THE
UNIVERSITY
OF CHICAGO
LIBRARY
^njCAG-O
./
THE FOURTH
INTERPRETED
IN ITS
?
JK* A
GOSPEI;?'"
RELATION
TO CONTEMPORANEOUS RELIGIOUS
AND THE
HELLENISTIC-ORIENTAL WORLD
CURRENTS
IN PALESTINE
BY
HUGO ODEBERG
B. D., Ph.
Appointed Lecturer in Exegesis in
D.
tlie
University
of
Upsala.
UPPSALA OCH STOCKHOLM
ALMQVIST & 'WIKSELLS BOKTRYCKERI-A.-B.
(i
DISTRIBUTION)
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UPPSALA
1929
ALMQVIST & WIKSELLS BOKTRYCKERI-A.-H.
-'
}
To
The Most Rev.
the
Archbishop of Sweden
NATHAN SODERBLOM
Ph. D., LL. D., D. C. L.,
M.
D.,
D.
Lit.,
this
Th. D.,
D.
I).
book is dedicated
as a humble token of
gratitude
PART
I
THE DISCOURSES
OF
JOHN
1 19
12
CONTENTS
Preface
Sources
5
and
Literature
7
Abbreviations
Jn
32
1 5i
!
225
3
5
43
ff
48
3 13
3
H
3
1
72
f
6
4.7
99
21
H3
15
4 20
149
26
169
44 26
43 2 ,34
5
33
!73
187
29
1
190
<j
5 3
47
Q 26
71
235
38
7 H39
270
281
1229
286
.
7
8
83059
.
217
296
94,5.3941
lOi-iS
313
2538
330
10
119,10
H
2 5- 2 6
3IO
333
333
Il4i,42
334
1223-36
1244-50
335
334
PREFACE.
The undertaking
of the present investigation was suggested
by his teacher, The Rev. Canon G. H. Box, D. D.,
Professor of Old Testament Studies in the University of London.
to the writer
It
has also fallen
The
in
with his
own
inclinations.
been
approached by the writer from an
from
the usual. During his studies in
angle somewhat
found a strangely close corresthe
writer
early Jewish mysticism
the
pondence between
Jewish mystical sources and certain strata
has
subject
different
of the Mandaean literature, a correspondence that was not restricted
but included identity of technical terms and
to similarity of ideas
Whereas the early Jewish mysticism, of course, lives
expressions.
within the environment of Rabbinical Judaism, and uses the language and general phraseology of the latter, with respect to central
tenets again, it was found to stand on one side
Mandasism as against Rabbinism. To the writer it was
obvious that Reitzenstein and Lidzbarski have been right in main-
or
constitutive
with
taining a Palestinian or near-Palestinian origin of Mandseism.
The case with the Fourth Gospel seemed to the writer to be
the same, mutatis mutandis, as with early Jewish mysticism.
On
the
hand one detects, already at a superficial reading, passages,
sentences and words revealing a terminology all but identical with
the Rabbinic, on the other hand the import of the Jn-ine utterances
one
thus expressed in the 'Rabbinic' terminology puts us in touch with a
sphere of conceptions and ideas wholly removed from Rabbinic ones.
In his article
'
T/ie Je^visJt
Environments of Early
Christianity'
Professor Box, from his intimate and independent knowledge of Rabbinical literature in all its phases, suggested that the way to find a
solution of the problems connected with the ideas and literary docu-
ments of early Christianity could only be found through recognizing
that Rabbinism was not the exclusively aud totally^ dominant resphere of the Jews of Palestine of the first centuries of
era, and hence, that early Christianity should be viewed in
ligious
our
6
Preface
relation not only to Rabbinical theology, but also to the many diffeThere should
rent religious currents by the side of Rabbinism.
scarcely
be
any doubt but that the present trend of
studies,
Fourth Gospel, steadily moves in the direction of
the principles laid down by Professor Box. As a fait accompli one
may already behold the complete transference from West-Hellenisat
least of the
tic
to Oriental
environment of the comparative studies with regard
to the Fourth Gospel.
The modern writers, with whom, next to his teacher Professor
Box, the author finds himself intrinsically best in accord, would perl
and Professor
haps be Professor Gerhard Kittel, on one hand
H. H. Schaeder, in view of the position and method of investigation which the latter adopts in his study Der Mensch im Prolog
des IV. Evangeliuuis^
on the other. The author has besides
derived especial profit from Merx, Grill, Burney, Vacher Burch,
Biichsel, Lagrange, Nolloth and Archbishop Bernard.
The present study will be fojlowed by (i) a study of Jn 13 20
an
investigation of the narrative portions of John and of the
(2)
Prologue and Epilogue.
,
',
1
In Iranische LeJiren in R. Reitzenstein
und H. H. Schaeder, Studien z
antiken Synkretisvms aus Iran und Greichcnland,
"
Die P/'obleme des fial. Spdtjitdenttuns etc.
Hugo
Bjorklinge, Sweden, 1929.
Odeberg,
Sources and Literature.
A.
New Testament
Text.
Editions of Greek
New
Testament by Eberhard Nestle-Erwin
Nestle, I3th edition, von Soden, and A. Souter.
The Four Gospels in Syriac Transcribed from the Sinaitic
Palimpsest by R. L. Bensly, J. Rendel Harris and F. C.
with an Introduction by Agnes Smith Lewis.
Cambridge 1894.
The Old Syriac Gospels or Evangelion da-Mepharreshe edited
by Agnes Smith Lewis. London 1910.
Burkitt
Cure Ionian Version of the
edited, collected and arranged by F. C.
Evangelion da-Mepharresche, the
Four Gospels,
Burkitt, vol. I Text, vol. II Introduction
and
Notes.
Cam-
bridge 1904.
jB.
New Testament
Apocrypha.
Novum Testamentum
feld,
4
voll.
extra canonem receptum, ed. A. Hilgen-
1866 (3rd
ed.),
1876-1884.
Evangelia Apocrypha*', ed. C. Tischendorf 1876.
A eta Apostolorum Apocrypha, ed. R. A. Lipsius
Bonnet, I 1891, II i 1898, 112 1903.
Zahn, Th., Acta loannis. Erlangen 1880.
and
M.
Wright, W., Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles (in Syriac) 2 vol.
J. C., Codex apocryphus Novi Testamenti.
Leipzig 1832.
Budge, E. W., Coptic Apocrypha in the Dialect of Upper
Thilo,
Egypt (ed. and transl.). London 1913.
Clementine Homilies, ed. Lagarde 1865.
Bigg, C., The Clementine Homilies (Studia Biblica ct Ecclesiastica ii pp. 157
Oxford 1890.
193).
Clementine Recognitions, ed. Gersdorf 1838.
James, M. R., The Apocryphal Nezv Testament being the Apocryphal Gospels, Acts, Epistles,- and Apocalypses witJi other
Sources and Literature
8
Narrations and Fragments, newly translated. Oxford 1924
T Apocr.}
(2nd impression 1926). (Cited as M. R. James,
elite
stamentliche
Hennecke, Edgar,
ApokrypJien, In Vermit
in
deutscher
bindung
Facligelehrten
Uebersetzung und
mit Einleitung Jierausgegeben? Tubingen 1924.
N
N
C.
Apostolic Fathers.
Patrum Apostolicomm Opera?, recensuerunt O. Gebhardt, Ad.
Harnack, Th. Zahn (editio minor).
D.
Patristic Texts.
In general from 'Migne'.
Further: Rauschen, Ger., Florilegium Patristiciim.
5. Instini
E.
Apologia Duo?,
Bonn
Fasc.
2.
1911.
Gnostic (excluding Mandaean) Sources.
Apocryphal Acts vide above under B.
Preuschen, Erwin, Zivei Gnostische Hymnen attsgelegt
Text und Uebersetsung. Giessen 1904.
Hippolytus,
et
T. S.
EAEFXOS
.
.
.
mit
(cited Hippol. Refiti!}, ed. L. Duncker
Gottingen 1859. ed. P. Wendland
Schneidewin,
(Hippolytus Werke,
III)
Leipzig 1916.
