| 7156 «From the [beginning of] the age» (9:32) might ironically recall Jesus» preexistence by means of his power to heal what no one else could (cf. 1:1–2; 17:24), but the link is at best a possibility. 7158 This response sidesteps the question of demonic involvement in sorcery, which his interrogators presumably would have considered (see pp. 274–75); but John comments little on demons and addressed this charge against Jesus in earlier chapters (7:20; 8:48). 7160 E.g., CIJ 1:365, §500; 2:14, §748; on the frequency of Roman Jewish names alluding to this virtue, see CIJ l:lxvii. 7161 E.g., Abraham in T. Ab. 4:6A; Joseph in Jos. Asen. 4:7/9; Jewish elders from Palestine in Let. Aris. 179. 7162 Citing notably the Aphrodisias inscriptions, Levinskaya, Diaspora Setting, 51–82; idem, «Aphrodisias»; Tannenbaum, «God-Fearers»; Van der Horst, «Aphrodisias»; Feldman, «Sympathizers»; idem, «God-Fearers.» Citing especially other sources, Lifshitz, «Sympathisants»; Gager, «Synagogues»; Horsley, Documents, 3, §17, p. 54; Finn, «God-Fearers»; Overman, «God-Fearers.» 7163 Kraabel, «Disappearance»; idem, «Jews»; MacLennan and Kraabel, «God-Fearers.» The designation functioned in various ways (Murphy-ÓConnor, «God-Fearers»; cf. Wilcox, «God-Fearers»); for various perspectives on detail, cf., e.g., Cohen, «Respect»; Siegert, «Gottesfürchtige.» 7164 E.g., Ps 66:18 ; Gen. Rab. 60:13; Exod. Rab. 22:3; cf. 1Pet 3:7,12 ; Iamblichus V.P. 11.54; Porphyry Marc. 24.374–375. Many commentators cite this principle here (Dodd, Interpretation, 81; Edersheim, 408). Abrahams, Studies, 2:40, citing 1 Kgs 8:41–43, argues that the rabbis would have to affirm that God heard some pagan prayers; in Studies, 1:61, he points to a sinner whom God heard for one act of piety (p. Taan. 1:2). 7165 His denial that he could do nothing at all is an emphatic double negative and contrasts with that of the opponents who do «nothing» good and know «nothing» (11:49; 12:19). 7166 It may be only coincidental; κβλλω appears with sheep in the NT only in 2:15, which hardly provides a favorable model for 10:4. Still, this is an unusual term to apply to leading forth sheep, appearing nowhere with them in the LXX (Exod 2applies to the shepherds driving away the priest " s daughters). |
| 3738 Sir 26:15 . The preposition differs (as most scholars cited above would point out, stressing ντ in 1:16); but LXX readers might have suspected an allusion; prepositions were losing some force by the Koine period. 3740 So also others, e.g., Boismard, Prologue, 62. Dumbrell, «Law,» proposes that Christ here fulfills God " s original purpose in the law-giving of Exod 19–20 as opposed to the second law-giving in Exod 34; this requires us to assume that the Johannine community accepted a difference between the two gifts of Torah (a possible reading of John because midrashically natural, but not clear in the text). 3743 Against Pancaro, Law, 540; cf. even Epp, «Wisdom,» 139: «Torah has been displaced–superseded by Jesus Christ,» though he notes that the contrast is temporal rather than qualitative (pp. 140–41). 3744 The argument that John must oppose Torah because Jesus speaks of «your law» falters on the analogy that he also calls Abraham «your father,» «though obviously no disparagement of Abraham is intended (cf. 8.39–40), but rather of their appeal to him» (Whitacre, Polemic, 65–66). 3746 Pancaro, Law, 534–46, argues correctly that the parallelism here is antithetical rather than synthetic. Some ancient versions, including the Peshitta, understood (and translated) an implicit adversative (see Baarda, « John 1 ,17b,» also suggesting that «grace» was missing in an underlying text). 