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Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 John 2:8

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Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.

8. Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true ] Or, Again, as a new commandment I write unto you a thing which is true. Or, Again, a new commandment write I unto you, namely that which is true. It is difficult to decide between these three renderings; but the third is simpler than the first. Both Tyndale and the Genevan Version have ‘a thing that is true’. If we adopt the rendering of A. V. and R. V., the meaning seems to be, that the newness of the commandment is true, both in the case of Christ, who promulgated it afresh, and in the case of you, who received it afresh. If we prefer the simpler rendering, the meaning will be, that what has already been shewn to be true by the pattern life of Christ and by the efforts of Christians to imitate it, is now given by S. John as a new commandment. The ‘Again’ introduces a new view: that which from one point of view was an old commandment, from another was a new one. It was old, but not obsolete, ancient but not antiquated: it had been renewed in a fuller sense; it had received a fresh sanction. Thus both those who feared innovations and those who disliked what was stale might feel satisfied.

in Him and in you ] Note the double preposition, implying that it is true in the case of Christ in a different sense from that in which it is true in the case of Christians. He reissued the commandment and was the living embodiment and example of it; they accepted it and endeavoured to follow it: both illustrated its truth and soundness. See on 1Jn 1:3, where ‘with’ is repeated, and on Joh 20:2, where ‘to’ is repeated. The reading ‘in us’ is certainly to be rejected.

because the darkness is past ] Rather, is passing away ( 1Jn 2:17): present tense of a process still going on ( 1Jn 2:17). All earlier English Versions are wrong here, from Wiclif onwards, misled by transierunt tenebrae in the Vulgate. On ‘darkness’ see on 1Jn 1:5. The ‘because’ introduces the reason why he writes as a new commandment what has been proved true by the example of Christ and their own experience. The ideal state of things, to which the perfect fulfilment of this commandment belongs, has already begun: ‘The darkness is on the wane, the true light is shewing its power; therefore I bid you to walk as children of light’. Comp. 1Th 5:5.

the true light now shineth ] Or, the light, the true (light), is already shining or, giving light: the article is repeated, as in the case of ‘the life, the eternal (life)’ in 1Jn 1:2, and ‘the commandment, the old (commandment)’ in 1Jn 2:7; and if we have ‘is passing’ rather than ‘passeth’, we should have ‘is shining’ rather than ‘shineth’. Here we have not precisely the same word for ‘true’ as in the previous sentence. In ‘a thing which is true’ ( ) ‘true’ is opposed to ‘lying’: here ‘true’ ( ) is opposed to ‘spurious’, and is just the old English ‘very’. In ‘Very God of very God’ in the Nicene Creed, ‘very’ represents the word here rendered ‘true’. ‘True’ in this sense means ‘genuine’, or ‘that which realises the idea formed of it’, and hence ‘perfect.’ Christ and the Gospel are ‘the perfect light’ in opposition to the imperfect light of the Law and the Prophets and the false light of Gnostic philosophy. This form of the word ‘true’ is almost peculiar to S. John: it occurs 4 times in this Epistle, 9 times in the Gospel and 10 times in the Apocalypse: elsewhere in the N.T. only 5 times. Christ in the Gospel is called ‘the perfect Vine’ (Joh 15:1), ‘the perfect Bread’ (Joh 6:32) and ‘the perfect Light’ (1Jn 1:9). It is comparatively unimportant whether we interpret ‘the perfect light’ here to mean Christ, or the light of the truth, or the kingdom of heaven: but Joh 1:5; Joh 1:9 will certainly incline us to the first of these interpretations. The contrast with the impersonal darkness does not disprove this here any more than in Joh 1:5. Darkness is never personal; it is not an effluence from Satan as light is from God or from Christ. It is the result, not of the presence of the evil one, but of the absence of God. Comp. ‘Ye were once darkness, but now light in the Lord: walk as children of light’ (Eph 5:8).

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Again, a new commandment I write unto you – And yet, that which I write to you, and particularly enjoin on you, deserves in another sense to be called a new commandment, though it has been also inculcated from the beginning, for it was called new by the Saviour himself. Or the meaning may be, In addition to the general precepts which I have referred to, I do now call your attention to the new commandment of the Saviour, that which he himself called new. There can be no doubt here that John refers to the commandment to love one another, (see 1Jo 2:9-11), and that it is here called new, not in the sense that John inculcated it as a novel doctrine, but in the sense that the Saviour called it such. For the reasons why it was so called by him, see the notes at Joh 13:34.

Which thing is true in him – In the Lord Jesus. That is, which commandment or law of love was illustrated in him, or was manifested by him in his contact with his disciples. That which was most prominent in him was this very love which he enjoined on all his followers.

And in you – Among you. That is, you have manifested it in your contact with each other. It is not new in the sense that you have never heard of it, and have never evinced it, but in the sense only that he called it new.

Because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth – The ancient systems of error, under which people hated each other, have passed away, and you are brought into the light of the true religion. Once you were in darkness, like others; now the light of the pure gospel shines around you, and that requires, as its distinguishing characteristic, love. Religion is often represented as light; and Christ spoke of himself, and was spoken of, as the Light of the world. See the notes at Joh 1:4-5. Compare Joh 8:12; Joh 12:35-36, Joh 12:46; Isa 9:2.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 8. Which thing is true in him and in you] It is true that Christ loved the world so well as to lay down his life for it; and it was true in them, in all his faithful followers at that time, who were ready to lay down their lives for the testimony of Jesus. There is a saying in Synopsis Sohar, p. 94, n. 51, that may cast some light on this passage: That way in which the just have walked, although it be OLD, yet may be said to be NEW in the love of the righteous. The love that the righteous bear to God and to each other is a renewal of the commandment.

The darkness is past] The total thick darkness of the heathen world, and the comparative darkness of the Mosaic dispensation, are now passing away; and the pure and superior light of Christianity is now diffusing its beams everywhere. He does not say that the darkness was all gone by, but , it is passing away; he does not say that the fulness of the light had appeared, but , it is now shining and will shine more and more to the perfect day; for the darkness passes away in proportion as the light shines and increases.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Yet also he calls it a new commandment, as our Saviour did, Joh 13:34, upon the subjoined accounts.

Which thing is true; i.e. evident, or verified, fulfilled, exemplified.

In him; viz. in that new and high demonstration he had given of the sincerity and greatness of his own love, laying down his life for us, as Joh 15:13.

And in you; or, us, (as some read), i.e. the mind of God herein is by a new and fresh light most evidently and gloriously signified in or among you, (the subject being here collective and plural, admits this varied and very usual sense of the particle in), inasmuch as

the darkness is past; i.e. the heathenish ignorance that made the world barbarous; a darkness in which the furious lusts and passions of men are wont to rage, turning this earth into another hell, Psa 74:20, is in a great measure vanished; and also the dark umbrage of the Judaic dispensation, (some read for , not darkness, but shadow), in which the love of God to men was more obscurely represented, is past away and gone,

and the true light now shineth; the love and grace of God towards sinners (the pattern and argument of our mutual love to one another) shines with

true light, that is evident, in opposition to darkness, or immediately substantial, in opposition to type or shadow, as Joh 1:9,14,17; representing the gracious design of God, and his very nature, who is love, 1Jo 4:8,16, with so bright and glorious beams as ought to transform us into his likeness; and which therefore render the mutual hatred of one another the most incongruous thing to us in the world. Whereupon he adds… {see 1Jo 2:9}

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

8. a new commandmentIt was”old,” in that Christians as such had heard it fromthe first; but “new” (Greek, “kaine,“not “nea“: new and different from the oldlegal precept) in that it was first clearly promulgated withChristianity; though the inner spirit of the law was loveeven to enemies, yet it was enveloped in some bitter precepts whichcaused it to be temporarily almost unrecognized, till the Gospelcame. Christianity first put love to brethren on the newand highest MOTIVE,instinctive love to Him who first loved us, constraining us to loveall, even enemies, thereby walking in the steps of Him who loved uswhen enemies. So Jesus calls it “new,” Joh 13:34;Joh 13:35, “Love one anotheras I have loved you” (the new motive); Joh15:12.

