God & Savior

John 3:19

And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil.
John 3:19
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Study notes

The verdict is that light has come into the world, but people loved darkness more because their deeds were evil.

Explanation

John's Gospel calls Jesus "the Light" (1:4-9; 8:12). The verdict, or judgment, is not that God refused to send light. It is that people preferred darkness when the light came. Their choice exposes what they love.

Original language
  • κρίσις (krisis): judgment
    Greek · Noun, nominative, singular, feminine · Strong's G2920 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Judgment or verdict.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, John 3:19, word 5

  • φῶς (phōs): light
    Greek · Noun, nominative, singular, neuter · Strong's G5457 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Light.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, John 3:19, word 8

  • σκότος (skotos): darkness
    Greek · Noun, accusative, singular, neuter · Strong's G4655 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Darkness.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, John 3:19, word 19

  • πονηρὰ (ponēra): evil/bad
    Greek · Adjective, nominative, plural, neuter · Strong's G4190 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Evil.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, John 3:19, word 26

Cross-references
  • John 1:4-5 · Same theme

    The light shines in the darkness.

  • John 8:12 · Same theme

    I am the light of the world.

  • John 12:46 · Same theme

    I have come into the world as a light.

Connected events
  • Nicodemus visits Jesus at night
    This verse is part of it · jerusalem

    This verse is part of the conversation.

    John 3:1-21

Sources

Original language and places

Reference data from open datasets, shown as published by their sources. Word-by-word English is a literal guide, not a translation.

Original language (Greek)

αὕτη δέ ἐστιν ἡ κρίσις ὅτι τὸ φῶς ἐλήλυθεν εἰς τὸν κόσμον, καὶ ἠγάπησαν οἱ ἄνθρωποι μᾶλλον τὸ σκότος ἢ τὸ φῶς· ἦν γὰρ αὐτῶν πονηρὰ τὰ ἔργα.

  1. αὕτηhautē“This”
    Demonstrative pronoun, nominative, singular, feminine · from οὗτος · “this/he/she/it” · Strong's G3778
  2. δέde“now”
    Conjunction · “but/and” · Strong's G1161
  3. ἐστινestin“is”
    Verb, present, active, indicative, 3rd person singular · from εἰμί · “to be” · Strong's G1510
  4. ἡhē“the”
    Article, nominative, singular, feminine · from ὁ · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  5. κρίσιςkrisis“judgement”
    Noun, nominative, singular, feminine · “judgment” · Strong's G2920
  6. ὅτιhoti“that”
    Conjunction · “that/since” · Strong's G3754G
  7. τὸto“the”
    Article, nominative, singular, neuter · from ὁ · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  8. φῶςphōs“Light”
    Noun, nominative, singular, neuter · “light” · Strong's G5457
  9. ἐλήλυθενelēluthen“has come”
    Verb, 2nd perfect, active, indicative, 3rd person singular · from ἔρχομαι · “to come/go” · Strong's G2064
  10. εἰςeis“into”
    Preposition · “toward” · Strong's G1519
  11. τὸνton“the”
    Article, accusative, singular, masculine · from ὁ · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  12. κόσμον,kosmon“world,”
    Noun, accusative, singular, masculine · from κόσμος · “world” · Strong's G2889
  13. καὶkai“and”
    Conjunction · from καί · “and” · Strong's G2532
  14. ἠγάπησανēgapēsan“loved”
    Verb, aorist, active, indicative, 3rd person plural · from ἀγαπάω · “to love” · Strong's G0025
  15. οἱhoi“<the>”
    Article, nominative, plural, masculine · from ὁ · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  16. ἄνθρωποιanthrōpoi“men”
    Noun, nominative, plural, masculine · from ἄνθρωπος · “a human” · Strong's G0444
  17. μᾶλλονmallon“rather”
    Adverb · “more” · Strong's G3123H
  18. τὸto“the”
    Article, accusative, singular, neuter · from ὁ · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  19. σκότοςskotos“darkness”
    Noun, accusative, singular, neuter · “darkness” · Strong's G4655
  20. ἢē“than”
    Conjunction · from ἤ · “or/than” · Strong's G2228
  21. τὸto“the”
    Article, accusative, singular, neuter · from ὁ · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  22. φῶς·phōs“Light;”
    Noun, accusative, singular, neuter · from φῶς · “light” · Strong's G5457
  23. ἦνēn“were”
    Verb, imperfect, active, indicative, 3rd person singular · from εἰμί · “to be” · Strong's G1510
  24. γὰρgar“for”
    Conjunction · from γάρ · “for” · Strong's G1063
  25. αὐτῶνautōn“of them”
    Personal pronoun, genitive, plural, masculine · from αὐτός · “he/she/it/self” · Strong's G0846
  26. πονηρὰponēra“evil”
    Adjective, nominative, plural, neuter · from πονηρός · “evil/bad” · Strong's G4190
  27. τὰta“the”
    Article, nominative, plural, neuter · from ὁ · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  28. ἔργα.erga“deeds.”
    Noun, nominative, plural, neuter · from ἔργον · “work” · Strong's G2041
  • Prepared by the God & Savior team. Not yet reviewed by an editor.
  • Greek words: STEP Bible (STEPBible.org), based on work at Tyndale House, Cambridge. CC BY 4.0. Source (version ed476a8)