Philosophumena or tJie Refutation of all Heresies,
Formerly Attributed to Origen, but Novv to Hippolytus,
Bishop and Martyr who Flourished about 220 A D. Translated from the Text of Cruice by F. Legge. {Translations
F. Legge,
'
.
of
Cliristian Literature, Ser,
I.)
Pistis Sophia, neu Jierausgegeben
sclienf und Koptischem Wort-
Dr
Carl
Schmidt.
(Coptica
London
1921.
mit Einleitung nebst GriecJiiund Namenregister, von D.
Consilio et Impensis Instituti
Rask-Oerstediani Edita, II.) K0benhavn 1925.
Schmidt, C., Koptisch- Gnostische Schriften, Erster Band: Die
Pistis
Sophia
Die Beiden Bucher des Jeu
Unbekanntes
AlfgnostiscJies Werk (Die Griechischen Christlichen Schriftstellcr der ersten drei JaJirhrmderte, herausgeg. von der
Kirchenvater-Commission der koniglichen Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften).
Leipzig 1905.
Pistis Sophia, Ein gnostiscJies Originahverk des dritten
JaJirhunderts aus dem KoptiscJien iibersetzt, In neuer Be,
arbeitung
mit
Leipzig 1925.
einleitenden
Untersuchungen
und
Indices.
Sources and Literature
9
Homer, G., Pistis Sophia, Literally Translated from the Coptic.
London 1924.
Odes of Solomon. The Odes and Psalms of Solomon, Reedited for the Governors of the JoJin Ryland Library by
E.
Rendel Harris and Alphonse Mingana, vol. I
The Translation zuith Introduction and Notes.
Text,
Man-
vol. II
chester 1920 (cited: Od. Sol.}.
Bernhard,
iii
F.
J.
The
H.,
Odes of Solomon {Texts and Studies
Cambridge 1912.
3).
Mandseaii Sources.
Petermann, H., Thesaurus
s.
Liber magntis vulg'o Liber
Appellatus opns Mandceorum summi
2 torn.
edidit.
Lidzbarski, M.,
Leipzig 1867.
Der Ginza oder der grosse
dder, iibersetzt.
Adami
ponderis, descripsit et
ScJiatz
der
Man-
Gottingen 1925.
Euting, J., Qolasta. Leipzig 1867.
Lidzbarski, M., ManddiscJie Liturgien mitgeteilt, iibersetzt mid
erkldrt.
(AbJiandlungen der koniglicJien Gesellschaft der
WissenscJiaften zu Gottingen. PJiilologiscJi-historische Klasse,
Folge, Bd xvii, I.) Berlin 1920.
Neue
M.,
Lidzbarski,
Uebersetzimg.
Note.
1)
Das manddische
The Mandeean
I
Text,
GR (=
GL (=
Ginza Right)
Ginza Left).
of tractate (book) and section of tractate are
dicated
II
sources are cited as follows:
Ginza: Ginza Yamina as
Ginza Se mdld as
Number
JoJiannesbiicli,
Giessen 1915.
in-
by Roman and Arabic
ciphers in italics; page
and line in Lidzbarski's translation follow after number
and section; page and line in Petermann's
preceded by 'Pet.' are put within brackets.
Thus, GL 1 2 437 2 lf (Pet 19 lf-) means: Ginza S'malu,
First Book, second section, page 437 lines 21 f. in
of tractate
text,
-
Lidzbarski's translation, page 19 line
I
f.
in
Petermann's
edition.
2)
Mandcsan
Liturgies:
M
Li,
followed by Qolasta or Oxf.
may be, the number
(= Oxford Liturgies) as the case
of book and liturgical piece in
line in Lidzbarski's text.
italics,
and page and
Sources and Literature
io
3)
Mandcean Book of John (D'rasa d'Yaliya): M'Joh, followed by number of chapter, and page and line in Lidzbarski's text.
The Mandasan
script of
M Joh
barski's
has
Petermann's TJiesanrns and Lidzthrough been transcribed in
all
Hebrew square characters,
and 1 (= Noldeke's -|).
with the use of the additional
,~l
G.
Hermetic writings
zvliich
to
Corp. Herm.}.
(cited
W., Hermetica, The Ancient Greek and Latin Writings
Scott,
Contain Religions or PJiilosophic Teachings Ascribed
Hermes Trismegistns,
Nova
Patritius, F.,
3 voll.
Reitzenstein, R., Poimandres.
H.
Samaritan Sources.
von Gall, August, Der
Giessen 1914
Oxford 1924, 1925, 1926.
Ven. 1593.
de Universis PJiilosophia.
Leipzig 1904.
Jiebrdische Pentatetich
der Samaritaner.
18.
Heidenheim, M., BibliotJieca Samaritana:
I. Die SamaritaniscJie Pentateuch- Version.
Leipzig 1884.
II. Die Samaritanische Liturgie.
Leipzig 1885.
III. Der Commentar Marqah s des Samaritaner s.
Weimar
1896 (the last-named cited Asfar Feliatd].
Gaster, Moses, The Asatir, The Samaritan Book of tJie
rets of Mosesi) together tvit/t the Pitron or Samaritan
Sec-
Com-
mentary and the Samaritan Story of the Death of Moses.
Published for the First time
and
I.
London
Notes.
ivith Introduction, Translation
1927.
Jewish Sources.
i)
0.
T.
Apocrypha and Psendepigrapha.
Ben Sira.
Box and
Wisdom of Ben Sira (in
Apocrypha and Psendepigrapha of
Oesterley,
The
Charles, R. H.,
the Old Testament].
Smend, R., Die Weisheit des Jesus Sirach Hebrdisch
und Deutsch. Berlin 1906.
,
Die Weisheit des Jesus Sirach
erklart.
Berlin
1906.
Schechter,
Ben
S.,
Sira.
The Hebreiv Parts of the Book of
Sources and Literature
Wisdom of Solomon
(in
1 1
Charles, R. H., Apoc.
and
Pseudep.}.
1 Enoch.
The Book of Enoch '(Ethiopia Text).
Oxford 1893.
The Book of EnoclP
Oxford 1912.
and
Radermacher, L., Das Bitch Henoch.
Hemming, J.,
Charles, R. H.,
.
,
Leipzig 1907.
2 Enoch.
Charles, R. H.,
The Book of the Secrets of Enoch.
Oxford 1896.
and Forbes, N., The Book of the
of Enoch (in Charles, R. H., Apoc. and
Psendep. of the Old Testament, II, pp. 431 469).
Bonwetsch, G. N., Die Biicher der Gelicimnisse HeCharles, R. H.,
Secrets
nochs.
u.
XII
Test.
Das
sogenannte
Untersuchungen, 44,
slavisclie Henochbttch.
2.)
(
Texte
Leipzig 1922.
Pair.
Charles, R. H., The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs.
Oxford 1908.
Jubilees.
Charles, R. H.,
The Book of
Jubilees,
Oxford 1908.
Psalms of Solomon.
Ed. R. Harris (vide above under E).
Fragments of a Zadokite Work (Damaskusschrift),
Schechter, S., Documents of JeivisJi Sectaries, I. Frag-
ments of a Zadokite Work. Cambridge 1910 (cited:
Zad. Fragm}.
Assumption of Moses.
Oxford
Charles, R. H., The Assumption of Moses.
1892.
W. J., The Assumption of Moses (Oesterley
and Box, Translations of Early Documents}. London 1918.
Ferrar,
Apocalypse of Barnch.
Charles, R. H., The Apocalypse of Baruch.
Oxford
1896.
Ezra Apo calypse
-
.
London 1912.
Abraham.
Apocalypse of
Box, G. H., The Apocalypse of Abraham (Translations
Box, G. H., The Esra- Apocalypse.
of Early Documents).
London
1919.
Sources and Literature
12
Ascension of Isaiah.
Charles, R. H., The Ascension of Isaiah (Translations
of Early Documents). London 1919.
Testament of AbraJiam.
With an
Box, G. H., The Testament of AbraJiam.
the
a
Translation
Coptic
from
Appendix containing
Version of The Testaments of Isaac and Jacob
by S. Gaselee.. (Translations of Early Documents).
London 1927.
Testament of Solomon.
