The Gospel and Letters of John, Volume 2: The Gospel of John

by Urban C. von Wahlde

Overview

Urban von Wahlde’s radically new, three-volume commentary on the Gospel and Letters of John is the most detailed study of the composition of the Johannine literature ever put forth by an American scholar. / Nearly all of the problems confronted by those who study John have to do with the literary strata of the Gospel of John and their relation to the composition of the Letters of John. With an archaeologist’s precision, and engaging a whole range of scholarly contributions in this area, von Wahlde digs down to the foundations and exposes three distinct literary strata in the development of the Johannine tradition. Volume 1 gives detailed evidence identifying and listing the criteria for each stratum. Volumes 2 and 3 apply those criteria to the Gospel and Letters of John respectively. / These books are part of the Eerdmans Critical Commentary series, edited by David Noel Freedman and Astrid B. Beck.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802822178
Publisher:	Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company
Publication date:	11/22/2010
Series:	The Eerdmans Critical Commentary (ECC)
Pages:	958
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 2.10(d)

About the Author

Urban C. von Wahlde is professor of New Testament at LoyolaUniversity Chicago. He is also the author of TheJohannine Commandments: 1 John and the Struggle for theJohannine Tradition and The Earliest Version ofJohn's Gospel: Recovering the Gospel of Signs.

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THE GOSPEL AND LETTERS OF JOHN

VOLUME 2 Commentary on the Gospel of John

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By Urban C. von Wahlde

William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company

Copyright © 2010 Urban C. von Wahlde
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-8028-2217-8

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Chapter One

1:1-18

The Prologue to the Gospel

1 In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. 2 This one was with God in the beginning.

3 All things came to be through him and without him came to be not one thing that has come to be.

4 In him was life and the life was the light of all people.

5 And the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it.

6 A man came to be, sent from God. His name was John. 7 This man came as a witness, to witness about the light in order that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light but was intended to witness about the light. 9 The true light, that shines on every person, was coming into the world.

10 He was in the world and the world came to be through him and the world did not know him. 11 He came into his own and his own did not accept him. 12 But to as many as did accept him he gave to them power to become children of God, to those believing in his name,

13 who were born, not from blood, nor from the will of the flesh, nor from the will of a man, but from God.

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelled with us and we saw his glory, the glory of one unique from the Father, full of grace and truth.

15 John witnesses about him and has cried out saying, "This is the one about whom I said, 'The one coming after me existed before me because he ranks above me.'"

16 Because we have all received from his fullness, indeed grace upon grace.

17 Because the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the unique Son, the one at the bosom of the Father, made him known.

NOTES TO 1:1-18

V. 1 In the beginning These words echo Gen 1:1 and are the author's way of referring to the beginning of time. This statement expresses the community's belief that Jesus was already in existence at the beginning of time. On the preexistence of the Word, see at 1:15. 1 John will also start with a reference to the "beginning." However, in 1 John, "beginning" will refer to the beginning of the community's experience of Jesus.

Word As Dodd (Interpretation 265-67) has shown, "word" is used in four ways in the Gospel: (1) in the ordinary sense to refer to words spoken by Jesus or others (e.g., 7:40; 19:13); (2) in the singular to refer to a statement or saying of Jesus or of another (e.g., 2:22; 4:37); (3) to refer to the entirety of the message of Jesus (e.g., 5:24; 15:3) — and in this sense it is synonymous with "teaching" (didache) (7:16-18); (4) as a title for Jesus — only in the Prologue (1:1, 14).

While it is true that the term "Word" (as a title for the preexistent Jesus) does not appear elsewhere in the Gospel, there is a clear relation between the conviction that the word of Jesus is not his own but the word of God (5:37-38; 7:16-18; 8:28; 12:48-49) and the conviction that Jesus is the Word of God.

The thought-world that gave rise to this conception of a personalized Word has been explored extensively. The closest parallels are to Wisdom writings and to the concept of Logos in the writings of Philo (see below on the background of the Prologue).

in the presence of God Literally "was before God." This expression is used of Wisdom in Prov 8:22 (but never of Logos). The imperfect here and in vv. 2-4 indicates "continuous timeless existence" (Bernard). In Philo, Wisdom and Logos are sometimes identified (Leg. 1.65; Her. 191; Somn. 2.242-45).

the Word was God This equates the Word with God. Although for many English readers the word "divine" would seem to say the same thing, this is not what is said in the Greek (since there was a Greek word for "divine" [theios]). Verbally, there is a parallel to this in Philo Somn. 1.228-30 although the meaning in Philo does not as clearly equate the Word with God.

