Michael Barber on John 1:1

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"...ELO.HIM' is a title applied many times though not exclusively, to the Father. However, the title HA.E.LO.HIM', meaning the One true God, occurs 376 times in the Hebrew Masoretic Text, and all but eight of these are applied to the Father. If we now take into consideration the uses of E.LO.HIM' under discussion, namely, a divine one, a divine being, we may apply this to John's opening verse. In harmony ·with the use of the Greek article HO ("the") let us include the Hebrew article (HA, "the") where HO THE.OS' (the God) occurs in the Greek text:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with HA.E.LO.HIM', and E.LO.HIM' was the Word. The Word was in the beginning with HA.E.LO.HIM'."
- John 1:1.

The article, HA (the), before E.LO.HIM' serves to determine the application of the word to the One individual, the Father. It is thus rendered to "the one true God." (See The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, by F. Zorrell, p. 54; and Gesenius Hebrew Grammar, section 126(e)). Taking this into account, let us look at John 1:1 from another perspective:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with the one true God, and a divine being was the Word. The Word was in the beginning with the one true God."

The Hebrew New Testament of Delitzsch conveys this idea (see also the Hebrew New Testatnent of the United Bible Societies). Observe this interlinear rendering of John 1:1 using Delitzsch's Hebrew text:

BERE.SHITH' (In beginning) HA.YAH' (was) HAD.DA.BHAR' (the Word)  WE.HAD.DA.BHAR'  ( and the Word)  HA.YAH (was) 'ETH (with) HA.E.LO.HIM (the one true God], WE'LO. HIM' (and a divine being) HA.YAH (was) HAD.DA.BHAR' (the Word)

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