1, 2, and 3 John: Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament

by Karen H. Jobes, Clinton E. Arnold (Editor)

Overview

Concentrate on the biblical author's message as it unfolds.

Designed to assist the pastor and Bible teacher in conveying the significance of God's Word, the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament series treats the literary context and structure of every passage of the New Testament book in the original Greek.

With a unique layout designed to help you comprehend the form and flow of each passage, the ZECNT unpacks:

• The key message.
• The author's original translation.
• An exegetical outline.
• Verse-by-verse commentary.
• Theology in application.

While primarily designed for those with a basic knowledge of biblical Greek, all who strive to understand and teach the New Testament will benefit from the depth, format, and scholarship of these volumes.

1-3 John

In her commentary on John's letters, Karen H. Jobes writes to bridge the distance between academic biblical studies and pastors, students, and laypeople who are looking for an in-depth treatment of the issues raised by these New Testament books. She approaches the three letters of John as part of the corpus that includes John’s gospel, while rejecting an elaborate redactional history of that gospel that implicates the letters. Jobes treats three major themes of the letters under the larger rubric of who has the authority to interpret the true significance of Jesus, an issue that is pressing in our religiously pluralistic society today with its many voices claiming truth about God. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780310518013
Publisher:	Zondervan Academic
Publication date:	02/11/2014
Series:	Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament Series
Sold by:	HarperCollins Publishing
Format:	eBook
Pages:	368
File size:	9 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Karen H. Jobes (PhD, Westminister Theological Seminary) is the Gerald F. Hawthorne Professor Emerita of New Testament Greek and Exegesis at Wheaton College and Graduate school in Wheaton, Illinois. The author of several works, she has also been involved in the NIV Bible translation. She and her husband, Forrest, live in Philadelphia and are members of an Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

Clinton E. Arnold (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is research professor of New Testament at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University in La Mirada, California. He has authored many books and commentaries, including Ephesians in the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary series and Acts in the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary.

Read an Excerpt

1, 2, and 3 John

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By Karen H. Jobes

ZONDERVAN

Copyright © 2014 Karen H. Jobes
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-310-24416-5

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CHAPTER 1

Introduction to 1 John

Genre and Purpose

We know 1 John originated in a written form because the verb "I/we write [[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]] these things" occurs more than a dozen times in reference to the letter (e.g., 1 John 1:4; 2:1; 5:13). Yet this document does not have the form of personal correspondence since it lacks an address and salutation and a letter closing. Because of this, there was once an attempt to call such a writing an "epistle" in distinction from a letter, but scholars have largely abandoned that distinction. Furthermore, the structure shows characteristics suggesting the author intended it to be read or performed aloud (see Structure, below). Most likely it originally served as a sermon in the author's church, and it was then circulated to other outlying churches in the area.

Socio-rhetorical analysis leads to the conclusion that 1 John was written with the purpose of "increasing audience adherence to the Johannine tradition and assuring its continued fellowship with the Johannine community, God, and Christ," and that the letter can be categorized as epideictic rhetoric, targeted to increase the audience's adherence to values it already holds. Specifically, the author is keen to convince his readers to continue in their faith in Jesus Christ despite the disruption and confusion caused by members of the community who have left the church (2:19).

The false theology of the secessionists may have been especially confusing because it used the same language as and originated out of the Johannine tradition itself. "This [secessionist] theology has much in common with the author's own and appeals to the same stock of tradition that he does, a tradition to which we have access through the Gospel of John. In short, the author writes against the background of a Johannine thought world that he assumes is familiar to both his readers and his opponents." The author's purpose is then to untwist distorted understandings of statements found in John's gospel and to correct errant theology, in order to keep his readers aligned with the truth that has been revealed in Jesus Christ.

Structure

The structure of 1 John is difficult to outline because its thought is circular more than linear. It returns to the same intertwined themes — sin, love, and sound Christology — again and again, developing each further in light of what has been said of the other two. Walter Moberly observes:

John's pattern of thinking does not involve sequential logic in the manner of a conventional argument so much as the literary equivalent of musical variations on a theme — a constant circling around the basic issue, coming at it from a variety of angles, developing now this aspect and now that aspect, balancing one statement with another to clarify what is and is not entailed, returning to a point already made so that it may be seen afresh in the light of what has been said subsequently.