Me Cown, Chester Charlton, The Testament of Solomon, Edited from Manuscripts at Monnt Athos,
Bologna, Holkham Hall, Jerusalem, London, Milan,
Paris and Vienna, with Introduction. (Untersuch-
ungen znm Neuen Testament, hera'usgegeben von
H. Windisch, Heft. 9). Leipzig 1922.
PJiilonis
2) Philon,
Alexandrini
L. Cohn, P. Wendland.
IV
V
1902,
1906,
VI
Opera Quce Supersunt, edd.
Berlin.
I 1896, II 1897, III 1898,
(coed. S. Reiter) 1915, VII (Indi-
ces comp. I. Leisegang) 1926
The Works of Philo Jndcetts, the Contemporary of JosepJms,
Translated from the Greek, by C. D. Yonge, 4 voll.
.
>
(Bo/ins Ecclesiastical Library).
3)
London 1854
55.
Rabbinical Literature.
a)
e
Talmuct (Misna and G mard; Toscefta).
Misna. -(M) (in the present book always quoted from
'Sulzbach II'; vide below under Babylonian Talmud).
-Tosrefta. (Tos) Zuckermandel, M. S., ^fi&Din etc. Pasewalk 1880. Zuckermandel, M. S., Supplement, ent-
haltend
Trier
Uebersicht,
-Palestinian
schin,
folio,
the
Talmud. (TV).
l"D*in
cited
Babylonian
II
Register
und Glossar
sit
Tosefta.
1882.
(Red
a,
(=
b,
1866).
c,
ifcblDIT TTabM,
r
vol.
folio
(4
eel.
Kroto-
columns per
d).
ibm ITabn, ed. Sulzbach
containing the complete Misna,
Talmud (G e mdra) and the so-called
Talmud. (TB).
Sulzbach
Babylonian
'extra-canonical tractates'). 1 'l11pb ^"^ or '^ttniTi'5'tt
(= i755[ 1763]). 12 voll., folio (2 columns per folio,
cited a, b).
Sources and Literature
The names
Note.
Mima,
13
of the different tractates of the
and Talmuftim, are abbreviated as
Toscefta,
B r.
e
(B rakob), (Pea-Bikkurim not abbreSa& (Sabbab), 'Er fErubln), P es (P e sahim),
e
follows:
viated),
Yom (Yoma), Stik. (Sukka), Besa (Besa, Yom Tob),
RhS (Ros ha-s Sana), Tdan (Ta' a nib), M g (M e gilla),
Mo. Q (Mo'ed: Qatan), Hag (H a giga), Y b (Y e bamob),
'
e
e
K $.
e
e
(K
f>ubbob),
N'S, '(N e darim),
Naz
(Nazir),
Git
Qid (QiddusTn), BQ (Baba Qamma),
e
e
(Baba' M sVa), BB (Baba Bab ra), Sank. (Sane
e
haedrln), Mak. (Makko{o), S l)u (g bu'6g), ^(Ectuyyob),
A b. Z. tA boda
Zara), '^5 or /;^e J5. ('Abob), //or
(Gittin), Sot (Sota),
BM
3
'
(
Z
e
e
e
(Z bahlm), M'n (M nahob), Hul. (Hullln),
e
B ftor. (B korol3), 'Ar ('A rakTn),
(T muraj, K'r
ec
ec
e
ila (M ila),
Tamift, Midd. (Middob),
(K rTbob),
Qin (Qinnim), (Kelim Miquaoj) not abbreviated), Nid
(Horayob),
l>
Tm
e
e
M
Y
e
(NiddS), MaM. (Mafcslrin), Zdb (Zabim), Tl
(T bul
Yom), Vacf (Yadaim), Uqs f Uqsln).
The Misna, and Tosesfia are cited with name of tractate,
numbers of p&rceq and section, the Talmiictim with
c
name
Thus:
of tractate, number of folio and letter of column.
Ycld 82
Misna, tractate Qi^i, p&rceq 3, section 2 (Sulzbach II, vol. 12, fol. 171 b).
M
=
B B 1 16 =
Tos
Toscefta,, tractate S^flS
TY
Ta
=
tt
/ilp,
fol.
64,
column
c,
(g'mara to first pcbrcsq of
BB A b, Z 54 a Babylonian
=
*
'
^ii, pdrczq
section 16 (Zuckermandel, p. 408).
Ta a n 64 c
Palestinian Talmud, tractate
7,
A
bdftti
Zara,
fol.
54,
col.
in ed.
M Td
Krotoschin
a
n).
tractate
Talmud,
of the tractate
a
(found in vol. 8 of Sulzbach
II).
b) Midras.
M'faffa snb^la (M'ty, ed. Venezia
ri"UJ (1558), anast.
reprint Berlin Ji" S^Sn (1925), folio, 4 coll.
Sifra ^l&o, edd. as preceding.
5^/re i^&D, edd. as preceding.
e
M'Wfra, d Rabbi pinion been Yoliai
Mechilta de- Rabbi Simon
b.
e
(M k
R. Sim.
b. Y.).
JocJiai^ ein halachischer
und
xu Exodus nach handschriftlichen und gedruckten Quellen reconstmirt
von D.
haggadischer Midrascli
.
Hoffmann.
Frankf.
a.
M. 1905.
.
.
Sources and Literature
14
ad Numeros adjccto Siphre Zutta,
H. S. Horowitz, pp. 225336 (Corpus Tannaiticuin, Sectio III, Pars III, Fascic. I).
Leipzig 1917.
Sifre,
Znta, in Siphre
ed.
Midras Tannalm,
Deuteronomium
lin
Midrasch Tannaim zum
gesammelt von D. Hoffmann. Ber-
Qijsun IDTtai
.
.
.
1909.
bMiftras Rabba
or M?dra Rabbofiv:
Rabba
(Gen. R. = Miftras Rabbd
B'reslj)
Semop Rabba (Exod. R.).
Uayyiqra Rabba (Lev. R.).
B'miftbar Rabba (Num. R.).
De ~barlm Rabba (Deut. R.).
Midras ^Eka (Lam. R.).
Miftras Sir
Mictras
ha-s&mm (Cant
Ru$
to Genesis).
R.).
(Ruth R.).
Mtdras Qoh<kl<B$ (Ecd. R.).
Moras' jEster (Ester R.).
All cited from the collective edition
shava 1877, 5
Mi&ras Tanliuma
Warshava
P siq$a.
e
Lyck
UJTTa,
Var-
^'jalUjln lai^TQ (Tanli.), ed.
'
a.
s.
Kah ana (P es),
d'Ral)
ed.
S.
Buber,
1868.
e
s R.), ed. M. Friedmann.
Varshava 1875.
Solier Tcb, ed.
P'siqlia Rabbafti
Mi&ras
nil
voll., folio, 2 coll.
(P
Wien
1880.
Yalqut feimoni (Yalq(utJ), ed. Varshava, I 1876, II 1877,
folio, 4 coll.
The midrasim called 'Rabba or 'Rabbofi are
Note.
cited with number of pdrasim and sections, Yalqut with
number of volume and paragraph,
ace. to folio
Of
when
in
c)
the other midrasim
and column.
the less important mi&rasim, not mentioned above,
occasionally referred to, all particulars are given
the text.
Targum.
Targum
Berlin 1884.
Onkelos, ed. A. Berliner.
in 'Rabbinical
Palestinian Targum, bfcOT15>
"JlnST QWfl,
p
1
Bible'.
Targum
to
Prophets and Hagiographa:
de Lagarde,
--
,
P.,
PropJietce Chaldaicce.
Hagiographa Chaldaictz.
Leipzig 1872.
Leipzig 1873.
Sources and Literature
15
Etheridge, J. W., Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan
ben Uzziel (transl.), 2 voll. London 186265.
d) Liturgy.
DW
Siddur of R. 'Amram fiatt
'l ITlO- Varshava 1865.
Israel.
Rodelheim 1868 (1901).
Bser,
'Abofiafi
Seligman
The Authorized Daily Prayer Book of the United Hebrew
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Abbreviations.
Ch. Q. 7?.: Church Quarterly Review.
E. Th. R.: Etudes Theologiques et Religieuses.
Exf>. Ti.: The Expository Times.
H. Th.
R.: Harvard Theological Review.
J: Jesus.
