The Logos Midrash (John 1:1-4)
A New Testament midrash is a Jewish explanation, teaching, interpretation, or application of an Old Testament text. When Jesus talks about how He will be lifted just as the serpent in the wilderness was lifted up (John 3:13-17), I consider His words a midrash on Numbers 21:8-10. My book, The Midrash Key, demonstrates how we can better understand New Testament texts when we couple them with their Old Testament source texts. I could only include a few of Jesus’ many midrashim (plural) in a single book, so I have decided to supplement my book with brief articles—like this one.
Sometimes a midrash is not merely a midrash on a single Old Testament text, but, rather, on a series of scattered verses. Such is the case with John’s assertion about the pre-existence of the Messiah as the Eternal Word of God and as God Himself.
Note the background to the Concept of God’s Creative Word in John 1:1-3. The NIV reads,
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
We can see that the Word was always with God (1). This takes us back to Genesis 1, where we repeatedly read, “And God said…” Most readers with any fluency in the Old Testament would make this connection.
In the very center of Genesis 1:1, (“In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth”) is a word that is considered an object marker, a word particle that is not translated. Although not translated, this word helps us understand how to translate another word. This “hidden word” consists of the first and last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, Aleph and Tav. Is it possible that John the Apostle is playing on this hidden word? He might be.
In Revelation, Jesus refers to himself as the Alpha and Omega (the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet), the beginning and the end (Revelation 22:13). If we go from Greek to the Hebrew alphabet, then we might conclude that God the Son is present (hidden) in the center of first verse of the Bible as Aleph Tav. This is an intriguing possibility, even if admittedly speculative.
Moving on to surer footing, observe that the Greek New Testament word for “word” is “logos,” the title used here for the Son of God. The Word (God the Son) has always existed. Although the Word is God, He is distinct from God the Father because He is with Him, face to face.
When speaking of myself, I refer to myself as “I” or “me,” not “he” or “him.” But God does both. In several places in the Tannakh (Old Testament), God refers to Himself in both the first and third persons (Zechariah 2:8-10 and 12:8-10 come to mind). Thus the doctrine of the Trinity is laced throughout Scripture, or at least room for that doctrine. God is one, yet He is more than one person. We will find that John’s teaching about the Word is not unique to Christianity, but part of ancient Judaism.
I. The idea that the Word is God and yet distinct is seen in Judaism.
The idea that the Word is both deity and yet somehow distinct from God (the Father) is demonstrated in the fact that it was appropriate for the Psalmist to direct praise to the Word. In a religion whose pillar was worshiping God alone, David makes what could be considered an inappropriate statement if the Word were not God. In Psalm 56:4 he says, “In God, whose word I praise—in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” David understood what later Jews understood, that the Word of God was personal, distinct from the Father, and yet God.
Let me share some quotations from the Targums (Aramaic paraphrases and expansions of Scriptures written by Jews for Jewish communities before, during, and after the time of Jesus). These Targums are not merely paraphrases (like The Living Bible), but include additions made to the Hebrew text to help readers interpret the meaning. Although these interpretations are often debatable, they show the thinking of the ancient Jewish community, thinking that was part of the Jewish context during the New Testament era.
The Targum on Genesis 28:20-21 reads, “If the Word of the Lord will be with me…then the Word of the LORD will be my God…”
The Targum on Genesis 1:27, “The Word of the Lord created man…”
The Targum on Exodus 20:1, “And the Word of the Lord spoke all these words…”
The Targum on Deuteronomy 1:30, “The Lord your God who leads before you, his Word will fight for you…
The Targum on Deuteronomy 4:7 places the Word on the throne of God, “The word of the Lord sits upon his throne high and lifted up and hears our prayer whenever we pray before him and make our petitions.” (Michael Brown, Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus, Vol. 2. pp. 19-22)
Michael Brown also quotes Larry Hurtado’s summary of the first century Jewish philosopher, Philo:
Philo calls the Logos (word) ‘the second god’…and states that the ‘God’ in whose image Adam was created in Genesis 1:27 is actually the Logos, which the rational part of the soul resembles (Brown, p. 22)
Although we rightly make a distinction between the eternal personal Word and the written Word (Scripture), the connection is clear. This is why true Christianity is a religion of the Book, one in which Jesus’ talmidim (disciples) have their noses in their Bibles.
