John 1
New Testament · English Majority Text Version with Greek parallel
John chapter 1 is given here in full, verse by verse, in the English Majority Text Version (EMTV), with the Byzantine Majority Text set beneath each verse. The text follows the Byzantine textual tradition used in the Orthodox Church.
207 patristic excerpts are attached to this chapter, from 8 Fathers — Saint Irenaeus of Lyons, Saint Athanasius of Alexandria, Saint John Chrysostom, Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Origen, Saint Augustine of Hippo, Saint Augustine, and Saint Gregory of Nyssa.
John 1
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν Θεόν, καὶ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος.
2He was in the beginning with God.Οὗτος ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν Θεόν.
3All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.Πάντα δι᾽ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἓν ὃ γέγονεν.
4In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.Ἐν αὐτῷ ζωὴ ἦν, καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ἦν τὸ φῶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων,
5And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.καὶ τὸ φῶς ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ φαίνει, καὶ ἡ σκοτία αὐτὸ οὐ κατέλαβεν.
6There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.Ἐγένετο ἄνθρωπος ἀπεσταλμένος παρὰ Θεοῦ, ὄνομα αὐτῷ Ἰωάννης.
7This man came for a testimony, so that he might testify concerning the Light, so that all through him might believe.Οὗτος ἦλθεν εἰς μαρτυρίαν, ἵνα μαρτυρήσῃ περὶ τοῦ φωτός, ἵνα πάντες πιστεύσωσι δι᾽ αὐτοῦ.
8He was not that Light, but was sent so that he might testify concerning the Light.Οὐκ ἦν ἐκεῖνος τὸ φῶς, ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα μαρτυρήσῃ περὶ τοῦ φωτός.
9That was the true Light which lightens every man coming into the world.Ἦν τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινόν, ὃ φωτίζει πάντα ἄνθρωπον ἐρχόμενον εἰς τὸν κόσμον.
10He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.Ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ἦν, καὶ ὁ κόσμος δι᾽ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ ὁ κόσμος αὐτὸν οὐκ ἔγνω.
11He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.Εἰς τὰ ἴδια ἦλθε, καὶ οἱ ἴδιοι αὐτὸν οὐ παρέλαβον.
12But as many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name;Ὅσοι δὲ ἔλαβον αὐτόν, ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς ἐξουσίαν τέκνα Θεοῦ γενέσθαι, τοῖς πιστεύουσιν εἰς τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ·
13who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.οἳ οὐκ ἐξ αἱμάτων, οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος σαρκός, οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος ἀνδρός, ἀλλ᾽ ἐκ Θεοῦ ἐγεννήθησαν.
14And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.Καὶ ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο, καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν—καὶ ἐθεασάμεθα τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, δόξαν ὡς μονογενοῦς παρὰ πατρός—πλήρης χάριτος καὶ ἀληθείας.
15John testified concerning Him and has cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because He was before me.’ ”Ἰωάννης μαρτυρεῖ περὶ αὐτοῦ, καὶ κέκραγε λέγων, Οὗτος ἦν ὃν εἶπον, Ὁ ὀπίσω μου ἐρχόμενος ἔμπροσθέν μου γέγονεν· ὅτι πρῶτός μου ἦν.
16And out of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.Καὶ ἐκ τοῦ πληρώματος αὐτοῦ ἡμεῖς πάντες ἐλάβομεν, καὶ χάριν ἀντὶ χάριτος.
17For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.Ὅτι ὁ νόμος διὰ Μωσέως ἐδόθη, ἡ χάρις καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐγένετο.
18No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has revealed Him.Θεὸν οὐδεὶς ἑώρακε πώποτε· ὁ μονογενὴς υἱός, ὁ ὢν εἰς τὸν κόλπον τοῦ πατρός, ἐκεῖνος ἐξηγήσατο.
19And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem so that they might ask him, “Who are you?”Καὶ αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ μαρτυρία τοῦ Ἰωάννου, ὅτε ἀπέστειλαν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι ἐξ Ἱεροσολύμων ἱερεῖς καὶ Λευΐτας ἵνα ἐρωτήσωσιν αὐτόν, Σὺ τίς εἶ;
20He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.”Καὶ ὡμολόγησε, καὶ οὐκ ἠρνήσατο· καὶ ὡμολόγησεν ὅτι Οὐκ εἰμὶ ἐγὼ ὁ Χριστός.
21And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”Καὶ ἠρώτησαν αὐτόν, Τί οὖν; Ἠλίας εἶ σύ; Καὶ λέγει, Οὐκ εἰμί. Ὁ προφήτης εἶ σύ; Καὶ ἀπεκρίθη, Οὔ.
22Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”Εἶπον οὖν αὐτῷ, Τίς εἶ; Ἵνα ἀπόκρισιν δῶμεν τοῖς πέμψασιν ἡμᾶς. Τί λέγεις περὶ σεαυτοῦ;
23He said: “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Make straight the way of the Lord,” ’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”Ἔφη, Ἐγὼ φωνὴ βοῶντος ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, Εὐθύνατε τὴν ὁδὸν Κυρίου, καθὼς εἶπεν Ἡσαΐας ὁ προφήτης.
24Now those who had been sent were from the Pharisees.Καὶ οἱ ἀπεσταλμένοι ἦσαν ἐκ τῶν Φαρισαίων.
25And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”Καὶ ἠρώτησαν αὐτόν, καὶ εἶπον αὐτῷ, Τί οὖν βαπτίζεις, εἰ σὺ οὐκ εἶ ὁ Χριστός, οὔτε Ἠλίας, οὔτε ὁ προφήτης;
26John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.Ἀπεκρίθη αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰωάννης λέγων, Ἐγὼ βαπτίζω ἐν ὕδατι· μέσος δὲ ὑμῶν ἕστηκεν ὃν ὑμεῖς οὐκ οἴδατε.
27He is the One who comes after me, who ranks before me, of whom I am not worthy that I should loose the strap of His sandal.”Αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ ὀπίσω μου ἐρχόμενος, ὃς ἔμπροσθέν μου γέγονεν· οὗ ἐγὼ οὐκ εἰμὶ ἄξιος ἵνα λύσω αὐτοῦ τὸν ἱμάντα τοῦ ὑποδήματος.
28These things happened in Bethany, beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.Ταῦτα ἐν Βηθανίᾳ ἐγένετο πέραν τοῦ Ἰορδάνου, ὅπου ἦν Ἰωάννης βαπτίζων.
29The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!Τῇ ἐπαύριον βλέπει τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἐρχόμενον πρὸς αὐτόν, καὶ λέγει, Ἴδε ὁ ἀμνὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὁ αἴρων τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ κόσμου.
30This is the One about whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who ranks before me, because He was before me.’Οὗτός ἐστι περὶ οὗ ἐγὼ εἶπον, Ὀπίσω μου ἔρχεται ἀνὴρ ὃς ἔμπροσθέν μου γέγονεν, ὅτι πρῶτός μου ἦν.
31I did not know Him; but that He should be made manifest to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.”Κἀγὼ οὐκ ᾔδειν αὐτόν· ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα φανερωθῇ τῷ Ἰσραήλ, διὰ τοῦτο ἦλθον ἐγὼ ἐν τῷ ὕδατι βαπτίζων.
32And John testified, saying, “I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him.Καὶ ἐμαρτύρησεν Ἰωάννης λέγων ὅτι Τεθέαμαι τὸ Πνεῦμα καταβαῖνον ὡσεὶ περιστερὰν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ ἔμεινεν ἐπ᾽ αὐτόν.
33I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending and abiding on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’Κἀγὼ οὐκ ᾔδειν αὐτόν· ἀλλ᾽ ὁ πέμψας με βαπτίζειν ἐν ὕδατι, ἐκεῖνός μοι εἶπεν, Ἐφ᾽ ὃν ἂν ἴδῃς τὸ Πνεῦμα καταβαῖνον καὶ μένον ἐπ᾽ αὐτόν, οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ βαπτίζων ἐν Πνεύματι Ἁγίῳ.
34And I have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.”Κἀγὼ ἑώρακα, καὶ μεμαρτύρηκα ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ.
35Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples.Τῇ ἐπαύριον πάλιν εἱστήκει ὁ Ἰωάννης, καὶ ἐκ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ δύο·
36And looking at Jesus as He was walking, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!”καὶ ἐμβλέψας τῷ Ἰησοῦ περιπατοῦντι, λέγει, Ἴδε ὁ ἀμνὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ.