which thing is true in himand in you“In Christ all things are always true,and were so from the beginning; but in Christ and in usconjointly the commandment [the love of brethren] is thentrue when we acknowledge the truth which is in Him, andhave the same flourishing in us” [BENGEL].ALFORD explains, “Whichthing (the fact that the commandment is a new one) is true inHim and in you because the darkness is passing away, and thetrue light is now shining; that is, the commandment is a new one,and this is true both in the case of Christ and in the case of you;because in you the darkness is passing away, and in Himthe true light is shining; therefore, on both accounts, the commandis a new one: new as regards you, because you are newly comefrom darkness into light; new as regards Him, because He uttered itwhen He came into the world to lighten every man, and began thatshining which even now continues.” I prefer, as BENGEL,to explain, The new commandment finds its truth in itspractical realization in the walk of Christians in union withChrist. Compare the use of “verily,” 1Jo2:5. Joh 4:42, “indeed”;Joh 6:55. The repetition of”in” before “you,” “in Him and in you,”not “in Him and you” implies that the love commandmentfinds its realization separately: first it did so “inHim,” and then it does so “in us,” in so far as wenow “also walk even as He walked”; and yet it finds itsrealization also conjointly, by the two being united in onesentence, even as it is by virtue of the love commandment having beenfirst fulfilled in Him, that it is also now fulfilled inus, through His Spirit in us: compare a similar case, Joh20:17, “My Father and your Father”; byvirtue of His being “My Father,” He is also yourFather.

darkness is pastrather,as in 1Jo 2:17, “ispassing away.” It shall not be wholly “past” until”the Sun of righteousness” shall arise visibly; “thelight is now shining” already, though but partially untilthe day bursts forth.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Again, a new commandment I write unto you,…. Which is the same with the former, considered in different respects. The command of brotherly love is a new one; that is, it is an excellent one, as a new name is an excellent name, and a new song is an excellent one; it is renewed by Christ under the Gospel dispensation; it is newly explained by him, and purged from the false glosses of the Scribes and Pharisees; see Mt 5:43; and enforced by him with a new argument, and by a new example of his own, even his own love to his people; and which is observed by them in a new manner, they being made new creatures; and this law being anew written in their hearts, under the renewing work of the Spirit of God, as a branch of the new covenant of grace; see Joh 13:34. The Jews c expect , “a new law” to be given them by the bands of the Messiah; and a new one he has given, even the new commandment of love, and which is the fulfilling of the law.

Which things is true in him, and in you. The Alexandrian copy reads, “in us”; the sense is either, it is true “in itself”, as the phrase will bear to be rendered, and it is verified in you, or in us, to be a new commandment; or it is true in Christ, it is yea and amen in him; it has its full completion in him, who is the fulfilling end of the law, as well as it has been faithfully delivered, truly explained, and warmly and affectionately recommended and urged by him; and he is the great pattern and exemplar of it: and the love which this new commandment requires is really and truly in the saints, implanted in them in regeneration, is a fruit of the Spirit, and which faith works by, and will always continue in them; and should be in its actings like Christ’s, true, sincere, cordial, affectionate, constant, and universal: and some think the word , or , “is”, or “let it be”, is wanting in the last clause, and may be read, “which thing is true in him, and is”, or “let it be in you”: that is, as love to the brethren is true and sincere in Christ, so it is, or should be in you; it should be without dissimulation, and so it was, as the reason following shows:

because the darkness is past, or is “passing”; meaning either the darkness of the ceremonial law, which lay in dark types and shadows, and in cloudy sacrifices, and mystical representations of things, and was a shadow of good things to come; and its shadows were now fleeing away apace, in fact as well as in right; and so the Alexandrian copy reads, “because the shadow is passing away”; the night of Jewish darkness was far spent, and the Gospel day was not only broke, but it was, or near noonday, which brought the light of faith, and the heat of love with it: or else the darkness of sin and ignorance, of a state of nature, and of the kingdom of Satan, in which the people of God are before conversion; which then passes away gradually, by little and little, for it is not removed at once, or wholly gone; for though the saints are at once removed out of a state of darkness, and from the kingdom of darkness, and the power of it, yet they are not wholly free from the darkness of sin and ignorance, they still see but through a glass darkly: and the words are better rendered, the darkness passes”, or “is passing away”, and not is past”, or “has passed away”; for as yet it is not entirely gone;

and the true light now shineth; either the Gospel, which is a light, and a true and substantial one, in distinction from the dim light of nature, or the shadowy law of Moses; and which now, under the present dispensation, shines out in a most glorious manner, as the sun in its full strength; and so the Ethiopic version renders it, “the light of truth”; the word of truth, the Gospel of our salvation: or Jesus Christ, who is so called, Joh 1:9; in distinction from typical lights, as the “Urim” on the high priest’s breastplate, the candlestick in the tabernacle and temple, and the pillar of fire by night, which guided the Israelites through the wilderness; and in opposition to all false lights, to the Scribes and Pharisees, to false Christs and false prophets, which are so many “ignes fatui”; but Christ is the sun of righteousness that is risen in our “horizon”, and the true light which shines out in a most illustrious manner: or the light of grace is here intended, that light which the Spirit of God illuminates with in conversion; in which a man sees sin in its true colours, and has a spiritual and saving sight of Christ, of pardon, peace, life, righteousness, and salvation by him; which is no other than the light of faith, by which an enlightened person sees the Son, looks to him, and has an evidence of the unseen glories of another world. Now this is a true light, things are seen by the believer in a right light, both his own sins, and the person, blood, and righteousness of Christ; this is a shining one, which cannot but be observed by himself, and shines more and more to the perfect day; and it now shines as it did not before, in a state of nature, and continues to shine, and ever will: this light will never be put out, and is the cause of brotherly love, being truly in the saints, and of the continuance of it; before this light shines, men live in malice, but when it comes and shines, as they walk in light, they walk in love.

c Yalkut Simconi, par. 2. fol. 461.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Again a new commandment ( ). Paradox, but truth. Old in teaching (as old as the story of Cain and Abel, 3:11f.), but new in practice. For this use of for a new turn see Joh 16:28. To walk as Christ walked is to put in practice the old commandment and so make it new (ever new and fresh), as love is as old as man and fresh in every new experience.

True in him and in you ( ). This newness is shown supremely in Christ and in disciples when they walk as Jesus did (verse 6).

Because (). Explanation of the paradox.

Is passing away (). Present middle indicative of , old verb, to lead by, to go by (intransitive), as in Mt 20:30. Night does pass by even if slowly. See this verb in verse 17 of the world passing by like a procession.

True (). Genuine, reliable, no false flicker.

Already shineth ( ). Linear present active, “is already shining” and the darkness is already passing by. Dawn is here. Is John thinking of the second coming of Christ or of the victory of truth over error, of light over darkness (cf. Joh 1:5-9), the slow but sure victory of Christ over Satan as shown in the Apocalypse? See 1:5.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

New commandment. The commandment of love is both old and new. Old, because John’s readers have had it from the beginning of their Christian experience. New, because, in the unfolding of Christian experience, it has developed new power, meaning, and obligation, and closer correspondence “with the facts of Christ ‘s life, with the crowning mystery of His passion, and with the facts of the Christian life.”

Which thing is true [ ] . The expression which thing, or that which, refers either to the commandment of love, or to the fact stated, viz., that the old commandment is new. The fact that the old commandment is new is true in Him and in us. On the whole I prefer this. In Him and in us. For us, read you. The fact that the old commandment is new, is true in Him (Christ), since He gave it as a new commandment, and illustrated it by His word and example. It is true in you, since you did not receive it until Christ gave it, and since the person and life of Christ are appealing to you in new lights and with fresh power as your Christian life develops. In Him, points back to as He walked.

Because. Explaining the apparent paradox.

The darkness [ ] . See on Joh 1:5. God is light; and whatever is not in fellowship with God is therefore darkness. In all cases where the word is not used of physical darkness, it means moral insensibility to the divine light; moral blindness or obtuseness. Compare Joh 8:12; Joh 12:35, 46; l Joh 2:9, 11.

Is past [] . Wrong. The passing is not represented as accomplished, but as in progress. Rev., rightly rendering the present tense, is passing away.

The true light [ ] . Lit., the light, the true (light). See on that eternal life (i. 2). True, not as distinguished from false, but as answering to the true ideal. See on Joh 1:9. The true light is the revelation of God in Christ. See on 1Jo 1:5.

