In most English translations of scripture, there is something called “the word,” and that translation is faulty at best, and purposely misleading at worst. There are two different things that both got conflated down to “word” in the English, and lacking proper distinction between them, it has produced a multitude of false teachings—even to the point of idolatry (with KJV-Onlyism being an extreme form of that idolatry).
Let me see if I can draw a good analogy to explain:
In our common vernacular, we say that someone “got into trouble with the Law,” or “the Law showed up and arrested someone.” Now, in that usage, “the Law” does not refer to individual statutes, but to an authority—an entity that possesses the dominion to uphold the individual laws. Yes, we have individual laws comprised of words explaining the statutes, but, in this context, the Law is the authority behind those statutes.
In the Hebrew, “the Word” is “dabar,” and that is similar to the authority we call “the Law.” It is the utterances of Elohim by one with that authority. That authority is vested in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. At different times, each is the One who speaks the utterances of Elohim.
In the OT, we see the Word (dabar) coming and speaking to the prophets. That was the Holy Spirit, who is also the one who physically wrote the ten commandments on the tablets of stone. Now, the actual words that He spoke to the prophets, and that He wrote on the tablets, are called in Hebrew the “imrah.” But, in your English translations, those are also called the “word.” Imrah can also refer to actual commandments.
So, the IMRAH are the words uttered by the authority of the DABAR, who can be the Holy Spirit or Messiah, depending on which is doing the speaking by the authority of Elohim—just as a judge, a police officer, and a prosecuting attorney can all be referred to as “the Law.” They all operate under the same legal authority.
In the Greek, the Hebrew dabar is the LOGOS, and the imrah is the RHEMA. Again, they are two different things, but in the English translations, both are called “the word.”
Both “dabar/logos” and “imrah/rhema” refer to the utterances of Elohim, but the dabar/logos is the authority behind those utterances, while the imrah/rhema are the actual words in those utterances.
If I speak the Word (logos), then I am speaking the words (rhema) of Yah by the authority He has given to the logos who indwells me. The logos is the authority behind the words, the rhema are the actual words. That’s why, in Revelation 19:13, we see that Messiah Yahoshua has DABAR (“the word”) on His head, and not IMRAH, as it refers to the authority He has to speak as Elohim (God).
And, Revelation 19:13 is immediately before He leaves heaven to go to the earth in judgment and then set up His millennial reign. The Holy Spirit will continue to seal Y’isra-el, the bride, as the covenant in the wedding chamber at that time, so Yahoshua is the Word (dabar/logos) to the world during His earthly reign.
The Word (logos) made flesh (John 1:14) was here, but He had to go away because of the wedding traditions (once the bridegroom would tell his betrothed wife that he was going to his father’s house to prepare their dwelling, it began a mandatory period of separation—there could be no contact between the bridegroom and bride until the father told his son that the dwelling was complete, and to go and bring his bride back to the wedding chamber (chuppah) to consummate the marriage).
As the authority to speak the utterances of Elohim (logos) exists in the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Spirit was sent to be the logos (the authority of Elohim’s utterances) to the bride while the Bridegroom is preparing their dwelling (New Jerusalem).
There IS an actual correlation to my initial analogy, as the Ten Commandments represents the physical law that was given to physical Israel as the physical covenant. The Feast of Weeks commemorated that physical event. But, as we know, the physical is always a mirror, or foreshadow, of the spiritual.
On the Feast of Weeks, 49 days after Messiah’s resurrection on Firstfruits, the spiritual real substance of the physical covenant was revealed, and it was the giving of the seal of the Holy Spirit, which is the spiritual covenant. What was given through Moses was the law. But, the real substance of that physical law was the Holy Spirit, who is the Law that is written on the hearts and minds of Yah’s children (Hebrews 10:16).
The Holy Spirit is the authority given by which we can be called the children of Yah (John 1:12). When you’re reading a passage of scripture that speaks of “the word,” if you don’t know which “word” is referenced, you will not understand the passage. The Word (dabar/logos) inspired the words (imrah/rhema) in scripture. The words that are inspired are the original words in their original languages (Hebrew or Greek).
Translations of those words are not inspired. They are man’s best guess at conveying the literal meanings of the original words. But, ultimately, that’s not even the actual purpose of scripture, for the spiritual meanings, not the physical meanings of the words, is its true purpose, and only those who are led by the Holy Spirit will ever truly understand the scriptures (Luke 24:45, 1 Corinthians 2:14). So, no, your English bible is NOT “the word.” The one who inspired the original words is the Word. Your English bible is a human translation of the imrah/rhema, which were inspired by the dabar/logos.
When Yah said, “Let US make man in OUR image,” that meant the union of soul, body, and spirit (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). So, in John 1:1, when we’re told, “In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was with Elohim (God) and the WORD was Elohim,” it is speaking of that same “US” from Genesis—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The “LOGOS made flesh” isn’t delineated in John 1 until verse 14, so, verse 12 speaks of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
The LOGOS can be the Father, the Son, OR the Holy Spirit. In Hebrews 4:12, the Word (LOGOS) there is the Holy Spirit.
For more information: Christianity’s Holy Spirit – Some Water and a Book