John 1:1–18: The Word Made Flesh (three sessions)

Says In “the Word was with God,” πρὸς τὸν θεόν (pros ton theon, “with God”) after a verb of being means “with, in the company of.” In θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος (theos ēn ho logos, “the Word was God”), “the Word” is the subject. θεός (theos, “God”) is the predicate, placed first for emphasis and without the article.

Implies “God” here (τὸν θεόν, ton theon, with the article) is the one John later calls “the Father” (1:14, 18): the Word is “with” him and so distinct from him.

Uncertain Some press πρός (pros) as “toward” or “face to face with.” The team does not build on that, though the intimacy itself is affirmed in 1:18.

Implies In Prov 8:30 Wisdom says, literally, “and I was beside him,” and calls herself אָמוֹן (amon), a word read as “master craftsman,” “nursling,” or “faithfully.” On every reading, Wisdom is with God at creation. That is a conceptual parallel to John 1:1–3, though John's vocabulary differs, and John's Word is not simply Wisdom renamed.

Background: later Jewish writings, such as the Wisdom of Solomon and Sirach (both non-canonical), and the philosopher Philo used similar language of God's word and wisdom. The Aramaic Targums speak of the מֵימְרָא (memra', “word”) of the Lord where the Hebrew names God directly. None of these can be shown to be John's source, and in none of them does the Word become flesh.

Caution for leaders: Prov 8:22–23 is linked to John 1:1 only as background for the personification of Wisdom. Do not use Prov 8:22 as support for the eternal generation of the Son (team ruling). The Greek translation of Prov 8:22 reads “created me,” and fourth-century Arians pressed it; the Hebrew verb is lexically open, and John 1:1–3 never places the Word among the things made.

Background: Greek thinkers also spoke of a logos. Heraclitus of Ephesus (around 500 BC) spoke of a logos by which all things come to pass, and the Stoics made the logos the rational principle pervading matter. Implies A Greek reader would recognize the word, but John's Word is with God, made all things, and became flesh, so he stands outside creation. The resemblance is verbal; the content comes from the Old Testament word and Wisdom.

Uncertain How far Prov 8:22–25 may be brought into John 1. Many church fathers and some Protestant interpreters, for example Justin Martyr and Calvin, read Wisdom there as the Son. The team reads Prov 8 as a poetic personification of God's own wisdom, imagery of Wisdom present with God, and not as a statement about the origin of a divine person. This does not deny the doctrine of eternal generation, which rests on other grounds (see Session 3).