by Harry BuererThe gospel of John begins with the words, “In the beginning was the Word.” (John 1:1) This is clearly intended to allude to the beginning of the book of Genesis and the statement, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) But what is this Word that he is talking about?
The passage in John goes on to say, “and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (1:1b) This last phrase is a little problematic in that the first occurrence of “God” comes with the definite article (“the”), while the next one doesn’t. Literally it’s “And the Word was with (toward) the God, and God (theos) was the Word.” In the following verse the statement is repeated with the definite article. “This one was in the beginning with (toward) the God.” (1:2) Why is the article left off the statement about the identity of the Word?
The Watchtower translation (New World Translation) translates this phrase, “And the Word was a God.” Grammatically this might fit the absence of a definite article, but it seems to contradict the rest of scripture, especially passages like Deuteronomy 6:4 that state that God is one. It seems to me that the best way to translate it is something like, “And the Word was divine.” In this case it’s almost like an adjective, attributing the quality of divinity to this Word.
But what is this Word, and why is it described as a “Word”? Later in verse 14 we have the statement, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” (1:14) So whatever this Word was, it received embodiment in Jesus when the time came. But there must be a reason that it’s referred to as “Word”.
I propose that what John is getting at here is the idea of Torah, God’s law. We are all familiar with Psalm 119 in which virtually every statement pertains to God’s Torah, and many synonyms for it are used, including “commands”, “statutes”, “precepts”, “decrees”, and “word”. God’s word is his Torah, his standard of right and wrong and his instructions to his people to live in a certain way.
We have a previous example of a particular characteristic of God portrayed as a being in itself in the early chapters of Proverbs. Here Wisdom is anthropomorphized as a woman whose acquaintance should be made. There is even similar language about being involved in creation. “By wisdom the LORD laid the earth’s foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place.” (Proverbs 3:19) “The LORD brought me forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old; I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began. When there were no oceans, I was given birth, when there were no springs abounding with water; before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was given birth, before he made the earth or its fields or any of the dust of the world. I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations of the earth. Then I was the craftsman at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence.” (Proverbs 8:22-30) It seems to me that this is what John is trying to do with the concept of “Word” in John 1.
I think that it’s also significant that the Torah is specifically mentioned in the John passage in a parallel construction with Jesus. “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (1:17) Christians often look at this verse as a contrast because of the history of Christanity abandoning the law in the second century. But it’s really a continuity. And there’s really no reason to mention the law in this context unless it is to shed further light on John’s concept of the Word.
So God’s Word, his Torah, his standard of right and wrong predates the creation of the universe. And Jesus instantiates this standard. Jesus is God’s living Torah, his Word.