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UPDV Updated Bible Version

The Speech in John 1:1

Publication Date: August 12, 2023 (revised February 2026, expanded February 2026)

Source: updv.bible

In the beginning was the Speech, and the Speech was with God, and the Speech was God.

The UPDV Updated Bible Version translates 'the Word' in John 1:1 as 'the Speech'.[1] The reason for this is to restore the original meaning of what has generally been translated as 'the Word'.

John wrote in Greek, using the word λόγος (logos). But the concept behind his opening — its theological content, its echo of Genesis, its meaning for his Aramaic-speaking audience — is rooted in the Targumic term מימרא (memra), from the root אמר (amar, 'to say, to speak'). This is the term used extensively in the Aramaic Targums as a designation for God's active, speaking presence. Both memra and logos derive from verbal roots meaning 'to speak' (אמר and λέγω respectively), and both carry the sense of active, ongoing speech rather than a single static utterance. 'Speech' captures what these roots actually mean in a way that 'Word' does not.

The Syriac Peshitta translates λόγος in John 1:1 as ܡܠܬܐ (milta), the standard Aramaic equivalent of logos, which has an exceptionally broad semantic range: word, thing, speech, reason, power of speech, and theological term logos.[4] While milta confirms the breadth of the underlying concept, the theological argument for 'Speech' rests primarily on the Targumic memra tradition that John's audience would have known.

The Peshitta translation itself illustrates how the concept was progressively diluted. The Peshitta translators had ܡܐܡܪܐ (memra) available in Syriac — it is a standard word — but chose ܡܠܬܐ (milta) because they were translating the Greek λόγος, not recovering the original Aramaic concept. Each stage of translation flattened the meaning further: the theologically loaded memra became the philosophically ambiguous logos, which became the generic milta, which became the English 'Word.' The translation 'Speech' is an attempt to cut through these layers and recover something closer to what John's Aramaic-speaking audience would have heard.

The Echo of Genesis 1:1

The opening words of John's Gospel, 'In the beginning' (Ἐν ἀρχῇ), deliberately echo Genesis 1:1 (בראשית, 'In the beginning'). This is not coincidental. John's first-century readers, immersed in synagogue readings where the Hebrew Scriptures were accompanied by Aramaic Targum translations, would have immediately recognized this echo. In the Targum Neofiti, Genesis 1:3 reads:

ואמר ממרא דייי יהוי נהור והות נהור כגזירת ממריה "And the Memra of the Lord said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light according to the decree of his Memra."

Where the Hebrew text says 'And God said,' the Targum says 'And the Memra of the Lord said.' When John wrote 'In the beginning was the Speech,' his Aramaic-speaking audience would have heard this Targumic background: the Memra who spoke creation into existence is the one who 'was in the beginning.' This connection, evident to John's original audience, was progressively lost as the text was transmitted only in Greek and subsequent translations.

The Aramaic Behind John's Logos

The term מימרא (memra) comes from the root אמר (amar, 'to say, to speak'). Jastrow's dictionary defines it as: "1) word, command; 2) (hypostatized) Word of the Lord, i.e. the Lord (used in Targum to obviate anthropomorphism)."[2] The Targum Lexicon defines its primary sense as simply "speech" (passim).[3]

This is the term used pervasively in the Targums as a designation for God's active presence. In the Targum Neofiti on Genesis 1 alone, the Memra of the Lord says, separates, calls, creates, and blesses — performing specific actions, not merely substituting for God's name. It is this concept — God's speaking, commanding, creative presence — that John evokes when he opens his Gospel with 'In the beginning was the Speech.'

The Greek λόγος (logos) itself derives from λέγω (legō, 'to speak'). In Hellenistic usage, logos had acquired philosophical senses of 'reason' and 'rational principle,' but the TDNT (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament) observes: "From the very first the NT logos concept is alien to Greek thought."[19] The verbal, speaking root shared by both memra and logos points away from the Greek philosophical meaning and toward the Semitic sense of divine speech.

In Syriac, a closely related dialect of Aramaic, the root ܡܠ (m-l-l) carries senses of both speech and reason. Payne Smith's dictionary notes that the participial form ܡܡܰܠܶܠ (mmallel) directly translates Greek -λόγος in compounds (e.g., 'theologian' = ܡܡܰܠܶܠ ܐܰܠܳܗܴ̈ܝܳܬܳܐ, literally 'one who speaks divine things').[5]

The Pulpit Commentary

The Pulpit Commentary, a relatively well known and widely used commentary, also discusses these different meanings:

The New Testament writers never use the term Logos[6] to denote reason, or thought, or self-consciousness, but always denote by it speech, utterance, or word -- the forthcoming, the clothing of thought, the manifestation of reason or purpose, but neither the thought, nor the reason, nor the purpose itself.[7]

Note the three general meanings: 'speech', 'utterance', or 'word'.

