Was It Logos or Dabar?
The New Testament was, of course, written in Greek, and the Apostle John wrote his gospel in that language. In doing so he used a Greek term logos which has occasioned much discussion.
In the beginning was the Word (logos). ... The Word (logos) was with God, and the Word (logos) was God. (John 1:1, 2)
And the Word (logos) was made flesh, and dwelt among us. (Verse 14)
So what is the problem? Would we not expect John to use a Greek term, since He is writing in the Greek language?
Granted. But the term logos in Greek is very heavily loaded with cultural implications.
Logos, as a technical term, seems to have originated with the Stoics, who used it to denote Divine Wisdom as the integrating force of the universe.[1]
This has led some scholars to conclude that John had been strongly influenced by Greek thought and philosophy, so that he was writing that it was the Greek logos who had come to earth in the person of Jesus Christ. (The student will find a comprehensive survey of Greek thought about the logos in Kittel's Theological Dictionary.)[2]
Other scholars, however, have pointed out that while Greek readers of John's gospel might have appreciated his recognition of the worthiness of the logos, they would have been affronted by his statement in verse 14:
And the Word (logos) became flesh.
To the Greek mind, imbued with the dualism of the philosophers, such a transformation would be unthinkable, since logos is spiritual, therefore good, and flesh is physical, therefore intrinsically vile, corrupt, and evil. This is the background of the "good soul in a vile body" dualism of medieval Christian theology, the immortal soul concept, etc.
To the Greek mind, the statement "The logos became flesh," would be approximately equal to saying, "The good became evil"
There is another possibility. There was no need for John to reach out of Hebrew culture for the concept of a disembodied, fleshless word, that might introduce a significant and meaningful change by becoming flesh.
At the very heart of Hebrew culture and tradition was the mercy seat, in the most holy place of the sanctuary, overshadowed by the wings of the cherubim, whence issued forth bright rays of the glory of God, and from where was heard on supremely important occasions the audible word, the dabar (root form), that gave counsel and guidance to Israel.
The term dabar, first used to describe the disembodied word, eventually came to be used in reference to the place from which the word was heard - the holy Shekinah. The King James translators, struggling to carry this concept over into English, invoked the word oracle as a translation of (root form) dabar:
And the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counselled in those days, was as if a man had enquired at the oracle of God. (2 Sam. 16:23)
And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims. (1 Kings 8:6)
Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle. (Ps. 28:2)
(See also 1 Kings 6:5, 16, 19, 20-23; and 2 Chronicles 4:20.)
To re-read all of these scriptures, using the term word in each place where the term oracle appears, will provide a sense of the depth of meaning of the term word to the Hebrew mind. It was that divine, beneficent word that was heard from the place where no body, no flesh was seen, the holy Shekinah, the most revered place in all Israel. How deeply meaningful to the Israelite, then--the Jew of John's time, to hear his gospel read:
In the beginning was the Word.
(Of course. We know.)
And the Word was with God.
(Yes, yes. We know.)
And the Word was God.
(Undoubtedly. We understand.)
And the Word was made flesh.
(What? Do you really mean it? Can it really be true? Has that glorious, loving, and guiding word, the Shekinah presence, actually become flesh? Is that who Jesus is? Glory to God!)
So we may safely lay aside Greek philosophy in both of its dimensions. Our Lord Jesus Christ is not logos; He is dabar. And the flesh that humanity bears, and that Jesus assumed, does not carry the burden of intrinsic corruption and vileness ascribed to it by Greek philosophy. We are not Hellenists; we are Christians.
The flesh of itself cannot act contrary to the will of God.[3]
Notes: