Who is the Word?

**Insight on the Scriptures Volume 2, pages 1202-1203**

"...Other translations aid in getting the proper view of this text:

The interlinear word-for-word reading of the Greek translation in the Emphatic Diaglott reads: "In a beginning was the Word, and the Word was with the God, and a god was the Word." The accompanying text of the Diaglott uses capital and small capital letters for the God, and initial capital and lowercase letters for the second appearance of "God" in the sentence: "In the Beginning was the LOGOS, and the LOGOS was with GOD, and the LOGOS was God."

These renderings would support the fact that Jesus, being the Son of God and the one used by God in creating all other things (Col 1:15-20), is indeed a "god," a mighty one, and has the quality of mightiness, but is not the Almighty God. Other translations reflect this view. The New English Bible says: "And what God was, the Word was." The Greek word translated "Word" is Lo'gos; and so Moffatt's translation reads: "The Logos was divine." The American Translation reads: "The Word was divine." Other readings, by German translators, follow. By Böhmer: "It was tightly bound up with God, yes, itself of divine being." By Stage: "The Word was itself of divine being." By Menge: "And God (= of divine being) the Word was." And by Thimme: "And God of a sort the Word was." All these renderings highlight the quality of the Word, not his identity with his Father, the Almighty God. Being the Son of Jehovah God, he would have the divine quality, for divine means "godlike."—Col 2:9; compare 2Pe 1:4, where "divine nature" is promised to Christ's joint heirs.

The Four Gospels—A New Translation, by Professor Charles Cutler Torrey, says: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was god. When he was in the beginning with God all things were created through him; without him came no created thing into being." (Joh 1:1-3) Note that what the Word is said to be is spelled without a capital initial letter, namely, "god."

This Word, or Lo'gos, was God's only direct creation, the only-begotten son of God, and evidently the close associate of God to whom God was speaking when he said: "Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness." (Ge 1:26) Hence John continued, saying: "This one was in the beginning with God. All things came into existence through him, and apart from him not even one thing came into existence."—Joh 1:2, 3.
Other scriptures plainly show that the Word was God's agent through whom all other things came into existence. There is "one God the Father, out of whom all things are, . . . and there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things are." (1Co 8:6) The Word, God's Son, was "the beginning of the creation by God," otherwise described as "the firstborn of all creation; because by means of him all other things were created in the heavens and upon the earth."—Re 3:14; Col 1:15, 16"