John 1:1-3

Joshua Perez

12/31/2024

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created" (John 1:1-3 HCSB)

The prologue of John chapter one is widely regarded as an indisputable passage that asserts that Jesus is God.

In order to properly understand this text, we must first put ourselves in the mindset of 1st century Jews who were immersed in the Hebraic concepts and figures of speech present in the Old Testament. 

The Word:

Understanding what the "word" (Gk: logos; Hb: davar) of God was in the Old Testament, and how it was understood by Jews during the second Temple period is crucial before diving into the prologue of John 1. Logos in Greek literally means "a word, uttered by a living voice, embodies a conception or idea; what someone has said" [1] . The Bauer’s (BDAG) Greek lexicon lists the following as acceptable translations of the word:

“..1 a communication whereby the mind finds expression, word..: what you say Mt 5:37; statement...Proclamation, instruction, teaching, message ...the subject under discussion, matter…computation, reckoning…wisdom…” 

The Ardnt and Gingrich Greek lexicon offers a wide range of the word usage in the N.T.;

• speaking; words you say (Rom. 15:18, “what I have said and done”).

• a statement you make (Luke 20:20 – (NASB), “they might catch him in some statement).

• a question (Matt. 21:24, “I will also ask you one question”).

• preaching (1 Tim. 5:17, “especially those whose work is preaching and teaching).

• command (Gal. 5:14, “the entire law is summed up in a single command”).

• proverb; saying (John 4:37, “thus the saying, ‘One sows, and another reaps’”).

• message; instruction; proclamation (Luke 4:32, “his message had authority”).

• assertion; declaration; teaching (John 6:60, “this is a hard teaching”).

• the subject under discussion; matter (Acts 8:21, “you have no part or share in this ministry.” Acts 15:6 (NASB), “And the apostles… came together to look into this matter”).

• revelation from God (Matt. 15:6, “you nullify the Word of God ”).

• God’s revelation spoken by His servants (Heb. 13:7, “leaders who spoke the Word of God”).

• a reckoning, an account (Matt. 12:36, “men will have to give account” on the day of judgment).

• an account or “matter” in a financial sense (Matt. 18:23, A king who wanted to settle “accounts” with his servants. Phil. 4:15, “the matter of giving and receiving”).

• a reason; motive (Acts 10:29 – NASB), “I ask for what reason you have sent for me”) [2]

Primarily,  the logos, God's "word", is his creative speech, which in the Old Testament he used to create the cosmos (speaking into existence).

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1 HCSB)

"Then God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light." (Genesis 1:3 HCSB)

"The heavens were made by the word of the Lord, and all the stars, by the breath of His mouth."(Psalm 33:6 HCSB)

Furthermore, it was an expressive way that God made known himself to man, via his promises, power, and wisdom being present on the earth . God's word is frequently associated with "action".

• And the word of the Lord was Joseph’s helper (Gen. 39:2).

• And Moses brought the people to meet the word of the Lord (Ex. 19:17).

• And the word of the Lord accepted the face of Job (Job 42:9).

• And the word of the Lord shall laugh them to scorn (Ps. 2:4).

• They believed in the name of His word (Ps. 106:12).

Wisdom:

Other passages in the OT seem to conflate God's word with his "wisdom" (or understanding and knowledge) (Gk: sophia; Hb: chokmah), which is explained to be the attribute through which Hashem created the universe.

"How countless are Your works, Lord! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures." (Psalm 104:24 HCSB)

"The Lord founded the earth by wisdom and established the heavens by understanding. By His knowledge the watery depths broke open, and the clouds dripped with dew." (Proverbs 3:19-20 HCSB)

Proverbs chapter 8 takes it even a step further, and personifies the attribute of God's divine wisdom in the character of 'Lady Wisdom'.

"Does not wisdom call, and understanding lift up her voice? For my mouth will utter truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the utterances of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing crooked or perverse in them. For wisdom is better than jewels; and all desirable things cannot compare with her. The L-rd possessed me at the beginning of His way, before His works of old. From everlasting I was established, from the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills I was brought forth; while He had not yet made the earth and the fields, nor the first dust of the world. When He established the heavens, I was there; when He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep, when He made firm the skies above, when the springs of the deep became fixed, I was there." (Proverbs 8:1, 7-8, 11, 22-30 NASB)

Lady Wisdom (a personification of God's divine attribute of wisdom) says that she was present during the creation of the heavens and the earth, and almost seemingly helped God with it. In later intertestamental literature, we see the character of Lady Wisdom reappear, where she again states that she was the tool by which Hashem created the heavens and the earth.

