| 8127 Josephus Ant. 3.212. Cf. imperial propaganda, originally intended to preserve a veneer of Romés republic, in which the emperor was merely the princeps, the first among many. 8129 E.g., of Alexander (Arrian Alex. 1.17.12; Valerius Maximus 5.1.extla) or others (Appian R.H. 10.4.24; Cornelius Nepos 1 [Miltiades], 8.4; 8 [Thrasybulus], 2.6; Herodian 1.2.4; Valerius Maximus 5.1, passim). Though Achilles slays many suppliants, the gods require his mercy toward Priam near the Iliad " s end (Homer II. 24.507–508, 665–670; though even here cf. his limits in 24.559–570). 8130 One could praise a «meek» ruler, i.e., a «gentle» one (Babrius 102.3; Valerius Maximus 5.1.ext.la; Menander Rhetor 2.4, 389.8); see further Good, King, 47–49. 8131 " Abot R. Nat. 15A; 29, §§60–62B. Rabbis also praised the humility of Simeon b. Shetah (p. Sanh. 6:6, §2) and others. 8138 " Abot R. Nat. 38A; 41, §11 IB. Whoever exalted himself at the expense of another " s humiliation would not inherit the coming world (an early Amora in Gen. Rab. 1:5). 8150 Cf., e.g., Demosthenes Against Leptines 132; Chariton 1.11.3. Freedpersons often gained wealth (Petronius Sat. 38; cf. Lopez Barja de Quiroga, «Mobility»), but advancement of rank normally occurred only with their children (MacMullen, Relations, 105; Finley, Economy, 72), and freedpersons retained responsibilities to former holders (ILS 7558, 7580; cf. Horsley, Documents, 4, §24, pp. 102–3; Dupont, Life, 65–66). 8153 Homer Od. 19.386–389. Ancients sometimes used warm water to relax weary limbs (Pindar Nem. 4.4). 8155 Jesus probably poured more water from a pitcher over the feet into the basin, as was practiced in traditional Mediterranean handwashing, sometimes by servants (Homer I1. 9.174; Od. 1.136–138, 146; 2.260–261; 3.338; 4.52–54, 216; 12.336; 21.270; Apollodorus 2.7.6; Athenaeus Deipn. 9.408CD; 2 Kgs 3:11). 8156 Pesce and Destro, «Lavanda,» cite slaves washing guests» feet with a linen cloth (λντιον, as in 13:4–5) in Aesop " s Romance. 8157 Some suggest that the image provides a deliberate contrast to the ancient image of a wrestling belt (Levine, «Symbolism»); a servant does not vie for power but relinquishes it. Beasley-Murray, John, 233, following Billerbeck 2:557, cites evidence for this as a slave posture (Abraham tying Hagar " s shawl around her loins in Genesis Rabbah); more evidence, however, is necessary. |
| 1. Those Who Were Sent (1:19, 24) Sending an inquiry to a prophet could fit biblical tradition (2 Kgs 19:2; 22:15; Isa 37:2), but the messengers here seem to inquire more from suspicion of John than from desire to hear his message. What appears most striking, however, is the identity of the senders and their agents. Josephus (Life 1; cf. Ant 4.218), Philo (Spec. Laws 1.131–155, esp. 1.131; 4.190–192), 3804 and the Dead Sea Scrolls (the «wicked priest» in lQpHab 8.8–12; 9.4–7; 12.5; greedy priests in 4QpNah 1.11) indicate the prominence that priests retained in all parts of Judaism before the destruction of the temple. Josephus, who also praises their general piety (Ant. 14.65–68), attests that priests remained the main local rulers of Palestine in this period. 