Passage

John 1.6

Book: John · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"4. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5. And the light shineth in the darkness; and the darkness apprehended it not."

"6. There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John."

"7. The same came for witness, that he might bear witness of the light, that all might believe through him. 8. He was not the light, but came that he might bear witness of the light." (John 1:4-8, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"4. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn’t overcome it."

"6. There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John."

"7. The same came as a witness, that he might testify about the light, that all might believe through him. 8. He was not the light, but was sent that he might testify about the light." (John 1:4-8, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"4. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. ^{comprehended: or, did not admit, or, receive}"

"6. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John."

"7. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light." (John 1:4-8, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"4. In him was life, and the life was the light of men, 5. and the light in the darkness did shine, and the darkness did not perceive it."

"6. There came a man, having been sent from God, whose name [is] John,"

"7. this one came for testimony, that he might testify about the Light, that all might believe through him; 8. that one was not the Light, but, that he might testify about the Light." (John 1:4-8, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
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Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.