J. B. Lit.: Journal of Biblical Literature.
J. Th. St.: Journal of Theological Studies.
Jn
-.
(John) the author of the Fourth Gospel.
Jnine: Johannine.
N. T.: New Testament.
O. T.: Old Testament.
R. B.: Revue Biblique.
R. Hist. Ph. R.: Revue d'Histoire et de Philosophic religieuses.
T. St.: Texts and Studies.
Th.: Theology, a Monthly Journal.
TJi. St. K.: Theologische Studien und Kritiken.
Z. K. Th.: Zeitschrift fur katholische Theologie.
Z. Nt. W.: Zeitschrift fur die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft.
For abbrevations of sources vide above under Sources and Literature,
esp. F. and /. 3).
33
XSYCO
xa: TOO?
szi
TOV
aYY^of>?
tnov
TOO
t0 ^
o^eaOs tov oopavov avsc
dvapacvovta? xai xa^a
ojxcv,
Osoo
The
avOpcoTUOO.
allusion
in
utterance to
this
immediately apparent and generally recognized. The
OT passage in question had been the subject of much speculations in Jewish circles, both Palestinian and those of the Diaspora,
long before Jn. It has been especially adaptable for mystical
notions, and has indeed remained a favourite source of similes for
Gen 28
I2 is
mystical
doctrines
The
up to the present day.
picture of the
Jacob's-ladder immediately appeals to a mystic mind as echoing
a certain inner experience or conviction. The question here arises
whether the Jn-ine passage links up consciously not merely with
the
OT-passage but with some particular or generally current
A hint of the
on or interpretations of Gen 28 12
speculations
.
wide range of speculations attached by the Rabbinical teachers to
Gen 28 12 may be found in Gen R 6818 (Yalq. nr 119) which runs
as follows:
m
ab-03 "p-iv! arr.y TEX ~~
-iy
DM
(Isa
493)
3-]
n-iDT
-na-.s
-.N^nx "p
nbyab
N-n ^
1
n3in --iv -mDT
-.3
Nr/2'jj
-,n-3
n"3pnbi23
-/'-/a]
-,'0"N
[~m]
3py>3 :r--vi
zj-'b
~"i'N bx-iu;-' (-'/2S3'i')
pb-,^
s
'-
Nip
nbyab
-jy/a
N-rrj;
(n)p-,pn (-bx-) -Dip
N''o
-
:r j
in
1
.-j-^-
-,mN
]-
"j'
"-D
-i
['n-'-jo'o
b.vj:
'->
by
rnujn
iD^b'/a
nsuj
n"bp
-vax "on;
jn^-'n'/c'a
R. Hiyya and R. Yannai (ist generation Palestinian Amoraim)
r2
interpreted the bo [= 'on it' or 'on him'] of Gen 28
differently;
the one said: the angels ascended and descended on the ladder
e. Z>o='on
the other said: they ascended and descended
[i.
it'},
on Jacob: they raised him up and put him down, they leapt on
3
27451.
H.
Odcberg.
I' 1
34
art
on him, teased him;
ran
him,
(as)
whom
my
servant] o, Israel, in
said in the sense of 'thy
it
is
I will
written: (Isa 493)
be
glorified.
[Thou
'Thou', that
image which is engraved on high'.
ascended
on
and
found
They
high
(beheld) his image, they descended on earth and found him sleeping. This may be likened
unto a king who is seated in judgement (sits and judges): they
(= one) ascend to [his] |3aoiXaY] and find him seated in judgement,
they descend into [his] antechamber [cabinet], and find him sleeping.
Another tradition: Above on high every one who speaks in his
favour ascends and [he who accuses him of] guilt descends; below
one earth, every one who speaks in his favour descends and [he
who accuses him of guilt] ascends. 1 Another tradition: ... The
ascending ones are those who accompanied him in Palestine, the
descending ones are those who accompanied him outside Palestine.
[The same angels did not associate themselves with Jacob outside
When he left Palestine, the former
Palestine as in Palestine.
the
and
other ones descended to accompany
ascended
ladder,
angels
said in the name
him during his sojourn outside Palestine.] R. Leui
^
e
of R. S mu'el bar Nahman (3rd generation Palestinian Amoraim):
the ministering angels were driven out from their celestial abode
(m'hisa) for 138 years because they revealed the mysterifes] (misterin,
Another manner of commenting
of the Holy One.
jioarvjp'.ov)
12 is recorded in Tanli
Gen
28
38 a which runs as follows:
upon
is
V"
e
R. S mu'el
Nahman said: those (the angels ascending and
are the (angelic) princes of the idolatrous nations
bar
descending)
the prince of Babel ascended seventy steps (=years) and descended,
and that of Media fifty steps, and that of Greece hundred and
.
descended, and that of
know how many
ened and
said:
Edom (=Rome)
(steps).
will
.
.
ascended and he did not
In that hour Jacob our father
was
there then be no descent for this one?
fright-
The
him (Jerem. 30 10 ):
Therefore fear thou not,
O my servant Jacob, saith the Lord; neither be dismayed, O Israel*;
even if it could be that thou shouldst see him ascend (as high as)
Another tradition has it that
to me, I would throw him down.
the Holy One showed Jacob the descent even of Greece and then
But Jacob feared, seeing that all the four
invited Jacob to ascend.
Then the Holy One answered
had
descended.
princes
preceding
Holy One
1
This
of Israel
is
said
is
to
explained as follows: on high every one who speaks in favour
the accuser of Israel, however, abased; on earth again,
exalted,
every one who accuses (and prosecutes) Israel gets a high position, his defender
e him?iu, ad loc.
abased Matte ndf>
is
K
15'
him:
35
thou ascendest, there will be no descent for thee. But he
and did not ascend. Then the Holy One, said to
if
did not believe
him:
thou hadst ascended and believed, there would not have
But since thou didst not believe, lo,
for thee.
If
been any descent
thy children will be subdued under those four kingdoms
world with tributes and annorias and capitation taxes
in this
The
.
I will chastise thee
passage ends with a dictum of consolation:
with chastisements in this world in order to cleanse thee from
thy iniquities in the time to come. Therefore it is said: and he
slept.*
In this congeries of homiletical, allegorical, popular and mystical
so characteristic of the Midrash expositions of scriptural
dicta
in general, there are
passages
light on
there
the
the
the
is
Gen 28 12 one taking
of
II!
embodied a few
traditions that
throw
present Johannine passage. Thus, to begin with,
record of the two variant interpretations put upon
sense of 'on the ladder',
in the
it
,
the other in the sense of 'on Jacob'. Now Jn 15 1 evidently adopts
or bases upon the latter sense (ercl TOV otoy TOD avGpcoTcoo), in
contrast
to
LXX
^
which renders
sft
aoTT)?,
'on
it',
referring
1
has pointed out that the Jn-ine
interpretation presupposes a direct reference to the Hebrew original,
and cannot be derived from the LXX. The value of the GenRparallel may be said to be, that it shows the interpretation on
which Jn bases to have been current (beside the usual one) also
to
the
in
Jewish
tion
Burney
(ladder).
%)d[iai
circles.
in
question
demonstration.
That the
from Jn
or
latter did
from
not derive the interpreta-
Christian exegesis needs
no
Another part of the quoted exposition in GenR worth consideration in the present connexion, is the one betraying a mystical
background in speaking of the iqonin, efotoyioy, (image) of man on
high in contraposition to and conjunction with man in his appearance on earth. 2 The Divine utterance 'I will be glorified in thee'
[LXX:
but
(i.
sv OOL evdo^aaGvjaojiou]
to Israel as he
refer
to
ideal
in
dictum.
1
2
and
The
in
appearance
(i.
e.
does not
as Jacob),
heaven, his celestial appearance
contrast
obtaining between man's
appearance is thus emphasized by the
In view of the simile used as illustration (the King in
AOFG p.
Cf.
so the dictum implies
his earthly
counterpart
as Israel properly).
e.
celestial
to
his
is
terrestrial
j/j.
Burney,
Gen 28 12
.
AOFG
pp.
n6f.
\
1
by
note.
