Alicia D. Myers, «Prosopopoetics and Conflict: Speech and Expectations in John 8», Vol. 92 (2011) 580-596
This article explores the conflict of John 8 within the larger context of the Gospel and in the light of the ancient rhetorical practice of prosopopoiia: the creation of speech for characters. These speeches add to the credibility of a narrative by being «appropriate» for both the person speaking and the situation in which the speech is given. Although perhaps not prosopopoiia in the traditional sense of speeches from Greek histories, this essay argues that the Gospel nevertheless includes prosopopoetics by creating appropriate, albeit unnerving, words for Jesus that elevate the audience and add to the persuasiveness of the work.
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and loses their “belief†all as a means to persuade those listening to
the Gospel about Jesus’ identity.
The pericope of John 8,31-59 appears in the middle of Jesus’ sec-
ond trip to Jerusalem recorded in the Gospel, this time during the Feast
of Tabernacles (7,2). Jesus has already done some teaching while in
Jerusalem for the festival, and as a result, has already sparked division
and conflict in the wake of his words (7,14-44; 8,12-20). As with other
dialogues in the Gospel, a key aspect of these conflicts is Jesus’ iden-
tity, since what he says repeatedly seems inappropriate to his person.
The crowd, therefore, openly wonders at Jesus’s words (7,14.25-31),
debates Scripture to determine if he is the Messiah or not (7,40-52),
and is divided over his claims (7,43). All the while, the religious au-
thorities (having come to an opinion of Jesus’ identity) repeatedly
scheme and fail to arrest him (7,30.32.44.45-49). Even though Jesus
encourages his audience “not to judge by appearances†but with “right
judgment†in 7,24 (mh\ kri/nete kat’ oyin, a0lla\ th\n dikai/an kri/sin
!
krinete), his interlocutors are ultimately unable to reconcile the words
/
spoken with the appearance of the man who stands before them, and
resort to physical violence (8,59).
The focus on Jesus’ identity remains in ch. 8, no matter to whom
Jesus addresses his words. In his dialogue with the Pharisees in vv. 12-
20, Jesus is asked, “Where is your Father?†(pou= e0stin o9 path/r
sou;) and responds “You know neither me nor my Father†(ou1te e0me\
oidate ou1te to\n pate/ra mou, v. 19). In vv. 21-30 the group expands
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to include the Jews as well, who ask, “Who are you?†(su\ ti/j ei];) and
reportedly “did not understand†(ou0k e1gnwsan) Jesus’ words (vv.
25.27). Even the “believing†Jews of vv. 31-59 ponder over Jesus’s
identity. Having misunderstood Jesus’ words in vv. 31-32, they enter
into a debate with Jesus over heritage that builds to a fever-pitch with
accusations of demonic parentage and possession by both parties. In
these verses, Jesus and the participating Jews condemn one another
based on conclusions about identity. Jesus first turns against his in-
terlocutors for their failure to accept him as God’s appointed messen-
ger, thereby “undermining†their ancestral connection to Abraham
according to ancient ideas of parentage. That is, while acknowledging
that the Jews are indeed the “seed†(spe/rma) of Abraham, Jesus em-
phasizes their failure to mimic his characteristic ability to recognize
and welcome God’s emissaries with their rejection of his claims 32. He
32
The notion that children reflected their parents in physical appearance,