Writings of Aphrahat in the Fourth Century

There are also some early writings that discuss this subject. One example is a quotation from Aphrahat who was a fourth century Christian writer. Although he wrote in the fourth century, his writings were not recently published until 1869.[8] His writings are important as they are written in Syriac, a type of Aramaic, which is similar to how the book of John was likely written originally. Below is an excerpt from a book[9] which discusses Aphrahat's writings. In particular, an early discussion surfaces about the different meanings attached to John 1:1:

Before we leave this verse we should say a few words with regard to the way in which Aphrahat refers to it. In passage a our author writes just before his quotation of John 1,1, 'Christ is also the Word(ܡܠܬܐ) and the Speech (ܡܐܡܪܐ) of the Lord'. In the second passage, b, we hear Aphrahat say:'And the Saying(ܦܬܓܡܐ) which is sent(Ms.A:+ to them)through his Messiah, who is his Word(ܡܠܬܐ) and his Saying(ܦܬܓܡܐ)'. And ultimately, in a, the text of our verse is cited with this remarkable wording:'In the beginning the Voice was, which is the Word'(ܒܪܫܝܬ ܗܘܐ ܡܠܬ ܕܗܘ ܡܐܡܪ)^29. It is to be noted that, in contrast to Mar Ephraem, Aphrahat could use all these synonyms as if they were interchangeable^30. Christ is the Saying (or: Vocable) - a term known from the Odes of Solomon^31 - and the Speech (or per- haps: Homily) - a designation that may have been used in Bardesanite cir- cles^32 - or the Voice - a name which Mar Ephraem wants to reject^33 - and then finally, the Word^34.

From this discussion, it can be seen how 'Word' became a later interpretation of the other earlier meanings which included 'Speech'.

Writings of Ephrem in the Fourth Century

In the last sentence of the excerpt in the book above about Aphrahat, another writer was introduced by the name of Ephrem. He was the one who rejected the meaning of 'the Voice'. Ephrem was an early Syriac writer who lived at about the same time as Aphrahat in the fourth century. The importance of these two writers is that they were some of the closest sources that we have who would have understood the meaning of the original Aramaic in John 1:1. The Syriac version of Ephrem's commentary which contained this verse was identified in 1957 and published in 1963.[10] Ephrem wrote the following about this verse (emphasis added):

Do not understand it as an ordinary word, or reduce it to a voice. For it was not a voice that was in the beginning, since, before it sounded, [a voice] does not exist, and after it is sounded it does not exist. Therefore it was not a voice which was the likeness of his Father, nor was it the Father's voice, but his image.[11]

Ephrem is rejecting the reduction of the divine entity to either an ordinary word or a mere voice. Both are too narrow: a voice is transient (it ceases to exist before and after it sounds), and an ordinary word is too limited. What Ephrem points toward is something that transcends both -- a divine communication that is more than any single utterance. This is precisely what 'Speech' captures: the full, ongoing faculty of divine expression, not limited to a single word or a momentary sound.

Old Testament Background

It is also possible that the underlying word in Aramaic in John 1:1 was originally 'Memra' (מימרא). This would match the extensive use in some of the Targums (Aramaic translations of the Old Testament). The significance of this is that John may have used his understanding of this term from the Targum when he wrote in John 1:1, 'In the beginning was the Speech...'.

In reference to the use of 'Memra' in the Targums, J.W. Etheridge states:

... it seems, I repeat, impossible to restrict the signification of the epithet in question to a mere figurative personification, and not to perceive that St. John, when he wrote the first verses of his Gospel, communicated to the Gentile churches a mystery of the truth which had long been held sacred by the ancient people of God.[12]

Holding a similar view is Martin McNamara who says:

...it is legitimate to assume that John is very much under the influence of the targums in the formulation of his doctrine of the Logos.[13]

Alfred Plummer, in the Cambridge Greek Testament commentary on John, reaches the same conclusion:

The theological use of the term appears to be derived directly from the Palestinian Memra, and not from the Alexandrine Logos.[14]

J.H. Bernard, in the ICC commentary on John, traces the concept through two streams -- the Targumic Memra and Alexandrian philosophy -- and concludes: "Paul and John do not borrow from Philo, nor are they directly dependent on his speculations; but they and Philo represent two different streams of thought, the common origin of which was the Jewish doctrine of the Memra or Divine Word."[15]

More recently, Daniel Boyarin has argued that the Memra is not merely a circumlocution but represents a genuine development within Jewish theology. As one reviewer summarizes: "Daniel Boyarin argues that the memra is effectively a hypostasis, a something, God's self-revelation... not realities apart from God."[16]

The Memra and Creation

The connection between the Memra and creation is particularly striking. In the Targum Jonathan on Isaiah 45:12, where the Hebrew text reads 'I made the earth and created man upon it,' the Targum reads:

אְנָא בְמֵימְרִי עְבַדִית אַרעָא "I by my Memra made the earth."[17]

Similarly, Targum Deuteronomy 33:28 reads: בְמֵימְרֵיה אִתְעֲבֵיד עָלְמָא ("by his Memra the world was made"). Compare this with John 1:3: 'All things were made through him.' The parallel is unmistakable: the same creative agent called 'Memra' in the Targums is the one John identifies as 'the Speech' who was 'in the beginning.'