The
idea of
eiV.dviov
recurs in
PTarg
:
36
15'
Judgement contrasted with the King in sleep) there is not doubt but
that the celestial appearance is meant to be conveyed as the real
Further, the 'sleep' is also, in all probability, taken in a
mystical sense: the earthly, man is, in regard to his real life, as one
who sleeps. 1 Between the sleeping man, the earthly man unaware
of his real life, and the celestial man, or 'image', there is, so far,
man.
no connecting bridge, except the identity in essence. Here, however, the ascending and descending angels step in. They symbolize
the connexion of the earthly man with his celestial counterpart;
up of the earthly man with the celestial man is
man in general by his being engulfed in
On the background of these mystical interpretations of
sleep.
the ascent and descent of the angels on man, some light may be
thrown upon the meaning of Joh. 15
the disciples of Jesus will
see the angels of God ascending and descending upon the son of
man i. e, they will see the connexion being brought about between
the celestial appearance, the Glory,
da, of Christ, and his apthis
connecting
frustrated in the case of
1
:
\
the flesh;
in
pearance
6a
implies the manifestation (<pavspwat<;) of
it
11
on earth. This agrees with the use of the term
2
Dto<; TOO
puts it means the
avGpwrcoo which in Joh as Bauer
:
from heaven descended one (3 3) who will also be elevated thither
his
again
(2
6 62 8 28 1234)
4
J
(3
23
)
fication
I
of
God
in
oto?
TOD
6
s5oaa0Y]
order
in
13 ), i. e. 8oaa0Tjvou,
(12
tradition referred to above of
3
cf.
Gen
receive
man) and
the celestial
av0pa>7roo,
to
the
glorification
the linking up by the mystical
28 12 with Isa 493 (of the gloricf.
this with
133 1
:
vuv
xai 6 Osbc, edo,aod<r) ev avxcp etc.
(Now is the son of man glorified and God is glorified in him.)
Thus the unification of the celestial man and his appearance
in the flesh is eo ipso a communion with the 'Father', under the
aspect of the avajBaotg, and a revelation of the Father, under the
aspect of the xamfjaac?: 6 stopaxax; ejxs ewpaxev toy Ttatepa (149)
I0
6
The import of this will be more apparent
).
Trarqp iv SJJXK eauv (14
if
one considers the question: where
contained
in
15
3
by Th. Zahn
1
related
B.
,
by Jn?
Weiss 4
,
a.
o.,
is the fulfilment of the promise
This question has been answered
to the effect, that the fulfilment
begins already with the miracle of Kana, 2
1
2
~ n where
,
Jesus, ace.
'
Cf.
1 1
Reitzenstein, Iran. Erl. Myst. pp.
Eph. 5
JEv-
,
p. 40. cf. Estlin
connotation of the
uto; ~o5
"
Evjo/t5,<> p. 145.
4
I
JEv*
p.
88.
CarpenteryH'Vpp. 365
below on 13 31
dvOpioTtoo
.
f.
6,
135.
and the discussion on the
isi
37
15 1 is interpreted as the
ans'pavepwaev r/]v 8dav aoToo.
nouncement of the wonderful deeds of Jesus and the narrative of
That may
2i-ii is by vs. II indicated as the explanation of IS 1
to Jn,
.
be possible but to the interpretation of 15 here vindicated, the
answer would rather have to be formulated thus: the promise of
as contained in the o<psa6e, and even as connected with the
15
TOOTCOV ot]>i{) of 1 5, does not refer to a particular object of
jxsiCo)
1
1
,
a
to
vision,
aYjjieiov,
or to an object of vision qua object, but to
faculty of the seer, which enables him to
i
a particular subjective
one might be tempted to add: permanently, and with inthe oa of Christ: the union of the celestial
Hence it may be urged, that Grill is right
perceive
creasing clearness
with the terrestrial.
when observing 1
in
:
connection with the announcement by Jesus
Nathanael that he would henceforth behold 'greater things'
than those perceived when being called (one cannot) think of the
to
To the elect
signs (miracle) that are dealt with in the following.
firstlings of the disciples, which firstlings already at their calling
had not needed any sign (miracle), (to them) what the sequel brings
signs cannot possibly be something greater.
n refers to a
(pavspcoois T^C SO^TJC aoroo spoken of in 2
by way of
The
lower plane of perceiving faculty, yea, to a lower class of perceivers
than that or those spoken of in 15, S 1
And the fulfilment of the
.
155
cannot be represented by the relation in the
2
If 15 1
following context of any happening, or event, or a7][JLeZoy.
is
to be connected with any particular passage in the following,
should be not with 2 11 or 114
but with such passages as
it
14 9> IO J 3i '9: 6 ecopaxwc; SJJ.E scbpaxsv TOV Tcaispa ... 6 rcar/ip iv s|xot
promise of
[
>
KOIBI
[xsvwv
STL
fuupov
syw Cw
In
"/.ai
TOC
xai
spya
6
D[XSI<;
y.6a[j,oc
.
[j.s
.
.
Tva
ooxeTt.
oaa0"(j
Oswpsl,
6
sv
zar/jp
DJJ>SIC
T(J3
oui>
6ecopstTe [z,
.
.
.
ore
C/jasts.
the
fact,
aoToo
verse
contains a clear indication as to in what
connexion the utterance should be brought with the sequel of the
Gospel, viz. through the use here of the term Dioq TOD av6po)7roo.
The occurence of that term gives a special significance to the
present utterance, in particular by pointing to a realm of truth
1
Unters.
ii
69.
are conceived of as having their significance even in relation to the 'higher perceivers' is another matter; naturally they also, are to Jn,
perceived in them the manifestation of the ooa or, at the most, were strengthened
2
That the
through them
ayjiisia
in their belief or their vision, a vision that they,
possessed continually.
however, already
[
iSi
38
actual scope of the words.
The general significance
too avOpwrcoo in Jn has already been touched upon
be fully discussed below, in the excursus to Jn 1831.
beyond the
of the term
and
will
oldc;
Here, however, a preliminary question respecting the connotation
of the term may be considered.
Then
to be emphasized that 15 1 or, as one might
also put it, the Jn-ine interpretation or use of the symbol of Gn
28 12 is necessarily and essentially bound up ^vith the Son of Mani>.
(i)
That
it
has
first
to say, there
is
,
no ascent and descent of the angels, no
is
'heaven opened', no union of the celestial
wit/tout the
man
with the terrestrial
Son of Man. 1
This might be contrasted with the representation of the Midrash given above. Israel-Jacob does not, in the Midrash passage,
function as the unique and always present subject of the unification of celestial and terrestrial.
There may be an underlying idea
of exclusiveness, viz. that of the restriction of the Celestial converse
with earthly man to the people of Israel; that exclusiveness is,
not explicit. The main signification of Israel-Jacob is
that of 'type'.
At this point it may be apposite to contrast also
the Philonic interpretations of Gen 28 12
The comments by Philo
however,
.
on that passage occurring in De Somniis I 12 2 and lip 3 do not
concern us so much as those ib. 1 22 3 23, where he maintains
that the Jacobs-ladder has both a cosmical and a micro-cosmical
Indeed it is
(anthropical, sit venia verbo) symbolical connotation.
the latter, the anthropical (the modern word 'psychological' would
be misleading) that brings us nearest to both the Jn-ine and the
Midrashic general sphere of conceptions. It is put forth by Philo
,
as follows:
Philo
De
Sonmiis 123:
ToiaoTT]
(i.
Eop7]ao|Aev
cctadrjmc;,
ava>
s
1
To
jj,sv
77
ouv sv
as described in
e.
i}jv%ijv,
T7]V
"/.scpati]
ay
'a>c
%ai zaTW Sid Ttdav? aor/c
ot
XSYOJISVT]
22) sou,
TVJV
ficiGLQ
[Asv
oopdviov,
TOO 6eo5
6
Yjcj
TO
%6a[j,(])
'
I
TO
sv
waccvei
"/.ccOaQOJtccTOc;
VOVQ.
"
Ju the narrative of Jacob's dream would probably present itself as a
real angelic ladder between heaven and earth in the son of man
prophecy of the
(cf. 5 3 9).
2
Philo
De Somniis
//.?.
l
to
his
p.
come (down)
to
to
take
Vide
Grill,
Xopt
ou
care
of those
who
366.
