What is the word of god means

What Does the Phrase, “the Word of God” Mean?

Why the Bible Is So Special – Question 10

The phrase, “the Word of God” or “the Word of the Lord” has a number of different meanings in Scripture. It can mean either something that God has decreed, something that God has said when addressing humans, words that God spoke through the prophets, Jesus Christ, or finally, God’s written Word.

This can be illustrated as follows:

1. It Can Be Something That God Has Decreed

God’s decrees are His divine pronouncements. His words cause things to happen. Specifically, the Bible gives a number of examples of this. In Genesis, we read that God commands light to appear:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 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. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. (Genesis 1:1-3 NASB)

Light comes about because of the spoken word of God. He spoke, light appeared.

When God decrees something that will, of necessity, come about, it is known as “the Word of God” or “the Word of the Lord.” The psalmist wrote:

By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host. (Psalm 33:6 NASB)

The New English Translation puts it this way:

By the LORD’s decree the heavens were made; by a mere word from his mouth all the stars in the sky were created. (Psalm 33:6 NET)

The heavens were created by the divine decrees of God.

These types of decrees were something that God desired to occur ? they were not necessarily spoken to anyone. Yet, they are called “the Word of God” or “the Word of the Lord.” Indeed, the universe is upheld by the Word of God. The writer to the Hebrews said:

The Son reflects God’s own glory, and everything about him represents God exactly. He sustains the universe by the mighty power of his command. After he died to cleanse us from the stain of sin, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God of heaven. (Hebrews 1:3 NLT)

Therefore, God’s divine speech causes certain events to happen, and on some occasions, causes things to come into being. His divine decrees caused the universe to come about and it allows the universe to continue to exist.

2. It May Refer to God Verbally Addressing Humans: Personal Address

When God verbally addressed certain humans in the past, His words were known as the Word of God. Scripture gives a number of illustrations of God addressing humans in human language. For example, God personally spoke to Adam in the Garden of Eden:

And the LORD God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.” (Genesis 2:16-17 NRSV)

Thus, the phrase, “the Word of God” or the “Word of the Lord” can refer to the actual words God used in speaking to humans in their own language. This type of personal address from God is found throughout Scripture. When the Ten Commandments were given, God personally spoke them to Moses. The Bible says:

And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:1-3 RSV)

Therefore, the Word of God may refer to the actual words that God spoke to humans. In these instances, the people were hearing the very voice of the living God. His words were completely understandable; spoken in ordinary human language. The people were expected to obey these words that God had spoken.

3. It Can Refer to God Speaking Through Human Prophets

The phrase, “Word of God” is also used of something that is said by God’s chosen spokesmen. The Bible says that God spoke to His people through the words of the prophets. These words consisted of ordinary language spoken through human beings.

When the biblical prophets spoke for the Lord, their words were called the “Word of God.” The Lord promised that the prophets would speak His words. He said to Moses:

I will raise up a prophet like you for them from among their fellow Israelites. I will put my words in his mouth and he will speak to them whatever I want. I myself will hold responsible anyone who then pays no attention to the words that prophet will speak in my name. But any prophet who presumes to speak anything in my name that I have not authorized him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods?that prophet must die. (Deuteronomy 18:18-20 NET)

While the words of the prophets were the speech of human beings, they carried God’s divine authority. The words spoken by God’s prophets were supposed to be obeyed. However, those who falsely claimed to speak God’s word were to be punished.

In another instance, the Lord promised to tell the prophet Jeremiah what to say to the people. The Bible says:

The LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ But go to whomever I send you and say whatever I tell you.” (Jeremiah 1:7 NET)

The Lord assured Jeremiah that his words to the people would be God’s words. We also read in Jeremiah:

Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I will most assuredly give you the words you are to speak for me.” (Jeremiah 1:9 NET)

Scripture makes no distinction in the authority of the words that God directly spoke and those things that were spoken by His prophets. Everything that was said was considered to be the Word of God because God was their ultimate source. God used ordinary human beings and spoke through them in their own language to communicate the Word of God. Consequently, the words were to be obeyed.