Duane Watson argues that "the repetitive and emphatic nature of 1 John is explained by the author's use of Greco-Roman amplification techniques," which function to "strengthen adherence to traditional and honorable truths" — in this case clarifying the Johannine tradition "through repetition and emphasis of themes and topics, drawing subtle distinctions between Johannine tradition and its aberrant forms as taught by the secessionists." The resulting structure helps the audience to see more clearly where their allegiance should be.

Attempts by modern scholars to describe and outline the structure of 1 John depend on the methodology employed. John's letters have been subjected most frequently to analysis based on semantic discourse analysis, which observes criteria such as spanning, boundaries, coherence, and marked prominence. Discourse analysis concludes with different structures than, for instance, that revealed by the method of classical Greco-Roman rhetoric, but even the results of discourse analysis vary widely. Relatively recent recognition of the aural design of a text intended to be read aloud suggests other structures. Exegetical outlines display yet other features of the text, and virtually no two exegetes segment their commentaries exactly the same way. Partly this is because there are several janus verses in 1 John, verses that bridge two sections and can be grouped with either. We must also recognize that with human communication being what it is, no discourse follows exactly the principles of either its contemporaneous conventions or, much less, the theories of modern scholarship.

Modern analyses using various methodolgies have shown that 1 John is a carefully crafted work. Based on discourse analysis Callow concludes in his analysis of 1 John 1 that "not only is this a strongly structured piece of writing, but it is also lexically cohesive." Brickle concludes from an aural analysis of the sound patterns in the prologue of 1 John that "while John did not strive to meet classical standards ... he clearly demonstrates the ability to compose in an aurally and rhetorically powerful manner." The outline offered below is the result of this writer's exegetical understanding of the book, consulting the results of various other methodologies along the way.

Outline of 1 John

I. John Claims the Authority of the Apostolic Witness (1:1–4)

A. John's Claim to Accurate Historical Knowledge (1:1)
B. The Appearance of the Eternal Life (1:2)
C. John's Goal of Fellowship (1:3)
D. Making the Joy of Fellowship Complete (1:4)

II. Announcement of the Message (1:5–10)

A. God Is Light (1:5)
B. First Two Contrasting Conditional Clauses (1:6–7)
C. Second Two Contrasting Conditional Clauses (1:8–9)
D. Fifth Conditional Clause: If We Say That We Have Not Sinned ... (1:10)

III. Dealing with Sin (2:1–6)

A. Bringing the Topic of Sin to Bear on His Readers (2:1–2)
B. Knowing God Means Avoiding Sin by Keeping His Commands (2:3–6)

IV. Love, Light, and Darkness (2:7–11)

A. The Continuity of John's Teaching with Jesus' Teaching (2:7–8)
B. The Relationship of Love and Hate to the Light and Darkness Duality (2:9–11)

V. Children, Fathers, and Young Men (2:12–14)

A. Children, Your Sins Are Forgiven (2:12)
B. Fathers, You Know Him Who Is from the Beginning (2:13a–c)
C. YoungMen, You Have Overcome the Evil One (2:13d–f)
D. Children, You Know the Father (2:14a–c)
E. Fathers, You Know Him Who Is from the Beginning (2:14d–f)
F. Young Men, You Are Strong (2:14g–k)

VI. Love for World Is Contrary to Love for Father (2:15–17)

A. Command Not to Love the World (2:15)
B. About the World (2:16–17a)
C. Obedience to the Will of God Means Eternal Life (2:17b)

VII. Schism in the Church (2:18–28)

A. John Announces the "Last Hour" (2:18)
B. A Group Has Left the Johannine Church(es) (2:19)
C. The Nature of the Truth about Christ (2:20–21)
D. The False Teacher Characterized (2:22–23)
E. Exhortation and Promise (2:24–27)
F. Summarizing John's Point in Eschatological Context (2:28)

VIII. Who Are the Children of God? (2:29–3:10)

A. "Like Father, like Son" (2:29–3:1)
B. The Hope of Our Eschatological Lives (3:2–3)
C. The Nature of Sin (3:4–6)
D. Who's Your Daddy? (3:7–10)

