ST. JOHN
1. TESTIMONIES
CONCERNING THE LOGOS, OR WORD OF GOD;
From the Chaldee Targums.
The person here styled the Logos is called hwhy rbd debar yehovah, the Word of Jehovah, Genesis 15:1, 4; 1 Samuel 3:7, 21; 15:10; 1 Kings 13:9, 17; 19:9, 15; Psalm 107:20; and the Targums, or Chaldee paraphrases, frequently substitute yyd armym meymra d’yay, the word of the Lord, for hwhy Jehovah himself. Thus the Jerusalem Targum in Genesis 3:22, and both that and the Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, in Genesis 19:24.
And Onkelos, on Genesis 3:8, for the voice of the Lord God, has, the voice of the WORD of the Lord. The Jerusalem Targum on Genesis 1:27, for, And God created man, has, The WORD of Jehovah created, etc. Compare Targum Jonathan, on Isaiah 45:12; 48:13; Jeremiah 27:5. And on Genesis 22:14, that of Jerusalem says, Abraham invoked, yyd armym µçb beshem meymra d’yay, in the name of the WORD of the Lord, and said, THOU art Jehovah. So Onkelos, Genesis 28:20, 21, If the WORD of
Jehovah will be my help-then the WORD of Jehovah shall be my God. See Parkhurst under the word logov.
After a serious reading of the Targums, it seems to me evident that the Chaldee term armym meymra, or WORD, is taken personally, in a multitude of places in them. When Jonathan ben Uzziel speaks of the Supreme Being as doing or saying any thing, he generally represents him as performing the whole by this Meymra, or WORD, which he considers, not as a speech or word spoken, but as a person distinct from the Most High, and to whom he attributes all the operations of the Deity. To attempt to
give the word any other meaning than this, in various places throughout the Targums, would, in my opinion, be flat opposition to every rule of construction; though, like the Greek word logov, it has other acceptations in certain places. See Lightfoot.
2. Testimonies concerning the personality, attributes, and influence of the WORD of GOD, taken from the Zend Avesta, and other writings attributed to Zoroaster.
“Let thy terrible WORD which I pronounce, O Ormusd! elevate itself on high. May it be great before thee, and satisfy my desires!” ZEND AVESTA, vol. i. Vendidad Sade, p. 104.
Zoroaster consulted Ormusd, and spoke thus to him: “O Ormusd,
absorbed in excellence, just Judge of the world, pure, who existest by thy own power, what is that great WORD given by God, that living and powerful WORD, O Ormusd, tell me plainly, which existed before the heavens, before the water, before the earth, before the flocks, before the fire, the CHILD of ORMUSD, before men, before the whole race of existing beings, before all the benefits, and before all the pure germs given by Ormusd?” Ormusd replied: “Pronounce that great WORD well, That WORD
which existed before heaven was made, before the water, before the earth, before brute animals, before men, and before the holy angels
(amschaspands.) I pronounced that word with majesty, and all the pure beings which are, and which have been, and which shall be, were formed. I continue to pronounce it in its utmost extent, and abundance is
multiplied.” Ibid. p. 138, 139.
“By his original WORD, Ormusd created the world and vanquished Ahriman, the genius of evil.” Ibid. p. 140, not. 1.
“The saints in heaven and earth pronounce the sacred WORD:-under the character of Honover (i.e. pure desire) it is worshipped.” Ibid. 141.
“Ormusd, together with the luminous and excellent WORD, is invoked, to defend the true worshipper from the oppression of evil spirits.” Ibid. p.
174.
“Man is healed by the supreme word.” Ibid. p. 324.
“By this WORD all defiled places are rendered pure: fire, water, earth, trees, flocks, men, women, stars, moon, sun, and the primeval light, with all the blessings given by Ormusd, are purified by it.” Ibid. p. 368.
The word of Ormusd is termed, “Ezem bate, I AM;” and is represented as
“putting every thing in a safe state-as the author of abundance; the source of all productions; the holy, pure, precious, and desirable word, which watches over all the creation.” Ibid. Jescht Rashne Rast. vol. ii. p. 239.
It is called, “The excellent, elevated, and victorious word: the source of light; the principle of action, which smites and triumphs; which gives health; discomfits wicked men and spirits; which exists through all the world, destroying the evil, and fulfilling the desires of the good.” Ibid.
Jescht of Ormusd, vol. ii. p. 145.
The Word is invoked as-”The pure word-the most pure word: the strong-the most strong: the extended and ancient-the most extended and the most ancient: the victorious-the most victorious: the salutary-the most salutary: which gives health-is the abundant source of health, and cures wounds and diseases of all kinds.” Ibid. Jescht of Ardebehesht, vol. ii. p.
157.
It is termed, “The creator, or creating principle.” Ibid. Jescht of Farvardin, vol. ii. p. 252.
“Prayer is made to the soul of the excellent WORD, the body of which is supremely luminous.” Ibid. p. 262.
“Through the whole government of Ormusd, men are commanded to invoke that most pure and excellent WORD.” Ibid. p. 264.
That the word, in the above places, does not mean the sacred books of the Parsees, it is expressly said, that-”The law of the Mazdejesnans (the disciples of Zoroaster) comes from this superexcellent Word.” Ibid.
Si-Rouze; Mansrespand, p. 323, 354.
“The law is the body under which the primitive WORD, which created the world, is manifested. The primitive WORD therefore is worshipped in reading and reverencing that law; and the effects produced in the soul by it are no less than a new creation, in some sort similar to that which this omnific Word formed in the beginning.” Ibid. vol. ii. p. 595.
“The WORD proceeds from the first principle, time without bounds, i.e.
eternity: it is before all created beings, and by it all the creation of God has been formed.” Ibid. vol. ii. p. 592.
I find a word of the same import, used in exactly the same sense, in the Zend Avesta, attributed to the ancient Persian lawgiver, Zoroaster.
One might suppose that Mohammed had she first chapter of St. John’s Gospel in his eye when he wrote ver. 33, of Surat xix., of his Koran: — [A]
Zalyka Isaiah ibno Mareema Kawlolhokki, This is Jesus the Son of Mary, the WORD of TRUTH.-Some may understand the Arabic differently: This is a true word, that Jesus is the son of Mary.