The Memra and John's Broader Narrative

John Ronning, in a comprehensive study in the Westminster Theological Journal, has demonstrated systematic connections between the Targum on Isaiah and the Johannine literature.[18] For instance:

  • John 1:1-3 and Targum Isaiah 44:24: "I am the Lord, who made all things; I stretched out the heavens by my Memra."
  • John 1:14 combines three Targumic terms: the Word (Memra) became flesh and dwelt (Shekinah) among us, and we beheld his glory (Yeqara).
  • John 8:58 ("Before Abraham was, I am") and Targum Isaiah 48:15: "I, even I, by my Memra decreed a covenant with Abraham your father."

As Ronning observes, John 1:14 may be the single most concentrated fusion of Targumic theology in the New Testament: "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory" -- Memra, Shekinah, and Yeqara in one sentence.

In understanding John 1:1, it is also important to differentiate between the meaning of the 'Logos' of Greek Philosophy and the 'Memra' of the Old Testament. John Gill in his 'Exposition of the Entire Bible' at John 1:1 indicates that the meaning of John 1:1 is based on the meaning of 'Memra' from the Targums rather than from the writings of Plato or his followers. Gill further states that it is much more probable that Plato got his idea of the 'Logos' from the 'Memra' of the Old Testament, rather than supposing that John's ideas in John 1:1 were derived from Plato.

The case of Philo of Alexandria (c. 20 BCE - 50 CE) illustrates this point. Philo, a Hellenistic Jew, personified the Logos extensively in his writings, calling it the 'firstborn son' of God, 'high priest,' and even 'second God.' This has led some scholars to argue that John derived his Logos concept from Hellenistic philosophy rather than from the Targums. However, this framing may be backwards. The Targum oral tradition — in which the Memra functioned as a divine designation — predates Philo by centuries, rooted in the synagogue practice of Aramaic translation attested as early as Nehemiah 8:8. As Daniel Boyarin observes, the concept of a divine mediator was part of 'firmly held theological doctrines of a second God, variously called Logos, Memra, Sophia, Metatron, or Yahoel.'[30] In this view, Philo and John are not competing sources but two independent witnesses to the same pre-existing Jewish theology of the Divine Word — Philo expressing it through Alexandrian philosophy, John retaining the covenantal and active behavioral patterns of the Palestinian synagogue tradition.

The evidence supports this reading. A systematic search of Philo's complete Greek works (8,073 articles) reveals that while Philo uses Logos as a divine title, his Logos never 'keeps' in the covenantal sense (τηρέω + λόγον — a construction absent from Philo's entire corpus), never acts as an eschatological judge, and never 'tabernacles' among people. These distinctive behaviors are found only in John's writings, where they map precisely to the Targumic Memra. John's Gospel uses the Greek vocabulary that Philo made familiar, but the behavioral DNA — what the Logos actually does — comes from the Palestinian Targums.

The Memra Beyond the Prologue

The connection between John and the Targumic Memra extends far beyond the Prologue. An analysis of John's use of λόγος across all his writings — the Gospel, 1 John, and Revelation — reveals distinctive verb+logos constructions that trace directly to established Targum memra patterns. These constructions are not found in Luke, Matthew, Mark, or Paul. They are uniquely Johannine, and they are Semitisms — phrases that do not work naturally in Greek but map precisely to Aramaic Targumic usage.[25]

The Memra Keeps and Guards

John repeatedly uses the phrase 'keep my logos' (τηρέω τὸν λόγον μου). This construction appears eight times across his writings: John 8:51, 8:52, 8:55, 14:23, 15:20, 17:6, and Revelation 3:8, 3:10. In standard Greek, one 'keeps' (τηρέω) an oath, a law, a pledge, or a duty — but not a logos. The TDNT confirms: τηρέω is attested with ὅρκους (oaths), εἰρήνην (peace), πίστιν (pledge), νόμους (laws), but not with λόγον.[26] This construction is a calque — a word-for-word translation from Aramaic — of the Targumic phrase נטר מטרת מימרא ('guard the charge of the Memra'), which appears throughout the Pentateuch (e.g., Targum Onqelos Leviticus 8:35, 18:30; Numbers 9:23; Genesis 26:5).

