John 1:14a

Joshua Perez

1/1/2025

"The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:14a) 

Before being able to understand the concept of God's word becoming flesh, one must already understand what "the word" (logos) is. For this, we suggest you first read our article on John 1:1-3.

The concept of God's personified word and wisdom becoming incarnate isn't a new concept. We first see this when God's wisdom became incarnate in God's Torah, revealing the very image of God to the children of Israel. 

"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)

"Then the Creator of all things gave me a command, and my Creator chose the place for my tent, saying, 'Pitch your tent in Jacob, and make Israel your inheritance.' In the midst of my people I will take my stand...All these things things are the book of the covenant of the Most High G-d, the law which Moses commanded us as an inheritance for the congregations of Jacob" (Sirach 24:8,23)

Furthermore, in the book of Proverbs, Lady Wisdom (God's personified attribute of wisdom) became incarnate in the "woman of substance" in chapter 31. To quote Dr. Dustin Smith:

"It becomes immediately apparent that this ideal woman is being deliberately illustrated as exemplifying the wisdom of God. The similarities are striking. The Woman of Substance, like personified wisdom, is more valuable than jewels (31:10; 3:15). Both women offer good things (31:12; 2:8-9), despise evil (31:12; 8:13), are delightful (31:13; 3:15), bring forth profit (31:14; 3:14), offer bread (31:14; 9:5), are homeowners (31:15; 9:1), have female servants (31:15; 9:3), bear fruit (31:16; 8:19), speak at the gates of the city (31:23; 8:3), and laugh (31:25; 8:30-31)." (Wisdom Christology in the Gospel of John, p. 19 - Dustin R. Smith.)

This is a clear example in scripture of this attribute of God "becoming flesh" in mankind, dwelling among us. In the book of Sirach, we also see Lady Wisdom become incarnate in the high priest Simon ben Onias. 

"Sirach deliberately illustrates the high priest with the very same language formerly used for personified wisdom. For example, Simon the high priest pronounces glory (50:20; 24:1); situates himself in the midst of the people (50:5; 24:12); and is likened to a rosebush (50:8; 24:14), incense (50:9; 24:15), an olive tree (50:10; 24:14), a cypress tree (50:10; 24:13), a cedar tree (50:12; 24:13), and a pleasing fragrance (50:15; 24:15)." (Wisdom Christology in the Gospel of John, p. 25 - Dustin R. Smith.)

Evidently the woman of substance and the high priest are not divine beings who came down from heaven, taking on a human nauture. However, they were godly individuals who exemplified God's wisdom. 

Philo in his work De Migratione Abrahami even calls Moses "the law-giving Word" [1]. Moses was seen as an incarnation of the Logos due to him speaking the words of Hashem, revealing his character to the world. He is said to have spoken to God "mouth to mouth", unlike any other prophet (Numbers 12).

Furthermore, God's word (logos) is given personification in the book of Wisdom of Solomon where it is described as "leaping down from heaven like a warrior" in the context of the slaughter of the firstborn sons in the book of Exodus. 

"Thy Almighty Word leaped down from heaven, out of thy royal throne, as a fierce man of war into the midst of a land of destruction" (Wisdom of Solomon 18:15-16)

This perfectly leads into the Logos' final pilgrimage among the Jewish people, when it became flesh in the man Yeshua [2]. As is clear in wisdom becoming incarnate in Hashem's Torah, the Woman of Substance, the High Priest, and Moses; it is not quantitative but rather qualitative, as they all exemplified and made known God's wisdom. Thus, when John 1:14a describes the Word becoming flesh in the man Yeshua, we are not reading about a divine spirit descending from heaven and taking on flesh. Rather, we are reading about the figurative designation of the divine attribute of God's wisdom, being most fully revealed in the man Yeshua.

Much like Moses, only much more fully, Yeshua revealed the Father to the world. 

"No one has seen God at any time; the only Son, who is in the arms of the Father, He has revealed Him" (John 1:18)

Yeshua spoke the words of the father [3], exemplified and upheld his Torah (a previous revelation of the Logos) [4], and lived a life that in every way reflected Hashem. It is for this reason that Yeshua can rightfully be called "The Word of God". Not because he is literally the Logos, but because in him, the Logos (the very image of the Lord) was made known.

[1] De Migratione Abrahami 23f.; cf. 122 

[2] Dunn, James D.G. Christology in the Making: A New Testament Inquiry into the Origins of the Doctrine of the Incarnation. Eerdmans, 1980, 242

[3] John 8:28, 38; 12:49; 14:24

[4] Matthew 5:17-19; 23:1-3