Josaphat C. Tam, «When Papyri and Codices Speak: Revisiting John 2,23-25.», Vol. 95 (2014) 570-588
This paper revisits the role of John 2,23-25 in its literary and manuscript context. Contrary to many Johannine commentators who take it as an introduction to the Nicodemus pericope, 2,23-25 should be linked more to the preceding context, not the following. This view is supported by evidence from the sense-unit delimitations observed in the Greek papyri and codices dated within ca. 300 years from the New Testament era. Viewed from a narrative perspective, 2,23-25 should be seen as an anticlimactic concluding remark connected to 1,35 – 2,22.
005_Tam_co_570-588 13/02/15 12:48 Pagina 571
WHEN PAPYRI AND CODICES SPEAK: REVISITING JOHN 2,23-25 571
Schnackenburg 4, E.C. Hoskyns 5, Raymond Brown 6, Ernst Haenchen 7,
Xavier Léon-Dufour 8, Thomas Brodie 9, G.R. Beasley-Murray 10,
Andreas Köstenberger 11, Klaus Wengst 12, Andrew Lincoln 13,
Hartwig Thyen 14, and even the very recent commentary of Ramsay
Michaels 15 all hold the view that 2,23-25 functions as the intro-
duction to the Nicodemus pericope.
Other commentators who do not explicitly treat 2,23-25 as in-
troduction to John 3 admit that it is transitional. These scholars in-
clude Barnabas Lindars 16, D. Moody Smith 17, Craig Keener 18, and
John McHugh 19. Even in the Nestle-Aland 27th and 28th editions of
4
R. SCHNACKENBURG, The Gospel According to St. John (eds. J.M.
FORD – K. SMYTH; trans. K. SMYTH) (New York 1968) I, 360.
5
E.C. HOSKYNS, The Fourth Gospel (ed. F.N. DAVEY) (London 21947) 210.
6
R.E. BROWN, The Gospel According to John I-XII. A New Translation
with Introduction and Commentary (AB 29; Garden City, NY 1966) 126.
7
E. HAENCHEN, Das Johannesevangelium. Ein Kommentar (ed. U.
BUSSE) (Tübingen 1980) 211.
8
X. LÉON-DUFOUR, Lecture de l’Évangile selon Jean (Paris 1988) I, 276.
9
T.L. BRODIE, The Gospel According to John. A Literary and Theo-
logical Commentary (Oxford 1993) 195.
10
G.R. BEASLEY-MURRAY, John (WBC; Nashville, TN 21999) 46.
11
A.J. KÖSTENBERGER, John (BECNT; Grand Rapids, MI 2004) 113.
12
K. WENGST, Das Johannesevangelium. 1. Kapitel 1-10 (TKZNT 2;
Stuttgart 22004) 123-124.
13
Although Lincoln does briefly mention that 2,23-25 “provides a
summary of the response to Jesus’ time”, yet he still considers it transi-
tional and as introduction to 3,1-21. A.T. LINCOLN, The Gospel According
to Saint John (BNTC; London 2005) 144.
14
H. THYEN, Das Johannesevangelium (HNT 6; Tübingen 2005) 183.
15
J.R. MICHAELS, The Gospel of John (NICNT; Grand Rapids, MI
2010) 171-172.
16
B. LINDARS, The Gospel of John. Based on the Revised Standard
Version (NCB; Grand Rapids, MI 1981) 145.
17
D.M. SMITH, John (ANTC; Nashville, TN 1999) 91, 93.
18
C.S. KEENER, The Gospel of John. A Commentary (Peabody, MA
2003) 531.
19
J.F. MCHUGH, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on John 1–4
(ed. G.N. STANTON) (ICC; London 2009) 218. J.H. Bernard, in the first
edition, did not comment on these verses but put them in one section
between his discussion of 2,13-22 and 3,1-15. J.H. BERNARD, A Critical
and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to St. John (ed. A.H.
MCNEILE) (ICC; Edinburgh 1928) 98-99.
FOLLOW US