The Word Became Flesh—Logos or Dabar

What is more plausible, a Jewish fisherman being educated in Greek philosophy, or a Jewish fisherman hearing the Torah read aloud each Sabbath? The answer is obvious, but still we hear pastors, professors and laypeople alike arguing, via some elaborate explanation, that John's use of Logos had Heraclitus in mind when he wrote John 1.

Is Jesus, as a person of the Godhead, the principle source of order and knowledge? Yes. Is that what John was stating when he wrote, "In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God?" The answer, as will be clear below, is, "No." John was not thinking about the Greek's Logos, he was thinking about the Hebrew's Dabar, as in Dabar YHWH, as in, the Word of the LORD.

Two hundred and forty-three times the Old Testament recorded an event involving God and uses the phrase, "the word of the LORD." To Abraham, the word of the LORD came to him in a vision (Gen. 15:1, 4). During the 10 Plagues, it was the Egyptians, who "feared the word of the LORD" (Ex. 9:20), that had their property protected from the hail. The Egyptian that did not heed "the word of the LORD left his slaves and his livestock in the field" (Ex. 9:21). Throughout Numbers and Deuteronomy Moses commands the people, "according to the word of the LORD." After Moses, it is his protégé Joshua who is commanded by the word of the LORD (Josh. 8:8). Then something strange happens. The word of the LORD goes quiet.

First Samuel 3:1 records, "Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD under Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision." The word of the LORD occurs in 26 of the 39 Old Testament books. This implies that when the people were unfaithful to the LORD's commands, the time-period recorded in the books of Judges and Ruth, the word of the LORD stopped speaking to the people. Consider, nearly the length of time God left his people in Egypt, the word of the LORD left them in the promised land.

As an aside, Judges and Ruth are two of the 13 books not to include the phrase 'the word of the LORD.' The others are Leviticus (which is mainly priestly laws), Nehemiah (which records the re-building of Jerusalem), Esther (the story of the queen who saved the entire Jewish race), Job (enough said), Proverbs (a book of proverbs), Ecclesiastes (the ramblings of a king who gained the whole world but turned his heart from the LORD), Song of Solomon (a love sonnet), Obadiah (a judgment against Esau's descendants), Nahum (a judgment against Nineveh), and Habakkuk (making Habakkuk really the only surprise book to not include the phrase).

But with Samuel, the word of the LORD returns to his people. One hundred and eight more times the Old Testament records that the word of the LORD came to an individual, just as it had with Abraham. The book of Hebrews opens with, "Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world" (vv. 1:1-2).

Is John thinking about some abstract principle source or is John saying the word of the LORD that spoke to our fathers became incarnate? Verse 14 leaves no doubt, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). The English here veils John's word play, "The Word became flesh and ἐσκήνωσεν (eskēnōsen, tabernacled; from the root skénoó, to have one's tent, dwell) among us." Chronologically, this is the first of five occurrences that the word skénoó makes in the New Testament, the other four are found in Revelation (a book unanimously believed by the early church to be written by the same author as the Gospel).¹

So, what exactly is John's word play? Exodus 25 through 29 provides details for constructing and furnishing the tabernacle. It begins with God's words, "And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst" (Ex. 25:8). And it ends with, "I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God" (Ex. 29:45-46). John's choice of skénoó is deliberate. He wants his Jewish readers to know that the Glory that dwelt with them in the tabernacle, then in the temple, dwelt with them embodied in the person of Jesus Christ.

Now let's review Revelation's four usages, two of which refer to God dwelling with us in heaven, two of which refer to us dwelling with God.

And he said to me, "These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence." (Rev. 7:14-15)

And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them!" (Rev 12:10-12a)

And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. (Rev 13:5-6)

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. (Rev. 21:3)

Notice that of the five times skénoó² is used, it is always used to describe God dwelling with us, or vice-versa. It is uniquely Johannine nod to God dwelling with his people. But the clearest proof is found in the first verse John writes, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Contrary to what Jehovah's Witnesses claim about the verse, John's use of the Greek is quite clear; the verse ends "and the Word was God," not "and the Word was a god" (explanation below). This is further cemented by John's picture of Joel 2 in Revelation 19.

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. (Rev. 19:11-13, emphasis added)

And what would lead John to make such fantastic claims? Let us hear what Jesus said about his word.

"Heaven and Earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away" (Matt. 24:35).

"For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels" (Mark 8:38).

Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled" (Luke 24:44).

"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life" (John 5:24).

"Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death" (John 8:51).

This is but a cursory sampling, but it is plenty to explain C.S. Lewis' famous quote,

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.³

John walked with Jesus. Day after day he heard the words of Jesus, and he recognized them from the Sabbath readings. So, I say again, John was not thinking about the Greek's Logos, he was thinking about the Hebrew's Dabar. Oh, and this is to say nothing about the fact that the entirety of Christianity is predicated on the incarnation!

Thus, at Christmas time we sing:

Yea Lord, we greet Thee
Born this happy morning
Jesus to Thee be all glory giving
Word of the Father
Now in flesh appearing
O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
Christ, the Lord

Jehovah's Witnesses Rebuttal

The primary accusation levied by the Jehovah's Witnesses is John 1:1's lack of a definite article: "… And the Word was God." There is no definite article, such as, 'the,' thus they insert an indefinite article 'a.' Yet, the glaring issue with the Jehovah's Witnesses' position is their lack of consistency.

John frequently neglects the definite article in the remainder of the chapter, which is grammatically correct per Colwell's rule.⁴ The Jehovah's Witnesses require the indefinite article in verse 1 but do not require the indefinite article in the subsequent verses, which happens in verses 6, 12, 13 and 18. Let's look at how absurd it would be to insert an indefinite article into those verses.

There was a man sent from [a] God, whose name was John - v6.

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of [a] God - v12.

Who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of [a] God - v13.

No one has ever seen [a] God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known - v18.

Reading these verses with an indefinite article renders them almost laughable at how incoherent they are. The reader must accept that John chose not to include a definite article because it was not necessary, a decision John consistently made. Picking and choosing when and where to apply English grammar rules against Greek text is eisegesis, the opposite of exegesis. "The word eisegesis literally means 'to lead into,' which means the interpreter injects his own ideas into the text, making it mean whatever he wants."⁵ Which is the very definition of taking the Lord's name in vain.

FOOTNOTES ADDITIONAL RESOURCES