G.K. Beale, «The Old Testament Background of the «Last Hour» in 1 John 2,18», Vol. 92 (2011) 231-254
This article argues that the «last hour» in 1 John 2,18 is best understood against the Old Testament background of Daniel 8,12. In particular, the only eschatological uses of «hour» (w#ra) in all of the Greek Old Testament occur in the «Old Greek» of Dan 8,17.19; 11,35.40; 12,1. There the «hour» (w#ra) refers to the specific eschatological time when the opponent of God’s people will attempt to deceive them. John sees Daniel’s prophecy as beginning to be fulfilled in the deceptive work of the Antichrist(s) who has come among the churches to which he is writing.
The Old Testament Background
of the “Last Hour†in 1 John 2,18
There is an apparent eschatological use of “hour†(wra) in 1 John
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2,18 : “children, it is the last hour [esxath wra] and just as you
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heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have
appeared ; from this we know that it is the last hour [esxath wra] â€.
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The purpose of this article is to propose a more specific background
for “the last hour†in 1 John 2,18 than has been seen before 1.
I. Previous Proposals for the Background of “the Last Hourâ€
A number of commentators have observed that the general
background for the “last hour†lies in the various uses of “latter
day †terminology elsewhere in the Old Testament, early Judaism
and Christianity, though they have not seen specific influence from
any of these texts 2. Others have seen the background to lie more
specifically in John’s gospel. For example, Raymond E. Brown
suggests that “it is not impossible that 1 John’s use of the ‘last
hour’ is to be considered a specification of GJohn’s ‘last day’†or
an equivalence of it, since “the resurrection of the dead in John
6,40 and 5,25 shows the equivalence of the last day with an ‘hour’
that ‘is coming’†3. In addition, the background for the expectation
of the coming of the “antichrist†and “many antichrists†in 1 John
This article is a revision of a paper delivered at the “Greek Bibleâ€
1
Section at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in
November 2008.
E.g., cf. Gen 49,1; Deut 31,29; Isa 2,2; Ezek 38,16; Mic 4,1; and espe-
2
cially Dan 2,28; 10,14; 1QSa 1,1; 1QpHab 2,5-6; 1 Pet 1,5; Ign. Eph. 11,1; Jude
18 ; Acts 2,17; 2 Tim 3,1; Let. Barn. 4,9. In this respect, see, e.g.,
H-J. KLAUCK, Der erste Johannesbrief (EKKNT 23/1; Zurich 1991) 147-48,
and similarly R. E. BROWN, The Epistles of John (AB 30; Garden City, NY
1982) 330-332, 365.
Among others, see BROWN, Epistles, 331; see likewise 332 (Brown also
3
cites the use of “hour†in Dan 8,17.19 but only as a very general background
parallel and not as exercising influence either in John’s gospel or first epistle)
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