The Memra is Accepted or Rejected

John 8, the densest chapter for logos usage in the Gospel, is built around the acceptance and rejection of the logos: "If you remain in my logos" (8:31), "my logos has no place in you" (8:37), "you cannot hear my logos" (8:43). The phrase 'my logos has no place in you' (ὁ λόγος ὁ ἐμὸς οὐ χωρεῖ ἐν ὑμῖν) is a Semitism with no natural Greek parallel. It maps to the dominant Deuteronomy and Jeremiah pattern: 'they did not accept the Memra of the Lord' (לא קבלו למימרא דייי), which appears in Targum Onqelos Deuteronomy 1:26, 9:23; Targum Jonathan Jeremiah 7:28, 25:7, 35:14-15, and many others.

The Memra Judges

In John 12:48, Jesus says: 'the logos that I spoke — that one will judge him on the last day' (ὁ λόγος ὃν ἐλάλησα ἐκεῖνος κρινεῖ αὐτόν). A logos does not 'judge' in Greek thought. A judge judges; a law condemns. But the Memra judges — because the Memra is a person. Compare Targum Psalms 7:9: מימרא דיהוה ידין עממיא ('the Memra of the Lord judges the peoples').[27] No other New Testament writer attributes judicial agency to the logos.

The Memra Dwells

John 1:14 uses the verb ἐσκήνωσεν ('tabernacled'), a direct calque of the Hebrew שכן from which 'Shekinah' derives. A logos does not 'tabernacle' in Greek. But the Memra dwells: Targum Onqelos Genesis 28:20 reads יְהֵי מֵימְרָא דַיוי בְסַעֲדִי ('the Memra of the Lord be with me'). Similarly, 1 John 2:14 says 'the logos of God abides in you' (ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν ὑμῖν μένει) — the Memra as ongoing personal presence. No Synoptic writer describes the logos as dwelling or abiding.

The Memra as a Name

In Revelation 19:13, the divine warrior's name is 'The Logos of God' (ὁ Λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ). No other New Testament writer uses logos as a proper name for a divine person. This only makes sense if logos is translating a term that already functioned as a divine designation — which the Targumic Memra was. As Etheridge observed, the Memra is used in the Targums not merely as a circumlocution but 'as the proper name of one Person in the Godhead, as distinguished from another.'[28] Robert Hayward has argued that this Memra theology 'may go back to the first century A.D.' and 'is probably reflected in this passage.'[29]

The 'I AM' and the Memra

Perhaps the most striking connection lies in John's 'I AM' (ἐγώ εἰμι) statements. In Exodus 3:14, God reveals the Divine Name אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה ('I AM WHO I AM'). In the Fragment Targum on this verse, it is the Memra who speaks this revelation:

ואמר מימרא דה׳ למשה דין דאמר לעלמא הווי והווי ועתיד למימר ליה הווי והווי "And the Memra of the Lord said to Moses: He who said to the world 'Be!' and it was, and who will say to it 'Be!' and it will be."

The Memra is identified as the one who reveals the 'I AM.' When Jesus says 'Before Abraham was, I AM' (John 8:58), his audience would have recognized this as the claim of the Memra — the same Memra who covenanted with Abraham (Targum Onqelos Genesis 15:1: 'my Memra is your strength') and in whom Abraham believed (Genesis 15:6: 'he believed in the Memra of the Lord'). Each of John's 'I AM' statements — the bread of life, the light of the world, the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life, the way, the truth — maps to a Targumic context where the Memra performs exactly that function. The Memra said 'Let there be light' (Targum Neofiti Genesis 1:3); the Memra sustains life (Targum Neofiti Deuteronomy 8:3: 'by every decree of the Memra man lives'); the Memra is the shepherd's support (Targum Psalms 23:4: 'your Memra is my support').

A Distinctively Johannine Pattern

These constructions are not found in the Synoptic Gospels. Luke, writing in Greek without an Aramaic substratum, says 'the word of God' (ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ) — treating the logos as the Christian message to be heard and obeyed. John says 'my logos' — treating the logos as a person to be related to, kept, accepted, or rejected. Luke's logos is a message. John's logos is the Memra.

Addressing the "Buffer Word" View

Some scholars, notably George Foot Moore (1922), have argued that the Targumic Memra is nothing more than a reverential buffer — a circumlocution to avoid speaking of God directly — and therefore carries no theological weight.[20] This view has been influential. The TDNT states that the Memra "is never a personal hypostasis, but only a substitute for the tetragrammaton."[21]

However, this dismissal has been increasingly challenged on both textual and scholarly grounds. Daniel Boyarin (2001) argues that the Memra represents a genuine development within Jewish theology — "effectively a hypostasis, a something, God's self-revelation... not realities apart from God."[16] Boyarin's work has shifted the scholarly consensus away from Moore's reductive view.