8
^iiv
-(U-P
TWV tpiXaj9~(v
6
Oso;
etc
ataOvjotv spyeoOai -ob;
God, not condescending
the (earthly) sense(s) (perceiving faculty of earthly man) sends
ia'jToO Xd'c 00 ^ ^~ .'/.o'jpicf.c, s'vexa
Unters.
I,
p.
128
f.
jC03~iX/>.Ei.
love virtue,
cf.
Estlin Carpenter
JWr
CCVEQ%OLVTO,
JASV
avvavccOTtcovreg avt'v vea
TO
6sav wv aiov opdv [J.dvcov erc'.ei%v6|Aevoi, oftd
TTJV
a UTS yap 0s6? CUTS Xdyti 6sEo<;
oo xatapaXXovcec
uod
,
TOO
ysvoo?
aXXa ovyxara^aivovTsg dia
evev.a
IrcHtoopias
fyiwv,
rfh
outf-iari,
<piXav6pco7uav %ai -s'Xeov
aoiJ^ia^ia?,. tva v,ai T^V sit
vtai.
cpoQovf.ievflv
ipvy^v acoriJQiov Ttveomeg
The
a
Philonic passage explicitly refers to the Jacob's-ladder as
symbol of a spiritual process that may be brought about in
man.
Naturally, from the standpoint of the Philomithe
Xoyog cannot be the 'object' of the ascent-descent of
thought,
the Xdyot.
ordinary
The only
parallel in Jewish writings to this feature of Jn I5
r
,
the mystical conception of Metatron as himself being the Jacobsladder of communication between heaven and earth, in the sense
is
of the salvation-mysticism. But this conception is not attested in
the early mystical writings. 1
The Mandsean parallels also contain no similar feature. (Vide
below
p. 42.)
(2)
The
connotation of the term
o. T. a.
here
is,
however, not
only by the essentiality of the Son of Man
constitutively
in the symbolical use of the picture of the Jacob's-ladder.
Thus
is
it
to
deduce
from
that
the
this,
symbol
would^wrong
applied
defined
to the Son of Man.
Exclusivity is not the import of
the term 016? TOO av6pco7roo.
That this is so will be apparent from a consideration of the
following traits of the Jn-ine representation, viz.
exclusively
on one hand the
appearance, of the
wg
Xdyoc, is,
{xovoysvoo? Tuapa rtarg's
da that he possessed rcpo TOO tov
(b) the 8oa of the utd? is a
on the other hand (c) just as God is glorified
K,da[j,ov slvac (17 5), but
(a)
ace. to 1
in
the
J
4,
Son of Man
6a, or
beheld as a
(13
3
those
1
)
celestial
6a
who
believe in
him can say:
ex
too TcXyjpwixaTOC aoroD YJ^SI? TtavTsg eXa(3o|iev 1'^ (d) so the Son is
I0 and
glorified in the believers (SsSdiao[xat sv auTotc 17
)
(e) through
his
glorification
and thereby
his
union of the celestial with the terrestrial
his unification of the terrestrial with the 'Father', the
same process
is
between the
'Father
brought about in the believers, so that the unity
and Himself should
at last include the
'
believers*
1
2
2
:
TV
a
Travtsc
sv
WOLV,
Vide the writer's 3 En. Introd.
E. Carpenter,
JWr
p.
356.
%a6w?
sect.
13,
ao, rcar/jp, ev s^oi
H
3.
%ayw
ev
15i
40
sv TJ^UV wotv, iva 6' x.oojj.o? TutaTso^ QTI ao ^e
that
aTreaTeiXas,
they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me,
and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world
may believe that thou hast sent me (17 21 ).
tv
act,
a xai amrol
There
as will be repeatedly set forth in the following
is,
an
inclusive
connotation of the term 016? TOD avGpwTcoo
discourses,
This inclusiveness refers on one side to the Father, on the
in Jn.
other to the believers (or, in one vein, to the world), and, to use
the expressions now familiar, is both that of an ava(3aots and that
of a otatapaot?, i. e. may be seen both in the working of the
Father, the Son's doing his Father's work, the Son's work being
related to the believers (the world; cf. esp. 5 7 2I ) and in the
!
the ascent in spiritual perception
of the believers
aspiration
to the Son, and in him, to the Father (cf. esp. 136,7).
It will be maintained in the course of the present discourses,
that the inclusiveness of the
6. T. a.-term applies to all the passages
moreover, that this inclusiveness is intentionally meant to be conveyed whereever the term is used.
Now it may be surmised, that also in 1 S 1 there is an inten-
where
it
and,
occurs,
tional allusion to the said inclusive aspect, that
is
to say, that the
promise contained in 15* really implies a promise to the believers
of a spiritual experience of the kind expressed in the terms of the
ascent and descent of the angels from the open heaven on earthly
man.
Or,
in
glorification
spiritual
other
of the
words,
the
that
communion with
(ctyeoOe)
of the
partaking
of the
perception
Son of Man implies
the
the heavenly world through the celestial
We
have already had
hierarchy that is brought about in him.
occasion to state, that the promise of the 'vision' does not refer to
a particular happening as the object of the vision, but to the deve-
lopment of a
specific subjective perceiving faculty in the believer.
1
Suggestive is the choice of the verb opaw, which in Jn, as Abbott
has shown, always refers to the spiritual sight, the spiritual perception.
The faculty of spiritual perception, again, in Jn, presupposes
the spiritual reality; the
naturally connected in the preceding with l
the
entrance into
otjjsaGs
l8
of 15 1
is
most
[6eov ooSsic scopaxev
and in the sequel
33 and 35 ISsiv-elaeXQeiv).
[On the 'open heaven' of 1 5 vide below in the discourse on
the 'Gate of Heaven' in excursus to 109.]
TuwTtore*
[JLOVOYevvj?
6eo
with 646 an d 147,9
e.
.
.
a.
sxeivoc" si'/jy/jaaTo]
.
(Cf.
J
1
used.
Jo/i. Voc. pp.
no, in: only the future
Cf. Abbott's note op.
cit.
p.
m
1
.^
oioixat
and the perfect
sujoetxa are
The
nearest Mandsean parallels to the conception of 1 5 1 are
the passages in
treating of the communion that is
GR
perhaps
promised the Messenger with his Celestial Home, when he
down from the House of Life to the Lower World.
Thus GR HI, 6813-25 (Pet. 724-H):
is
sent
Nan
b-'-rr:]
]N<a
by
b-b^/a rbEpoy -ntr/a by
HN3JO
pnn
jN'/a
Nnsss "f^aNsa
N
-i
'^i
mN
>)
-iNi
NTJ-S
"
m
cr,y
to-.my
mighty mana: 'When I shall
I shall be in distress,
in whom shall I put my trust?
My Inmost, that was with you,
on what shall I support it? The Mana answered in Greatness and
said to Manda dHayye: 'Thou shalt not be severed from zts; we
shall be with thee; all that thou sayest is erected (stands firm)
before us; thou art established ^vith us and shalt not be severed
from us. And we are with thee, for the Life is filled with favour
towards thee. It procured (created) for thee Helpers, it created for
thee quiet (mild) and firm Uthras 1 quiet and firm Uthras, that
they might be Helpers for thee. Then it (the Life) created for
thee Helpers, quiet and firm Uthras, that they might be established
Manda dHayye
seek thee,
whom
said to the Great
shall I perceive?
And when
,
there
(i.
e.
in
the
make heard
shall
GR
1
XV
Uthras
p.
Lower World)
as thy children.
the voice of the Life.
3162Sff.
= angels.
(
Pet>
3141 iff.)
Thy
children
IS*
42
o
N-"N"3 x^-TNT
1
;
-NT^/fliNn"" to^Ttf
^p-.Nsrra iijV-iNsrra &OTJJ
]'o-
"b^rpa
(Pet. 3154)
"i&wNxm-a pxn-nrva
(The Life speaks to the Messenger Sam-Zma:} Do not tremble,
and do not be afraid or affrighted and the Mana that is in thee
and do not say: 'I am alone'. I gave thee
may not be vexed
faithful Helpers (Helpers of Kusta)
When the Evil (the Wicked1
then
shall
be
on
our
voice ivill come to thee
thee,
heavy
ness)
when (the Evil Ones, or the 'Seven') shall be wrath with great
wrath, then a letter of Kusta may come from thy place to us*, and.
we shall send thee a messenger and we shall be for the a guar.