Shineth [] . See on Joh 1:5. Compare Rev 1:16; Rev 8:12; Rev 21:23; 2Pe 1:19. See also Rom 13:11 sqq.; Tit 2:11; Tit 3:4.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) “Again, a new commandment I write unto you.” (Greek palin) means again or a second time (a) the New commandment John writes to the brethren – the new commandment was that the disciples were to love and manifest their love for one another as Jesus had for them. Joh 15:12; Joh 13:34-35. Even simple things unrepeated may soon be forgotten.

2) “Which thing is true in him and in you”. John simply affirms the genuineness of the love of Jesus for the early apostles and disciples, even as they responded to His love. Joh 11:36; Joh 17:15.

3) “Because the darkness is past.” The darkness (Greek paragetai) “is passing”. Darkness symbolizes death and judgement for sin, each of which has been met and conquered by Jesus Christ. Neither has any more power over Him and each is progressively passing for every believer in Him. Heb 2:9; Heb 2:14-15; Psa 23:4; Revelation 1-18; 1Th 5:5.

4) “And the true light now shineth.” The (Phos) light, the (Greek alethinon) true (Greek ede), now, already shines or manifests itself. Jesus Christ is the true light received in and reflected thru the lives of believers as they live by his Word. Joh 1:9; Joh 8:12; 2Co 4:6.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

8 Again, a new commandment Interpreters do not appear to me to have attained the meaning of the Apostle. He says new, because God, as it were, renews it by daily suggesting it, so that the faithful may practice it through their whole life, for nothing more excellent can be sought for by them. The elements which children learn give place in time to what is higher and more solid. On the contrary, John denies that the doctrine respecting brotherly love is of this kind, is one which grows old with time, but that it is perpetually in force, so that it is no less the highest perfection than the very beginning.

It was, however, necessary that this should be added, for as men are more curious than what they ought to be, there are many who always seek something new. Hence there is a weariness as to simple doctrine, which produces innumerable prodigies of errors, when every one gapes continually for new mysteries. Now, when it is known that the Lord proceeds in the same even course, in order to keep us through life in that which we have learnt, a bridle is cast on desires of this kind. Let him, then, who would reach the goal of wisdom, as to the right way of living, make proficiency in love.

Which then is true, or which is truth. He proves by this reason what he had said; for this one command respecting love, as to our conduct in life, constitutes the whole truth of Christ. Besides, what other greater revelation can be expected? for Christ, doubtless, is the end and the completion of all things. Hence the word truth means this, that they stood, as it were at the goal, for it is to be taken for a completion or a perfect state. He joins Christ to them, as the head to the members, as though he had said, that the body of the Church has no other perfection, or, that they would then be really united to Christ, if holy love existed continually among them.

Some give another explanation, “That which is the truth in Christ, is also in you.” But I do not see what the meaning of this is.

Because the darkness is past. The present time is here instead of the past; for he means, that as soon as Christ brings light, we have the full brightness of knowledge: not that every one of the faithful becomes wise the first day as much as he ought to be, (for even Paul testifies that he labored to apprehend what he had not apprehended, (Phi 3:12,) but that the knowledge of Christ alone is sufficient to dissipate darkness. Hence, daily progress is necessary; and the faith of every one has its dawn before it reaches the noonday. But as God continues the inculcation of the same doctrine, in which he bids us to make advances, the knowledge of the Gospel is justly said to be the true light, when Christ, the Sun of righteousness, shines. Thus the way is shut up against the audacity of those men who try to corrupt the purity of the Gospel by their own fictions; and we may safely denounce an anathema on the whole theology of the Pope, for it wholly obscures the true light.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

‘Again, a new commandment I do write to you, which thing is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light already shines. He who says he is in the light and hates his brother, is in the darkness even until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no occasion of stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in the darkness, and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.’

But he will now also bring them the new commandment. This is revealed in the new commandment given by Jesus (Joh 13:34) that they love one another as He has loved them. It is something which therefore, unlike the false teaching they are being offered, is true both in Christ and in them, for He loves them, and they are to love one another (Joh 13:34). And it comes with the recognition that the true Light is already shining (compare Mat 4:16; Joh 1:4-5; Joh 1:9; Joh 3:19; Joh 8:12; Joh 12:46), and the darkness is passing away. Thus all who are true and who recognise that Light will walk in it and will love their brothers, and will not stumble, nor cause others to stumble, and they will be loved by Him. There will be love and unity among those who walk in His light.

In order to grasp the full meaning of these verses we must read them in the light of Jesus’ teaching in John’s Gospel concerning himself as the Light in contrast with other false light which is only darkness. There He declared Himself to be the light of the world (Joh 8:12; Joh 9:5) and warned that any other light was darkness (compare Mat 6:23). Only those who followed Him would not walk in darkness (Joh 12:35). And He warned that those who did not believe on Him as the Light and become sons of Light, would, as here, find themselves walking in darkness and not know where they were going (1Jn 2:11; Joh 12:35-36).

So this is John’s challenge to those who are seeking to lead the churches astray. It would seem possible that they were referring to a light that they offered, a light that could come to men through their teaching, a light coming in the darkness, a new light, a better light, which men must follow them to receive, possibly a light that they claimed was bringing, a new slant, a new truth, a new teaching, a new ‘knowledge’ (gnosis?). It was a light that was little concerned with sin, yes, even denied that it was sin. His reply is that that is not so. There is no new light. The true Light has already come. It is already shining, and the darkness is already on its way out, it is ‘passing away’. Nothing more is needed. No new light is required. Any new light can only lead men astray. All is found in Christ Who is already as a Light among them dispelling the darkness and bringing men into His light. And it is a light that is very much concerned with sin. Thus they must stay with the old truths that they have been taught.

It would also appear that these new teachers had by their teaching brought dissension and disagreement and had aroused hatred in some wayward members of the church who had turned against those who held and proclaimed the old truths, possibly accusing them of keeping this new light from them. Thus he warns that the test of the true light being among them is that they love their brothers who preach Christ truly, who proclaim the light of the world. Not to love them is proof that they have fallen away from the truth.

‘Again, a new commandment I do write to you.’ This is a warning that they take heed to themselves lest the light that is in them be darkness, that they beware of being led astray. The new commandment is that they ensure that they show love to those brothers who are responsible for the churches, who preach Christ truly, thus revealing that they are abiding in the light. For to hate those who truly preach Christ is to love darkness.

‘Which thing is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light already shines.’ This new commandment he is writing is true in Christ, and true in His people, because they enjoy shared love, Christ’s love for them and their love for one another, and this because darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining. He is calling on them to recognise and stand by the truth, that the true Light is already among them and there is no place for anything new. Let them look to the One about Whom they learned from the beginning, and Who is at this time working among them, already bringing light and dispelling darkness. If they are ‘in Him’ they will do so, for in Him this is true. And if they are true to Him it will be true in them too.

‘The darkness is passing away.’ Compare 1Jn 2:17 where the world is passing away. Thus the thought is not just that the darkness is going, but that it is transitory and doomed. This darkness is the darkness of sin (1Jn 1:5-10), of the power of darkness (1Jn 5:19 with Col 1:13), of false teaching (1Jn 2:11).

‘He who says he is in the light and hates his brother, is in the darkness even until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no occasion of stumbling in him. (He leads no one astray). But he who hates his brother is in the darkness, and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.’ The position of these people is tested by the new commandment which passes its verdict on them. They have come with new light, saying that they are in the light, and yet they do not love the brothers who are faithful to the Gospel and abiding in the Light that is already shining. Thus they are in fact revealing that they are in darkness, as is proved by the fact that they are rejecting the true Light. But those who love the faithful preachers of the Gospel, those who hold to the truth, abide in the Light. They cause none to stumble. They lead none astray.

