How Do Ancient Jewish Teachings and Greek Philosophy Converge in John’s Gospel?

How Do Ancient Jewish Teachings and Greek Philosophy Converge in John’s Gospel?

Many dedicated Bible readers are familiar with the Apostle John’s description of Jesus as the Word or “Logos” of God who was in the beginning (John 1:1) and how He is the Logos made flesh (John 1:14). Logos is the transliteration of the Greek term that is translated as “Word” in these verses.

In Greek philosophy, Logos was a term used to describe a divine Mind or underlying order that created, established, and sustains the Cosmos (For more on the Logos, see The Bible Says commentary for John 1:1). John used this term—Logos—to help his Greek readers, who were familiar with Greek philosophy, to understand the divine nature of Jesus.

But “the Word” also has a rich meaning in the Jewish tradition—especially as it was developed in the years following Judah’s exile to Babylon. In Babylon, Jews learned Aramaic and it replaced Hebrew as the primary language of the Jewish people for many centuries following the exile—including the first century A.D. when Jesus was born and ministered on earth.

The Hebrew Scriptures were translated into Aramaic to help better teach God’s word to the multitudes of Jews who were not fluent in Hebrew. These translations were referred to as “the Targums.” The Targums also modified the Hebrew Text with inserted commentary to better explain the meaning of the text.

One of the most developed ideas of the Targums concerned the “Word of the Lord.” The Aramaic term for “Word” is “Memra.” John’s gospel prologue and the things he writes about the “Word”/“Logos” can be understood as a continuation of these “Memra” developments.

Many of the things John says of the Logos are also said of “the Memra” in the Jewish Targums.

Thus, John’s prologue speaks directly into the traditions of both Jewish thought and Greek philosophy using their own terms and ideas when he presents Jesus as the Word of God.

This TBS article has three parts to it as it further explains what the Targums were, the concept of the Memra, and verse by verse comparison of what the Targums say of the Memra alongside what John says of the Logos in the prologue to his Gospel account.

1. THE TARGUMS—the Aramaic translations of and commentaries over Hebrew scriptures widely used in Judea during Jesus’s time on earth.
2. THE “MEMRA”—the Aramaic term for “Word” that is used in the expression “Word of the Lord.” The Targum commentaries often personify and attribute divinity to the Memra. Sometimes they describe the Memra as distinct from God, sometimes they liken the Memra of the Lord with God Himself. The Targums do not attempt to reconcile this apparent paradox.

3. THE MEMRA AND THE LOGOS OF JOHN’S GOSPEL—a short comparison of how the Memra of the Lord compares with the Logos in John’s prologue (John 1:1-18).

1. WHAT ARE THE JEWISH THE TARGUMS?

The term, “Targum” is Aramaic. It means “translation.”

The Targums are Aramaic translations and paraphrases of the Hebrew Scriptures that became widely used in Judea before and during the time of Jesus. They emerged as a practical necessity during the Babylonian exile and afterward, as many Jewish communities adopted Aramaic as their primary language.

See: “The Four Languages of Jesus’s Judea.”

The Targums served as a bridge between the sacred Hebrew texts and the daily vernacular of the Jewish people. It allowed them to engage with Scripture in a language they could understand. Some of the most well-known Targums include:

• Targum Onkelos, which provides a relatively literal translation of the Torah;
• Targum Jonathan, which covers the Prophets;
• Targum Neofiti, a compilation of interpretations on the Torah.

Each of these reflects both a linguistic and theological effort to make the Hebrew Scriptures accessible and relevant to Aramaic-speaking audiences. They often include interpretative elements, which reveal theological insights and communal beliefs of the time. The Targums began as oral traditions, which were in full bloom during Jesus’s day. They were later codified and written down.

The rise in use of the Targums coincided with the growing centrality of synagogues as places of learning and worship.

During Jesus’s earthly ministry, the Targums played a significant role in shaping the religious and theological landscape of Judea. For instance, during synagogue readings, the Hebrew Scriptures were read aloud and then translated into Aramaic using the Targums. This practice ensured that worshippers who no longer spoke Hebrew fluently could still understand and engage with the biblical texts. These translations often included interpretative expansions that identified Messianic prophecies or emphasized God’s direct intervention in history.

One example of this is from Targum Onkelos’s interpretation/replacement of the word “Shiloh” with “King Messiah” from Jacob’s prophecy of Judah in Genesis 49:10.

“The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
Until King Messiah comes,
And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.”
(Targum Onkelos. Genesis 49:10)

Such interpretations likely dialed up the Messianic anticipation in Judea. They also influenced the people’s expectations of the Messiah. The Jews would have largely understood Jesus and His teachings within the perspective shaped by the Targums.