"O God of my fathers and Lord of mercy, who have made all things by your word, and by your wisdom have formed man, that he should have dominion over the creatures you have made, and govern the world in holiness and righteousness, and pronounce judgment in uprightness of soul." (Wisdom of Solomon 9:1-2)

"Wisdom will praise herself, and will glory in the midst of her people. In the assembly of the Most High she will open her mouth, and in the presence of his hosts she will glory. I came forth from the mouth of the Most High, and covered the earth like a mist. I dwelt in high places, and my throne is in a pillar of cloud. From the beginning, before the world was created, I was created, and for eternity I will remain."(Sirach 24:1-5, 10)

In these texts we see Lady Wisdom say that she "came out of the mouth of the most high", and along with God's word, formed man. This poetic conflation of God's word and wisdom appears to be trying to paint them as one divine faculty or attribute that reflects God's power, understanding, and very being:

"For she is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of His goodness" (Wisdom of Solomon 7:26)

Torah:

God's wisdom is also identified as being synonymous with God's Torah, the very image of his character.

"...All these things things are the book of the covenant of the Most High God, the law which Moses commanded us as an inheritance for the congregations of Jacob."(Sirach 24:23)

"For God loves none but him that dwells with wisdom. For she is more beautiful than the sun, and above all the order of stars: being compared with the light, she is found before it. For after this cometh night: but vice shall not prevail against wisdom. This is the book of the commandments of God, and the law that endures forever. All who hold it fast will live, and those who forsake it will die." (Baruch 3:32-4:1)

And in Proverbs 8, Lady Wisdom says:

"The Lord possessed me at the beginning (ראשית reishit) of His way, before His works of old." (Proverbs 8:22 NASB)

In Jewish thought, there are four modes of exegesis of biblical text, commonly referred to using the acronym "PaRDeS":

• Peshat (Plain): The straightforward, literal meaning of the text.

• Remez (Hint): The deeper, hinted meaning

• Derash (Search): The interpretive, homiletical meaning derived through study, often involving comparisons or other scriptures.

• Sod (Secret): The mystical or hidden meaning, often tied to esoteric concepts like Kabbalah.

Several rabbis, such as Rashi, have pointed out that the word "bereshit" (בראשית), which is used in Genesis 1:1 (commonly translated as "in the beginning") is actually grammatically incorrect. If translated literally, he suggests, it would read, "In the beginning of ___, God created the heavens and the earth." To resolve this issue, Rashi utilizing the mode of exegesis Derash states that we need to understand an alternative way to render "bereshit". He states that the letter beit (ב) can function as a preposition meaning "by" or "with", denoting agency. Thus, Genesis 1:1 can alternatively be translated, "With Reishit, God created the heavens and the earth" [3]. What is "Reishit"? Fortunately, the Midrash Rabbah on Genesis answers this question.

"The Torah is saying: ‘I was the tool of craft of the Holy One blessed be He.’ The way of the world is that when a flesh-and-blood king builds a palace he  does not build it based on his own knowledge, but rather based on the knowledge of an artisan. And the artisan does not build it based on his own knowledge, but rather, he has [plans on] sheets and tablets by which to ascertain how he should build its rooms, how he should build its doors. So too, the Holy One blessed be He looked in the Torah and created the world. The Torah says: “Bereshit G-d created” (Genesis 1:1), and reshit is nothing other than the Torah, as it says: “The L-rd made me at the beginning of [reshit] His way” (Proverbs 8:22)."(Midrash Bereshit Rabbah 1)

Reishit is nothing other than God's personified wisdom (Lady Wisdom), which has been explained to be synonymous with his Word and Torah. 

"With the Torah, God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1 expounded)

God's Torah is also seen as reflection of his being or character, as it appears to posses every trait he does.

• Genesis 21:33: God is everlasting.

•   Psalm 111:7-8: The law is everlasting.

•   Psalm 25:8: God is good.

•   Romans 7:12: The law is good.

•   Psalm 145:17: God is holy.

•   Romans 7:12: The law is holy.

•   Deuteronomy 32:4: God is just.

•   Romans 7:12: The law is just.

•   1 John 1:5: God is light.

•   Proverbs 6:23: The law is light.

•   1 John 4:8: God is love.

•   Romans 13:10: The law is love.

•   Matthew 5:48: God is perfect.

•   Psalm 19:7: The law is perfect.

•   Psalm 145:17: God is righteous.

•   Psalm 119:172: The law is righteous.

•   John 4:24: God is spiritual.

•   Romans 7:14: The law is spiritual.

•   Deuteronomy 32:4: God is truth.

