unfoldingWord_en_tn/1jn/01/01.md

# General Information:

The apostle John wrote this letter to believers. All instances of "you," "your," and "yours" include all believers and are plural. Here the words "we" and "us" refer to John and those who had been with Jesus. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-you]] and [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-exclusive]])

# General Information:

In verses 1-2 many pronouns like "that," "which," and "it" are used. They refer to "the Word of life" and "the eternal life." But, since these are names for Jesus, you can use pronouns that refer to a person like "who," "whom" or "he." (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-pronouns]])

# That which was from the beginning

The phrase "That which was from the beginning" refers to Jesus, who existed before everything was made. AT: "We are writing to you about the one who existed before the creation of all things"

# the beginning

"the beginning of all things" or "the creation of the world"

# which we have heard

"which we have heard him teach"

# which we have seen ... we have looked at

This is repeated for emphasis. AT: "which we ourselves have seen" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-parallelism]])

# the Word of life

The "Word of life" is Jesus. AT: "Jesus, the one who causes people to live forever" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metonymy]])

# life

The word "life" throughout this letter refers to more than physical life. It stands here for Jesus, the eternal life. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metonymy]])

# the life was made known

This can be stated in active form. AT: "God made the eternal life known to us" or "God made us able to know him, who is eternal life" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-activepassive]])

# we have seen it

"we have seen him"

# we bear witness to it

"we solemnly tell others about him"

# the eternal life

Here, "the eternal life" refers to the one who gives that life, Jesus. AT: "the one who enables us to live forever" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metonymy]])

# which was with the Father

"who was with God the Father"

# and which has been made known to us

This was when he lived on earth. AT: "and he came to live among us" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-activepassive]])

# translationWords

* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/life]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/testimony]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/eternity]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/godthefather]]