Yes: “the Word was God.” And Thomas said to the risen Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” In John 1:1, the Greek word is theos (G2316): It is the ordinary Greek word for God, and also for a god. In John it means the God of Israel, the one true God.
Get DeepWordWhat the original says
Behind the last “God” in this verse is the Greek word theos (said theh-OSS).
It is the ordinary Greek word for God, and also for a god. In John it means the God of Israel, the one true God.
This form, theos, is the naming form, and it comes first in its part of the sentence: word for word, ‘and God was the Word’. Greek often puts first what is being said about someone, so the Berean, like most English Bibles, writes “the Word was God”.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘God’ 1272 times. At the end of the same chapter’s opening John calls Jesus “the one and only Son, who is Himself God” (John 1:18):
Word by word
| τὸν | θεόν | καὶ | θεὸς | ἦν | ὁ | λόγος |
| the | God | and | God | was | the | Word |
Original form
What this tells us
John opens his Gospel with the same words as the first page of the Bible: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). But John is not starting with creation. He goes behind it: “In the beginning was the Word.” Before anything was made, the Word already was. The word for “God” is theos. John says two things about the Word in one breath: “the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The Word is not simply the same as the Father, since he is ‘with’ him; and yet the Word is God. Two verses later John adds, “Through Him all things were made” (John 1:3). Then comes the sentence the whole Gospel turns on: “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us” (John 1:14). The Word is Jesus. Christians in every major tradition have read these verses as the heart of their belief that Jesus is God; some other groups have read them differently, and the arguments over them shaped the early creeds of the church. If you have wondered whether Jesus was only a great teacher, John’s first verse asks you to look again. Who would the Word have to be, to have been there in the beginning?
What the original says
Behind the word “Immanuel” in this verse is the Greek word Emmanouēl (said em-mah-noo-ALE).
It is a Hebrew name carried into Greek, Immanu-el. Matthew translates it at once: ‘God with us’.
This name, Emmanouēl, is marked in our Greek text as a title. Right after it Matthew adds “which means” and gives the meaning in Greek.
It appears only here in the New Testament. Matthew is quoting Isaiah: “the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14):
Word by word
| τὸ | ὄνομα | αὐτοῦ | Ἐμμανουήλ | ὅ | ἐστιν | μεθερμηνευόμενον |
| the | name | of Him | immanuel | which | is | being translated |
Original form
What this tells us
Joseph has found out that Mary, the woman he is engaged to, is pregnant, and he plans to end the engagement quietly. Then an angel speaks to him in a dream: “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to embrace Mary as your wife, for the One conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:20). Matthew then quotes the prophet Isaiah, and the child’s name is Immanuel. It is a Hebrew name, and Matthew translates it for his readers: “God with us”. The name says what this child is: not only a messenger from God, but God come near. Isaiah first spoke the promise to King Ahaz in a time of war (Isaiah 7:14). Many readers see in it a sign for Ahaz’s own day, and Christians from Matthew on have seen its fullest meaning in Jesus. Matthew’s Gospel ends with the same promise in Jesus’ own mouth: “And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). The book opens and closes on God with us. God did not stay at a distance from the world he made. The question this name leaves you with is a simple one: if God is with us in Jesus, what does that change about today?
What the original says
Behind “I am” in this verse is the Greek word eimi (said ay-MEE).
It means to be, to exist. Here it is ‘I am’, with egō, ‘I’, set before it.
This form, eimi, is ‘I am’, about now, with egō, ‘I’, before it. Before Abraham ‘came to be’, Jesus says: not ‘I was’, but ‘I am’.
It is one of the most common words in the New Testament: in the Berean, ‘am’ alone is 130 of its places. John records Jesus saying “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35):
Word by word
| λέγω | ὑμῖν | πρὶν | Ἀβραὰμ | γενέσθαι | ἐγὼ | εἰμί |
| I say | to you | before | Abraham | being | I myself | am |
Original form
What this tells us
Jesus is arguing with religious leaders in the temple. They have heard him say that anyone who keeps his word “will never taste death” (John 8:52), and they answer, “Are You greater than our father Abraham? He died, as did the prophets. Who do You claim to be?” (John 8:53). When he says Abraham was glad to see his day, they scoff: “You are not yet fifty years old, and You have seen Abraham?” (John 8:57). The word for “I am” is eimi, with ‘I’ set before it for weight. Jesus does not say, ‘before Abraham was born, I was.’ He says, “before Abraham was born, I am!” Abraham came into being at a point in time. Jesus speaks of himself as simply being. Many readers hear in these words the name God gave Moses at the burning bush: “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14). The crowd heard a claim too: “At this, they picked up stones to throw at Him” (John 8:59). Later they say why: “for blasphemy, because You, who are a man, declare Yourself to be God” (John 10:33). Some Christians stress the link to Exodus, others the plain claim to have lived before Abraham; both see more than a prophet here. Jesus did not leave room to treat him as only a wise man from history. The question this verse asks is the one his listeners asked: who does he claim to be, and what will you do with the answer?
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Download on the App StoreWhat the original says
Behind the word “God” in this verse is the Greek word theos (said theh-OSS).
It is the same word as in John 1:1: God.
This form, theos, is used here to speak to someone: Thomas is talking to Jesus. Word for word, ‘the Lord of me and the God of me’.
