What does the Greek Say?
English translations are typically translated in a biased in support of trinitarian theology. To get a clearer idea of what the Greek actually says, the Greek text for John 1:1-4, 14 is provided below followed by Literal and Interpretative translations from the Greek.
John 1:1-4, 14 (NA28)
1 Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος.
2 οὗτος ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν θεόν.
3 πάντα διʼ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν. ὃ γέγονεν
4 ἐν αὐτῷ ζωὴ ἦν, καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ἦν τὸ φῶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων·
14 Καὶ ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν, καὶ ἐθεασάμεθα τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, δόξαν ὡς μονογενοῦς παρὰ πατρός, πλήρης χάριτος καὶ ἀληθείας.
Interlinear Table, John 1 :1-4, 14
Below is a word for word interlinear table with the Greek, English translation, Parsings and lexicon definition of each word (Concise Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament, Barclay Newman, supplemented by BDAG)
Greek | Translation | Parsing | Glossary |
1 ἐν | 1 in | Preposition Governing the Dative | en – prep. with dat. in, on, at; near, by, before; among, within; by, with |
ἀρχῇ | in beginning | Noun, Dative, Feminine, Singular | arche – beginning, first |
ἦν | was | Verb, Imperfect, Active, Indicative, 3rd Person, Singular | ēn – be, exist; happen, take place; live; be located in; remain, stay; come |
ὁ | the | Determiner, Nominative, Masculine, Singular | ho – the; this, that; he, she, it |
λόγος | logos | Noun, Nominative, Masculine, Singular | logos – something said (e.g. word; saying; message, teaching; talk, conversation; reasoning |
καί | and | Conjunction | kai – and; and then, then; but, yet, however; also, even, likewise |
ὁ | the | Determiner, Nominative, Masculine, Singular | ho – the; this, that; he, she, it |
λόγος | logos | Noun, Nominative, Masculine, Singular | logos – something said (e.g. word; saying; message, teaching; talk, conversation; reasoning |
ἦν | was | Verb, Imperfect, Active, Indicative, 3rd Person, Singular | ēn – be, exist; happen, take place; live; be located in; remain, stay; come |
πρὸς | toward | Preposition Governing the Accusative | pros – (gen.) to, for; (dat.) on, at, near, by; (acc.) to, toward; with; in order to; against |
τὸν | the | Determiner, Accusative, Masculine, Singular | ton – the; this, that; he, she, it |
θεόν | God | Noun, Accusative, Masculine, Singular | theon – God |
καί | and | Conjunction | kai – and; and then, then; but, yet, however; also, even, likewise |
θεόν | God | Noun, Nominative, Masculine, Singular | theon – God |
ἦν | was | Verb, Imperfect, Active, Indicative, 3rd Person, Singular | ēn – be, exist; happen, take place; live; be located in; remain, stay; come |
ὁ | the | Determiner, Nominative, Masculine, Singular | ho – the; this, that; he, she, it |
λόγος | logos | Noun, Nominative, Masculine, Singular | logos – something said (e.g. word; saying; message, teaching; talk, conversation; reasoning |
2 οὗτος | 2 this | Pronoun, Nominative, Masculine, Singular | houtos – this, this one; he, she, it |
ἦν | was | Verb, Imperfect, Active, Indicative, 3rd Person, Singular | ēn – be, exist; happen, take place; live; be located in; remain, stay; come |
ἐν | in | Preposition Governing the Dative | en – prep. with dat. in, on, at; near, by, before; among, within; by, with |
ἀρχῇ | in beginning | Noun, Dative, Feminine, Singular | arche – beginning, first |
πρὸς | toward | Preposition Governing the Accusative | pros – (gen.) to, for; (dat.) on, at, near, by; (acc.) to, toward; with; in order to; against |
τὸν | the | Determiner, Accusative, Masculine, Singular | ton – the; this, that; he, she, it |
θεόν | God | Noun, Accusative, Masculine, Singular | theon – God |
