Question 1

What does "Word" mean in the King James Bible?

Accepted Answer

In the KJV, "Word" means "unit of language." The creative power. Hebrew davar was not a sound but an event -- when God spoke, the davar accomplished what it described. 'Let there be light' was not a wish but a davar that created light. Greek logos was the rational intelligence holding the cosmos together. 'The Word was God' meant the creative, ordering, reality-making power of the universe was a person.

Question 2

Why did the word "Word" disappear from modern English?

Accepted Answer

Hebrew davar ('word/thing/event/active reality') and Greek logos ('rational principle/divine reason/ordering intelligence of the cosmos') collapsed into 'a unit of language.' The Word that created the universe became a dictionary entry. The word was at peak usage around 1611 and declined by still used but deflated (~1800).

Question 3

What modern word replaced "Word"?

Accepted Answer

"Word" was replaced by: "term" (though this linguistic unit; davar was simultaneously a word and the thing it described -- speaking created reality); "statement" (though this human communication; logos was the rational ordering principle of all existence); "message" (though this information transfer; the word was a person -- the creative agent through whom everything exists).

What Does “Word” Mean in the Bible?

What Was Lost