3805 Even the later Pharisees, who joined the Essenes and the Gospels in criticizing the high priesthood 3806 as corrupt (e.g., lQpHab 9.4–5), 3807 respected the high priests office (later, e.g., p. Sanh. 2:1, §2). While some priests seem to have followed Pharisaic practices, even the later rabbis admitted that many (we would say most) did not; 3808 most scholars concur that most of the priestly aristocracy were in fact Sadducees (see, e.g., Josephus Ant. 13.298; 18.17). 3809 Other aspects of this narrative also fail to fit the historical picture gleaned from a variety of other ancient sources. Rabbis who were mainly successors of the Pharisees later sent formal messengers to other dignitaries, 3810 but the practice is well attested in this period and earlier only of the high-priestly temple hierarchy–of those with official authority. 3811 The Levites appear rarely elsewhere in the NT but often appear together with priests in OT narratives and in passages such as Luke 10:31–32; they fill the same literary function as the priests here. 3812 John, who prefers to emphasize the authority of the «Pharisees» (more than Matthew, and far more than Mark or Luke, probably because he writes at a period when their authority was far more advanced and hostile to Palestinian Jewish Christians), nowhere else mentions «priests and Levites.» 3813 One might suggest that the Fourth Gospel generally transforms the priestly leaders in traditional sources into Pharisees (leaders whose role in repressing minority factions in John s day corresponded to aristocratic priests in Jesus» day), and here perhaps even transforms crowds into priests. |
| 7719 M. Sank 6:2; t. Ber. 6:17; Kip. 4:8–9; " AbotR. Nat. 29; 39A; b. Ber. 60a, bar.; Sank 47b; Sebu. 13a; p. Sebu. 1:6, §5; Num. Rab. 8:5; Ecc1. Rab. 4:1, §1; hence posthumous stoning (b. Ber. 19a; p. Móed Qat. 3:1, §9; cf. Christian material in Sib. Or. 7.161–162) or suffering (Pesiq. Rab Kak 11:23). Cf. L.A.B. 25:6–7; 26:1; 27:15; on a corporate level, Jub. 30:14–17; 33:10–14; 41:26. 7722 PlatoAlc. 1:115–127; Greater Hippias 295E; Aristotle Rhet. 1.7.1,1363b; Seneca Benef. 4.5.1; 4.21.6; 7.8.2; Epictetus Diatr. 1.2.5–7; 1.6.6; 1.6.33; 1.18.2; 1.22.1; 1.28.5; 2.7.4; 2.8.1; 3.21.15; 4.7.9; 4.8.17; Marcus Aurelius 6.27; 9.1.1; Phaedrus 3.17.13; Diogenes Laertius 7.1.98–99; 10.150.31; 10.152.37; Sextus Empiricus Eth. 2.22; Theon Progymn. 8.45; Sir 37:28 ; 1Cor 6:12 . 7723 Retrospect provided the appropriate perspective on purported oracles (e.g., Aeschylus Agamemnon 1112–1113; Sophocles Oed. tyr. 439; Track 1169–1173; Plutarch Alex. 37.1; Lycophron Alex. 1–15; Apollodorus 2.8.2; 3.5.7; 3.15.6; Statius Thebaid 1.495–496; Virgil Aen. 6.98–101; Dio Cassius 62.18.4; Arrian Alex. 7.26.2–3; Xenophon Eph. 1.6–7; Philostratus Hrk. 15.2–3, 5; Josephus War 1.80). Misplaced political agendas could be held to distort the interpretations of oracles (Plutarch Lysander 22.5–6); for poetic license, cf. Ovid Metam. 15.823–824. 7724 E.g., Philip of Macedon (Diodorus Siculus 16.91.2–3); or the story of Croesus in Herodotus Hisf.1.46–48; 1.53.3; Maximus of Tyre Or. 5.2; Cyrus in Philostratus Hrk. 28.11–12; Hamilcar in Valerius Maximus 1.7.exf.8; cf. also Valerius Maximus 1.5.4; 1.8.10. 7725 E.g., Sophocles Oed. tyr. 717–725, 744–745, 788–797; Valerius Maximus 1.8.10; 1 Kgs 22:30, 34. 7726 E.g., Lucan C.W. 1.673–695; Dionysius of Halicarnassus R.A. 1.31.1; Pinero, «Inspiration»; other sources in Keener, Spirit, 21–26. 7727 Cf. Burkhardt, «Inspirationslehre,» who doubts that Philós view of inspiration was ecstatic possession; but this thesis is open to question (cf. Keener, Spirit, 24–25). |
