The true Light who gives light to every man was coming into the world.
Parallel translations
- WEB The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world.
- KJV That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
- NKJV That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.
- NASB This was the true Light that, coming into the world, enlightens every person.
- NLT The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The true light, Jesus, was entering the world to give light to everyone. He is the genuine source of spiritual illumination for all humanity.
Overview
Jesus is called the 'true' light — the real and ultimate one to which all lesser lights point. His coming into the world brings light that confronts and offers understanding to every person, regardless of nation. Faithful Christians read this as Christ being the light available to all and the only Savior, though they discuss precisely how His enlightening reaches each person.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- John 12:46I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should remain in darkness.
- John 1:4In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.
- 1 Jn 2:8Then 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.
- Isa 49:6He 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 Th 5:4–7But you, brothers, are not in the darkness so that this day should overtake you like a thief.
- John 1:7He came as a witness to testify about the Light, so that through him everyone might believe.
- 1 Jn 5:20And 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 6:32Jesus 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.
- John 14:6Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
- Isa 8:20To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.
- 1 Jn 1:8If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
- Matt 6:23But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
- John 15:1“I am the true vine, and My Father is the keeper of the vineyard.
- John 7:12Many in the crowds were whispering about Him. Some said, “He is a good man.” But others replied, “No, He deceives the people.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Pastoral
Henry on the prologue — rich on the Word and the incarnation.
Seminary
- ★ Start hereCommentaryThe Gospel According to John (Pillar NT Commentary)D. A. Carson · ~720 pp · Paid · reformed
The go-to mid-level exegetical commentary on John — rigorous and readable.
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 1:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.