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I will focus on John 1:1, giving evidence that Greek-speaking Israelites familiar with the Greek translation of the Old Testament could recognize the first sentence of John’s Gospel, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” as a parallel to Moses.
Unfortunately, later Gentile audiences, instead of sticking with the Bible, assimilated neo-Platonic philosophy about divine Logos and misunderstood this first verse in John’s Gospel as a reference to a second divine figure involved in the Genesis creation. The Gentiles interpreted John 1:1 ontologically, that is, to be about nature, essence, or deity. But an Israelite would not necessarily interpret John 1:1 ontologically. An Israelite reader familiar with the Greek Old Testament Scriptures could connect John 1:1 to Moses.
Previously we have given reasons to understand that “at the beginning” of John 1:1 is not a direct reference to the Genesis creation but somewhat intentionally echoes Genesis because John is about to describe a new beginning. We will focus on the two statements that the Word “was with God” and “was God.” My thesis (not only mine) is that “The Word was with God, and the Word was God” is a comparison to Moses, not a description of a second divine person or an abstract plan involved in Genesis creation.
This article will have two parts:
“The Word was with God, and the Word was God” is speaking of a human person, not a second divine figure (a divine “hypostasis”) nor an abstract idea like “Wisdom.”
Our task is to see how the phrases “was with God” and “was God” could be recognizable to Greek-speaking Israelites familiar with the LXX as pointing to the man Moses. We will first take the phrase in John 1:1b “was with Yahuwah.” To whom, or to what, does the phrase “was with Yahuwah” refers in the Greek Old Testament? It will be helpful to know the phrase “was with God” in Greek: πρὸς τὸν θεόν, pros ton Theon.
Often the phrase pros ton Theon is translated in the LXX as “to God” when followed by a transitive verb like “speak, say, call out, or pray” as in “Abraham said to God” (Gen. 17:18, Neh. 4:3, etc.). But there are other examples of pros ton Theon with verbs that have a sense of spatial closeness, like “come near” and “make supplication,” used most often by one man, Moses.
Quite a few times, Moses is said to be in a relationship pros ton Theon / πρὸς τὸν θεόν “to/toward/with God” when Moses makes supplication with Yahuwah on Pharoah’s behalf. Here are some examples:
Exodus 8:29 (LXX Exo 8:25) “Then Moses said, ‘Behold, I am going out from you, and I shall make supplication to Yahuwah that the swarms of insects may depart from Pharaoh’.”
(καὶ εὔξομαι πρὸς τὸν θεόν).”
Exodus 10:18 “And he (Moses) went out from Pharaoh and made supplication to Yahuwah (ηὔξατο πρὸς τὸν θεόν).”
Note three things about these verses:
Jethro’s advice:
Exodus 18:19 “Now listen to me: I shall give you counsel, and Yahuwah be with you. You be the people's representative before Yahuwah, and you bring their cases to Yahuwah….” The LXX has pros ton Theon twice in this verse. In the first instance, the LXX reads, “you be for the people the things pertaining to Yahuwah.” Then Jethro says, “and you bring their cases to Yahuwah (pros ton Theon).”
Certainly, Jethro saw the unique relationship of Moses to Yahuwah on behalf of the people. Moses, described with pros ton Theon, would represent the people “in front of Yahuwah” and with “the things of Yahuwah.”
Let’s note additional occurrences of pros ton Theon with verbs that involve Moses coming into close spatial proximity with Yahuwah. After the first time that Moses went up to Yahuwah on Mt. Sinai and then returned down to the people and told them what Yahuwah had said:
Exodus 19:8 “And all the people answered together and said, ‘All that Yahuwah has spoken we will do!’ And Moses brought back the words of the people to Yahuwah.”
Next, when Moses was again with Yahuwah on Mt. Sinai, we read Exodus 19:21 “And Yahuwah said to Moses, ‘Go down and warn the people, lest they come near to Yahuwah to gaze and many of them perish.” The people were forbidden to come pros ton Theon. But Moses could come pros ton Theon.
Still on Mt. Sinai, Exodus 19:24, “And Yahuwah said to him, “Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you; but do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to Yahuwah, lest He break out against them.”
Now note especially the following two verses. During Israel’s acceptance of the Sinai Covenant, Aaron and his two sons and 70 elders representing the people were to come partway up the mountain with Moses but were only to worship from a distance. We read:
Exodus 24:2 “Moses alone shall come near to Yahuwah, but the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him.”
