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The Word Became Flesh

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.[a] He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life,[b] and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness,[c] and the darkness has not overcome it.

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Footnotes

  1. 1.1 John begins by giving his Gospel a theological background. By speaking at once of “the Word” he implies that his readers are familiar with the term. To Gentiles it indicated some form of divine revelation or self-expression. Jews would equate it with the divine Wisdom described in Proverbs, which already appears as something more than a divine quality and has some relationship with the visible world. In Sirach and Wisdom the idea is further developed. In the last-named book, Wisdom appears as a pre-existing person, taking part in the creation of the world and having a mission to reveal God to his creatures; cf. Wis 7.22–8.1.
  2. John 1:4 Or was not anything made. That which has been made was life in him
  3. 1.5 light . . . darkness: One of the familiar themes of the Gospel.

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