37The two disciples heard him speaking, and they followed Jesus.Καὶ ἤκουσαν αὐτοῦ οἱ δύο μαθηταὶ λαλοῦντος, καὶ ἠκολούθησαν τῷ Ἰησοῦ.
38Then Jesus turned and observed them following, and said to them, “What are you seeking?” They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?”Στραφεὶς δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς καὶ θεασάμενος αὐτοὺς ἀκολουθοῦντας, λέγει αὐτοῖς, Τί ζητεῖτε; Οἱ δὲ εἶπον αὐτῷ, Ῥαββί—ὃ λέγεται ἑρμηνευόμενον, Διδάσκαλε—ποῦ μένεις;
39He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and they stayed with Him that day. It was about the tenth hour.Λέγει αὐτοῖς, Ἔρχεσθε καὶ ἴδετε. Ἦλθον καὶ εἶδον ποῦ μένει· καὶ παρ᾽ αὐτῷ ἔμειναν τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκείνην· ὥρα ἦν ὡς δεκάτη.
40One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.Ἦν Ἀνδρέας ὁ ἀδελφὸς Σίμωνος Πέτρου εἷς ἐκ τῶν δύο τῶν ἀκουσάντων παρὰ Ἰωάννου καὶ ἀκολουθησάντων αὐτῷ.
41He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ).Εὑρίσκει οὗτος πρῶτος τὸν ἀδελφὸν τὸν ἴδιον Σίμωνα, καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ, Εὑρήκαμεν τὸν Μεσίαν—ὅ ἐστι μεθερμηνευόμενον, Χριστός.
42And he led him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).Καὶ ἤγαγεν αὐτὸν πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν. Ἐμβλέψας αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπε, Σὺ εἶ Σίμων ὁ υἱὸς Ἰωνᾶ· σὺ κληθήσῃ Κηφᾶς—ὃ ἑρμηνεύεται Πέτρος.
43On the next day He wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.”Τῇ ἐπαύριον ἠθέλησεν ἐξελθεῖν εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίαν, καὶ εὑρίσκει Φίλιππον, καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς, Ἀκολούθει μοι.
44Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.Ἦν δὲ ὁ Φίλιππος ἀπὸ Βηθσαϊδά, ἐκ τῆς πόλεως Ἀνδρέου καὶ Πέτρου.
45Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found the One about whom Moses wrote in the Law and the Prophets—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”Εὑρίσκει Φίλιππος τὸν Ναθαναήλ, καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ, Ὃν ἔγραψε Μωσῆς ἐν τῷ νόμῳ καὶ οἱ προφῆται εὑρήκαμεν, Ἰησοῦν τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ τὸν ἀπὸ Ναζαρέτ.
46And Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”Καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Ναθαναήλ, Ἐκ Ναζαρὲτ δύναταί τι ἀγαθὸν εἶναι; Λέγει αὐτῷ Φίλιππος, Ἔρχου καὶ ἴδε.
47Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said about him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!”Εἶδεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς τὸν Ναθαναὴλ ἐρχόμενον πρὸς αὐτόν, καὶ λέγει περὶ αὐτοῦ, Ἴδε ἀληθῶς Ἰσραηλίτης, ἐν ᾧ δόλος οὐκ ἔστι.
48Nathanael said to Him, “From where do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, while you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”Λέγει αὐτῷ Ναθαναήλ, Πόθεν με γινώσκεις; Ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ, Πρὸ τοῦ σε Φίλιππον φωνῆσαι, ὄντα ὑπὸ τὴν συκῆν, εἶδόν σε.
49Nathanael answered and said to Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”Ἀπεκρίθη Ναθαναὴλ καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ, Ῥαββί, σὺ εἶ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, σὺ εἶ ὁ βασιλεὺς τοῦ Ἰσραήλ.
50Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”Ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ, Ὅτι εἶπόν σοι, Εἶδόν σε ὑποκάτω τῆς συκῆς, πιστεύεις; Μείζω τούτων ὄψει.
51And He said to him, “Most assuredly I say to you, from now on you shall see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”Καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ, Ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἀπ᾽ ἄρτι ὄψεσθε τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀνεῳγότα, καὶ τοὺς ἀγγέλους τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀναβαίνοντας καὶ καταβαίνοντας ἐπὶ τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου.
The Fathers on John 1
Saint Irenaeus of Lyons, Saint Athanasius of Alexandria, Saint John Chrysostom, Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Origen, Saint Augustine of Hippo, Saint Augustine, and Saint Gregory of Nyssa comment on this chapter. Each excerpt below is drawn from the full text held in the Fathers Library; follow the link on any entry to read the whole work.
On John 1:14Saint Irenaeus of LyonsFor this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God.
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On John 1:14Saint Athanasius of AlexandriaGod became man so that man might become God.
Read On the Incarnation →
On John 1:14Saint John Chrysostom[1.] I desire to ask one favor of you all, before I touch on the words of the Gospel; do not you refuse my request, for I ask nothing heavy or burdensome, nor, if granted, will it be useful only to me who receive, but also to you who grant it, and perhaps far more so to you. What then is it that I require of you? That each of you take in hand that section of the Gospels which is to be read among you on the first day of the week, or even on the Sabbath, and before the day arrive, that he sit down at home and read...
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On John 1:14Saint John Chrysostom“And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only-Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
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On John 1:14Saint Cyril of Alexandria14 And the Word was made Flesh. He has now entered openly upon the declaration of the Incarnation. For he plainly sets forth that the Only-Begotten became and is called son of man; for this and nought else does his saying that the Word was made Flesh signify: for it is as though he said more nakedly The Word was made Man. And in thus spea...
Read Commentary on John →
On John 1:14Saint Cyril of AlexandriaAnd we beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Having said that the Word was made Flesh, that is Man, and having brought Him down to brotherhood with things made and in bondage, he preserves even thus His Divine dignity intact and shews Him again full of the own Nature of the Father inhe...
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On John 1:13–15OrigenWe have lingered rather long over these discussions, but there is a reason for it. There are many who, under the pretence of glorifying the advent of Christ, declare the Apostles to be wiser than the fathers or the prophets; and of these teachers some have invented a greater God for the later period, while some, not...
Read Commentary on the Gospel of John →
On John 1:6–14Saint Augustine of HippoIt is fitting, brethren, that as far as possible we should treat of the text of Holy Scripture, and especially of the Holy Gospel, without omitting any portion, that both we ourselves may derive nourishment according to our capacity, and may minister to you from that source from which we have been nourished. Last...
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On John 1:1Saint John Chrysostom[1.] They that are spectators of the heathen games, when they have learned that a distinguished athlete and winner of crowns is come from any quarter, run all together to view his wrestling, and all his skill and strength; and you may see the whole theater of many ten thousands, all there straining their eyes both of body and mind, that nothing of what is done may escape them. So again these same persons, if any admirable musician come amongst them, leave all that they had in hand, which often is necessary and p...
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On John 1:1Saint John ChrysostomWere John about to converse with us, and to say to us words of his own, we needs must describe his family, his country, and his education. But since it is not he, but God by him, that speaks to mankind, it seems to me superfluous and distracting to enquire into these matters. And yet even thus it is not superfluous, but even very necessary. For when you have learned who he was, and from whence, who his parents, and what his character, and then hear his voice and all his heavenly wisdom, then you shall know right...
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On John 1:1Saint John Chrysostom[1.] On the subject of attention in hearkening it is superfluous to exhort you any more, so quickly have you shown by your actions the effects of my advice. For your manner of running together, your attentive postures, the thrusting one another in your eagerness to get the inner places, where my voice may more clearly be heard by you, your unwillingness to retire from the press until this spiritual assembly be dissolved, the clapping of hands, the murmurs of applause; in a word, all things of this kind may be co...
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On John 1:1Saint John Chrysostom[1.] When children are just brought to their learning, their teachers do not give them many tasks in succession, nor do they set them once for all, but they often repeat to them the same short ones, so that what is said may be easily implanted in their minds, and they may not be vexed at the first onset with the quantity, and with finding it hard to remember, and become less active in picking up what is given them, a kind of sluggishness arising from the difficulty. And I, who wish to effect the same with you, a...
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On John 1:1Saint Cyril of AlexandriaCHAPTER I. That Everlasting and before the ages is the Only-Begotten. What do they say to this [namely, In the beginning was the Word] who introduce to us the Son, as one new and of late, that so He may no longer be believed to be even God at all. For, says the Divine Scripture, there shall no new God be in thee. How then is He not new, i...