Finally, after the people had made a golden calf, Moses came down with Yahuwah’s word in tablets of stone, smashed them, and ground the golden calf to powder:
Exodus 32:30 The next day, Moses told the people, “You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to Yahuwah; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”
I believe these examples show that a Greek-speaking Israelite who had some familiarity with the Greek Old Testament (LXX) could recognize the phrase pros ton Theon and associate it with the man Moses. Moses made mediatorial supplication pros ton Theon. Moses represented the people pros ton Theon. For a Greek Old Testament reader, the coming into or being in the position pros ton Theon described neither a second divine figure nor an abstract attribute like Wisdom. It was the human being, the man Moses, who was pros ton Theon.
There is some corroborating New Testament evidence that is fitting to mention at this juncture where we find the phrase pros ton Theon used specifically to designate a human person, the man Yahushua Christ. Yahushua the Messiah, like Moses, but to a far greater extent, has a mediatorial role and spatial relation pros ton Theon.
Hebrews 2:17 Therefore, he had to be made like his brethren in all things, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the things pertaining to Yahuwah, to make propitiation for the sins of the people (τὰ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν).
Hebrews 5:1 For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in the things pertaining to Yahuwah, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins (τὰ πρὸς τὸν θεόν, cf. 2 Corinthians 3:4).
Serving as other people’s mediator in the things about Yahuwah pros ton Theon is the same role Moses performed (Exo. 4:16, 18:19).
Fine enough, you might say, the phrase pros ton Theon “was with Yahuwah” might be recognizable to a Greek-speaking Israelite as an allusion to Moses, as one who had a unique spatial relation and mediatorial role between Yahuwah and Israel, but what about the following phrase, “the Word was God”? Does the Old Testament ever say that Moses was Yahuwah?
When Yahuwah called Moses at the burning bush, and Moses expressed reluctance to send him because of his inability to speak well, Yahuwah told Moses that Aaron would be Moses’s spokesman. And then, Yahuwah said that Moses would be “God” to Aaron.
Exodus 4:16 “He (Aaron) shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be a mouth for you, and you shall be to him as God.”
Most English translations put in the word “as” in translating Yahuwah’s declaration: “you shall be as God to him.” But the Hebrew of this verse וְאַתָּ֖ה תִּֽהְיֶה־לּ֥וֹ לֵֽאלֹהִֽים does not have the word “as” in it. The more literal translation is “You will be God to him” (cf. Exo. 29:45; Jer. 24:7, 32:8; Eze. 34:24; Zec. 8:8).
Interestingly, the LXX adds a definite article that tends to soften the direct reference to Moses being Yahuwah: “You shall be to him the things pertaining to Yahuwah” (σὺ δὲ αὐτῷ ἔσῃ τὰ πρὸς τὸν θεόν). This is the exact phrase that we saw used of Yahushua in the New Testament describing Yahushua’s mediatorial role as high priest (Exo. 18:19, Heb. 2:17, 5:1).
Exodus 4:16 is also of interest because it has the same “to be” verb (but in a future tense) as John 1:1. John 1:1 says, “and the Word was God.” Exodus 4:16 says, “You will be God.”
Exodus 7:1 “So Yahuwah said to Moses, ‘See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.”
English translations insert the word “like”: “I have made you like God to Pharoah.” But the word “like” is not in either the Hebrew or Greek Old Testament. The literal translation is “I have made you God to Pharoah.”
So here we have an apparent reference to Moses as God. We all know that the Bible does not say that Moses was God in an ontological, physiological, or “essence” or in “nature” sense.
We can be confident that the Bible is NOT claiming that Moses is God in an ontological sense
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We can be confident that the Bible is NOT claiming that Moses is God in an ontological sense for various reasons, including:
This is the same with the man Yahushua. It was Yahuwah at work in and through the words and deeds of the man, Yahushua.
The Gospel of John does not declare Yahushua to literally or ontologically be God in nature, just like the book of Exodus didn’t declare Moses to literally or ontologically be Yahuwah. In John’s Gospel, Yahushua is distinguished from Yahuwah. Yahuwah sent Yahushua (3:34, 5:24, 17:3. Cf. Exo. 3:12-15, etc.). Yahushua represents Yahuwah and speaks the words that Yahuwah gave him. In John’s Gospel, Yahushua is “a man who told you the truth which I heard from Yahuwah” (John 8:40, cf. John 14:1, Acts 2:36, 10:38, 2 Cor. 5:9).
To summarize, the phrases “with God” and “was God” of John 1:1 have parallels to the man Moses in the Greek Old Testament. We must try to shed ourselves of ontological interpretations of John 1:1 that contradict the rest of Scripture.
