Maybe you’ve never heard this, but John’s use of ‘the Word’ (John 1:1ff) is not original.  Authoritative Aramaic translations of the Torah done by the rabbis, some 150+ years before Yeshua, used ‘Memra’ or ‘Memra de Yeya’ (Word, or Word of the Lord) about 100 times in the Torah to describe manifestations of Yehovah.  John just had the audacity to say that they were right and Yeshua is the Memra!

The Rabbis had that part right.  Ever heard that from the pulpit?

http://bible.com/59/deu.26.17.ESV