The Learner
Well-Known Member
John 1
<< Previous Verse | Next Verse >> |
1 | In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. |
Grammatical Analysis...
Other views considered...
For further reading...
C o m m e n t a r y | With the possible exception of Genesis 1:1, this verse is the most striking opening of any book of the Bible. Often missed in the various discussions about what John means by this elegant and deceptively simple sentence, is the fact that this verse is poetic. Many commentators have noted the poetic form of the first 18 verses of John's Gospel - the so-called "Prologue." Some see in the Prologue an early Christian hymn; others argue against that view. But few, if any, deny that John is writing beautiful, rhythmic prose. John captures our attention with both style and content. He wants to create questions in the minds of his readers - questions that his Gospel will answer in full measure. If this verse is poetic in nature, and if the writer intends to arrest his audience - to grab their attention from the outset with a striking and consciously enigmatic statement - is it little wonder that so much has been written about the ultimate meaning of this verse, and the final clause in particular? The opening phrase, "In the beginning," is an allusion to Genesis 1:1. The same phrase in Greek appears in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, which John and his audience would have been intimately familiar. But whereas Genesis opens with "In the beginning God," John opens with "In the beginning was the Word." In the place where "God" occurs in Genesis, John substitutes "was the Word" in his Gospel. This juxtaposition of God and the Word - the interplay between the Word with God and the Word as God - is one of the primary themes of the Prologue, and the Gospel as a whole. From the outset, John challenges his audience by introducing the Word - the Son of God - into places and activities where they would have expected God to be. The Word never replaces God, however, but rather is always there beside Him. The "beginning" is the beginning in Genesis - the first act of creation, when God made the heavens and the earth. There is little evidence that Jews in the Second Temple period held a common belief in an undefined period prior to the creation in Genesis, during which God created things other than the heavens and the earth. John's audience would have understood his meaning quite easily, though it would have surprised and intrigued them: In the beginning, before all creation, the Word already existed. The Greek word translated "was" signifies continual existence (see Grammatical Analysis, below). There is no more hint here of the creation of the Word than there is of the creation of God. The Greek for "Word" is LOGOS. Much speculation has surrounded John's source for this term. Many have suggested Philo as a likely source. However, recent scholarship has focused more on Jewish Wisdom tradition, which spoke of God's Word in a metaphoric sense as having personal attributes. The discovery of a native Jewish origin for LOGOS has caused most scholars to abandon the notion that John's Gospel represents an early Gnostic text (championed by Bauer and others). If John's audience was familiar with the use of LOGOS as a personified attribute of God, it must be asked whether they would consider John's LOGOS to be a separate being, or still in some way a "part" of God - either literally or still an exaggerated personification. It is impossible to tell with certainty, of course, but it seems likely that their prior understanding of the term would lead them to consider the LOGOS primarily a "part" of God, though in what sense, they could only wait for John to explain. This seems particularly likely, given that the Wisdom tradition was also poetic in nature. |