3750 1 Esd 9:39; LA.B. 11:2; " Abot R. Nat. 1 A; Sipre Deut. 305.1.2; Ned. 38a; cf. Barrett, John, 169; Sib. Or. 11.37 (Egypt, maybe first century B.C.E.); cf. texts that stress Torah as God " s gift, e.g., Sipre Deut. 32.5.10; Lev. Rab. 35:8; Num. Rab. 19:33. Moore, Judaism, 1:398, cites also the ancient Ahabah Rabbah preceding the Shema. Despite Moses» greatness, others were worthy that Torah should have been given through them: Ezra (t. Sanh. 4:7; b. Sanh. 21b; p. Meg. 1:9, §3); yet Moses was «the best-known figure of Jewish history in the pagan world» (Gager, Moses, 18), and pagans called Moses the νομοθτης of the Jews (Gager, Moses, 25; for positive views, see 25–79; for deficiencies, 80–112). |
| 5079 Exod. Rab. 15(citing a fourth-century rabbi, perhaps influenced by some Jewish Christian teaching). 5080 Sib. Or. 1.72; cf. " Abot R. Nat. 41A. If a specific object of God " s general love is in view, it remains unclear (probably assumed) in Gen. Rab. 33:3 (third century); 58:9. 5082 Num. Rab. 14(attributed, perhaps anachronistically, to R. Eleazar b. Azariah, ca. 70–135 C.E.). 5084 Roberts, «Only Begotten, " » 14. Some writers emphasized the fortitude of some fathers who endured their sons» deaths (Valerius Maximus 5.10, passim), but 3probably appeals more to paternal affection, and hence evokes sympathy for such a painful sacrifice. 5086 We read Jesus» remark in Matt 8as a question, with, e.g., Jeremias, Promise, 30; Martin, «Servant,» 15; France, «Exegesis,» 257. 5088 In 3:15, èv ατω may refer to have «life in Him,» since John elsewhere uses ες rather than ν with πιστεω (Barrett, John, 214), although in general ες and εν tended to merge in Koine (Mussies, «Greek in Palestine,» 1042; Bruce, Books, 66). 5089 Petersen, Sociology, 47, argues that it is present from the standpoint of the reader but not in the story world (cf. 7:39); but the matter might be debated either way (cf. 1:6; 5:45; 8:56). 5090 Cf. similar comments in Culpepper, John, 98, on Johannine faith as a way of life rather than «a static response»; he presents the beloved disciple as the chief Johannine example of faith (p. 100; cf. 20:8). 5091 This is consonant with early Christian soteriology in general; see, e.g., Keener and Usry, Faith, 114–23, esp. 119–20; for similar statements of Jesus» mission in non-Johannine Jesus tradition, see Luke 9:56; 19:10; cf. Mark 2:17; 3:4 ; late manuscripts of Matt 18:11. Cf. the somewhat different perspective on this Johannine tradition in Diogn. 7.4–6: in love God sent Jesus, not to condemn, but he will condemn when he returns. 5093 Even if one adds the occurrences in Revelation (Rev 7:10; 12:10; 19:1), these references constitute less than 10 percent of NT occurrences–hardly a characteristic Johannine term. |
| 6839 E.g., Pesiq. Rab Kah. 27:7. Onés own works could also be viewed as more relevant than dependence on those of onés ancestors (Gen. Rab. 74:12). 6840 E.g., Koenig, Hospitality, 15–20; see comment in above paragraph. Later Jewish tradition also emphasized Abraham " s mercy (Gen. Rab. 78:8; Whitacre, Polemic, 70, cites b. Besah 32b). 6841 «Man» (νθρωπος) here is probably not an allusion to the incarnation (1:14) but «simply a semitism for " someoné (BDF, §301 (Brown, John, 1:357). The similar image of martyring truth (e.g., Philostratus Hrk. 33.37) might be relevant. 