Reading John: A Literary Commentary on the Fourth Gospel & the Johannine Epistles

292 Pages·1992·16.682 MB·English

by  Charles H. Talbert

Charles H. Talbert
READING JOHN
A LITERARY AND
THEOLOGICAL COMMENTARY
ON TIIE FOURTH GOSPEL AND
TIIE JOHANNINE EPISTLES
CROSSROAD. NEWYORK
READING JOHN
READING TIlE NEW TESTAMENT SERIES
Reading Corinthians
A Literary and Theological
Commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians
by Charles H. Th.lbert
ReadlngJobn
A Literary and Tbeological
Commentary on the Fourth Gospel
and tbeJobannlne Epistles
by Charles H. 13lbert
Reading Luke
A Literary and Theological
Commentary on the ThIrd Gospel
by Charles H. Th1bert
1992
The Crossroad Publishing Company
370 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Copyright © 1992 by Charles H. ThIbert
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced,
stored In a retrieval system, or transmitted, In any form
or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of
The Crossroad Publishing Company.
Printed In the United States ofA merica
Library ofC ongress Cata/ogtng-tn-Publlcatlon Data
ThIbert, Charles H.
Reading John : a literary and theological commentary on the fourth
Gospel and the ]ohannine Epistles I Charles H. 'Illlbert.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-8245-1179-4
1. Bible. N.T. John-Commentaries. 2. Bible. N.T. Eplsdes of
John-Commentanes. I. TIde.
BS2615.3.T28 1992
226.5 '07-dc20 92-5999
CIP
To Mabry Lunceford,
who embodies the values of the
Johannine Community
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Editor's Preface
Author's Preface
Abbreviations xv
The Johanntne Epistles 1
Introduction 3
Getting Oriented (2, 3}ohn; 1 John 1:1-5) 9
Walking in the Light (1 John 1:6-2:17; 2:18-28) 18
Discerning the Spirits (1 John 2:29-3:24a; 3:241>-4:6) 28
Perlect Love and Proper Belief (1 John 4:7-12; 4:13-16a;
4:16b-5:4a; 5:4b-12) 37
Bases for Christian Confidence (1 John 5:13,14-21) 50
The Fourth Gospel 59
Introduction 61
A Revealing, Empowering Presence Oohn 1:1-18) 66
Creator of a New Community Oohn 1:19-2:12) 80
Proponent of a New Birth Oohn 2: 13-3:21) 95
The Object of the Baptist's Praise Oohn 3:22-4:3) 105
The Savior of the World Oohn 4:4-44, 45-54) 111
Dutiful Apprentice of the Father Oohn 5: 1-47) 121
The Bread of Life Oohn 6:1-71) 131
Water of Life/Light of the World Oohn 7:1-9:41) 143
The DoorlIbe Good Shepherd Oohn 10:1-11:54) 164
vii
viii Contents
The One Whose Hour Has Come Oohn 11:55-12:50) 179
Washer of the Disciples' Feet Oohn 13: 1-35) 189
The Way, the Truth, and the Life 0000 13:31-14:31) 200
The True Vine Oohn 15:1-16:33) 211
The Intercessor Oohn 17:1-26) 223
The Enthroned King Oohn 1~19) 232
The Living Lord Oohn 20-21) 248
Appendix: Descending-Ascending Redeemer Figures
in Mediterranean Antiquity 265
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Quotations from the Bible are from the Revised Standard Version, sec
ond edition, or are by the author unless otherwise specified. Quota
tions from church fathers are normally taken from The Ante-Nicene Fa
tbers. Citations from Greek and Roman authors are usually from the
Loeb Classical library. Quotations from the Pseudepigrapha are normally
taken from James Charlesworth, ed., The Old Testament Pseudepigrapba,
2 vois. (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1983, 1985). Citations from the
Nag Hammadi documents are drawn from The Nag Hammadt Library,
ed. James M. Robinson (New York: Harper & Row, 1977). Material from
the Apocryphal New Testament is ordinarily taken from M. R. James, The
Apocrypbal New Testament (Oxford: Clarendon, 1955). Quotations from
the Dead Sea Scrolls are taken from The Dead Sea Scrolls in Englisb,ed.
Geza Vermes (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1962). Citations from the Mish
nah are from The Misbnab, trans. Herbert Danby (Oxford: Clarendon,
1933). Material from The Fatbers accordtng to Rabbi Natban is taken
from the translation by Judah Goldin (New Haven: Yale, 1955). Permis
sion to use material from my article "The Myth of a Descending-Ascending
Redeemer in Mediterranean Antiquity," N1S 22 (1976): 418-39, has gra
ciously been granted by Cambridge University Press.
EDITOR'S PREFACE
"Reading the New Testament" is a commentary series that aims to present
cutting-edge research in popular fonn that (J accessible to upper-level
undergraduates, seminarians, seminary educated pastors, and educated
laypeople, as well as to graduate students and professors. The volumes
in this series do not follow the word-by-word, phrase-by-phrase, verse
by-verse method of traditional commentaries. Rather they are concerned
to understand 1arge thought units and their relationship to an author's
thought as a whole. The focus is on a close reading of the final form of
the text. The aim is to make one feel at home in the biblical text itself
The approach of these volumes involves a concern both for bow an au
thor communicates and wbat the religious point of the text is. Care is
taken to relate both the bow and the wbat of the text to its milieu: Chrls
tian (NT and non-canonical), Jewish (scriptural and post-biblical), and
Greco-Roman. This enables both the communication strategies and the
religious message of the text to be clarified over against a range of his
torical and cultural possibilities. Moreover, a section of commentary on a
large thought unit will often contain a brief excursus on some topic raised
by the material in the unit, sometimes sketching OT, post-biblical Jew
ish, Greco-Roman, NT, and non-canonical Christian views on the subject.
Throughout, the basic concern is to treat the NT texts as religious doc
uments whose religious message needs to be set forth with compelling
clarity. All other concerns are subordinated to this. It is the hope of all
participants in this project that our efforts at exposition will enable the
NT to be understood better and communicated more competently.
Charles H. 1hlbert, General Editor