The Gospel according to Saint John

1732 Pages·76.643 MB·English

by  Rudolf Schnackenburg

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I
Rudolf
Schnackenburg
,· The Gospel
John
Volume 1
, I.
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST JOHN
HERDER'S THEOLOGICAL COMMENTARY
ON THE NEW TESTAMENT
General Editors
Serafin de Ausejo, Lucien Cerfaux, Beda Rigaux,
Rudolf Schnackenburg, Anton Vo gtle
Editors of the English edition
J. Massingberd Ford and Kevin Smyth
r
RUDOLFSCHNACKENBURG
THE GOSPEL
ACCORDING TO
ST JOHN
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VOLUME ONE
INTRODUCTION AND COMMENTARY
ON CHAPTERS 1-4
TRANSLATED BY
KEVIN SMYTH
BURNS & OATES
BURNS & OATES
Wellwood, North Farm Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent
Original edition:
"Das Johannesevangelium", part L Herder, Frei burg, 1965
First published in English translation 1968 by Burns & Oates Ltd.
Reprinted 1980, 1984
Copyright© 1968 Herder KG
Printed in Great Britain
by Antony Rowe Ltd.
Chippenham
Preface
After many years of preparation, a beginning may be made, I think,
with the publication of this commentary on the Gospel of St. John.
Like every human undertaking, it is a child of its times. It would not
have been possible without the theological labour of earlier centuries and
the scientific research of the last decades. I should like the commentary
to make its contribution to the present state of studies, without abandon
ing Catholic tradition or the scientific method used by New Testament
scholars of all confessions. Dealing as we are with one of the most mature
and, at the same time, one of the most controverted products of early
Christianity, in which some find the supreme and crowning testimony of
the faith of the primitive Church, and others a work of pious speculation
with no historical value, one can only use all available means to "explain"
it, that is, to make it understandable to the mentality of the present-day
reader. The tension which is now so strongly felt between "faith and
history", "history and myth", "historical knowledge and the understand
ing of faith" comes out perhaps more strongly than elsewhere in the
Gospel of St. John. Every commentary on it represents a scientific
decision and a personal confession of faith. My own effort claims to be no
different.
Anyone who now undertakes to write a "major commentary"-an
enterprise which grows more and more laborious every year-must
consider well what he proposes to offer and what limits he imposes on
himself. A long introduction seemed desirable for many reasons, and
almost indispensable in the present work. The general purpose of the
series is to provide the reader with an adequate amount of scientific
information about the problems which arise; further, the introduction is
meant to indicate the scientific and theological standpoint of the author
and to prepare for the commentary. As regards the materials available
for the comparative history of religions, I have concentrated on the texts
from Qumran and the new Coptic Gnostic finds, insofar as they have been
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Preface
made accessible. What I owe to other authors, either the Fathers or older
exegetes or modern research, will be easily recognized by scholars, as will
my effort to make the scientific discussion a counter-poise to certain
tendencies. What matters above all, as the J ohannine kerygma tells us,
is the duty of listening to the words of God's envoy himself, as he speaks
from the fullness of the Spirit (Jn 3:34).
Rudolf Schnackenburg
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Contents
Preface .... 3
Abbreviations . 7
INTRODUCTION
I. The Gospel of St John as Written Gospel . 11
II. Relationship to the Synoptics . . . . . . 26
I I I. Literary Criticism of the Gospel of St John 44
IV. Tradition and Redaction . . . . . . . 59
V. The Question of Authorship . . . . . 75
VI. Language, Style, Movement of Though L 105
VII. Spiritual Setting and Origin . . . . . 119
VIII. Theological and Topical Interests . . . 153
IX. Textual Tradition and Textual Criticism 173
X. The Fourth Gospel in History . . . . 192
COMMENTARY
I. The Prologue (1: 1-18) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
II. John's Testimony and the First Disciples (1: 19-51) . . . . 282
III. The Beginning of the "Signs": the Miracles at the Marriage
Feast in Cana (2: 1-11) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
IV. The Beginnings in Jerusalem: Cleansing of the Temple, Many
Signs, Dialogue with Nicodemus (2: 12 - 3: 12) . . . . . 341
The heavenly revealer and bringer of life: the J ohannine
kerygma-a supplement (3:31-36, 13-21) ......... 380
V. Baptisms in Judea. Last Testimony of John the Baptist (3:22-
30). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410
VI. Jesus Reveals Himself in Samaria (4 : 1-42). . . . . . . 419
VII. Return to Galilee. The Second Miracle at Cana (4:43-54) 461
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Contents
EXCURSUSES
I. The Origin and Nature of the J ohannine Concept of the Logos 481
I I. Pre-existence . . . . . . . 494
II I. The Titles of Jesus in John 1 . . . . . 507
IV. The J ohannine "Signs" . . . . . . . 515
V. The "Son of Man" in the Fourth Gospel 529
VI. The Gnostic Myth of the Redeemer' and the J ohannine
Christology . . . . . . . . . . . . . 543
VII. The Notion of Faith in the Fourth Gospel . . . . . 558
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND INDICES
Bibliography of Cited Works . . . . . . . 579
I. Sources. . . . . . . . . . . . 579
II. Works on the Gospel of St John. 582
II I. Other Literature. 593
Textual Indices . 613
Index of Authors . . . . . 631
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Abbreviation
A TANT Abhandlungen zur Theologie des Allen und Neuen Testaments
BZ Diblische Zeitschrirt
CBQ The Catholic Biblical Quarterly
csco Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium
CSEL Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum
DBS Dictionnaire de la Bible, Supplement
DTC Dictionnaire de Theologie Catholique
FRLANT Forschungen zur Religion und Literatur des Allen und Neuen Testaments
GCS Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten drei J ahrhunderte
JBL Journal of Biblical Literature
JTS The Journal of Theological Studies
r KT Kleine Texte fiir theologische und philologische Vorlesungen und Vbungen
LTK Lexikon fiir Theologie und Kirche (2nd ed.)
NRT Nouvelle Revue Theologique
NTS New Testament Studies
PG Migne, Patrologia Graeca
PL Migne, Patrologia Latina
RAC Reallexikon fiir Antike und Christentum
RB Revue Biblique
RGG Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart
RSR Revue de Science Religieuse
TLZ Theologische Literaturzeitung
TU Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur.
Archiv fiir die griechisch-christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten drei Jahr
hunderte
TWNT Theologisches ,vorterbuch zum Neuen Testament
E. T.: Theological Dictionary of the New Testament
ZAW Zeitschrift fiir die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft
ZKT Zeitschritt fiir katholische Theologie
ZNW Zeitschrift fiir die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft
ZTK Zeitschritt fiir Theologie und Kirche
NOTE: The sources (Bibliography I) are generally quoted by editor's name only. The
works listed in Bibliography II and III are quoted by author and (short) title. Book titles
are given in italics, and articles from periodicals, dictionaries, collective works, etc.,
in quotation marks. For full references see the bibliography.
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