6842 Jesus thus answers his own question (a form of rhetorical question that some interested in classification called αιτιολογα; see Anderson, Glossary, 14; idem, Rhetorical Theory, 170; Porter, «Paul and Letters,» 580); the practice of appealing to the justice of onés case (Anderson, Glossary, 36) may also be relevant here. 6843 Whitacre, Polemic, 71. 6844 E.g., Exod 4:22; see more fully comment on John 1:12 . 6845 Biographies sometimes opened with the protagonist " s parents or noble family background (e.g., Cornelius Nepos 2 [Themistocles], 1.2; 7 [Alcibiades], 1.2); although such background did not always shape how a child turned out (Sallust Cati1. 5.1; cf. 2 Chr 28:1; 29:2; 33:3; 34:2; 36:5), onés background could help define a herós character (e.g., Homer Il. 20.215–241). 6846 Cf. also the strategy of blaming his parents for his birth ( [ Cicero ] Invective Against Sallust 5.13). 6847 The term πορνεα is broad enough to include adultery; see Keener, Matthew, 467–69. Here it probably implies spiritual adultery, as likely in Rev 2:23. 6848 E.g., Lightfoot, Gospel 196; Hunter, John, 93; Brown, John, 1(citing Origen Gels. 1.28; Acts of Pilate 2.3); Sanders, John, 230; Barrett, John and Judaism, 71; Carson, John, 352; Blomberg, Reliability, 146. 6849 For such traditions, see, e.g., Klausner, Jesus, 23–24,48–51; cf. Herford, Christianity, 35–50; Maier, Jesus in Überlieferung, 198–200; Origen Cels. 1.28, 32, 33, 39. |
| 7902 Homer Il. 8.31; 22.178; 24.473; Od. 1.45, 81; 5.7; 8.306; 12.377; Aristophanes Wasps 652; even those not descended from him, such as his siblings (Homer I1. 5.757,762; 19.121; Od. 13.128). 7903 Homer Il. 2.371; 7.179, 202, 446; 8.236; 12.164; 13.631; 15.372; 17.19, 645; 19.270; 21.273; 24.461; Od. 12.371; Cleanthes Hymn to Zeus in Stobaeus Ee1. 1.1.12; Sophocles Oed. tyr. 202; Aristophanes Ach. 223–225; Apollonius of Rhodes 4.1673; Plutarch R.Q. 40, Mor. 274B; Longinus Sub1. 9.10. 7905 Jub. 1:25, 28; Wis 11:10; Tob 13:4; later, Jos. Asen. 12MSS; T. Job 33MSS, 9; T. Ab. 16:3; 20:13A; cf. Pr. Jos. 1. 7906 Jeremias, Prayers, 15–16; idem, Message, 14. Chilton, Approaches, 59, cites «Father» as a prayer invocation in T. Job and (probably later) the Targumim. Greeks and Romans may have employed the title less pervasively than Judaism and in contrast to Judaism applied the image to the deity " s power rather than to his intimacy with Israel (cf. Johnson, Prayer, 61). 7907 M. Sotah 9:15; t. Ber. 3:14; B. Qam. 7:6; Hag. 2:1; Péah 4:21; Sipra Qed. pq. 9.207.2.13; Behuq.pq. 8.269.2.15; Sipre Deut. 352.1.2; b. Ber. 30a, bar.; p. Sank 10:2, §8; Pesiq. Rab Kah. 24:9; Lev. Rab. 1:3; 7:1; 35:10; SongRab. 7:11, §1. 7908 Marmorstein, Names, 56–60; Moore, Judaism, 2:204–9; McNamara, Targum, 116–18. Jeremias contends that «Father» is rarely attributed to first-century sages (Prayers, 16–17); but this observation omits some evidence (Vermes, Jesus and Judaism, 40) and fails to take into account the sparseness of rabbinic attributions in general in the earlier period. 7911 E.g., Sipre Deut. 27.2.1; " AbotR. Nat. 24, §51B; cf. Jub. 25(«Lord of the age»). Satan assumes this role (kosmokratör) only in some later texts (e.g., Hoskyns, Gospel, 426, cites Exod. Rab. on 24:7, following Billerbeck). Some gnostics later argued that the Jewish God was the lord of the world, whom they identified with Satan, inviting apologetic (Marmorstein, Names, 64, 99). 7912 E.g., 3 En. 1:4. Michael regularly appears as αρχιστρτηγος or similar titles ( Dan 10:13,21; 12:1 ; 2 En. 22:6J; 33:10; 3 Bar. 11:4,6–8; T. Ab. 1:13; 2:1A; 14:7B; Jos. Asen. 14:7; Gk. Apoc. Ezra 4:24; cf. Raphael in Gk. Apoc. Ezra 1:4). |
