Antioquia

Greek word · Strong G3056

What does Logos mean?

Logos is the Greek word for “word”, but also for reason, message and speech. At the beginning of John's Gospel the Logos is Christ himself: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).

λόγος

lógos · transliteration

In Strong’s lexicon
something said (including the thought); by implication, a topic (subject of discourse), also reasoning (the mental faculty) or motive; by extension, a computation; specially, (with the article in John) the Divine Expression (i.e. Christ)
In the King James
  • word168
  • words45
  • saying34
  • sayings16
  • account8
  • speech8
Appears in
316 verses

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The meaning of Logos in the Bible

In most of the more than 300 verses where it appears, logos is the spoken word or the message — the word of God preached, the sayings of Jesus. But John uses it in a way all his own: the Logos existed before all things, all things were made by him, and “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).

For Jewish readers, the Word recalled the God who creates by speaking — “And God said, Let there be light”; for Greek readers, the logos was the reason that orders the universe. John draws on both and goes further: this Word is not an idea but a person, who could be seen and heard. In Christ, God has spoken fully (Hebrews 1:1-2).

Where Logos appears

John 1:1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
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John 1:14

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
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Hebrews 4:12

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
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Frequently asked questions

Why is Jesus called the Logos?
Because in him God reveals himself fully: as a word expresses a thought, Christ expresses who God is. John 1 says he was with God, was God, and became flesh.
What is the difference between logos and rhema?
Logos usually points to the message, the content; rhema to the spoken word. The two overlap in the New Testament and both refer to the word of God.

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