We must note that while God did personally speak to humans, or used humans as His personal spokesmen, these occurrences were rare ? they were not the norm. This was not the way in which He regularly communicated with humanity.

4. Jesus Christ Is the Word of God

God the Son, Jesus Christ, is known as the Word of God. At the beginning of John’s gospel we read the following:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1 KJV)

In the Book of Revelation, John describes the risen Christ as the “Word of God.” He wrote:

He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. (Revelation 19:13 ESV)

The New Living Translation says:

He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God. (Revelation 19:13 NLT)

This description, the Word of God, is only used for God the Son; it is not used for God the Father or God the Holy Spirit. God the Son, Jesus Christ, is the one member of the Trinity who personally communicated God to humanity. However, since there are only two references in the New Testament that refer to Jesus Christ as the Word of God, this usage is rare.

5. It Also Refers to God’s Written Word

Finally, the “Word of God” can refer to God’s Word in written formPsalm 19:9-10the Bible. After being proclaimed orally, God’s Word was put into written form. Moses was told to write down God’s words:

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” (Exodus 17:14 NIV)

Elsewhere, we again read about God telling Moses to write something down:

And the LORD said to Moses, “Write these words; in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” (Exodus 34:27 RSV)

In the New Testament, Jesus contrasted the written Word of God with the ungodly tradition of the people. He said:

But you say, ‘If someone tells his father or mother, “Whatever help you would have received from me is given to God,” he certainly does not honor his father.’ You have nullified the word of God on account of your tradition. (Matthew 15:5-6 NET)

According to Jesus, these human-made traditions nullified the Word of God. The written Word of God, the Hebrew Scripture, was the only source of authority for the people until Jesus came. While these were human words, they still carried God’s divine authority.

The New Testament appears to use the terms “Word of God,” “Word of the Lord” and “Word of Christ” interchangeably. All of them refer to God’s authoritative Word.

Therefore, we find that the Scripture uses the phrase “the Word of God” in five distinct ways: God’s divine decrees, God personally speaking to people in their language, the words of God’s divinely inspired prophets, Jesus Christ and the written Word of God. The context must determine how the phrase is to be understood.

Summary – Question 10
What Does the Phrase, “the Word of God” Mean?

The phrase, “the Word of God” is used in a number of different ways. It refers to something that God has decreed to come to pass. It is also used of the actual spoken words of God. Words that God has spoken through the prophets can also be called “the Word of God.” Jesus Christ Himself is called the Word of God. Finally, the phrase can also refer to God’s written Word.

The words that were delivered by God’s designated spokesmen, the prophets, as well as the written Word of God, though not as dramatic, carried the same authority as the actual words spoken by God.

While all five ways that God has spoken to humanity can be called the “Word of God,” the only form available to us to study is the written Scripture. Indeed, we would not know about the other four areas of God’s Word except for the written Word in Scripture.

Word of God, the expression, rolls off the tongue for Christians—but what does it even mean?

Catholics and other Christians use the expression “word of God” all the time and apply it to the Scriptures, the sayings of God and Jesus in those Scriptures, and especially to Jesus. 

But what does “God’s word” mean? If we are honest, we’d admit the expression “God’s Word” is ambiguous. Humans use words, but what about God? Could it be that when we call either Jesus or the Bible the “Word of God,” we mean something very human? 

We are talking about revelation, of course. But what is revelation anyway? It’s a lot like asking about the meaning of the “God’s utterance.” Catholics and other Christians say “amen” and head nod to these things but seldom critically reflect on them. 

Here is a video presentation about “Word of God”—

Word of God = God’s Human Word

When we call the Bible the “God’s Wprd,” we mean to say that it is God’s human word. In other words, the Bible is God’s inspired self-communication or “word” in many messy human words and stories. “God’s word” is a human reality—being divine makes it more human, not less. 