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On John 1:1Saint Cyril of AlexandriaCHAPTER II. That the Son being Consubstantial with the Father is also God in His Own Person, even as also the Father. And the Word was with God. Having sufficiently shewn that already out of date and astray from the truth is the senseless mind of those who hold such opinions, and having, by saying In the beginning was the Word, closed eve...
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On John 1:1Saint Cyril of AlexandriaCHAPTER III. That the Son is both God by Nature and in no wise either inferior to or unlike the Father. And the Word was God. He who bare within him the Spirit was not ignorant that there should arise some in the last times who should accuse the Essence of the Only Begotten and deny the Lord that bought them, by supposing that the Word Wh...
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On John 1:1Saint AugustineMoreover, there are two several virtues (or talents) which have been proposed to the mind of man.
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On John 1:1Saint AugustineNow at this point commences the account of the preaching of John, which is presented by all the four.
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On John 1:1Saint AugustineMatthew then proceeds with his narrative in the following terms: “For Herod laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother’s wife;” and so on, down to the words, “And his disciples came...
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On John 1:1Saint AugustineMatthew goes on with his narrative in the following terms: “And when He was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?
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On John 1:1Saint AugustineThe section of the Gospel which has been read, most dearly beloved brethren, looketh for the pure eye of the heart.
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On John 1:1Saint AugustineAll ye who are looking for a man’s many words, understand the One Word of God, “In the beginning was the Word.” Now, “In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth.” But, “The Word was,” since we have heard, “In the...
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On John 1:1Saint AugustineThat our Lord Jesus Christ in seeking lost man was made Man, our preaching has never withholden, and your faith has ever retained; and moreover, that this our Lord, who for our sakes was made Man, was always God with the...
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On John 1:1Saint AugustineThe beginning of John’s Gospel, “In the beginning was the Word.” Thus he begins, this he saw, and transcending the whole creation, mountains, air, the heavens, the stars, Thrones, Dominions, Principalities, Powers, all Angels,...
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On John 1:1Saint Gregory of Nyssa152Book IV. §1. The fourth book discusses the account of the nature of the “product of generation,” and of the passionless generation of the Only-Begotten, and the text, “In the beginning was the Word,” and the birth of the Virgin. It is, perhaps, time to exa…
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On John 1:1Saint Gregory of Nyssa§3. He further proceeds notably to interpret the language of the Gospel, “In the beginning was the Word,” and “Life” and “Light,” and “The Word was made flesh,” which had been misinterpreted by Eunomius; and overthrows his blasphemy, and shows that the dispen…
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On John 1:1OrigenHow Christians are the Spiritual Israel. Origen’s Commentary on the Gospel of John. ————————————
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On John 1:1OrigenThat people which was called of old the people of God was divided into twelve tribes, and over and above the other tribes it had the levitical order, which itself again carried on the service of God in various priestly and levitical suborders. In the same manner, it appears to me that the whole people of Christ, when...
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On John 1:1OrigenThese, then, who are sealed on their foreheads from every tribe of the children of Israel, are a hundred and forty-four thousand in number; and these hundred and forty-four thousand are afterwards said in John to have the name of the Lamb and of His Father written on their foreheads, and to be virgins, not having...
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On John 1:1OrigenBut what is the bearing of all this for us? So you will ask when you read these words, Ambrosius, thou who art truly a man of God, a man in Christ, and who seekest to be not a man only, but a spiritual man. The bearing is this. Those of the tribes offer to God, through the levites and priests, tithes and first fruits;...
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On John 1:1OrigenNow our whole activity is devoted to God, and our whole life, since we are bent on progress in divine things. If, then, it be our desire to have the whole of those first fruits spoken of above which are made up of the many first fruits, if we are not mistaken in this view, in what must our first fruits consist, after...
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On John 1:1OrigenHere, however, some one may object, appealing to the notion just put forward of the unfolding of the first fruits last, and may say that the Acts and the letters of the Apostles came after the Gospels, and that this destroys our argument to the effect that the Gospel is the first fruits of all Scripture. To this we...
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On John 1:1OrigenNow the Gospels are four. These four are, as it were, the elements of the faith of the Church, out of which elements the whole world which is reconciled to God in Christ is put together; as Paul says, “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself;” of which world Jesus bore the sin; for it is of the world of...
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On John 1:1OrigenBut it is time we should inquire what is the meaning of the designation “Gospel,” and why these books have this title. Now the Gospel is a discourse containing a promise of things which naturally, and on account of the benefits they bring, rejoice the hearer as soon as the promise is heard and believed. Nor is such a...
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On John 1:1OrigenNow an objection might be raised to our first definition, because it would embrace books which are not entitled Gospels. For the law and the prophets also are to our eyes books containing the promise of things which, from the benefit they will confer on him, naturally rejoice the hearer as soon as he takes in the...
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On John 1:1OrigenWe must not, however, forget that the sojourning of Christ with men took place before His bodily sojourn, in an intellectual fashion, to those who were more perfect and not children, and were not under pedagogues and governors. In their minds they saw the fulness of the time to be at hand—the patriarchs, and Moses the...
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On John 1:1OrigenThe foregoing inquiry into the nature of the Gospel cannot be regarded as useless; it has enabled us to see what distinction there is between a sensible Gospel and an intellectual and spiritual one. What we have now to do is to transform the sensible Gospel into a spiritual one. For what would the narrative of the...
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On John 1:1OrigenLet no one wonder if we have understood Jesus to be announced in the Gospel under a plurality of names of good things. If we look at the things by the names of which the Son of God is called, we shall understand how many good things Jesus is, whom those preach whose feet are beautiful. One good thing is life; but...
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On John 1:1OrigenIt ought not to be forgotten that in such a Gospel as this there is embraced every good deed which was done to Jesus; as, for example, the story of the woman who had been a sinner and had repented, and who, having experienced a genuine recovery from her evil state, had grace to pour her ointment over Jesus so that...
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On John 1:1OrigenNow if there are those among men who are honoured with the ministry of evangelists, and if Jesus Himself brings tidings of good things, and preaches the Gospel to the poor, surely those messengers who were made spirits by God, those who are a flame of fire, ministers of the Father of all, cannot have been excluded...
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On John 1:1OrigenIn addition to what we have said, there is also this to be considered about the Gospel, that in the first instance it is that of Christ Jesus, the head of the whole body of the saved; as Mark says, “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” Then also it is the Gospel of the Apostles; whence Paul says, “According...
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On John 1:1OrigenAs, then, we have shown that the beginning of the Gospel, according to one interpretation, is the whole Old Testament, and is signified by the person of John, we shall add, lest this should be called a mere unsupported assertion, what is said in the Acts about the eunuch of the queen of the Ethiopians and Philip....
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On John 1:1Origen“In the beginning was the Word.” It is not only the Greeks who consider the word “beginning” to have many meanings. Let any one collect the Scripture passages in which the word occurs, and with a view to an accurate interpretation of it note what it stands for in each passage, and he will find that the word has many...
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On John 1:1OrigenAgain, there is a beginning in a matter of origin, as might appear in the saying: “In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth.” This meaning, however, appears more plainly in the Book of Job in the passage: “This is the beginning of God’s creation, made for His angels to mock at.” One would suppose that the...
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On John 1:1OrigenIn the third place a beginning may be that out of which a thing comes, the underlying matter from which things are formed. This, however, is the view of those who hold matter itself to be uncreated, a view which we believers cannot share, since we believe God to have made the things that are out of the things which...
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On John 1:1OrigenIn addition to these meanings there is that in which we speak of an arche, according to form; thus if the first-born of every creature is the image of the invisible God, then the Father is his arche. In the same way Christ is the arche of those who are made according to the image of God. For if men are according to...
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On John 1:1OrigenThere is also an arche in a matter of learning, as when we say that the letters are the arche of grammar. The Apostle accordingly says: “When by reason of the time you ought to be teachers, you have need again that some one teach you what are the elements of the arche of the oracles of God.” Now the arche spoken of in...
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On John 1:1OrigenAgain we speak of the arche of an action, in which there is a design which appears after the beginning. It may be considered whether wisdom is to be regarded as the arche of the works of God because it is in this way the principle of them. The Word Was in the Beginning, I.e., in Wisdom, Which Contained All Things in...