The Targums’ influence and usage began to decline in the second century in Jewish communities. It decreased for two reasons: the dispersion of the Jews and the rise of Christianity.

After the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, Judaism began to reorganize. Many of the surviving Jews relocated away from Judea. A generation later, the Roman Emperor Hadrian ordered the removal of the Jews from Jerusalem and, to insult the Jews, renamed the region after their ancient but extinct enemies. He called it “Philistine Land.” This region is still often referred to by Hadrian’s rebranded name: “Palestine.”

The dispersion of Jewish communities began to erase the centrality of the Aramaic language in Jewish culture. Each community in the diaspora began to replace Aramaic with the local language of their new home. Rabbinic Judaism focused on maintaining and bolstering Hebrew rather than Aramaic. As Aramaic influence declined so did the use of the Targums, with Hebrew Masoretic text replacing them as a primary source of the scriptures.

The Jews who remained in Judea (mostly Galilee) continued to use Aramaic and developed a fourth Targum during the third and fifth centuries A.D. It is known as the Jerusalem Targum.

The rise of Christianity also may have encouraged the Jews’ use of the Targums to decrease. Some of the Targums’ expansions and interpretations agreed with core doctrines of Christianity—especially the Memra (Word) as being coequal with God. The Targums teachings could be used by Jewish Christians to convert their fellow countrymen to belief in Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God. The marginalization of the Targums in Jewish synagogues made them less effective tools for evangelizing Jews.

2. WHAT IS THE “MEMRA”?

One of the most developed concepts that was expanded in the Targums was “the Memra (word) of the Lord.” The Targums enlarge the role and identity of God’s “Memra” (word). At times, the Targums seem to equate “the “‘Memra’ of the Lord” with God Himself.

The term “Memra” is the Aramaic equivalent of the Hebrew word for “Word.”

It is frequently used in the Targums to translate the phrase “Word of the Lord.” As a concept, the Memra carries an immense amount of meaning. The Memra is often personified and depicted as co-equal with God in the Targums. The Memra acts as a mediator of God’s will, appearing as an agent of creation, judgment, and salvation.

For example, in Targum Neofiti on Genesis 1:3, the Memra is the One who speaks creation into existence. Similarly, in Targum Jonathan on Isaiah 45:12, the Memra is described as the agent through whom the heavens and earth were created. Targum Onkelos on Exodus 33:22 says that the Memra intercedes to cover Moses as the LORD passes by him.

These and many similar personifications suggest that the Memra was not merely a linguistic tool but a separate but connected entity, embodying God’s active presence and agency in the world.

This personification of the Memra reflects a bridge between God’s transcendence and immanence. By portraying the Word of the Lord as both distinct and yet one with God, the Targums offer a framework for understanding divine interaction with the world.

The Targums’ descriptions of the Memra foreshadow theological revelations about the nature of God in the New Testament, particularly in the Gospel of John.

3. WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE MEMRA OF THE TARGUMS AND THE LOGOS OF JOHN’S GOSPEL PROLOGUE?

Jesus’s disciple John was a fisherman by trade (Mark 1:19-20). He was regarded as uneducated (Acts 4:13). As would have been typical for the religiously uneducated class of Jews of that era, John would have been more fluent in Aramaic than Hebrew. This indicates that he would have been familiar with the Targums as his primary source of the scriptures. It was likely that he learned of the Memra of the Lord in Capernaum’s synagogues as a young Jewish boy.

When John later wrote the prologue of his Gospel, he appears to have used language and concepts about the Memra that would have been familiar to the Jews of his generation to demonstrate that Jesus was the Divine Memra in human form. The Greek term he chose to convey and carry the Memra’s meaning was “Logos”—the Word.

Many of the qualities John attributes to the Logos in the prologue of his Gospel account (John 1:1-18) are similarly attributed to the Memra in the Targums.

The Greek term “Logos” is used as a synonym for the Aramaic term “Memra.” Both terms translate into English as “Word.” The Greek philosophers’ concept of “the Logos” is near equivalent to the Jewish idea of the Memra of the Lord as described in the Targums. Thus, by choosing the term “Logos,” John could speak to both cultures at the same time.

Below is a short list comparing what the Targums say concerning “the Memra of the Lord” with statements John makes about “the Logos” in the prologue of his Gospel account (John 1:1-18). Each comparison includes a Targum quote and a corresponding passage from the Gospel of John.

