Rewriting the Feeding of the Five Thousand: John 6.1-15 as a Test Case for Johannine Dependence on the Synoptic Gospels

338 Pages·4.298 MB·English

by  Steven A. Hunt

HuntSteven978-1-4331-0606-4:Greek DD.qxd 4/7/2011 1:19 PM Page 1
125
Rewriting the Feeding of Five Thousand reveals the connection between John and the
Rewriting
Synoptics with a focus on John 6.1–15. Statistical analyses establish the percentages
of verbal and word order agreement between John 6.1–15 and the Synoptic paral- H THE
lels. An analysis of contextual agreements between the narratives in John and the
U
Synoptics facilitates observing the percentage of agreement between them on a verse-
N
by-verse basis, the average percentage of agreement between them, and the aver-
T Feeding
age percentage of agreement between them when Johannine material without
parallel in the Synoptics is excluded from the data. Furthermore, this book analyzes OF
the Matthean and Lukan redaction of Mark in their versions of the feeding of the
five thousand and their influence on the Johannine narrative, as well as how
John’s narrative can be understood as a thorough rewriting of the Synoptic
Five Thousand
accounts.
R
“In critical dialogue and making excellent use of previous and contemporary e
w
scholarship on the feeding miracle in the Fourth Gospel, Steven A. Hunt argues that
John had read and thoroughly digested all three of the Synoptic Gospels. This first- r
i
rate book is highly recommended to all Johannine scholars who are still wrestling t
i
with the question of John’s dependence on the Synoptics. A provocative, scholarly n
John 6.1–15 as a
and readable book.” g
Gilbert Van Belle, Professor Ordinarius of New Testament,
t
Faculty of Theology of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium h
e
Test Case for Johannine
“Like a canny detective, Steven A. Hunt re-opens the file on John’s relationship to F
the Synoptics and, on the incident of the loaves and fishes, goes over the data with e
e
an unmatched combination of comprehensiveness, precision,and patience. In the
d
end the jury’s task is easy. The simplest explanation that accounts for the data—
i Dependence on the
the preferred explanation in scientific method—is that John used the Synoptics.” n
Thomas L. Brodie, Director, Dominican Biblical Institute, Limerick, Ireland g

o
“A compelling case for John’s use of the Synoptics! Steven A. Hunt definitely con- f
Synoptic Gospels
vinced me that, in John 6:1–15 anyway, the author’s use of the Synoptics amounts F
to ‘transformative imitation’(to use his words). Any future study of the relation- i
v
ship between John and the Synoptics cannot neglect this important contribution.”
e
D. Francois Tolmie, Dean, Professor of New Testament, Faculty of Theology
T
of the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa
h
o
STEVENA. HUNTreceived his Ph.D. from the University of Sheffield. He is Asso- u
ciate Professor of Biblical Studies at Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts.
s
Focusing on the New Testament, he specializes in narrative approaches to the a
Gospel of John and socio-rhetorical approaches to the letters of Paul. His most recent n
publications include articles on John’s characterization of Nicodemus, Lazarus, Abra- d
ham, and Jesus. S T E V E N A . H U N T
P
E
T
E
R
L
A
N
G
Studies in Biblical Literature 125
www.peterlang.com
HuntSteven978-1-4331-0606-4:Greek DD.qxd 4/7/2011 1:19 PM Page 1
125
Rewriting the Feeding of Five Thousand reveals the connection between John and the
Rewriting
Synoptics with a focus on John 6.1–15. Statistical analyses establish the percentages
of verbal and word order agreement between John 6.1–15 and the Synoptic paral- H THE
lels. An analysis of contextual agreements between the narratives in John and the
U
Synoptics facilitates observing the percentage of agreement between them on a verse-
N
by-verse basis, the average percentage of agreement between them, and the aver-
T Feeding
age percentage of agreement between them when Johannine material without
parallel in the Synoptics is excluded from the data. Furthermore, this book analyzes OF
the Matthean and Lukan redaction of Mark in their versions of the feeding of the
five thousand and their influence on the Johannine narrative, as well as how
John’s narrative can be understood as a thorough rewriting of the Synoptic
Five Thousand
accounts.
R
“In critical dialogue and making excellent use of previous and contemporary e
w
scholarship on the feeding miracle in the Fourth Gospel, Steven A. Hunt argues that
John had read and thoroughly digested all three of the Synoptic Gospels. This first- r
i
rate book is highly recommended to all Johannine scholars who are still wrestling t
i
with the question of John’s dependence on the Synoptics. A provocative, scholarly n
John 6.1–15 as a
and readable book.” g
Gilbert Van Belle, Professor Ordinarius of New Testament,
t
Faculty of Theology of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium h
e
Test Case for Johannine
“Like a canny detective, Steven A. Hunt re-opens the file on John’s relationship to F
the Synoptics and, on the incident of the loaves and fishes, goes over the data with e
e
an unmatched combination of comprehensiveness, precision,and patience. In the
d
end the jury’s task is easy. The simplest explanation that accounts for the data—
i Dependence on the
the preferred explanation in scientific method—is that John used the Synoptics.” n
Thomas L. Brodie, Director, Dominican Biblical Institute, Limerick, Ireland g

