John 1:5
“And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”
King James Version (KJV)
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This verse concludes the opening movement of John's prologue, following the introduction of the Word as life and light. It anticipates the conflict between Christ and a world that does not receive him.
What Does John 1:5 Mean?
John 1:5 says that the light keeps shining in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. After introducing the Word as life and light, John now sets that light against its opposite and announces the outcome of the contest before he even tells the story.
The verb "shineth" is in the present tense -- the light is not a past event but a continuing reality, blazing on even now. "Darkness" pictures the world's resistance to God: its confusion, its hostility, its refusal to see. The Greek word translated "comprehended" carries a double sense. It can mean to understand or grasp, and it can mean to seize or overpower. Both meanings fit. The darkness neither understood the light nor managed to extinguish it. This is one of the most hopeful sentences in Scripture. However thick the darkness of a life, a culture, or an age, it has never been able to put out the light that shines from the Word. Light, by its very nature, dispels darkness; darkness cannot dispel light. The triumph John will narrate -- through the cross and the empty tomb -- is announced here in a single, quiet, unbreakable promise.
In the Original Language
The Greek "phainei" (shineth) is present tense, marking a continuing action. "Katelaben" (comprehended) can mean both to grasp mentally and to seize or overpower -- the darkness did neither.
Cross References
“That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.”
- John 1:9
“The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.”
- Isaiah 9:2
“I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.”
- John 12:46
Application
No darkness you face -- doubt, grief, or opposition -- can put out the light of Christ. His light still shines, and you can walk by it even in the hardest seasons.