By Pastor Emanuel Rodriguez
KJV John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
TR John 1:1 εν αρχη ην ο λογος και ο λογος ην προς τον θεον και θεος ην ο λογος
RVG Juan 1:1 En el principio era el Verbo, y el Verbo era con Dios, y el Verbo era Dios.
1602P Juan 1:1 EN el principio era la Palabra, y la Palabra era con Dios, y la Palabra era Dios.
The Greek word Logos (λογος logos log'-os) is translated in the RVG as Verbo. The RVG is criticized by some (but not many) of our opponents for translating it as “El Verbo” instead of “La Palabra”. The loudest critics of Verbo are those who support the Valera 1602 “Purified” (1602P) Spanish Bible.
To be fair, some who have criticized the word “Verbo” have admitted that their Spanish is very limited. Most Christian native Spanish-speakers don't think twice about the word "Verbo" in reference to the Lord in John 1:1 (unless they were convinced to have a problem with it by someone). The word “Verbo” is normally a problem for those who:
1. Don’t speak Spanish
2. Are just learning Spanish
3. Do not have Spanish as a first language
This article is not an exhaustive treatment. For those wanting to research the words Verbo and Palabra in greater detail I suggest the articles in the following links: https://www.sociedadrvg.com/en/post/perspectives-on-sermo-and-verbum
This article is written more for the person who is just being introduced to the debate over the words Verbo and Palabra. This is a summary of the main talking points. This summary will demonstrate 3 things:
1. There is nothing wrong with the word “Verbo” in reference to the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. The word “Verbo” is a superior translation for “Logos” than the word “Palabra” is for grammatical reasons.
3. Our critics have a shallow understanding of the word “Verbo” and its theological application.
In so doing, the superficial arguments against the word “Verbo” will be refuted.
1. Verbo Defined in the Dictionary
The critics argue that the word Verbo is wrong because it is commonly used as “verb”. What they refuse to acknowledge is that words can have multiple meanings. Context determines which meaning applies to the word when used.
The official standard for all words in Spanish is the Royal Academy of Spain (or RAE for Real Academia de España). The RAE is the #1 authority on the Spanish language. In their dictionary the word “Verbo” is defined as “the second person of the most holy Trinity”.
Depending on how the word is being used in a sentence, the word “Verbo” can either mean “verb” or it can refer to the Lord. In John 1:1 it is an obvious reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a theological terminology.
The fact that the most authoritative Spanish dictionary defines “El Verbo” as being another name for Christ ought to be enough to settle the whole debate.
2. Grammar Issues
The reason why the word “Palabra” was replaced with “Verbo” as the name for the Lord in John 1:1 was because it created grammar problems in the original Reina Valera Bible. The critics love to point out that “Palabra” was the word choice of both Casiodoro de Reina in 1569 and Cipriano de Valera in 1602. What they never point out, however, is that because Reina and Valera used the word “Palabra” they were forced to refer to Christ as “her” (ella) in John 1:2-4.
In the Spanish language, words have gender. The gender of the word “Palabra” is feminine. Therefore, pronouns that refer to the word “Palabra” must also be feminine. Reina and Valera stayed consistent with Spanish grammar. However, the feminine gender of the word “Palabra” created a problem in regard to the pronouns in the next few verses. This was why Reina and Valera both requested for other scholars to pick up where they left off and improve their noble work. These champions of the faith were humble enough to recognize that their Bible would need more improvement.
Replacing the female Spanish designation for the Lord’s name in John 1:1 with a masculine word eliminated the problem. The RVG refers to the Lord as “he” in John 1:2-4 because it calls Him “el Verbo”, a masculine gender title. Problem solved!
The 1602P restored the problematic word “Palabra” in John 1:1. Their audacious solution to deal with the feminine gender of the word, however, was to ignore the rules of grammar and make the pronouns masculine anyways in John 1:2-4. For some reason they believed it was OK to break rules of grammar. Perhaps they thought they were being clever. Yet they fail to realize that by breaking grammar rules they created another problem.
Since the pronouns are masculine they cannot grammatically refer to the feminine word “Palabra”. They will instead have to refer to the masculine word “God” (Dios), which eliminates the teaching that Christ was the Creator. In the 1602P, what is supposed to be a clear statement for the deity of Christ is polluted by bad grammar.