| 6908 Hesiod Op. 719–721; Livy 44.34.4–5; Horace Sat. 1.4.81–82; Martial Epigr. 3.28; Dio Chrysostom Or. 37.32–33; Lucian A True Story 1; Slander passim; Marcus Aurelius 6.30.2. 6909 1QS 7.15–16; Sib. Or. 1.178; Josephus Ant. 13.294–295; 16.81; Ag. Ap. 2.89; War 1.77, 443, 532, 564; Philo Abraham 20; Spec. Laws 4.59–60; T. Ab. 12:6–7B; Rom 1:30 ; Sipre Deut. 1.8.2–3; 275.1.1; " Abot R. Nat. 9, 40A; 41, §116B; b. c Arak. 15a-16a; B. Bat. 39ab; Pesah. 118a; Sanh. 103a; Ta c an. 7b; Pesiq. Rab Kah. 4:2; Gen. Rab. 79:1; 98:19; Exod. Rab. 3:13; Lev. Rab. 16:6; 26:2; 37:1; Num. Rab. 16:6; Deut. Rab. 5:10; 6:8,14; Ecc1. Rab. 3§1. 6910 Kraeling, John, 11–12. 6911 E.g., Justin Dia1. 69:7; b. Sanh. 43a; 107b. For more detailed discussion, see Klausner, Jesus, 27–28, 49–51, 293; Dalman, Jesus in Talmud, 45–50; Herford, Christianity 50–62; Gero, «Polemic»; Horbury, «Brigand,» 183–95; Stanton, Gospel Truth, 156–58. 6912 E.g., Homer Od. 18.15,406; 19.71; see more detailed comment on John 7:20 . 6913 Stanton, Gospel Truth, 161–62, suggesting that Mark 3and Q attest it independently. (But Mark may follow Q here.) 6914 Deut 4:2; 33:9; 1 Chr 10:13; esp. Ps 119:9, 17, 67, 101, 158 ; John 17:6; 1 John 2:5 ; Jub. 2:28; CD 6.18; 10.14,16; 20.17; 1QS 5.9; 8.3; 10.21; Sib. Or. 1.52–53. See Pancaro, Law, 403–30. 6915 Also, e.g., T.Ab. 11:5B. 6916 E.g., 4 Bar. 5:28. Cf. John 3:3 , where only the righteous will «see» the kingdom. 6917 E.g., Mark 9:1 ; Heb 2:9; Sib. Or. 1.82 (of Adam); Gen. Rab. 21:5; Lev. Rab. 18:1; Pesiq. Rab. 48:2; «taste death " s cup» in Tg. Neof. 1 on Gen 40:23 ; and on Deut 32:1 ; cf. Homer Od. 21.98. A newborn infant who died had merely «tasted life» (IG 14 1607 2171, in Horsley, Documents, 4:40, §12); cf. Longus 1.19; Musonius Rufus 19, p. 122.1. 6918 E.g., Gen 42:2; 43:8; 47:19 ; Num 4:19 ; Deut 33:6; 2 Kgs 18:32; Ps 118:17 ; Ezek 18:17, 21, 28; 33:15 ; L.A.B. 23:10. 6919 Cf. Philo Abraham 51–55; 4 Macc 16:25; Ecc1. Rab. 9:5, §1. In other Jewish traditions, the prophets died (cf. also T. Mos. 1:14–15) but their words endure (Pesiq. Rab Kah. 13:3; Pesiq. Rab. 1:2). Of course, the observation that all great people have died and no one will escape this is a natural one (e.g., Lucretius Nat. 3.1024–1052). |
| 9017 E.g., Polybius 1.62.8; 14.1; Dionysius of Halicarnassus R.A. 3.28.7; 3.51.1; 5.26.4; 5.50.3; 6.21.2; 6.95.1; 8.9.3; 8.36.3; 15.7.2; Diodorus Siculus 14.30.4; 14.56.2; 17.39.1; 17.54.2; 19.66.6; 19.67.1; 21.12.6; 31.5.3; 32.16.1; 33.28b.4; 40.1.2; Livy 6.2.3; 27.4.6; 43.6.9; 45.12.6; Sallust Jug. 14.17; 102.6; Herodian 4.7.3; 4.15.8; 1Macc 12:1,3,8; 14:40; cf. 1 Kgs 5:1; 2Macc 11:14. For further discussion in Dionysius of Halicarnassus, see Balch, «Friendship.» 