John 1:2

Studied by claude-opus-5-5 October 8, 2026

οὗτος ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν θεόν.

houtos ēn en archē pros ton theon.

This one was in beginning with (facing toward) the God.

What it meant

This one, the very Word I have just called God, was already there at the beginning of all things, existing with the God, in his company and turned toward him.

At first glance verse 2 looks like a repeat of verse 1, but it is a deliberate pivot. John gathers verse 1's three statements into one sentence and leans on the pointing word houtos, "this one, this same one." He then repeats two of verse 1's phrases, "in the beginning" and "with God." "In the beginning" is the opening phrase of Genesis, so we are standing at the moment creation starts. There the Word simply was: not made, not starting, already in existence. That "was" is set against verse 3's "came into being", which John uses for everything else.

"With God" (pros ton theon) means "in the company of God," as one person is with another. The preposition's root sense of "toward" gives a hint of relationship and orientation, not just position. The article matters too. John says the Word was with the God, the one he will soon call the Father, so the Word is distinct from him even though verse 1 has just said the Word was God.

So verse 2 holds both truths together before creation is narrated: this same one is God, and is with God. It also sets up verse 3. The one who was there with God at the start is the one through whom everything that exists came to be.

Where the English drifted

with God pros ton theon

What we hear

Readers who use "God" for the whole Trinity may hear "the Word was with the Godhead", or may see no difference between "with God" (v. 2) and "was God" (v. 1c).

What they heard

With the article, "the God" names a specific person, the one John goes on to call "the Father" (1:14, 18; compare 1 John 1:2, "the life which was with the Father"). The Word is with him, as distinct from him, while also being "God" in the description of 1:1c.

Where the later meaning came from: Later theological usage, both Latin and Greek, that uses "God" for the triune Godhead, plus the fact that English cannot show the Greek article difference between 1:1b/1:2 and 1:1c.

What the first hearers heard

John's first readers were Christians, mostly Jewish and Greek-speaking, in the late first century. They were in sharp debate with synagogue communities about who Jesus was (compare John 9:22; 16:2). For them, verse 2 did three things:

It anchored the Word before creation. Repeating "in the beginning" tied the Word to Genesis 1. The one they knew as Jesus did not appear partway through history. He was there when God began to create.
It kept "God" and "with God" together. Right after the claim "the Word was God," verse 2 restates that this same Word was "with the God." Readers were being taught to confess both, with no shortcut: not merely a divine helper or agent like Wisdom, and not simply God the Father under another name.
It set up creation through the Word. "This one" leads straight into verse 3: "through him all things came to be." Jewish readers knew that only God creates (Isaiah 44:24). Placing the Word at the beginning with God and then naming him as the agent of creation put him on God's side of the Creator–creature line.

Read aloud in worship, the Prologue's repetitions (was… was… was… this one was…) have a rhythmic, almost hymn-like quality. Verse 2 slows the reader at the most important point before the story of creation and then incarnation unfolds.

Every word

οὗτος
houtos · G3778

this, this one, he

Points back to "the Word" of verse 1 and stands first for emphasis: "this one", the very Word just described as God, is the one now being placed with God at the beginning. It picks up the subject and carries it forward to verse 3.
ἦν
ēn · G1510

was, existed

The fourth "was" in two verses. It describes ongoing existence, not a starting point, and John deliberately sets it against "came into being" (egeneto), which he uses in verse 3 for everything that was created.
ἐν
en · G1722

in

Locates the Word's existence "in" the beginning, repeating the opening words of verse 1, which are also the opening words of Genesis in Greek.
ἀρχῇ
archē · G746

beginning, origin, first principle

There is no article ("in beginning"), exactly as in the Greek of Genesis 1:1. It means the starting point of creation. The Word already was there at that point; he is not something that began.
πρὸς
pros · G4314

toward, with, in the presence of

With a verb of being, it means "with, in the company of". The basic sense of the preposition, "toward", leaves a hint of personal orientation, a being-with that is relationship and not simply location side by side.
τὸν
ton · G3588

the

The article marks "the God", the specific God of Israel, the one John later calls "the Father" (1:14, 18). It keeps this "God" distinct from the Word who is with him.
θεόν
theon · G2316

God

With the article, it names the person the Word is with, matching verse 1b exactly. It contrasts with verse 1c, where "God" (theos) without the article describes what the Word is.

