1 John 1:1

That which was from the beginning, &c.— Though from the beginning (απ αρχης), and in the beginning (εν αρχη), as we have it, John 1:1 are somewhat different expressions; yet, as Christ is here styled in the next verse eternal Life, it is natural to take in his eternal existence, correspondent to this apostle's assertion of it, John 1:1. The phrase Ye have known him that is from the beginning

(απ αρχης), ch. 1 John 2:13 whether applied to the Father or Son, evidently relates to his eternal existence. Accordingly, we may take the phrase that which was from the beginning to relate to the eternal Deity of Christ, rather than to the beginning of the gospel dispensation, though it may bear the last of these senses in some other parts of this epistle. The neuter gender is sometimes used concerning a person, both in the New Testament and in some of the Greek classics. St. John, as well as the other eleven apostles, had heard Christ preach, and had heard the Father bear testimony to him by an audible voice from heaven: they had seen him with their own eyes; they had viewed him attentively and deliberately. Nay, St. John here declares, that he had not only seen and heard Christ in the flesh, but had felt and handled his body, and had all possible evidence that he came in the flesh, or had a real body: by which expressions St. John seems particularly to advert to the heresy of the docetae. See the introduction to this chapter.