V. 3 All things came to be In the Gospel, the Word is the instrument through whom creation takes place. So also Philo (Cher. 125-27) who distinguishes, in a much more philosophical manner, four modes of instrumentality: the "by which," the "from which," the "through which," and the "for which." For Philo, the Logos was the image of God (Fug. 101) but also the paradigm and model of creation (Somn. 2:45).

not one thing that has come to be There is a notorious textual problem here involving the placement of punctuation. On text-critical grounds, a full stop before: "That came to be ..." is to be preferred. In this view, the clause: "That [which] came to be" is to be joined with "in him was life." This is argued most persuasively by K. Aland, "Untersuchung." Scholars also point to the fact that this rendering preserves the staircase parallelism better than the alternate. However, with this punctuation, the meaning of the resulting sentence becomes almost impossible to understand. It is difficult to make sense of "everything that came to be in him" (as if there were other things not coming to be in him) is "life." Yet, in the larger context, the essential point is that the "Word" is the source of life ("in him was life") and that he gives the power to become children of God to those who believe in him.

Schnackenburg (Gospel 1:239-40) concludes that both possibilities are equally awkward from the point of view of good Greek. Schnackenburg himself argues that not only does the second make better sense, but it is to be preferred on the basis of the remainder of Johannine theology (e.g., 5:26; 8:12, etc.). This view has now been adopted by scholars such as Barrett and Carson.

While I am reluctant, for reasons that will be given in the Interpretation, to interpret details of the Prologue in the light of the remainder of the Gospel, I would nevertheless consider the awkwardness of the first alternative to be decisive. The second alternative (that "life" was "in it," i.e., in the Word) is the only one that makes good sense.

V. 4 In him was life Even with the period at the end of v. 3, the meaning still is not completely clear and one wonders if in fact it is due to a lapse of logic within the hymn itself. Verse 4 begins by saying that life is "in" the Word. Thus, the hymn distinguishes between "him" (i.e., the Word) and "life." Here it is not said that Jesus "is" the life (as will be said later in 11:25) but that the life was "in" him. But then immediately it is said that this "life" is "the light." This becomes problematic because in what follows (in both the original hymn and in the final form of the Prologue) it is clear that the Word is the "light." There would appear to be no way to solve this by grammar alone. Most scholars deal with it by pointing to statements later in the Gospel in which Jesus is equated with "life" (i.e., 11:25 cited above) and "light" (e.g., 8:12). While this solves the problem in the context of the Gospel, it does not truly solve the grammar of v. 4.

The general meaning of the statement would seem to be that the Word is the source of life. But is this life intended to be understood in terms of the life that comes from creation or in terms of the life that makes it possible to be a "child of God"? Because the remainder of the hymn speaks of the acceptance or rejection of something offered after creation, it seems more likely that "life" here is intended to refer to the offer of that special life that is eternal.

V. 5 The light shines Although there is widespread attestation of "life" and "light" in the Old Testament, the terms also appear in other literature of the time. For example, Odes Sol. 18:6 ("Let light not be conquered by darkness"). A particularly close parallel to this imagery appears in Wisdom 7:30 ("... when compared with light [Wisdom] is judged superior, for light is replaced by the night but evil does not overpower Wisdom). The LXX has ou katischyei, ("does not overpower"), a verb whose meaning is clearer than ou katelaben. See also Acts Thom. 130. Recently R. Bauckham ("Qumran," 105-15) has argued, as part of a larger argument about the dualism of the Gospel, that the images of "light" and "darkness" do not reflect the dualistic categories of apocalyptic but the traditional categories of the Jewish Scriptures (cf. "Qumran," esp. 107). However, while Bauckham's conclusions show that the Gospel as a whole does not reflect the dualism of the SDQ, it is precisely in assuming that the entire Gospel should reflect these categories that the error appears.

the darkness did not overcome it. (Gk: ou katelaben) The word "overcome" is ambiguous and can mean either "to seize" and therefore "to overcome" (i.e., "to conquer by force"), or it can mean "to seize with the mind" and therefore "to understand." The verb appears also (with skotia) in 12:35, where the notion of "conquering" is intended. But, while that tells us the meaning intended by the third author, it does not give us the precise meaning in the original hymn. Within the context of "did not know" (v. 10) and "did not accept" (v. 11), it would seem that the notion of conflict is less intended than that of recognition and understanding. If it is read in the light of Wisdom 7:27-29, the notion of conflict is predominant. (See also Note above.)

