The Memra of the Lord

When Jews in the first century heard the Scriptures read in synagogue, many heard them in Aramaic. Those translations - the Targums - do something striking in hundreds of places.
Wherever the Hebrew says Yahweh appeared, or spoke face to face, or acted visibly, the Targums substitute the Memra of the Lord. Memra is Aramaic for word.
Genesis 3:8 becomes "they heard the sound of the Memra of the Lord God walking in the garden." Genesis 1:1 becomes "in the beginning the Memra of the Lord created the heavens and the earth." At the exodus, "the Memra of the Lord went before them."
That last detail matters most. The Memra creates. That is exactly the role John assigns to the Logos - all things were made through him.
So when John opens his Gospel with "in the beginning was the Word", he is not importing Greek philosophy. He is speaking synagogue Aramaic to people who had heard it weekly.
Scripture links:
- Genesis 3:8 - "the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden."
- Genesis 1:1 - "In the beginning, God created."
- John 1:1-3 - "all things were made through him."
His first readers knew this word already.