Key words, in depth

οὗτος houtos G3778

Range of meaning: A demonstrative pronoun, "this, this one". It points to something just mentioned or close at hand, and it often brings a subject back for emphasis ("this very one", "the same"). In John it frequently introduces an important claim about a person (e.g. 1:15 "This was he of whom I said…"; 1:30, 1:34).
Against the English: BSB and NIV turn it into a plain "He", which is correct but loses the pointing force. KJV and WEB ("The same", following Tyndale) and YLT ("this one") keep the sense that John is saying "this one, and no other". Because John left out the noun "Word", the pronoun also personalises the Logos: "this one" is a someone, not an abstract principle.
Used elsewhere in the period: In ordinary Koine Greek, "houtos" regularly resumes a subject named just before (BDAG s.v. οὗτος 1). John uses this habit often, and especially in the Prologue and in the Baptist's testimony (1:7, 15, 30, 33, 34).
What it does in this verse: Verse 1 ended with the bold "the Word was God". Verse 2 starts again with "this one", meaning the Word just called God, and places him again with God. The pronoun knits verse 1's three clauses into one subject and then hands that subject on to verse 3 ("through him all things came into being"). The same one who is God and with God is the agent of creation.

ἦν ēn G1510

Range of meaning: The imperfect (past ongoing) form of "to be": "was, was existing, was there". It can say that something exists, where it is, or what it is like.
Against the English: English "was" can sound like a single moment in the past. NLT's "existed" brings out the existence sense. No English word fully captures John's deliberate contrast between this "was" and the "came to be" of verse 3.
Used elsewhere in the period: In the Prologue, John sets "ēn" (was) for the Word against "egeneto" (came to be / happened) for creation (1:3, 10) and for John the Baptist (1:6, "there came a man"). He draws the same contrast in 8:58: "before Abraham came to be (genesthai), I am (eimi)." The Greek of Proverbs 8:30 uses the same verb for Wisdom at creation: "I was (ēmēn) beside him."
What it does in this verse: In "the beginning", the moment creation started, the Word already was. Verse 2 repeats this "was" so the reader cannot miss that the Word sits on the Creator's side of the line between Creator and creation, which verse 3 is about to draw.

ἀρχή archē G746

Range of meaning: Beginning or starting point (in time); origin or source; first place, rule, ruling power (hence "rulers" in Paul). In Greek philosophy it can mean a first principle of reality.
Against the English: "The beginning" in English can sound like a vague "long ago" or a scientific starting point of the universe. John means the beginning in Genesis 1:1, the moment God began creating. English versions add "the", which the Greek lacks, but so does every English Genesis 1:1, so this is a fair rendering.
Used elsewhere in the period: Greek Genesis 1:1: "En archē epoiēsen ho theos…" ("In the beginning God made…"). Proverbs 8:22–23 (Greek): Wisdom was established "before the age, in the beginning (en archē)". Sirach 24:9: Wisdom was created "before the age, from the beginning". 1 John 1:1 and 2:13 have "that which was from the beginning".
What it does in this verse: Repeating "in the beginning" makes verse 2 a deliberate echo of Genesis, setting up verse 3's statement about creation. A Jewish reader would hear Genesis being retold with the Word placed at its starting moment. In the Wisdom texts Wisdom is "created" or "established" at the beginning; John says only that the Word "was".

πρός pros G4314

Range of meaning: With the accusative case, its basic sense is motion or direction "toward, to". It also has an extended Koine sense, "with, in the company of, near", especially with verbs of being, where no motion is involved (BDAG s.v. πρός 3.g). It can also mean "in relation to, with regard to".
Against the English: "With" is accurate. Some popular teaching renders it "face to face with" or "turned toward" God. That catches a real nuance: John chose a word whose root sense is personal orientation, and not "para" (beside) or "meta" (along with). But it overstates what the word must mean, since ordinary Koine uses "pros" + accusative for plain "with".
How it drifted: Not English drift so much as overreading in the other direction. Popular sermons sometimes build a full "face-to-face communion" doctrine on the root meaning of the preposition, when the usage alone does not demand it.
Used elsewhere in the period: Mark 6:3: "are not his sisters here with us (pros hēmas)?" Mark 9:19: "how long shall I be with you (pros hymas)?" Mark 14:49: "daily I was with you (pros hymas) in the temple." 1 John 1:2: "the eternal life which was with the Father (ēn pros ton patera)", the closest parallel, from the same circle of writings. Compare Proverbs 8:30 (Greek): Wisdom "was beside him" (par' autō).
What it does in this verse: The Word is with God as one person is with another: distinct from him, in his company, in relationship. That is the point verse 2 reasserts after verse 1c. The Word is God (1c), yet he is not simply the same as "the God" he is with. 1 John 1:2's "was with the Father" supports a personal, relational sense. The "face-to-face" picture is a possible overtone, not a demonstrated meaning.