II. The idea that all things were made through the Word also exists in Judaism (2-4)
If all things are indeed created by the Word, then the Word must be uncreated. Psalm 33:6 asserts, “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.” Thus all things were created by Him (the Word).
yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. (1 Cor. 8:6)
but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. (Heb. 1:2)
The Word is not only the agent of creation, creation exists for Him and He holds creation together. Colossians 1:16-17 states, “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
The first entity the Father made through the agency of the Word was light (Gen. 1:3). In John 1:4-13, John presents the Word as repeating the process, this time bringing spiritual light. As John puts it in verse 4, “In him was life, and the life is the light of men.”
By the way, not only is the Word God and with God, but so also is the Spirit. Genesis 1:2 reads, “The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters” (emphasis added). Here we have an uncreated entity who exists during a time when only God existed, and yet He is presented as distinct.
The more I study the Bible, the more I see that most New Testament teaching finds its origin in the Hebrew Scriptures. And why should it not be so? The one God is the God of both Testaments.
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Just wondering what your thoughts are.
Forrest Berry
[Forrest] Logos had already existed as a philosophical category for “God” or governing principle of the world since Heraclitus around 500 BCE. The philosophical “logos” was a widely known concept. Do you think this had any impact on Jewish (and Christian) thinking? Perhaps they appropriated the term for their uses?Hi, Forest!
Just wondering what your thoughts are.
To answer succinctly, Philo, yes. But among the rabbis, I think not much. With Greek domination of the holy land and then the Roman culture basically reasserting Greek religion and philosophy, it is hard to believe that there was NO influence. Although many Jews were certainly influenced by Greek thought, the Pharisees prided themselves on not being so influenced, and all modern Judaism has descended from the Pharisees in general and the School of Hillel in particular. I personally believe that Jesus usually sided with Hillel, and that his disciples held orthodox views, views also embraced by the Pharisees.
This is not to say that Greek culture had no influence. Obviously the widespread use of the Septuagint is a testimony to the Greek influence on Jews in general, but the Pharisees were into Hebrew and making the Torah work for Jews in the Roman-dominated world. Some of the other groups of Jews were much more influenced by their environment. The Talmud says that before the destruction of Judaism, Jews were divided into 24 different sects.
So, all in all, I think we should mostly approach the New Testament authors from a Jewish, not Greek perspective. Now the recipients of Paul’s letters, of course, were Greek. But I believe Paul ministered to them more in the tradition of a Jewish rabbi helping righteous gentiles. There were, of course, obvious differences.
My viewpoint is that the Jews derived the idea of the Word through exegesis in the style of Midrash. Greek philosophy probably reinforced this.
"The Midrash Detective"
But given Paul’s education among Pharisees but also among Greeks (Tarsus… and his fluency in the language—Acts 21.37—and familiarity with their “poets”—Acts 17.28, etc.), perhaps we need to be careful not to bias interpretation too strongly in the Jewish direction.
But I do think in general we’ve neglected the light that intertestimental Judaism provides for the work of interpretation.
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
[MikeC] Thank you, Ed, for this eye-opening post. Your insights just deepen my love for the Word of God, and especially the Hebrew Scriptures. Like you, I’m convinced that the OT is really the core foundation of the NT, and most of the NT can be wrongly interpreted without its OT context. I purchased “Midrash Key” and can’t wait until it arrives.Thanks so much, Mike. Yes, when one embraces what you wrote above, the Word of God becomes more exciting than ever. Now I am constantly on the lookout for Midrashim. I will be doing a series in Hosea, and I am listening to the dramatized NIV on my MP3 player as I walk or do things around the house. The NT Midrashim jump out at me. Once you are alerted to the concept, the Scriptures jump out at you. I hope you find the book a blessing.
Thanks, Ed
"The Midrash Detective"
Solo Christo, Soli Deo Gloria, Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, Sola Scriptura http://healtheland.wordpress.com
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
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