Ignoring a problem is never the solution.
It is interesting to note that the Spanish version of the New World Translation, the Bible of the Jehovah’s Witness cult, did the exact same thing. See for yourself:
Juan 1:1 "En el principio la Palabra existía, la Palabra estaba con Dios y la Palabra era un dios."
Juan 1:2 "Él estaba en el principio con Dios."
Juan 1:3 "Todas las cosas llegaron a existir por medio de él, y sin él no llegó a existir ni siquiera una sola cosa. Lo que ha venido a existir"
Juan 1:4 "mediante él fue la vida, y la vida era la luz de los seres humanos." New World Translation
Our opponents try to counter-argue that Jesus is referred to with feminine words in symbolism, such as "the door" (la puerta), or "the light" (la luz), or "the vine" (la vid). The reason why this argument doesn't work, however, is because there is a difference between symbolism and an actual name. The critics at least recognize that "the Word" is a proper title, a name. Illustrative symbolisms are one thing. To give Christ a feminine name would be another. It would be wrong.
3. Verbo is NOT a Catholic Word
An outrageous claim in the debate over the words Verbo and Palabra is that the word Verbo is a Catholic word. The word Verbo comes from the Latin word Verbum. The critics claim that Verbum is a Catholic word. This is false.
To prove that the Latin word Verbum is a “Catholic” word you would have to prove that the word was invented by the Roman Catholic Church. The reason why that is impossible to do is because there is documented proof that the word existed before the Catholic church ever showed up. The word was used by Christian writers in reference to Christ centuries before the Catholic church started.
First of all, when did the Catholic church start? There are different theories. Some date the official start of the Catholic church back to the time of Pope Gregory the First in the 6th century. Some might date it back to Innocent the First in the 5th century. Tracing the origins of the Catholic church is tricky and debatable because of how it developed over centuries. Many church historians trace it back to the Council of Nicea in 325 AD which arguably initiated the beginning of the Catholic church’s development with the efforts of Constantine the Great.
If we take the early date of 325 AD as Catholicism’s origin, the critics still have the problem of explaining the usage of the word Verbum before then. There is documentation for the usage of the word Verbum in reference to Christ in the writings of the following pre-Catholic church Christian writers:
Ignatius of Antioch (50-108 AD)
Athenagoras (133-190 AD)
Tertullian (155-220 AD)
Cyprian (210-258 AD)
Novatian (200-258 AD)
(To read quotes and see the sources, read Addendum A at the end of this article.)
4. Not Everything Latin is Catholic
A common misconception is that anything that comes from Latin is Catholic. That is a novice mistake. Dr. David Brown, President of the King James Bible Research Council, explains:
"Don't make the mistake that many people make. When they hear the word Latin used in conjunction with the Bible, or church, they automatically assume that it is to be associated with the Roman Catholic Church. However, that is not true because in northern Italy, the Italic Church had begun in A. D. 120 according to Theodore Beza, the associate and successor of John Calvin, the Great Swiss reformer. Its remoteness isolated it from the influence of the Church at Rome. The Italic Church was the forerunner of churches in this same region, which would later be called the Vaudois, or, the Waldenses. Both of these names simply mean "peoples of the valleys." The Italic, or pre-Waldensian Church, produced a version of the New Testament which was translated from the Received Text by the year 157 AD. The noted church historian, Frederic Nolan, confirms this. This date is less than one hundred years after most of the books of the New Testament were written. The greater point is that the Itala (or Old Latin) was translated from the Received Text, indicating its existence to the earliest days of the New Testament church. There, the Received Text clearly existed and was used by churches in early church history." p. 92-93, The Indestructible Book, by Dr. David Brown
5. Latin Manuscript Evidence Support “Verbum”
There are over 10,000 Latin Bible manuscripts in existence. The majority of Latin manuscript evidence supports the word Verbum according to Hugh Houghton, who many in academia consider to be the foremost Latin Bible manuscript expert in the world. Houghton states:
“all surviving Latin manuscripts have verbum for logos in John 1:1, even though some Christian writers (principally Tertullian) show that sermo could have existed as an alternative rendering.” P. 165-166, The Latin New Testament: A Guide to its Early History, Texts, and Manuscripts by Hugh Houghton
In correspondence with Dr. Carlos Donate of the RVG Bible Society, Houghton wrote:
“Yes - support for 'verbum' appears in writers such as Novatian, Cyprian, Victorinus of Poetovio, Hilary of Poitiers etc. etc.. In fact, the bulk of attestation supports 'verbum' as the best known reading by far, but the writers I mention below provide evidence that it co-existed with 'sermo' in earliest times.”
