1. He that hateth his brother is in darkness.
2. " " " walketh in darkness.
3. " " " knoweth not where he goeth.
4. " " " darkness has blinded his eyes.
The third beat of the parallelism contains an allusion to that Cain among the nations, the Jewish people in our Lord's time. (John xii. 35.)
In illustration of the powerful expression, ("darkness has blinded his eyes") the present writer quoted a striking passage from Professor Drummond, who adduces a parallel for the Christian's loss of the spiritual faculty, by the atrophy of organs which takes place in moles, and in the fish in dark caverns. (Speaker's Commentary, in loc.) But as regards the mole at least, a great observer of Nature entirely denies the alleged atrophy. Mr. Buckland quotes Dr. Lee in a paper, in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, where he says,—"the eye of the mole presents us with an instance of an organ which is rudimentary, not by arrest of development, but through disuse, aided perhaps by natural selection." But Mr. Buckland asserts that "the same great Wisdom who made the mole's teeth the most beautiful set of insectivorous teeth among animals, also made its eye fit for the work it has to do. The mole has been designed to prey upon earthworms; they will not come up to the surface to him, so he must go down into the earth to them. For this purpose his eyes are fitted." (Life of F. Buckland, pp. 247, 248).
[SECTION III. (2)]
| GREEK. | LATIN. | AUTHORISED VERSION. | REVISED VERSION. | ANOTHER VERSION. |
| Αγαπητοι, ουκ εντολην καινην γραφω ὑμιν, αλλ' εντολην παλαιαν ἡν ειχετε απ' αρχης· ἡ εντολη ἡ παλαια εστιν ὁ λογος ὁν ηκουσατε. παλιν εντολην καινην γραφω ὑμιν, ὁ εστιν αληθες εν αυτω και εν ὑμιν, ὁτι ἡ σκια παραγεται και το φως το αληθινον ηδη φαινει. ὁ λεγων εν τω φωτι ειναι και τον αδελφον αυτου μισων εν τη σκοτια εστιν ἑως αρτι. αγαπων τον αδελφον αυτου εν τω φωτι μενει. και σκανδαλον εν αυτω ουκ εστιν. ὁ δε μισων τον αδελφον αυτου εν τη σκοτια εστιν και εν τη σκοτια περιπατει, και ουκ οιδε που ὑπαγει, ὁτι ἡ σκοτια ετυφλωσεν τους οφθαλμους αυτου. | Carissimi non mandatum novum scribo vobis, sed mandatum vetus quod habuistis ab initio: mandatum vetus est verbum quod audistis. Iterum mandatum novum scribo vobis, quod est verum et in ipso et in vobis, quoniam tenebræ transierunt et lumen verum jam lucet. Qui dicit se in luce esse et fratrem suum odit, in tenebris est usque adhuc. Qui diligit fratrem suum in lumine manet, et scandalum in eo non est: qui autem odit fratrem suum, in tenebris est, et in tenebris ambulat et nescit quo eat, quoniam tenebræ obcæcaverunt oculos eius. | 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: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. 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. | Beloved, no new commandment write I unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning: the old commandment is the word which ye heard. Again, a new commandment write I unto you, which thing is true in Him and in you: because the darkness is passing away, and the true light already shineth. He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in the 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 the darkness, and walketh in the darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because the darkness hath blinded his eyes. | Beloved, no fresh commandment I am writing unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The commandment, the old commandment, is the word which ye heard. Again, a fresh commandment I am writing unto you, which thing [as a whole] is true in Him and in you: because the shadow is drifting by, and the light, the very light, is already enlightening. He that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother, in the darkness is he hitherto. He that loveth his brother in the light abideth he, and scandal in him there is not. But he that hateth his brother in the darkness is he, and in the darkness walketh he, and he knoweth not whither he goeth because the darkness hath blinded his eyes. |