1 John 2:19 - Exposition

They went out from us ἐχ ἡμῶν ἐχῆλθαν ; just as the evil spirit went out of the demoniac. But they were not of us οὐκ ἦσαν ἐχ ἡμῶν ; they had not their origin with us, just as the unbelieving Jews were "not of God" ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ οὐκ ἐστὲ , but of the devil ( John 8:23 , John 8:44 , John 8:47 ). The emphatic repetition of ἠμῶν , five times in one verse, is quite in St. John's style. The "no doubt" of the Authorized Version, rightly omitted in the Revised Version, probably represents the utique of the Vulgate, which is a mistaken attempt to give a separate word to translate ἄν (compare forsitan in John 4:10 ; John 5:46 . For the elliptical ἀλλ ̓ ἵνα , comp. John 1:8 ). What follows is not clear, and is taken in three ways:

(a) "That they may be made manifest that they are not of us;"

(b) "That it may be made manifest that not all who are with us μεθ ) are of us ἐχ ἡμῶν ." This seems preferable. The renegade and apostate was all along only nominally a Christian. Of the true Christian the declaration remains true, "No one snatcheth them out of his hand."