in depth: “Came/Made/Became” (ἐγένετο/γίνομαι)

The magnificent language and imagery of the prologue as well as its seemingly disjointed nature often detract the reader from grasping the prologue’s collective significance. What holds the prologue together and directs its message is the carefully crafted use of one variously translated Greek verb (γίνομαι). The verb is quite flexible in meaning, which is why it appears in so many different forms in translation, making it undetectable to the English reader: “made,” “came,” “become/became,” the “unique” Son. Since its meaning contains “numerous nuances relating to being and manner of being,” it serves as an excellent medium to express the coming and arrival of the incarnate Word of God. This single Greek verb occurs in every section of the prologue, forming what is like a highway upon which the message and meaning of the prologue travels.

The significance of the verb, however, is not merely its repeated occurrence but its progressive development throughout the prologue. Beginning in v. 3, the verb is used emphatically three times to describe Jesus as the one through whom all things “came” (ἐγένετο) into being, with different verbal tenses expressing both the completed act of creation (aorist) and its continuing effects (perfect). The idea of “creation” behind the use of the verb in v. 3 depicts Jesus as central to all the creativity of God.

John 1:3,

万物是借着他造的。凡被造的，没有一样不是借着他造的。

NRSV: All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being

πάντα διʼ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν.^a ὃ γέγονεν

In v. 6 the verb is used again, though this time to describe the arrival of John (the Baptist), who “came” (ἐγένετο) beneath the sending mission of God. While there is an intended contrast between John (witness) and Jesus (the one witnessed to), the explicit use of the word in v. 6 implies that a related force is also at work here. John would not have used the same verb four times in six verses without allowing them to work in a coordinated manner. The related force influencing v. 6 is that behind the witness of John is the God of creation (v. 3), who is working in creation. John could have used the imperfect “was” (ἦν), which would have described John from the inside. Instead John signals to the reader that even the ministry of the Baptist is subsumed under the creative working of God.

John 1:6

有一个人，是从神那里差来的，名叫约翰。

NRSV There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

Ἐγένετο ἄνθρωπος,^c ἀπεσταλμένος παρὰ θεοῦ, ὄνομα αὐτῷ Ἰωάννης

After being used again in v. 10 in a manner similar to v. 3, helping to carry forward the developing force of the verb, the term is used for a sixth time in v. 12 to describe the “creative” force of God when those who believe “become” (γενέσθαι) children of God. This transformation can only be described (with Paul) as a new creation, connecting this use of the verb with its emphatic use in v. 3 regarding the creation of the world.

John 1:10

他在世界，世界也是借着他造的，世界却不认识他。

NRSV He was in the world, and the world  came into being through him,; yet the world did not know him.

ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ἦν, καὶ ὁ κόσμος διʼ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ ὁ κόσμος αὐτὸν οὐκ ἔγνω.

The seventh (a significant number) occurrence of the verb occurs in v. 14 when John describes how the Word “became” (ἐγένετο) flesh. This is the ultimate manifestation of God’s “creative” activity. The God who had been working from the outside was now on the inside; the Creator is now with his creation. In v. 14 Jesus is also described with a new title that is taken from the word’s root: “the unique Son” (μονογενής; repeated in v. 18). By means of this eighth use Jesus has become the pinnacle of creation, the center of human history and all created things. The ninth use of the verb in v. 15 （约翰为他作见证，喊着说，这就是我曾说，那在我以后来的，反成了在我以前的。因他本来在我以前。）reinforces Jesus’s place in history and the plan of God, making clear that Jesus “existed” not only before the time of the Baptist but before the creation of the world.

John 1:14

道成了肉身住在我们中间，充充满满的有恩典有真理。我们也见过他的荣光，正是父独生子的荣光。

ESV And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Καὶ ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν, καὶ ἐθεασάμεθα τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, δόξαν ὡς μονογενοῦς παρὰ πατρός, πλήρης χάριτος καὶ ἀληθείας.

μονογενοῦς is from μόνος (G3441) and γίνομαι (G1096)

独生子的意思是：耶稣came into being（γίνομαι ）的方式是独特的（μόνος），因为耶稣的人性是祂自己造的。

Finally, the verb is used for a tenth (another significant number) time in v. 17 to describe how the gospel of Jesus Christ is the ultimate “creative” act of God: the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth “came” (ἐγένετο) through Jesus Christ. The same power that God used to create the world (see v. 3) is also at work in the person and ministerial work of Jesus Christ. The children of God were born out of the same power that was used to create the world. With one verb the prologue of John describes with progressive precision the important characters, overall plot, and unseen forces at work in the story; something entirely missed in the English translation.

John 1:17

律法本是借着摩西传的，恩典和真理，都是由耶稣基督来的。

ESV：For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

ὅτι ὁ νόμος διὰ Μωϋσέως ἐδόθη, ἡ χάρις καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐγένετο.

The above discussion not only gives evidence of a unified prologue (1:1–18) but also gives warrant for using the cosmological vision cast by the prologue to interpret and understand the historical events described by the remainder of the Gospel. Even more, the verb makes several other meaning-significant appearances through the Gospel. Direct examples include 4:14; 5:6, 9; 6:19; and 8:58. Indirect examples include 3:9; 6:25; 9:27, 39; and 19:36. While we will not explore each of those examples in depth, the same “creative” and transformative vision of the work of God through Jesus Christ crafted by the prologue should, based upon the context, be equally applied to those occurrences.^[1]

^[1] Klink, E. W., III. (2016). John. (C. E. Arnold, Ed.) (pp. 114–116). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.