Therefore, the “God’s word” does not mean something chemically isolated from humanity. There is no such thing as a “pure” word of God. God did not physically write the Bible or dictate its contents. Therefore the inspired authors are not comparable to secretaries or stenographers. The Church does not accept a plenary view or dictation theory of inspiration. To hold such a view is absurd. Indeed, inspiration is messy! 

The expression “word of God” implies a communicator, communication, and a recipient to the communication. What good is a word without a listener? But is it easy to hear God’s communication? What amount of effort goes into discerning revelation?

Receiving the divine word is messy. Who can be metaphysically certain that they interpreted their experience with God correctly? God communicates to us exclusively in ways conditioned by our history and culture. How we understand, interpret, and express divine revelation is always limited. That’s true of the inspired authors of Scripture also.   

Divine Word as Revelation

Look here—

Revelation > Tradition > Scripture. 

According to official Catholic teaching, revelation is greater than Tradition, which is greater than Sacred Scripture. The divine word is not only to be found in the Bible or in our Tradition. Every created thing is filled with the word of God. 

Revelation means God’s self-disclosure. Therefore, the Holy and Absolute Mystery called “God” is both the “Revealer” and the content of what is revealed. Thus, revelation is not limited to Catholic Tradition or Sacred Scripture because God is—or at least can be—disclosed in all things. This is the basic Catholic understanding of sacramentality.  

Transmission of the Word of God

Tradition means “the transmission of divine revelation.” Since revelation is always received according to the mode of the receiver, and the recipients are human, revelation and its transmission must be a messy business! 

Scripture is the normative and inspired part of Tradition. But by “inspired,” we do not mean that God dictated it a set of books (God did not dictate the contents of the Bible—and the Scriptures are not cognitively inerrant). When we call the Scriptures the word of God, we mean that we are dealing with something that has two aspects. One aspect is divine, and the other, human. 

God’s word is a messy business. Therefore, to call the Bible “God’s word” means “God’s human word”—and that is definitely messy. By “Word of God,” we mean God’s self-expression in many messy human words, given throughout a library (ta Biblia), which is normative literature for Christians. The Bible presents a first word for the Church, but it is not the only word about God and humankind, and it definitely is not the final word about God and humanity.

There is much more to say. We’ll come back to this topic soon. 

I have started writing a column for Preach magazine, in which I explore a significant word or phrase in the Bible and the ideas that it expresses. The first one was on the phrase ‘Word of God’. Despite the fact that many churches use this phrase with reference to the reading of Scripture, its meaning is often disputed, sometimes on the basis that it is Jesus, rather than the Bible, which is the word of God. The two ideas are actually closely related, and need to be understood in the context of Old Testament understandings of the phrase, as I explore:

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‘This is the Word of the Lord’. ‘Thanks be to God.’ This is quite a common refrain at the end of the Bible readings in many churches; you might have said one or both parts of this in the last week. But it is not always clear what we mean by the phrase ‘Word of God’, and the use of the phrase is sometimes disputed.

We encounter the idea of the word of God immediately on opening the Bible. The creation account in Genesis 1 depicts God not so much as a craftsman shaping the world with his hands, but as a speaker bringing the world into being simply by his speech. What he speaks into existence comes into existence; God’s words do things. In the second creation account, in Gen 2.4 onwards, God’s words shape the world he has made; his command to the adam to eat of any tree in the garden, but not the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, creates a boundary for the adam’s world. The first challenge to the power of God’s words comes from the snake when it asks ‘Did God really say…?’

The nature and importance of words in the Old Testament is indicated by the Hebrew term davar. Though it refers to the speech of God or people, it is connected to the root dr, which means ‘order’. So when we read ‘God spoke these words to Moses…’ in the Pentateuch, we might better understand it as ‘God gave Moses these commands’. Indeed, the text which we call ‘The Ten Commandments’ is in Hebrew called ‘The Ten Words’, devarim; these and God’s other words to Moses function to ‘order’ and shape the life of his people Israel. Thus, on occasions, the word davar can refer not just to the words, but to the things themselves which have been put in order by God’s words. Most English translations render Num 18.7 as ‘Only you and you sons may serve in connection with everything at the altar’, where the Hebrew is ‘every davar of the altar…’

The sense of God’s word as a thing continues in the prophetic tradition, where time and again the prophet claims that ‘the word of Yahweh came to me…’ At times, these ‘words’ have visionary elements, but they constantly serve to call God’s people back to the ordered life that he has set before them.

