And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
John 1.5

The meaning of the Greek text underlying these words is expressed in the Authorised Version accurately, intelligibly, and with strict fidelity to the original, which in this instance is not affected by any variety of readings in the manuscripts. The six Greek words rendered — “and the darkness comprehended it not” — are the same in the text of Erasmus, Stephens, Beza, Elzevir, Mill, Wetstein, Griesbach, Scholz, Lachmann, Tischendorf, Tregelles, Alford, Wordsworth, Westcott and Hort, the 1881 Revisers, Nestlé, Weiss, Von Soden, the United Bible Societies Edition, and the Greek followed by the translators of the New English Bible. In this passage English translators from Tyndale to the present day have been translating precisely the same words. The discovery of thousands of Greek manuscripts since 1611 has left these Greek words undisturbed, but the variety of English renderings in the modern versions is quite remarkable.

For convenience the fifty-two different modern English renderings of the Greek verb are here listed in alphabetical order:

1. Did not absorb it
2. Admitted it not
3. Apprehended it not
4. Has not appropriated it
5. Came not upon it
6. Comprehended it not
7. Did not conquer it
8. Has not defeated it
9. Got-to-detect-not
10. It not down-got
11. Has never extinguished it
12. Can never extinguish it
13. Take, fully take
14. Grasped it not
15. Was not impaired by the darkness
16. Cannot be imprisoned by darkness
17. Laid not hold
18. Was not able to master it
19. Did not master it
20. Did not overcome it
21. Has never overcome it
22. It is not overcome by the d.
23. Does not overcome it
24. Was not able to overcome it
25. Has not overcome it
26. Overcame it not
27. Has never overpowered it
28. Did not overpower it
29. Could not overpower it
30. Has not overpowered it
31. Never overpowered it
32. Overspread it not
33. Did not overtake it
34. The darkness it not overtook
35. Did not overwhelm it
36. Has not overwhelmed it
37. Perceived it not
38. Has not put it out
39. Has never put it out
40. Could not put it out
41. Has never quenched it
42. Did not receive it
43. Could not suppress it
44. Did not stop the light from shining
45. Did not take it in
46. Has not taken it in
47. Was not able to understand it
48. Has not understood it
49. Is unreceptive to it
50. Was unreceptive
51. Did not welcome it
52. Would have none of it

It is often that progress made in Greek scholarship in the last four hundred years enables modern scholars to express the meaning of the Greek more accurately and to achieve greater precision in rendering the tenses of the Greek verb. This formidable list precision of fifty-two in alternative renderings, including no fewer than twenty-eight different English verbs and several different tenses, seems to indicate considerable disagreement among modern scholars, and must inevitably result in uncertainty and confusion among those who use the modern versions for reading, ministry, or translation work.

The variety of renderings of the tense of the verb includes the present, the perfect, and the imperfect, with can, could and would, and several of these in conjunction with never. The same uncertainty is evident with regard to the use of the active or passive voice, and it will be seen that the assortment of tenses and voices amounts to fourteen different ways of presenting the verb:

1. Present active
2. Present active + never
3. Present passive
4. Present passive + cannot
5. Simple past
6. Simple past + did not
7. Simple past + could not
8. Simple past + never
9. Simple past “was not able” + infinitive
10. Past passive
11. Perfect active
12. Perfect active + never
13. Copulative verb, present + adjective
14. Copulative verb, past + adjective

The “Greek-English Diglot for the use of Translators” — Corrected Reprint 1961 — contains the following paragraph in the Introduction — “It has long been felt that what is needed is a clear and accurate translation of the Scriptures into English which will be an unambiguous guide to the translator. To meet this need in part the production of the Greek-English New Testament was undertaken. The Greek text is that which will appear as the 3rd edition of the B.F.B.S. Greek Testament, the editor of which has been consulted in points of interpretation of the text.” In this Diglot John 1.5 reads — “and the darkness did not overcome it.”

The “Translator's New Testament” (B.F.B.S. 1973) was prepared originally “for the translator who has no access to the Greek text or a limited command of that language … It is conceived as an aid for those who will use it as a bridge between the ancient Greek text and the languages and cultures of the modern world … The text on which the translation is based is that of the United Bible Societies’ Greek Text, 1966.” In this “Translator's New Testament” John 1.5 reads — “And the darkness has never overcome it.” Presumably, translators who are using the 1961 Diglot will translate it one way, while those who have now acquired the 1973 volume will offer their readers a different rendering of the same Greek words.

With regard to the meaning of the Greek word, the alternatives were carefully considered by competent scholars more than a as century ago, and there are good reasons for retaining comprehended as in the Authorised Version. In the Commentary of Professor Tholuck (7th Edition 1857) he wrote — “The verb cannot idiomatically signify suppress… it means comprehend, in the spiritual sense, too, in expressing which the middle voice is usual … The abstract SKOTIA (darkness) designates the concrete collective idea of humanity not penetrated by the consciousness of God. With the aorist we have PHAINEI (shineth) in the present, as the Evangelist has before his mind an act yet in continual progress.” Dean Alford also rejected overcame as “not admissible”, and S.G.Green, referring to Mark 9.18 and Philippians 3.12,13, admits the suitability of seize, lay hold of, grasp, in those contexts, but agrees with Tholuck that the verb also means — to comprehend, i.e. “to hold with the mind, to perceive, to apprehend.” These meanings are all adequately conveyed by the English word — comprehended.

Calvin commented on this passage in 1553 — “For though the Son of God sheds His light upon them, they are so dull that they do not comprehend whence the light proceeds, but are carried away by foolish and wicked imaginations …”

Tyndale and Coverdale, the Geneva Version, the Bishops’ Bible, the Rheims New Testament and the Authorised Version all agree that the meaning is — “the darkness comprehended it not.” Tholuck and Ellicot in 1857, Alford in 1874, and the New American Standard Bible in 1963, all quite rightly preserve this rendering. John Wesley’s variant — perceived it not (1754) and Philip Doddridge’s — apprehended it not (1765) were followed at intervals in the 19th century by about ten more, and in the present century the number has advanced to fifty-two. The process may well continue until the rich store of English synonyms is exhausted, but for the English reader the plainest guide to the actual text and the precise meaning of the Greek original will continue to be the simple and accurate rendering that has stood in the Authorised Version for more than three hundred and sixty years —

“And the darkness comprehended it not”

This article was first printed in QR 450 (1975).