But those who hate the true brethren prove themselves to be in darkness, and walk in darkness, and do not know where they are going (Joh 12:35), because their eyes have been blinded by darkness. So he has very much in mind here the words of Jesus in His declaration that He is the light of the world (Joh 8:12; Joh 9:5), and His warning that when they no longer have Him as their light men will walk in darkness and not know where they are going (Joh 12:35). He warns that this is what is happening here. The true Light is being rejected for the false, and many are going into darkness. And it is proved by their hatred, contrary to Jesus’ commandment, of those who proclaim the true Light. They do not love the truth.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

1Jn 2:8. Again, Or, on the other hand. The apostle, as it were, checks himself for what he had said 1Jn 2:7. See the like use of the word , Mat 4:7. The same commandment may, upon different accounts or in different respects, be called both old and new. For instance, the commandment that Christians should love one another as Christ had loved them, might, when St. John wrote this epistle, be called an old commandment, as having now been inculcated for a long time, or from the beginning; and yet it was, nevertheless, Christ’s new commandment, first proposed and enjoined by him in its present form, and made the badge of distinction between his disciples and the rest of the world: he laid down his life for his disciples; and this is his new commandment, that we should love one another even as he has loved us; that is, be ready, when proper occasions call for it, to lay down our lives for the Christian brethren, See ch. 1Jn 3:16 and Joh 15:12; Joh 15:27. Dr. Heylin observes, that the commandment here spoken of is that of charity, which indeed is old, and of eternal obligation; but as it had been almost effaced by the malice of mankind, it was renewed, improved, and perfected by Jesus Christ. The thing enjoined in this new commandment of Christ’s, hadbeen verified in Christ himself. He had most intensely loved his disciples, and had even laid downhis life for them. It had been also verified, at least in part, in the practice of the Christians to whom St. John wrote; and the Jews and the Heathens used afterwards to observe of the primitive Christians, “Behold how these Christians love one another!” St. John commends the Christians for their love to each other, in order to encourage them to persevere and abound therein more and more.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

1Jn 2:8 . . . .] Almost all commentators hold that the is the same as was the subject of 1Jn 2:7 ; differently Ebrard, who explains as follows: “With 1Jn 2:7 begins a new section which continues to 1Jn 2:29 , in which the leading thought is the position of the readers to the light as one which was already shining; by . is meant the clause, chap. 1Jn 1:5 : ; by . , on the other hand, the following clause: ; [107] the relative clause . . . belongs, by apposition, to the following sentence: . . . , and states to what extent the essential true light has already begun to shine, namely, the fact that the light already shines has a double sphere in which it is , i.e. actually realized, first in Christ, but then also , i.e. in the Ephesian readers themselves, and equally in all true Christians.” This explanation is, however, incorrect; for (1) the truth . . . can just as little be called an as the sentence (see on 1Jn 2:7 ); (2) the relative clause, if it was to be a preceding apposition to . . . , would have had to come after ; according to the structure of the verse, must necessarily be connected with what precedes; (3) it is a false idea, that that which the clause expresses was actually realized in Christ; the incorrectness of this idea is concealed in Ebrard’s interpretation in this way, no doubt, that he gives to a different relation from that which he gives , and changes the present into the perfect. [108] Nor is the opinion that we are to understand by . . the commandment of walking in light, and by . , on the other hand, that of brotherly love (1Jn 2:9 ), tenable, because these commandments, according to their import, are not two distinct commandments, but one and the same commandment. Still more unjustifiable is the assumption of S. Schmid, that in 1Jn 2:7 the fundamental law of Christianity, namely, justification by faith, but here the commandment of Christian sanctification, is meant; and that of Weiss, that by , 1Jn 2:7 , is to be understood the evangelical message of salvation, but here the commandment of love. The apostle, having in view here the same commandment as in 1Jn 2:7 , says: “ Again a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in Him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. ” The relative clause . . . serves not merely to establish the statement that the commandment is a new one (Socinus, Flacius, Morus, Hornejus, de Wette-Brckner, Lcke, Exo 2 and 3, Exo 1 of this commentary, Erdmann, etc.); [109] but the apostle thereby describes the commandment, yet not in a material way, so that would be referred to the substance of it (Oecumenius, Luther, Baumgarten-Crusius, Semler, Frommann, Dsterdieck, etc.), [110] but only in a formal way, as that which is actually fulfilled in Christ and in his readers; as the commandment in 1Jn 2:7 was also only defined in a formal way by .

is the object belonging to , and is to be taken as the accusative of more particular definition; this construction of it is found in Ewald, only he explains incorrectly by: “in the last-mentioned (in 1Jn 2:7 ) word of God;” most recently it has been accepted by Braune with the interpretation here given. The sense accordingly is: that which is already true, i.e. fulfilled, in Christ and in you, namely, the (comp. Joh 15:10 , where Christ says of Himself: ), I write unto you as a new commandment. [111] With this view it is self-evident that the apostle calls the old commandment a new one only in so far as he writes it anew to them. It is true a different reference has usually been given to , by understanding it either of the constant endurance of the commandment of love (Calvin: novum dieit, quod Deus quotidie suggerendo veluti renovat; Joannes negat ejusmodi esse doctrinam de fratribus diligendis, quae tempore obsolescat: sed perpetuo vigere), or to indicate that this commandment first entered into the world along with Christianity whether emphasis was put more upon the substance of it (Lcke, de Wette, Exo 1 of this comm.), or upon the mere time of it (Dsterdieck); [112] but these constructions, not being indicated in the context, are purely forced.

On , Erasmus says: et contrarietatem declarat et iterationem; hic autem non repetitionis sed contrarietatis est declaratio; with this interpretation almost all commentators agree, referring to the idea . ; but an antithetical construction is foreign to the word; it is = “again, once more,” is to be connected with , and is explained by the fact that the readers have already heard the commandment, nay, even are already fulfilling it. Lcke and de Wette connect it directly with the verb, but in such a way that even they give to it an antithetical reference. [113]

] signifies here the actual reality, as in Act 12:9 (see Meyer on this passage).

] is to be retained in its special meaning, not = “respectu, in reference to,” nor is it used “of the subject in which something true is to be recognized as true (1Jn 2:3 )” (de Wette), for there is no mention here of any knowledge. That by here not God (Jachmann), but Christ is to be understood, is shown by the context. Socinus incorrectly explains = per se ac simpliciter. On the point that is not to be read, see the critical notes. Grotius unjustifiably understands by the apostles.

Neander has a wrong conception of the relation of and when he explains: “it takes place in reference to Christ and in reference to the church, therefore in reference to their mutual relationship to one another.”

. . .] is not used declaratively , nor in such a way as to be dependent on (“it is true that the darkness,” etc.), or on (Castellio, Socinus, Bengel, Ebrard), to both these views the structure of the verse is opposed, but causally; this is rightly perceived by most of the commentators; but it is incorrect when they connect it with the immediately preceding . . ., for the double-membered clause: , being a confirmatory clause, does not stand in a corresponding relationship to the thought: . , which it is intended to confirm. [114] By . . . the apostle rather states the reason why he writes to them as a new commandment that which is true in Christ and in them (Dsterdieck, Braune); this reason is the already commenced disappearance of darkness and shining of the true light. The contrasted words and are to be taken in ethical sense (Braune); [115] the former idea signifies the darkness which consists in error and sin, as it exists outside the fellowship with God; the latter, the light which consists in truth and holiness, as it proceeds from Christ, who Himself is the true light. It is incorrect to understand here by ., Christ Himself (Bengel, Erdmann), as the contrast with shows. is an expression which is almost confined to the writings of John; outside them it is only found in Luk 16:11 , 1Th 1:9 , and three times in the Epistle to the Hebrews; it describes the light of which the apostle is speaking as the eternal, essential light, of which the earthly light is merely the transitory reflection; see especially Neander on this passage.

is translated by the Vulgate as perfect: quoniam tenebrae transierunt; similarly by Luther: “the darkness is past;” and Calvin directly says: Praesens tempus loco Praeteriti. This, however, is arbitrary; the present is to be retained as such; it is used in the same sense as in 1Co 7:31 : (see Meyer on this passage), so that we must interpret: “ the is in the state of passing away. ” It is unnecessary to take , with Bengel, with whom Sander and Besser agree, as passive (Bengel: non dicit transit, sed traducitur, commutatur, ita ut tandem absorbeatur); it is more natural to regard it as the middle form with intransitive meaning. With the meaning: “is in the state of passing,” corresponds the particle with , which is not = “now” (Luther), but by which the moment is described in which the darkness is retreating before the light, at which therefore neither has the darkness already completely disappeared, nor is the light completely dominant. Most of the commentators, both the older and more recent (Baumgarten-Crusius, de Wette-Brckner, Lcke, Sander, Dsterdieck, Erdmann, Ebrard), take this as referring to Christianity in general, in so far as by it, as the true light, the old darkness is being ever more and more overcome; but by the word the apostle shows that in these words he is looking forward to a future time at which that victory will have been completely won, and which he regards as close at hand (so also Braune). The moment in which he writes this is in his eyes, therefore, no other than that which immediately precedes the second coming of Christ, and which He Himself in 1Jn 2:18 calls the , [116] in which it is of the greater importance for Christians, by keeping the commandment, to show themselves as children of the light. The same train of thought essentially occurs here as afterwards in 1Jn 2:15-18 ; compare also the Pauline , , Rom 13:12 .