The Targum texts themselves present the strongest evidence against the buffer-word theory. A mere buffer replaces a name; the Memra acts. In Targum Neofiti on Genesis 1, the Memra of the Lord says (v. 3), separates (v. 4), calls (v. 5), creates (vv. 16, 25, 27), and blesses (v. 22). In Targum Jonathan on Isaiah 45:12, "I by my Memra made the earth" — the Memra is the instrument of creation. In Targum Onqelos on Genesis 15:6, Abraham "believed in the Memra of the Lord" — one does not place faith in a circumlocution.

The sheer scale also argues against a simple buffer. Across the major Targums, Memra appears over 500 times: Onqelos 179 times, the Jerusalem Targum 99 times, and Pseudo-Jonathan 321 times.[22] Many of these instances clearly go beyond name-substitution. A careful distinction must be drawn between passages where Memra functions as a reverential substitute for the divine name (particularly in negative or punitive contexts) and passages where it designates God's active, creative, covenantal presence. It is the latter category — where the Memra speaks, creates, redeems, and makes covenants — that forms the background to John 1:1.

Moreover, even if the Memra functioned as a circumlocution in the Targums, this does not diminish its relevance to John 1:1. As one modern scholar notes: "People familiar with the Targums were familiar with Memra as a designation for God. John did not use the term logos the way the Targums used Memra, but to those familiar with the Targums, logos would have aroused similar associations."[23]

Summary

Today, with the support of these early writings some of which recently became available, the translation of John 1:1 can be determined more accurately.[24] Aphrahat established a range of meanings which includes 'word', 'voice', and 'speech'. But Ephrem rejects the ordinary meaning of both 'word' and 'voice' as too narrow. However, 'speech' is the broadest and brings out the best meaning. While voice and word can be part of speech, speech is much more.

We are also able to better understand the meaning of 'Speech' in John 1:1 by reviewing the use of 'Memra' in the Old Testament. It is this very usage that John likely had in mind when he wrote his Gospel. The Targumic Memra is not a static noun but an active, speaking presence — one that says, creates, separates, blesses, and redeems. Both memra (from אמר, 'to say') and logos (from λέγω, 'to speak') are rooted in the act of speaking. 'Speech' captures what these roots actually mean. The evidence from the Targums, from the Syriac cognate terms, from standard lexicons, and from modern scholarship all converge on the same conclusion: the term behind John 1:1 carries a meaning broader than 'word,' encompassing the full range of divine speech, command, and self-revelation. 'Speech' captures this breadth in a way that 'Word' does not.

Indicating the Use of 'Memra' in the UPDV Bible

In order to show where 'Memra' is used in the Old Testament, the corresponding English translation in the UPDV Bible has been underlined. For example, in Genesis 1:3, the Targum reads, 'And the Memra of the Lord said'. Our present version reads, 'And God said'. Accordingly, 'God' in Genesis 1:3 in this translation has been underlined. This shows the corresponding use of 'Memra' in the Targum. This also shows a possible relationship between 'God' of Genesis 1:3 to the 'Speech' of John 1:1. The 'Speech' of John 1:1 is also underlined since it is likely to have been originally derived from 'Memra' in the Targum.

If the word 'I' is underlined, the verb next to it will also be underlined to make it easier to notice.

In Genesis 1:3, 7, 9, 11, 15, 24, and 30, the last phrase of the verse is underlined to show the additional phrase 'according to the decree of his Memra' or 'according to his Memra' which appears at the end of the verse in the Targum. In Genesis 1:3 the Targum reads, 'and there was light according to the decree of his Memra'. The rest of the verses listed above read in the Targum, 'and it was so according to his Memra.'

Targum Sources and Methodology

The following verse references have been verified against the Aramaic text in the Targum Neofiti (TgN), Targum Onqelos (TgO), and Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (TgPsJ) for the Pentateuch; the Targum on Psalms (TgPs) for the Psalms; and the Targum Jonathan (TgJ) for Isaiah. The term מימרא (memra) or its variant forms (ממרא, ממרה, מימר, מֵימְרָא, מֵימְרִי) appear in at least one of these Targums for each listed verse.