| 5944 See 1 John 2:18 ; see excursus on antichrist figures in Keener, Matthew, 573–75. 5945 Bultmann, John, 270; Hunter, John, 62–63. This interpretation appears as early as Irenaeus Haer. 5.25.3. 5946 The LXX does not claim that Moses «testifies» but he very frequently appears alongside the ark of μαρτριον («testimony»; it contained the law tablets) especially in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, usually in the «tent of witness.» 5947 Cf, e.g., L.A.B. 9:16; 20:5; CIJ 2:81–82, §834; 2:82, §835; probably 2:82, §836; see further Bonsirven, Judaism, 82. Philo uses Moses» life as a paradigm (Mack, «Imitatio,» on Philo Moses 1.158–159); see further the comment on John 6:15 . Early Christians also highly respected him (e.g., Heb 3:5–6; Rev 15:3). 5948 Pesiq. Rab Kah. Sup. 1:20. 5949 Josephus Ant. 4.328; Sipre Deut. 306.24.2. 5950 For Philo, see esp. Meeks, Prophet-King, 103–6. In one Amoraic tradition, perhaps with tongue-in-cheek hyperbole, God even allowed Moses to be stronger than he (p. Ta c an. 4:5, §1)! 5951 Gager, Moses, 18. 5952 E.g., Jub. 1:19; Philo Moses 2.166; 4 Ezra 7:107; L.A.B. 12:8–9; Γ. Mos. 11:17; Sipre Deut. 343.1.2; as an intermediary in other respects, e.g., T. Mos. 1:14; 3:12; Pesiq. Rab. 6:2; 15:3. Pardon comes through Moses in 4QDibrê ham-Méorôt 2.7–12 (in Vellanickal, Sonship, 30). In greater detail, see Meeks, Prophet-King, 118, 137, 160–61, for nonrabbinic Jewish literature; 200–204, for rabbinic literature; 254, for Samaritan tradition. Joshua intercedes for Israel in L.A.B. 21:2–6. 5953 Bernard, John, 1:257; Schnackenburg, John, 2:129; Whitacre, Polemic, 51; see esp. Hafemann, «Moses.» 5954 See Pancaro, Law, 256–57. A prosecutor or accuser was the opposite of an advocate (e.g., Aeschines Ctesiphon 37, where the laws are figuratively onés advocates). 5955 For the law as reprover of God " s people, see 2 Bar. 19:3; Jas 2:9; for a commandment becoming accuser instead of advocate if one sinned, see Pesiq. Rab Kah. 27:6. A third-century rabbi saw Moses as Israel " s accuser on the occasion of the golden calf idol (p. Yoma 7:3, on Exod 32:31). |
| 1090 With Caird, Revelation, 63–64; Beasley-Murray, Revelation, 113. Cf. 1:6; they probably represent the 24 priestly watches of 1 Chr 24:1–6 (1QM 2.2 seems to have 26), courses still observed in later times (e.g., Luke 1:5; t. Sukkah 4:26; Ta c an. 2:1; Stern, «Aspects,» 587–95). Heavenly priests would fit the image of a heavenly temple (for heavenly service, apparently angelic, cf. 2 En. 22:3A). White garments, characteristic of worshipers in temples (SEG 11.923 [in Sherk, Empire, 58]; Acts John 38; Safrai, «Temple,» 877; cf. Diogenes Laertius 8.1.33), naturally especially characterized priests (e.g., Exod 39:27; 2 Chr 5:12; Pesiq. Rab. 33:10; Apuleius Metam. 11.10; cf. also Stambaugh and Balch, Environment, 135). In Asiatic art each priest may have represented many more worshipers (Ramsay, Letters, 62–63). 1091 See also Caird, Revelation, 94–95; Rissi, Time, 89; Ladd, Last Things, 71–72. Others see them as an eschatological remnant for ethnic Israel (Tenney, Revelation, 78); although this may not fit Rev 2:9,3:9, it would not be incompatible with the Johannine community " s self-perception as ethnically still a Jewish entity. 