[107] The same view is found in Castellio, Socinus, and Bengel. The latter remarks on : praeceptum novum, quod nobis nunc primum in hac epistola scribitur; and on : quod hoc est illud praeceptum, to which he then very strangely adds: amor fratris, ex luce.

[108] Ebrard says: “The eternally existing light is one which has already appeared , in so far as in Christ the light objectivized has arisen for the world and has overcome the darkness, and in so far as also subjectively to the readers the light of the gospel has arisen, and they also subjectively have been drawn from darkness unto light.” By he means, therefore, the readers, in whom, i.e. in whose souls, the transition from darkness to light has taken place; by , however, not Christ, in whom, but the world, for which that has happened objectively, inasmuch as Christ entered as the light into the darkness of the world. Quite a different meaning, therefore, is here assigned to from that which is given to , as the difference in the relation from the antithesis of “objective” and “subjective” clearly shows. It is not merely the change of the present into the perfect that is the cause of this treatment, for it appears elsewhere in the commentary, thus on p. 148: “that which is true in Christ and in you, that the darkness is past ,” etc.; p. 150: “similar to the new announcement, that the darkness is past,” etc.; p. 155: “It is the truth, that the darkness is past ;” against which, on the other hand, is correctly explained on p. 150: “the darkness is passing by, is in a state of passing away, of disappearing.”

[109] For if . . . is, according to the intention of the apostle, to be referred to the idea of the newness of the commandment, he would first, have given this idea a more independent form than he has given it as a simple attribute of the object depending on ; and, secondly, not have given the confirmation of the statement (that the commandment is a new one) in a sentence which does not so much show the truth of this idea as merely state the sphere in which that statement is true; to which may be added, that the idea so resulting is itself so indistinct, that it requires, in order to be understood, an explanatory circumlocution, such as: “that the commandment is a new one has its truth in Christ, inasmuch as it did not exist before Him,” etc. (Exo 1 of this comm.). Besides, an emphasis unwarranted by the context is placed on the idea of the newness of the commandment, especially if it is thought that the following again serves to establish the thought expressed in the confirmatory clause (Lcke, de Wette, Brckner).

[110] Dsterdieck, it is true, approves of Knapp’s paraphrase, which agrees with the above explanation: ( ) . . . . .; but, with the idea of a constructio ad sensum, refers to the preceding , so that this forms the object of , which by the relative clause obtains its more particular definition. In opposition to this construction, de Wette has rightly observed that it has grammatical difficulty. When Dsterdieck, in reply to Lcke’s objection, that with that interpretation it would need to run , says that it is not the itself as such, but its substance in Christ, etc., that has been fulfilled, Ebrard’s observation is a sufficient answer: “That which is required in the is nothing else than just the itself; the requirement itself is fulfilled in Christ when its substance is fulfilled in Him.”

[111] That John places before his readers anew as a commandment that which already has been fulfilled in them, is clearly not more strange than that he declares to them truths of which he himself says that they know them already (comp. ver. 21). Brckner admits that the construction here advocated is simple and clear, but groundlessly thinks that “the strangeness of this form of speech” is not mitigated by the reference to ver. 21.

[112] On the basis of the right view of , ver. 7, we find the nature of the newness of the commandment indicated just in this; this, however, is only the case if the temporal reference is retained in its purity. This Dsterdieck indeed insists on; but this relation has only force if we regard at the same time the substance of the commandment, as Dsterdieck does. But nothing in the context indicates this new substance, and it is therefore very differently defined by the commentators.

[113] Lcke does so when he says: “In ver. 8, John continues correctingly thus: Again a new commandment I write unto you.” (In the edition of 1851, Lcke agrees with the usual acceptation: “Again in contrast a new commandment I write unto you;” see Exo 3 , p. 249, note 1.) De Wette does not expressly give his opinion about ; but when he thinks that John should properly have written: “again a new commandment I call it,” and when he then paraphrases it: “The commandment of love is an old and long-known one to you; but (as it is altogether revealed as a new one by Christ) for you who partake in the newness of life it is in an especial manner a new one,” the antithetical reference is clearly brought out by him also.

[114] With this connection of the thoughts, the double-membered clause: , must confirm both . and also . . Now, when Lcke makes the apostle to say, as a proof that the commandment to walk in light shows itself in Christ and in his readers as a new one: “Not only in Christ Himself ( ) has the true light appeared, but it has also shed itself abroad, dispelling the darkness in the minds of his readers ( ), and is shining in them,” he attributes the thought really expressed by the apostle ( ) only to ; while to , on the other hand, he attributes an idea which the apostle has not expressed. Brckner says: “The refers to . . ., the rather to . . .;” but this reference of the one member of the confirmatory clause to the one element of the thought to be confirmed must be regarded as unjustified, although Brckner thinks “it can easily be imagined that the apostle in the one part of the confirmation had in view rather the latter, and in the other rather the former part of the clause to be confirmed,” for such a different reference is in no way hinted at; besides, is here altogether left out of view. Dsterdieck rightly establishes the proposition that the whole sentence: . , is to be regarded as confirmed by the whole sentence: . ; but when he then, in interpretation, says: “Already the darkness is dispelled by the true light, which shines in truth in Christ and in His believers (in so far, namely, as brotherly love attained its most perfect manifestation in the walk of Christ, and is exercised by believers also),” it is only the second part of the confirmatory clause that is referred by him to , but not the first part; and this indeed is quite natural, since in Christ a disappearance of darkness is not imaginable.

[115] It was to be expected that Weiss here also denies to the ideas and the ethical meaning, and wants to be understood by the former only error, by the latter only the knowledge of God. Weiss himself, however, views them both so that they are of ethical and not merely theoretical character; and, moreover, as he admits that with the former error sin, and with the latter knowledge holiness, is necessarily connected, it is so much the more arbitrary to allege that John, in the use of these ideas, utterly ignored this necessary connection.

[116] Rickli: “John says this of the time in which they are living, and in which the great work of the Lord had had a wonderful, rapid progress of development. The true Light, the Lord in His perfect manifestation of divine truth, is already shining; already the great morning is dawning for mankind. When the Lord shall return, then shall be the perfect day of God. Towards this manifestation all believers walk.”

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

DISCOURSE: 2436
THE TRUE LIGHT

1Jn 2:8. The darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.

OUR blessed Lord is supposed by many to have enlarged the demands of the moral law. That he speaks of giving a new commandment is certain: A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another: as I have loved you, that ye also love one another [Note: Joh 13:34.]. St. John also speaks to the same effect in the words before my text; though, in the words immediately preceding, he had declared, that it was not a new commandment. The reconciling of this difficulty will suggest the true explanation of our text. The command given us to love our neighbour as ourselves, was not a new commandment. It was a part of the moral law [Note: Lev 19:18.]; and of the law originally written on the heart of man in Paradise. Yet in some respects it was a new law: both as it respected the Lord Jesus who enacted it, and as it respected us on whom it was enjoined. Let us hear what the Apostle himself says: Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write unto you: which thing is true in him, and in you. It was new as it respected the Lord Jesus Christ, who had proposed his own conduct as the model (which, of course, it could not be, till he himself had completed his work on earth), and had enforced it with his own authority as Mediator, which also must be subsequent to his entrance on the mediatorial office. And it was new also as it respected us, because it was never before conceived to extend to the laying down of our lives for the brethren [Note: 1Jn 3:16.], and because it was enjoined with new motives, such as could never have existed before, even the testifying of our love to Christ, who has loved us, and given himself for us. Previous to the coming of our Lord, a veil of obscurity hanged over these things: but now they were made clear, because the darkness was past, and the true light now shined.

