--- title: "1 John 1 - Study King James Bible with commentary critical and explanatory on the whole bible" description: "Read 1 John 1 with commentary critical and explanatory on the whole bible commentary. 1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the" image: "/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg" url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/1-john/1" --- [ Read](/kjv/1-john/1)[ Commentary](/study/1-john/1)[ Interlinear](/interlinear/1-john/1) Audio 1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; 2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen *it*, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) 3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship *is* with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. 5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us *our* sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. [2 Peter 3](/study/2-peter/3) [1 John 2](/study/1-john/2) ## Commentary To verse 1 **1.** Instead of a formal, John adopts a virtual address (compare :-). To wish *joy* to the reader was the ancient customary address. The sentence begun in :- is broken off by the parenthetic :-, and is resumed at [1 John 1:3](/kjv/1-john/1/3) with the repetition of some words from [1 John 1:3](/kjv/1-john/1/3)- :. **That which was**—not "began to be," but *was* essentially (*Greek,* "*een,*" not "*egeneto*") before He was *manifested* ([1 John 1:2](/kjv/1-john/1/2)); answering to "Him that is *from the beginning*" ([1 John 1:2](/kjv/1-john/1/2)- :); so John's Gospel, [1 John 1:2](/kjv/1-john/1/2)- :, "In the beginning was the Word." [1 John 1:2](/kjv/1-john/1/2)- :, "I was set up from everlasting, *from the beginning,* or ever the earth was." **we**—apostles. **heard . . . seen . . . looked upon . . . handled**—a series rising in gradation. *Seeing* is a more convincing proof than *hearing* of; *handling,* than even *seeing.* "*Have* heard . . . *have* seen" (perfect tenses), as a possession *still abiding* with us; but in *Greek* (not as *English Version* "have," but simply) "looked upon" (not perfect tense, as of a *continuing* thing, but aorist, *past* time) while Christ the incarnate Word was still with us. "Seen," namely, His glory, as revealed in the Transfiguration and in His miracles; and His passion and death in a real body of flesh and blood. "Looked upon" as a wondrous spectacle steadfastly, deeply, contemplatively; so the *Greek.* Appropriate to John's contemplative character. **hands . . . handled**—Thomas and the other disciples on distinct occasions after the resurrection. John himself had leaned on Jesus' breast at the last supper. Contrast the wisest of the heathen *feeling after* (the same *Greek* as here; *groping after* WITH THE HANDS") *if haply they might find God* (see [1 John 1:2](/kjv/1-john/1/2)- :). This proves against Socinians he is here speaking of the *personal incarnate Word,* not of Christ's *teaching* from the beginning of His official life. **of**—"concerning"; following "heard." "Heard" is the verb most applying to the purpose of the Epistle, namely the truth which John had *heard concerning the Word of life,* that is, (Christ) *the Word* who is *the life.* "Heard," namely, from Christ Himself, including all Christ's teachings about Himself. Therefore he puts "of," or "concerning," before "the word of life," which is inapplicable to any of the verbs except "heard"; also "heard" is the only one of the verbs which he resumes at [1 John 1:2](/kjv/1-john/1/2)- :. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/1-john/1#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","width":672,"height":448,"caption":"Real Bible Believers"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/1-john/1#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/1-john/1","name":"1 John 1 - Study King James Bible with commentary critical and explanatory on the whole bible","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/1-john/1#primaryimage"},"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Read 1 John 1 with commentary critical and explanatory on the whole bible commentary. 1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/1-john/1#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/1-john/1"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/1-john/1#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","name":"Study Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible","name":"commentary critical and explanatory on the whole bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/1-john","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/1-john","name":"1 John"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/1-john/1","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/1-john/1","name":"1"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]} ```