Jason David BeDuhn On John 1: 1

Jason David BeDuhn, Truth in Translation: Accuracy and Bias in English Translations of the New Testament

(Maryland: University Press of America, Inc.; 2003), p. 132.

ʻGrammatically, John 1: 1 is not a difficult verse to translate.

It follows familiar, ordinary structures of Greek expression.

A lexical (“interlinear”) translation of the controversial clause would read: “And a god was the Word.”

A minimal literal (“formal equivalence”) translation would rearrange the word order to match proper English expression: “And the word was a god.”

The preponderance of evidence, [1] from Greek Grammar, [2] from literary context, and [3] from cultural environment, supports this translation, of which “the Word was divine” would be a slightly more polished variant carrying the same basic meaning. Both of these renderings are superior to the traditional translation which goes against these three key factors that guide accurate translation.ʼ

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