John 1:10

Ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ἦν, καὶ ὁ κόσμος δι᾽ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ ὁ κόσμος αὐτὸν οὐκ ἔγνω.

RBT Greek Interlinear:

Strongs 1722; en; ἐν; within; Prep

Strongs 3588; tō; τῷ; the; Art-DMS

Strongs 2889; kosmō; κόσμῳ; order; N-DMS

Strongs 1510; ēn; ἦν; was; V-IIA-3S

Strongs 2532; kai; καὶ; and; Conj

Strongs 3588; ho; ὁ; the; Art-NMS

Strongs 2889; kosmos; κόσμος; order; N-NMS

Strongs 1223; di’; δι’; across; Prep

Strongs 846; autou; αὐτοῦ; himself; PPro-GM3S

Strongs 1096; egeneto; ἐγένετο; has become; V-AIM-3S

Strongs 2532; kai; καὶ; and; Conj

Strongs 3588; ho; ὁ; the; Art-NMS

Strongs 2889; kosmos; κόσμος; order; N-NMS

Strongs 846; auton; αὐτὸν; himself; PPro-AM3S

Strongs 3756; ouk; οὐκ; not; Adv

Strongs 1097; egnō; ἔγνω; has recognized; V-AIA-3S

RBT Hebrew Literal:

He has not known himself

He was within the Order, and the Order became across through the other side of himself, but the Order did not know Himself.¹⁶

διά

- of motion in a line, from one end to the other, right through
- of the interval which has passed between two points of Time.
- διά θαλάσσας across the sea

Julia Smith Literal 1876 Translation:
He was in the world, and the world was by him, and the world knew him not.

LITV Translation:
He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, yet the world did not know Him.

ESV Translation:
Error retrieving verse.

Footnotes

16

across to the other side of (with genitive)

Strong's #1223 diá (a preposition) – a small word, but significant. Properly, across (to the other side), back-and-forth to go all the way through, "successfully across" ("thoroughly"). 1223 (diá) is also commonly used as a prefix and lend the same idea ("thoroughly," literally, "successfully" across to the other side).

and the Order/World has not known Himself. The Order/World as the "masculine" not "knowing himself," that is, where he is from. 

Adam "knew" Eve—his own self. But the Order has not known Himself. He was within "the Order" and the Order was begotten through Her, but the Order has not known Her.

The earliest and most fundamental meaning of κόσμος in classical Greek is “order,” “arrangement,” or “decoration.” This is especially clear in Homeric usage:

• κατὰ κόσμον = “in order” (Iliad 10.472).

• κόσμῳ καθίζειν = “to sit in order” (Odyssey 13.77).

• κόσμον φέρειν = “to bear oneself properly, decently” (Pindar P. 3.82).

• Also ornament, decoration, especially in relation to women’s attire (Homer, Iliad 14.187).

The etymological sense here relates to the idea of an arrangement that is orderly, beautiful, or harmonious, whether it’s military ranks, ceremonial seating, or adornment.

Philosophical developments, especially from the Pythagoreans (cf. Placit. 2.1.1, Diogenes Laërtius 8.48), applied κόσμος to the ordered whole of the universe—the idea that the heavens and earth form a harmonious system:

• κόσμος = the ordered arrangement of all things (cf. Heraclitus, fragment 30).

• Plato and Aristotle expand this usage (Plato, Timaeus 27a; Aristotle, Cael. 280a21).

• This reflects the belief that the cosmos is a structured, orderly system—just like a well-governed state or a beautifully adorned body.

Thus, the concept of κόσμος as “world” arises from analogy with a well-ordered arrangement, extended to the entire universe.