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John 1.51, Jewish Apocalyptic and Targumic Tradition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2009

Christopher Rowland
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Extract

One of the dominant motifs of the Fourth Gospel is the centrality of Christ for any kind of relationship between man and God. This theme at least stands out as a main purpose of the author, for he sets out to persuade his readers ‘that Jesus is the Christ’, and that believing they ‘may have life in his name’ (20. 31). What is more, he points out the superiority of the revelation in and through Jesus Christ (1. 17;3. 13) as compared with all other claims to offer revelation about God. Whether the author was seeking to persuade non-believers of the truth of the Christian message or Christians to remain faithful to the faith which they already had is much disputed. As far as the present discussion is concerned, however, it will be assumed that the gospel is directed primarily to those who were believers already, rather than being evangelistic in outlook, and is intended to dissuade Jewish-Christians from abandoning their new allegiance to Christ.

Type
Articles
Information
New Testament Studies , Volume 30 , Issue 4 , October 1984 , pp. 498 - 507
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1984

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References

NOTES

[1] See further Brown, R., The Gospel of John (London, 1971), vol. 1, p. lxxviiiGoogle Scholar, Barrett, C. K., The Gospel of John and Judaism (London, 1975), p. 17Google Scholar, Pancaro, S., The Law in the Fourth Gospel (Leiden, 1975), especially p. 533 f.Google Scholar and de Jonge, M., ‘Jewish Expectations about the Messiah according to the Fourth Gospel’, NTS 19 (1973), p. 263 f.CrossRefGoogle Scholar Particularly important for the understanding of the Johannine church is Martyn, J. L., History and Theology in the Fourth Gospel (New York, 1968).Google Scholar

[2] See e.g. Bornkamm, G. art. μυοτήριον TDNT 4, p. 815Google Scholar and Collins, J. J. in Apocalypse: the Morphology of a Genre, Semeia 14 (1979), pp. 1 ff.Google Scholar

[3] So also Brown, op. cit. i, p. 53.Google Scholar

[4] On this theme see Hanson, A. T., Grace and Truth (London, 1975)Google Scholar and Pancaro, , op. cit. pp. 489 ff.Google Scholar

[5] Particular mention should be made of the following: Odeberg, H., The Fourth Gospel (Uppsala, 1929)Google Scholar; Qusipel, G., ‘Nathanael und der Menschensohn’, ZNW 47 (1956), p. 281 f.Google Scholar; Dahl, N., ‘The Johannine Church and History’, in Klassen, and Snyder, , Current Issues in New Testament Interpretation (New York, 1962)Google Scholar; Borgen, P., Bread from Heaven (Leiden, 1965)Google Scholar: id. ‘God's Agent in the Fourth Gospel’ in ed. Neusner, J., Religions in Antiquity (Leiden, 1968)Google Scholar; Meeks, W. A., The Prophet King (Leiden, 1967)CrossRefGoogle Scholar and Segal, A. F., Two Powers in Heaven (Leiden, 1978), pp. 213 ff.Google Scholar

[6] E.g. Barrett, , op. cit. pp. 40 ff.Google Scholar

[7] See e.g. de Jonge, , op. cit. pp. 247 ff.Google Scholar

[8] On the antiquity of the saying see Jeremias, J., ‘Die älteste Schicht der Menschensohn-Logien’, ZNW 58 (1967), p. 171CrossRefGoogle Scholar, Windisch, H., ‘Angelophanien um den Menschensohn’, ZNW 30 (1931), pp. 223 ff.CrossRefGoogle Scholar but cf.Michaelis, W., ‘Joh. 1.51, Gen. 28. 12 und das Menschensohn-Problem’, TLZ 85 (1960), col. 561 ff.Google Scholar

[9] On this see Lentzen-Deis, F., Die Taufe Jesu nach den Synoptikern (Frankfurt am Main, 1970), pp. 99 ff.Google Scholar and van Unnik, W. C., ‘Die geöffneten Himmel in der Offenbarungsvision des Apokryphons des Johannes’, in Apophoreta, BZNW 30, pp. 269 ff.Google Scholar

[10] Against the link with Gen. 28.12 see Michaelis op. cit. but see now the comments of Reim, G., Studien zum alttestamentlichen Hintergrund des Johannesevangeliums (Cambridge, 1974), pp. 102 ff.Google Scholar

[11] See e.g. Odeberg, , op. cit. pp. 33 ff.Google Scholar and Burney, C. F., The Aramaic Origin of the Fourth Gospel (Oxford, 1922), p. 116.Google Scholar There is a survey of various interpretations in Moloney, F. J., The Johannine Son of Man (Rome, 1976), pp. 25 ff.Google Scholar