In considering the change which is here spoken of, I shall notice it,

As verified at that day

The darkness of the Mosaic dispensation was then dispelled
[That was a dark and shadowy dispensation altogether. God himself was not made known by it as the common Father of all, but as the friend only of one peculiar people, whom he favoured above all others. The way of acceptance with him was very indistinctly seen in the sacrifices which were offered; there being but little spoken to direct the attention of the offerers to that great Sacrifice, from whence alone they derived all their efficacy. Nor were the requirements of the moral law by any means clearly revealed; the very commandments themselves consisting only of prohibitions, and those prohibitions extending, for the most part, only to overt acts. Hence Paul himself, educated as he was by the first master of his day, and pre-eminently conversant as he was with the Mosaic writings, did not, till his eyes were opened by the Spirit of God, understand the spiritual import of the law, or the extent (if the command, Thou shalt not covet [Note: Rom 7:7; Rom 7:9.]. Besides, there were many enactments for the direction of magistrates in the administration of justice, which, when erroneously construed as rules of duty in private life, seemed to authorize revenge; as, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.

But our blessed Lord threw the true light on the whole of that economy. He declared plainly, that he was come to fulfil the law, and to give his life a ransom for many. He directed the people to look to him as the way, by which alone any one could come to the Father; as the truth, in whom all the types and shadows of the law were realized; and as the life, by whom alone any sinner in the universe could live [Note: Joh 14:6.]. He explained also the moral law, and freed it from all the glosses of the Scribes and Pharisees, by which it had been obscured; declaring, that it extended to the thoughts and desires of the heart, no less than to the overt act. In particular he made known the great duty of love, as comprehending the whole law in all its branches, and in its utmost extent. Thus in relation both to doctrine and morals it might be truly said, that the darkness was past, and the true light then shined.]

The darkness was also dispelled from their minds
[All by nature are in darkness; and, even though the light shines around them, they are not able to apprehend it; the eyes of their understanding being altogether darkened. Of all whilst in a state of unbelief it is expressly said, that the God of this world hath blinded their eyes [Note: 2Co 4:4.]. But by the Gospel, accompanied with power from on high, they had been turned from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God [Note: Act 26:18.]. They now acknowledged Jesus as their Saviour; and had obtained reconciliation with God through the blood of his cross. They had now an insight into that stupendous mystery, which all the angels in heaven are desiring to look into, the redemption of the world by the sacrifice of our incarnate God; and, together with that, had acquired just views of the state in which a redeemed sinner ought to live. In a word, they had been brought out of darkness into marvellous light [Note: 1Pe 2:9.]. So that they were able to appreciate the necessity and the excellency of the commandment which was now enjoined.]

But let us contemplate this glorious change,

II.

As fulfilled also amongst ourselves

Certainly, the true light does shine among you
[The Lord Jesus Christ is fully preached among you. His person, his work, his offices are set before you. You have seen from time to time the types, as completed in their great Antitype; and the prophecies, as fulfilled in him to whom they had respect, even Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Joseph. The covenant of grace, which was made with him in our behalf, has been opened to you, and all the great and precious promises that are contained in it unfolded to your view. Salvation, in all its freeness, and in all its fulness, has been offered to you; and all the perfections of God, as pledged for your encouragement, have been brought in review before you. Nor has the nature of evangelical obedience been either partially or sparingly declared. The distinction between the letter and the spirit of the law has been copiously displayed; and all the high requirements of the Gospel been made known; and not declared only, but enforced also by every species of argument that could address itself to your understanding, your conscience, or your will. I say not, that these things have been so fully manifested as they ought to have been, or might have been: because, if my own views had been more enlarged, and my own soul been more deeply impressed with these things, my ministrations would no doubt have been more luminous and beneficial: but this I can say, that I have not knowingly withheld any thing that could be profitable unto you; nor, according to the measure of light and grace given unto me, have I shunned to declare unto you the whole counsel of God [Note: Act 20:20; Act 20:27.]. In this respect therefore I may say, that, if at any time there have been darkness here, that darkness is past: and the true light shines among you, in such a degree, at least, as is sufficient to guide all your feet into the way of peace.]

But can it be said that the darkness is passed away from the souls of all?
[Would to God that my text were true in this extent also. Beloved brethren, are not many of you still in the darkness, if not of Judaism itself, yet of the Judaizing teachers, who insisted on combining some obedience of their own with the merits of Christ? Are not the beauty, and glory, and excellency of our holy religion so indistinctly seen by many amongst you, that it produces scarcely any effect upon your hearts and lives? If we look at morals, are not your views of them also very imperfect? Read our Lords Sermon on the Mount, and see whether your heart go along with it in all that it inculcates respecting patience, forbearance, meekness, forgiveness? Read St. Pauls description of love in the 13th chapter of his First Epistle to the Corinthians, and see whether that be the standard at which you aim, and by which you estimate your attainments? Have you any idea of your duty to your brethren requiring, that, if it may subserve their spiritual and eternal interests, you should lay down your life for them? I will not ask what speculative notions you may have of these things; for in that respect your views may be correct enough: but what is your practice? it is by that that your character must be tried: and, when tried by that, say whether you are not found altogether wanting. That there is great danger of self-deceit in reference to this matter, is clear from what the Apostle says in the very words following my text: He that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother, abideth in the light; and there is none occasion of stumbling in him; but he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes [Note: ver. 1113.]. You perceive that a man may be very confident that he is in the light; and yet be so defective in respect of love, as to be in utter darkness, and going he knows not whither. I pray you, guard against so fatal a delusion as this; and never conceive yourselves to be children of light, till your whole spirit and temper, candidly examined, attest that you are walking as children of the light [Note: Eph 5:8.].]

It may be that you would wish to have two questions solved:

With answering them, I will conclude the subject

How shall I obtain the change spoken of in the text?

[Many directions I might give you; and all proper in their place: but there is one, which, if it do not supersede all others, will at least prove amply sufficient for this occasion. Our blessed Lord says, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life [Note: Joh 8:12.]. Here the direction is from such authority as cannot be withstood, and at the same time so complete, that, if followed, it cannot but succeed. In truth, all other directions, in comparison of this, are like advising persons to light a taper of their own, when they might come forth at once to the noonday sun. By the Lord Jesus Christ the whole darkness, whether from without or from within, shall be dispersed at once. The nature and perfections of God, the spirituality and extent of the law, the use of the whole of the Mosaic ritual, together with the whole work of redemption, will all be made visible as the light itself, to one who obtains just views of Christ. The whole system of morals too will he rendered clear and luminous; and all the sublime motives and encouragements to obedience be reflected with irresistible efficacy upon the soul. This then I say; Go to the Lord Jesus Christ: follow him: contemplate him; believe in him as having in himself all fulness for the supply of those who trust in him: and you shall soon be guided into all truth, and experience in the richest abundance the glory and blessedness of his salvation.]

How shall I improve that change, supposing it to have been wrought within me?

[This is a question which every child of light should ask: and, as our blessed Lord answered the former, so shall the Apostle Paul answer this. Speaking to persons who were truly enlightened, he says, Ye are all the children of the light and of the day: we are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober: for they that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that be drunken, are drunken in the night: but let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breast-plate of faith and love, and for an helmet the hope of salvation [Note: 1Th 5:5-8.]. You can easily perceive that a change of views should be followed by a corresponding change of conduct; and, consequently, that henceforth you should have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them [Note: Eph 5:11.]. The mercy vouchsafed to you, has not been given for yourselves alone, but for others also; before whom you ought to shine as lights in a dark place [Note: Php 2:15-16.], yea so to shine, that all who behold your light may be constrained to glorify your Father that is in heaven.]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

8 Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.

