John 1:1–5 in the original Greek
The Gospel of John was written in Koine Greek in the first century AD. Its opening is a good first text in Greek: the sentences are short, the same few words keep coming back, and you probably know what it says already.
Learn to read this in Ancient Greek
Free, no account. Your first line takes about three minutes.
The text and translation
Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Word by word
- Ἐν
- in, on, among
- ἀρχῇ
- ruler, beginning
- ἦν
- to be, exist
- ὁ
- the
- λόγος
- word, message; the Word
- καὶ
- and, even, also, namely
- ὁ
- the
- λόγος
- word, message; the Word
- ἦν
- to be, exist
- πρὸς
- to, towards, with
- τὸν
- the
- θεόν
- God, a god
- καὶ
- and, even, also, namely
- θεὸς
- God, a god
- ἦν
- to be, exist
- ὁ
- the
- λόγος
- word, message; the Word
οὗτος ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν θεόν.
The same was in the beginning with God.
Word by word
- οὗτος
- this, he, she, it
- ἦν
- to be, exist
- ἐν
- in, on, among
- ἀρχῇ
- ruler, beginning
- πρὸς
- to, towards, with
- τὸν
- the
- θεόν
- God, a god
πάντα δι’ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν. ὃ γέγονεν
All things were made through him. Without him, nothing was made that has been made.
Word by word
- πάντα
- all, the whole, every kind of
- δι’
- through, on account of
- αὐτοῦ
- he, she, it, they, them, same
- ἐγένετο
- to come into being, be born
- καὶ
- and, even, also, namely
- χωρὶς
- apart from, without
- αὐτοῦ
- he, she, it, they, them, same
- ἐγένετο
- to come into being, be born
- οὐδὲ
- neither, nor, not even
- ἕν
- one
- ὃ
- who, which, what, that
- γέγονεν
- to come into being, be born
ἐν αὐτῷ ζωὴ ἦν, καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ἦν τὸ φῶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων·
In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
Word by word
- ἐν
- in, on, among
- αὐτῷ
- he, she, it, they, them, same
- ζωὴ
- life
- ἦν
- to be, exist
- καὶ
- and, even, also, namely
- ἡ
- the
- ζωὴ
- life
- ἦν
- to be, exist
- τὸ
- the
- φῶς
- light, a source of light
- τῶν
- the
- ἀνθρώπων
- a man, one of the human race
καὶ τὸ φῶς ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ φαίνει, καὶ ἡ σκοτία αὐτὸ οὐ κατέλαβεν.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn’t overcome it.
Word by word
- καὶ
- and, even, also, namely
- τὸ
- the
- φῶς
- light, a source of light
- ἐν
- in, on, among
- τῇ
- the
- σκοτίᾳ
- darkness
- φαίνει
- to shine, appear, seem
- καὶ
- and, even, also, namely
- ἡ
- the
- σκοτία
- darkness
- αὐτὸ
- he, she, it, they, them, same
- οὐ
- no, not
- κατέλαβεν
- to seize tight hold of, overtake, comp...
What to notice
- Ἐν ἀρχῇ (“in the beginning”) repeats the first words of Genesis in its Greek translation, so a first reader would have heard the echo at once.
- ὁ λόγος is “the Word”. Logos can also mean reason or account, and it lies behind English words ending in -logy.
- φῶς (“light”) gives us words starting with photo-, and ζωὴ (“life”) gives us zoo and zoology.
- θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος shows how endings and “the” work. The small word ὁ marks the Word as the subject, even though θεὸς comes first.
Read it yourself
Urling teaches the words in this text first, so that when you reach it you can read it in Ancient Greek. It uses short lessons, and nothing has to be memorised from a list.
Learn to read this in Ancient Greek
Free, no account. Your first line takes about three minutes.
Sources
SBL Greek New Testament with MorphGNT tagging. English: World English Bible, which follows the Majority Text and may add words this edition does not have.
Text licence: Text CC BY 4.0 (SBLGNT); tagging CC BY-SA 3.0 (MorphGNT).
Language pack licence: Text CC BY 4.0 (SBLGNT); tagging CC BY-SA 3.0 (MorphGNT); glosses CC0.
Text: The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition, Copyright 2010 Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software (CC BY 4.0). Lemmas and parsing: MorphGNT (James Tauber et al., CC BY-SA 3.0). Glosses: Dodson Greek-English Lexicon (CC0), with AI-written corrections (marked "ai"). English: World English Bible (public domain, eBible.org); it translates the Majority Text, so a verse’s English sometimes has words this Greek edition does not (e.g. the end of the Lord’s Prayer).
The introduction and notes on this page were written by Claude (AI). Word glosses are AI-assisted, and so is the English unless the source above names another translator.