9018 Often in Plutarch (e.g., Agesilaus 23.6; Pompey 70.4; Statecraft 13, Mor. 806F-809B; Philosophers and Men in Power 1, Mor. 776AB; O.M.P.A. 6, Mor. 787B); but also elsewhere (e.g., Achilles Tatius 4.6.1–3). Contrast the older Stoic values of Chrysippus in Diogenes Laertius 7.7.189; but cf. Engberg-Pedersen, Paul and Stoics, 74. Even among Greeks, whereas Aristotle notes friendships based on goodness, pleasure, or utility (E.E. 7.2.9–13,1236a; 7.10.10,1242b; N.E. 8.13.1,1162ab), he assigns most to utility (E.E. 7.2.14, 1236a). 9020 Friedländer, Life, 1:225. Cf. Judge, Pattern, 33–34 (in the context of imperial friendships): «not simply a spontaneous relationship of mutual affection. It was a status of intimacy conferred on trusted companions.» 9021 Cf. Stowers, Letter Writing, 29: «It is doubtful that any but those with some wealth and leisure could attain either the Greek or the Roman ideal of friendship.» 9022 Also Cicero Verr. 1.7.18 (one must be careful what one says about friends of rank); on friendship in his letters, see Fiore, «Theory.» 9023 E.g., Dionysius of Halicarnassus Lit. Comp. 1; Valerius Maximus 7.8.7; Philostratus Hrk. 4.3; 10.2; Acts 19:31; cf. AE 1912.171 (in Sherk, Empire, 235). Iamblichus V.P. 22.101; 33.230, admonishes respect for benefactors in a friendship. 9024 Martial Epigr. 3.36.1–3; 3Macc 5:26; probably P.Oxy. 2861 (in Stowers, Letter Writing, 63); cf. Musonius Rufus 15, p. 98.5–6; DeSilva, Honor, 99. See also, e.g., a magician dependent on a spirit (PGM 1.172, 190–191). 9028 |
| The cry «Hosanna!» renders the Hebrew of Ps 118:25 , 7820 and similar Hebrew cries for salvation could address kings ( 2Sam 14:4; 2 Kgs 6:26); coupled with the branches (see below), this suggests that the crowds hoped for him as a king or national deliverer. 7821 Hence he is «king of Israel,» as Nathanael recognized (1:49). In John " s Gospel this royal expectation recalls 6:15, but on this occasion Jesus does not retreat, for his hour of enthronement on the cross is approaching. Ironically, the leaders of his people will claim no king but Caesar (19:15). 3. Scripture Fulfilled (12:14–16) The disciples did not recognize the allusion to Zech 9:9 7822 until after Jesus» death and resurrection (12:14–16), 7823 obvious as it may seem in retrospect. 7824 If extant later sources may reflect ideas circulating in the late first century, they suggest that this verse was understood messianically in early Judaism. 7825 Most ancient Mediterranean hearers would honor the image of a ruler who was merciful and kind to his enemies. 7826 John " s special touch is evident even in the details. It was not an unusual practice to abbreviate a narrative by omitting intermediaries, 7827 as Matthew seems to do on some occasions (Matt 8/Luke 7:3–4; Matt 9/ Mark 5:35 ); thus no one will be alarmed that Jesus himself «finds» the donkey (12:14), in contrast to the fuller version in the probably more widely circulated version of the passion week ( Mark 11:1–6 ). 