The Prologue to the Fourth Gospel

In the beginning was Wisdom,

and Wisdom was with God,

and Wisdom was God.

[And Wisdom is God.]

All things were made by Him;

and without Him not any thing

was made that was made.

In Him was Life,

and the Life was the Light of man.

And the Light shone in darkness,

and the darkness could not subdue the Light.

He was in the world,

but the world knew Him not.

He came unto His own,

and His own received Him not.

Wisdom became Flesh;

He dwelt among us,

we saw His Glory:

the Glory of the Father’s only Son,

full of Grace and Truth.

And of His Fullness have we all received,

Grace upon Grace.

No man has seen God,

but God’s only Son,

Who is nearest to the Father’s Heart,

has made Him known.

J. Rendel Harris, in The Aramaic Origins of the Fourth Gospel, held that the Gospel of John, chapter 1:1-18, is an adaptation of a hymn in praise of Wisdom (Gk. Sophia), in which Logos (Reason) has been substituted for Sophia (Wisdom).  In Aramaic, there are eleven parallel couplets, in which the language of the Septuagint of Proverbs, the Wisdom of Solomon, and Ecclesiasticus (Siriach) can be traced.

Alfred E. Garvie, The Abingdon Bible Commentary, Abingdon Press, 1929