Greek noun usually translated ‘word’ but also ‘reason’ or
‘meaning’ and familiar in Greek philosophy from Heraclitus (6th
cent. BCE) to the Jewish theologian Philo of Alexandria (1st
cent. CE) for the principle of coherence undergirding the
universe. In the LXX logos translates the Hebrew dabar, the
creative ‘word’ of God, which is parallel to sophia (wisdom) as
a mediator who acted for God in relation to his creation (Wisd.
9: 1–2). In the gospel of John (1: 14) and the Revelation (19:
13) Jesus is called the Word of God. This is an important
development for Christology: it is an assertion that the Word
who was God's agent in creation was to be identified with the
human figure of Jesus of Nazareth (John 1: 46).