john 1:1, different versions of this scripture in many different bibles, which is the original correct one?

Question

and the word was a god,
and the word was god, etc, etc

Answer 1

"In the beginning the word was,and the word was with God,and the word was a god."This is the new world translation of the holy scriputure.

Answer 2

It is most likely that the correct translation is "and the word was God."
Whether John is equating Jesus with God here is grammatically ambiguous. The word God in the Greek (theos) lacks the definite article (the word for 'the'), which would explicitly show that John equates Jesus with God. There is no word in Greek for the indefinite article ('a' in English) so the translation could be rendered 'a God.' However, the problem here is that the particular construction under question is a predicate nominative construction, in which the predicate nominative (in this case, God) would almost always lack the definite article by the rules of koine Greek. If we look at the internal evidence of the Gospel, John does later equate Jesus with God at some points, while at other points Jesus is subordinated to God. So again, ambiguity becomes a problem. I think John probably meant to equate Jesus with God, but that is my own opinion here. Being that Christianity was an offshoot of monotheistic Judaism, I doubt that John meant to indicate that there were 2 God's in the beginning.

Answer 3

The King James Version is the correct one, the others came after-wards.

The scripture you are referring to is the Book of John Chapter 1 v 1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. That is the way it is written in the King James Bible

In the JW's bible it is written

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was a god.
Entirely different meaning,

Reading more in the King James Bible, and also in the JW's bible you will see that they have similar verses which state that there is only ONE GOD. So therefore the JW's version is incorrect, they added the a, to explain the reason they don't believe in the Trinity.

The book of John was written to explain, Jesus's deity. That He was in fact God, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Answer 4

To answer that, you need an interlinear version, which shows the original greek with it's literal translation alongside the english equivalent. Some Bibles add the word "a" before the last "god". This is because there is no equivalent in the original language and anytime the word "a" shows up, it has to be inserted to complete the original meaning. Someone reading the original text in the original language would know from context, etc that it should be there.

Answer 5

The answer to this question is extremely complex and the subject of many essays and books over many eras of time.

Looking over what has been suggested so far, Bently and Novum Testamentum Gracae have given you an understanding of the grammar issues present.

Adding to this ambiguity of the grammar, we might also look at what John's christological understandings were. Here, he seems in this statement, to be establishing a pre-history of Jesus before his birth on earth. Remember, this would be a new concept, as the Jews were expecting a human messiah from God, but John is saying here that Jesus was pre-existent with God and was God (or "a God", depending on how you interpret it) before his physical incarnation on earth.

As well, you might want to do some reading on "Logos Christology" -- that is, what did it mean for John to say Jesus was "Logos"? Some have drawn a connection to the Wisdom or Sophia tradition. Here is an article on "Logos" that might be illuminating: http://www.milligan.edu/Administrative/MMatson/logos.pdf

As for which version is "right" -- there are sooo many opinions! I've posted a link to several articles that might give you a sampling!

Answer 6

The original Greek, if one accepts that this is original and unaltered, is as follows:
En arche en ho logos, kai ho logos en pros ton Theon, kai Theos en ho logos.
In the beginning was the logos, and the logos was with God, and the logos was God.
The critical difficulty is in translating the word "logos." One could easily spend considerable time, at least several hours, talking about its meaning and implications. It is usually translated as "word" and refers to Jesus Christ. Logos refers to something which both completely is , in one sense, and yet continuously unfolds itself. As a parallel, think of a river: the river is what is in front of you, yet the water in the river is always changing. In that sense the river is always changing and yet the river is always the same. Hence, logos, however we translate the word, refers to a Christ who is both complete and ever becoming.
Another difficulty with this verse is the phrase, "In the beginning" which has prompted so many people to ask, "What happened before the beginning?" To understand this in Greek, you would not ask this question. Literally it might better translate as "when order was imposed upon nothingness."
When I was first studying Greek, this was one of the phrases I had to interpret. It is an incredibly beautiful verse, filled with enough for one to consider for hours at a time. Each effort at translating this seems no better than the other, but to ponder its meaning is quite a wonderful thing, simple though it appears. Ultimately one must ask how something can both be something and also be with, which is to say, separate from, that thing?
Great question!

Answer 7

The Catholic Church gave birth to the Bible in the 5th. Century A.D. The Church commissioned St. Jerome, a linguistics genius and priest, to translate the original writings into the common language of the people. His translation resulted in the first Christian Bible, the Latin Vulgate Bible.

The Latin Vulgate Bible was finally translated into English. That came to be known as the Douay-Rheims Bible (still available today).

H

If I may expand, "...And the Word was God..." is correct. That: 'And the word was a god...' is Jehovah's Witness nonsense.

H

Answer 8

okay, here's a few versions of the same verse.

king james version:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

new international version:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

new american standard bible:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

english standard version:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

La Nuova Diodati (Italian):
Nel principio era la Parola e la Parola era presso Dio, e la Parola era Dio. literal translation into english: In the principle it was the Word and the Word was near God, and the Word was God.

are you getting the idea...?

Answer 9

the final one so some distance as i'm in contact is the oldest version via fact while the recent present day variations are available, men start to regulate words and words and each so often they actually make God's be conscious say some thing diverse than what replaced into meant interior the 1st occasion. hence, you could no longer pass incorrect in case you stick to the old King James version from 1611 which replaced into diligently translated on the King's command and he replaced into Defender of the religion. of direction the later variations of the King James Bible are very sturdy and are actually called "The accepted version" via fact it replaced into accepted via King James and appointed to be study in church homes.

Answer 10

go to blueletterbible.com and look up that chapter and verse and you can see what each word means in the original language and you can decide for yourself. It would help to also look at some commentaries on the bible and see what some bible scholars say.