Some scholars would understand this shining of the light in darkness to refer (in the context of Genesis) to the first sin and the fall of mankind. Others would see it in terms of the incarnation. I am inclined to accept the latter. This is the first of a variety of ways in which the hymn describes the result of the appearance of the Word: being in the world but not known by the world, coming into his own but not being accepted, the Word becoming flesh.

V. 6 A man came to be The verb here is egeneto, the verb used of creation. John is not referred to as a "man" (aner) but as a "person" (anthropos).

sent from God John's mission is described in the same way as Jesus', i.e., he was "sent from God."

V. 7 witness (Gk: martyreo) Although this verb is used in a general sense of "stating emphatically" (4:44; 13:21) or "reporting" (4:39), the predominant use is in its narrower sense of "bearing testimony about." In this sense, it appears 23 times in the Gospel (1:7, 8, 15, 32, 34; 3:11, 26; 5:31, 32, 33, 36, 37, 39; 8:13, 14, 18 [twice]; 10:25; 12:17; 15:26, 27; 19:35; 21:24). It is a central concept of the Gospel and the Letters. It has an almost technical meaning that is contrasted with "teaching." Thus, the believer is taught by God, by Jesus and/or by the Spirit, but is not taught by humans. The proper duty of humans is to witness.

Yet Jesus himself witnesses to what he has heard and seen (3:32); about the world (7:7); about himself (8:18); to the truth (18:37). So also the Father witnesses to Jesus (5:32 [twice], 37) as do the Paraclete (15:26), the disciples (15:27) and among them especially the Beloved Disciple (BD) (19:35; 21:24).

Jesus is said not to have need of others to bear witness (2:25), yet he affirms that they do (3:28); and he challenges his accusers at the trial to bear witness if he has spoken in a way worthy of accusation (18:23).

The noun form (martyria) appears fourteen times in the same pattern. It refers to witness to Jesus (1:7, 19; 3:11; 5:32; 19:35; 21:24) but also to the witness of Jesus (3:32, 33; 5:31). He says that he does not accept witness of humans (5:34, 36) and that he does (8:14) and does not (8:13) witness to himself. The witness of the BD is affirmed as true (19:35; 21:24).

In 1 John, although the term appears less frequently, it is still an important concept. It appears in 1:2; 4:14 (in both instances it is joined to the verb of seeing) so that the witnessing is linked to the experience of physical sight. In 5:6, the Spirit is said to witness; in 5:10, God is said to witness. The water and blood are also said to witness (5:7, 9). There is also reference to human witness in 3 John 3, 6, 12 (twice).

that all might believe through him This is the first occurrence of the verb "believe" in the Gospel. It describes one of the primary goals of the Johannine Gospel, as expressed in the "first" conclusion to the Gospel (20:31): "[S]o that you may believe ... that believing you may have life in his name." The development of its meaning within the Johannine tradition is explored in depth in Part 4, Section 2 of Volume 1.

V. 9 coming Grammatically this word could modify either "light" or "person." Opinion has been divided but most modern commentators take it as referring to the light coming into the world. It will be suggested below that this verse is one of those inserted into the hymn when the hymn was prefaced to the Gospel and that the author was intimately familiar with the thought of 1 John and the third edition. Because of this, it seems appropriate to interpret the verse in the light of material of the third edition elsewhere in the Gospel. Since the same expression occurs in 3:19 and 12:46 (both from the third edition) and since it is clear in both of those cases that "coming" modifies "light," this is likely to be the case here also.

into the world "World" appears 78 times in the Gospel of John and its use is complex. In a number of instances, it has a neutral (or "positive") sense but also a negative sense as that which does not accept or recognize God/Jesus. It is clear from its use in the Prologue that within Johannine theology in the widest sense (i.e., including the theology of the hymn), the two aspects constitute a paradoxical relationship and are not the result of two editions.