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On John 1:1OrigenSo many meanings occur to us at once of the word arche. We have now to ask which of them we should adopt for our text, “In the beginning was the Word.” It is plain that we may at once dismiss the meaning which connects it with transition or with a road and its length. Nor, it is pretty plain, will the meaning...
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On John 1:1OrigenLet us consider, however, a little more carefully what is the Word which is in the beginning. I am often led to wonder when I consider the things that are said about Christ, even by those who are in earnest in their belief in Him. Though there is a countless number of names which can be applied to our Saviour, they...
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On John 1:1OrigenHe said, then, that He was the light of the world; and we have to examine, along with this title, those which are parallel to it; and, indeed, are thought by some to be not merely parallel, but identical with it. He is the true light, and the light of the Gentiles. In the opening of the Gospel now before us He is the...
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On John 1:1OrigenNow He is called the light of men and the true light and the light of the word, because He brightens and irradiates the higher parts of men, or, in a word, of all reasonable beings. And similarly it is from and because of the energy with which He causes the old deadness to be put aside and that which is par excellence...
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On John 1:1OrigenBut that progress too, which is in wisdom and which is found by those who seek their salvation in it to do for them what they require both in respect of exposition of truth in the divine word and in respect of conduct according to true righteousness, it lets us understand how Christ is the way. In this way we have to...
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On John 1:1OrigenFurther, the Only-begotten is the truth, because He embraces in Himself according to the Father’s will the whole reason of all things, and that with perfect clearness, and being the truth communicates to each creature in proportion to its worthiness. And should any one enquire whether all that the Father knows,...
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On John 1:1OrigenIt is clear also that the principle of that life which is pure and unmixed with any other element, resides in Him who is the first-born of all creation, taking from which those who have a share in Christ live the life which is true life, while all those who are thought to live apart from this, as they have not the...
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On John 1:1OrigenBut as one cannot be in the Father or with the Father except by ascending from below upwards and coming first to the divinity of the Son, through which one may be led by the hand and brought to the blessedness of the Father Himself, so the Saviour has the inscription “The Door.” And as He is a lover of men, and...
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On John 1:1OrigenIn addition to these titles we must consider at the outset of our work that of Christ, and we must also consider that of King, and compare these two so as to find out the difference between them. Now it is said in the forty-fourth Psalm, “Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity, whence Thou art anointed...
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On John 1:1OrigenIt is plain to all how our Lord is a teacher and an interpreter for those who are striving towards godliness, and on the other hand a master of those servants who have the spirit of bondage to fear, who make progress and hasten towards wisdom, and are found worthy to possess it. For “the servant knoweth not what the...
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On John 1:1OrigenNone of these testimonies, however, sets forth distinctly the Saviour’s exalted birth; but when the words are addressed to Him, “Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee,” this is spoken to Him by God, with whom all time is to-day, for there is no evening with God, as I consider, and there is no morning, nothing...
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On John 1:1OrigenTo what we have said must be added how the Son is the true vine. Those will have no difficulty in apprehending this who understand, in a manner worthy of the prophetic grace, the saying: “Wine maketh glad the heart of man.” For if the heart be the intellectual part, and what rejoices it is the Word most pleasant of...
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On John 1:1OrigenFurther, we have to ask in what sense He is called in the Apocalypse the First and the Last, and how, in His character as the First, He is not the same as the Alpha and the beginning, while in His character as the Last He is not the same as the Omega and the end. It appears to me, then, that the reasonable beings...
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On John 1:1OrigenIn what has been said about the first and the last, and about the beginning and the end, we have referred these words at one point to the different forms of reasonable beings, at another to the different conceptions of the Son of God. Thus we have gained a distinction between the first and the beginning, and between...
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On John 1:1OrigenThe texts of the New Testament, which we have discussed, are things said by Himself about Himself. Isaiah, however, He said that His mouth had been set by His Father as a sharp sword, and that He was hidden under the shadow of His hand, made like to a chosen shaft and kept close in the Father’s quiver, called His...
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On John 1:1OrigenAgain, let any one consider how Jesus was to His disciples, not as He who sits at meat, but as He who serves, and how though the Son of God He took on Him the form of a servant for the sake of the freedom of those who were enslaved in sin, and he will be at no loss to account for the Father’s saying to Him: “Thou art...
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On John 1:1OrigenBut none of the names we have mentioned expresses His representation of us with the Father, as He pleads for human nature, and makes atonement for it; the Paraclete, and the propitiation, and the atonement. He has the name Paraclete in the Epistle of John: “If any man sin, we have a Paraclete with the Father, Jesus...
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On John 1:1OrigenWe must not, however, pass over in silence that He is of right the wisdom of God, and hence is called by that name. For the wisdom of the God and Father of all things does not apprehend His substance in mere visions, like the phantasms of human thoughts. Whoever is able to conceive a bodiless existence of manifold...
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On John 1:1OrigenHaving expiscated the “to us” and the “absolutely”—sanctification and redemption being “to us” and not absolute, wisdom and redemption both to us and absolute—we must not omit to enquire into the position of righteousness in the same passage. That Christ is righteousness relatively to us appears clearly from the...
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On John 1:1OrigenNow He receives the kingdom from the king whom the children of Israel appointed, beginning the monarchy not at the divine command and without even consulting God. He therefore fights the battles of the Lord and so prepares peace for His Son, His people, and this perhaps is the reason why He is called David. Then He is...
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On John 1:1OrigenAs, then, from His activity in enlightening the world whose light He is, Christ is named the Light of the World, and as from His making those who sincerely attach themselves to Him put away their deadness and rise again and put on newness of life, He is called the Resurrection, so from an activity of another kind He...
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On John 1:1OrigenWe next notice John’s use of the article in these sentences. He does not write without care in this respect, nor is he unfamiliar with the niceties of the Greek tongue. In some cases he uses the article, and in some he omits it. He adds the article to the Logos, but to the name of God he adds it sometimes only. He...
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On John 1:1OrigenNow it is possible that some may dislike what we have said representing the Father as the one true God, but admitting other beings besides the true God, who have become gods by having a share of God. They may fear that the glory of Him who surpasses all creation may be lowered to the level of those other beings called...
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On John 1:1Origen“He was in the beginning with God.” By his three foregoing propositions the Evangelist has made us acquainted with three orders, and he now sums up the three in one, saying, “This (Logos) was in the beginning with God.” In the first premiss we learned where the Logos was: He was in the beginning; then we learned with...
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On John 1:1–5Saint Augustine of Hippo1. When I give heed to what we have just read from the apostolic lesson, that “the natural man perceives not the things which are of the Spirit of God,” 1 Corinthians 2:14 and consider that in the present assembly, my beloved, there must of necessity be among you many natural men, who know only according to the flesh,...
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On John 1:3Saint John Chrysostom“All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made.”
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On John 1:3Saint Cyril of AlexandriaCHAPTER V. That the Son is by Nature Creator with the Father, as being of His Essence, and not taken to Him as a minister. 3 All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made. The blessed Evangelist, having overthrown the intricate objections of the unholy heretics, and having completed his subtil and most exact utterance...
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On John 1:3Origen“All things were made through Him.” The “through whom” is never found in the first place but always in the second, as in the Epistle to the Romans, “Paul a servant of Christ Jesus, a called Apostle, separated to the Gospel of God which He promised before by His prophets in Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was...
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On John 1:6Saint John Chrysostom[1.] Having in the introduction spoken to us things of urgent importance concerning God the Word, (the Evangelist) proceeding on his road, and in order, afterwards comes to the herald of the Word, his namesake John. And now that thou hearest that he was “sent from God,” do not for the future imagine that any of the words spoken by him are mere man’s words; for all that he utters is not his own, but is of Him who sent him. Wherefore he is called “messenger” ( Mal. iii. 1 ), for the excellence of a messenger is, t...
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On John 1:6–7Saint Cyril of Alexandria6, 7 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light. Having before Explained about God the Word, and most accurately gone through the things whereby He is shewn to be by Nature Son of God the Father, he fortifies their faith in what they had already heard by his words. And sin...
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On John 1:6Saint AugustineMark proceeds as follows: “In those days again, the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat;” and so on, down to the words, “John answered Him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in Thy name, and he...
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On John 1:6OrigenThe Work is Taken Up After a Violent Interruption, Which Has Driven the Writer from Alexandria. He Addresses Himself to It Again, with Thanks for His Deliverance, and Prayer for Guidance. Sixth Book.
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On John 1:6OrigenWhen a house is being built which is to be made as strong as possible, the building takes place in fine weather and in calm, so that nothing may hinder the structure from acquiring the needed solidity. And thus it turns out so strong and stable that it is able to withstand the rush of the flood, and the dashing of the...