Thomas puts it right beside kyrios, ‘Lord’. In the Berean it is ‘God’ 1272 times; Paul writes of “our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13):
Word by word
| ὁ | κύριός | μου | καὶ | ὁ | θεός | μου |
| the | Lord | of Mine | and | the | God | of mine |
Original form
What this tells us
Thomas was not there when the risen Jesus first came to the disciples, and he refused to believe their report: “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands, and put my finger where the nails have been, and put my hand into His side, I will never believe” (John 20:25). Eight days later Jesus comes again, and speaks to him directly. The word for “God” is theos, the same word as in John 1:1. Thomas, the one who doubted, says the boldest words in the Gospel: “My Lord and my God!” He says them to Jesus, and Jesus does not correct him. He accepts them. Jesus answers, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). Then John says why he wrote the whole book: “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (John 20:31). The Gospel that began with “the Word was God” ends its story with a man saying the same thing to Jesus’ face. Thomas came to faith through honest doubt and a real meeting. If you are not sure yet, his story says your questions are welcome, and that Jesus meets people where they are.
What the original says
Behind the words “the form” in this verse is the Greek word morphē (said mor-FAY).
It means form, shape: how something truly is and appears. Strong’s adds, ‘figuratively, nature’.
This form, morphē, is the ‘in’ form: ‘in the form of God’. The verb with it means existing, being: he was already in that form.
It is rare: the Berean has it 3 times, always ‘form’. The next verse has the other side: “taking the form of a servant” (Philippians 2:7):
Word by word
| ὃς | ἐν | μορφῇ | θεοῦ | ὑπάρχων | οὐχ | ἁρπαγμὸν |
| who | in | form | of God | existing | not | something to be grasped |
Original form
What this tells us
Paul is writing to a church that needs humility, and he points them to Christ: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5). Then he describes Christ in words that many think were an early Christian hymn, going down step by step and then raised up. The word for “form” is morphē: the true shape of something, how it really is. Christ was “existing in the form of God”, and yet he “did not consider equality with God something to be grasped.” He had it, and he did not cling to it. Then he goes down: he “emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness” (Philippians 2:7), all the way to “death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8). The same word is used for God and for servant: he was truly both. Christians have long discussed what “emptied Himself” means; most read it as taking on our life, not ceasing to be God. And at the end, “every knee should bow” at his name (Philippians 2:10), as Isaiah said every knee would bow to the LORD (Isaiah 45:23). The greatest one in this passage is the one who went lowest. What would it look like to let his mind be in you this week?
What the original says
Behind the word “Deity” in this verse is the Greek word theotēs (said theh-OH-tays).
It means deity, divinity: what it is to be God.
This form, theotētos, is the ‘of’ form: ‘the fullness of the Deity’. The word after it means ‘in a body’: the Berean says “in bodily form”.
It is used only here in the New Testament, and the Berean puts it as ‘Deity’. A chapter earlier Paul writes, “For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him” (Colossians 1:19):
Word by word
| κατοικεῖ | πᾶν | τὸ | πλήρωμα | τῆς | θεότητος | σωματικῶς |
| dwells | all | the | fullness | of the | Deity | bodily |
Original form
What this tells us
Paul writes to the church at Colossae, worried that they will be talked into something less than Christ: “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition” (Colossians 2:8). His answer is this verse. The word for “Deity” is theotēs: what it is to be God, the very nature of God. It is used only here in the New Testament. Paul says “all the fullness” of it lives in Christ, and lives there “in bodily form”: not a part of God, not a spark of the divine, but all of it, in a human body. He had said the same a chapter earlier: “The Son is the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15), and “For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him” (Colossians 1:19). Think of light shining through a window: the window does not make the light smaller; it lets you see it. Here the fullness of God is seen in a person who could be touched. If God seems far away or hard to picture, Paul points you to Jesus. In him you see what God is like, fully and in person.
What the original says
Behind “the exact representation” in this verse is the Greek word charaktēr (said khah-rak-TAIR).
It means an exact imprint: the mark a stamp or a seal leaves, an exact copy of the original.
This form, charaktēr, is a noun describing the Son: he is the exact imprint ‘of His nature’, the words that follow it.
It is used only here in the New Testament, where the Berean says “the exact representation”. The English word ‘character’ comes from it:
Word by word
| τῆς | δόξης | καὶ | χαρακτὴρ | τῆς | ὑποστάσεως | αὐτοῦ |
| the | of glory | and | exact expression | of the | substance | of Him |
Original form
What this tells us
Hebrews opens by comparing two ways God has spoken: “On many past occasions and in many different ways, God spoke to our fathers through the prophets” (Hebrews 1:1). “But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son” (Hebrews 1:2). Then the writer says who this Son is. The words “the exact representation” translate charaktēr: the mark a stamp or a seal leaves, an exact imprint. The Son is “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature.” Look at the Son, and you see what God is like, line for line. Think of a seal pressed into warm wax: every line of the seal shows in the wax. A few verses later the writer quotes a psalm and applies it to the Son: “Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever” (Hebrews 1:8). And Jesus said the same to Philip: “Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). You do not have to guess what God is like. Hebrews says you can look at Jesus, and what you see there is God’s own nature, pressed into a human life.
Behind "God" are 12 different words
Your English Bible says "God" 4480 times. Behind it stand several Hebrew and Greek words:
Reflect
Read it as yours
Thomas said this after a week of doubt, when he met Jesus face to face. Read his words slowly:
Name it
What do you believe about Jesus right now? Write it honestly, including what you are unsure of.
Carry with you
If Jesus is God with us, where in your life would you most want him with you this week?