7828 After all, even in that version, Jesus was ultimately responsible for locating the donkey ( Mark 11:2 ). But what is most theologically significant is that in John " s language Jesus finds the donkey–just as he gives the sop (13:26) and in other ways shows himself sovereign over the details of the Passion Narrative. That the disciples did not understand at first fits John " s version of the Messianic Secret. After Jesus» glorification, the Spirit would come (7:39) and cause the disciples to remember Jesus» message (14:26); his glorification thus allowed the disciples to recall Jesus» action and understand it in light of Scripture here (12:16). John had earlier offered a similar comment about the disciples after the resurrection remembering Jesus» costly zeal for the temple (2:22). The repetition suggests a key hermeneutical point for John: the biblical record and Jesus» ministry and glorification should be read in light of one another, led by the Spirit who continues his presence. 4. Immediate Responses to Jesus» Entry (12:17–19) |
| 6980 Also Carson, John, 58, though his citation of Mark 13is probably less persuasive. 6981 Despite our skepticism on Mark 14 (above), see the supporting evidence in Stauffer, Jesus, 190–95; Freed, «Eg Eimi» (1:20; Acts 13:24–25; Mark 13:6; 14:61–62 ). Theissen, Gospels, 152–53, reads Mark 13especially in the context of early Christian prophets (Origen Cels. 7.9). 6982 On the irony here, see Stibbe, Gospel, 117. 6983 E.g., Longenecker, Christology, 7. 6984 Some dialogues involved increasingly intense conflict, culminating in violence or a threat of war (Thucydides 5.87–113, climaxing in 5.112–113). Cf. Malina and Rohrbaugh, John, 147–48, on violent responses to shameful loss in a public challenge-and-riposte setting. 6985 See Haenchen, Acts, 353. In contrast to normal lectures (Plutarch Lect. 11, Mor. 43BC; Aulus Gellius 8.10; 12.5.4; 16.6.1–4; 18.13.7–8; 20.10.1–6; t. Sanh. 7:10; " Abot R. Nat. 6A; cf. Aulus Gellius 1.26.2; Goodman, State, 79), interrupting the speech of one of higher rank was considered inappropriate (Livy 3.40.5; Diogenes Laertius 7.1.19; cf. Plutarch Lect. 4, Mor. 39CD; 18, Mor. 48AB; 1Cor 14:34–35 ). 6986 Also elsewhere in the ancient Mediterranean world; see Sophocles Ajax 254; Lucian Zeus Rants 36; cf. Lucian The Dead Come to Life, or the Fishermen 1. 6987 Livy 38.21.6. 6988 E.g., Virgil Aen. 1.150; Dionysius of Halicarnassus R.A. 8.59.1; 9.48.2; Pausanias 2.32.2; 8.23.7; Libanius Declamation 36.19; 1 Kgs 12:18. Although stoning was a biblical mode of execution, it was also widespread among earlier Greeks (e.g., Euripides Orest. 442, 625; Arrian Alex. 4.14.3; Cornelius Nepos 4 [Pausanias], 5.3; Polybius 1.69.10, 13; Plutarch Alex. 55.4; Philostratus Hrk. 33.31, 37; Apol1. Κ. Tyre 50; Iamblichus V.P. 35.252). 6989 T. Pisha 4:13. For another stoning in the temple, Brown, John, 1:360, cites Josephus Ant. 17.216. 6990 So also Brown, John, 1:360. 6991 Smith, Magician, 120, citing a long list of ancient references to magical invisibility. 6992 E.g., PGM 1.222–231, 247–262 (esp. 256–257). Cf. Tibullus 1.2.58, though this is farce. |
| 10621 Schnackenburg, John, 3:318; Brown, John, 2:992; McPolin, John, 255; Morris, John, 841; Bruce, John, 389; Carson, John, 644; Whitacre, John, 476; Smith, John (1999), 377. 10622 One could try to distinguish the prohibition for Mary from the invitation to Thomas by suggesting that Mary as a woman might be impure ( Lev 15:19–30 ), but apart from lacking clues in the text, this position would violate Johannine thought about purity as well as about gender (e.g., 2:6; 4:9). 