John 1:8
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| John 1:8 | |
|---|---|
← 1:7 1:9 → | |
 John 1:1–16 in Papyrus 75 (AD 175–225) | |
| Book | Gospel of John |
| Christian Bible part | New Testament |
John 1:8 is the eighth verse in the first chapter of the Gospel of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible.
In the original Greek according to Westcott-Hort this verse is:
- Οὐκ ἦν ἐκεῖνος τὸ φῶς, ἀλλ᾿ ἵνα μαρτυρήσῃ περὶ τοῦ φωτός.[1]
In the King James Version of the Bible, the text reads:
- He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.[2]
The New International Version translates the passage as:
- He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.[3]
Analysis
According to Robert Witham, "He" refers to John, that he was not the true light, since the word was the light, which is expressed as the true light, to bar anyone from thinking that John the Baptist was the light.[4] For Heinrich Meyer, ἦν in the Greek text (ēn) "is emphatic, and is therefore placed in the front: he was not the Light", while "in the second clause, μαρτυρήσῃ (marturēsē) emphatically takes the lead".[5]
René Kieffer notes that John was "only" a witness, and that Jesus, during his ministry (John 5:36), asserts that his own testimony is greater than John's.[6]
