What Does John 1:2 Mean?
He was in the beginning, turned toward God.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
The same was in the beginning with God.THE KEY
The beginning is already a relation: the Word is with God there, not outside that relation awaiting a later start.
THE MEANING
The Word is already with God at the beginning. The verse presents the Word’s relation to God as present at the origin, before anything that begins is under way.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The Word does not begin as a later addition to God’s life; this verse places the Word with God at the beginning.
THE ROOT
ἀρχή
archē
GROWS FROM
ἀρχ-
arch-
The Greek word family carries the ideas of beginning and rule.
The same word family can name a beginning and a ruler. Here the word is temporal, but it places the Word at the origin rather than downstream from it.
ALSO GROWS
archō: to begin; to rule
ἄρχω
Its shared stem links beginning with the idea of what takes the lead.
archōn: ruler, one who exercises authority
ἄρχων
This related word shows how the family reaches from firstness toward rule, while this verse specifically says the Word is present at the beginning.
πρός
pros
GROWS FROM
πρός
pros
A relational preposition that can mark direction toward someone as well as being with them.
“turned toward” in this verse is pros. The KJV’s “with” can sound like simple proximity, while πρός also carries orientation toward another. The verse presents the Word as already in relation to God at the beginning.
ALSO GROWS
prosagōgē: approach, access
προσαγωγή
This compound uses πρός as a prefix; its sense of approach adds a direction toward someone to the idea of relation.
prosechō: turn toward, attend to
προσέχω
Here too, πρός contributes the sense of directing oneself toward something, echoing the orientation in “with God.”
THE PATTERN
What is present at the origin is already in relation to God; creation does not begin in isolation.
And the earth was unshaped and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the breath of God was fluttering over the face of the waters.Then I am at his side, a craftsman; and I am his delight day by day, laughing before him at all times.And now, O Father, clothe me in weight at your own side, with the weight I had beside you before the world was.THE THREAD
In the beginning was the word, and the word was turned toward God, and the word was God.John repeats the Greek ἀρχή (archē, “beginning”) and πρός (pros, “with, toward”), keeping the same origin and relation in view. “The same” in this verse points back to that Word, continuing the thought rather than introducing a new one.
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