10623 One might sever the first imperative grammatically from the following statement if one could take 20:17 " s γρ as anticipatory («since,» for the following clause) rather than causal (for the preceding; McGehee, «Reading»), but Johannine style makes that suggestion less likely. 10624 Bruce, John, 389; Carson, John, 644. 10625 Cf. McPolin, John, 255. 10626 Schneiders, «Encounter,» 165. 10627 Witherington, Acts, 112–13. 10628 This real presence was, however, stronger than the mere epistolary presence that such language conventions as «absent in body, present in spirit» could imply ( 1Cor 5:3 ; Col 2:5; 1 Thess 2:17; Isocrates Nic. 51–52, Or. 3.37; Seneca Ep. Luci1. 32.1; Achilles Tatius 5.20.5; Stowers, Letter Writing, 60; Funk, «Parousia» 264; cf. Diogenes Laertius 7.1.24; contrast Diogenes Ep. 17). 10629 E.g., Homer I1. 12.15. The Iliad regularly predicts (e.g., I1. 21.110; 23.80–81) but does not narrate Achilles» death. 10630 Homer Il. 6.403; 22.506–507. 10631 E.g., Homer Od. 23.266–284. 10632 Apollonius of Rhodes 3.64, 75, 1135; 4.241–245. Writing after Euripides, this must be expected. 10633 E.g., Ovid Metam. 14.824–828; Diogenes Laertius 8.2.68; Phaedrus 4.12.3; cf. Euripides Iph. au1. 1608, 1614,1622. See more fully Talbert, «Immortals.» 10634 See also 2 En. 67:1–3; Gk. Apoc. Ezra 5:7; more fully, Palatty, «Ascension»; Luke, «Ascension»; Tabor, «Divinity»; Begg, «Disappearance.» 10635 Seealso Jos. Asen. 17:8, MSS; T. Ab. 4:5; 8:1; 15:11; 20:12A; 4:4; 8:1; 10:2B; cf. Jub. 32:20–21. 10636 Because of Heracles» apotheosis, people searched only vainly for his corpse (Diodorus Siculus 4.38.3–5); Romulus «vanished» (Plutarch Camillus 33.7); other deified persons, such as Aeneas, also «disappeared» (φανσθη, Diodorus Siculus 7.5.2; the term applies to Heracles in Lysias Or. 2.11, §191), as did Moses in Josephus Ant. 4.326. Boring et a1., Commentary, 163–64, also compare the first-century B.C.E. traditions of Romulus " s ascension (Livy 1.16.2–8; Ovid Metam. 14.805–851; Vir. illustr. 2.13; Plutarch Numa 11.2–3), even by horses and carriage (Ovid Fasti 2.475–510; cf. 2 Kgs 2:11–18), and Job " s children in T. Job 39:8–40:4. |
| 7413 Virgil Ee1. 2.63; Georg. 1.130; Phaedrus 1.8; Babrius 53.1–2; 94; Longus 2.16, 22; 4.15; Aeschylus Supp1. 351; frg. 23 (Glaucus; in LCL 2:393); Pindar Pyth. 2.84; Alciphron Farmers 18 (Eunapê to Glaucê), 3.21, par. 1, 3; Callimachus Iambus 12.202.70; Apollodorus Library 2.5.6; Lycophron Alex. 102–103, 147; Philostratus Hrk. 33.14; endangering weak humans in Xenophon Agesilaus 1.22; p. Seqa1. 5:1. 7417 Alciphron Farmers 5 (Agelarchides to Pytholaüs), 1.26, par. 3; cf. all the selfish in Musonius Rufus 14, p. 92.20–25. Talbert, John, 167, compares Philostratus Vit. Apol1. 8.22, where Apollonius guards his sheep from wolves, which represent worldly matters. «Wolves» are false teachers in Acts 20:29–30; John Chrystostom Hom. Jo. 23 (on John 2:1–22 ) calls the devil a predatory «wolf.» 7419 Phaedrus 1.16.5; Musonius Rufus 14, p. 92.21–22; cf. Paris as a «hungry» wolf in Lycophron Alex. 147. 7421 Derrett, «Shepherd,» 43, argues that Jewish law did not punish a hired shepherd who fled from a robber or wolves, but did not excuse him from a single wolf, as here (m. B. Mesi c a 7:9,11; but cf. b. B. Mesi c a 93b. 7422 Virgil Georg. 