“So for at least 1000 years (and probably always) 'verbum' was the standard Latin reading.”
6. Critical Text Bibles and Catholic Bibles Also Use “Palabra”
If Verbo is a corrupt, Catholic word, shouldn’t all corrupt Catholic Bibles use it instead of Palabra? Why do corrupt, Catholic Bibles use Palabra? Here’s a list of corrupt Critical Text Bibles that say "Palabra" in John 1:1:
The Catholic Bible of Martin Nieto published by the International Catholic Bible Society
The Spanish version of the New Worlds Translation, the official Bible of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, published by the Watchtower Society in New York
The PDT – La Biblia Palabra de Dios Para Todos published by the World Bible Translation Center, which distributes Bibles based upon the Critical Text
The Spanish version of The Jerusalem Bible, regarded as “the first complete Catholic Bible to be translated into English from the original languages”.
La Biblia Latinoamericana, edition 1995, published by the International Catholic Bible Society
La Biblia Lenguaje Sencillo, published by the ecumenical United Bible Society in 2000
La Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, published by the ecumenical United Bible Society in 1996
See for yourself which word the official Catholic Bible in Spanish uses:
Juan 1:1 "En el principio existía la Palabra y la Palabra estaba con Dios, y la Palabra era Dios." La Biblia de Jerusalen
Do I really need to say the obvious? The fact that the word "Palabra" is used in the Catholic Bible in Spanish instead of "Verbo" utterly destroys the argument that "Verbo" in the RVG is Catholic. If we wanted to play this game, there is actually more evidence to prove that the 1602P is a Catholic Bible since it agrees with the actual Catholic Bible in John 1:1.
7. The King James Bible Supports Verbo
Verbo is not the only word in the Spanish Bible that is derived from the Latin word verbum. So is the word ‘proverbio’. In English this is the word ‘proverb’. In the inerrant KJB the word ‘proverb’ shows up 19 times, the plural form ‘proverbs’ is mentioned 8 times, which amounts to a total of 27 times the word ‘proverb’ is rendered in the KJB. In fact, an entire book in the KJB is named the ‘Proverbs’.
The word proverb comes from 2 Latin words. Pro (which means forth) and verbum. Thus, the Latin word proverbium literally means “a word put forth”. It is also defined in Latin as “a common saying”. ‘Proverbium’ is the Latin equivalent of the word proverb in the KJB.
If verbum/verbo is Catholic, then the word proverb is a Catholic word as well. That would mean that the KJB is guilty of containing a “Catholic” word at least 27 times! Can you see how ridiculous the argument of the 1602P crowd is?
To the contrary, the presence of the word proverb in the KJV supports the word Verbo in the RVG since they both come from the same Latin word.
8. The 1602P Supports Verbo
The 1602P crowd is unaware that their argument against the use of Verbo in the RVG is a self-defeating argument. The word proverb not only exists in the English KJV and the Spanish RVG. It also exists in every edition of the Reina-Valera Bible in history, including the 1602 Valera “Purificada”. If the RVG is to be rejected because it contains a word based in the Latin word ‘verbum’ then so should the KJB and the 1602P.
If the 1602P wants to live up to its name and purify the Reina Valera Bible of what they think is Catholic corruption, than they are going to have to replace all the times that the word proverbio is mentioned. They will also have to rename the book of Proverbs as Pro-words, or Pro-sayings, or Pro-speeches, or Pro-statements, or something… anything but a word that comes from Verbum.
9. The Protestants Used “Verbum”
One group of people who were anti-Catholics were the Protestants. They protested the Catholic church. During the Protestant Reformation era they had a motto in Latin: Verbum Dei Manet in aeternum. In English this is translated “The word of God endureth forever”. This motto was found in the front pages of many Protestant Bibles which were condemned by the Catholic church.
