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Books of the New Testament
The First Epistle of John
The following notes are intended to supplement, not replace, the readings from the Bible and the text book.
Comments or questions should be sent to: Dr. Rollinson.
I John
The author of I John does not identify himself by name, but does state that he heard and saw Christ (1 John 1:1-5). Early Church authorities stated that the author was John, the son of Zebedee, brother of James (Irenaeus, ca. A.D. 140-203, Clement of Alexandria, ca. A.D. 150-215, Tertullian, ca. A.D. 155-222, Origen, ca. A.D. 185-253). Parallels between I John and the Gospel of John point to both books having the same author; John, the author of the Gospel, does not name himself within that Gospel, so the lack of his name may point to his modesty and humility.
The epistle may have been written shortly after John's Gospel, which would date it to A.D. 85-95. Two of the earliest fragments of copies of John's Gospel have been dated to ca. A.D.
- and these are copies, not the original (the Ryland fragments, now in the British Museum).
The recipients of the epistle are not named, but are addressed as fellow-believers. John was old at the time of writing; this epistle appears to be John's last instructions and warnings to them, to encourage them to continue in the faith after his death. By tradition, John the apostle spent his last years in Ephesus, with a period of imprisonment in the stone-quarries on the island of Patmos, so the original recipients may have been the churches of Asia Minor.
Commentary
1 John 1:1 - see John 1:1, 14
1 John 1:4 - see John 16:24
1 John 1:6-7 - see John 3:19-21
1 John 2:6 - see John 15:4
1 John 2:7 - see John 13:34-35
1 John 2:8 - John 1:4-5
1 John 2:15 - see Matt. 5:24
1 John 2:19-26 - false teachers were presenting various versions of Gnosticism as if it were part of Christianity
1 John 3:1 - see John 1:10-13
1 John 3:5 - see John 1:29
1 John 3:6 - the Greek verbs used imply continuous action rather than a single action - "keeps on sinning", rather than "commits a sin"
1 John 3:8 - see John 8:44
1 John 3:10 - see John 15:11
1 John 3:11 - see John 15:12, 17
1 John 3:12 - see Genesis 4:6-12
1 John 3:13 - see John 15:18
1 John 3:14 - see John 5:24
1 John 3:15 - see Matt. 5:21-22
1 John 3:16 - see John 15:13
1 John 3:17 - see James 2:14-17
1 John 4:1 - see 1 Cor. 12:10
1 John 4:2-3 - 1 Cor. 12:3
1 John 4:6 - see John 8:47
1 John 4:9-10 - see John 1:14-18, & 3:16
1 John 5:1 - see Romans 8:14-17, Gal. 4:6
1 John 5:3 - see Matt. 11:28-30
1 John 5:6 - the water and the blood may refer to Jesus' baptism and crucifixion
1 John 5:9 - see John 5:32, 37
1 John 5:9 - see Matt. 3:16-17, Mark 1:9-11, Luke 3:21-22, John 1:29-34, John 19:33-35
1 John 5:11-12 - see John 1:4, 3:36, 5:24-26, 6:57
1 John 5:13 - see John 20:30-31
1 John 5:14 - see Matt. 18:20
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