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With God’s ordering speech to his people inscribed in the various books of the Old Testament, Jesus consistently takes these written words to be the words of God. Most often these are referred to simply by the introduction ‘it is written’, as we find in the exchange of Scriptures with the Devil in Jesus’ temptation. But Jesus also uses the actual phrase ‘word of God’ on several occasions (Mark 7.13, John 10.34) referring to the text, and even cites the narrator’s words of Gen 2.24 as God’s own speech (‘the Creator…said…’ Matt 19.5). This makes it all the more striking when Jesus goes on to use the phrase ‘word of God’ to mean the good news of the gospel which he himself is preaching (Luke 5.1, 8.11), and Luke continues to use this phrase to refer to the subsequent apostolic preaching of the good news (Acts 4.31, 6.7).

Since this ‘word’ focuses on the person of Jesus, we can easily understand the next development of this terminology: in John 1, it is Jesus himself who is this divine Word, the pre-existent logos. Jesus, God’s word made flesh, is himself the expression of the ordering, communication and wisdom of God. But this claim goes even further; for John’s Greek-speaking readers, the logos is not just the words spoken by God, previously found in the Old Testament, but in Stoic philosophy the rational principle that holds the whole fabric of the universe together (compare Heb 1.3).

Thus the phrase ‘word of God’ refers to God own speech as he brings order out of chaos and makes his will known. It refers to the prophetic correction to his people to keep them within his gracious ordering, and then to the written record of the law, prophets and wisdom. It then refers to the teaching of Jesus as he announces the coming of God’s kingdom in fulfilment of Old Testament promise, and further to the apostolic teaching about Jesus, now inscribed in our New Testaments. Rather neatly, the Book of Revelation completes the canon by referencing these different meanings in the seven occurrences of ‘word of God’ in its chapters. Revelation is saturated in the Old Testament as the word of God, but this word is now both the ‘testimony of Jesus’ (Rev 1.2) as well as Jesus himself (Rev 19.13), and includes the prophetic message given to John (Rev 19.9) which aims to keep his readers faithful to the Jesus whom he sets before them.

(You can find out more about Preach magazine and subscribe through its website here.)

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All of us, as Christians believe that we must obey the Word of God. But what exactly is the Biblical Definition for the “Word of God”? Is it the whole Bible? Or is it part of the Bible? Can parts of God’s Word, even be done away? What did Christ refer to as the “Word of God”? As followers of Christ, we must have a clear understanding of this definition, and this is exactly what we hope to research in this short study.

In an earlier post (What does it mean to be like a “Berean”?) we learned that Christ, His disciples and all of the writers of the New Testament agreed that “Scripture” in their eyes was what we call, the “Old Testament”. A basic knowledge of History would allow anyone to know that the New Testament writings were compiled almost 3 Centuries after the time of Christ. If this is so, what did Christ and all His disciples refer to as the “Word of God”. Let’s look at the evidence.

1. Christ said that Man lives not by food alone, but by the “Word of God” quoting Deut 8:3

Mat 4:4  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Luk 4:4  And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
Deu 8:3  And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.

We can conclude that every Word that proceeds from the Mouth of God is known as the “Word of God” by comparing Mat 4:4 with Luk 4:4. We can also understand that the “Word of God” referred by Christ in these verses, is the same as what was referred to by Moses in Deut 8:3, as this is the exact verse quoted by Messiah.

2. Christ confirms that God’s Commandments given through Moses is the “Word of God”

Mar 7:9-13  And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death: But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.