Ver. 8. A new commandment ] See Trapp on “ Joh 13:34 “ “A new commandment” it is called, saith a late learned interpreter, 1. Because it was renewed by the Lord after it had been as it were antiquated, and almost extinguished. 2. Because it was commanded to such men as were new or renewed. 3. Because it was an excellent commandment.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

8 .] Again (this is what is called ; takes up and contravenes what has been as yet said: q. d., “in another view of the subject, :” “et contrarietatem declarat et iterationem, hic autem non repetitionis sed contrarietatis est declaratio,” as Erasm. It refers to the whole sentence, not merely to . The emphasis is on ) a new commandment write I unto you (“ new ,” in three possible ways of interpretation: 1) “novum dicit quod Deus quotidie suggerendo veluti renovat: Joannes negat ejusmodi esse doctrinam de fratribus diligendis, qu tempore obsolescat: sed perpetuo vigere,” Calv.: or 2) “illam prceptionem quam vobis dudum cognitam esse dixi, sic vobis denuo commendo atque injungo, tanquam si nova esset, nec vobis antehac unquam cognita,” Knapp, and so Neander; or 3) in that it was first promulgated with Christianity and unknown before. The two first are condemned by the fact, that the word in each case on which the stress of the interpretation rests, is not expressed in the text: there is for 1) no , for 2) no . The third agrees well both with the context and with St. John’s habit of thought, as well as with matter of fact, and our Lord’s own words, Joh 13:34 ; Joh 15:12 . When Lcke objects to it that thus we have to take and in two different senses, he hits in fact the very point in which this interpretation approves itself the most to those who are familiar with the oxymoron of St. John’s style. As Dsterd. replies, “when I stand at the point of time indicated by , and look forwards on the Christian life of the readers, the appears as one long known; the readers have known it from the beginning as an essential commandment, they have had it as long as they have been Christians: on the other hand, if I look backward on the life of the readers before that , whether they were before that Jews or Gentiles, this same commandment of necessity appears as a new one, essentially Christian, first beginning for the readers with that beginning; for even for the Jewish Christians the command of brotherly love is a new one, seeing that it is ordained in imitation of Christ , Joh 13:34 ”), which (thing, viz the fact that the commandment is a new one: see below) is true in Him and in you: because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is now shining (i. e. the commandment is a new one , and this is true both in (the case of) Him (Christ) and in (the case of) you: because ( ) the darkness is passing away, and ( ) the true light is shining: therefore on both accounts the command is a new one: new as regards you, because you are newly come from darkness into light: new as regards Him, because He uttered it when He came into the world to lighten every man, and began that shining which even now continues. This reference of the two clauses I hold fast against Dsterdieck, who maintains that the refers to the content of the , viz. walking in brotherly love: that the commandment finds its fulfilment ( ?) in the walk of Christians in union with Christ. But to this there are several objections which he has not noticed: 1) the probable logic of the sentence. The Apostle has made what is apparently a paradoxical assertion. He has stated that the commandment is not new but old, and then has, notwithstanding, asserted its newness. Then he proceeds . . . . Is it not probable that this form of sentence introduces the explanation of the paradox? Is it probable, as would be the case on the other view, that so startling a proposition (after 1Jn 2:7 ) as , would remain altogether unexplained? 2) the word . Dsterd. says, “The Apostle calls that which is enjoined in the , , because it finds its truth in its living activity, in its practical reality: it is in deed and truth ( , 1Jn 2:5 , Joh 4:42 , ( Joh 6:55 )) living and present, and so far true, real .” But even granting this sense of to be possible (which may be doubted: is clearly no case in point, its adverbial character removing it into another phase of predication), is it likely that so unusual and harsh a word would be chosen as the adj. (rather than the adv. ) when the obvious sense of would so naturally refer it, in the reader’s mind, to the just asserted? 3) Dsterd. has entirely neglected the repetition of the prep. , which fact separates off and as two distinct departments, and prevents their being considered in union. “Him,” Christ, the Head, and “you,” the readers, as the members, which depend on the Head as the grapes on the true vine, the Apostle regards as united in the real community of life (ch. 1Jn 1:3 f.), &c. But this would require : and accordingly a little below he says, “ Ihm und Euch ist es wahr, was Iohannes fordert .” 4) The strict present is disregarded by D.’s explanation. He upholds indeed a present sense, as against the “ transierunt tenebr” of the vulgate (“the darkness is past ,” E. V.), but makes no further remark, not seeing apparently how peculiarly this present fits the application of the sentence to accounting for the newness of the commandment “You are living in a time when the darkness is rolling away, even now passing:” so that the command, which is of the Light, is well said to be “ new .”

As in almost every verse of this difficult portion of the Epistle, the divergencies of interpretation are almost endless. Some few only of them can be mentioned here. That recently defended (as above) by Dsterdieck, was before taken by c., Luther, Grot., Knapp, Baumg.-Crus., Semler, &c.: that which I have maintained, by Calvin, Socinus, Flacius, Calov., Morus, Horneius, De Wette, Lcke, Neander, Huther. Some take the as declarative: “it is true, that the darkness,” &c.: so Castellio, Socinus, Bengel, “ , quod : hoc est illud prceptum, amor fratris, ex luce.” Erasm., Episcopius, Grot., separate the words into subject and predicate: “quod verum est in illo (Christo), id etiam in vobis verum est,” or “esse debet.” The whole discussion, carried into most minute detail, may be seen in Dsterdieck’s note. To mention two matters of verbal nicety: 1) need not be pressed, with Bengel, to its passive meaning: “non dicit , transit , sed – , traducitur, commutatur, ut tandem absorbeatur. Idem verbum, 1Jn 2:17 , ubi opponitur mansioni.” But the passive is not necessary for this sense: nay, in 1Jn 2:17 it is hardly admissible, and there can be no doubt that the middle was intended, in the same sense as the intr. act., 1Co 7:31 ; 1Co 2 ) , joined with the present , is best taken to mean, not the full and entire shining of the true light, but its beginning to shine: its full light at the coming of the Lord, is indeed close at hand, 1Jn 2:18 , and to that the looks on.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

1Jn 2:8 . , “again,” i.e. in another sense, from another point of view, not in itself but in our recognition of it, “it is a new commandment”. , in apposition to “a thing which is true,” viz. , the paramount necessity of Love. This truth, though unperceived, is contained in the revelation of Jesus Christ ( ) and proved in the experience of believers ( ). It is a fact that hatred of one’s brother clouds the soul and shuts out the light. “I know this,” says the Apostle, “because the darkness is passing away and the light, the true light, is already shining,” i.e. my eyes are getting accustomed to the light of the Gospel-revelation, and I have seen this truth which at first was hidden from me. Adjectives in – denote the material of which the thing is made; and is used of the real as opposed either to the type ( cf. Joh 6:32 ; Joh 15:1 ; Heb 8:2 ; Heb 9:24 ) or to the counterfeit ( cf. Symb. Nic. : “very God of very God,” i.e. the real God as opposed to false gods, idols, which were “things of naught”). The opposite of to is, on the one hand, the dim light of the Jewish Law (the type) and, on the other, the false light of human speculation (the counterfeit).

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

true. App-175.

is past = passes away. Greek. parago, as 1Jn 2:17.

true. App-175.

light. App-130.

now = already. Greek. ede.

shineth. App-106.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

8.] Again (this is what is called ; takes up and contravenes what has been as yet said: q. d., in another view of the subject, : et contrarietatem declarat et iterationem, hic autem non repetitionis sed contrarietatis est declaratio, as Erasm. It refers to the whole sentence, not merely to . The emphasis is on ) a new commandment write I unto you (new, in three possible ways of interpretation: 1) novum dicit quod Deus quotidie suggerendo veluti renovat: Joannes negat ejusmodi esse doctrinam de fratribus diligendis, qu tempore obsolescat: sed perpetuo vigere, Calv.: or 2) illam prceptionem quam vobis dudum cognitam esse dixi, sic vobis denuo commendo atque injungo, tanquam si nova esset, nec vobis antehac unquam cognita, Knapp, and so Neander; or 3) in that it was first promulgated with Christianity and unknown before. The two first are condemned by the fact, that the word in each case on which the stress of the interpretation rests, is not expressed in the text: there is for 1) no , for 2) no . The third agrees well both with the context and with St. Johns habit of thought, as well as with matter of fact, and our Lords own words, Joh 13:34; Joh 15:12. When Lcke objects to it that thus we have to take and in two different senses, he hits in fact the very point in which this interpretation approves itself the most to those who are familiar with the oxymoron of St. Johns style. As Dsterd. replies, when I stand at the point of time indicated by , and look forwards on the Christian life of the readers, the appears as one long known; the readers have known it from the beginning as an essential commandment, they have had it as long as they have been Christians: on the other hand, if I look backward on the life of the readers before that , whether they were before that Jews or Gentiles, this same commandment of necessity appears as a new one, essentially Christian, first beginning for the readers with that beginning; for even for the Jewish Christians the command of brotherly love is a new one, seeing that it is ordained in imitation of Christ, Joh 13:34), which (thing, viz the fact that the commandment is a new one: see below) is true in Him and in you: because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is now shining (i. e. the commandment is a new one, and this is true both in (the case of) Him (Christ) and in (the case of) you: because ( ) the darkness is passing away, and ( ) the true light is shining: therefore on both accounts the command is a new one: new as regards you, because you are newly come from darkness into light: new as regards Him, because He uttered it when He came into the world to lighten every man, and began that shining which even now continues. This reference of the two clauses I hold fast against Dsterdieck, who maintains that the refers to the content of the , viz. walking in brotherly love: that the commandment finds its fulfilment ( ?) in the walk of Christians in union with Christ. But to this there are several objections which he has not noticed: 1) the probable logic of the sentence. The Apostle has made what is apparently a paradoxical assertion. He has stated that the commandment is not new but old, and then has, notwithstanding, asserted its newness. Then he proceeds . … Is it not probable that this form of sentence introduces the explanation of the paradox? Is it probable, as would be the case on the other view, that so startling a proposition (after 1Jn 2:7) as , would remain altogether unexplained? 2) the word . Dsterd. says, The Apostle calls that which is enjoined in the , , because it finds its truth in its living activity, in its practical reality: it is in deed and truth (, 1Jn 2:5, Joh 4:42, (Joh 6:55)) living and present, and so far true, real. But even granting this sense of to be possible (which may be doubted: is clearly no case in point, its adverbial character removing it into another phase of predication), is it likely that so unusual and harsh a word would be chosen as the adj. (rather than the adv. ) when the obvious sense of would so naturally refer it, in the readers mind, to the just asserted? 3) Dsterd. has entirely neglected the repetition of the prep. , which fact separates off and as two distinct departments, and prevents their being considered in union. Him, Christ, the Head, and you, the readers, as the members, which depend on the Head as the grapes on the true vine, the Apostle regards as united in the real community of life (ch. 1Jn 1:3 f.), &c. But this would require : and accordingly a little below he says, Ihm und Euch ist es wahr, was Iohannes fordert. 4) The strict present is disregarded by D.s explanation. He upholds indeed a present sense, as against the transierunt tenebr of the vulgate (the darkness is past, E. V.), but makes no further remark, not seeing apparently how peculiarly this present fits the application of the sentence to accounting for the newness of the commandment-You are living in a time when the darkness is rolling away, even now passing: so that the command, which is of the Light, is well said to be new.

