John 1:1c

καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος

And the Word was God


 * καὶ - and. Note how the accent changes to grave because it is followed by another word ("in composition")
 * ἦν - the linking verb, so we can expect both sides of the verb to be in the nominative
 * the subject is ὁ λόγος, the Word, as indicated clearly by the use of the article
 * θεὸς - God, is the predicate nominative. Why is the word order inverted and before the linking verb? Why no article? Predicate nominatives can assume definiteness without the article.
 * From Colwell's rule, if we have decided that θεὸς is definite, and we can do this from the context of the rest of the surrounding text, then chances are high that θεὸς, a predicate nominative coming before the linking verb will lack the article. Wallace argues that Colwell's rule has often been misapplied in reverse and used to assert that θεὸς must be definite. Wallace goes on to argue that θεὸς should be seen as qualitative. See article on Colwell's rule for details.
 * In Greek, word order is freer than in English. According to Mounce, quoting Wallace, there is a theological nuance in the word order.
 * Putting something first in Greek is a way of laying emphasis and highlighting. θεὸς here is qualitative. This word order highlights the θεὸς-ness quality of the Word, the God attributes or essence of the Word.
 * The other word orders might lead to different nuances that the author wanted to avoid.
 * καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν ὁ θεός - “and the Word was the God”. Implies that the Word = the God. One and the same person. A heresy known as Sabellianism, as opposed to the trinitarian doctrine of different persons of the same essence.
 * καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν θεός - “and the Word was a god”, a kind of god. Not necessarily of the same essence. Arianism?