In the above passage, Yeshua(Jesus’ true name) rebukes the Pharisees telling them that they are breaking God’s Commandments by keeping their own traditions (Please read about the Pharisees for a clearer explanation on what they believed). One of the most important things that many glance across in this reading, is that Christ calls the Commandments of God, given through Moses as the “Word of God”.

3. Christ preached the “Word of God”

Luk 5:1  And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,

Christ preached the Word of God as clearly stated in the above passage. If the “Word of God” was (by His own definition), the writings of Moses, then this means that what He preached came from what we now call the Old Testament. (Much of the misunderstandings, such as Christ abolished the Law, comes from a weak knowledge of what He preached. Read an example here)

4. Christ called whoever hears the “Word of God” and does it, “Blessed” and also part of “His own Family”

Luk 11:28  But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.
Luk 8:21  And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.

5. The “Word of God” stands forever according to Isaiah and Peter

Isa 40:8  The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
1Pe 1:24,25  For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

We see Peter quoting the words written by Isaiah agreeing with him, that “God’s Word” stands forever, which means it cannot fade away or be abolished.

6. Christ says that “Scripture” (which is the Old Testament) cannot be broken, and refers to it as the “Word of God”

Joh 10:34,35  Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
Psa 82:6  I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.

In the above verse we see Christ quoting Psalms 82:6, and goes on to say that Scripture cannot be broken (done away/abolished). Furthermore, He calls the people who received this Word (which is in Psalms, which is part of the Old Testament) as the ones to whom the “Word of God” came. Thereby making “The Word of God” equal to “The Scriptures” or “Old Testament” as it is known today.

7.Conclusion
Yeshua saw every word that proceeded from God’s Mouth as “The Word of God”, and clearly equaled it to the writings of Moses in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament we see clear phrases such as “The LORD (Yehovah) spoke”(Exo 25:1) or “The Word of the Lord came”(Gen 15:1) that refers to “God’s Word” or the “Word of God”.

Even though much of today’s believers are taught that some parts of the Bible are no longer valid for them, and that the “Word of God” is the New Testament Writings, looking at the evidence, we can conclude that “The Old Testament” was regarded as the “Word of God” by our Messiah. If anyone teaches or believes that the Old Testament is done away, they are inadvertently saying that God’s Words are abolished.

It is time that we ask ourselves important questions such as, can parts of God’s Word be abolished, done away or removed?… When Peter and Isaiah both say that “The Word of God” endures forever. Through Yeshua’s own Words and testimony it is clear that this cannot be, and that He regarded “The Scriptures” which is “the Old Testament” as the authoritative “Word of God”. As a follower of Christ, what do you believe?

Light iron-age reading The Bible

Gabbin’ with God

Old / New Testament Apocrypha Annotated Bible

Analysis

Bible interpolation Bibliolatry Genealogy of Jesus

Woo

Snake handling James Ussher Roman Piso

Figures

Abel Joseph of Arimathea Noah v — t — e

Depending on who you are and what you believe in, the Word of God could mean Jesus, the Bible, the Qur’an, the kama sutra, Dianetics, anything the pope says ex cathedra, the Book of Mormon, the Tanakh and Talmud, the lyrics of Ye, the teachings of David Koresh, the commands of the Pharaohs, the commands of the Sapa Inca, the sayings of the Dalai Lama, the Avesta, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, anything on the internet and Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster to mention just a few. This page is primarily going to focus on the Judaeo-Christian Word of God.

Lexicology of “The Word”[edit]

The word Christianity translates into “The Word” in the bible is the Greek word logos (λόγος). This can be seen in bible passages such as John 1:1

“”En archē ēn ho Lógos, kaì ho Lógos ēn pròs tòn Theón, kaì Theòs ēn ho Lógos.

—John 1:1 in its original Greek.[1]

“”In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

—John 1:1 translated into English

A better translation for logos would be “The Reason” or “The Account” as the Greek word logos doesn’t usually translate into the English word “Word.” Rather the Greek word lexis is what translates to word. Lexis is used as a root in words like lexicon which is all the words that make up an area of knowledge, or dyslexia which is a learning disorder that involves difficulty in learning to read or interpret words. It is also the root for lexicology which is the study of words. Incidentally, Lexicology was what was just done. Logos, on the other hand, is the root for the English word logic.

