The Gospel According to John, vol. 29, R.E. Brown, 1966, pp 523-24.
When John cites Scripture, as we have seen, sometimes the citation is taken from neither the Hebrew nor LXX, but from the Targums or Aramaic translations. In these Targums, memra, Aramaic for "word," has a special function. (The cautions expressed by G. F. Moore in "Intermediaries in Jewish Theology," HTR 15 [1922], especially pp. 41-55, are still important.)
The Memra of the Lord in the Targums is not simply a translation of what we have spoken of as "the word of the Lord"; rather it is a surrogate for God Himself.
If in Exod iii 12 God says, "I will be with you," in the Targum Onkelos God says, "My Memra will be your support." If in Exod xix 17 we are told that Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, in Targum Onkelos we are told that they were brought to the Memra of God.
If Gen xxviii 21 says, "Yahweh shall be my God," Targum Onkelos speaks of the Memra of Yahweh. This is not a personification, but the use of Memra serves as a buffer for divine transcendence. If the Aramaic expression for "word" was used in the Targums as a paraphrase for God in His dealings with men, the author of the Prologue hymn may have seen fit to use this title for Jesus who pre-eminently incorporated God's presence among men.
The personification of the Word would, of course, be part of the Christian theological innovation.
In sum, it seems that the Prologue's description of the Word is far closer to biblical and Jewish strains of thought than it is to anything purely Hellenistic. In the mind of the theologian of the Prologue the creative word of God, the word of the Lord that came to the prophets, has become personal in Jesus who is the embodiment of divine revelation. Jesus is divine Wisdom, pre-existent, but now come among men to teach them and give them life.
Not the Torah but Jesus Christ is the creator and source of light and life. He is the Memra, God's presence among men. And yet, even though all these strands are woven into the Johannine concept of the Word, this concept remains a unique contribution of Christianity. It is beyond all that has gone before, even as Jesus is beyond all who have gone before.
When John cites Scripture, as we have seen, sometimes the citation is taken from neither the Hebrew nor LXX, but from the Targums or Aramaic translations. In these Targums, memra, Aramaic for "word," has a special function. (The cautions expressed by G. F. Moore in "Intermediaries in Jewish Theology," HTR 15 [1922], especially pp. 41-55, are still important.)
The Memra of the Lord in the Targums is not simply a translation of what we have spoken of as "the word of the Lord"; rather it is a surrogate for God Himself.
If in Exod iii 12 God says, "I will be with you," in the Targum Onkelos God says, "My Memra will be your support." If in Exod xix 17 we are told that Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, in Targum Onkelos we are told that they were brought to the Memra of God.
If Gen xxviii 21 says, "Yahweh shall be my God," Targum Onkelos speaks of the Memra of Yahweh. This is not a personification, but the use of Memra serves as a buffer for divine transcendence. If the Aramaic expression for "word" was used in the Targums as a paraphrase for God in His dealings with men, the author of the Prologue hymn may have seen fit to use this title for Jesus who pre-eminently incorporated God's presence among men.
The personification of the Word would, of course, be part of the Christian theological innovation.
In sum, it seems that the Prologue's description of the Word is far closer to biblical and Jewish strains of thought than it is to anything purely Hellenistic. In the mind of the theologian of the Prologue the creative word of God, the word of the Lord that came to the prophets, has become personal in Jesus who is the embodiment of divine revelation. Jesus is divine Wisdom, pre-existent, but now come among men to teach them and give them life.
Not the Torah but Jesus Christ is the creator and source of light and life. He is the Memra, God's presence among men. And yet, even though all these strands are woven into the Johannine concept of the Word, this concept remains a unique contribution of Christianity. It is beyond all that has gone before, even as Jesus is beyond all who have gone before.