Texts in Conversation
John opens by describing the Word participating in the creation of the world, an interpretation that is similar to 4 Ezra where creation is completed through the divine Word. Both describe the world being created through a personified agent.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
4 Ezra 6:38
2 Esdras
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
35 It came to pass after this, that I wept again, and fasted seven days in like manner, that I might fulfill the three weeks which he told me. 36 On the eighth night, my heart was troubled within me again, and I began to speak in the presence of the Most High. 37 For my spirit was greatly aroused, and my soul was in distress. 38 I said, “O Lord, truly you spoke at the beginning of the creation, on the first day, and said this: ‘Let heaven and earth be made,’ and your word perfected the work. 39 Then the spirit was hovering, and darkness and silence were on every side. The sound of man’s voice was not yet there. 40 Then you commanded a ray of light to be brought out of your treasuries, that your works might then appear.
John 1:2
New Testament
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God. 2 The Word was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created by him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. 5 And the light shines on in the darkness, but the darkness has not mastered it.
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Notes and References
"... the divinity of the logos is not only linked to this divinity as the Son of God but, at the same time, is engaged with His role/work that the Son of God did/does insofar as His being of the logos. This is a very unique statement and is the reason for the second structure of 1:3 ... highlights that all the creation was made by the Logos. The center reinforces in a negative way, that everything, without any exception, has the logos as the mediator-creator. Again, Endo rightly states that the other face of the coin is that in John 1:3 we have the echoes of the tradition of 4 Ezra 6:38 and 43:2, and 2 Baruch 54:3 and 56:4. In all these contexts an expansion of Isaiah 45:22-23 and 55:11 is found. In these contexts of Isaiah the eschatological salvation of YHWH, and his redemption by his utterance can be seen. Therefore, it is clear that in John 1:3 the logos is the eschatological word by whom YHWH redeems and saves ..."
Schmidt, Sergio Alejandro
One Gospel, Two Facades: The Change of the Intended Reader in the Beginning of the Fourth Gospel (John 1:1-34)
(pp. 150-151) South Africa Theological Seminary, 2016
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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