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and "content" (the truth that those words are designed to teach), for who among us can
ever hope to plumb the depths or scale the heights of such a revelation? Nevertheless,
just as one may be impressed with the serene majesty of the Jungfrau, without ever
having set foot upon its frozen slopes, so we may contemplate the majesty of John 1: 1
without pretending that such infinitude has been comprehended. We can believe what
God has told us, even though the subject-matter transcends our experience.
En arche.--First of all, let us note the four occurrences of this phrase in the N.T.:
"In the beginning was the Word" (John 1: 1).
"The same was in the beginning with God" (John 1: 2).
"And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning"
(Acts 11: 15).
"Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel . . . . . no church
communicated with me . . . . . but ye only" (Phil. 4: 15).
It will be seen that in each case something must be understood, if we are to grasp the
writer's full meaning. For example, in Acts 11: 15 the reference is to the beginning of
the Apostle's ministry, and looks back to Acts 2: 4. In Phil. 4: 15 the Apostle supplies
the necessary explanation, which we purposely omitted in the quotation above, for
immediately after the words "in the beginning of the gospel", he adds "when I departed
from Macedonia". It would appear then, that after each occurrence of the phrase "in the
beginning" we must add an explanatory term commencing with the word "when"--and
we must now consider the question of what should be added to John 1: 1.
Bloomfield says: "At en arche, understand ton panton (`of all things') from the
subsequent context at verse 3, pantaegeneto (`all things were made by Him')." However,
if we pay regard to Col. 1:, we shall remember that there, where Christ is described as
the Creator of all things visible and invisible, He is said to be "before all things", both as
to time and pre-eminence. The Companion Bible supplies the words "of the ages" and
refers to Heb. 1: 2 and 11: 3, where the ages are said to be prepared by Him.
There is an obvious parallel between Gen. 1: 1 and John 1: 1, but there is also an
important distinction to be observed. In Gen. 1: 1 it is an act done, whereas in John 1: 1
it is a Being existing. Genesis speaks of the first moment of time, while John goes back
to a period before the ages.
In John 17:, we have two references to this period "before the age times".
"And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self, with the glory which I had
with Thee before the world was" (John 17: 5).
We can therefore read in John 1: 1: "In the beginning (before the world was) was the
Word."
The second passage in John 17: reads: "Thou lovest Me before the foundation
(overthrow, katabole) of the world" (John 17: 24). This refers to a period before
Gen. 1: 2, and so is not parallel with John 1: 1.