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1 John 1:1 ESV

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life." [My emphasis] "we have seen"/heorakamen, and "we looked upon"/etheasametha.

Does "heorakamen" insist on physical seeing, or might it include something more e.g., "eyes of understanding" Eph 1:18-19.

Is etheasametha only physical looking upon, or might it imply intellectual or spiritual insight?

Is there a progression in this verse from one sort of looking to another?

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    Offhand, I would assume that this is a poetic restatement. But, maybe there's a progression or a refinement that I'm missing here. Good question. Commented Jan 15 at 18:29

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1 John 1:1 is a pivotal statement of personal witness about the veracity of what John is writing about and the truth about Jesus whom he calls, "The Word of Life". It contains four verbs:

  • ἀκούω (akouó) = to hear, listen
  • ὁράω (horaó) = to see (in this case it is literal see with the eyes as the text states)
  • θεάομαι (theaomai) = to see in a prolonged way, ie, gaze intently upon and thus to perceive, probably, by contrast with the above, to meditate upon and thus to have studied and understood
  • ψηλαφάω (psélaphaó) = to touch (in this case, with the hand as the text states)

Note that NT Greek has about 11 verbs denoting "seeing" in some sense. The two here are contrasted above as literal biological seeing vs a prolonged look that studies the object in a concentrated way and thus implies an intellectual perception.

Thus, John is saying that his personal experience (and that of his fellow apostles) can witness to the reality of the truth of Jesus Christ, the "Word of Life", precisely because he has heard, seen with his eyes, studied/perceived in an extended way, and even touched with his hands, the person of Jesus Christ.

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  • +1. As heorakamen is perfect but etheasametha aorist/deponent/middle {I think}, might that add to the difference between them? Commented Jan 15 at 22:00
  • @C.Stroud - true; but that starts getting into "stretch" territory and too much detail. Commented Jan 15 at 23:20

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