3 πάντα | 3 all | Adjective, Nominative, Neuter, Plural | pas – (1) without the article each, every (pl. all); every kind of; all, full, absolute, greatest; (2) with the article entire, whole; all; (3) everyone, everything |
διʼ | through (by means of) | Preposition Governing the Genitive | dia – (1) gen. through, by means of, with; during, throughout; through, among, throughout; (2) acc. because of, on account of, for the sake of; through, by (rarely); therefore, for this reason |
αὐτοῦ | of this | Pronoun, Genitive, Masculine, Singular, 3rd Person | autos – self, of oneself, even, very; preceded by the article the same; as a third person pro. he, she, it |
ἐγένετο, | it was caused-to-be | Verb, Aorist, Middle, Indicative, 3rd Person, Singular | ginomai – to cause to be (“gen”-erate), i.e. (reflexively) to become (come into being), used with great latitude (literal, figurative, intensive, etc.): — arise, be assembled, be(-come, -fall, -have self), be brought (to pass), (be) come (to pass) |
καί | and | Conjunction | kai – and; and then, then; but, yet, however; also, even, likewise |
χωρὶς | apart | Preposition Governing the Genitive | chōris – (1) prep. with gen. without, apart from, without relation to, besides, in addition to; (2) adv. separately, by itself |
αὐτοῦ | of this | Pronoun, Genitive, Masculine, Singular, 3rd Person | autos – self, of oneself, even, very; preceded by the article the same; as a third person pro. he, she, it |
ἐγένετο, | it was caused-to-be | Verb, Aorist, Middle, Indicative, 3rd Person, Singular | ginomai – to cause to be (“gen”-erate), i.e. (reflexively) to become (come into being), used with great latitude (literal, figurative, intensive, etc.): — arise, be assembled, be(-come, -fall, -have self), be brought (to pass), (be) come (to pass) |
οὐδὲ | not | Adverb | oude – neither, nor, and not |
ἕν | one | Adjective, Nominative, Neuter, Singular | heis – one; a, an, single; only one |
ὁ | that | Determiner, Nominative, Masculine, Singular | hos – who, which, what, that |
γέγονεν | it is caused-to-be | Verb, Perfect, Active, Indicative, 3rd Person, Singular | ginomai – to cause to be (“gen”-erate), i.e. (reflexively) to become (come into being), used with great latitude (literal, figurative, intensive, etc.): — arise, be assembled, be(-come, -fall, -have self), be brought (to pass), (be) come (to pass) |
4 ἐν | 4 in | Preposition Governing the Dative | en – prep. with dat. in, on, at; near, by, before; among, within; by, with; into (= είς); to, for (rarely); ἐν τῷ with inf. during, while, as |
αὐτῷ | it | Pronoun, Dative, Masculine, Singular, 3rd Person | autos self, of oneself, even, very; preceded by the article the same; as a third person pro. he, she, it |
ζωὴ | life | Noun, Nominative, Feminine, Singular | zōē life |
ἦν | was | Verb, Imperfect, Active, Indicative, 3rd Person, Singular | ēn – be, exist; happen, take place; live; be located in; remain, stay; come |
καί | and | Conjunction | kai – and; and then, then; but, yet, however; also, even, likewise |
ἡ | the | Determiner, Nominative, Feminine, Singular | ho – the; this, that; he, she, it |
ζωὴ | life | Noun, Nominative, Feminine, Singular | zōē – life |
ἦν | was | Verb, Imperfect, Active, Indicative, 3rd Person, Singular | ēn – be, exist; happen, take place; live; be located in; remain, stay; come |
τὸ | the | Determiner, Nominative, Neuter, Singular | ho – the; this, that; he, she, it |
φῶς | light | Noun, Nominative, Neuter, Singular | phōs – light |
τῶν | of the | Determiner, Genitive, Masculine, Plural | ho – the; this, that; he, she, it |
ἀνθρώπων | of men | Noun, Genitive, Masculine, Plural | anthrōpos – human being, person; humankind, people; man, husband |
| |||
14 καί | 14 And | Conjunction | kai – and; and then, then; but, yet, however; also, even, likewise |