Before we see how Yahushua is compared to Moses in the remainder of John’s Gospel, it is worthwhile to note that the first part of John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word,” also parallels Moses.
While I see “in the beginning” of John 1:1 in the main as an intentional echo of Genesis 1:1 because, in Yahushua and his ministry, Yahuwah has set into motion a new beginning, there is also a parallel of “word” with Moses and the Exodus from Egypt, which was a new beginning.
Israel’s beginning and covenant came through the word of Yahuwah. It is significant that the word “word”, דבר davar in Hebrew and λόγος logos in Greek, is not found in the creation account in Genesis. Instead, davar/logos relates in the Old Testament more often to Yahuwah’s revelatory promise to the patriarchs and the fulfillment of that promise in the formation of the people of Israel.
Yahuwah gave His word, a promise to the fathers. Then, Yahuwah gave His word uniquely through Moses at Mt. Sinai, and Israel was formed. Modern commentaries on the Gospel of John almost invariably describe what Logos (the word) was to a Greek-thinking mind. But Logos, a word to the Hebrew mind, would mean Torah, the body of revelation and teaching Yahuwah gave to Israel through Moses. The beginning of Israel as a people came through Yahuwah’s word, i.e., the Torah. Even today, religious Jews know that what is most essential in the creation and maintenance of Israel as a people is Yahuwah’s word (Torah).
In the beginning, through the word, that is, through the Torah given during the Exodus and Sinai experience, Israel experienced a new beginning. Israel became a nation, Yahuwah’s firstborn son, Yahuwah’s people. That is why Yahuwah said: “This month is to be your beginning of months; for you, it is the beginning/first month of the year” (Exodus 12:2).
With Moses and Israel’s national beginning, Yahuwah’s word/Torah came etched on stone tablets. But with the new beginning in Yahushua, Yahuwah’s Word was flesh, a human being. The Bible is called the word of Yahuwah because it contains the words of Yahuwah. Yahushua was the Word of Yahuwah because he had and spoke the words of Yahuwah in a way that no other human had.
Once one understands that the beginning of the nation of Israel came to be through the word of Yahuwah, one may see that the first verse of John’s Gospel brings together parallels and types from both the Book of Genesis and the Book of Exodus. This is evidence that John 1:1 is describing the counterpart to Moses, the man Yahushua.
That John 1:1 is alluding to Moses is supported by the fact that the author of the Gospel early and often makes the direct comparison between Moses and Yahushua. The Moses-Yahushua comparison is based on the words of Yahuwah, which He communicated through Moses, as recorded in Deuteronomy 18:15-19:
"Yahuwah, your God, will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers- it is to him you shall listen- 16 just as you desired of Yahuwah your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, “Let me not hear again the voice of Yahuwah my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.” 17 And Yahuwah said to me, “They are right in what they have spoken. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him."
In his first chapter, John hastens to declare through the testimony of Andrew that “we have found him of whom Moses in the Torah and also the prophets wrote” (John 1:45). Moses never wrote about a second God figure, a second God hypostasis, whom Yahuwah would send. Instead, Moses wrote about the prophet like himself that Yahuwah would send.
In his first chapter, John hastens to declare through the testimony of Andrew that “we have found him of whom Moses in the Torah and also the prophets wrote” (John 1:45). Moses never wrote about a second God figure, a second God hypostasis, whom Yahuwah would send. Instead, Moses wrote about the prophet like himself that Yahuwah would send.
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Just like when Israel requested that a mediator speak the words of Yahuwah to them, and Yahuwah said the request was appropriate (Deu. 18:16, Exo. 20:19-20). Moses was that mediator; even so, Yahuwah put His words into the mouth of the mediator Yahushua. The Gospel of John can say “the Word was God” because when Yahushua spoke, it was Yahuwah speaking. When Yahushua performed a miracle, it was Yahuwah acting (cf. Acts 2:22). Moses and Yahushua were Yahuwah’s agents, through whom Yahuwah spoke and operated. But Yahushua was Yahuwah operating and speaking to such a degree that Yahushua himself was called the Word of Yahuwah.
The statement “and the Word was God” is not an ontological statement about Yahushua being a deity in nature or essence but about agency. That is, Yahushua represented Yahuwah. Yahuwah was at work in and through Yahushua (cf. 2 Cor. 5:19). The “Christology” of John’s Gospel, who Yahushua is, is not “incarnation,” that “Yahuwah became man,” but rather “agency,” that Yahuwah sent the man Christ Yahushua, represents Yahuwah, speaks the words of Yahuwah, and by Yahuwah’s empowering does the works of Yahuwah. Moses did not perform Yahuwah’s miracles through only the spoken word. One time Yahuwah told Moses only to speak, but he failed. Yahushua was Yahuwah’s word to such an extent that when Yahushua spoke, the lame were healed, and the dead were raised.
