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.
232 G.K. BEALE
2,18 is commonly acknowledged to derive from the eschatological
discourse (Mark 13, Matthew 24, and Luke 21) 4 and especially
from the prophecy about the “man of lawlessness†in 2 Thess
2,3-12 5. Many conclude that the familiarity with these sources
would have been in oral form, since 1 John 2,18 says “you heard
that antichrist is comingâ€.
While the specific proposals that John’s gospel is the back-
ground for the “last hour†are made in a tentative manner, there have
been no proposals for a specific Old Testament background. The
remainder of this article attempts to adduce such a background as the
most probable influence on John’s employment of the “last hourâ€.
II. “ The Last Hour†in 1 John 2,18 as an Allusion
to Daniel’s Prophesied Eschatological Hour
John identifies the “antichrists†of 1 John 2,18 with those who
had apostatized and left the true church, “they went out from us,
but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they
would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would
be shown that they all are not of us†(1 John 2,19). He further de-
scribes them as false teachers and those who are not true believers,
“ who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ?
This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the
Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one
who confesses the Son has the Father also†(2,22-23). They are
also called “false prophets†(1 John 4,1) who are inspired by the
spirit “of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming,
and now it is already in the world†(1 John 4,3). The antichrist and
those inspired by him represent “the spirit of error†(1 John 4,6).
and F. VOUGA, Die Johannesbriefe (HNT 15/3; Tübingen 1990) 42. Likewise
see other commentators on 1 John.
E.g., see L. HARTMAN, Prophecy Interpreted (ConBNT 1; Lund 1966)
4
237-38, and KYSAR, I, II, III John (ACNT ; Minneapolis, MN 1986) 59-60.
Above all, the antichrist expectation in 1 John 2,18 and 4,3 likely derives in
part from Matt 24,5.23-24; Mark 13,6.21-22; Luke 21,8 or a tradition repre-
sented by these texts.
See R. SCHNACKENBURG, The Johannine Epistles (Turnbridge Wells
5
1992) 135, among others, who contends that 2 Thess 2 was among the sources
uppermost in mind behind 1 John 2,18.
FOLLOW US