The Word became flesh

The Greek 'logos' is rendered "Word," the traditional English choice, kept here for its familiarity and its rhythm in reading aloud. No single English term captures the full range of 'logos': it can mean spoken word, message, account, reason, or the ordering principle behind reality. Alternatives such as "Message," "Reason," or leaving the term untranslated as "Logos" each capture one facet while losing others. The preposition 'pros' with the accusative is translated "with," though it carries a dynamic sense of facing or being turned toward someone, suggesting relationship rather than mere proximity. In the third clause the Greek word order places 'theos' first for emphasis; because English cannot reproduce this without awkwardness, the clause is rendered in normal order, "and the Word was God." The threefold repetition of "and the Word" mirrors the deliberate cadence of the Greek and is well suited to being read aloud.

'En archē' echoes the opening words of Genesis in Greek, inviting the reader to hear this as a new creation account. The verb 'ēn' is imperfect — continuous existence, not a coming into being — and stands in sharp contrast to the aorist 'egeneto' ("came to be") used of created things in verse 3 and of John the Baptist in verse 6. In the final clause 'theos' lacks the article while 'ho logos' has it: this grammar marks 'ho logos' as the subject and 'theos' as the predicate, describing what the Word is rather than identifying him as the same person as the Father. Greek regularly omits the article on a predicate noun placed before the verb, so the absence of the article here does not by itself make the term indefinite.

Three claims are made in quick succession: the Word existed before creation, the Word was distinct enough from God to be "with" him, and the Word shared fully in what God is. The early church appealed to this verse in formulating the doctrine of the Trinity and of Christ's full divinity. Readings that render the last clause "a god" or "divine" have been proposed but sit uneasily with the Gospel's later confession of Jesus as "my Lord and my God." Others have read "the Word was God" as identifying the Word with the Father, but the preceding clause distinguishes them.

'Logos' carried weight in more than one world of thought. In Greek philosophy, particularly among the Stoics, it named the rational principle ordering the cosmos. In Jewish tradition, the word of the Lord created and spoke through the prophets, and Wisdom was portrayed as present with God at creation; Aramaic synagogue paraphrases spoke of God's 'Memra' (Word) as his acting presence. A first-century reader from either background would have recognized the term, and then been startled by the claim in verse 14 that this Word became flesh.

The opening of this Gospel has long held a prominent place in Christian worship, read at the great festival of the Nativity and, in some traditions, recited at the close of the liturgy as a summary of the faith.