o
“A compelling case for John’s use of the Synoptics! Steven A. Hunt definitely con- f
Synoptic Gospels
vinced me that, in John 6:1–15 anyway, the author’s use of the Synoptics amounts F
to ‘transformative imitation’(to use his words). Any future study of the relation- i
v
ship between John and the Synoptics cannot neglect this important contribution.”
e
D. Francois Tolmie, Dean, Professor of New Testament, Faculty of Theology
T
of the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa
h
o
STEVENA. HUNTreceived his Ph.D. from the University of Sheffield. He is Asso- u
ciate Professor of Biblical Studies at Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts.
s
Focusing on the New Testament, he specializes in narrative approaches to the a
Gospel of John and socio-rhetorical approaches to the letters of Paul. His most recent n
publications include articles on John’s characterization of Nicodemus, Lazarus, Abra- d
ham, and Jesus. S T E V E N A . H U N T
P
E
T
E
R
L
A
N
G
Studies in Biblical Literature 125
www.peterlang.com
Rewriting the Feeding
of Five Thousand
Studies in Biblical Literature

Hemchand Gossai
General Editor

Vol. 125

PETER LANG
New York (cid:121) Washington, D.C./Baltimore (cid:121) Bern
Frankfurt (cid:121) Berlin (cid:121) Brussels (cid:121) Vienna (cid:121) Oxford
Steven A. Hunt

Rewriting the Feeding
of Five Thousand

John 6.1–15 as a Test Case
for Johannine Dependence
on the Synoptic Gospels

PETER LANG
New York (cid:121) Washington, D.C./Baltimore (cid:121) Bern
Frankfurt (cid:121) Berlin (cid:121) Brussels (cid:121) Vienna (cid:121) Oxford
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hunt, Steven A.
Rewriting the feeding of five thousand: John 6.1–15 as a test case
for Johannine dependence on the Synoptic Gospels / Steven A. Hunt.
p. cm. — (Studies in biblical literature; v. 125)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Bible. N.T. John VI, 1–15—Criticism, Redaction.
2. Bible N.T. Gospels—Criticism, interpretation, etc. I. Title.
BS2615.52.H86 226.5’066—dc22 2010050503
ISBN 978­1­4539­0153­3
ISSN 1089-0645 (Print edition)

Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the “Deutsche
Nationalbibliografie”; detailed bibliographic data is available
on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de/.

The Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised
Standard Version Bible, copyright (©) 1989 by the Division of Christian Education
of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability
of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity
of the Council of Library Resources.

© 2011 Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., New York
29 Broadway, 18th floor, New York, NY 10006
www.peterlang.com

All rights reserved.
Reprint or reproduction, even partially, in all forms such as microfilm,
xerography, microfiche, microcard, and offset strictly prohibited.

Printed in Germany
In Memoriam
Shannon D. Hunt
(1968–2004)
For
Bridget Carmody Hunt

Table of Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Series Editor’s Preface xiii
Abbreviations xv
1. Introduction 1
2. As Many Scholars as Opinions: The Enigmatic Relationship Between
John and the Synoptics 5
Introduction 5
The Supplementation Theory 6
The Supplementation Theory at the Turn of the 20 th Century 7
The Essential Weakness in the Supplementation Theory 10
Windisch: Supplanting the Supplementation Theory 11
Gardner-Smith: Forging a New Consensus 12
Dodd: Substantiating the New Consensus 14
An Ironic Aside 16
Standing Against Consensus 17
A New Approach to the Issue 21
Conclusion 22

3. Too Full of Adventure to Be Briefly Described 23
Introduction 23
A Simple Defense 26
A Singular Clarification 28
Excursus: Q and the Synoptic Problem 29
Resuming the Discussion: John and the Synoptics 36
Other Noteworthy Approaches 36
Oral Traditions: Moving Beyond the Impasse 51
The Program Presented Herein 64
Conclusion 66
viii R ewriting the Feeding of Five Thousand
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
4. Verbal Agreements 69
Verbal Agreements 69
The Feeding of the Multitude: The Basis for the Comparisons 71
The Johannine Feeding Narrative 76
By Way of Comparison: The Synoptic Feeding Narratives 77
Unique Vocabulary in the Feeding Narratives 79
The Sea-Crossing: A Point of Comparison 80
Unique Vocabulary in the Sea-Crossing Narratives 82
Summary of the Data in Terms of Vocabulary 82
Conclusion 83
5. Word Order Agreements 85
Contextual Agreements 85
Word Order Agreements 86
The Johannine Feeding Narrative 87
By Way of Comparison: The Synoptic Feeding Narratives 89
The Sea-Crossing: A Point of Comparison 92
Summary of the Data in Terms of Word Order 93
Conclusion 94
6. Principles and Procedures: A Verse-by-Verse Analysis 99
Introduction: Mgr. Bruno de Solages 99
Pressing On 106
Principles 107
Procedures 108
Cocnlusion 110
7. John 6.1–15: A Verse-by-Verse Analysis 111
Introduction 111
Analysis #1 112
Analysis #2 148
Analysis #3 150
Miscellanea 152
Comparative Data: Analysis 2 of
Matthew 14.13–21 and Mark 6.32–44 154
8. John 6.16–21: A Verse-by Verse Analysis 157
Introduction 157
Analysis #1 158