John 1

In the beginning1 was the Word2, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God3. 2The same was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made through him. Without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome4 it.

6There came a man, sent from God, whose name was Yahya5. 7He came as a witness, that he might testify about the light, that all might believe through him. 8He was not the light, but was sent that he might testify about the light. 9The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world.

10He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world didn’t recognize him. 11He came to his own6, and those who were his own didn’t receive him. 12But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God’s children, to those who believe in his name: 13who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

14The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. 15Yahya testified about him. He cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me, for he was before me.'” 16From his fullness we all received grace upon grace. 17For the Taurat7 was given through Musa, but grace and truth came through ‘ISA8 AL-MASIH9. 18No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son10, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.

19This is Yahya’s testimony, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”

20He declared, and didn’t deny, but he declared, “I am not AL-MASIH.”

21They asked him, “What then? Are you Ilyas11?”

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet12?”

He answered, “No.”

22They said therefore to him, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

23He said, “I am…

…’the voice of one calling out in the wilderness, make straight the way of the LORD 13,’

as Shaya the prophet said.”

24The ones who had been sent were from the Pharisees. 25They asked him, “Why then do you baptize, if you are not AL-MASIH, nor Ilyas, nor the Prophet?”

26Yahya answered them, “I baptize in water, but among you stands one whom you do not know. 27He is the one who comes after me, who is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I’m not worthy to loosen.” 28These things were done in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where Yahya was baptizing.

29The next day, he saw ‘ISA coming to him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who is preferred before me, for he was before me.’ 31I didn’t know him, but for this reason I came baptizing in water: that he would be revealed to Israel.” 32Yahya testified, saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending like a dove out of heaven, and it remained on him. 33I didn’t recognize him, but he who sent me to baptize in water, he said to me, ‘On whomever you will see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ 34I have seen, and have testified that this is the SON OF GOD.”

35Again, the next day, Yahya was standing with two of his disciples, 36and he looked at ‘ISA as he walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed ‘ISA. 38‘ISA turned, and saw them following, and said to them, “What are you looking for?”

They said to him, “Rabbi” (which is translated, Teacher), “where are you staying?”

39He said to them, “Come, and see.”

They came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about the tenth hour14. 40One of the two who heard Yahya, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41He first found his own brother, Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah!” (which is translated, AL-MASIH). 42He brought him to ‘ISA. ‘ISA looked at him, and said, “You are Simon Ibn Yunus. You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, Peter). 

43On the next day, he was determined to go out into Galilee, and he found Philip. ‘ISA said to him, “Follow me.” 44Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. 45Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, “We have found him, of whom Musa in the Taurat, and the Prophets, wrote: ‘ISA of Nazareth, Ibn Yusuf.”

46Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?”

Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

47‘ISA saw Nathanael coming to him, and said about him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!”

48Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?”

‘ISA answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

49Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the SON OF GOD! You are King of Israel!”

50‘ISA answered him, “Because I told you, ‘I saw you underneath the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these!” 51He said to him, “Most assuredly, I tell you, hereafter you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the SON OF MAN.”15