.
.
.
.
.
.
dian
.
.
Thy disciples shall receive firmness, (those who) abide in
transient (perishable, worthless) abode.
They will have trust
be
trust
and
delivered
from the Seven
(security, faith) through thy
.
.
.
the
=
the Rulers of the World of Darkness
this world).
They
be delivered from the Seven and render us and thee gratitude
for it (=the deliverance).
For the Nasorasans that are^a'rdent be
thou a witness, be thou a witness for them, and through thy power
they shall ascend to the Place of Light.
(i.
o.
shall
>->
There is no parallel in Mandsean literature to the essentiality
of the Son of Man, since there are there a plurality of messengerIt might, however, be maintained, that the function of,
or the Celestial Pozver inherent in, every messenger from the 'Life'
saviours.
On the other hand the ^Enos-Saviour, the
as
the
Man,
Original
'representative sum' of all the Spirits, selfevidently in his communion with and ascent to the First Life
includes the spirits who are saved in him. In the same vein the
latter of the examples given above enunciates of the messenger
has that characteristic.
Sam-Zma:
through thy pozver they (the Believers) shall ascend to
Cf. quotations given below oti 3' r 3.
the Place of Light
1
2
=
=
v.aia'
.
2
43
2( 2 4) 2 5 3td w6 atkov 'ftvcoaxstv xdv-ac;, jtai ou 06 /pstav ecy^sv
as jJLaptap^afl xspi to5 dvOpooxotr ao-co? yap sycvcoax.sv
tva
tt
25
^v sv
t(p
because he knew 1
dvOpwxq),
men, and needed
all
not that any should testify of man; for he knew what was in man.
That Christ knows the secrets of eternal life and shares the divine
2
that he possesses supernatural,
knowledge of what was in man
divine knowledge*, is a fundamental idea of Jn, underlying the
whole gospel, and playing an important part in the Johannine
demonstration of Jesus as the celestial man and Divine being. 3
The knowledge possessed by Christ may been seen under four
,
aspects, viz.:
an unlimited one: he knows everyand 'from the beginning' (i. e. not partly
nor by manner of a successive revelation). For the prescience of
r
Jesus, vide esp. 24 7^,8 13 (he knows his &pa, hour, or %aipoc,
time i. e. the time of his death and glorification 4 ), 2 9- 21 (knows
his death and resurrection), 3*4
knows what 'being uplifted'
means* 1 ), 6^4 (knew from the beginning who they were that believed not and who should betray him) 13 3 8 the threefold betrayal
Prescience,
(1)
and
this
thing beforehand, in detail
I
(
by
Petals);
not
canst
cf.
21
l8
.
I
13
3
6
(the
9;
future
me now;
follow
21 22
(the
of Petrus:
fate
'whither
but thou shalt follow
beloved
of the
fate
me
disciple);
I
go thou
afterwards')
421,23 (the
future in general). For prescience in detail, everything, vide i84;
oov s!8d)
rcdvca TOC sp^ojxsva STC' aOrov, knowing all things
'lyjoou?
that should
ning
,
come upon him.
vide 6^4;
e'
-^Ssi *fap
Knowledge of all
(2)
12
For prescience 'from
ttQyfis
things' ,
6
'all
'Ivjooo?
.
.
the very begin-
.
secrets' celestial and terrestrial:
TOC eTrifsia and TOC
6~ 8, 29, 50, 52 163
and
4
heavenly things]
sTToopavtoc, 'earthly things
[oiSa? rcavra]; In his knowledge of the 'celestial things', the spiritual
realities, the Divine truth, he is identified with that Divine truth:
3
148,5
[notice especially the contraposition of
I
(3)
Knozv ledge of 'what
is
in
man:
2
2
5,
cf.
J
14 2 (of Simon)
147 (of Nathanael: a true Israelite) 4 I ~3 I (of the Samaritan
1
Vide Abbott,
y^.
-
E. Carpenter,
Grill Unters.
JWr
3
4
Grill
Unters.
ii
i
Voc. p. 125 rendering: 'could understand'.
p.
354.
49.
43,
Bauer
JEv
p. 42.
woman,
225
44
of Jn being to show how J reads the woman's mind,
besides knowing about her without having received earthly informathe
object
vs
tion,
J
7
54 2
29)
6^ac) 16
6l
(elSw? 8k 6 T/jaoos sv
that his disciples murmured)
Petrus, rcavca ao oiSac, ao fivcoaxsig ou
things, thou knowest that I love thee).
(s'fycoxa
on Y7YkCooaiv, knew im himself
saoT(7)
21
1719,
what
(knows
as:
<piXw
is in
thou knowest
all
The omniscience
terized
until
brought
(4)
of Jesus ace. to Jo will not be fully characanother trait of the conception shall have been
still
into light, viz.
Ms
knowledge, are ivholly derived from
omniscience, his
Father (in
conjunction with the derivation of all his
from
those
of
His
doings
Father); four passages illustrate the import
of this aspect: arc' sjxaoTOD rcotw oosv, aXXa %a6<b<; e8iaev |xe 6
close
his
-
*
"\
o 2oQ
~
*\
c
i
\
*
/
t
\
)
t\
/
~\
\
rcanjp sv s(xoi eanv; za p^[xaTa a eyw
arc'
oo
XaXw'
6 8s rcarqp sv ijj-oi (xsvwv rco^et Ta
XSYCO o[uv
i^aotou
10 VDV
aoTOu
14
on
ev tootcp rcoateoo^ev
olSa? rcavca
epYa
oaSajj.sv
on arc 6 6eoo s^X6s? 163, a SYW sdbpaxa rcapa T(T> rcatpi XaXw 838
tauta XaXoo o
rcanjp,
o
^;
.
.
;
.
(As the Father taught me, I speak these things; the words
you I speak not of myself; but the Father that
dwelleth in me, he doeth the works; now we are sure that thou
cf.
7
:
7
that I speak unto
knozvest all things
God; what
In
I
.
.
by this ive believe that thou earnestforth from
.
have beheld with
Rabbinical
-nTnn
-
|
Father, that
I
speak).
no
parallel to the present
to Ex
locum points out how ace. to
tro
hidden
from the children of man.
ZTS -osa -on:ro a-na-
-.?
ii
is
Mek
passage: Billerbeck ad
16 3 2 (20 a) seven things are
The passage runs
nrnan nv
my
there
literature
N
;/-
n^n
r,-ob'/a-
br naba
n-pan
rra
the day of death (2) the day of
(seven things are hidden
.): (i)
scil. in the future world, (3) the depth of the
Judgement,
.
.
consolation,
and
(4)
no man knows
coming reward nor (5) vvliat is in the
and
the Kingdom of the House of Da(6)
be restored to its place, and (7) the guilty
his
heart of his neighbour,
when it will
Kingdom (Rome) when
vid,
it
will
be
rooted up
to 115
Zeph 24) Gen, R, 65 and Eccl. R.
support for man's not knowing what
the
10
passage of Jer 17
:
I,
is
(i.
e.
destroyed
cf.
give as scriptural
in the heart of another
the Lord, search the heart, thereby
2
2$
45
knowledge of what is in man is the ex1
Holy One he alone being called, T. B.
a
a
Sank 37 b: ha-yyocke mali sctbop : the knower of thoughts. Billerbeck remarks: wird daher von Jesus Joh. 2 25 gesagt: .aoTd? yap
eytvcoaxev u yjv sv TCJ) avOpump' so wird er damit an Gottes Seite
indicating also, that the
clusive prerogative of the
'
geruckt.
It
may be
enumerated
noticed that
in the
all
those different fields of knowledge
Rabbinical dictum as excluded from the know-
ledge of man are, by Jn, attributed to Jesus: the time of death,
the time of consolation (corresponding in Jn to glorification and
Life) the
judgement
(5
22 2 7
-
16
8.