1093 Most Jewish evidence cited as precedent for Dan " s particular apostasy ( Gen 49:16–17 ; Judg 18:30; 1 Kgs 12:29; T. Dan 5:6; t. Šabb. 7:3; Gen. Rab. 43:2; Pesiq. Rab. 12:13; Beasley-Murray, Revelation, 143–44; Caird, Revelation, 99; Russell, Apocalyptic, 279; cf. Jub. 44:28–29, 33) is too general (in the earliest sources, other tribes were equally criticized) or too late. Evidence for the antichrist " s origin from that tribe (Milligan, Thessalonians, 167), is too late. While some of the former may have influenced the particular selection of Dan for the dubious distinction of omission in Rev 7:4–8, the omission of one of the tribes (indeed, the first in Ezek 48:1–7, 23–27 ) may simply be intended to make the point that even the apparent elect were susceptible to apostasy. 1095 Whereas 1 John speaks of the present, Revelation again addresses the future; the Targumim apply the «second death» to eschatological annihilation (Abrahams, Studies, 2:44; McNamara, Targum, 123). |
| 6123 So also Stegner, «Homily,» 66, though critiquing (p. 67) Borgen " s dependence on the later proem form, which NT scholars usually have misread. Blomberg, Reliability, 127, argues for a similar midrashic form in the Synoptic tradition, albeit much more briefly ( Mark 12:1–12 ; Luke 10:25–37). 6124 Borgen, Bread, 7–8, presents the six relevant texts, of which the three most weighty by today " s scholarship would be two from Philo (Moses 1.201–202; 2.267) and one from the Mekilta (on Exod 16:4). Less thoroughly, others had cited these connections earlier; e.g., Smith, Parallels, 158, cited Mek. on Exod 16and Philo; many also followed Billerbeck on bread as a term for Torah (e.g., Glasson, Moses, 47). 6125 E.g., Smalley, John, 64; Culpepper, Anatomy, 196; Whitacre, Polemic, 53; Beasley-Murray, John, 91. 6128 Barrett, John, 290, following Borgen, Bread, 61–67, notes the similarity with the Al-tiqri exegetical method: «Do not read [Moses] but [God]»; do not read («has given») but («is giving»); cf. further Keener, Matthew, 182. 6130 On metaphor in ancient rhetoric, see Rhet. ad Herenn. 4.34.45; Rowe, «Style,» 124–26; Anderson, Glossary, 73–77; in early Christian texts, cf., e.g., Porter, «Paul and Letters,» 578; Black, «Oration at Olivet,» 85. Perhaps even more appropriate here is the consistent metaphor of the ανιγμα, or «riddle» (see Anderson, Glossary, 13). 6132 In Judaism, paganism, and Christianity, see Goodenough, Symbols, 5:62–95; farther east as well, see Légasse, «Pain.» 6133 A purportedly late-first-century tradition observes that bringing bread from heaven and dew from earth reversed the natural order (Exod. Rab. 38:4). 6134 Also Rabbi Akiba in b. Yoma 75b; for manna as heavenly food, see other sources in Odeberg, Gospel, 240–45. This tradition stems from Ps 78:25 . L.A.E. 4 claims that before the fall people ate angels» food; 4Q513 frg. 2, co1. 2, line 4 may apply this to the priests» portions. 6135 Burchard, «Supper,» thinks this document affected early Christian understandings of the Lord " s Supper, but if influence exists, it is more likely in the other direction. |
| 3230 E.g., Jub. 33:15–16. Compare the exoneration of David " s royal polygyny on the questionable grounds that the law was unknown in his day (CD 5.2; cf. Keener, Marries, 41,161), and the rabbis» holding Gentiles responsible for the Noahide laws precisely because they know better. 3231 M. Qidd. 4:14; b. Sotah 14a; Gen. Rab. 92:4; 95:3; Exod. Rab. 1:1; Lev. Rab. 2:10. Oral Torah likewise existed before the Rabbis (Solomon in b. c Erub. 21b); R. Hisda even contended that Abraham was far more proficient in the mishnaic tractate c Abbodah Zarah than any contemporary rabbis (b. c Abod. Zar. 14b)! Although earlier sources do not comment on this, the admission of Justin " s Trypho that only circumcision was practiced before Moses is probably fabricated (Justin Dia1. 46). 