G.K. Beale, «The Old Testament Background of the «Last Hour» in 1 John 2,18» biblica, Vol. 92 (2011) 231-254 page 247

Vol 92 (2011)

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.

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247 THE OLD TESTAMENT BACKGROUND â€œ LAST HOUR â€ OF THE pointed out earlier in the essay (though the explicit notion of de- ception is not mentioned until 1 John 2,21-23.26). 3. Recurrence of the OT Text Elsewhere The Gospel of John and the Book of Revelation use wra under â„¢ the influence of Danielâ€™s (Old Greek) eschatological use of wra.â„¢ Some scholars would see all of these works to have been written by the same author as that of the Johannine Epistles, and, if so, the uses of wra would be examples of other Danielic uses of wra â„¢ â„¢ elsewhere by the same author. However, regardless of the thorny issues about authorship of Johnâ€™s Gospel and Revelation, they are considered by many to be generally a part of a broadly conceived Johannine corpus or deriving from a Johannine community, so that even according to this broader view the uses of wra may still be â„¢ connected. One might think that there is hardly any Old Testament influ- ence in 1 John, especially since there are no quotations, which would make it unusual that 1 John 2,18 would contain an Old Test- ament allusion. Recently, however, probable Old Testament allu- sions have been detected in the epistle. We have space only to list some of the more prominent such allusions here: (a) Isa 6,10 in 1 John 2,11; (b) Jer 38,34 LXX (= 31,34 MT) in 1 John 2,27; (c) the story of Cain in Gen 4,1-25 in 1 John 3,12; (d) not closing the heart against a brother in need but meeting the need (Deut 15,7-8 in 1 John 3,17) 27. In addition, though overlooked by modern commenta- tors, Henry Gough convincingly proposed over a hundred and fifty years ago that 1 John 3,22 (tav entolav aytoy throymen kaÄ± ta Ã¹ÃŸ Ã¹ ÃŸËœ Ëœ Ã¹Ã¹ aresta enwpion aytoy poioymen) made a clear reference back to ÃŸ Ã¹ÃŸ Â¥ ÃŸËœ Ëœ Exod 15,26 and Deut 13,19 (Ï†ylassein pasav tav entolav Â¥ Â¥ Ã¹ÃŸ Ã¹ aytoy . . . poieÄ±n . . . to areston enantÂ¥on kyrÄ±oy ; this Greek ÃŸËœ Ëœ Ã¹ÃŸ Ã¹ÃŸ Ä± Â¥ wording is from the Deuteronomy parallel, whereas Exodus 15 For 1 John 2,11, see J.M. LIEU, The Theology of the Johannine Epistles 27 (Cambridge 1991) 87, and idem, I, II, & III John (Louisville â€“ London 2008) 82-83. For 1 John 2,27 see D.A. CARSON, â€œ1-3 Johnâ€, Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (eds. G.K. BEALE â€“ D.A. CARSON) (Grand Rapids, MI 2007) 1065-1066. For 1 John 3,12 see CARSON, â€œ1-3 Johnâ€, 1066-67 ; for 1 John 3,17, see C.G. KRUSE, The Letters of John (Grand Rapids, MI â€“ Leicester 2000) 138.