Martijn Steegen, «M. Steegen: To Worship the Johannine 'Son of Man'. John 9,38 as Refocusing on the Father», Vol. 91 (2010) 534-554
Important early textual witnesses show John 9,38-39a to be absent. Because of the use of uncharacteristic vocabulary, the use of rare verb forms such as e¶fh and pistey¥w, and the unique confession of faith and worship of Jesus as “Son of Man” during his earthly life, John 9,38 has been said to stand outside Johannine theology. I argue that, although John 9,38-39a confronts the Gospel’s reader with uncharacteristic vocabulary, this does not necessarily imply that these words were added by a later hand under liturgical influence. Instead of standing outside Johannine theology, the confession of faith and the worship by the man healed from his blindness function as the first fulfilment of the proleptic prediction of the words in 4,23 kaiù gaùr oO pathùr toioy¥toyv zhtei˜ toyùv proskynoy˜ntav ayßto¥n. Then, I confront the absence of 9,38-39a with yet another text-critical problem in the larger pericope 9,35-41 — the replacement of the title yiOoùv toy˜ aßnurw¥ poy in 9,35 by yiOoùv toy˜ ueoy — and argue that these two text-critical problems cannot be separated from one another. Finally, I explore how the designation “Son of Man” functions within the framework of pistey¥w and proskyne¥w. The worship of the Johannine Jesus can hardly be seen as a goal in itself. Instead, it is an acknowledgement that the Father is made known in the person of Jesus (cf. 9,3), and hence is typically Johannine.
To Worship the Johannine “Son of Manâ€.
John 9,38 as Refocusing on the Father
“ Lord, I believe!†These are the climactic words of the man born
blind in John 9,38 after Jesus drove the darkness from his eyes.
The progression of the story in chapter nine is impressive. As the
light in the eyes of the blind man increases, darkness increases in
the eyes of the Pharisees. After the confession of the healed man
the narrator adds that the man himself prosekynhsen or ¥
worshiped Jesus. At first sight this physical gesture is not strange
given the progression of the story and the climactic confession of
the man. However, the man born blind would then be the only
character in the Gospel who worships Jesus. Text Criticism shows
how problematic the man’s confession and worship of Jesus is
within the Fourth Gospel. Important early textual witnesses show
9,38-39a to be absent. Because of the uncharacteristic vocabulary
it has been argued that verses 38 and 39a of chapter nine were
added by a later hand. In the first section of this contribution we
will focus on, and critique, this position. In the second section,
the shortest, we will confront the absence of 9,38-39a in some
important manuscripts with another text-critical problem in the
larger pericope 9,35-41. In some textual witnesses the title yıovΩù
toy anurwpoy in 9,35 is replaced by yıov toy ueoy. We defend
˜ß ¥ Ωù ˜ ˜
t h e position that the two text-critical problems cannot be
separated from one another. The confession of faith and the
worship of the man born blind in 9,38-39a are closely connected
with Jesus’ designation as the Son of Man in 9,35. In the third
section we explore how Jesus’ designation as the Son of Man
functions within the framework of pisteyw and proskynew. The
¥ ¥
worship of the Johannine Jesus can hardly be seen as a goal in
itself. Instead, it is an acknowledgement that the Father is made
known in the person of Jesus (cf. 9,3), and hence it is typically
Johannine. Finally, we will summarize our research results in the
conclusion.
Almost three-quarters of the occurrences of proskynew in the
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