[12] The importance of the targum on this verse has been noted by Lentzen-Deis, , op. cit. pp. 214 ff.Google Scholar, who gives a complete list of the versions in the targumim; Odeberg notes it in passing (op. cit. p. 35 n. 3) but does not comment further on it; likewise also McNamara, M., Targum and Testament (Shannon, 1972), p. 146 f.Google Scholar, Jervell, J., Imago Dei (Göttingen, 1960), pp. 96 ff. and 116 f.Google Scholar, Boismard, M. E., Du Baptême à Cana (Paris, 1956), pp. 123 ff.Google Scholar and Stemberger, G., ‘Die Patriarchen-bilder der Katakombe in der Via Latina’, Kairos 16 (1974), p. 37.Google Scholar

[13] The texts used as the basis of this translation are A. Sperber, The Bible in Aramaic (Leiden, 1959–)Google Scholar, Ginsburger, M., Thargum Jonathan ben Uzziel zum Pentateuch (Berlin, 1903)Google Scholar, id., Das Fragmenttargum (Berlin, 1899)Google Scholar (also Doubles, M., The Fragment Targum Diss. St. Andrews, 1964Google Scholar) and Diez-Macho, A., Neophyti I: Targum Palestinense MS de la Biblioteca Vaticana (Madrid, 1968).Google Scholar

[14] See e.g. McNamara, M., The New Testament and the Palestinian Targum to the Pentateuch (Rome, 1966).Google Scholar On the problem of dating see York, A. D., ‘The Dating of Targumic Literature’, JSJ 5(1974), pp.49 ff.Google Scholar

[15] ‘A tanna taught: they ascended to look at the image above and descended to look at the image below.’

[16] Is there any link with the legends at the beginning of 1 Enoch in TJ1? In these chapters of 1 Enoch the Watchers are finally excluded from heaven because they revealed the divine secrets to men (1 Enoch 7. 1 ff. and 7. 6). If there is, it would appear that they are also guilty of revealing another secret, the fact that Jacob's features are those fixed on the throne of glory.

[17] On this see Scholem, G., Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism (London, 1955).Google Scholar On the earlier material see the monograph of Gruenwald, I., Apocalyptic and Merkavah Mysticism (Leiden, 1980).Google Scholar

[18] So Ginzberg, L., Legends of the Jews (Philadelphia, 1911–), 5. p. 290.Google Scholar A passage is to be found in Pirke de R. Eliezer 35 (Friedländer's translation New York 1965 p. 265), which explicitly identifies Jacob with the face of the man among the hayyoth. According to Simeon b. Lakish in Ber. R. 82. 6, however, ‘the patriarchs, they are the chariot’. See further on this Smith, J. Z., ‘The Prayer of Joseph’, in Religions in Antiquity, p. 284 f.Google Scholar

[19] Cf. b. B. Bathra 58a: ‘R. Bana'ah used to mark out caves … When he came to the cave of Adam, a voice came forth from heaven saying, Thou hast seen the likeness of my likeness (i.e. Abraham), my likeness itself (Adam) thou shall not behold.’ See further on this Jervell loc. cit.

[20] So Lagrange, J., Évangile selon saint Jean (Paris, 1927), p. 52.Google Scholar The Peshitta confirms the interpretation of the Greek followed in this essay in its translation of ⋯π⋯ τ⋯ν υἰ⋯ν το⋯ άνθρώπου. See also Aphraat Demonstratio xx (PCS col. 912 Paris 1894) but cf. the translation of Burkitt, F. C. in Evangelion Da-Mepharreshe (Cambridge, 1904) 1, p. 428.Google Scholar

[21] See Black, M., An Aramaic Approach to the Gospels and Acts (Oxford, 1967 3), p. 100 f.Google Scholar and Burney, , op. cit. p. 85.Google Scholar It is worthy of note that in the second edition of Black's work he argues that έπί in Jn. 1.51 is a translation of meaning ‘towards’ (1954 p. 85), a point omitted from the third edition (noted also by Moloney, , op. cit. p. 29 n. 39).Google Scholar

[22] Similarly also Quispel loc. cit.

[23] Since this article was submitted there has been a significant increase in the study of the christology of the Fourth Gospel in the light of Jewish apocalyptic. Among studies which deserve particular mention are those by Bühner, J. (Der Gesandte und sein Weg im 4. Evangelium WUNT 2.2 Tübingen, 1977)Google Scholar, Borgen, P. (‘Some Jewish Exegetical Traditions as Background for the Son of Man Sayings in John's Gospel’ in de Jonge, M. ed. L'Évangile de Jean Leuven, 1977)Google Scholar, and Paschal, R. W. (The Farewell Prayer of Jesus Diss. Cambridge 1982 especially pp. 149 ff.).Google Scholar I have explored the view of the Jewish apocalyptic world presupposed in this study in The Open Heaven (London, 1982).Google Scholar The importance of the targumim to Gen. 28 is noted by Clarke, E. G. in ‘Jacob's Dream at Bethel as Interpreted in the Targums and the New Testament’, Studies in Religion 4 (1974–1975) pp. 374 ff.Google Scholar