1.  The Memra of the Lord and the Logos are both Eternal.

The Memra is described as eternal, transcending time and existing forever:

“Forever, O LORD, Your Memra is established in the heavens."
(Targum Jonathan on Psalm 119:89)

The Logos existed before the beginning:

“In the beginning was the Word…”
(John 1:1a)

2. The Memra of the Lord and the Logos are both distinct from God.

God interacts with the Memra:

“The LORD said to His Memra, ‘Sit at My right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.’”
(Targum Jonathan. Psalm 110:1)

God was together with the Logos:

“… and the Word was with God…”
(John 1:1b)

3.  The Memra of the Lord and the Logos are both identified as God.

Abraham equates the Lord’s Memra with God when he enters a covenant with Him:

“If the Memra of the Lord will be my support...then the Memra of the Lord shall be my God.”
(Targum Onkelos. Genesis 28:21)

John directly states that the Logos is God:

“…and the Word was God.”
(John 1:1c)

4. The Memra of the Lord and the Logos are both described as the Creator of the Universe.

The Memra of the Lord is directly identified as the Agent of creation, responsible for bringing the universe into existence:

“From the beginning, with wisdom, the Memra of the Lord created and perfected the heavens and the earth.”
(Targum Neofiti. Genesis 1:1)

“The dwelling of God who, from the beginning, through His Memra, created the world…”
(Targum Onkelos. Deuteronomy 33:27a)

“I am the LORD who made all things; I stretched out the heavens through My Memra…”
(Targum Jonathan. Isaiah 44:24)

“I through My Memra made the earth, and created man upon it…”
(Targum Jonathan. Isaiah 45:12)

“I through My Memra, made the earth, the men and the beasts on the face of the earth…”
(Targum Jonathan. Jeremiah 27:5)

The Logos is the Creator of all things:

“All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.”
(John 1:3)

“The world was made through Him…”
(John 1:10a)

5. The Memra of the Lord and the Logos are both the source of Life.

The Memra created man in His own image:

“And the Memra of the Lord created man in His own likeness; in the likeness of the Lord He created him…”
(Targum Neofiti. Genesis 1:27a)

The Memra directly imparts life to Adam and is humanity’s source of life:

“And the Memra of the Lord God created man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the breath became in the body of man a living soul.”
(Targum Neofiti. Genesis 2:7)

The Memra’s instruction is life-giving:

“Your Memra has given me life”
(Targum Jonathan. Psalm 119:50b)

Life is in the Logos:

“In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.”
(John 1:4a)

6. The Memra of the Lord and the Logos are both the source of Light.

The Memra of the Lord created light:

“Then the Memra of the LORD said, ‘Let there be light,” and there was light according to the decree of His Memra.”
(Targum Neofiti. Genesis 1:3)

The Memra guided Israel during the darkness of the night by providing light from the pillar of fire:

“The Memra of the Lord was going before them…in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.”
(Targum Neofiti. Exodus 13:21)

The Logos is the Light that shines in the darkness:

“…and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”
(John 1:4a-5)

7. The Memra of the LORD and the Logos both guide people who are lost.

 
The Memra led Israel through the wilderness in the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire:

“And the Memra of the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them in the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night.”
(Targum Onkelos. Exodus 13:21)

The Logos shines light in the darkness to every man:

“The Light shines in the darkness…the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.”
(John 1:5a-10b)

8. The Memra of the LORD and the Logos were both rejected by Israel.

Israel despised and did not receive the Memra:

“How long will this people despise My Memra? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed among them?”
(Targum Neofiti. Numbers 14:11)

“But in this thing you did not believe in the Memra of the LORD your God.”
(Targum Onkelos. Deuteronomy 1:32)

Israel did not receive or believe the Logos:

“He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.”
(John 1:11)

“You do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He sent.”
(John 5:38)

Israel hated and condemned the Logos to death:

“they have both seen and hated Me…”
(John 15:24b)

“And he said to the Jews, ‘Behold, your King!’ So they cried out, ‘Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!’ Pilate said to them, ‘Shall I crucify your King?’ The chief priests answered, ‘We have no king but Caesar.’”
(John 19:14b-15)

9. The Memra of the LORD and the Logos both reconcile people to God through faith.

Abraham believed in the Memra and was considered righteous:

“And Abram believed in the Memra of the LORD, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
(Targum Neofiti. Genesis 15:6)

God uses His Memra to establish relationship with people:

“My Memra will go among you and be your God and you will be My people.”
(Targum Neofiti. Leviticus 26:12)

“Return to My Memra, And I will return to you by My Memra, says the LORD of hosts.”
(Targum Jonathan. Malachi 3:7)

Through the Memra, Israel receives God’s name and belonging:

“So shall they put My name, My Memra, upon the children of Israel, and I, in My Memra, shall bless them…”
(Targum Neofiti. Numbers 6:27)

God gives people the right to be born into His family and become His children to all who believe in the name of the Logos:

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born…of God.”
(John 1:12-13)

