Soma Yohane 1:1-12
Yohana 1
1 Hapo mwanzo kulikuwako Neno, naye Neno alikuwako kwa Mungu, naye Neno alikuwa Mungu.
2 Huyo mwanzo alikuwako kwa Mungu.
3 Vyote vilifanyika kwa huyo; wala pasipo yeye hakikufanyika cho chote kilichofanyika.
4 Ndani yake ndimo ulimokuwa uzima, nao ule uzima ulikuwa nuru ya watu.
5 Nayo nuru yang'aa gizani, wala giza halikuiweza.
6 Palitokea mtu, ametumwa kutoka kwa Mungu, jina lake Yohana.
7 Huyo alikuja kwa ushuhuda, ili aishuhudie ile nuru, wote wapate kuamini kwa yeye.
8 Huyo hakuwa ile nuru, bali alikuja ili aishuhudie ile nuru.
9 Kulikuwako Nuru halisi, amtiaye nuru kila mtu, akija katika ulimwengu.
10 Alikuwako ulimwenguni, hata kwa yeye ulimwengu ulipata kuwako, wala ulimwengu haukumtambua.
11 Alikuja kwake, wala walio wake hawakumpokea.
12 Bali wote waliompokea aliwapa uwezo wa kufanyika watoto wa Mungu, ndio wale waliaminio jina lake;
Nakuwekea na kwa kiengereza labda utafahamu zaidi
Let us now proceed to what these Christians have to say regarding John 1:1-18, we first start with John 1:1
John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (NIV)
1. It is imperative that the serious student of the Bible come to a basic understanding of
logos, which is translated as “Word” in John 1:1.
Most Trinitarians believe that the word
logos refers directly to Jesus Christ, so in most versions of John
logos is capitalized and translated “Word” (some versions even write “Jesus Christ” in John 1:1).
However, a study of the Greek word
logos shows that it occurs more than 300 times in the New Testament, and in both the
NIV and the
KJV it is capitalized only 7 times (and even those versions disagree on exactly
when to capitalize it).
When a word that occurs more than 300 times is capitalized fewer than 10 times, it is obvious that when to capitalize and when not to capitalize is a translators’ decision based on their particular understanding of Scripture.
As it is used throughout Scripture,
logos has a very wide range of meanings along two basic lines of thought. One is the mind and products of the mind like “reason,” (thus “logic” is related to logos) and the other is the expression of that reason as a “word,” “saying,” “command” etc.
The Bible itself demonstrates the wide range of meaning
logos has, and some of the ways it is translated in Scripture are: account, appearance, book, command, conversation, eloquence, flattery, grievance, heard, instruction, matter, message, ministry, news, proposal, question, reason, reasonable, reply, report, rule, rumor, said, say, saying, sentence, speaker, speaking, speech, stories, story, talk, talking, teaching, testimony, thing, things, this, truths, what, why, word and words.
Any good Greek lexicon will also show this wide range of meaning (the words in italics are translated from
logos):
· speaking; words you say (Rom. 15:18, “what I have
said and done”).
· a statement you make (Luke 20:20 - (
NASB), “they might catch him in some
statement).
· a question (Matt. 21:24, “I will also ask you one
question”).
· preaching (1 Tim. 5:17, “especially those whose work is
preaching and teaching).
· command (Gal. 5:14, “the entire law is summed up in a single
command”).
· proverb; saying (John 4:37, “thus the
saying, ‘One sows, and another reaps’”).
· message; instruction; proclamation (Luke 4:32, “his
message had authority”).
· assertion; declaration; teaching (John 6:60, “this is a hard
teaching”).
· the subject under discussion; matter (Acts 8:21, “you have no part or share in this
ministry.” Acts 15:6 (
NASB), “And the apostles... came together to look into this
matter”).
· revelation from God (Matt. 15:6, “you nullify the
Word of God ”).
· God’s revelation spoken by His servants (Heb. 13:7, “leaders who spoke the
Word of God”).
· a reckoning, an account (Matt. 12:36, “men will have to give
account” on the day of judgment).
· an account or “matter” in a financial sense (Matt. 18:23, A king who wanted to settle “
accounts” with his servants. Phil. 4:15, “the
matter of giving and receiving”).
· a reason; motive (Acts 10:29 -
NASB), “I ask
for what reason you have sent for me”).
[16]
The above list is not exhaustive, but it does show that
logos has a very wide range of meaning.
With all the definitions and ways
logos can be translated, how can we decide which meaning of
logos to choose for any one verse?
How can it be determined what the
logos in John 1:1 is? Any occurrence of
logos has to be carefully studied in its context in order to get the proper meaning.
We assert that the
logos in John 1:1 cannot be Jesus. Please notice that “Jesus Christ” is not a lexical definition of
logos. This verse does not say,
“In the beginning was Jesus.” “The Word” is not synonymous with Jesus, or even “the Messiah.”
The word
logos in John 1:1 refers to God’s creative self-expression-His reason, purposes and plans, especially as they are brought into action.
It refers to God’s self-expression, or communication, of Himself.
This has come to pass through His creation (Rom. 1:19 and 20), and especially the heavens (Ps. 19).
It has come through the spoken word of the
prophets and through Scripture, the written Word.
Most notably and finally, it has come into being through His Son (Heb. 1:1 and 2).
It is important to note that it was “Christian teachers” who attached the idea of a “divine person” to the word logos. It is certainly true that when the word logos came to be understood as being Jesus Christ, the understanding of John 1:1 was altered substantially. Lightfoot correctly understands that the early meaning of logos concerned reason and speech, not “Jesus Christ.” Norton develops the concept of
logos as “reason” and writes:
There is no word in English answering to the Greek word
logos, as used here [in John 1:1].
It was employed to denote a mode of conception concerning the Deity, familiar at the time when St. John wrote and intimately blended with the philosophy of his age, but long since obsolete, and so foreign from our habits of thinking that it is not easy for us to conform our minds to its apprehension.
The Greek word
logos, in one of its primary senses, answered nearly to our word
Reason.
The
logos of God was regarded, not in its strictest sense, as merely the Reason of God; but, under certain aspects, as the Wisdom, the Mind, the Intellect of God (p. 307).