IX. Love One Another (3:11–18)

A. The Command to Love One Another (3:11–12)
B. Application to John's Readers (3:13–15)
C. Love Means Laying Down One's Life (3:16–18)

X. Children of God Can Be Confident (3:19–24)

A. Having Confidence in God's Grace (3:19–22)
B. Doing What God Wants (3:23–24)

XI. The Spirit of Truth Must Be Discerned from the Spirit of Error (4:1–6)

A. Test If the Spirits Are from God (4:1–3)
B. Those Who Are of God Understand Each Other (4:4–6c)
C. This Is How to Discern the Spirit of Truth from the Spirit of Error (4:6d)

XII. God's Love Expressed (4:7–16)

A. The Command to Love One Another (4:7–10)
B. The Command to Love One Another Restated (4:11–14)
C. Confession That Jesus Is the Son Is Necessary for One to Remain in God (4:15–16)

XIII. God's Love Perfected in the Believer (4:17–5:3)

A. God's Love Perfected in the Believer Produces Confidence to Face the Coming Day of Judgment (4:17–18)
B. The Believer's Love for God Is Demonstrated through Love for One Another (4:19–21)
C. What the New Birth through Faith in Christ Produces (5:1–3)

XIV. The Blood, Eternal Life, and Assurance (5:4–13)

A. Faith in the Son of God Overcomes the World (5:4–5)
B. The Testimony (5:6–13)

XV. Knowing God (5:14–21)

A. Prayer for a Sinning Brother or Sister (5:14–17)
B. What "We Know" (5:18–20)
C. Closing Exhortation (5:21)

1 John 1:1–4

Literary Context

This opening prologue of the book provides the foundation for its message by introducing the authority of its author, who bears the eyewitness testimony of Jesus, the Word who is Life. According to the conventions of Greco-Roman rhetoric, these verses function to make the audience attentive and well disposed to receive the message that follows. They introduce the major topic of the letter, assure the readers of eternal life, and encourage them to continue in the beliefs and values they already hold. The possible allusion to idolatry stands in contrast to the truth about God revealed in Jesus Christ and forms an inclusio with the final command in 5:21, "Children, keep yourselves from idols."

Main Idea

The truth about Jesus Christ begins with his being an actual person in human history who chose witnesses to explain the true significance of his life, death, and resurrection. This opening invites readers to join the fellowship of like-minded belief by following and remaining in the teaching about Christ given by those who have the authority to speak spiritual truth.

Structure

The opening of 1 John is perhaps the most unusual in the biblical corpus, for no other book begins with a relative pronoun, "what" ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]), as its first word. In fact, there are four neuter singular relative pronouns in the opening verse, and the main verb doesn't appear until verse 3 ("we proclaim," [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]). The unusual word order that fronts this string of pronouns with respect to their verbs highlights the message of the testimony and adds rhetorical impact by emphasizing the object of proclamation, the gospel of Jesus Christ.

What was from the beginning,
what we have heard,
what we have seen with our eyes,
what we have perceived,
and our hands have touched —
this we proclaim about the Word of Life. (italics added)

The structure of this testimony is centered on the assertion that the Life has appeared and that "we have seen" it and now we "testify" and" proclaim" it (v. 2). Following this assertion, the neuter singular accusative relative pronoun "what" ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) resumes the claim of having seen and heard what is being announced in the following content of the letter (v. 3a). The "so that" ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) clause in v. 3d-e states the purpose of the announcement, that recipients might have fellowship with "us," a fellowship that is with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ.

The use of the first person plural pronoun raises an exegetical debate well known to interpreters of 1 John about the identity of the referent (see Explanation of the Text). The verbs of sensory perception ("have heard," "have seen," "have touched") make a claim that the message is based on firsthand testimony to the Word of Life, though not necessarily eyewitness testimony of the earthly Jesus, since the relative pronoun is neuter, not masculine, as would be required to refer to Jesus or to the noun "word" ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]). Perhaps the author is thinking of the gospel message, which could be referred to as a neuter noun ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]), or the more abstract idea of the significance of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection.

The final statement of the letter opening states one, though not the only, purpose for writing (taking "these things" [[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]] to refer to all that is to follow), that the joy resulting from the Word of Life might be made complete. Textual variants make it uncertain whether John wrote "our" joy or "your" joy (see discussion in Explanation of the Text).

