7. Hic venit in testimonium, 7. This man came for a ut testimonium perhiberet de witness, to give testimony of lumine, ut omnes crederent per the light, that all men might illum: believe through him. 8. Non erat ille lux, sed ut 8. He was not the light, but testimonium perhiberet de was to give testimony of the lumine. light. 9. Erat lux vera, quae 9. That was the true light, illuminat omnem hominem which enlighteneth every man venientem in hunc mundum that cometh into this world. 7. This man came for witness, namely, in order that he might bear witness of _the light_, that is to say, the Incarnate Word, to the end that through him all might believe in the Word. 8. *He was not the light* (τὸ φῶς), that is, he was not the great uncreated light which enlighteneth all men; though, in his own way, the Baptist too was a light, nay, as Christ Himself testified “the lamp that burneth and shineth.” (v. 35). Ἵνα depends on ἦλθεν (he came), which is to be understood from the preceding verse. 9. *That was the true light* (or, there was the true light), *which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world*. The Greek of this verse may be construed and translated in three different ways:—1. By connecting ἦν with ἐρχόμενον: The true light, which enlighteneth every man, was coming into this world. 2. By taking ἐρχόμενον as a nominative agreeing with φῶς: There was the true light which _at its coming_ into the world, enlighteneth every man (iii. 19.) 3. By connecting ἐρχόμενον with ἄνθρωπον, as in the Vulgate and our English version. This is far the most probable view. In favour of it we have all the Latin Fathers, all the Greek Fathers except one, and all the ancient versions. Besides, ἐρχόμενον is thus connected with the nearest substantive with which it agrees in form. Add to this that the second opinion, the more probable of the other two, would seem to signify that the Word was not a light to all men before His coming, but only at His coming; and this, as we have explained above on verse 5, is false. The meaning, then, is that the Word was the true, _i.e._ the perfect light, and as far as in Him lies enlighteneth at all times every man that cometh into this world, be he Jew or Gentile. *That cometh into this world*, is in our view a Hebrew form of expression equivalent to: that is born. It is used only here in the New Testament, but “to be born” was commonly expressed by Jewish Rabbins by בוא בעולס (to come into the world). 10. In mundo erat et mundus 10. He was in the world, and per ipsum factus est, et the world was made by him, and mundus eum non cognovit. the world knew him not.