Eclectic approach. Each Targum has distinct usage patterns that must be accounted for:

  • Targum Onqelos (TgO) is the most conservative. It uses memra selectively, and the form לְמֵימַר (le-memar, 'to say') — which is merely the infinitive of אמר, not the theological noun — vastly outnumbers the theological usage. When TgO does employ the theological Memra (מֵימְרָא דַיוי, מֵימְרִי), it is particularly significant. Example: Genesis 15:6, "And he believed in the Memra of the Lord" (וְהֵימֵין בְמֵימְרָא דַיוי).
  • Targum Neofiti (TgN) is expansive. Genesis 1 is saturated with Memra — the Memra of the Lord says, separates, calls, creates, and blesses throughout the creation narrative. TgN also uses variant spellings (ממרא, ממרה). However, some occurrences of ממרא in TgN are the place-name Mamre (e.g., Gen 35:27, 49:30) and must be distinguished from the theological term.
  • Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (TgPsJ) is the most expansive overall, with over 300 memra instances. However, TgPsJ also uses memra in non-theological contexts (e.g., "on the word of witnesses," "on the word of Pharaoh"). These mundane uses are excluded from this list.
  • Targum Psalms (TgPs) uses memra almost entirely in a theological sense (מימרא דיהוה, "Memra of the Lord").
  • Targum Jonathan (TgJ) uses memra extensively in the Prophets, especially Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. Isaiah alone contains over 50 theological memra instances.

Inclusion criteria. A verse is included in this list when the Memra appears in a context of divine self-revelation, creation, covenant, protection, or redemption — contexts that parallel John's use of the term. Instances where memra functions primarily as a reverential substitute in negative or punitive contexts (e.g., "the Memra of the Lord punished/destroyed") are generally excluded unless the context also carries revelatory significance. Multi-Targum attestation (where two or more Targums use memra for the same verse) is treated as stronger evidence. This list is not exhaustive of all memra occurrences in the Targums, which number over 500 across the major texts.

The following are the instances where underlining has taken place to show an underlying use of 'Memra' in the Old Testament as well as the possible use of the same word in New Testament (parenthesis indicate the number of times 'Memra' appears in a verse if more than once):

John

1:1 (3 times), 1:14.

Genesis

1:3(2),4,5,6,7,8,9(2),10,11(2),15,16,20,22,24(2),25,27,28,30; 2:2; 3:8,10; 4:26; 8:20; 9:12,13,15,16,17; 12:7(2),8(2); 13:4,14,18; 14:19,22; 15:1,6; 16:13; 17:1,3,7,8,11; 18:1,17,19; 19:24; 20:3,6,13; 21:33; 22:16,18; 24:1,3; 26:3,5,25; 28:15(2); 29:31; 30:22; 31:3,5; 35:1; 46:4; 49:25.

Exodus

3:4,8,12(2),17; 4:12,15; 5:23; 6:3,7; 8:22; 10:10; 11:4; 12:12,23; 13:21; 14:30,31; 15:2,25,26; 17:1,6; 18:4; 19:5,9,20; 20:24; 23:22; 25:22; 29:43,45; 30:6,36; 31:17; 32:13; 34:5.

Leviticus

8:35; 9:4; 16:2; 18:30; 20:23; 22:9; 24:12; 26:11,12,30,46.

Numbers

3:16,39,51; 4:37,41,45,49; 9:18(2),19,20(2),23(4); 10:13,29; 11:17,20,21; 13:3; 14:9,11,14,22,41; 17:4; 20:12,24; 21:5; 22:9,12,18,20; 23:3,4,16,21; 24:4,13,16; 27:14; 33:2,38; 36:5.

Deuteronomy

1:26,32,43; 2:7; 4:30,33,36; 5:5,23; 8:20; 9:23(2); 13:4,18; 15:5; 18:19; 20:1; 26:14,17; 27:10; 28:1,2,15,45,62; 30:2,8,10,20; 31:8,23; 32:51; 34:5.

Psalms

2:12; 5:11(2); 7:1,8; 9:2,7,9,10; 11:1; 14:5; 16:1; 21:7; 22:4,5; 23:4; 25:2,3,20; 26:1; 27:1,10; 28:6,7; 31:1,6,14,24; 32:11; 33:21; 34:2,8,22; 35:9; 37:3,5,9,22,34,40; 40:3,16; 41:3; 52:7; 55:16; 56:4,10(2),11; 57:1; 62:8; 63:4,6,11; 64:10; 66:6; 68:11,16,33; 70:4; 71:1,6; 81:8,11; 84:5,12; 85:6,12; 89:24; 91:2,14; 95:7; 97:12; 104:34; 106:23,25; 107:25; 110:1,2; 112:7; 114:3; 115:9,10,11,12,14; 116:7; 118:26; 121:7; 124:2,8; 125:1; 135:14; 141:8; 143:8,9; 144:2.

Isaiah

1:20; 5:24; 6:8; 8:5,14; 9:7; 10:17,20; 12:2; 17:7; 21:17; 22:25; 25:8,9; 26:3,4; 28:23; 29:19(2); 30:11; 31:1; 32:9; 33:2; 37:32,35; 40:5; 41:10,13,14,16; 43:5; 44:24; 45:12,17,22,24,25; 46:3,12; 48:3,12,16; 49:1,5; 51:1,4,5,7; 55:2,3; 57:13; 58:14; 59:17; 60:9; 61:10; 62:2; 63:8; 66:6; 66:13.

