> Is, "the Word was a god" a
> legitimate translation from a strictly grammatical point of
view (all
* theology aside)?
Yes, it is. See 1 Kings 18:27 where Elijah cried out in mockery with
respect to Baal:
hOTI QEOS ESTIN
Brenton's LXX translated it: "for he is a god."
Note that this is the same construction of an anarthrous predicate
nominative QEOS preceeding the copulative verb EIMI as exists in John
1:1c.
Sincerely,
Wes Williams