ὁ | the | Determiner, Nominative, Masculine, Singular | ho – the; this, that; he, she, it |
λόγος | logos | Noun, Nominative, Masculine, Singular | logos – something said (e.g. word; saying; message, teaching; talk, conversation; reasoning |
σὰρξ | flesh | Noun, Nominative, Feminine, Singular | sarx – flesh, physical body |
ἐγένετο | it was caused-to-be | Verb, Aorist, Middle, Indicative, 3rd Person, Singular | ginomai – to cause to be (“gen”-erate), i.e. (reflexively) to become (come into being), used with great latitude (literal, figurative, intensive, etc.): — arise, be assembled, be(-come, -fall, -have self), be brought (to pass), (be) come (to pass) |
καί | and | Conjunction | kai – and; and then, then; but, yet, however; also, even, likewise |
ἐσκήνωσεν | dwelled | Verb, Aorist, Active, Indicative, 3rd Person, Singular | skēnoō – live, dwell |
ἐν | in | Preposition Governing the Dative | en – prep. with dat. in, on, at; near, by, before; among, within; by, with; into (= είς); to, for (rarely) |
ἡμῖν | in us | Pronoun, Dative, (No Gender), Plural, 1st Person | hēmin – we, us |
καί | and | Conjunction | kai – and; and then, then; but, yet, however; also, even, likewise |
ἐθεασάμεθ α | we saw | Verb, Aorist, Middle, Indicative, 1st Person, Plural | theaomai – see, look at; notice, observe; visit |
τὴν | the | Determiner, Accusative, Feminine, Singular | ho – the; this, that; he, she, it |
δόξαν | glory | Noun, Accusative, Feminine, Singular | doxa – glory, splendor, grandeur (in gen. often glorious); power, kingdom; praise, honor; pride |
αὐτοῦ, | of even | Pronoun, Genitive, Masculine, Singular, 3rd Person | autos – self, of oneself, even, very; preceded by the article the same; as a third person pro. he, she, it |
δόξαν | glory | Noun, Accusative, Feminine, Singular | doxa – glory, splendor, grandeur (in gen. often glorious); power, kingdom; praise, honor; pride |
ὡς | as | Particle | hōs – as, that, how, about, when; like, as |
μονογενοῦς | of unique | Adjective, Genitive, Masculine, Singular | monogenēs – one and only, unique |
παρὰ | from | Preposition Governing the Genitive | para – (gen.) from; (dat.) with, before, among, in the sight of; (acc.) beside, along side, by, at |
πατρός, | of father | Noun, Genitive, Masculine, Singular | patēr – father |
πλήρης | full | Adjective, Genitive, Masculine, Singular | plērēs – full; complete; full-grown |
χάριτος | of grace | Noun, Genitive, Feminine, Singular | charis – grace, kindness, mercy, goodwill |
καί | and | Conjunction | kai – and; and then, then; but, yet, however; also, even, likewise |
ἀληθείας | of truth | Noun, Genitive, Feminine, Singular | alētheia – truth, truthfulness; reality |
Literal and Interpretative Translations
Both literal and interpretative translations are provided below for 1 John 1:1-3, The Literal Translation is a based on the interlinear table available on this page.
John 1:1-4, 14, Literal Translation
1 In beginning was the logos,
and the logos was toward the God,
and God was the logos.
2 This was in beginning toward the God.
3 All through this it was caused-to-be
and apart of this it was caused-to-be not one.
What is caused-to-be 4 in it life was,
and the life was the light of men
14 And the logos – flesh – it was caused-to-be
and was dwelling in us,
and we saw the glory
of even glory as of unique from the father,
full of grace and of truth.
John 1:1-4, 14 Interpretative Translation
1 At first was the spoken-wisdom,
and the spoken-wisdom was pertaining to the God,
and God was the spoken-wisdom.
2 Spoken-wisdom was at first pertaining to the God.
3 All things by means of it was made,
and apart from it nothing was made.
What is made 4 in it was life,
and the life was the light of men …
14 the spoken-wisdom was made flesh,
and dwelt among us,
and we beheld the glory,
glory as of the unique from the father,
full of grace and truth.