•   Psalm 119:142: The law is truth

Memra:

The Aramaic equivalent to "Logos" is memra. This term is used frequently in the Aramaic targums, and is often seen as an expression of God's infinite being. Below is an example of memra's usage in targum Neofiti:

"From the beginning with wisdom the Memra of the Lord created and perfected the heavens and the earth. And the earth was waste and desolate of man and beast, empty of plant cultivation and of trees, and darkness was spread over the face of the abyss; and a spirit of mercy from before the Lord was blowing over the surface of the waters. And the Memra of the Lord said: “Let there be light”; and there was light according to the decree of his Memra" (Targum Neofiti Genesis 1:1-3)

The first verse of Genesis 1:1 in the targum says that the memra (word) of the Lord created the world using wisdom. This aligns closely with the other contemporary literature that conflates God's word and wisdom into one single "attribute" of expressing his character. God's memra can be understood as synonymous to his word, Torah, and wisdom. 

Thus, after overviewing all of said literature that would of been in the minds of 1st century Jewish Christians, one question that remains is: Was God's wisdom some "goddess" that assisted him in creation, or was there some divine being that collaborated with him during it? Of course not, and to suggest otherwise lacks any precedent in Scripture. On the contrary, God's word, wisdom, Torah, and memra are all different poetic expressions of the same divine attribute of God's personified creative speech through which he created all things. The Scriptures make it clear that Hashem alone laid the foundations of the universe, and he had no assistance in doing so.

"I alone stretched out the heavens, and I spread out the earth; who was with Me?" (Isaiah 44:24)

Furthermore, the Midrash Rabbah on Genesis 1 makes a point to display how the Hebrew Scriptures make a point of using singular pronouns and verbs when referring to Hashem:

"no person can come and say that two authorities created the world: “God [Elohim] spoke [vaydaberu]” is not written here [in plural], but rather [in singular], “God spoke [vaydaber];” “God [Elohim] said [vayomeru]” is not written here [in plural], but rather [in singular], “God said [vayomer]”; “In the beginning God created [bare’u]” is not written here [in plural], but rather [in singular], “God created [bara].”" (Bereshit Rabbah 1:7)

The early Christians would not have viewed the Logos as some divine being, as God's "Logos" is not a seperate being to that of himself; it is merely the personification of a divine attribute. This is why it is entirely appropriate for John to refer to the Logos using personal pronouns (he, him) without his audience thinking the Logos is a "being", as personification of this attribute has already been done in Proverbs 8 with the character of Lady Wisdom. However, something to consider is that the Greek pronoun commonly rendered as "him" is autou (αὐτοῦ), and while it can be rendered as "him", it can also be properly rendered as the neuter pronoun "it". Making the "word" into a non-personal concept, that was later given it's personification in the man Yeshua. The ambiguity of the Greek pronoun allows interpreters liberty to take the passage in multiple ways. But evidently, John's point is not that the Logos is the pre-incarnate Jesus; rather, the Logos is the attribute of God's word and wisdom through which he created. 

The Word was with God:

John's goal is clearly to build upon the already established wisdom personification we find in the Bible, as well as contemporary literature. God's word/wisdom being "with him" during creation is a concept already explored. 

"The Lord created me at the beginning of His way, before His works of old. From eternity I was established, from the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth... When He established the heavens, I was there... Then I was beside Him, as a master workman" (Proverbs 8:22-23 27 30 NASB)

"With You is Wisdom, who knows Your works and was present when You created the world, and who understands what is pleasing in Your sight and what is right according to Your commandments" (Wisdom 9:9 NASB)

This concept is meant to be taken figuratively, as God's wisdom/word is an attribute not seperate to himself.

The Word was God:

It is not totally inappropriate to say that the word is "God", as it is an attribute of him, that is not seperate to him, that encapsulates his very being. However, seeing as John 1:1b distinguishing the word from God by saying it was with him, it is rather unlikely John is now trying to make them quantitatively 1:1. Several Greek grammarians have noted that "theos" (God) in John 1:1c lacks a definite article, therefore making it function adjectively [4]. As in, the word is "divine", or "God-like" as it is a finite expression of his character. Some bible translations, such as the REV, Moffat, and NEB have picked up on this, and render the verse in like fashion: 

"The Logos existed in the very beginning, the Logos was with God, the Logos was divine." (Moffat)

"When all things began, the Word already was; the Word dwelt with God, and what God was, the Word was." (NEB)

"In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and what God was the word was." (REV)

Conclusion:

In conclusion, it is evident that John's goal for the prologue of his gospel was to expound upon the wisdom authors that came before him. He never intended for people to assume that the logos was the pre-incarnate Yeshua, and never intended to breach the absolute unity of Hashem. To understand the relationship between the logos and Yeshua, please refer to our article on John 1:14.

[1] Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, entry for λόγος

[2] Arndt and Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (University of Chicago Press, 1979).

[3] Rashi on Genesis 1:1

[4] Zerwick and Grosvenor, Grammatical Analysis, 285; Wallace, Greek Grammar, 269; Novakovic, John 1-10, 2-3; Philips, Prologue, 154; Barclay, Gospel of John, 17.