1 John 1:2

(and the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare unto you the life, the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us)

This verse is parenthetical, but it regards the very thing in John's mind from the first verse, namely, the Holy One, the same who in the beginning was "with God" and "was God" (John 1:1), called in the gospel "the Word" and here "the Word of life" (1 John 1:1).

This life manifested ... Moffatt was doubtless correct in capitalizing "Life" in both verses. "Manifested" is a term frequently used in the New Testament of the appearance of the Son of God in flesh (1Tim. 3:16,1Pet. 1:20,1 John 3:5,8). It is further illuminated by the counterpart of it in the gospel, "The word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:31). John also used the same word to describe the resurrection appearances of Jesus (John 21:1,14).

And we have seen, and bear witness ... By this, John refers to his gospel, to which, in a sense, this letter is an appendix. His "witness" or "testimony" is incorporated in that which he wrote. Again, "we" refers to the apostles. Macknight paraphrased the words here thus: "We apostles who accompanied him during his abode on earth, etc."[12] Clemance also understood this whole verse as concerning Jesus Christ. He wrote: "From what follows, there can be no question that the apostle here refers to the Lord Jesus Christ."[13] "Bear witness" means to proclaim, testify, or bear testimony, such words appearing no less than nineteen times in these epistles. Thus, John's assault on error was a thundering reiteration of basic gospel truth. As Hoon said:

Because this epistle was occasioned by heresy and misconduct, argument and denunciation frequently appear. But the author did not first engage in apologetics; he knew that error is best met by confronting it with the truth it denies.[14]

[12] James Macknight, op. cit., p. 27.

[13] A. Clemance, The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 22,1John (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), p. 6.

[14] Paul W. Hoon, The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. XII (New York: Abingdon Press, 1957), p. 216.