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On John 1:6Origen“And this is the witness of John.” This is the second recorded testimony of John the Baptist to Christ. The first begins with “This was He of whom I said, He that cometh after me,” and goes down to “The only-begotten Son of God who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared him.” Heracleon supposes the words, “No...
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On John 1:9Saint John Chrysostom[1.] The reason, O children greatly beloved, why we entertain you portion by portion with the thoughts taken from the Scriptures, and do not at once pour all forth to you, is, that the retaining what is successively set before you may be easy. For even in building, one who before the first stones are settled lays on others, constructs a rotten wall altogether, and easily thrown down: while one who waits that the mortar may first get hard, and so adds what remains little by little, finishes the whole house firmly...
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On John 1:9Saint John Chrysostom[1.] Nothing hinders us from handling to-day also the same words, since before we were prevented by the setting forth of doctrines, from considering all that was read. Where now are those who deny that He is true God? for here He is called “the true Light” ( c. xiv. 6 ), and elsewhere very “Truth” and very “Life.” That saying we will discuss more clearly when we come to the place; but at present we must for a while be speaking to your Charity of that other matter.
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On John 1:9Saint Cyril of AlexandriaCHAPTER VIII. That the Son of God alone is Very Light, the creature not at all, being participate of Light, as originate. 9 That was the true Light. The Divine Evangelist again profitably recapitulates what has been said, and clearly marks off That Which is in truth the Light, the Only-Begotten, from those that are not so, namely things o...
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On John 1:9Saint Cyril of AlexandriaCHAPTER IX. That the soul of man does not exist prior to the body, nor is the embodiment as some say a consequence of former sins. Which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. Sure is the Divine, for he not only thinks that he ought to declare that the Only-Begotten is indeed the Very Light, but he adds forthwith to the things tha...
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On John 1:11Saint John Chrysostom[1.] If ye remember our former reflections, we shall the more zealously proceed with the building up of what remains, as doing so for great gain. For so will our discourse be more intelligible to you who remember what has been already said, and we shall not need much labor, because you are able through your great love of learning to see more clearly into what remains. The man who is always losing what is given to him will always need a teacher, and will never know anything; but he who retains what he has receive...
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On John 1:11Saint John Chrysostom[1.] Beloved, God being loving towards man and beneficent, does and contrives all things in order that we may shine in virtue, and as desiring that we be well approved by Him. And to this end He draws no one by force or compulsion: but by persuasion and benefits He draws all that will, and wins them to Himself. Wherefore when He came, some received Him, and others received Him not. For He will have no unwilling, no forced domestic, but all of their own will and choice, and grateful to Him for their service. Men,...
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On John 1:11Saint Cyril of Alexandria11 He came unto His own and His own received Him not. The Evangelist pursues his plea that the world knew not its Illuminer, that is the Only-Begotten, and from the worse sin of the children of Israel, he hastens to clench the charges against the Gentiles and shews the disease of ignorance alike and unbelief which lay upon the whole world...
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On John 1:10–12OrigenLet us see, however, why the words are added, “And without Him was not anything (Gr. even one thing) made.” Some might think it superfluous to add to the words “All things were made through Him,” the phrase “Without Him was not anything made.” For if everything whatsoever was made through the Logos, then nothing was...
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On John 1:15Saint John Chrysostom“John beareth witness of Him, and crieth, saying, This is He of whom I spake, saying, He that cometh after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.”
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On John 1:15Saint Cyril of Alexandria15 John bare witness of Him and cried. The most wise Evangelist follows again the course of his |113 thoughts and makes the sequel duly correspondent to what preceded. For when he said of the Son of God, we beheld His Glory, the Glory as of the Only-Begotten of the Father, that he might not appear to alone say this (the word we have seen...
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On John 1:15–17OrigenIt was, I consider, a violent and unwarranted procedure which was adopted by Heracleon, the friend, as it is said, of Valentinus, in discussing this sentence: “All things were made through Him.” He excepted the whole world and all that it contains, excluding, as far as his hypothesis goes, from the “all things” what...
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On John 1:15–17OrigenOne point more on the words: “Without Him was not anything made.” The question about evil must receive adequate discussion; what was said of it has not, it is true, a very likely appearance, and yet it appears to me that it ought not to be simply overlooked. The question is whether evil, also, was made through the...
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On John 1:15–17OrigenThe Greeks have certain apothegms, called paradoxes, in which the wisdom of their sages is presented at its highest, and some proof, or what appears to be proof, is given. Thus it is said that the wise man alone, and that every wise man, is a priest, because the wise man alone and every wise man possesses knowledge as...
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On John 1:15–18Saint Augustine of HippoWe undertook, in the name of the Lord, and promised to you, beloved, to treat of that grace and truth of God, full of which the only-begotten Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, appeared to the saints, and to show how, as a matter belonging to the New Testament, it is to be distinguished from the Old Testament....
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On John 1:16Saint John Chrysostom[1.] I said the other day, that John, to resolve the doubts of those who should question with themselves how the Lord, though He came after to the preaching, became before and more glorious than he, added, “for He was before me.” And this is indeed one reason. But not content with this, he adds again a second, which now he declares. What is it? “And of his fullness,” says he, “have all we received, and grace for grace.” With these again he mentions another. What is this? That
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On John 1:16Saint Cyril of Alexandria16 And of His fulness have all we received. The Evangelist in these words accepts the true testimony of the Baptist, and makes clear the proof of the superiority of our Saviour, and of His possessing essentially the surpassing every thing originate, both in respect of glory itself (whereof he is now more especially speaking) and of the br...
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On John 1:16–17OrigenNow let us consider John’s second testimony. Jews from Jerusalem, kindred to John the Baptist, since he also belonged to a priestly race, send priests and levites to ask John who he is. In saying, “I am not the Christ,” he made a confession of the truth. The words are not, as one might suppose, a negation; for it is...
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On John 1:18Saint John Chrysostom“No man hath seen God at any time; the Only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.”
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On John 1:18Saint Cyril of AlexandriaCHAPTER X. That the Only-Begotten is Alone by Nature the Son from the Father, as being of Him and in Him. 18 No man hath seen God at any time; the Only-Begotten God 12, Which is in the Bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. See again herein the vigilance of the Spirit-clad. He was not ignorant that some would surely say, bitterly sear...
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On John 1:18OrigenFirst let us look at the words, “He is not the God of the dead but of the living.” That is equivalent to saying that He is not the God of sinners but of saints. For it was a great gift to the Patriarchs that God in place of His own name should add their name to His own designation as God, as Paul says, “Therefore God...
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On John 1:18OrigenWe have thus enquired as to the life of God, and the life which is Christ, and the living who are in a place by themselves, and have seen how the living are not justified before God, and we have noticed the cognate statement, “Who alone hath immortality.” We may now take up the assumption which may appear to be...
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On John 1:18OrigenHere, we must carefully observe, we have two things which are one, and we have to define the difference between them. First, what is before us in The Word in the beginning, then what is implied in The Life in the Word. The Word was not made in the beginning; there was no time when the beginning was devoid of the Word,...
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On John 1:18OrigenWe have been discussing certain things which are opposite, and what has been said of them may serve to suggest what has been omitted. We are speaking of life and the light of men, and the opposite to life is death; the opposite to the light of men, the darkness of men. It is therefore plain that he who is in the...
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On John 1:18OrigenHeracleon adopts a somewhat violent course when he arrives at this passage, “What was made in Him was life.” Instead of the “In Him” of the text he understands “to those men who are spiritual,” as if he considered the Logos and the spiritual to be identical, though this he does not plainly say; and then he proceeds to...
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On John 1:18OrigenLet us suggest another question, namely, whether the life was the light of men only, and not of every being as well that is in blessedness. For if the life were the same thing as the light of men, and if the light of Christ were for men alone, then the life also would be only for men. But such a view is both foolish...
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On John 1:18OrigenAnother, again, appeals to the text, “Let us make man according to our image and likeness,” and maintains that whatever is made according to God’s image and likeness is man. To support this, numberless instances are adduced to show that in Scripture “man” and “angel” are used indifferently, and that the same subject...
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On John 1:18OrigenThe Saviour is here called simply light. But in the Catholic Epistle of this same John we read that God is light. This, it has been maintained, furnishes a proof that the Son is not in substance different from the Father. Another student, however, looking into the matter more closely and with a sounder judgment, will...