In v. 10, we hear that the world was created through the Word but the world did not know him. The world is also the object of God's love (3:16) and of Jesus' ministry (3:17; 6:51). But Jesus was "in the world" and had "come into the world" (1:9, 10; 3:17, 19; 9:39; 10:36; 11:27; 12:46; 16:28 [cf. 17:11]; 17:16, 18 [cf. 18:36]; 18:37).

In addition to these uses, there is another that reflects the categories of apocalyptic dualism. Thus, Jesus is not "of the world" (8:23; 17:14). As we shall see later, this is also true of the disciples. They were also "in the world" (13:1; 17:11, 18) but not "of the world" (15:19; 17:6, 14, 16). On the other hand, "the Jews" were "of the world" (8:23).

The term is also used frequently in 1 John. For a discussion of that usage, see the Note on 1 John 2:2.

V. 10 He Previously, the light (phos), which is neuter gender in Greek, had not been identified as masculine. Therefore, it could be translated "it." However, at the end of v. 10 the masculine accusative (auton) appears, indicating that the author intended for the light to be understood here personally as "him" rather than impersonally as "it." The English requires the pronoun's presence here at the beginning of the sentence.

V. 11 his own In the immediate context of the hymn, these words could well apply to those who were "his own" because they were created "through him" (cf. v. 10). For a contemporary Jew, "his own" could also be understood to refer to Israel, which had been chosen to be Yahweh's "own."

V. 12 he gave to them In the Gospel, the verb "give" is used in a number of theologically important ways. Here, I will discuss briefly those instances that speak of what Jesus gives to the believer. In the Note on 3:16, I will discuss what the Father gives to the world and to the believer. In the Note on 3:27, I will discuss what the Father gives to Jesus. In the Note on 6:37, I will discuss the notion of believers being "given" by the Father. In the Note on 6:70, I will discuss the related concept of the believers being "chosen" by Jesus. Not all of these are equally significant but a review of each will aid in understanding them all.

The texts that speak of what Jesus will give to the believer come from both the second and third editions. Although they differ in significant ways, they do agree that Jesus gives eternal life. In the second edition (4:10, 14), Jesus promises the Spirit under the symbolism of living water. Also, in the second edition, Jesus is said to give eternal life (6:33; 10:28; 17:2) and the glory that the Father gave Jesus (17:22). However, in the third edition, Jesus (identified as the Son of Man) is said to give life through the gift of his flesh (6:27, 51).

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from THE GOSPEL AND LETTERS OF JOHN by Urban C. von Wahlde Copyright © 2010 by Urban C. von Wahlde. Excerpted by permission of William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Contents