Logos is g3056 in Strong’s Concordance.^[2]

Pre-Christian origins of logos (λόγος)[edit]

“”Philo’s doctrine of the Logos is blurred by his mystical and religious vision, but his Logos is clearly the second individual in one God as hypostatization of God’s Creative Power – Wisdom.

—Marian Hillar[3][4]

The philosophical importance of Logos can be traced to the pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus While none of his original writings have survived in their entirety, we do have fragments of his philosophy and some of these fragments describe his belief in logos. One such fragment is DKB2 where Heraclitus says Though the logos is common, the many live as if they had a wisdom of their own.^[5] This reference makes clear that Heraclitus believes in an independent existence of a universal logos. Another fragment from him reiterates this belief. It is wise, listening not to me but to the logos, to agree that all things are one.^[6]

Stoic philosophers would use Heraclitus’s idea of a universal logos in their model of the universe. Eusebius describes the stoic conception of the universe in the following passage:

“”They (the stoics) say, like Heraclitus, that the element of the existing world is fire… moreover, they say that at certain predestined and definite times the whole world is consumed by fire, and afterwards reorganized again. The primordial fire, however, is as it were just a seed, containing the reasons and causes of all things past, present, and future: and that the combination and sequence of these constitute fate, and knowledge, and truth, and the law of all being, from which there is no escape or avoidance.

—Praeparatio Evangilica Book 15 Chapter 14.[7]

The primordial fire Eusebius referred to is a stoic concept called logos spermatikos (λόγος σπερματικός). According to the Stoics, logos spermatikos was the generative principle of the universe which created and took back all things. The word logos by itself was the ordering principle in the cosmos.^[8]

Diogenes Laërtius would describe logos spermatikos in the following passage:

“”God is one and the same with Reason, Fate, and Zeus… God, who is the seminal reason (logos spermatikos) [note 1] of the universe, remains behind in the moisture as such an agent, adapting matter to himself with a view to the next stage of creation.

—Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers Book 7 135-136[9]

The stoic conception of the universe and logos would continue well into the Roman era. For example,Seneca the Younger, a Roman stoic who lived from around 4 BCE to CE 65, described God as creative reason (logos).

“”Now, however, I am searching for the first, the general cause; this must be simple, inasmuch as matter, too, is simple. Do we ask what cause is? It is surely Creative Reason – in other words, God.

— Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium LXV 12[10]

Pre-Christian origins of dabar (וַיֹּ֥אמֶר)[edit]

The Jews had a different concept of the ‘word’ called dabar (h1697). Dabar is used in passages such as Joshua 1:18 to describe Yahweh’s words. Dabar is also used to describe the words exchanged between two individuals such as in Genesis 27:34.^[11] Dabar was not used to describe Yahweh’s use of speech to create things such as in Genesis 1:3 where “God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” For that the word amar (h559) was used.^[12] When the Hebrew scriptures were translated into Greek to create the Septuagint, the Hebrew words dabar and amar were translated into the Greek word logos. While the words are similar in terms of their literal meaning, philosophically the words are quite different. Greek logos is best descried as a metaphysical concept of a transcendent god whereas dabar and amar are better characterized as the divine utterances or actions of an anthropomorphic god.^[13]

The Greek philosophical concepts of logos and pneuma and their Hebrew equivalents were identified with God by the author(s) of psalms.

“”By the word (dabar) of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath (ruach) of his mouth.

—Psalm 33:6

Hellenistic Judaism and logos[edit]

“”Philo of Alexandria (c25BCE to c50CE) is the foremost example of the input of Greek ideas into Jewish thought, a phenomenon which produced an important type of philosophy and culture during this period, called «Hellenistic Judaism.»

