?” “Is Jesus eternal life to us?”

[1] The parsing is taken from Bible Works 10