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On John 1:18OrigenAs for those who make up a mythology about the æons and arrange them in syzygies (yokes or pairs), and who consider the Logos and Life to have been emitted by Intellect and Truth, it may not be beside the point to state the following difficulties. How can life, in their system, the yokefellow of the Word, derive his...
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On John 1:18Origen“And the light shineth in darkness and the darkness hath not overtaken it.” We are still enquiring about the light of men, since it is what was spoken of in the preceding verse, and also, I consider, about darkness, which is named as its adversary, the darkness also being, if the definition of it is correct, that of...
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On John 1:18OrigenNow some one will ask how this statement that there is no darkness in Him can be regarded as a thing peculiar to Him, when we consider that the Saviour also was quite without sin. Could it not be said of Him also that “He is light, and that there is no darkness in Him”? The difference between the two cases has been...
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On John 1:18OrigenShould any one consider that we are adding something that is not written, namely, the pursuit of the light by the darkness, let him reflect that unless the darkness had pursued the light the words, “The darkness did not overtake it,” would have no meaning. John writes for those who have wit to see what is omitted and...
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On John 1:18OrigenIn connection with this subject it is necessary for us to point out that darkness is not to be understood, every time it is mentioned, in a bad sense; Scripture speaks of it sometimes in a good sense. The heterodox have failed to observe this distinction, and have accordingly adopted most shameful doctrines about the...
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On John 1:18Origen“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.” He who is sent is sent from somewhere to somewhere; and the careful student will, therefore, enquire from what quarter John was sent, and whither. The “whither” is quite plain on the face of the story; he was sent to Israel, and to those who were willing to hear...
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On John 1:18OrigenAs we are now engaged with what is said of John, and are asking about his mission, I may take the opportunity to state the view which I entertain about him. We have read this prophecy about him, “Behold, I send My messenger (angel) before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee;” and at this we ask if it can...
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On John 1:18OrigenNow we know voice and speech to be different things. The voice can be produced without any meaning and with no speech in it, and similarly speech can be reported to the mind without voice, as when we make mental excursions, within ourselves. And thus the Saviour is, in one view of Him, speech, and John differs from...
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On John 1:18OrigenThe force that is in names may be applied in many matters, and it may be worth our while to ask at this point what is the significance of the names John and Zacharias. The relatives wish, as the giving of a name is a thing not to be lightly disposed of, to call the child Zacharias, and are surprised that Elisabeth...
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On John 1:18Origen“He came for a witness that He might bear witness of the light, that all through Him might believe.” Some of the dissenters from the Church’s doctrine, men who profess to believe in Christ, have desired another being, as indeed their system requires, besides the Creator, and hence cannot allow His coming to the world...
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On John 1:18OrigenAccordingly John came to bear witness of the light, and in his witness-bearing he cried, saying, “He that cometh after me exists before me; for He was before me; for of His fulness we have all received and grace for grace, for the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one hath seen...
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On John 1:18OrigenIt may be asked why we should have gone through all this when the verse before us is, “He came for witness, that he might bear witness of the light.” But it was necessary to give John’s testimonies to the light, and to show the order in which they took place, and also, in order to show how effective John’s testimony...
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On John 1:18Origen[Then, after speaking of the rudeness of style of the Gospel, he proceeds: ]
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On John 1:18Origen————————————
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On John 1:19Saint John Chrysostom“And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?”
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On John 1:19–20Saint Cyril of Alexandria19, 20 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. The Evangelist recalls his own words and endeavours to explain to us more fully (doing exceeding well) what he had already told us told us briefly as in...
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On John 1:19–33Saint Augustine of HippoYou have very often heard, holy brethren, and you know well, that John the Baptist, in proportion as he was greater than those born of women, and was more humble in his acknowledgment of the Lord, obtained the grace of being the friend of the Bridegroom; zealous for the Bridegroom, not for himself; not seeking his own...
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On John 1:28–29Saint John Chrysostom“These things were done in Bethany beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day he seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”
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On John 1:28Saint Cyril of AlexandriaBut he says that these things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, putting this too as a sign of accurate and careful narration. For we are all accustomed, so to speak, in our accounts of things that require it to mention also the places where they happened.
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On John 1:29Saint Cyril of Alexandria29 The next day he seeth Jesus coming to him. In a very little time, the Baptist is declared to be Prophet alike and Apostle. For Whom he was heralding as coming, Him now come he points out. Therefore, he bounded beyond even the measure of prophets, as the Saviour Himself saith when discoursing with the Jews concernin...
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On John 1:29, 32Saint Gregory of Nyssa514On the Baptism of Christ. ———————————— A Sermon for the Day of the Lights. Now I recognize my own flock: to-day I behold the wonted figure of the Church, when, turning with aversion from the occupation even of the cares of the flesh, you come together in y…
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On John 1:35–37Saint John Chrysostom“Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; and looking upon Jesus as He walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God. And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.”
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On John 1:35–36Saint Cyril of Alexandria35, 36 Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples, and looking upon Jesus as He walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God, Which taketh away the sin of the world. Already had the blessed Baptist pointed Him out before; but lo, repeating again the same words, he points Jesus out to his disciples, and...
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On John 1:34–51Saint Augustine of Hippo1. We rejoice at your numbers, for you have come together with readiness and in greater numbers than we could have hoped. This it is that delights and consoles us in all the labors and dangers of this life, your love towards God, and pious zeal, and assured hope, and fervor of spirit. You heard when the psalm was...
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On John 1:37Saint Cyril of Alexandria37 And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Seest thou the fruit, handmaid of teaching, yielded therefrom? Seest thou how great gain accrued from repetition? Let him then who is entrusted with teaching learn from this, to shew himself superior to all indolence, and to esteem silence more hurtful...
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On John 1:41–42Saint John Chrysostom“He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus.”
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On John 1:40–42Saint Cyril of Alexandria40, 41, 42 One of the two which heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew Simon Peter's brother. He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. They who even now received the talent, straightway make traff...
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On John 1:43–44Saint John Chrysostom“The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow Me. Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.”
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On John 1:43Saint Cyril of Alexandria43 The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee; and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow Me. Likeminded with those preceding was Philip, and very ready to follow Christ. For Christ knew that he would be good. Therefore also He says Follow Me, making the word a token of the grace that was upon him, and wh...
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On John 1:49–50Saint John Chrysostom“Nathanael answered and saith unto Him, Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God, Thou art the King of Israel. Jesus answered, and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig-tree, believest thou? Thou shalt see greater things than these.”
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On John 1:49Saint Cyril of Alexandria49 Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God, Thou art the King of Israel. He knows that God Alone is Searcher of hearts, and giveth to none other of men to understand the mind, considering as is likely that verse in the Psalms, God trieth the hearts and reins. For as accruing to none else, the Psalmist hath attributed this too...
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On John 1:50Saint Cyril of Alexandria50 Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. Thou shalt be firmer unto faith, saith He, when thou seest greater things than these. For he that believed one sign, how shall he not by means of many be altogether bettered, especially since they shal...
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On John 1:2Saint Cyril of AlexandriaCHAPTER IV. Against those who dare to say that the conceived and Natural word in God the Father is one, and He that is called Son by the Divine Scriptures another: such is the misconceit of Eunomius' party. 2 This was in the beginning with God. The Evangelist herein made a sort of recapitulation of what had been already before said. But a...
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On John 1:2OrigenTo those who fail to distinguish with care the different propositions of the context the Evangelist may appear to be repeating himself. “He was in the beginning with God” may seem to add nothing to “And the Word was with God.” We must observe more carefully. In the statement “The Word was with God” we are not told...
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On John 1:4Saint Cyril of AlexandriaCHAPTER VI. That the Son is by Nature Life and therefore not originate, but of the Essence of God the Father. 4 4 That which was made, in it was Life. Yet doth the Blessed Evangelist make to us his discourse concerning God the Word, and he seemeth to me profitably to go through all that pertains to Him by Nature, that he may both put to s...
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On John 1:4Saint Cyril of AlexandriaCHAPTER VII. That the Son is by Nature Light and therefore not originate, but of the Essence of God the Father, as Very Light from Very Light. And the Life was the light of men. In these words too does the blessed Evangelist shew us that the Son is by Nature God and Essentially Heir of the good things of Him Who begat Him. For having taug...
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On John 1:5Saint Cyril of Alexandria5 And the Light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. Needs does the most wise Evangelist hasten to expand to us by this too that is now before us the thought expressed above. For he did not think, I suppose, that it would suffice to the hearers unto being able to think unerringly of God the Word, that He is verily th...
