John 1 · Verse 4

John 1:4

In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
John 1:4, King James Version

John 1:4 in other translations

BSBIn Him was life, and that life was the light of men.
WEBIn him was life, and the life was the light of men.
ASVIn him was life; and the life was the light of men.
YLTIn him was life, and the life was the light of men,
DARBYIn him was life, and the life was the light of men.
BBEWhat came into existence in him was life, and the life was the light of men.
WebsterIn him was life; and the life was the light of men.

What does John 1:4 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
4. In Him was life--essentially and originally, as the previous verses show to be the meaning. Thus He is the Living Word, or, as He is called in 1Jo 1:1, 2, "the Word of Life." the life ... the light of men--All that in men which is true light--knowledge, integrity, intelligent, willing subjection to God, love to Him and to their fellow creatures, wisdom, purity, holy joy, rational happiness--all this "light of men" has its fountain in the essential original "life" of "the Word" (1Jo 1:5-7; Psa 36:9).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Barnes' Notes
Verse 4. In him was life. The evangelist had just affirmed Jn 1:3 that by the Logos or Word the world was originally created. One part of that creation consisted in breathing into man the breath of life, Gen 2:7. God is declared to be life, or the living God, because he is the source or fountain of life. This attribute is here ascribed to Jesus Christ. He not merely made the material worlds, but he also gave life. He was the agent by which the vegetable world became animated; by which brutes live; and by which man became a living soul, or was endowed with immortality. This was a higher proof that the "Word was God," than the creation of the material worlds; but there is another sense in which he was life. The new creation, or the renovation of man and his restoration from a state of sin, is often compared with the first creation; and as the Logos was the source of life then, so, in a similar but higher sense, he is the source of life to the soul dead in trespasses and sins, Eph 2:1. And it is probably in reference to this that he is so often called life in the writings of John. "For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself," Jn 5:26; "He giveth life unto the world," Jn 6:33; "I am the resurrection and the life," Jn 11:25; "This is the true God and eternal life," 1Jn 5:20. See also 1Jn 1:1,2, 5:11, Acts 3:15, Col 3:4. The meaning is, that he is the source or the fountain of both natural and spiritual life. Of course he has the attributes of God.

The life was the light of men. Light is that by which we see objects distinctly. The light of the sun enables us to discern the form, the distance, the magnitude, and the relation of objects, and prevents the perplexities and dangers which result from a state of darkness. Light is in all languages, therefore, put for knowledge --for whatever enables us to discern our duty, and that saves us from the evils of ignorance and error. "Whatsoever doth make manifest is light," Eph 5:13. See Isa 8:20, 9:2. The Messiah was predicted as the light of the world, Isa 9:2, compared with Mt 4:15,16; Isa 60:1. See Jn 8:12, "I am the light of the world;" Jn 12:35, 36, 46 "I am come a light into the world." The meaning is, that the Logos or Word of God is the instructor or teacher of man-kind. This was done before his advent by his direct agency in giving man reason or understanding, and in giving his law, for the "law was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator" (Gal 3:19); after his advent by his personal ministry when on earth, by his Spirit (Jn 14:16,26), and by his ministers since, Eph 4:11, 1Cor 12:28.

(f) "In him was life" Jn 5:26, 1Jn 5:11 (g) "the light of men" Jn 8:12

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 4 In him was life - Many MSS., versions, and fathers, connect this with the preceding verse, thus: All things were made by him, and without him was nothing made. What was made had life in it; but This Life was the light of men. That is, though every thing he made had a principle of life in it, whether vegetable, animal, or intellectual, yet this, that life or animal principle in the human being, was not the light of men; not that light which could guide them to heaven, for the world by wisdom knew not God, 1Cor 1:21. Therefore, the expression, in him was life, is not to be understood of life natural, but of that life eternal which he revealed to the world, 2Tim 1:10, to which he taught the way, Joh 14:6, which he promised to believers, Joh 10:28, which he purchased for them, Joh 6:51, Joh 6:53, Joh 6:54, which he is appointed to give them, Joh 17:2, and to which he will raise them up, Joh 5:29, because he hath the life in himself, Joh 5:26. All this may be proved: 1. From the like expressions; 1Jn 5:11, This is the promise that God hath given unto us, eternal life, and this life is in his Son: whence he is styled the true God and eternal life, 1Jn 5:20; the resurrection and the life, Joh 11:25; the way, the truth, and the life, Joh 14:6. 2. From these words, Joh 1:7, John came to bear witness of this light, that all might believe through him, viz. to eternal life, 1Tim 1:16; for so John witnesseth, Joh 3:15, Joh 3:36. And hence it follows that this life must be the light of men, by giving them the knowledge of this life, and of the way leading to it. See Whitby on the place. Is there any reference here to Gen 3:20 : And Adam called his wife's name Eve, חוה chava, Ζωη, Life, because she was the mother of all living? And was not Jesus that seed of the woman that was to bruise the head of the serpent, and to give life to the world?

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on John 1:1-5

The plainest reason why the Son of God is called the Word, seems to be, that as our words explain our minds to others, so was the Son of God sent in order to reveal his Father's mind to the world. What the evangelist says of Christ proves that he is God. He asserts, His existence in the beginning; His coexistence with the Father. The Word was with God. All things were made by him, and not as an instrument. Without…

Read the full comment on John 1:1-5 →

John 1:4 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

ἐνenInG1722
αὐτῷautōHimG846
ζωὴzōēlifeG2222
ἦν,ēnwas,G1510
καὶkaiandG2532
ἡhētheG3588
ζωὴzōēlifeG2222
ἦνēnwasG1510
τὸtotheG3588
φῶςphōslightG5457
τῶνtōn<the>G3588
ἀνθρώπων,anthrōpōnof men,G444

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for John 1:4

  • John 8:12

    Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

  • John 12:46

    I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.

  • John 5:26

    For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;

  • 1 John 1:5-7

    This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

  • John 9:5

    As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

  • Luke 1:78-79

    Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

  • John 11:25

    Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

  • Isaiah 42:6-7

    I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.

  • John 14:6

    Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

  • 1 John 5:11

    And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

  • Ephesians 5:14

    Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

  • John 12:35

    Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
him.
5:21,26; 11:25; 14:6; 1Co 15:45; Col 3:4; 1Jo 1:2; 5:11; Re 22:1
the life.
8,9; 8:12; 9:5; 12:35,46; Ps 84:11; Isa 35:4,5; 42:6,7,16; Ps 49:6
Ps 60:1-3; Mal 4:2; Mt 4:16; Lu 1:78,79; 2:32; Ac 26:23; Eph 5:14
1Jo 1:5-7; Re 22:16

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • John 1:3

    All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

  • John 1:4

    In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

  • John 1:5

    And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

Read all of John 1

John 1:4 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		En él estaba la vida, y la vida era la luz de los hombres.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		En elle était la vie, et la vie était la lumière des hommes.
German
Elberfelder 1871		In ihm war Leben, und das Leben war das Licht der Menschen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		In ipso vita erat, et vita erat lux hominum: