Page 53 - Bible Writers Theology Original

whichtheHebrewword, "dahbar"isused.InscripturetheWordoftheLordcom monly denotes the speech addressed to the patriarch or prophet (Genesis 15:1; Numbers 12:6; 23:5; I Samuel 3:21). Itfrequently denotes thecreative word: "Bythe word of the LORD were the heavens made" (Psalm 33:6, Psalm 33:9). The above passage. Psalm 33:6, with its reference to the Word's action in creation, recalls the repeated phrase, "and God said", in Genesis 1 where the Hebrew verb "amar" is identical to the Aramaic root from which the "memra" is derived. In more recent Targumic Exegesis' wefind "memra" occurring repeatedly in passages where the Hebrew represents God as speaking, acting or manifesting Himselfto mankind. In other words, "memra" represented the divine name of God, YHWH, when it came
to God's activities. Just as the "shekhinah" and the "yekara" represent the divine presenceandgloryofGod(page242). Whydosomepeoplegetconfusedandthink that the word of God in the Old Testament refers to a separate person? Perhaps they do not understand the way Jews thought and wrote. They were very poetic in the way they wrote especially in Psalms. James D.G. Dunn explains that these texts present the Word of YHWH, as Yahweh Himself acting decisively in creation, in judgment and in salvation. When a sovereign speaks, his subjects obey; when he
commands,itisdone. SotheutteranceandcommandofYahweharesimplewaysof saying, "The Yahweh brought his will to effect that Yahweh achieved his purpose, when Yahweh speaks, things happen." Dunn doubts that the personifications of wisdom and the word in the Old Testament actually means a literal personification. They are simply different methods of describing God's acts. The Jews emphasized
the active word (Isaiah 55:10-11; Psalm 33:6; 147:15; 119:25).
The Johannine concept of the logos mirrors this concept in a precise manner according to the English and other translations. In the prologue, the Word orlogos, is described in ways that seem to suggest a separate existence. (But according to the original Greek Bible it cannot refer to a separate person in the Godhead.) It reads, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and God was the Word." This literally means the logos was God the Father. IfGod the Father islogos,thecreativeWordofGodcannotbeseparatedfromGod. Thelogosisactu ally identified with Him. It represents His innermost desires. YHWH's Word which
found its ultimate expression in the incarnation was personifiedfor teaching pur poses. (page 240).
The prologue of John begins with these words, "In the beginning was the Word"(1:1). BasedupontheassumptionthatJohndidutilizememratheology,this would mean, "in the beginning was memra". To Jewish thinkers in the synagogue John was saying that before and at the time ofcreation, there was God's HYH (or "Ehyeh" I am There). The self-naming God of revelation, the everlasting one, is there. The God of thought, communication and activity is there. This is reasonable since the Targums expounded Ehyeh as the One who said and the world was there.
The Oneness of God ♦ 37