ὁ θεός (τὸν θεόν) ho theos (ton theon) G2316

Range of meaning: "God". With the article it usually names the one God of Israel as a specific person. Without the article it can describe what kind of being something is ("divine, God in nature"), or it can still name God. Context decides.
Against the English: English has no article distinction here. "Was with God" and "was God" look the same in translation, but John wrote "with the God" (here and in 1:1b) and "God was the Word" without the article (1:1c). Verse 2 repeats the version with the article.
How it drifted: Later Christian vocabulary often uses "God" for the whole Trinity. In John 1:1b–2, "the God" refers to the person John goes on to call "the Father" (1:14, 18; 1 John 1:2), not to the Godhead as a whole. Otherwise the Word would be "with" a Godhead that includes himself.
Used elsewhere in the period: In Greek-speaking Judaism (the Septuagint, Philo) "ho theos" with the article is the standard way to name Israel's God. Philo (On Dreams 1.229–230) notes the difference between "ho theos" with the article and "theos" without it when discussing the Logos, which shows that Jewish readers of the time noticed the distinction. John 1:18 has "no one has ever seen God… the one at the Father's side has made him known".
What it does in this verse: Verse 2 brings the reader back to the relational statement of 1:1b. After the climactic "the Word was God", John immediately re-establishes that the Word is with the God: two who can be distinguished, not one merged identity. That balance, God yet with God, is what verse 2 protects.

The world behind it

The opening of John deliberately retells Genesis 1 ("In the beginning…"). Greek-speaking Jews of the first century already had a way of talking about something that was with God at creation and took part in it: personified Wisdom.

Proverbs 8:22–30: Wisdom speaks: "The LORD brought me forth at the beginning… when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him" (Greek: ēmēn par' autō, "I was beside him").
Wisdom of Solomon 9:9: "With you is Wisdom, who knows your works and was present when you made the world." In 9:1–2 God made all things "by your word (logos)" and formed humanity "by your wisdom."
Sirach 1:1; 24:3–9: Wisdom is "with him forever" and came forth "from the mouth of the Most High."
Philo of Alexandria (a Jewish philosopher, died c. AD 50) calls the divine Logos God's instrument in creation and even, cautiously, a "second god."

Against this background verse 2 would sound familiar: something with God at the beginning. What would surprise readers is the strength of John's claims. Wisdom in Proverbs and Sirach is "created" or "established" at the beginning, but the Word simply "was." The Word is not only beside God; verse 1 says he was God. And verse 2's "this one" treats the Word as a person, which becomes concrete in verse 14 when the Word becomes flesh. Verse 2 restates "with God" right after "the Word was God", which keeps the Jewish confession that God is one from collapsing in either direction: the Word is neither a second god alongside the one God nor simply another name for the Father.

How the translations handle it

BSB He was with God in the beginning.
KJV The same was in the beginning with God.
WEB The same was in the beginning with God.
YLT this one was in the beginning with God;

KJV“The same was in the beginning with God.”

Gets right: "The same" (inherited from Tyndale) keeps the emphatic pointing force of *houtos*: this very one. It also keeps the Greek word order, so the echo of Genesis ("in the beginning") comes before "with God", just as in verse 1.
Loses: "The same" is archaic and can sound impersonal ("the same thing"). It does not by itself make clear that a person is meant.

WEB“The same was in the beginning with God.”

Gets right: Identical to KJV. Keeps the resumptive force and the Greek order.
Loses: Same archaic, slightly impersonal feel as KJV.

YLT“this one was in the beginning with God;”

Gets right: The most literal: "this one" renders *houtos* exactly and makes clear a person is being pointed to.
Loses: Stilted English. Like the others, it cannot show the Greek article ("the God").

BSB“He was with God in the beginning.”

Gets right: Clear, natural English. The capital "He" signals that the Word is a person.
Loses: Moves "with God" before "in the beginning", which weakens the deliberate repetition of the Genesis-style opening of verse 1. The plain "He" also loses the emphasis of "this one".

NIV“"He was with God in the beginning"”

Gets right: Readable, and it makes the Word personal.
Loses: Same reordering as BSB, and the emphatic "this one" becomes an ordinary pronoun.

ESV“"He was in the beginning with God"”

Gets right: Keeps the Greek order and the echo of verse 1.
Loses: "He" loses the emphatic pointing of *houtos*.

NASB“"He was in the beginning with God"”

Gets right: Literal word order, close to the Greek.
Loses: Same small loss of emphasis as ESV.

