Apostle John defining the Logos

 

Four ways before apostle John defining the Logos

 

I found these interesting things by searching the internet for information about John 1:1c

 

Somebody specified the following

 

"Apostle John could have done John 1:1c in three ways:

1). kai theon ēn ho logos.

2). kai ton theon ēn ho logos.

3). kai theos ēn ho logos.

4). kai the son ēn ho logos.

If John had wanted the text to read (in English) "and the Word was a god" he likely would have used the first option. Putting god in the accusative without the definite article. If John had wanted to say "and the Word was the God", he would have used the 2nd option. Again putting God in the accusative this time with the definite article.

However, John chose to use a nominative predicate (3rd option) and it clearly has a meaning other than "and the word was a god" or "and the Word was the God". This leaves the traditional "and the Word was God".

I have seen a number of articles on this, people suggesting that either "and the Word was a god." or "and the Word was the God." as being correct. We do not need an in depth analysis of the Greek to understand the correct translation. A simply knowledge of psychology and the linguistic options the author had brings us to the correct conclusion.

The non-trinitarian interpretations are interesting."

 

What is that "other" meaning?

 

This is the best interpretation, according to my understanding

 

Joseph Warren Wells - Coptic expert - about John 1: 1b wrote the following:

 

"To answer your questions: On my website I state "Coptic was the first language the New Testament was translated into that has the indefinite article; and the only language with the indefinite article that was produced during the Koine Greek period. "The is of interest because, in Coptic versions, John 1:1b is commonly translated "the word was with God and the word was a God" using the Coptic indefinite article; with some variation in word order. "In the proto-Bohairic version (Papyrus Bodmer III, the text of which was partially reconstructed by Rodolphe Kasser) the first occurrence of "God" in John 1:1 is in the Nomina Sacra form, whereas the second occurrence is spelled out. In John 1:18 the word "God" (which no one has seen) is in the Nomina Sacra form, while the word "God" (only-begotten) is spelled out." So literally, the Sahidic and Bohairic texts say "a god" in the extant mss. In a similar way translations of the Greek "pneuma ho theos" (spirit the god") at John 4:24 usually say either "God is spirit" or "God is a spirit" where both give the same sense of "what" God is, not who he is. Here the Sahidic says literally "a spirit is the God" (P.Palau Rib 183) as does the Proto-Bohairic (Bodmer III). To me, the sense of the passage in John 1 is likewise a description of what the Logos was in relation to God. A rather clumsy reading might be: The Logos was in the beginning. The Logos was with God. The Logos was like God (or godlike, or divine) with the emphasis on his nature; not his person."

Cross References

John 1:14

The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 8:19

"Where is Your Father?" they asked Him. "You do not know Me or My Father," Jesus answered. "If you knew Me, you would know My Father as well."

John 12:45

And whoever sees Me sees the One who sent Me.

John 14:9 Jesus said to him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet have you not known me, Philip? he that has seen me has seen the Father; and how say you then, Show us the Father?

Colossians 1:15

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

Hebrews 1:3

The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

1 John 5:20

And we have know that the Son of God is come and has given us a mind, that we may know Him who is true. And we are in Him who is true by being in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 7If you had known Me, you would know My Father as well. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.

John 17:1When Jesus had spoken these things, He lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may glorify You. 2For You granted Him authority over all people, so that He may give eternal life to all those You have given Him. 3Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only TRUE God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.

As we see in John 17:1-3, being qualitatively like the Father does not mean that the Son is God himself.

But exist another version, the best

Some examples of incorrect renderings of some Bible texts

He thought it was: In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and God was the Word. I asked him if there was a certain version of the verse from early times. He said there wasn’t. After a few years, a brother from Timisoara read that according to a medieval German Bible translator, a letter was missing from the original of John 1:1 and that this letter takes the reader in a completely different direction.

I asked him to give me more information on the subject, but he couldn’t, and he couldn’t even name the book because he had read it a long time ago. Then the idea came to me to look into the matter more.

It has long been known that certain words were combined by the early Christians, these words are called Nomina Sacra by experts. By changing one letter of the shortened word written in the form of Nomina Sacra (by mistake or on purpose), the expression takes on a completely different meaning.

For example, in the 4th century text called Codex Sinaiticus, 2 Peter 1:1 has the word "kyrios" in the Nomina Sacra form:

Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained a faith as precious as ours in the truth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ:

However, in the 5th century text called Codex Alexandrinus, the word theos (god) is already present and this version resulted:

Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained a faith as precious as ours in the truth of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:

So it is very possible that this is actually what happened in John 1:1 as well.

In ancient biblical texts, the word Υἱός (Huios – meaning: Son) is abbreviated as ΥΣ, this is the "Nomina Sacra" form. Similarly, the word Θεός (Theos – meaning "God") is abbreviated as ΘΣ in the Nomina Sacra form. Note that both words end with the letter Σ, and only the first letter needs to be changed.

If John 1:1 once upon a time had the word ΥΣ (Son), then this was the original text:

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was the Son.

Many thanks to the brother from Timisoara for leading me to this clue. So we really need each other, as the wise proverb says: "More eyes, more sees."