Article “The Word” in the Prologue to John’s Gospel

[Ray Faircloth]

11​

“The Word” in the Prologue to John’s Gospel​

---

In the beginning was the word,
and the word was with God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by it,
and without it nothing was made.
In it was life…

John 1:1-3
Tyndale’s New Testament of 1534 (modern spelling)​

---

---

In the beginning was the word.
This self-revelation of God was integral to Him,
and what God was, the self-revelation was.
This was integral to God in the beginning.
Everything came into existence through it
and without it nothing came into existence.

John 1:1-3
The Kingdom of God Version 2021​

---

“The Word” in John 1:1 Is Not Christ​

For most Trinitarians the “Word” (Gk logos) in John 1:1 is viewed as being Jesus in a pre-existent form, because at the end of the verse, we read that “the Word was God.” So, for proponents of the Trinitarian view of Jesus this must surely mean that Jesus is God Almighty. However, in this verse there is nothing to tell us that the “Word” is Jesus because “word” in many other places just means “word.” Therefore, to say it refers to Jesus is only an assumption. Clearly, we must examine the grammar here along with the entire prologue of John and bring to bear on the subject the many factors from the rest of the Bible.

Logos Theology​

The ancient Greek Stoic philosophers described the Logos as the rational principle of the universe. They did not describe it as a person. However, Platonic philosophy did describe the Logos as a person—an intermediary between the remote supreme God and His creation. This idea became part of Christian theology when Justin Martyr of the mid-second century A.D. and his disciples, who were trained in and promoted Greek philosophy, became Christians and interpreted John 1:1 in neo-Platonic terms so that “the logos” or “word” was interpreted as a person—as Jesus. It has since been called Logos theology. However, the logos issue today concerns our understanding of the background and meaning of the Greek word logos as John used it and the translation of the Greek words houtos and autos. Firstly, we will look at the background and interpretation of logos.

John Did Not Get His Concept of “the Logos” from Greek Sources​

Based on the assumption that John wrote his book for Gentile Christians, and so with Greek concepts, Trinitarians of the past have made several claims concerning where John got his concept of “the logos.” So, the possible choices are:

1. From Greek Platonic philosophy.
2. From Philo (in Egypt) who applied Greek philosophy to explain the Hebrew Scriptures.
3. That John originated the concept himself.

However, firstly, it is now recognized by most scholars that the people John wrote for were primarily Jewish non-Christians although he may also have been writing in such a way as to counter pagan Greek concepts. The Gospel of John shows that his words, “have been recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah” (John 20:31 ISV)—not God. Secondly, although at first glance it may appear that Philo’s understanding of the logos was of a person separate from God, yet deeper investigation reveals that:

The Logos for Philo is ‘God’ not as a being independent of ‘the God’ but as ‘the God’ in his knowability—the Logos standing for that limited apprehension of the one God...

Christology in the Making, p. 241.​

Although the Gospel of John was written in Greek, it was written with a thoroughly Jewish mindset; and most scholarly Trinitarians have dropped the claim that Greek platonic philosophy was John’s source or that Philo was John’s source with respect to the logos. Yet, some Trinitarians have moved to the position that John originated the concept himself i.e., he made it up. However, under the article ‘Logos’ The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia states that:

It would be inconceivable that the apostle [John] lighted upon the word [Logos] by chance or that he selected it without any previous knowledge of its history or value. It may be assumed that when he speaks of the ‘Word’ in relation to God and the world, he employs a mode of speech which was already familiar to those for whom he wrote...

Indeed, some of the leading theologians today have largely demonstrated that “the word” is to be interpreted in biblical Hebrew terms which were also expressed in the Aramaic targums i.e., in the Aramaic word memra = the Hebrew word dabar = logos in Greek. And so, the Hebrew word dabar was translated as logos in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, namely, the Septuagint.



DABAR, AND THEREFORE LOGOS NEVER REFERS TO A PERSON

The Hebrew word dabar occurs 1,440 times in the Hebrew Scriptures and the phrase “the word of Yahweh” occurs 242 times in the Hebrew Scriptures. So how was this term used in the Hebrew Scriptures? Examples from the New Jerusalem Bible are: “By the word (Heb. dabar) of Yahweh the heavens were made” (Ps. 33:6). Therefore, this was God’s creative decree which brought forth the original creation. Also, “Hear the word of Yahweh, you dictators of Sodom. Listen to the law (Heb. dabar) of our God, you people of Gomorrah” (Isa. 1:10). So, by Hebrew parallelism “the word of God” = “the law of God” (the Torah—instruction). Also “word” can be personified as in: “There was a word (Heb. dabar) that Yahweh sent against Jacob, and it fell upon Israel” (Isa. 9:8). Here we see the word used in reference to judgment as well as seeing the idea of God’s word personified. In fact, in all of the 1,440 occurrences of dabar in the Hebrew Scriptures there is no instance where it refers to a person. This is also true of all the same instances where dabar was translated as logos in the Septuagint Old Testament and so never used of a literal person.

