005_Tam_co_570-588 13/02/15 12:48 Pagina 583 WHEN PAPYRI AND CODICES SPEAK: REVISITING JOHN 2,23-25 583 that: (1) in the earliest transmission of 2,23-25, a merely transitional understanding of its role appears not to be fully adequate; (2) most of the earliest manuscripts present 2,23-25 as connected to the pre- ceding context, rather than the following one. Both of these suggestions run against the dominant views of modern commentators. From a narrative perspective, however, the observed delimitation of 2,23-25, being connected to the preceding context, could actually shed more light on the understanding of its role in John 1–2. 1. Problems with the Majority View of the Modern Commentators In order to demonstrate this, the problems with the majority view of the modern commentators have to be noted first. Superficially, 2,23 appears to be just a transitional statement like 2,12-13, both providing a location (Jerusalem, vv. 13, 23) and time (Passover, vv. 13, 23) for the narrative. Besides, phrases in 3,1 and 3,2 seem to be linked to 2,23-25. The “man” (a;nqrwpoj) Nicodemus in 3,1 seems to connect to the statement that Jesus knew “what was in man” in 2,25 (ti, h=n evn tw/| avnqrw,pw|). Nicodemus mentioning the “signs” Jesus was doing (ta. shmei/a… a] su. poiei/j) appears to be linked to those who believed Jesus when they saw the same “signs” that Jesus did in 2,23 (ta. shmei/a a] evpoi,ei). The echoes seem clear. Nonetheless, h=n de, tij a;nqrwpoj also appears in 5,5 (cf. 11,1) to introduce a character. This shows that the use of a;nqrwpoj in 3,1 remains natural enough 49, not as strongly connected to 2,23- 25 as one may think. Furthermore, Nicodemus is never said to have believed throughout 3,1-15. On the contrary, Jesus’ rhetorical ques- tion to Nicodemus in 3,12, “how will you believe?” (pw/j… pisteu,seteÈ) strongly suggests that Nicodemus was apparently a non-believer at that moment. When one compares 3,12 with 5,47, both represent Jesus’ comment towards the end of the pericope, with a close affin- ity of wording used: 3,12 eiv ta. evpi,geia ei=pon u`mi/n kai. ouv pisteu,ete( pw/j evan . ei;pw u`mi/n ta. evpoura,nia pisteu,seteÈ 5,47 eiv de. toi/j evkei,nou gra,mmasin ouv pisteu,ete( pw/j toi/j evmoi/j r`h,masin pisteu,seteÈ 49 I am indebted to Dr. Ruth Edwards for bringing out this point.