'Memra' has only been noted in Genesis through Deuteronomy, Psalms, and Isaiah in the Old Testament of the UPDV Bible. The Targums use memra extensively elsewhere — particularly in Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Minor Prophets — but the usage in these other books more often serves as a reverential substitute in punitive or judicial contexts. The primary reason for indicating 'Memra' in this Bible is to show the background to John 1:1. Accordingly, 'Memra' is only noted in the books where the usage pattern aligns with John's portrayal: the creative, covenantal, and redemptive presence of God.

In the Targum, the underlying phrase is often 'the Memra of the Lord' or similar which is substituted for God. If there is a phrase such as 'the name of the Memra of the Lord, the Everlasting God' (or similar), it has not been determined if the part after the comma (the Everlasting God) refers back to either 'Memra' or 'Lord' or both.

In some cases, there is not an exact one to one correspondence in the Hebrew Old Testament for 'Memra' in the Targum. In such cases, if a similar underlying word or phrase could be determined, it was underlined; otherwise, no underlining was done.

For further background on the use of 'Memra', see: 'The Idea of Intermediation in Jewish Theology. A Note on Memra and Shekinah. G. H. Box. The Jewish Quarterly Review, Vol 23, No. 2 (Oct. 1932), pages 103-119'. Also see: 'The Gospel of the Memra: Jewish Binitarianism and the Prologue to John. Daniel Boyarin. Harvard Theological Review 94:3 (2001), pages 243-284'. Additionally: 'The Targum of Isaiah and the Johannine Literature. John L. Ronning. Westminster Theological Journal 69 (2007), pages 247-311'.

Footnotes

[1] This change started with version 2.06 released April 2, 2005. The previous UPDV Version 2.05 read: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

[2] Marcus Jastrow, A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature, article מֵימַר (MEM.1192). The appendix (APP.816) adds a third sense: "narration, report."

[3] Targum Lexicon (Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project), article מימר (LEX.MYMR.-N): "1 passim speech; 2 Syr word; 3 JLATg memar; 4 Syr poem."

[4] Targum Lexicon, articles מלה (LEX.MLH.-N) and מילה (LEX.MYLH.-N). The emphatic form is מלתא (milta). Key senses include: 1 word, 2 thing, 4 theological term logos, 8 power of speech, 10 Reason (logos).

[5] R. Payne Smith, A Compendious Syriac Dictionary, article ܡܠ (M.1018).

[6] 'Logos' is the Greek word 'logos' for what is being referred to as 'Word' or 'Speech'.

[7] The Pulpit Commentary: St. John Vol. I, ed. H. D. M. Spence-Jones, Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2004.

[8] W. Wright, The Homilies of Aphraates, the Persian Sage, edited from Syriac Manuscripts of the fifth and sixth Century in the British Museum, London, 1869.

[9] T. Baarda, The Gospel Quotations of Aphrahat the Persian Sage, Amsterdam, 1975. Page 58.

[10] L. Leloir, Commentaire de l'evangile concordant. Texte syriaque (MS Chester Beatty 709). Chester Beatty Monograph Series 8, Dublin, 1963.

[11] Carmel McCarthy, Saint Ephrem's Commentary on Tatian's Diatessaron, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 1993, 2000. Page 41.

[12] J.W. Etheridge, M.A. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel on the Pentateuch with the Fragments of the Jerusalem Targum from the Chaldee. KTAV Publishing House, Inc. New York, 1968, first published 1862, pages 19-20.

[13] Martin McNamara, Targum and Testament. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1972, page 104. See also McNamara, "Logos of the Fourth Gospel and Memra of the Palestinian Targum (Ex 12)," Expository Times 79 (1968): 115-17.

[14] Alfred Plummer, The Gospel according to S. John, Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges, Cambridge University Press.

[15] J.H. Bernard, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to St. John, International Critical Commentary, T. & T. Clark.

[16] Daniel Boyarin, "The Gospel of the Memra: Jewish Binitarianism and the Prologue to John," Harvard Theological Review 94:3 (2001): 243-284. Summarized in Daniel A. Madigan, SJ, "People of the Word: Reading John with a Muslim," Review and Expositor 104 (2007).

[17] Targum Jonathan on Isaiah 45:12. Aramaic text from the Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon (TgJ, TARG.23.45). Cf. also Tg. Isa. 44:24: "I am the Lord, who made all things; I stretched out the heavens by my Memra."

[18] John L. Ronning, "The Targum of Isaiah and the Johannine Literature," Westminster Theological Journal 69 (2007): 247-311.

[19] H. Kleinknecht, in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (TDNT), ed. G. Kittel and G. Friedrich, article λόγος.

