The Gospel of John opens with the description of the Word. It is proper in that it is capitalized and it is specific in that it is “the” Word. The Word is a specific and proper thing, or more precisely a specific and proper person, and yet as we read this introduction, we are inclined to interpret it rhetorically. To interpret the writer’s meaning as if he is writing a flowering introduction as opposed to saying something specific and definitive. But that would be in contradiction to the proper and the specific that we see just in terms of the definitive article, the, that proceeds the word and the capitalization of word. The concept might be illustrated; We are not talking about an Aaron. We are not even talking about Aaron. We are talking about the Aaron. The same is true of the Word in the beginning of the Gospel of John. We are not talking about a word, or even the word, but we are talking about the Word.
In the Greek word is translated from logos. Adam Clarke in his commentary suggests that we should refrain from translating this word (Clarke); i.e., “In the beginning was the Logos.” But this is exactly what I mean. He is placing too heavy a meaning of the text on the meaning of the term logos. For Clarke the term, “signifies a word spoken, speech, eloquence, doctrine, reason, or the faculty of reasoning.” All of which is true specifically when applied to Jesus and thus the reasoning for the selection of the word logos by the author of the Gospel at the beginning of the Gospel of John. However, that assumes a Greek understanding of both the writer and the audience as the preeminent understanding. But wasn’t the Gospel of John written by a Hebrew, to a Hebrew audience, about a Hebrew concept? Granted it was written in Aramaic and then translated to Greek, but the ideas conveyed are Hebraic ideas. What then is the Hebrew understanding of “the Word?”
Here is where we have to reverse translate. Not simply translate from the English back to the Greek but to translate from the Greek back to the Hebrew to find a meaning and then express that meaning in English. We have to look for the best matching word in Hebrew for logos and I believe that matching word is the Hebrew devar.
Now, if you are interested in a more thorough discussion Douglas Estes writes a great article in The Lexham Bible Dictionary describing all the theories regarding the use of the Greek logos in the Gospel of John. My point is much simpler and it is possible that it is an oversimplification.
In Proverbs we read, “It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out (Pro 25:2, ESV).” In the Hebrew the things that God conceals and the things that the king is searching out come from the word davar. When translating davar into English from Hebrew the vast majority of times it is translated as word. When translating logs into English from Greek the vast majority of times it translated as word.
When the author of the Gospel of John writes, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (Joh 1:1).” Could he be saying that in the beginning was this thing or this matter, this thing or matter was with God, and this thing or matter was God. The story of the fall in Genesis, through the flood, the promises of God to Abraham, the exodus of Israel out of Egypt, the Law, and the story of the nation of Israel; the entire Old Testament revolves around God’s unveiling plan of redemption. God had hidden that plan and that plan was the matter or thing that every King should search out. The writer of the Gospel of John wasn’t telling his audience about some Greek mystery he was revealing Jesus to be that matter or thing that while hidden united the Old Testament. He was telling his audience that although they had been rejected from the synagogue for their acceptance of Jesus the reality was that their acceptance of Jesus more thoroughly united them with the Israel of there heritage.
Sometimes we think that Jesus was plan B. He had to do what He had to do because of our fall and our need of redemption. But even before Adam and Eve were placed in the garden, even before the garden was created, the matter of their redemption was before God. We are not talking about a thing, or even the thing, but we are talking about the Thing. That Thing which all of creation was created for. That Jesus could demonstrate His love for you by providing for you the redemption that you can not hope to attain on your own. That redemption that secures for you an inheritance in His kingdom. Are you the king that has found that glory?
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Clarke, Adam. The Holy Bible with a Commentary and Critical Notes. New Edition. Vol. I–VI. Bellingham, WA: Faithlife Corporation, 2014. Find this resource in the Faith, Hope, Love (Life) Store
Estes, Douglas. “Logos.” Edited by John D. Barry, David Bomar, Derek R. Brown, Rachel Klippenstein, Douglas Mangum, Carrie Sinclair Wolcott, Lazarus Wentz, Elliot Ritzema, and Wendy Widder. The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016.