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On John 1:8Saint Cyril of Alexandria8 He was not the Light, but was sent to bear witness of the Light. The Baptist having esteemed desert-abodes above the haunts of the cities, and having shewn forth an unwonted persistence in exercise of virtue, and having mounted to the very summit of the righteousness attainable by man, was most rightly wondered at, and even by some imag...
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On John 1:10Saint Cyril of AlexandriaWhat does he say next? That He was in the world. Profitably does the Divine add this also, introducing thereby a thought most needful for us. For when he said, He was the Very Light which lighteth every man coming into the world, and it was not wholly clear to the hearers, whether it meant that the Light lighteth every man that cometh int...
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On John 1:10Saint Cyril of AlexandriaAnd the world was made by Him. The Evangelist in these words needfully indicates that the world was made through the Very Light, that is, the Only-Begotten. For although, having called Him most distinctly Word at the beginning, he affirmed that all things were made through Him, and that without Him nothing was brought into being, and demo...
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On John 1:10Saint Cyril of AlexandriaAnd the world knew Him not. The bearer of the Spirit is watchful and hastens to forestall the sophistry of some; and you may marvel again at the reasoning in his thoughts. He named the Son Very Light, and affirmed that He lighteth every man that cometh into the world, and besides says that He was in the world and the world was made throug...
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On John 1:10Saint AugustineBy the Lord “was the world made, and the world knew Him not.” What world was made by Him, what world knew Him not?
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On John 1:12Saint Cyril of Alexandria12 But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, to them that believe on His Name. A right judgement verily and worthy of God! The firstborn, Israel, is cast out; for he would not abide in ownness |104 with God, nor did lie receive the Son, Who came among His own, he rejected the Bestower of Nobility, he th...
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On John 1:13Saint Cyril of Alexandria13 Which were begotten, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God. They who, he says, have been called by faith in Christ unto sonship with God, put off the littleness of their own nature, and adorned with the grace of Him Who honoureth them as with a splendid robe mount up unto dignity above nature: for...
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On John 1:17Saint Cyril of Alexandria17 And grace for grace, for the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Having said that the glory of the Only-Begotten was found more brilliant than any fame among men, and introducing the greatness in holiness incomparable above all saints that is in Him, he studies to prove this from those who have mounted up...
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On John 1:21Saint Cyril of Alexandria21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? and he saith, I am not. Art thou that Prophet? And he answered, No. Having said by way of explanation, he confessed, I am not the Christ; he tries to shew how or in what manner the confession was made; and he appears to me to wish thereby to lay bare the ill-instructedness of the Jews. For...
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On John 1:22–23Saint Cyril of Alexandria22, 23 What sayest thou of thyself? I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. He accuses them sharply as knowing nothing, and accredits the design or purpose entrusted to him by Prophetic testimony. For I come, he says, to say nothing else than that He, The Looked for, is at length at the doors, yea rather the Lord within the doors....
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On John 1:23Saint AugustineMoreover, Matthew makes up his account of John in the following manner:—Now in those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judæa, and saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
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On John 1:24–25Saint Cyril of Alexandria24 And they had been sent from the Pharisees. 16 They who were sent from the Jews (they were Levites and certain of those who belonged to the priesthood) were convicted of asking foolish questions. For supposing that Christ was one person, the Prophet declared by the Law another, they said, after the holy Baptist had said, I am not the Ch...
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On John 1:25–27OrigenHere the enquiry suggests itself whether the second testimony is concluded, and whether there is a third, addressed to those who were sent from the Pharisees. They wished to know why he baptized, if he was neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet; and he said: “I baptize with water; but there standeth one among...
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On John 1:25–27OrigenThen the Jews sent priests and levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed and denied not; and he confessed, I am not the Christ. What legates should have been sent from the Jews to John, and where should they have been sent from? Should they not have been men held to stand by the election of God...
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On John 1:25–27Origen“And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elijah? and he said, I am not.” No one can fail to remember in this connection what Jesus says of John, “If ye will receive it, this is Elijah which is to come.” How, then, does John come to say to those who ask him, “Art thou Elijah?”—“I am not.” And how can it be true at the...
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On John 1:25–27Origen“Art thou that prophet? And he answered No.” If the law and the prophets were until John, what can we say that John was but a prophet? His father Zacharias, indeed, says, filled with the Holy Ghost and prophesying, “And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest, for thou shalt go before the Lord to...
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On John 1:25–27Origen“They said therefore unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?” This speech of the emissaries amounts to the following: We had a surmise what you were and came to learn if it was so, but now we know that you are not that. It remains for us, therefore, to hear...
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On John 1:25–27Origen“He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord, as said Isaiah the prophet.” As He who is peculiarly the Son of God, being no other than the Logos, yet makes use of Logos (reason)—for He was the Logos in the beginning, and was with God, the Logos of God—so John, the servant...
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On John 1:25–27OrigenNow the way of the Lord is made straight in two fashions. First, in the way of contemplation, when thought is made clear in truth without any mixture of falsehood; and then in the way of conduct, after the sound contemplation of what ought to be done, when action is produced which harmonizes with sound theory of...
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On John 1:25–27OrigenThe words, however, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness,” etc., may be taken as equivalent to “I am He of whom the ‘voice in the wilderness’ is written.” Then John would be the person crying, and his voice would be that crying in the wilderness, “Make straight the way of the Lord.” Heracleon, discussing...
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On John 1:25–27OrigenAnd they that were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him, and said unto him, “Why baptizest thou then, if thou art not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” Those who sent from Jerusalem the priests and levites who asked John these questions, having learned who John was not, and who he was, preserve a...
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On John 1:25–27OrigenWe deem it necessary to compare with the expression of the passage we are considering the similar expressions found elsewhere in the Gospels. This we shall continue to do point by point to the end of this work, so that terms which appear to disagree may be shown to be in harmony, and that the peculiar meanings present...
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On John 1:25–27OrigenJohn answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but in the midst of you standeth one whom ye know not, even He who cometh after me, the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to unloose.” Heracleon considers that John’s answers to those sent by the Pharisees refer not to what they asked, but to what he wished, not...
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On John 1:26–27Saint Cyril of Alexandria26 I baptize with water. Much enduringly does the blessed Baptist bear with the fault finders: and very seasonably does he make the declaration regarding himself a basis of saving preaching: and teaches those who were sent from the Pharisees now even against their will that Christ was within the doors. For I, he says, am bringing in an in...
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On John 1:30Saint Cyril of Alexandria30 This is He of Whom I said. He leads the hearers to remembrance of his words, and yields to Christ the superiority in glory, accomplishing the work, not of love, but rather of truth and necessity. For the creature is subject, even if it willeth not, to the Creator? |133 the bond to the Lord, the supplied to the Give...
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On John 1:31Saint Cyril of Alexandria31 And I knew Him not, but that He should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. He that leaped in the depth of the womb of his mother at the voice of the Holy Virgin while yet bearing the Lord, prophet before the travail-pang, disciple in the womb, says of the Saviour, I knew Him not, a...
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On John 1:31–33OrigenIt may not be out of place, as we are examining the text, “I baptize with water,” to compare the parallel utterances of the evangelists with this of John. Matthew reports that the Baptist, when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, after the words of rebuke which we have already studied,...
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On John 1:31–33OrigenThese, then, are the parallel passages of the four; let us try to see as clearly as we can what is the purport of each and wherein they differ from each other. And we will begin with Matthew, who is reported by tradition to have published his Gospel before the others, to the Hebrews, those, namely, of the circumcision...
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On John 1:31–33OrigenNow let us consider what is stated by Mark. Mark’s account of John’s preaching agrees with the other. The words are, “There cometh after me He that is mightier than I,” which amounts to the same thing as “He that cometh after me is mightier than I.” There is a difference, however, in what follows, “The latchets of His...
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On John 1:31–33OrigenWe must not, however, omit to ask how it comes that Luke and John give the speech without the phrase “to stoop down.” He, perhaps, who stoops down may be held to unloose in the sense which we have stated. On the other hand, it may be that one who fixes his eyes on the height of the exaltation of the Logos, may find...
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On John 1:31–33OrigenJohn records that the Baptist said he was not worthy, Mark that he was not sufficient, and these two are not the same. One who was not worthy might yet be sufficient, and one who was worthy might not be sufficient. For even if it be the case that gifts are bestowed to profit withal and not merely according to the...