As a Baptist, I don’t agree with the Protestants on everything. One thing I do agree with them on, however, is that the word of God will endure forever.
I’m so thankful that I have God’s eternal words in English in the KJV and in Spanish in the RVG, the real Purified Bible.
1st Peter 1:24-25 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
Verbum Dei Manet in aeternum
ADDENDUM A
Diccionario de teología, 2 (pagina 505)
Ignatius
S Ignacio mártir sucesor de S Pedro en la silla de Antioquia y muerto el año 108 en muchos lugares la divinidad de Jesucristo su caria á los trailienses escribe: “Qui veré na tus ex Deo ét virgine sed non eodem modo mas abajo Verus natus Deus Verbum é Virgine veré in útero genitus esl is qui omnes homines ulero portal y en su carta á los de Efeso est medicus carnalis et spirilualis factus et factus in homine Deus in morle vera vita et María et ex Deo Se lee también en su carta á magnesianos Jesús Ghrislus qui ante apud Patrem eral in fine apparuit y en seguida L nus est Deus qui seipsum manifestum Eer Jcsum Chrislum íilium suum qui est ipsius ver um sempiternum” Diccionario de teología
Atenágoras
Atenágoras de Atenas filósofo cristiano en su Apología del Cristianismo á los emperadores Anlonino y Commodo que la razón por la cual dice que todo ha sido hecho por el Hijo omnia ipsum facta sunt es esta Gum sit umim Paler Filius et sit in Paire Filius et Palcr in Filio unila te et virtule Spirilus mens el Verbum Dei est En eslas palabras cum sit unum Pater et Filius enuncia la unidad de naturaleza enlre el y el Padre en eslas otras et sit in Pater Filius Pater in Filio establece la propiedad de la llamada por los teóloges circuminsession por la una persona está en otra Añade después assenmus clFilium ipsius Verbum elSpíritumSanc tum virtute unitos Diccionario de teología
Tertullian
In Apologeticum 21.17, Tertullian also used “Verbum Dei” in reference to the LOGOS, the Word of God!
“Quem igitur hominem solummodo praesumpserant de humilitate, sequebatur, uti magum aestimarent de potestate, cum ille verbo daemonia de hominibus excuteret, caecos reluminaret, leprosos purgaret, paralyticos restringeret, mortuos denique verbo redderet vitae, elementa ipsa famularet compescens procellas et freta ingrediens, ostendens se esse verbum dei id est LOGON illud primordiale, primogenitum, virtute et ratione comitatum et spiritu fultum, eundem qui verbo omnia et faceret et fecisset.”
Translation taken from http://archive.org/stream/apologydespectac00tertuoft#page/110/mode/2up:
“From his lowly guise they took him to be merely a man; so it followed that, confronted by his power they counted him a magician. For with a word he drove devils out of men, he gave light again to the blind, he cleansed the lepers, he braced up the paralytic, and to crown all he restored the dead to life by his word; he made the very elements his servants, he controlled the storm, he walked on the sea—showing he is the LOGOS of God, that is, the Word, original and first-begotten of God, attested by power and reason, upheld by Spirit, the same being who by his word still made us and made all things.”
Cyprian
Hugh Houghton wrote: “Yes - support for 'verbum' appears in writers such as Novatian, Cyprian, Victorinus of Poetovio, Hilary of Poitiers etc. etc.. In fact, the bulk of attestation supports 'verbum' as the best known reading by far, but the writers I mention below provide evidence that it co-existed with 'sermo' in earliest times.”
Novatian
Source: G.A. Riplinger, In Awe of Thy Word, Ararat, VA: A.V. Publications, 2003, pp 982-988 (French and Spanish) and pp. 962-968 (Old Latin, Itala VS Jerome’s Vulgate). Mrs. Riplinger references Novatian as proof that the word Verbum is Catholic since he used it. She claims he was an early Catholic Pope. The problem with her claim is that Novatian could not have been a Catholic Pope since he died long before the Catholic church started, as I explained in my 49 page article refuting Riplinger's claims: https://www.sociedadrvg.com/en/post/verbo-or-palabra-why
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