3.406–408 (which also lists roving «Spaniards» in a sense equivalent to «robbers»); Babrius 128.14. A slave who stole and killed goats is called a «wolf» (Alciphron Farmers 21 [Philopoemen to Moschion], 3.24, par. 1), since he has acted like one. 7426 People without a leader, like sheep without a shepherd, were bound to scatter ( John 16:32 ; Num 27:17; 1 Kgs 22:17; Matt 9:36), leaving them easy prey for wolves (4 Ezra 5:18). In 1 En. 89:59–63, the shepherds are the pagan nations appointed to judge Israe1. Köstenberger, John, 122–23, helpfully emphasizes the contrast between good and worthless shepherds in Zech 11:16–17. 7428 By contrast, Tg. Jer. 31euphemistically tones down «knowing the Lord» to «knowing the fear of the Lord.» 7431 In view of the whole Gospel, this takes καθς more strongly than even following the «pattern» (Painter, John, 100) of Jesus» relationship with his Father; neither is the text merely prescriptive («it is to reproduce the perfect permanent relationship between the Father and Himself,» Lightfoot, Gospel, 212). |
| 7345 The Jerusalemite Pharisees Jesus addresses (9:40–10:4), and the probably urban first recipients of the Gospel (cf. Rev 1:4,11), may have thought instead of the more common literary images of flocks (cf., e.g., Keener, Matthew, 452); perhaps Jerusalemites thought of temple flocks (see some commentators on Luke 2:8). 7351 Ovid Metam. 14.778; Statius Achilleid 1.704–708. So also thieves (Catullus 62.34–35; Lewis, Life, 123; Matt 24:43). 7353 Babrius 132.1–4 (presumably the danger of being trapped inside with dogs and shepherds functioned as a deterrent). 7355 Hegesippus claimed that James the Lord " s brother called Jesus θρα (Eusebius Hist. ecc1. 2.23.12–19); if this tradition is independent, it supports the antiquity of the christological title (see Carson, John, 389). Augustine rightly links 10:7–9 with 14and contends that Jesus is the only way to salvation (Tr. Ev. Jo. 47.3.3). 7358 The opportunity for suicide (Epictetus Diatr. 1.9.20; 1.25.21; 2.1.19; 3.8.6); other opportunity (Plutarch Reply to Colotes 3, Mor. 1108D; cf. 1QS 11.9); dreams of closed doors were inauspicious (Chariton 1.12.5). 7361 With, e.g., Bruns, «Shepherd,» 388; too quickly dismissed by Bernard, John, 2:355. Tg. Neof. on Deut 33suggests that Moses would also go forth before his people, leading them in the future world. But the image applied to any shepherd/leader (1 Kgs 22:17; 2 Chr 18:16). 7362 Bailey, «Shepherd Poems,» 7, focuses on the village homés court and thinks animals would have to be led out to pasture even in winter. 7363 Cf. Jesus» present leading in 16:13; future (as a shepherd) in Rev 7:17. In Aeschylus Eumenides 91, Apollo promises that Hermes will guide Orestes safely, like a shepherd (ποιμανων). 7371 Cary and Haarhoff, Life, 110. Winter approaches as Jesus speaks these words in the story world (7:2; cf. 10:22–23), but this would probably exercise little influence on how John " s audience imagines the pasturing. 7374 Longus 3.3 (addressing Lesbos, farther north, but relevant in the Judean hills; shepherds and goatherds generally remained in the hills–Babrius 91.2; Matt 18:12); cf. Babrius 45.2–3. |
|
|
