John 1:3

πάντα. Less definite and more comprehensive than τὰ πάντα, which we find 1 Corinthians 8:6; Colossians 1:16; Romans 11:36; Hebrews 2:10; texts which should all be compared. See Lightfoot on Colossians 1:16.

δι' αὐτοῦ. The Universe is created ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς διὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ, by the Father through the agency of the Son. See the texts just quoted.

ἐγένετο. Comp. the frequent ἐγένετο in Genesis 1. Note the climax: the sphere contracts as the blessing enlarges: existence for everything, life for the vegetable and animal world, light for men.

χωρὶς αὐτοῦ κ.τ.λ. Emphatic repetition by contradicting the opposite of what has been stated: frequent in Hebrew. Cf. John 5:20; John 3:16; John 10:5; John 10:18; John 18:20; John 20:27; 1 John 1:5-6; 1 John 2:4; 1 John 2:10-11; 1 John 2:27-28; Revelation 2:13; Revelation 3:9; Psalms 89:30-31; Psalms 89:48, &c. &c. One of many instances of the Hebrew cast of S. John’s style. The technical name is ‘antithetic parallelism.’

οὐδὲ ἕν. No, not one; not even one: stronger than οὐδέν. Every single thing, however great, however small, throughout all the realms of space, came into being through Him. No event in the Universe takes place without Him,—apart from His presence and power. Matthew 10:29; Luke 12:6. “Such a belief undoubtedly carries us into great depths and heights … It gives solemnity and awfulness to the investigations of science. It forbids trifling in them. It stimulates courage and hope in them. It makes all superstitious dread of them sinful” (Maurice).

ὃ γέγονεν. That hath been made. The A.V. makes no distinction between the aorist and the perfect: ἐγένετο refers to the moment and fact of creation; γέγονεν to the permanent result of that fact. Everything that has reached existence must have passed through the Will of the Λόγος: He is the Way to life. We find the same thought in the Vedas; ‘the Word of Brahm has begotten all.’

Contrast both ἐγένετο and γέγονεν with ἦν in John 1:1-2. The former denote the springing into life of what had once been non-existent; the latter denotes the perpetual pre-existence of the Eternal Word.

Most early Christian writers and some modern critics put a full stop at οὐδὲ ἕν, and join ὃ γέγονεν to what follows, thus; That which hath been made in Him was life; i.e. those who were born again by union with the Word felt His influence as life within them. This seems harsh and not quite in harmony with the context; but it has an overwhelming amount of support from the oldest versions and MSS. Tatian (Orat. ad Graecos XIX.) has πάντα ὑπ' αὐτοῦ καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ γέγονεν οὐδὲ ἕν. See last note on John 1:5.