Joh 1:16-17 | Clarke | e4.org | Verse 16. This verse should be put in place of the fifteenth , and the 15th inserted between the 18th and 19th, which appears to be its proper place: thus John's testimony is properly connected. And of his fulness ] Of the plenitude of his grace and mercy , by which he made an atonement for sin; and of the plenitude of his wisdom and truth , by which the mysteries of heaven have been revealed , and the science of eternal truth taught, we have all received : all we apostles have received grace or mercy to pardon our sins, and truth to enable us so to write and speak , concerning these things, that those who attend to our testimony shall be unerringly directed in the way of salvation, and with us continue to receive grace upon grace , one blessing after another, till they are filled with all the fulness of God. I believe the above to be the meaning of the evangelist, and think it improper to distract the mind of the reader with the various translations and definitions which have been given of the phrase, grace for grace . It is only necessary to add, that John seems here to refer to the Gospel as succeeding the law: the law was certainly a dispensation both of grace and truth ; for it pointed out the gracious design of God to save men by Christ Jesus; and it was at least a most expressive and well-defined shadow of good things to come: but the Gospel, which had now taken place, introduced that plenitude of grace and truth to the whole world , which the law had only shadowed forth to the Jewish people , and which they imagined should have been restrained to themselves alone. In the most gracious economy of God, one dispensation of mercy and truth is designed to make way for, and to be followed by, another and a greater: thus the law succeeded the patriarchal dispensation, and the Gospel the law; more and more of the plenitude of the grace of the Gospel becomes daily manifest to the genuine followers of Christ; and, to those who are faithful unto death, a heaven full of eternal glory will soon succeed to the grace of the Gospel. To illustrate this point more fully, the following passage in Philo the Jew has been adduced: "God is always sparing of his first blessings or graces, (πρωταςχαριτας,) and afterwards gives other graces upon them, (αντεκεινων,) and a third sort upon the second, and always new ones upon old ones, sometimes of a different kind, and at other times of the same sort." Vol. i. p. 254, ed. Mang. In the above passage the preposition αντι for , is used thrice in the sense of επι, upon . To confirm the above interpretation Bp. Pearce produces the following quotations. Ecclus xxvi. 15: χαριςεπιχαριτιγυνηαισχυντηρα- A modest woman is a grace upon a grace , i.e. a double grace or blessing. Euripides uses the very same phrase with John, where he makes Theoclymenus say to Helena . χαριςαντιχαριτοςελθετω, May grace upon grace come to you ! Helen v. 1250. ed. Barn.

‏ John 1:16-17

Verse 16. This verse should be put in place of the fifteenth, and the 15th inserted between the 18th and 19th, which appears to be its proper place: thus John's testimony is properly connected. Joh 1:15-19

