JOHN 1:1 Parallel View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible. This view is only designed for doing comparisons of different translations. Click on the version abbreviation to see the verse in more of its context.

OET (OET-RV) In the beginning was the message,[fn] and the message was with God, and the message was and is God.

1:1 TD: This passage is complex to translate because the message was also the messenger—that is, Yeshua came not only to teach about getting saved, but also to become the actual way to be saved!

ULT In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

UST The Word existed before the universe existed. The Word was with God. The Word also was God.

BSB In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

BLB In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

OEB In the beginning the Word was;
and the Word was with God;
and the Word was God.

CSB In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

NLT In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.

NIV In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

CEV In the beginning was the one who is called the Word. The Word was with God and was truly God.

ESV In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

NASB In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

LSB In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

WEB In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

NET In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God.

LSV In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God;

FBV In the beginning the Word already was. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.

TCNT In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

T4T The one who expresses [MET] ◄God’s character/what God is like► has always existed ◄from the beginning [MTY] of everything/before everything began►. He has always existed with God, and he has God’s nature.

LEB In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

NRSV In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

NKJV In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

BBE From the first he was the Word, and the Word was in relation with God and was God.

ASV In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

DRA In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

YLT In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God;

DBY In [the] beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

RV In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

WBS In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

KJB In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

BB In the begynnyng was the worde, & the worde was with God: and that worde was God.
(In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God: and that word was God.)

GNV In the beginning was that Word, and that Word was with God, and that Word was God.

CB In the begynnynge was the worde, and the worde was with God, and God was ye worde.
(In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and God was ye/you_all word.)

TNT In the beginnynge was the worde and the worde was with God: and the worde was God.
(In the beginning was the word and the word was with God: and the word was God.)

WYC In the bigynnyng was the word, and the word was at God, and God was the word.
(In the beginning was the word, and the word was at God, and God was the word.)

LUT Im Anfang war das Wort, und das Wort war bei GOtt, und GOtt war das Wort.
(Im Anfang war the Wort, and the Wort war bei GOtt, and GOtt war the Wort.)

UGNT ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν Θεόν, καὶ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος.
(en arⱪaʸ aʸn ho logos, kai ho logos aʸn pros ton Theon, kai Theos aʸn ho logos.)

SBL-GNT Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος.
(En arⱪaʸ aʸn ho logos, kai ho logos aʸn pros ton theon, kai theos aʸn ho logos.)

TC-GNT Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν Θεόν, καὶ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος.
(En arⱪaʸ aʸn ho logos, kai ho logos aʸn pros ton Theon, kai Theos aʸn ho logos.)

TSN Tyndale Study Notes:

1:1-18 The beginning of this prologue (1:1-5) might be a poem or hymn sung by the earliest Christians. The prologue’s themes—the coming of the light into the world, the rejection of the light, and its gift of new life to believers—prepares readers for the story that follows.

1:1 Echoing Gen 1:1, John’s Gospel introduces Jesus Christ, through whom God created everything (John 1:3); Jesus also creates new life in those who believe (1:12-13). The Gospel opens with its central affirmation, that Jesus Christ, the Word (Greek logos), not only revealed God but was God. In Greek thought, the logos was the rational principle guiding the universe and making life coherent. For Jewish people, the logos was the word of the Lord, an expression of God’s wisdom and creative power. By Jesus’ time, the logos was viewed as coming from God and having his personality (see Ps 33:6, 9; Prov 8:22-31); John affirmed this understanding (John 1:14).

TTN Tyndale Theme Notes:

The Word

John raises the curtain on his Gospel with a stunning description of Jesus Christ as “the Word” (Greek logos, John 1:1). Both Greek and Jewish listeners in the first century would immediately recognize the profound meaning of this title. Greeks would have thought of the seminal forces that sustain the universe. Jewish minds would have thought back to God creating the world with his word (Gen 1:3-28; Ps 33:6, 9). In Jesus’ day, the Word of God had taken on creative personal attributes. Jews viewed God’s Word as personifying divine Wisdom. Through Wisdom, God extended himself into the cosmos, creating the world (Prov 8:22-31).

John makes it clear that Jesus shares the same essence as God; the Son existed before time, and he was the agent of all creation. John anchors the divinity of Jesus in this ancient Jewish concept of Wisdom. The divine Wisdom that has existed with God from before time can now be known in Jesus Christ. In perhaps the most striking verse penned by an apostle, John writes that this Logos, this Wisdom, became flesh and lived among us as a human (John 1:14). What God is, the Logos is, and the Logos is Jesus Christ.

Passages for Further Study

Gen 1:3-28; Ps 33:6, 9; Prov 8:22-31; Isa 40:8; John 1:1-18; 1 Jn 1:1; Rev 19:13

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν

in /the/_beginning was

This phrase refers to the very earliest time before God created the heavens and the earth. It does not refer to time in the distant past. If this might confuse your readers, you could express the meaning explicitly. Alternate translation: “Before the beginning of the universe there was” or “Before the universe began there was”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος & καὶ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος

the word and the word & and God was the word

Here, the Word refers to Jesus. It does not refer to a spoken word. ULT indicates this by capitalizing Word to indicate that this is a title for Jesus. Use whatever convention your language uses to indicate that this is a name. If “word” is feminine in your language, it could be translated as “the one who is called the Word.” Alternate translation: “Jesus, who is the Word, and Jesus … and Jesus was God”

Demonstration version—prototype quality only—still in development

Parallel JOHN 1:1