3232 Rissi, «Word,» 396; Brown, John, 1:4. Westcott, John, 2, and Bernard, John, 1find supra-temporal existence in the imperfect tense of the verb; cf. similarly Boismard, Prologue, 7; Morris, John, 73. Cf. the title for God in Apoc. Ab. 9(possibly as early as the second century C.E.): «Before-the-World» (OTP 1:693). The suggested distinction between eternals and immortals in some Greek thought (e.g., Herodotus Hist. 2.43, 145–146, in Talbert, Gospel, 26–27) is not particularly helpful here (first, most Greek mythology detailed deities» origin, and second, John " s frame of thought is monotheistic). 3233 For comments on self-begotten or unbegotten deity in other texts from this period, see comment on 5:26. 3234 Hillelites reportedly contended that «was» in Gen 1indicates the state, hence existence, of earth before the creation (p. Hag. 2:1, §17; this undoubtedly reflects Greek speculation–see comment on John 1:3 ); yet it remains doubtful in view of later rabbinic opinions that they actually viewed it as eternally préexistent. 3235 See esp. Bultmann, John, 31, for whom the implied contrast between «created» or «became» and «was» alone is adequately decisive. 3236 The importance of this to John " s Christology is evident in his framing device: he frames the whole body of the Gospel with confessions of Jesus» deity (1:1; 20:28; see Cullmann, Christology, 308). |
| 9273 Except to the extent that the «Way» of 14might be compared, for LXX-steeped readers, with the highway of the new exodus of Deutero-Isaiah. In Lev. Rab. 11God leads his people in the world to come, but this is isolated (based on a unique exegesis of a text) and late. 9276 Ibid., 170–78; also Cadman, Heaven, 24. Contrast Barrett, John, 167; Boice, Witness, 62; Ladd, Theology, 264–65; van der Waal, «Gospel,» 28–33; Schnackenburg, John, 2:225–37; Albright, «Discoveries,» 169. 9277 Parmenides (ca. 500 B.C.E.) is said to have been the first to have contrasted truth and opinion (Diogenes Laertius 9.22). Perhaps Marcus Aurelius 1.14. For a discussion of the Stoic conception, see Mates, Logic, 33–36: truth is especially « «in» or »about» propositions» (pp. 33–34). Irenaeus (Haer. 1.1.1) reports the gnostic pairing of «Truth» with «Mind»; cf. the discussion of Justin Martyr and the Gospel of Truth in Storey, Truth, 220. 9278 Plutarch Isis 2, Mor. 35IE, although Plutarch no doubt affirms a suprarational element in its pursuit. 9280 T. Jud. 14:1; as a standard of justice, 1 Esd 4:38–39. Virtue calls for truth in Marcus Aurelius 3.11.2. In Let. Arts. 206, one practices the truth by not lying. 9281 T. Ash. 6:1; 2 Bar. 44:14. Exod. Rab. 30(purportedly Hadrianic but surely later) associates law and truth; also in Num. Rab. 12(R. Simeon b. Lakish, third-century Palestine); cf. Dodd, «Background,» 335 (citing a late midrash). Philo relates it to the Logos (Alleg. Interp. 3.45) (one should note, however, that he relates most positive things to the Logos). Barrett, «Spirit,» 8, suggests «theological truth» in Jesus. 9282 As in 1QS 11.4; 1QM 13.9–10. The rabbis saw truth as characterizing the nature of God so much that it became one of his names; see Marmorstein, Names, 180. 9283 E.g., Kuyper, «Grace,» 15–19. Harrison, « John 1:14 ,» 33, argues that either the Hebraic or the Hellenistic concept is a priori possible, since John knew both. The contrast made between Hebraic and Hellenistic would not be regarded as nuanced today, but the point is that readers of the LXX would be accustomed to some nuances in the term that other Greek speakers would be less likely to catch. |
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