Targumic מֵימְרָא ("word"): background, not source

Says Targum Onqelos often uses מֵימְרָא (memra', "word, utterance"), in the phrase מֵימְרָא דַיְיָ, where the Hebrew speaks of God directly. In Onqelos Exod 19:17, Moses led the people "to meet the Word of the Lord" (Etheridge), where MT has לִקְרַאת הָאֱלֹהִים ("to meet God"). In Jacob's vow (Onqelos Gen 28:20–21), v. 21 reads מֵימְרָא דַיְיָ לִי לֵאלָהָא, "the Word of the Lord shall be my God" (Etheridge). The usage is not uniform. Onqelos Gen 1:3 has no memra: וַאֲמַר יְיָ, "And the Lord said" (Etheridge). Targum Neofiti Gen 1:3, by contrast, makes the Memra of the Lord the speaker (see McNamara, cited by reference only).

The Aramaic is the traditional vocalized Torat Emet text on Sefaria, not a critical edition, so its pointing is not evidence for the text's early form.

Implies In at least some Aramaic interpretation, "the Word of the Lord" was a reverent way to speak of God acting and present among his people. That makes it a conceptual neighbor to John's ὁ λόγος.

Uncertain The dates of the Targums are debated. Onqelos' final form and the tradition behind Neofiti are usually placed after the NT, though both may preserve earlier material. Interpreters also differ on whether memra is only a circumlocution or something quasi-personal. The team's view is that no direct dependence of John on the Targums can be shown. The secure background is the OT's דְבַר־יְהוָה (devar-YHWH), and memra is at most a parallel development.