and without it was nothing made that was made”: and ( Heb. 1:3), “He upholdeth all things by the word of His power”; that is, by the power of His word; that is, by His power: and ( Heb. 11:3), “The worlds were framed by the word of God”; and many other places to the same sense: as also amongst the Latins, the name of “fate,” which signifieth properly “the word spoken,” is taken in the same sense.
Secondly, for the effect of His word; that is to say, for the thing itself, which by His word is affirmed, commanded, threatened, or promised; as (Psalm 105:19) where Joseph is said to have been kept in prison “till his word was come”; that is, till that was come to pass which he had foretold to Pharaoh’s butler ( Gen. 40:13) concerning his being restored to his office: for there, “by his word was come,” is meant, the thing itself was come to pass. So also (1 Kings 18:36) Elijah saith to God, “I have done all these thy words,” instead of, “I have done all these things at thy word,” or commandment; and ( Jer. 17:15), “Where is the word of the Lord” is put for “Where is the evil he threatened.” And ( Ezek. 12:28), “There shall none of my words be prolonged any more”: by “words” are understood those “things” which God promised to His people. And in the New Testament ( Matt. 24:35), “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away”; that is, there is nothing that I have promised or foretold that shall not come to pass. And in this sense it is that St. John the Evangelist, and I think St. John only, calleth our Saviour himself as in the flesh “the word of God,” as (John 1:14) “the word was made flesh”; that is to say, the word or promise that Christ should come into the world; “who in the beginning was with God”; that is to say, it was in the purpose of God the Father to send God the Son into the world to enlighten men in the way of eternal life; but it was not till then put in execution and actually incarnate. So that our Saviour is there called the “word,” not because He was the promise, but the thing promised. They that taking occasion from this place do commonly call Him the verb of God, do but render the text more obscure. They might as well term Him the noun of God: for as by “noun,” so also by “verb,” men understand