NLT“"existed in the beginning with God"”

Gets right: "Existed" brings out the continuing-existence sense of *ēn* and its contrast with "came into being" in verse 3.
Loses: Turns a simple "was" into an interpretive verb. Fair here, but it hides the repeated "was… was… was" rhythm that runs through verses 1–2.

Text and manuscripts

Manuscripts. The Greek of this verse is stable. There is no significant variant in the manuscript tradition.

Data note. The supplied transliteration of ἀρχῇ as "archēa" is an error. The dative form is archē (or archēi, if the iota written under the last letter is shown). Lemma, Strong's number (G746) and parsing (dative singular feminine) are otherwise correct.

Latin Vulgate. Hoc erat in principio apud Deum. Because Latin verbum ("word") is grammatically neuter, the Vulgate uses the neuter hoc ("this thing") for Greek masculine houtos. Greek logos is masculine, so houtos could be read as "he" or "this one". Latin grammar pushed toward an impersonal "this" here, which is one reason older Latin-based English (Wycliffe: "This was in the bigynnyng at God") sounds less personal than the Greek. The Latin apud ("at the house of, in the presence of") renders pros well as "with".

Old Testament in Greek (the Septuagint). The phrase en archē matches Genesis 1:1 word for word, without the article. Pros + accusative meaning "with" has a close parallel in 1 John 1:2: ēn pros ton patera, "was with the Father."

Verse division. Verse 2 is not affected by the well-known punctuation question at the end of verse 3 (whether "that which has come into being" ends verse 3 or begins verse 4).

Where scholars differ

How much should be read into πρός ("with" vs. "toward/face to face with")?

Plain "with, in the company of". The preposition carries no special stress on movement or orientation.

In Koine Greek, *pros* + accusative after a verb of being commonly means simply "with" (Mark 6:3; 9:19; 14:49; Matthew 13:56). BDAG lists this usage (s.v. πρός 3.g). Grammarians such as Harris (*Prepositions and Theology*) caution against building on the root meaning "toward".
"With", carrying a relational overtone of orientation or communion ("turned toward God").

John could have used *para* ("beside", as in Proverbs 8:30 and John 17:5) or *meta* ("along with") but chose *pros*. The parallel in 1 John 1:2 ("with the Father") and John 1:18 (the Son "at the Father's side") suggest a personal relationship. Several commentators (e.g. Brown, Moloney) allow this nuance while not resting on it.

Why does verse 2 repeat what verse 1 already said?

It is a deliberate summary and transition. It gathers verse 1 into one subject ("this one") and passes it to verse 3's statement about creation.

*Houtos* resumes the subject. Verse 3 continues with "through him" (*di' autou*), which needs a clear person for "him" to refer to. The Prologue repeats and links phrases throughout (light/darkness, world/world, his own/his own).
It guards the balance of verse 1, so that "the Word was God" is not taken to mean the Word is simply identical with the Father.

Verse 2 repeats only the relational clauses ("in the beginning", "with the God"), straight after the anarthrous *theos* of 1:1c, which keeps the distinction between the Word and "the God" in view (e.g. Carson, Keener).
It is the evangelist's own expansion of an earlier hymn that he adapted.

Some scholars (e.g. Bultmann, and in modified form others) reconstruct a poetic source behind the Prologue and see the prose-like repetition of verse 2 as editorial. This is a hypothesis; there is no manuscript evidence for an earlier form, and the reconstructions differ widely.

Sources

BDAG (Bauer–Danker–Arndt–Gingrich, Greek-English Lexicon of the NT, 3rd ed.) s.v. πρός, οὗτος, ἀρχή, θεός
Septuagint: Genesis 1:1; Proverbs 8:22–30; Sirach 1:1, 24:3–9; Wisdom of Solomon 9:1–2, 9
1 John 1:1–2 (ἦν πρὸς τὸν πατέρα)
Philo, De Somniis 1.227–230 (on θεός with and without the article in relation to the Logos)
Murray J. Harris, Prepositions and Theology in the Greek New Testament (on πρός in John 1:1–2)
Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics (on the article with θεός in John 1:1)
Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John I–XII (Anchor Bible)
D. A. Carson, The Gospel According to John (Pillar NTC)
Craig S. Keener, The Gospel of John: A Commentary
C. K. Barrett, The Gospel According to St John
Rudolf Bultmann, The Gospel of John: A Commentary (Prologue source hypothesis)
Vulgate (Nova Vulgata / Clementine): Ioannes 1:2

Original-language data: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (CC BY 4.0).

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