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  1. 1:1 In the beginning, referring to when the universe was created, as recorded in the Taurat, Genesis 1:1 which says: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” ↩︎
  2. 1:1 the Word, God created the universe through his Word, that is, by speaking it into existence. In the Taurat, Genesis 1:3 we read: “GOD SAID, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” The phrase “GOD SAID” is found 10 times in the account of Creation in Genesis 1. ↩︎
  3. 1:1 God, English translation of theos. It is the Greek equivalent of elohim or eloah (Hebrew) which are related to allah (Arabic) and alaha (Syriac), all of which translate as “God,” and refer to the one true God. ↩︎
  4. 1:5 overcome, the Greek word katelaben can also be translated “comprehended.” It refers to getting a grip on an enemy to defeat him. ↩︎
  5. 1:6 Yahya, this Arabic name and the English name John (for John the Baptist/Baptizer) are both derived from the Hebrew name Yochanan, which means “YAHWEH is gracious”. (YAHWEH is God’s personal name revealed to Prophet Musa in the Taurat, Exodus 3:15 – God said moreover to Musa, “You shall tell Bani-Israel this, ‘YAHWEH, the God of your fathers, the God of Ibrahim, the God of Ishaq, and the God of Yaqub, has sent me to you.’ This is my Name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered to all generations.”) ↩︎
  6. 1:11 He came to his own, that is, his own nation, the people of Israel. ↩︎
  7. 1:17 Taurat, this Arabic word is derived from Torah (Hebrew) which literally means “instruction” or “teaching.” Depending on context, Taurat can refer to, 
    1. The whole Hebrew Bible contained here under the title Taurat, equivalent to what Jews today call Tanakh, and what Christians call the Old Testament. 
    2. The book of Prophet Musa, which is also called the Law (of Moses), or the Pentateuch. Pentateuch is a Greek word meaning “five books” and includes Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
    3. Taurat can refer to divine instruction and teaching in general without reference to a particular book.  ↩︎
  8. 1:17 ‘ISA – The names ‘ISA (Arabic), ISHO (Syriac) and JESUS (Greek, IESOUS) are all derived from the Hebrew name YEHOSHUA, which means “YAHWEH saves.” (YAHWEH is God’s personal name revealed to Prophet Musa in the Taurat, Exodus 3:15 – God said moreover to Musa, “You shall tell Bani-Israel this, ‘YAHWEH, the God of your fathers, the God of Ibrahim, the God of Ishaq, and the God of Yaqub, has sent me to you.’ This is my Name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered to all generations.”) ↩︎
  9. 1:17 AL-MASIH – an Arabic title equivalent to the Messiah (Hebrew) or Christ (Greek), all of which mean the Anointed One, that is, God’s Chosen One. In ancient times, divinely-appointed kings, priests and prophets were anointed with oil to signify their appointment to office. All of them point ahead to God’s ultimate Anointed One, the Messiah, AL-MASIH.  Al-Kitab unanimously points to ‘ISA Ibn Maryam as the only person worthy to bear the title AL-MASIH. He is the one whom God sent into this world to save people from sin, and to usher in God’s Kingdom at his Second Coming. ↩︎
  10. 1:18 one and only Son, a title of the Messiah, ‘ISA AL-MASIH, revealed through Prophet Dawud in the Zabur 2:7-9, which says: I will tell of the decree. YAHWEH said to me, “You are my SON. Today I have become your FATHER. Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, The ends of the earth for your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” Clearly the phrase one and only Son implies that ‘ISA has a unique relationship with God enjoyed by nobody else; so much so that next in this verse ‘ISA is said to be in the bosom of the Father. ↩︎
  11. 1:21 Ilyas, this Arabic name is derived from the Hebrew name Elijah, which means “YAHWEH is My God”. (YAHWEH is God’s personal name revealed to Prophet Musa in the Taurat, Exodus 3:15 – God said moreover to Musa, “You shall tell Bani-Israel this, ‘YAHWEH, the God of your fathers, the God of Ibrahim, the God of Ishaq, and the God of Yaqub, has sent me to you.’ This is my Name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered to all generations.”) ↩︎
  12. 1:21 the Prophet, Prophet Yahya denies that he is the prophet predicted in the Taurat, Deuteronomy 18:15 and 18. ↩︎
  13. 1:23 Quoting the Taurat, Shaya 40:3 which says: The voice of one calling out in the wilderness, “Make ready the way of YAHWEH; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” ↩︎
  14. 1:39 tenth hour, that is, 4:00 PM. ↩︎
  15. 1:51 SON OF MAN, a title for the Messiah, ‘ISA AL-MASIH, derived from the prophecy of Daniel 7:13-14, “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like a SON OF MAN coming with the clouds of the sky, and he came to the ANCIENT OF DAYS, and they brought him near before him. There was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” The title SON OF MAN was Prophet ‘ISA Ibn Maryam’s most common way of referring to himself. ↩︎