—Earl Doherty[14]

After Alexander the Great created his empire, the Greek culture was heavily influential throughout the region controlled by the Greeks. This influence is referred to as ‘Hellenism’ and the Hellenistic influence was particularly strong among Jews living in the city of Alexandria. This was the city where the Hebrew scriptures were translated into Greek to create the Septuagint^{[note 2]} It was also the city where Jewish philosophers combined traditional Jewish belief with Greek philosophy. One of the first people to do this was Aristobulus of Alexandria and one of the ideas he promoted was the belief that Plato and Pythagoras drew upon Mosaic Law before the Septuagint was created.

“”It is evident that Plato closely followed our (Mosaic) legislation… for others before Demetrius of Phalerus (350 -280 BCE), and prior to the supremacy of Alexander and the Persians, have translated the exodus… and the exposition of the whole law… also Pythagoras transferred many of our precepts and inserted them in his own system of doctrines.

—Praeparatio Evangelica xiii. 12.[7]

There are no known Greek versions of Mosaic law before Cyrus and Alexander the Great conquered the places Jews lived^[15] or any evidence that Pythagoras and Plato were aware of Jewish thought. Nonetheless, that was what Aristobulus believed and he was influential among the Hellenistic Jews.
Aristobulus also appears to have made an attempt to incorporate logos into Judaism when he argued that God’s words denoted His activates.^[16]

“”For we must understand the voice of God not as words spoken, but as construction of works, just as Moses in the Law has spoken of the whole creation of the world as words of God. For he constantly says of each work, “And God said, and it was so.”

—Praeparatio Evangelica xiii. 12.[7]

The next major Hellenistic philosopher to incorporate the concept of logos into Judaism was Philo of Alexandria (c. 20 BCE – c. 50 CE). One of the cultural themes among both the Greek and Jewish cultures during the Hellenistic period was allegorical interpretation of their theological works. One example of this was the Heraclitus who wrote Homeric Problems. In this work, Heraclitus Homericus explained that when Homer spoke of Aphrodite’s infidelity with Ares, he was talking about one of two things. Either Ares was a metaphor for strife and Aphrodite was a metaphor for love and their infidelity represented how ‘these old adversaries (give) up their former contention and (come) together in concord.’ Or Ares was a metaphor for iron, Hephaestus (Aphrodite’s husband) was a metaphor for fire, and Aphrodite represented the craftsmanship needed to turn the iron softened by fire into things like swords.^[17]

In Philo’s case, he applied allegorical interpretation to the Hebrew Scriptures in order to explain their meaning. One passage that Philo applied this technique on was Genesis 1:27 which states “So God created man in his own image, in the image God created he him.” This passage was a theological problem in Hellenistic Judaism as the metaphysical versions of God promoted by the Greek philosophers conflicted with the more anthropomorphic version of God found in Genesis. In essence, the problem was “If God lacks a body, then how could God make man in his own image?” Philo’s solution was to argue that mankind was modeled after God’s logos, which meant creative reason in Hellenistic culture. This allegorical interpretation can be found in passages of Philo’s work such as the following.

“”No mortal thing could have been formed on the similitude of the supreme Father of the universe, but only after the pattern of the second deity, who is the Word (Logos) of the Supreme Being.

—Questions and Answers on Genesis II, 62[18]

Philo would also incorporate the concept of logos into his metaphysical triad. Philo’s idea of how God was organized can be found in the following passage.

“”The one in the middle is the father of the universe, who in the sacred scriptures is called by his proper name, I am that I am; and the beings on each side are those most ancient powers which are always close to the living God, one of which is called his creative power (logos), and the other his royal power. And the creative power is God, for it is by this that he made and arranged the universe; and the royal power is the Lord, for it is fitting that the Creator should lord it over and govern the creature.

—On Abraham, Chp. xxiv 121[19]

Early Christians such as Justin Martyr would continue the philosophy begun by Hellenistic Jewish philosophers. Like Aristobulus and his idea that Plato and Pythagoras had borrowed their ideas from Moses, Justin would argue that Socrates and Heraclitus of Ephesus were unknowingly Christian.^[20] And like Philo, Justin would create his own version of a metaphysical triad that incorporated God’s logos.

