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.
248 G.K. BEALE
inverts the order of the phrases and contains other minor differ-
ences, which suggests the former is more in focus) 28. Besides the
full phrase “do what is pleasing before him [or before the Lord]â€
found uniquely only in Exod 15,26/Deut 13,19 and in 1 John 3,22,
the lexical combination of tav entolav and poiew + areston
ùß ¥ ¥ ß ¥
occurs only in the same two OT and NT passages.
One last allusion deserves attention: the prophesied “lawless-
ness †of Dan 11,32 (Theod, LXX) and 12,10 (Theod, LXX) in 1 John
3,4, though this proposed allusion needs some comment with re-
spect to its validity. In 2,17-27 the emphasis has been on resisting
the temptations to false belief, and now the emphasis in 2,28–3,10
is shifted to resisting temptation to sinful living. That is, persever-
ance in correct belief necessarily leads to perseverance in righteous
living. With respect to the emphasis on righteous living, 1 John 3,4
says, “Everyone doing the sin [amart¥a] also does the lawlessness
Ω ı
[anomÂ¥a], and the sin [amartÂ¥a] is the lawlessness [anomÂ¥a] â€.
ß ı Ω ı ß ı
“ Sin †here is equated with “lawlessnessâ€. Some significant com-
mentators believe that this is not speaking of sin and lawlessness in
general but “the†prophesied “lawlessness†that was to occur at the
very end of time. Accordingly, the definite article before amart¥a
Ω ı
and anom¥a (which at first sight may seem awkward) designates
ß ı
the expected coming eschatological sin and lawlessness 29.
Is it merely coincidental that virtually all of the passages cited
by these commentators as expressing the expected eschatological
lawlessness are part of a Danielic or synoptic tradition, the latter of
which we have seen to be saturated with Daniel’s eschatology and
also standing in the background of 1 John 2,18? 30 What makes
H. GOUGH, The New Testament Quotations, Collated with the Scrip-
28
tures of the Old Testament (London 1855) 37-38.
See, e.g., MARSHALL, Epistles of John, 176-177, and especially, BROWN,
29
Epistles of John, 399-400.
E.g., BROWN, Epistles of John, 399-400, adduces the following texts an-
30
ticipating this coming eschatological lawlessness: T. Dan 6,1-6 ; Let. Barn.
4,1-4.9 ; 18,1-2; Matt 7,22; 13,41; 24,11-12; Did. 16,3-4 ; 2 Thess 2,3-8. Among
these, only T. Dan 6,1-6, Matt 7,22 and 13,41 are not apparently related to one
of the two Danielic or Synoptic traditions (for Danielic influence behind the
“ lawlessness †in 2 Thess 2,3, e.g., see BEALE, 1-2 Thessalonians, 206-209).
Letter of Barnabas and the Didache may well be contemporary with 1 John,
and thus also be developing respectively Daniel and the Synoptic tradi-
tion. There is also an end-time opponent prophecy in Sib. Or. 3,63-74 (latter
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