And of his fulness] Of the plenitude of his grace and mercy, by which he made an atonement for sin; and of the plenitude of his wisdom and truth, by which the mysteries of heaven have been revealed, and the science of eternal truth taught, we have all received: all we apostles have received grace or mercy to pardon our sins, and truth to enable us so to write and speak, concerning these things, that those who attend to our testimony shall be unerringly directed in the way of salvation, and with us continue to receive grace upon grace, one blessing after another, till they are filled with all the fulness of God. I believe the above to be the meaning of the evangelist, and think it improper to distract the mind of the reader with the various translations and definitions which have been given of the phrase, grace for grace. It is only necessary to add, that John seems here to refer to the Gospel as succeeding the law: the law was certainly a dispensation both of grace and truth; for it pointed out the gracious design of God to save men by Christ Jesus; and it was at least a most expressive and well-defined shadow of good things to come: but the Gospel, which had now taken place, introduced that plenitude of grace and truth to the whole world, which the law had only shadowed forth to the Jewish people, and which they imagined should have been restrained to themselves alone. In the most gracious economy of God, one dispensation of mercy and truth is designed to make way for, and to be followed by, another and a greater: thus the law succeeded the patriarchal dispensation, and the Gospel the law; more and more of the plenitude of the grace of the Gospel becomes daily manifest to the genuine followers of Christ; and, to those who are faithful unto death, a heaven full of eternal glory will soon succeed to the grace of the Gospel. To illustrate this point more fully, the following passage in Philo the Jew has been adduced: "God is always sparing of his first blessings or graces, (πρωταςχαριτας,) and afterwards gives other graces upon them, (αντεκεινων,) and a third sort upon the second, and always new ones upon old ones, sometimes of a different kind, and at other times of the same sort." Vol. i. p. 254, ed. Mang. In the above passage the preposition αντι for, is used thrice in the sense of επι, upon. To confirm the above interpretation Bp. Pearce produces the following quotations. Ecclus xxvi. 15: χαριςεπιχαριτιγυνηαισχυντηρα-A modest woman is a grace upon a grace, i.e. a double grace or blessing. Euripides uses the very same phrase with John, where he makes Theoclymenus say to Helena. χαριςαντιχαριτοςελθετω, May grace upon grace come to you! Helen v. 1250. ed. Barn.

Verse 17. The law was given by Moses] Moses received the law from God, and through him it was given to the Jews, Ac 7:38.

But grace and truth] Which he had already mentioned, and which were to be the subject of the book which he was now writing, came to all mankind through Jesus Christ, who is the mediator of the new covenant, as Moses was of the old: Heb 8:6; 9:15; Ga 3:19. See a fine discourse on this text by Mr. Claude, "Essay on the Composition of a Sermon," vol. i. p. 119, &c. edit. Lond. 1788.

The law of Moses, however excellent in itself, was little in comparison of the Gospel: as it proceeded from the justice and holiness of God, and was intended to convict men of sin, that the way of the Gospel might be the better prepared, it was a law of rigour, condemnation, and death: Ro 4:15; 2Co 3:7, 8. It was a law of shadows, types, and figures: Heb 10:1, and incapable of expiating sin by its sacrifices: Ro 8:3; Heb 7:18, 19; 10:1, 11. But Christ has brought that grace which is opposed to condemnation: Ro 5:15, 20, 21; 8:1; Ga 3:10; and he is himself the spirit and substance of all those shadows: Col 2:19; Heb 10:1.

Jesus Christ.] JESUS the CHRIST, the Messiah, or anointed prophet, priest, and king, sent from heaven. To what has already been said on the important name Jesus, (See Mt 1:21, and the places there referred to,) I shall add the following explanation, chiefly taken from Professor Schultens, who has given a better view of the ideal meaning of the root yasha, than any other divine or critic.

He observes that this root, in its true force, meaning, and majesty, both in Hebrew and Arabic, includes the ideas of amplitude, expansion, and space, and should be translated, he was spacious-open-ample; and, particularly, he possessed a spacious or extensive degree or rank: and is applied, 1. To a person possessing abundance of riches. 2. To one possessing abundant power. 3. To one possessing abundant or extensive knowledge. 4. To one possessing abundance of happiness, beatitude, and glory. Hence we may learn the true meaning of Zec 9:9: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion-behold, thy king cometh unto thee; he is JUST, and having SALVATION:--he is possessed of all power to enrich, strengthen, teach, enlarge, and raise to glory and happiness, them who trust in him. Man by nature is in want and poverty: in abjectness and weakness: in darkness and ignorance: in straits and captivity: in wretchedness and infamy. His Redeemer is called JESUS-he who looses, enlarges, and endows with salvation. 1. He enriches man's poverty: 2. strengthens his weakness: 3. teaches his ignorance: 4. brings him out of straits and difficulties: and 5. raises him to happiness, beatitude, and glory. And the aggregate of these is SALVATION. Hence that saying, His name shall be called JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. See Schultens Origines Hebraeae, p. 15.