John 1-4: A Critical and Exegetical Commentary

365 Pages·2009·17.33 MB·English

by  John F. McHugh

The
INTERNATIONAL CRITICAL
COMMENTARY
on the Holy Scriptures of the Old and
New Testaments
GENERALEDITORS
G.I.DAVIES, F.B.A.
Professor of Old Testament Studies in the University of Cambridge
Fellow of Fitzwilliam College
AND
G.N.STANTON, HON. D.D.
Emeritus Lady Margaret’s Professor of Divinity, University of Cambridge
Former Fellow of Fitzwilliam College
CONSULTINGEDITORS
J.A.EMERTON, F.B.A.
Emeritus Regius Professor of Hebrew in the University of Cambridge
Fellow of St John’s College, Cambridge
Honorary Canon of St George’s Cathedral, Jerusalem
AND
C.E.B.CRANFIELD, F.B.A.
Emeritus Professor of Theology in the University of Durham
FORMERLYUNDERTHEEDITORSHIPOF
S. R. DRIVER
A. PLUMMER
C. A. BRIGGS
JOHN 1–4
A CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL
COMMENTARY
ON
JOHN 1–4
BY
JOHN F. McHUGH
taught in the Faculty of Theology in the University of Durham
and served as a member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission
edited by Graham N. Stanton
T&T Clark International
A Continuum Imprint
The Tower Building 80 Maiden Lane,
11 York Road New York, NY 10038
London SE1 7NX USA
©John F. McHugh (deceased), 2009
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior
permission in writing from the publishers.
www.tandtclark.com
British Library Cataloguing-in-publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available at the British Library
ISBN: 0-567-03158-6
ISBN: 978-0-567-03158-7
The NewJerusalem and GraecaII fonts used to print this work are available
from Linguist’s Software, Inc., PO Box 580, Edmonds, WA 98020-0580 USA.
Tel [phone]. www.linguistsoftware.com
Typeset and copy-edited by Forthcoming Publications Ltd
www.forthcomingpublications.com
Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd., Bodmin, Cornwall
CONTENTS
General Editors’ Preface vii
Preface: Charles Cranfield ix
Introduction: Graham Stanton xi
Abbreviations xv
Bibliography xxi
I. The Greek Text of John’s Gospel xxi
II. Surveys and Lists of Monographs and Articles xxii
III. Commentaries xxiii
IV. General Bibliography xxv
V. Bibliography for sub-sections of John 1–4 xxxi
THE TITLE:EUAGGELION KATA IWANNHN 1
I. THE PROLOGUE:JOHN 1.1-18 5
A. The Word of God in Creation and History: 1.1-5 5
B. John as Witness to the Light: 1.6-8 21
C. The Coming of the Light into the World: 1.9-13 28
D. The Word become Flesh: 1.14-18 49
Excursus I The Structure of the Prologue 78
Excursus II The Logos in the Prologue 91
Excursus III The Meaning of MONOGENHS
in John 1.14, 18 97
Excursus IV Longer Notes of Textual Criticism 104
II. THE FIRST WEEK:JOHN 1.19–2.12 113
A. The Witness of John the Baptist: 1.19-34 113
1. The Baptist’s Witness about Himself: 1.19-28 114
2. The Baptist’s Witness about Jesus: 1.29-34 125
Excursus V Bethany beyond the Jordan 144
B. The Calling and Testimony of the First Disciples: 1.35-51 148
1. The Calling of the First Disciples: 1.35-42 148
2. The Testimony of the First Disciples: 1.43-50 157
3. ‘You will see Heaven opened’: 1.51 165
Excursus VI The Son of Man 170
vi JOHN 1–4
C. The Wedding at Cana in Galilee: 2.1-12 176
Excursus VII A Literary Source for John 2.1-11? 198
III. ANEW JERUSALEM:JOHN 2.13–4.54 201
A. The New Temple: 2.13-22 201
B. The New People: 2.23–4.54 217
1. Nicodemus: The Presentation of the New Order
to Judaism 2.23–3.21 217
2. John the Baptist: The Presentation of the New Order
to his Followers: 3.22-36 243
Excursus VIII The Interpretation of John 3
in the Twentieth Century 257
Excursus IX John the Baptist and his Followers 259
3. The Samaritan Woman: The New Order Presented
to the People of Samaria: 4.1-45 262
Excursus X KURIOS or IHSOUS in 4.1a? 300
Excursus XI Shechem and Samaria
in New Testament Times 302
Excursus XII The Identification of the Site of Sychar 304
Excursus XIII ‘In Spirit and Truth’ 306

4. The Officer from Capernaum: The New Order Presented
to the God-fearing among the Gentiles: 4.46-54 316
Excursus XIV The Roman Centurion 324
GENERAL EDITORS’ PREFACE
Much scholarly work has been done on the Bible since the publication of
the first volumes of the International Critical Commentary in the 1890s.
New linguistic, textual, historical and archaeological evidence has become
available, and there have been changes and developments in methods of
study. In the twenty-first century there will be as great a need as ever, and
perhaps a greater need, for the kind of commentary that the International
Critical Commentary seeks to supply. The series has long had a special
place among works in English on the Bible, because it has sought to bring
together all the relevant aids to exegesis, linguistic and textual no less than
archaeological, historical, literary and theological, to help the reader to
understand the meaning of the books of the Old and New Testaments. In
the confidence that such a series meets a need, the publishers and the
editors are commissioning new commentaries on all the books of the
Bible. The work of preparing a commentary on such a scale cannot but be
slow, and developments in the past half-century have made the commenta-
tor’s task yet more difficult than before, but it is hoped that the remaining
volumes will appear without too great intervals between them. No attempt
has been made to secure a uniform theological or critical approach to the
problems of the various books, and scholars have been selected for their
scholarship and not for their adherence to any school of thought. It is
hoped that the new volumes will attain the high standards set in the past,
and that they will make a significant contribution to the understanding of
the books of the Bible.
G. I. D.
G. N. S.
This page intentionally left blank
PREFACE
John McHugh was surely one of the most learned and able New Testa-
ment scholars of the latter part of the twentieth century and the first years
of the twenty-first. For some years a member of the Pontifical Biblical
Commission, he had a worldwide reputation. The great wealth of his
learning was matched by penetrating insight, originality and clarity of
mind. He was, I think, exceptionally well prepared to undertake the
especially formidable task of writing a full-scale commentary on St John’s
Gospel. It is a matter of profound regret that he did not live to complete it.
John was a splendid colleague, who could always be relied on to give
wise counsel. Always generous in his readiness to assist other scholars, he
sometimes allowed his altruism to hold up the progress of his own work.
He was greatly appreciated by the students who heard his lectures, and
those who had tutorials with him were specially privileged.
In addition to his knowledge of the Bible, of Rabbinic writings and of
the Qumran texts, he had a wonderful familiarity with classical Greek and
Latin literature, with mediaeval Latin, and with a wide range of English
and other literatures. He was fluent in a number of European languages.
He had a notable feeling for language, which is reflected in the clarity and
felicitousness of his own English style.
John McHugh had a keen realization of the need for theologians to be
concerned about politics. He was always well informed about current
affairs, and cared deeply for justice and compassion. He was, for example,
deeply concerned about the injustices suffered by the Palestinians since
1948, though he was never forgetful of the sufferings of the Jews in the
1930s and 1940s or lacking in compassion for them.
He was a wonderful friend and a shining example of what it means to
be a faithful Christian pastor.
Charles Cranfield