The word sent out: יִשְׁלַח דְּבָרוֹ and Isa 55:11

Says Several texts speak of God's word as sent into the world to do his will: - Ps 107:20 (LXX 106:20): יִשְׁלַח דְּבָרוֹ וְיִרְפָּאֵם (yishlakh devaro veyirpa'em, "he sent his word and healed them"). The LXX has ἀπέστειλεν τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ. - Ps 147:15, 18 (LXX 147:4, 7): his אִמְרָתוֹ (imrato, "his utterance") goes to the earth, and יָרוּץ דְּבָרוֹ (yaruts devaro, "his word runs"). He sends his word, and the ice melts. The LXX uses both τὸ λόγιον αὐτοῦ and ὁ λόγος αὐτοῦ. - Isa 55:11: כֵּן יִהְיֶה דְבָרִי אֲשֶׁר יֵצֵא מִפִּי (ken yihyeh devari asher yetse' mippi, "so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth"). It "shall not return to me empty." Here the LXX has a different noun: ἔσται τὸ ῥῆμά μου (ῥῆμα, rhēma).

Says In these texts the word is sent, travels, heals, and accomplishes God's purpose before it "returns."

Implies This supplies an OT pattern for God's word coming from him into the world to act and to save. It is a fitting background for "the Word became flesh" (John 1:14) and for the Son "sent" into the world.

Uncertain These texts are best read as vivid personification of God's own effective speech, not as statements about a distinct person. Two other points are uncertain: the LXX's mix of λόγος, λόγιον, and ῥῆμα means no single Greek term was fixed, and John's identification of the Word as a person is new revelation, not a derivation from these texts.