Although the Greek of this passage is relatively easy, its meaning is more difficult to discern. Raymond Brown has described the syntax of the passage as "a grammatical obstacle course" because the relationship of various parts of the passage to each other — which is smoothed out in English translation — is not straightforward in the Greek. These first four verses form one long sentence in the Greek text, made more difficult by two parenthetical statements.

Explanation of the Text

1:1 What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have perceived, and our hands have touched — this we proclaim about the Word of Life ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]). This opening verse of the prologue to 1 John forms an essential foundation for understanding the rest of the letter, but it is fraught with exegetical issues. Althogh the Greek of 1 John is often said to be the easiest in the NT, the syntax of this first verse and its relationship to the rest of the passage is not straightforward. There are at least five exegetical issues that must be considered in an attempt to understand what is being said here:

(1) the referent of the neuter relative pronouns ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) and their relationships to each other

(2) the meaning of "from the beginning" ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII])

(3) the purpose of the repeated verbs of sensory experience

(4) the identity of the first person plural pronoun "we"

(5) the meaning of the genitive in the phrase "the Word of Life."

It is worth the time and effort to discuss each of these in some detail to have the clarity needed to understand the rest of the letter.

(1) Given that the author is basing his authority on the eyewitness source of his knowledge, it may seem natural to read this opening verse as a claim that the "we" subject of the verbal forms refers to one or more eyewitnesses of the earthly life of Jesus. In other words, to paraphrase, "we have heard Jesus, we have seen Jesus with our own eyes, we have looked at him (while he taught and performed miracles), and our hands have touched him." But the Greek does not allow this direct reference to the person of Jesus. It is somewhat surprising to find neuter relative pronouns rather than the masculine pronouns, which would be grammatically required if John were referring directly to hearing, seeing, and touching Jesus. It seems the author is not referring directly to the person of Jesus, but is thinking more broadly of the gospel message centered on Jesus, which could be referred to with the neuter noun ("gospel," [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]), even though he doesn't use that word. Or perhaps he was using the relative pronoun of general reference to point to all that had been involved generally with knowing Jesus.

Some interpreters understand the referent to be "the message preached by Jesus during his ministry and that message as later proclaimed by the Johannine tradition-bearers." Brickle's recent work on the aural design of this prologue, intended to be read aloud in its original church setting, has suggested that the repetition of the neuter relative pronoun is part of "three key aural patterns ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] vowel-[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII])" that by design aid the listener's understanding and memory.

Although the author is basing his knowledge on the eyewitness source, he is apparently referring to Jesus in categories that go beyond what one could have known about Jesus from mere physical observation, with phrases such as "what was from the beginning" and "the eternal Life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us." The author seems to be making a distinction here similar to the distinction between physical event and its significance that we find in the signs of John's gospel. Yes, the seven signs are miracles, but they function as signs only as their revelatory significance is perceived. Some people saw only what Jesus did but failed to perceive its significance; those who did perceive the significance are said to have put their faith in Jesus (e.g., John 2:11). And so the neuter relative pronouns suggest a perception of Jesus with all the truth he brings that goes beyond mere sensory perception.

(2) There is some question about the relationship of the four relative pronouns to each other. Many interpreters take all four as the direct objects of the verb in verse 3, "we proclaim" ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]). Others construe the first pronoun ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) to function as the nominative subject of the predicate "was from the beginning" ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) with the three relative clauses that follow in apposition: we proclaim what was from the beginning, namely, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have perceived and our hands have handled.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from 1, 2, and 3 John by Karen H. Jobes. Copyright © 2014 Karen H. Jobes. Excerpted by permission of ZONDERVAN.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Contents

Series Introduction, 9,

Author's Preface, 13,

Acknowledgments, 15,

Abbreviations, 17,

Introduction to 1, 2, and 3 John, 21,

Select Bibliography, 33,

Introduction to 1 John, 37,

Commentary on 1 John, 41,

Introduction to 2 John and 3 John, 247,

Commentary on 2 John, 253,

Introduction to 3 John, 281,

Commentary on 3 John, 285,

The Theology of John's Letters, 339,

Scripture Index, 347,

Apocrypha Index, 354,

Subject Index, 355,

Author Index, 357,