Logos as Christos[edit]

There was another religious movement that was occurring during the same time Philo was promoting the idea that humankind was modeled after God’s logos. In Roman Judea, a series of Jewish rebels were claiming to be the Jewish messiah. The first of these was Simon of Peraea and he led a revolt that burnt the royal palace at Jericho. This occurred shortly after Herod died (4 BCE). Another interesting rebel leader was an Egyptian who led a revolt at the Mount of Olives before many of his followers were killed mad he mysteriously disappeared (approximately 52-58 CE). When the Hebrew word for messiah (mashiach)^[21] was translated into Greek it became christos^[22]. The author(s) of John incorporated the idea that logos becomes flesh.

“”And the Word (logos) was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

—John 1:14

The idea that Christ was logos has been maintained in Christianity ever since.

The Bible as the Word of God[edit]

While the Greek concept of logos is still maintained by Christians as ‘creative reason’ remains a part of their trinity, there is a different notion among Christians that the Bible is literally the Word of God. They will often use the Word as justification for Divine command theory which for Christians is the position that Biblical injunctions are the only possible basis for morals, ethics, and law.

The idea that the Bible is the word of God presupposes several assumptions:

1. There is a (single, unique — or indeed any) God
2. God uses expressions of ordinary (human) language to express its will, intentions, commands, etc.
3. A literal reading of this language is both necessary and sufficient for establishing moral/ethical/legal precepts

One can take issue with all three assumptions.

1 — Uniqueness of the Word of God[edit]

Counterargument — Even strong belief in a (unique) supreme being (as seen in all monotheistic religions) is insufficient to establish the God of the Bible as this (unique) being

The greatest problem with the first assumption is that the same «word of God» argument can be used to justify in turn the Old Testament system, the New Testament system, the system of Islamic law, the system of Latter Day Saints rules and regulations, and so forth. To the extent that these systems contradict each other in significant aspects, it is clear that they can’t all be the same word of the same God. This, in spite of the contrary intention of those using this phrase as an argument in favor of their particular brand of orthodoxy, opens the door to moral relativism.

2- Verbal revelation[edit]

Counterargument — An equally broad secular mystic tradition asserts that God uses mathematics to lay down the law

The second assumption, that God directly communicated his intentions to the humans who wrote down the Scriptures, looks hopelessly naive. The problem is not just that the idea is naive, for there may be naive ideas that turn out to be right, but rather that we lack evidence. To the extent there is evidence (and we can, for the sake of the argument, admit a broad class of evidence including fables and traditions) the same evidence of divine inspiration is also available for the Buddha, for Confucius, and for other sages outside scriptural bounds. In this respect too, the «word of God» line of argumentation opens the door to moral relativism.

3- Literalism[edit]

Counterargument — As with any writing of great antiquity, the philological and conceptual difficulties in establishing a literal reading are immense.

The final assumption (which usually takes the form that the King James Version of the Bible is all one needs to study) is contradicted by a mountain of scholarship, both religious and secular. Internal evidence in various parts of the Bible credit the Word of God as also the word of (for example) Saint Matthew, Saint Mark, Saint Luke, Saint John, Saint Paul and Saint Peter. Tradition adds other writers: Moses and Ezra, to name but two. Different emphases, different original languages and different styles distinguish different passages. Various religious traditions regard various sets of text as biblically canonical. The revealed Word of God emerges as a Word for all seasons. Moreover, as Thomas Paine pointed out in the Age of Reason the bible contradicts itself thus violating the Law of noncontradiction. Note further that the natural growth of the halakha (and other biblically grounded forms of law over the millennia) proves that those interested in maintaining a biblical system of justice do not find the word of God sufficient as it is. It is also highly debatable whether a religious (let alone Biblical) foundation of morals/ethics/law is necessary.

God’s Word®[edit]

God’s Word® is a registered trademark of God’s Word to the Nations of Orange Park, FL.^[23]

See also[edit]

• Bible code
• Bible translations

Notes[edit]

References[edit]