John 1:1
There is some controversy as to how should John 1:1 be translated. Trinitarians often use the verse to support their contention that Jesus is the eternal Almighty God.
The traditional rendering in English is:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
There are many other variations of rendering John 1:1 which are more accurate according to the Greek text, both in translation or paraphrase, John 1:1c also exist:
- 1808: “and the Word was a god” – Thomas Belsham The New Testament, in an Improved Version, Upon the Basis of Archbishop Newcome‘s New Translation: With a Corrected Text, London.
- 1822: “and the Word was a god” – The New Testament in Greek and English (A. Kneeland, 1822.)
- 1829: “and the Word was a god” – The Monotessaron; or, The Gospel History According to the Four Evangelists (J. S. Thompson, 1829)
- 1863: “and the Word was a god” – A Literal Translation of the New Testament (Herman Heinfetter [Pseudonym of Frederick Parker], 1863)
- 1864: “and a god was the Word” – The Emphatic Diaglott by Benjamin Wilson, New York and London (left hand column interlinear reading)
- 1879: “and the Word was a god” – Das Evangelium nach Johannes (J. Becker, 1979)
- 1885: “and the Word was a god” – Concise Commentary on The Holy Bible (R. Young, 1885)
- 1911: “and [a] God was the word” – The Coptic Version of the New Testament in the Southern Dialect, by George William Horner.[17]
- 1924: “the Logos was divine” – The Bible: James Moffatt Translation, by James Moffatt.
- 1935: “and the Word was divine” – The Bible: An American Translation, by John M. P. Smith and Edgar J. Goodspeed, Chicago.[19]
- 1955: “so the Word was divine” – The Authentic New Testament, by Hugh J. Schonfield, Aberdeen.
- 1958: “and the Word was a god” – The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Anointed (J. L. Tomanec, 1958)
- 1970, 1989: “and what God was, the Word was” – The New English Bible and The Revised English Bible.
- 1975 “and a god (or, of a divine kind) was the Word” – Das Evangelium nach Johnnes, by Siegfried Schulz, Göttingen, Germany
- 1975: “and the Word was a god” – Das Evangelium nach Johannes (S. Schulz, 1975);
- 1978: “and godlike sort was the Logos” – Das Evangelium nach Johannes, by Johannes Schneider, Berlin
- 1985: “So the Word was divine” – The Original New Testament, by Hugh J. Schonfield.
- 1998: “and what God was the Word also was” – This translation follows Professor Francis J. Moloney, The Gospel of John, ed. Daniel J. Harrington.
- 2017: “and the Logos was god” – The New Testament: A Translation, by David Bentley Hart.
GREEK ANALYSIS
“Jn 1:1 should rigorously be translated ‘the word was with the God [= the Father], and the word was a divine being'” (Dictionary of the Bible, 1965, by scholar John L McKenzie, S J).
“Was God: lack of a definite article with ‘God’ in Greek signifies predication rather than identification” (NAB note on John 1:1).
When there is an anarthrous predicate nominative preceding the verb, in languages such as English, which have indefinite articles (a,an) the translators supply the articles, or make clear in the translation what the meaning of the Koine’ Greek is. Other examples of this are:
Mark 6:49 – “a ghost”
John 6:70 – “a devil”
John 9:17 – “a prophet”
Acts 28:6 – “a god”
CONCLUSION
The common rendering of John 1:1, “and the Word was God”, is not the most accurate rendering of the Greek text.
4 thoughts on “John 1:1”
We know already that the concept of the Trinity is invalid. The three persons, components, or functions of the Trinity don’t even exist. The Holy Spirit doesn’t exist. Jesus Christ does not exist. God does not exist. We now know and have proven that God does not exist.
On the other hand, Jesus of Nazareth was a real man who lived for approximately 30 years in ancient Palestine in the early first century CE. He was an itinerant Jewish rabbi who spoke new ideas, especially regarding forgiveness, passive resistance, and apocalypse, which were attractive to many people but also controversial. He was crucified by the Romans and probably died as a result. It was alleged that God brought him back to life, and this belief is one cornerstone of the Christian religion. There is no good evidence that he was divine, had supernatural powers, or came back to life.
A Question on John 1:1
I have a question for you. I agree with John, that the concept of the trinity is invalid, but I have a difficult question. The concept of “Logos” is amazing, but it is very Hellenistic, and came from Greek Philosophy, from Plato or even before him. There is discussion among Hebrew scholars and historians that the Gospel of John was first written in Hebrew and Hebrew transcripts do exist. The weird thing is that the word Logos isn’t in John chapter one, nor is its Hebrew equivalent. The Hebrew texts, the word Logos is the word for Son, throughout chapter one. I can easily explain that the Word was with God at the beginning, especially by borrowing what that meant in Greek Philosophy. The concept of Logos meant that there was an end point, a conclusion that the words were leading to. It implies what we would call intelligent design, or divine design in the universe. However, if Logos is a Hellenization of the text, it’s different and harder to explain my non-trinitarian view when the text says that the Son was in the beginning and was God!!! Paul uses the word Logos in a pivotal verse in Romans 12:1. (Often the word is not translated) Hellenistic vocabulary by Paul is not surprising, but Hellenistic verbiage being used by John is almost shocking. I personally believe the Greek language was divinely ordained by God. (Latin was NOT) So, was the concept of Logos put into the vocabulary of Greek philosophers, divinely, 4 centuries before Christ?
That’s a lot of comment, but my basic question is: Why would a Hebrew gospel of John say Son, where the Greek gospel of John says Word?????
Thanks for your question.
There is no evidence supporting the idea that the Gospel of John was first written in Greek.
There are some who think there is some evidence that the Gospel of Matthew was first written in Greek, but no conclusive evidence exists.
Regarding “the Logos” in John 1:1, we note the following commentary:
“The term ‘Word’ (Logos in Greek) is rich in meaning. In Jewish thought, the Word of God is associated with creation, revelation, and salvation. In Greek philosophy, Logos refers to reason or the principle of order in the universe. By using this term, the text bridges Jewish and Greek understandings, presenting the Word as the divine agent of creation and revelation. The Word is not merely a spoken word but a person, as later verses reveal, who is active in the world.”—Bible Hub Study Bible
“All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching . . . “—2 Timothy 3:16 NAB
According to Bart Ehrman, the best of the best experts on the New Testament, all of the Gospels were originally written in Greek. There may have been Hebrew translations written later.
If God did exist, he would not have offspring and he would have created no other deities, angels, messengers, etc. All these ramblings about the meaning of the “Logos” probably just hint at the idea of intelligent design.
BTW, God does not exist. We now know and have proven this. I pose this question: Who was Jesus of Nazareth?
A. A fully human man.
B. A human man to whom God delegated some authority and supernatural powers.
C. An angel working for God.
D. A deity working for God.
E. A deity who was the Son of God.
F. God in the form of a human man.
G. Undecided.
H. Refuse to answer.
Select one option as your answer and then explain and defend your answer. Thanks.