As in almost every verse of this difficult portion of the Epistle, the divergencies of interpretation are almost endless. Some few only of them can be mentioned here. That recently defended (as above) by Dsterdieck, was before taken by c., Luther, Grot., Knapp, Baumg.-Crus., Semler, &c.: that which I have maintained, by Calvin, Socinus, Flacius, Calov., Morus, Horneius, De Wette, Lcke, Neander, Huther. Some take the as declarative: it is true, that the darkness, &c.: so Castellio, Socinus, Bengel, , quod: hoc est illud prceptum, amor fratris, ex luce. Erasm., Episcopius, Grot., separate the words into subject and predicate: quod verum est in illo (Christo), id etiam in vobis verum est, or esse debet. The whole discussion, carried into most minute detail, may be seen in Dsterdiecks note. To mention two matters of verbal nicety: 1) need not be pressed, with Bengel, to its passive meaning: non dicit , transit, sed -, traducitur, commutatur, ut tandem absorbeatur. Idem verbum, 1Jn 2:17, ubi opponitur mansioni. But the passive is not necessary for this sense: nay, in 1Jn 2:17 it is hardly admissible, and there can be no doubt that the middle was intended, in the same sense as the intr. act., 1Co 7:31; 2) , joined with the present , is best taken to mean, not the full and entire shining of the true light, but its beginning to shine: its full light at the coming of the Lord, is indeed close at hand, 1Jn 2:18, and to that the looks on.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

1Jn 2:8. , a new precept) which is now first written to you in this Epistle. This passage savours of the fulness of the Spirit in the apostle.- , that which is truth) Truth, substantively, as in 1Jn 2:27, where truth and a lie are opposed to each other. Thence also is put for , that is, the commandment (). The sense is: the commandment, or precept, is truth; that is, the darkness truly passes away, etc. As in 1Jn 2:7, to the word old, so in this ver., to the word new, its definition is immediately subjoined, what is the old, and what is the new. The old is that which we had from the beginning: the new is that which is true in Jesus Christ and in us. The difference of time in the words, ye had, and it is, tends to this. In Christ all things are always true, and were so from that beginning; but in Christ and in us, conjointly, the precept is then truth, when we acknowledge the truth, which is in Him, and have the same flourishing in us. John praises the present state of those to whom he writes, as one even more highly favoured than that very state which they had had at the beginning of their hearing the Gospel, as Rom 13:11-12; whence also the old precept could with pleasantness be proposed to them under a new method.- because. This is that precept, the love of a brother, from the light. Hence at the beginning of 1Jn 2:9 therefore is to be understood. Comp. ch. 1Jn 1:5-6.-) He does not say , passes by, but , is caused to pass, is changed, so that at length it is absorbed. The same word is used, 1Jn 2:17, where it is opposed to abiding. Thus Ezr 9:2, Septuagint, , the holy seed was transferred, or caused to pass to the nations, and was mingled with them. Herodian: , a name changed, transferred from another, or to another.-Book I., ch. 16, and V. 7. The present is to be observed, as in shineth.- , the true light) Jesus Christ: Joh 1:9.-) now, with you; but it will shine the more for ever: 1Jn 2:28. Comp. until now, 1Jn 2:9.-, shineth) On this account it was now less needful for John to bring forward the prophets in his Epistles than it was for Peter; whose 2d Epistle, 2Pe 1:19, comp. respecting the day and the morning star. Peter, with his Epistles, stands about midway between the suffering of Christ and the close of the life of John.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

a new: 1Jo 4:21, Joh 13:34, Joh 15:12

which: 1Jo 3:14-16, 1Jo 4:11, Joh 15:12-15, 2Co 8:9, Eph 5:1, Eph 5:2, 1Pe 1:21, 1Pe 4:1-3

the darkness: Son 2:11, Son 2:12, Isa 9:2, Isa 60:1-3, Mat 4:16, Luk 1:79, Joh 12:46, Act 17:30, Act 26:18, Rom 13:12, 2Co 4:4-6, Eph 5:8, 1Th 5:5-8

and the: Psa 27:1, Psa 36:9, Psa 84:11, Mal 4:2, Joh 1:4, Joh 1:5, Joh 1:9, Joh 8:12, Joh 12:35, 2Ti 1:10

Reciprocal: Gen 1:3 – Let Son 4:6 – day Mat 13:52 – things Luk 4:18 – and Act 17:19 – new Gal 6:2 – the law Eph 2:3 – in times Col 1:13 – the power 1Th 5:4 – are 1Jo 3:11 – this 1Jo 3:23 – love 2Jo 1:5 – not

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

1Jn 2:8. The commandments of the Lord are new in the sense of being fresh and vigorous (not infirm as with old age). The newness or liveliness of the laws of the Lord is manifested in their being able to dispel the darkness of ignorance, and shed the light of knowledge in the Lord.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Verse 8

A new commandment; the precept enjoining brotherly love, enforced in the 1 John 2:8-11. John designates it as a new commandment, in imitation of the language used by the Savior in John 13:34.–Is true in him; is exemplified in him.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

2:8 {7} Again, a new commandment I write unto you, {h} which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.

(7) He adds that the doctrine indeed is old, but it is in a way new, both in respect to Christ, and also to us: in whom he through the gospel, engraves his law effectually, not in tables of stone, but in our minds. {h} Which thing (that is, that the doctrine is new which I write to you) is true in him, and in you.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

In another sense, however, this old commandment was new (fresh, Gr. kainos). John often wrote in terms of black or white contrasts in this epistle, but in 1Jn 2:7-8 he spoke of both and. With the Incarnation, the light of God had entered the world more brightly than ever before (Heb 1:1-3). This was a new commandment in that it belongs to the new age that Jesus inaugurated (Joh 14:6).

"It is not a recent innovation, yet it is qualitatively new as experienced in Christ." [Note: Hiebert, "An Expositional . . .," 145:422.]

This light was dispelling the darkness of sin and would continue to do so until the final increase of that light will result in the complete annihilation of darkness. When Jesus Christ issued the great commandment anew He called it a new commandment even though God had given it previously (Lev 19:18). Now it was important in a new sense due to His coming as the Light of the World (Joh 13:34-35).

The new commandment "is true" in Christ and in Christians in this sense: Jesus Christ’s obedience to His Father fulfilled it first, and Christians’ obedience to God is fulfilling it now. As Christ’s disciples obey the command to love one another, this command has the character of truth. In other words, Christian love is truth manifested, both in Jesus who modeled it and in His disciples who follow His example.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

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