The words and phrases used in John chapter 1 clearly echo Genesis chapter 1.
For example, “In the beginning” (Gen 1:1 LXX, en arche as in John 1:1). This same phrase is also used for wisdom in Proverbs 8:22-23 (LXX).
John does sometimes use the word “beginning” for the start of the ministry of Jesus, but it is not the same phrase as in John 1:1: “in the beginning.” As a matter of fact the Greek phrase (en arche) is not used anywhere else by John.
In Genesis 1:3 the Greek word translated “Let there be” (egeneto) is the same Greek word translated as “came into being” (egeneto) in John 1:10 in connection with the creation of the “world” (kosmos). And the phrase “the light (phos) shines in the darkness” in John 1:5 echoes Genesis 1:4 where God separates “the light from the darkness” (Gen. 1:4, LXX).
The “all things” in John 1:3 is also a reference to the Genesis creation. This same phrase is used by other NT writers in connection with creation (cp. Eph. 3:9; Heb. 3:4; Rev. 4:11).
The Catholic scholar Raymond Brown summed it up well when he observed that if John 1:1 refers to the beginning of the ministry of Jesus, “then the clearer reference to his coming in John 1:9 and 10 seems tautological” (i.e., a needless repetition).
Dr. Brown says the writer of John “has inserted a reference to John the Baptist after vs. 5, and one can scarcely imagine that the [writer] would introduce John the Baptist after describing the ministry of Jesus and its effect. Clearly the [writer] thought that the references to the coming of Jesus began in vs. 10; he put the coming of John the Baptist in vss. 6-8 before the coming of Jesus, and used vs. 9 to connect John the Baptist to the moment of that coming.”[The Gospel According to John, Anchor Bible, p. 26.]
In other words, John did not put the coming of Jesus before the coming of John the Baptist, which would be putting the proverbial “cart before the horse”!
For example, “In the beginning” (Gen 1:1 LXX, en arche as in John 1:1). This same phrase is also used for wisdom in Proverbs 8:22-23 (LXX).
John does sometimes use the word “beginning” for the start of the ministry of Jesus, but it is not the same phrase as in John 1:1: “in the beginning.” As a matter of fact the Greek phrase (en arche) is not used anywhere else by John.
In Genesis 1:3 the Greek word translated “Let there be” (egeneto) is the same Greek word translated as “came into being” (egeneto) in John 1:10 in connection with the creation of the “world” (kosmos). And the phrase “the light (phos) shines in the darkness” in John 1:5 echoes Genesis 1:4 where God separates “the light from the darkness” (Gen. 1:4, LXX).
The “all things” in John 1:3 is also a reference to the Genesis creation. This same phrase is used by other NT writers in connection with creation (cp. Eph. 3:9; Heb. 3:4; Rev. 4:11).
The Catholic scholar Raymond Brown summed it up well when he observed that if John 1:1 refers to the beginning of the ministry of Jesus, “then the clearer reference to his coming in John 1:9 and 10 seems tautological” (i.e., a needless repetition).
Dr. Brown says the writer of John “has inserted a reference to John the Baptist after vs. 5, and one can scarcely imagine that the [writer] would introduce John the Baptist after describing the ministry of Jesus and its effect. Clearly the [writer] thought that the references to the coming of Jesus began in vs. 10; he put the coming of John the Baptist in vss. 6-8 before the coming of Jesus, and used vs. 9 to connect John the Baptist to the moment of that coming.”[The Gospel According to John, Anchor Bible, p. 26.]
In other words, John did not put the coming of Jesus before the coming of John the Baptist, which would be putting the proverbial “cart before the horse”!
