Bible Strands
John 1:9
The true Light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator addresses the reader in the prologue's pivot between the witness (1:8) and the rejection (1:10). This is the moment the text moves from identifying the Light to stating its trajectory.
The words — ἀληθινόν (alēthinon), "true," implies a counterfactual: there is false light, and this one is genuine. The adjective does the work of distinguishing the Light from every other claim to illumination.
The thread — John 1:4 grounds the Light in life; John 12:46 restates the purpose so that no one who believes remains in darkness. 1 John 2:8 picks up the fading-darkness motif.
Why it lands — The Light was not static; it was coming, and the reader is among the "everyone" it reached. The verse asks whether the reader recognized it or passed it by.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
Cross-references
- John 12:46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should remain in darkness.
- John 1:4 In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.
- 1 John 2:8 Then again, I am also writing to you a new commandment, which is true in Him and also in you. For the darkness is fading and the true light is already shining.
- Isaiah 49:6 He says: “It is not enough for You to be My Servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the protected ones of Israel. I will also make You a light for the nations, to bring My salvation to the ends of the earth.”
- 1 Thessalonians 5:4 But you, brothers, are not in the darkness so that this day should overtake you like a thief.
- John 1:7 He came as a witness to testify about the Light, so that through him everyone might believe.
- 1 John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true—in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
- John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
- John 6:32 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.
- Isaiah 8:20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.