10. The Memra of the LORD and the Logos are God’s Presence on Earth.

The Memra was present among Israel in the wilderness in a pillar of cloud and of fire:

“The Memra of the Lord was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.”
(Targum Neofiti. Exodus 13:21)

The Memra spoke to Moses in the Tabernacle:

“When all the people saw the Pillar of Cloud, standing at the entrance of the tent; all the people rose and prostrated themselves, each man at the entrance of his tent.
The Memra of the Lord spoke with Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend.”
(Targum Neofiti. Exodus 33:11)

The Logos tabernacled in human form among His people through Jesus Christ:

“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.”
(John 1:14a)

11. The Memra of the LORD and the Logos both personally reveal God’s Glory to the world.

 
The Memra will gloriously redeem Israel:

“I will appoint My Memra to be there for the sons of Israel, and it shall be consecrated by My glory…I will make My Shekinah [visible glorious presence] dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel and My Memra will be for them a redeeming God...so that the glory of My Shekinah might dwell among them; I am the LORD their God.”
(Targum Neofiti. Exodus 29:43-46)

The Memra manifests God’s glory to all humanity:

“And the glory of the Memra of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.”
(Targum Jonathan. Isaiah 40:5)

The Logos revealed God’s glory to humanity:

“And we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father.”
(John 1:14b)

12. The Memra of the LORD and the Logos are both described as incredibly Gracious.

The Memra will graciously bless Israel:

“You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in grace through Your Memra.”
(Targum Jonathan. Jonah 4:2)

The Logos is described as having inexhaustible grace:

“For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.”
(John 1:16)

13. The Memra of the LORD and the Logos are both the embodiment of Grace and Truth.

When the Memra covered Moses as the Lord passed by him, the Lord described Himself as abounding in lovingkindness and truth, as the source of divine truth:

“I will put you in a cave of the rock, and I will shelter you with My Memra until I pass by…The Lord made his Shechinah pass before him, and proclaimed: ‘The Lord, the Lord, Almighty, merciful and gracious, distancing anger, and making goodness and truth abound.’”
(Targum Onkelos. Exodus 33:22…34:6)

The Logos is described as the establisher and incarnation of grace and truth:

“Grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.”
(John 1:17)

14. The Memra of the LORD and the Logos are the Source of the Law.

The Memra gave the Law to Moses:

“Moses came and called for the elders of the people. He presented to them all these words which the Lord had commanded him. All the people responded in unison, and said, ‘All that the Memra of the Lord has spoken we will do!’”
(Targum Neofiti. Exodus 19:7-8)

The Memra gave the Ten Commandments to Moses:

“The Memra of the Lord spoke all these words [the Ten Commandments], saying…”
(Targum Neofiti. Exodus 20:1a)

When Moses recounts the Law to the people, he says he received the Law from the Memra:

“I was standing between the Memra of the Lord and you at that time, to tell you the Lord’s Memra…”
(Targum Onkelos & Targum Neofiti. Deuteronomy 5:5)

Notice how Memra is used twice in the Targum of Deuteronomy 5:5:

• Memra is first used to describe the divine figure who delivered the Law to Moses.
• Memra is used a second time as a synonym for the Law itself.

God, the Logos, gave the Law to Moses:

“For the Law was given through Moses;”
(John 1:17a)

15. The Memra of the LORD and the Logos both reveal the face and heart of God to man.

Moses encountered the Memra on Mount Sinai:

“And the Memra of the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.”
(Targum Neofiti. Exodus 33:11)

The Logos is God’s only begotten who tangibly shows us the Father:

“No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”
(John 1:18)

16. The Memra of the LORD and the Logos are both identified as the Messiah.

The LORD’s Servant, the Messiah, and the LORD’s Memra both describe the same person in Isaiah’s first Servant Song:

“Behold My servant, the Messiah, whom I bring, My chosen one in whom one delights; as for My Memra, I will put My Holy Spirit upon Him, and He shall reveal My judgment to the nations.”
(Targum Jonathan. Isaiah 42:1)

Jesus (the Logos) is identified as the Messiah:

“We have found the Messiah.”
(John 1:41)

17. The Memra of the LORD and the Logos are the Savior of the World.

The Memra is the Savior of Israel and the nations:

“Israel shall be saved by the Memra of the LORD with an everlasting salvation.”
(Targum Jonathan. Isaiah 45:17)

“In the Memra of the LORD all the seed of Israel will be justified and glorified.”
(Targum Jonathan. Isaiah 49:25)

The Memra is the Savior of the Gentiles:

“Turn unto my WORD, and be ye saved, all that are at the ends of the earth: for I am the LORD, and there is none else.”
(Targum Jonathan. Isaiah 45:22)

Jesus (the Logos) is the Lamb of God for the world:

“Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
(John 1:29)