[20] George Foot Moore, "Intermediaries in Jewish Theology: Memra, Shekinah, Metatron," Harvard Theological Review 15 (1922): 41-85.

[21] TDNT, article λόγος, section on the Johannine Logos.

[22] Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. Edersheim catalogues: Onkelos 179 times, Jerusalem Targum 99 times, Pseudo-Jonathan 321 times.

[23] A Biblical Theology of the New Testament, "The Jewish Background of the Term" (CHAPTER.4.4.9.2).

[24] 50-150 years is relatively recent in the transmission of the New Testament.

[25] These patterns were identified by systematic analysis of all ~65 occurrences of λόγος across the Johannine corpus (Gospel of John, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Revelation), cross-referenced against ~1,800 memra occurrences extracted from eight Targum texts (Onqelos, Neofiti, Pseudo-Jonathan, Psalms, Jonathan, Neofiti marginalia, and Fragment Targums P and VNL). The patterns were control-tested against Luke-Acts to verify they are distinctively Johannine rather than generic early Christian Greek.

[26] TDNT, article τηρέω (LET.T.10.1.A). The article catalogues τηρέω + object constructions across classical, Hellenistic, and LXX Greek. Objects include ὅρκους (oaths, Democritus), εἰρήνην (peace, Demosthenes), πίστιν (pledge, Polybius), νόμους (laws, Diodorus), but never λόγον.

[27] Targum Psalms 7:9. Aramaic text from the Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon (TgPs, TARG.19.7): מימרא דיהוה ידין עממיא.

[28] J.W. Etheridge, Glossary entry "I. The Divine Names," in The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan ben Uzziel on the Pentateuch; With the Fragments of the Jerusalem Targum (1862).

[29] Robert Hayward, Divine Name and Presence: The Memra (Totowa, NJ: Allanheld, Osmun, 1981), 132-33. As cited in the Word Biblical Commentary on Revelation (Volume 52C). Hayward argues that Memra theology "may go back to the first century A.D." and "is probably reflected" in Revelation 19:13.

[30] Daniel Boyarin, Border Lines: The Partition of Judaeo-Christianity (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004), 92. In the same work, Boyarin argues that "the strongest reading of the Memra is that it is not a mere name, but an actual divine entity, or mediator" (p. 117), and that the Prologue to John can be understood as "a Jewish text through and through" (p. 31).

References

  • Marcus Jastrow, A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature. London: Luzac & Co., 1903.
  • Targum Lexicon, Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project. Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati.
  • R. Payne Smith, A Compendious Syriac Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1903.
  • Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1999 Random House, Inc.
  • The Pulpit Commentary: St. John Vol. I, ed. H. D. M. Spence-Jones, Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2004.
  • W. Wright, The Homilies of Aphraates, the Persian Sage, edited from Syriac Manuscripts of the fifth and sixth Century in the British Museum, London, 1869.
  • T. Baarda, The Gospel Quotations of Aphrahat the Persian Sage, Amsterdam, 1975.
  • L. Leloir, Commentaire de l'evangile concordant. Texte syriaque (MS Chester Beatty 709). Chester Beatty Monograph Series 8, Dublin, 1963.
  • Carmel McCarthy, Saint Ephrem's Commentary on Tatian's Diatessaron, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 1993, 2000.
  • J.W. Etheridge, M.A. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel on the Pentateuch with the Fragments of the Jerusalem Targum from the Chaldee. KTAV Publishing House, Inc. New York, 1968.
  • Martin McNamara, Targum and Testament. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1972.
  • Alfred Plummer, The Gospel according to S. John. Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges. Cambridge University Press.
  • J.H. Bernard, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to St. John. International Critical Commentary. T. & T. Clark.
  • Daniel Boyarin, "The Gospel of the Memra: Jewish Binitarianism and the Prologue to John." Harvard Theological Review 94:3 (2001): 243-284.
  • John L. Ronning, "The Targum of Isaiah and the Johannine Literature." Westminster Theological Journal 69 (2007): 247-311.
  • George Foot Moore, "Intermediaries in Jewish Theology: Memra, Shekinah, Metatron." Harvard Theological Review 15 (1922): 41-85.
  • Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. Longmans, Green, and Co., 1883.
  • G. H. Box, "The Idea of Intermediation in Jewish Theology. A Note on Memra and Shekinah." The Jewish Quarterly Review, Vol 23, No. 2 (Oct. 1932): 103-119.
  • G. Kittel and G. Friedrich, eds. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Eerdmans, 1964-1976.
  • Robert Hayward, Divine Name and Presence: The Memra. Totowa, NJ: Allanheld, Osmun, 1981.
  • Daniel Boyarin, Border Lines: The Partition of Judaeo-Christianity. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004.