Word or Message?

This week I have been captivated by the various ways in which English translators have interpreted the Greek word logos. From the beginning, translators have been prone to exercise very little imagination when translating the same Greek word in very different contexts. Using a standard translation of a word has been far more important than context and story line.

Logos is a good example of this lack of flexibility. The Greek-English lexicon of Arndt and Gingrich (1956) lists these possible English ideas to translate logos: word, saying, statement, message, and speech, among others. The very fact that Greek speaking peoples used logos in many differing ways should cause translators to consider more than one option when they do their translations.

One of the most obvious problems is related to its connections to Jesus. Translators are very hesitant to use any English idea except “word” when it concerns Jesus. But this causes awkward English renderings. The most common is when the logos of Jesus is translated the “word of Jesus.” This rendering is very poor English because Jesus would seldom have a single word. If “word” is used in these cases, it should at least be translated as “words.”

The use of “word” when referring to the sayings of Jesus occurs sixty times in the New Testament. The context of each of these translations is referencing what Jesus taught and revealed about God and his will and ways. One or two cases may refer to the Bible, but that is questionable.

A much more accurate translation of logos in this case would be to use the word “message.” Jesus came to reveal the Father and to teach us the will and ways of the Father. In that sense, he is a messenger with a message. Jesus said,

And you do not have his message (word) living in you: for he whom he sent with a message (apostello), him you do not believe. (John 5:38)

Jesus answered and said to them, This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent with a message (apostello). (John 6:29)

I know him; because I am from him, and he sent me with a message (apostello). (John 7:29)

Translators did a double whammy to us in these passages. They translated “word” so that its meaning is obscure, and they mistranslated “sent” so that it is not completely accurate. An apostle (from apostello) is one sent with a message. The disciples of Jesus became apostles. They were sent out to share the message of Jesus. In these verses Jesus is describing himself as one sent from God with a message.

Translators either help us to understand what the Bible is saying, or they obscure our understanding. In these cases, they have not helped us understand.

When logos is understood to mean “message” rather than “word,” we are forced to search for the content of that particular message rather than to simply think of the Bible as a whole.

John 6.29 also gives richness to our understanding of belief. It indicates that we are to believe in Jesus, and by inference, his message. The content of his message becomes an object of belief. If one does not believe what Jesus is teaching and revealing, he cannot enjoy the benefits of his message. The power of his message is indicated in this saying,

Truly, I say to you, he who hears my message, and believes that [God] sent me, has eternal life, and comes not into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. (John 5.24)

The content of the message of Jesus has the power to give life to persons who believe it. The word “hears” in the verse obviously carries the meaning of hearing, understanding, and believing. One translation of the Greek word “to hear,” is “to understand.” When one hears the message with understanding, the message can have its saving power in that life.

Translating logos as “word” usually deprives the reader of a fullness of understanding that the New Testament contains. Translators must escape from the straightjacket of only one English meaning of the word if the message is to be heard, understood, and believed.