1 John 1:1

ὅ, i.e. the Logos and the Eternal Life which He manifested. Cf. 1 John 1:4 : πᾶν τὸ γεγεννημένον with note. ἦν, “verbum æternitatis significativum non habentis initium” (Clem. Alex.). It “was” ere it “was manifested”. ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς, בְּרֵאשִׁית (Genesis 1:1). The Logos already was when time began. “The design of the Apostle is to remove the idea of novelty which could lessen the dignity of the Gospel” (Calvin). Cf. Athan., Synops. Script. Sacr. : θεολογῶν δὲ ἐξηγεῖται μὴ νεώτερον εἶναι τὸ καθʼ ἡμᾶς μυστήριον ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐξ ἀρχῆς μὲν ἀεὶ τυγχάνειν αὐτὸ νῦν δὲ πεφανερῶσθαι ἐν τῷ Κυρίῳ. ἀκηκόαμεν, “we have heard”; either the editorial “we” (cf. Romans 1:5; Colossians 4:3); or, with Lightfoot; St. John and the elders of Ephesus who had certified the authorship and authenticity of the Gospel (John 21:24); or “I and the rest of the Apostles” not hearsay but the testimony of eye-witnesses. ἐθεασάμεθα, “we beheld” a spectacle which broke on our astonished vision. This seems to be the force of the transition from perfect to aorist, though it may be simply an instance of the decay of the distinction between perfect and aorist (see Moulton's Gram, of N.T. Gk., i. pp. 142 f.). ἐψηλάφησαν : the word is used of the fumbling of a blind man in Genesis 27:12 LXX μή ποτε ψηλαφήσῃ με ὁ πατὴρ. περὶ, in Betreff des Wortes des Lebens (Holtzmann); i.e. “We did not grasp all the wonder but only its skirts”. “ Vom Worte des Lebens will er verkündigen, denn ihn selbst verkün-digen zu können, dazu fühlte er sich nicht in Stande” (Rothe). τοῦ Λόγου τῆς ζωῆς, “the Word who gives life,” “des Wortes, ohne welches es kein Leben gibt” (Holtzmann). Calvin: “Genitivus loco epitheti pro Vivifico”. Rothe's “das Wort vom Leben (the word concerning life)” is Pauline (cf. Philippians 2:16) but not Johannine.