The Aramaic Targums Were Largely the Bible Books​

of First Century Palestine​

Because Aramaic had become the language of the common people in Palestine after the Babylonian Exile the Hebrew Scriptures were translated into Aramaic in the form of the Aramaic Targums. These were the scrolls that were read in the synagogues so that the people could understand. By contrast the Septuagint was mainly the Bible of the Greek world outside of Palestine. The Encyclopedia Britannica 2003, art. “Targum” informs us that:

The earliest Targums date from the time after the Babylonian Exile when Aramaic had superseded Hebrew as the spoken language of the Jews in Palestine. It is impossible to give more than a rough estimate as to the period in which Hebrew was displaced by Aramaic as a spoken language. It is certain, however, that Aramaic was firmly established in Palestine by the 1st century AD, although Hebrew still remained the learned and sacred language. Thus the Targums were designed to meet the needs of unlearned Jews [i.e. the great majority] to whom the Hebrew of the Old Testament was unintelligible.

ARAMAIC IN THE CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES

WORDS: Talitha qoum, ephatha, abba, raca, mammon, rabboni, maranatha, eli eli sabachthani, korbanas, sikera, hosanna.

PERSONAL NAMES: Bartholomew, Simon-bar-Jona, Barabbas, Bartimaeus, Barsabbas, Barnabas, Bar-Jesus, Boanerges, Cephas, Thomas, Tabitha.

PLACE NAMES: Gethsemane, Golgotha, Gabbatha.

The Aramaic Targums Were John’s Primary Source​

for the Concept of “The Word”​

The Aramaic Targums were produced at a time when God was thought of in His transcendence so that people were afraid to attribute any human thoughts and actions to God or direct references to Him. So, in the Aramaic Targums the word memra was used as a periphrasis or circumlocution (a substitute word) for God. Instances of periphrasis are: Matthew’s use of “heaven” instead of writing “God” or “Yahweh,” and Jesus’ use of the word “Power” (Matt. 26:64) also as a periphrasis for “God” or “Yahweh.” In no instance of its use in the Aramaic Targums did it carry the thought of a person separate from God who is the Father.

EXAMPLES OF USAGE OF THE WORD “MEMRA”

HS = Hebrew Scriptures. AT = Aramaic Targum
Genesis 3:8:
HS: “They heard the sound of Yahweh God walking in the garden...”
AT: “They heard the voice of the word [memra] of the Lord God walking in the garden...”


Exodus 19:17:
HS: “And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God.”
AT: “And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet the word of God.”

So, John and his readers were very familiar with the term memra and its Greek equivalent logos.

Dabar/Memra/Logos Mean More than Simply “Word”​

However, memra was not a simple substitute for “Yahweh” but denoted a special characteristic of “Yahweh” in reference to His speaking i.e., His activity of commanding in wisdom and power. Therefore, because memra = logos then logos also refers to God’s activity of commanding.

Throughout the New Testament Logos​

Never Refers to a Person​

The Greek word logos appears over 300 times in the New Testament. Again, it is never used of a literal person, except legitimately concerning the future in Revelation 19:13 which we will examine later.

EXAMPLES OF THE USAGE OF ‘LOGOS’ IN THE NEW TESTAMENT​

“But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news (Gk logon)” (Mark 1:45 ESV).

“You have no part or share in this ministry (Gk logo), because your heart is not right before God” (Acts 8:21 NAB).

“No foul language (Gk logos) is to come from your mouth…” (Eph.4:29 CSB).

“when Jesus finished these sayings (Gk logoi)” (Matt.7:28 ESV).

“But I tell you that every careless word (Gk rema) that people speak, they shall give an accounting (Gk logon), for it in the day of judgment” (Matt.12:36 NASB).

“These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance (Gk logon) of wisdom in self-made religion”

(Col.2:23 NASB).​

“And Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one question (Gk logon). If you tell the answer to me, I also will tell you by what authority I am doing these things” (Matt.21:24 LEB).

It Is Illogical for “Logos” in John 1:1 to Refer to Jesus​

Because God is the Father, it makes no sense for Trinitarians to interpret the “logos” as Jesus. This would make John 1:1 become contradictory as in the following experimental statement: If we replace the terms “God” with “Father” and “word” with “Jesus” it reads as: ‘In the beginning was Jesus and Jesus was with the Father and Jesus was the Father.’ However, it is not part of Trinitarian belief that Jesus is “the Father.”

A PERSON’S WORD HAS NO PERSONALITY OF ITS OWN​

We all recognize that the word or expressions of a person have no personality of their own separate from the person whose word it is. One parallel is that the spirit of a person is not a separate person from him/her. Regarding this C. J. Wright states that: “When John presents the eternal Word he was not thinking of a Being.” Also, Dr. Colin Brown of Fuller Seminary comments that: “To read John 1:1 as if it means ‘In the beginning was the Son’ is patently wrong.” So, from the above information it is clear that in John Chapter one Jesus is not mentioned until verse 14 when “the word became flesh” i.e. the word became a human. So, because the word is not a person in John 1:1, but is something belonging to God, exactly what then is “the word”? However, we must first examine some language issues also involving important translation factors.

§​