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On John 1:31–33OrigenAs to the shoes, too, which are spoken of in the three Gospels, we have a question to consider; we must compare them with the single shoe named by the disciple John. “I am not worthy,” we read there, “to untie the latchet of His shoe.” Perhaps he was conquered by the grace of God, and received the gift of doing that...
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On John 1:31–33OrigenAs for the saying, “There standeth one among you whom you know not,” we are led by it to consider the Son of God, the Word, by whom all things were made, since He exists in substance throughout the underlying nature of things, being the same as wisdom. For He permeated, from the beginning, all creation, so that what...
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On John 1:31–33OrigenBut Heracleon declares the words, “There standeth one among you,” to be equivalent to “He is already here, and He is in the world and in men, and He is already manifest to you all.” By this He does away with the meaning which is also present in the words, that the Word had permeated the whole world. For we must say to...
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On John 1:31–33Origen“These things were done in Bethabara, beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.” We are aware of the reading which is found in almost all the copies, “These things were done in Bethany.” This appears, moreover, to have been the reading at an earlier time; and in Heracleon we read “Bethany.” We are convinced, however,...
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On John 1:31–33OrigenLet us look at the words of the Gospel now before us. “Jordan” means “their going down.” The name “Jared” is etymologically akin to it, if I may say so; it also yields the meaning “going down;” for Jared was born to Maleleel, as it is written in the Book of Enoch—if any one cares to accept that book as sacred—in the...
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On John 1:31–33OrigenNow, it may very well be that some one not versed in the various aspects of the Saviour may stumble at the interpretation given above of the Jordan; because John says, “I baptize with water, but He that cometh after me is stronger than I; He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” To this we reply that, as the Word...
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On John 1:31–33OrigenAnother point which we must not fail to notice is that when Elijah was about to be taken up in a whirlwind, as if to heaven, he took his mantle and wrapped it together and smote the water, which was divided hither and thither, and they went over both of them, that is, he and Elisha. His baptism in the Jordan made him...
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On John 1:31–33OrigenShould any one object to the expression “He smote the water,” on account of the conclusion we arrived at above with respect to the Jordan, that it is a type of the Word who descended for us our descending, we rejoin that with the Apostle the rock is plainly said to be Christ, and that it is smitten twice with the rod,...
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On John 1:31–33OrigenBut that the Spirit in the inspired Scriptures is not speaking mainly of rivers to be seen with the eyes, may be gathered from Ezekiel’s prophecies against Pharaoh, king of Egypt: “Behold I am against thee, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the great dragon, seated in the midst of rivers, who sayest, Mine are the rivers, and I...
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On John 1:31–33Origen“The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him.” The mother of Jesus had formerly, as soon as she conceived, stayed with the mother of John, also at that time with child, and the Former then communicated to the Formed with some exactness His own image, and caused him to be conformed to His glory. And from this outward...
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On John 1:31–33OrigenJohn the disciple does not tell us where the Saviour comes from to John the Baptist, but we learn this from Matthew, who writes: “Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan to John, to be baptized of him.” And Mark adds the place in Galilee; he says, “And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth in...
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On John 1:31–33Origen“And he sayeth, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” There were five animals which were brought to the altar, three that walk and two that fly; and it seems to be worth asking why John calls the Saviour a lamb and not any of these other creatures, and why, when each of the animals that walk...
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On John 1:31–33OrigenNow we find the lamb offered in the continual (daily) sacrifice. Thus it is written, “This is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by day continually, for a continual sacrifice. The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning, and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even, and a tenth...
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On John 1:31–33OrigenBut if any one asks what the saint is to do in the time between morning and evening, let him follow what takes place in the cultus and infer from it the principle he asks for. In that case the priests begin their offerings with the continual sacrifice, and before they come to the continuous one of the evening they...
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On John 1:31–33OrigenIf we enquire further into the significance of Jesus being pointed out by John, when he says, “This is the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world,” we may take our stand at the dispensation of the bodily advent of the Son of God in human life, and in that case we shall conceive the lamb to be no other than...
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On John 1:31–33OrigenAkin to this sacrifice are the others of which the sacrifices of the law are symbols, and another kind of sacrifice also appears to me to be of the same nature; namely, the shedding of the blood of the noble martyrs, whom the disciple John saw, for this is not without significance, standing beside the heavenly altar....
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On John 1:31–33OrigenWe have lingered over this subject of the martyrs and over the record of those who died on account of pestilence, because this lets us see the excellence of Him who was led as a sheep to the slaughter and was dumb as a lamb before the shearer. For if there is any point in these stories of the Greeks, and if what we...
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On John 1:31–33OrigenThe reader will do well to consider what was said above and illustrated from various quarters on the question what is meant in Scripture by the word “world”; and I think it proper to repeat this. I am aware that a certain scholar understands by the world the Church alone, since the Church is the adornment of the...
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On John 1:32–33Saint Cyril of AlexandriaCHAPTER I. That the Holy Ghost is in the Son not by participation, not from without, but Essentially and by Nature. 32, 33 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from Heaven like a dove, and It abode upon Him. And I knew Him not: but He That sent me to baptize with water, the Same said unto me, Upon...
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On John 1:32–33Saint Augustine of Hippo1. I Confess to you, holy brethren, I was afraid the cold would have made you cold in assembling yourselves together; but since you prove by this, your crowded assembly, that you are fervent in spirit, I doubt not that you have also prayed for me, that I may pay you what I owe. For I promised you in the name of Christ...
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On John 1:33Saint AugustineAgain, the account of the dove given in the Gospel according to John does not mention the time at which the incident happened, but contains a statement of the words of John the Baptist as reporting what he saw.
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On John 1:33Saint Augustine of HippoWe have arrived, as the Lord has willed it, to the day of our promise. He will grant this also, that we may arrive at the fulfillment of the promise. For then those things which we say, if they are useful to us and to you, are from Him; but those things which proceed from man are false, as our Lord Jesus Christ...
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On John 1:34Saint Cyril of Alexandria34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God. Sure is the witness; who, what he hath actually seen, that he also speaketh. For haply he was not ignorant of that which is written, That which thine eyes have seen, tell. I saw then, says he, the sign, and understood That Which was signified by it. I bear rec...
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On John 1:38Saint Cyril of Alexandria38 Then Jesus turned and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? Fitly does the Lord turn to them that follow Him, that thou mayest learn in act that which is sung, I sought the Lord, and He heard me. For while we do not yet seek the Lord by good habits and Tightness in believing, we are in some sort be...
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On John 1:39Saint Cyril of Alexandria39 He saith unto them, Come and see. He doth not point out the house, though asked to do it, but rather bids them come forthwith to it: teaching first, as by example, that it is not well to cast delays in the way of search after what is good (for delay in things profitable is altogether hurtful): and this too besides,...
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On John 1:45Saint Cyril of Alexandria45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found Him, of Whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth the Son of Joseph. Exceeding swift was the disciple unto the bearing fruit, that hereby he might shew himself akin in disposition to them that had preceded. For he findeth Nathanae...
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On John 1:46Saint Cyril of Alexandria46 Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Nathanael readily agrees that something great and most fair is that which is expected to appear out of Nazareth 5. It is, I suppose, perfectly clear, that not only did he take Nazareth as a pledge of that which he sought, but bringing together knowledge from the law an...
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On John 1:47Saint Cyril of Alexandria47 Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile. Not having yet used proof by means of signs, Christ endeavoured in another way to persuade both His own disciples, and the wiser of those that came to Him, that He was by Nature Son and God, but for the salvation of all was come in human Form. What then was the mode...
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On John 1:48Saint Cyril of Alexandria48 Whence knowest thou me? Nathanael begins to wonder, and is called to a now firm faith: but desires yet to learn, whence He has the knowledge concerning him. For very accurate are learning-seeking and pious souls. But perhaps he supposed that somewhat of him had been shewn to the Lord by Philip. Before that Philip c...
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On John 1:48Saint AugustineWhat we have heard said by the Lord Jesus Christ to Nathanael, if we understand it aright, does not concern him only.
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On John 1:51Open John 1 in the interactive reader Switch translations, hear the chapter read aloud, tap any verse for its patristic commentary, and study the Greek word by word.Saint Cyril of Alexandria51 Verily, verily I say unto you, hereafter ye shall see Heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. Common now to all is the word which seals the faith of Nathanael. But in saying that angels shall be seen speeding up and down upon the Son of Man, that is, ministering and serving...
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