1:1-18 — The Prologue to the Gospel....................1
1:19-34 — The First Witness to Jesus: John Witnesses about Himself and about Jesus....................33
1:35-51 — The Response of the First Disciples to the Witness of John....................59
2:1-12 — The Second Witness to Jesus: The Miracle at the Wedding Feast at Cana....................80
2:13-22 — The Third and Fourth Witnesses: Jesus and the Temple at Passover....................97
2:23–3:10 — The Spirit and Belief....................113
3:11-21 — The Son: Revelation, Life, and Judgment....................133
3:22-36 — The Final Witness of John the Baptist....................149
4:1-24 — The Samaritan Woman and the Gift of the Spirit (Part 1)....................167
4:25-42 — The Samaritan Woman and the Gift of the Spirit (Part 2)....................185
4:43-54 — Arrival in Galilee and the Healing of an Official's Son....................199
5:1-18 — A Narrative of the Healing of the Paralytic at the Pool....................215
5:19-30 — A Discourse on the Relationship of the Son with the Father (Part 1): The Two Powers Given to Jesus....................229
5:31-40 — A Discourse on the Relationship of the Son with the Father (Part 2): The Four Witnesses to Jesus....................254
5:41-47 — A Discourse on the Relationship of the Son with the Father (Part 3): The Glory That Jesus Does, and Does Not, Accept....................265
6:1-21 — A Narrative of a Miraculous Feeding by Jesus and an Appearance of Jesus Walking on the Sea....................270
6:22-24 — The Crowd Crosses to Capernaum....................283
6:25-50 — A Discourse on the Witness of Scripture to Jesus as the True Bread....................289
6:51-59 — The Eucharistic Bread of Life....................316
6:60-71 — The Unbelief of Some Disciples....................326
7:1-13 — A Narrative of Jesus at the Feast of Tabernacles (Part 1)....................338
7:14-30 — A Narrative of Jesus at the Feast of Tabernacles (Part 2)....................349
7:31-52 — A Narrative of Jesus at the Feast of Tabernacles (Part 3)....................361
8:12-30 — A Discourse on the Witness of the Word of Jesus (Part 1)....................378
8:31-50 — A Discourse on the Witness of the Word of Jesus (Part 2)....................398
8:51-59 — A Discourse on the Witness of the Word of Jesus (Part 3)....................415
9:1-17 — The Healing of a Man Born Blind (Part 1)....................423
9:18-41 — The Healing of a Man Born Blind (Part 2)....................434
10:1-21 — The Parable of the Shepherd and Its Explanation....................451
10:22-42 — The Discourse on Jesus' Works as Witness to Him and a Brief Reference to the Witness of John....................470
11:1-27 — Life Is Restored to Lazarus (Part 1)....................484
11:28-46 — Life Is Restored to Lazarus (Part 2)....................503
11:47-57 — The Decision of the Sanhedrin to Kill Jesus....................516
12:1-19 — Jesus at Bethany and His Entry into Jerusalem....................525
12:20-36 — The Judgment of Unbelief (Part 1)....................543
12:37-50 — The Judgment of Unbelief (Part 2)....................559
13:1-20 — The Last Supper: The Washing of the Disciples' Feet....................575
13:21-30 — Jesus' Farewell Meal: The Beloved Disciple and the Identification of the Betrayer....................605
13:31–14:14 — The Farewell Discourses (Part 1a)....................614
14:15-31 — The Farewell Discourses (Part 1b)....................642
15:1-17 — The Farewell Discourses (Part 2a): The Parable of the Vine and an Exhortation to Mutual Love....................666
15:18–16:4a — The Farewell Discourses (Part 2b): The Hatred of the World....................684
16:4b-33 — The Farewell Discourses (Part 3): The Paraclete, Departure, Return....................695
17:1-5 — The Farewell Discourses (Part 4a): Jesus' Prayer for Himself....................714
17:6-19 — The Farewell Discourses (Part 4b): Jesus' Prayer for His Disciples....................722
17:20-26 — The Farewell Discourses (Part 4c): Jesus' Prayer for Those Who Will Also Believe....................734
18:1-11 — The Passion (Part 1): The Arrest....................744
18:12-27 — The Passion (Part 2): The Hearings before Annas and Caiaphas....................755
18:28-38a — The Passion (Part 3a): The Trial before Pilate....................765
18:38b-19:16a — The Passion (Part 3b): The Trial Continues....................779
19:16b-30 — The Passion (Part 4): The Crucifixion, the Events at the Cross, and the Death of Jesus....................797
19:31-37 — The Passion (Part 5): The Request to Remove the Body and the Piercing of the Side of Jesus....................815
19:38-42 — The Passion (Part 6): The Removal of Jesus' Body and His Burial....................829
20:1-18 — The Empty Tomb, the Belief of the Beloved Disciple and of Mary Magdalene....................836
20:19-23 — Jesus Comes to the Disciples on the Evening of the First Day....................855
20:24-29 — The Appearance to Thomas....................867
20:30-31 — The Conclusion of the First Edition....................873
21:1-14 — An Appearance at the Sea of Galilee....................878
21:15-25 — The Commissioning of Peter, the Deaths of Peter and the Beloved Disciple, and the Second Conclusion of the Gospel....................891
7:53–8:11 — The Woman Taken in Adultery....................908
Authors....................915
Scripture and Other Ancient Literature....................920

Editorial Reviews

Von Wahlde has painstakingly reconstructed the composition of the Gospel of John, building on widely held views and offering methodological advances regarding the correlation of vocabulary, style, theology, and the history of the Johannine tradition in this quest. The result is very persuasive. Our understanding of the composition of the Gospel and the history of the Johannine community is coming into focus with greater and greater clarity. The various strands of evidence can be understood in relation to one another, and individual sections of the Gospel take on new meaning when read in light of von Wahlde’s commentary. This magnificent achievement will shape the discussion of the Gospel of John, its theology, and its relationship to 1 John for the next generation.”
— R. Alan Culpepper
McAfee School of Theology, Mercer University

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