So, let’s see how Yahushua is compared to Moses in John’s Gospel, not to Yahuwah, nor an abstract idea in Yahuwah’s mind. Moses is mentioned explicitly 13 times in John’s Gospel. The first time is in John’s Prologue.
John 1:17: “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Yahushua Christ.”
Moses and Yahushua were both mediators through whom something came. The source of the Torah was Yahuwah– it came through Moses. The source of grace and truth was Yahuwah– they came through Yahushua Christ. “Grace and truth” are central elements in the revelation of Yahuwah to Moses to confirm that even after the sin of the golden calf, Yahuwah renewed His covenant with Israel and would still be with Israel (Exo. 34:6).
Then, still in chapter 1, John 1:45, “Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found him of whom Moses in the Torah and also the prophets wrote, Yahushua of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’”
It is simply preposterous to suggest that Moses wrote about Yahuwah taking on human nature. The apostle Philip's confession flies in the face of traditional Christianity’s interpretation of John. What Moses did write about was Yahuwah sending a prophet like himself.
Neither did the prophets write about Yahuwah taking on human form. The prophets wrote about Yahuwah sending the Davidic Messiah (cf. John 1:41).
Yahushua said in John 5:46: “If you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.” Again, did Moses write about a god that would take on human flesh or a god-man whom a different person of God would send? No, he wrote about the prophet like unto himself whom Yahuwah would send. That prophet would speak all that Yahuwah commanded him.
The miraculous signs that the Gospel of John records are full of Moses to Yahushua parallelism (typology). Perhaps the best example of parallel miracle signs is the feeding of the 5000 because it reminded the people of Yahuwah’s miraculous provision of manna when Moses led Israel for 40 years.
Note the people’s reaction to Yahushua’s feeding of the 5000. John 6:14: “When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, ‘This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!’” Yahushua’s miracle connected him to the promised prophet, like unto Moses.
Yahushua (like Moses) made clear, as he did on many other occasions (e.g., John 5:30, 8:28, 14:10; Acts 2:22), that he was not the source of the miracle. Yahushua was the channel. Yahuwah was the source. The Father was acting, but “behind the scenes” because Humans can’t see him. John 6:32: “Yahushua then said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.’”
Like Moses, Yahushua was the channel through whom and by which the miracle was done.
I want to mention that other New Testament literature confirms the Moses-Yahushua parallel that the Gospel of John presents. John presents the same Christ as the rest of the New Testament, not a different Christ. It should go without saying that if, as in other New Testament literature, the Gospel of John compares Yahushua to Moses, this Gospel is not declaring that Yahushua is Yahuwah.
In the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, Yahushua is presented as a prophet like Moses who goes up to a mountain and interprets Torah. In the Book of Acts, the Apostle Peter and disciple Steven directly connect Yahushua to the statement of Moses that “Yahuwah will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers” (Acts 3:22-23, 7:35-37). Likewise, the Book of Hebrews author directly compares Yahushua to Moses (Hebrews 3:3-6).
1. The literary and thematic parallels to the phrases “was with God” and “was God” of John 1:1 are to be found in the Greek version of the Old Testament, not in extra-biblical literature, and these phrases mainly refer to the man Moses. Greek-speaking Israelites familiar with the Greek Old Testament could recognize that Moses “was with God pros ton Theon“ and even “was God” in a representative sense and understand that the author was introducing the coming of the “prophet like unto Moses…about whom Moses wrote”.
In other words, John 1:1 introduces a prophet like Moses, not a second God figure and not an abstract plan.
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In other words, John 1:1 introduces a prophet like Moses, not a second God figure and not an abstract plan.
On the other hand, Gentiles of the second century later misunderstood John’s opening statement. Instead, they claimed John introduced a second God figure related to Yahuwah in an ontological way, nature or essence. These interpreters ignored or missed the Moses typology and assimilated Greek philosophical speculations onto John’s writing. Likewise, the Greek mind failed to recognize the Hebrew parallel of Logos to the Torah and “in the beginning” to Israel’s beginning at Sinai.
In other words, John 1:1 introduces a prophet like Moses, not a second God figure and not an abstract plan.
This is a non-WLC article by Bill Schlegel.
We have taken out from the original article all pagan names and titles of the Father and Son, and have replaced them with the original given names. Furthermore, we have restored in the Scriptures quoted the names of the Father and Son, as they were originally written by the inspired authors of the Bible. -WLC Team
