As explained elsewhere, the language of John 1 is influenced by developments in the Greco-Roman world and Jewish Wisdom tradition. John 1:1 is one of the best-known Bible verses: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Whereas today, the “word of God” can mean anything from a preacher’s sermon to the Bible, the phrase had other uses in the Hebrew Bible. Today, we are used to thinking about the “word of God” primarily as an auditory thing. In the Old Testament, however, the phrase is also used visually, and this usage might have influenced John.