12
the cm 6 ap^cov TOD xoa^oo
,
=
the depth of Judgement cf. 12 3 1 ), the
Messianic time the destruction of the world power (in Jn the ap^oov
TOO y.oa^oo is, of course, taken in a different sense from the RabTODTOD %e%piTai
is
really
binic view of
of
'Prince
Rome; the conception of the invisible ruler called the
Rome' in Jewish mystical literature, however, is quite
closely related to the Johannine conception of the
u ).
TOOTOO, cf. below on 16
ap^wv TOO
ttda|xoo
Although Rabbinical literature knows of no being prossessing
the Divine faculty of seeing what is in man, there is an important
and very close parallel to the present Johannine representation in
the Jewish mystical conception of Metatron,
Thus a chapter in
contains the following tradition which in all probability
is not later than the second century, and
partly earlier:
j Enoch,
rraan
mm
'n bsi
bni
mNi3
-
b'jj
-nno bs [r^o
manb
n
3rb
n'roy
(j
Enoch
TXB n"apn
-b;
->b
bm
rnzriTro bs- -o-'/sn n--,n "p-o^
asb p'b^vj: ^ITS
>
or]
:
n-'UJNna
j-'-b.i
'Tin
->T-
bm
bsncnb TINH
cb-y
'rpssi
11)
'The Holy one, blessed be He, revealed to me (Metatron) from
that time (or better: from the beginning) all the mysteries of Tora
and all the secrets of Wisdom and all the depths of the Perfect
Tora
(Ps.
19
8
);
and
all
the thoughts of the hearts of the created
(beings) and all the secrets of the universe and all the secrets of
the Creation were revealed before me in the way in which they
are revealed before
1
Billerbeck
ii
412.
the
Maker of
Creation.
(And
Cf. Act 15 s 6
y.apoio-p>w3--/j? Oso? (ib I
I
watched
24
).
in-
'
2
46
25
tently to behold the secrets of the depth and the wonderful mystery.)
Before a man did think in secret, I saw (his thought) and before
a
man made
nor
the
in
Before
there
a thing
depth
man
a
did
was no
in
man\
is
it
he
that
I
think,
on
thing
from me.)
Here, thus,
is
beheld
I
And
it.
there was no thing on high
(One Ms has:
of the world hidden from me.
knew what was
high
nor
below
in his thought,
in
the
deep
and
hidden
explicitly stated, that Metatron knoivs 'what
is
a 'knower of thoughts' and
'a
knower of
hearts' (xapStoYvwatYjc;).
The
who
is
parallel between the cited representation of Metatron,
the little Yahve (3 En 12 5) but intentionally not
called
Man
and the Johannine representation of the omniscience
however, to be pursued further.
(i) Apart from the remarkable assignment to Metatron of
knowledge of 'what is in man', it is to be noticed (2} that Meta'Son of
of Jesus
,
is,
according to the original intent of the fragment, possesses
knowledge, and insight "US'D',= from of old, 'from tJie beginning
tron,
his
',
64
just as Jesus, ace. to 6
The
eg ap^"/}?.
to Prov 8 22 where
knows
1ND
cf.
3
En
I
is
Wisdom speaks of
darko qct&cem mifalau me?az, A the Lord
begat me as the beginning of this way, the antecedent of His
works, of old *, and is equivalent to the "H ]E of the targumic
2
The, Metatron conception had from the very first been
rendering.
most probably an
itself:
allusion
YHUH qanani resip
amalgamated with the Wisdom-speculation, although
sources,
actually
of
Wisdom
this
amalga-
we
are able to detect from the earliest preserved
take the form of the assertion that Metatron is
tion did not, as far
God 3
(3) Metatron has an unlimited prescience:
he knows the thoughts and deeds of men before they are thought
or done, and nothing is hidden from him; cf. above on the Johannine representation of the unlimited prescience of J. (4) The knowledge possessed by Metatron is repeatedly set forth in relation
te the two realms of existence expressed by the terms 'celestial
the
;
1
1
Burney's
rendering in t>Christ as the
APXH of Creation*, JThSt xxvii
(1926) p. 168.
2
Cf. of>.
That gnnani of Prov S 22 equals: 'created me' may
cit. p. 169.
1
be seen Gen. R. 75, and 'metis *=' horn the beginning' Gen. R.in.
"
The identification, or rather, submersion of the personified Wisdom into
Metatron may be expressed somewhat as follows: the personified side of Wisdom, the hypostasis, 'created in the beginning' was identified with the 'person'
of Metatron;
made
the
Wisdom qua Wisdom
a 'possession' of Metatron.
'possessed in the Beginning'
was then
2
(Hebrew:
mm], the
restrial
11
i.
TOC
J
3
>
47
'celyon, 'czlyonim} and 'terrestrial'
'secrets of the celestial beings (i.
beings
C 4;
48
^
(i.
e.
=
world)
(Hebrew:
taliton, talito-
world) and the tersecrets of above and below: 3 En 105
e.
the Johannine contrast between 'above' and' below',
or spiritual and the earthly or physical where
and TOO srcoopavia of 3 12 correspond with the raze talicf.
the heavenly
e.
sTriyeta
and raze 'celyonim of j En 48 C 4 cf. further avco6ev or ex,
TOO oopavoo v. ex r?jc "(?]<;: 33 1 ex TWV avw v. ex TCOV xatw, ex. TOOTOO
TOD xdaiioo v. 00% sx TOO xoajioo TOOTOO: 8 2 3 and the repeated
tonim
reference
knowledge of the 'things above', but also of
and workings of 'this world', the fate of the
to Christ's
the inner
reasons
of this world.
(5) the wisdom, omniscience, prescience,
knowledge of Metatron is vvholly derived from His Creator (qonw);
1
it is the
at
Holy One who reveals all secrets to him; j En II
the same time Metatron possesses all the wisdom of his Creator:
(Qonce) : the secrets 'were revealed unto me even as they are
revealed unto the maker of Creation' (3 En II ), the Holy one
says, ace. to j En 48 C 7: 'every secret did I reveal to him (scil.
prince
;
1
Metatron)
as a father '; The characterization of the Johannine reof the 'vollkommene Spiegelung des Bewusstseins-
presentation
inhalts
as
des Vaters
in
1
demjenigen des Sohns' can thus be used
a characterization of the Jewish mystical representation of the
between the Holy One and Metatron. One may even
relation
point to the accompanying feature of the functions,
Metatron as a reflexion of the spya of the Qados b.
in
3 En 48 C 9
2
T
In
Mandaean
represented
as
World by the
occasionally
in
especially vs. 10: 'every
(cf.
One
ceeds from the Holy
.
.
.
literature
instructed
his
Life,
the
in
Metatron carries
the
all
it
i.
Ji.
e.
epya, of
appearing
word that pro-
out').
is frequently
of the Celestial
Messenger-Saviour
the
mysteries
Father, or by His 'Parents', and also
of the Lower World: cf. e.g.
GR
secrets
381 (Pet 360), GR 74 (Pet 76). On the other hand, the MessengerSaviour, reascended to the celestial worlds, possesses greater knowledge of the Lower Worlds than his Parents, the Life and its
GR
164'7f- (Pet 153 l8f-), Hibil-Ziua says
to his parents: 'The mysteries that I have seen, I will reveal to
you and instruct you in all of them! The Messenger is not parti-
Image.
cularly
1
2
Thus
ace. to
emphasized as
Unters. \ 86
Vide the writers j>
Grill,
xapSiovvcbar/js.
2
.
En
pp. 169
171.
Cf.
GR XVI 4.
3
48
3)
XSY<Q oot, eav
Sovatat, etaeXOstv
d|A.7?v
afjivyv,
06
ftvsojjtaroc;,
5
JJLTJ
i
it?
^sw^O^
tr?v
e|
{BaatXecav
xa
8ato
too
0so5.
What does the expression eC oSatog xal TcvsujJiaro? mean? The
question may here be put forth, whether the 'water' is necessarily
to be taken as an allusion to baptism.
To decide this, it will be
well to begin by considering the context.
Then it may be suggested that the import of the yevvTjOTjvat E oScaoc xal
can not be essentially different from the yevvYjG'/jyai sx
One may even venture the hypothesis, that
referred to in vs. 6.
xal
oSaro?
!
yevv/)6Yjvat.
yevy/]6-/jvai
7uve6[/.aTOs
is
identical in sense with the
The whole
context, it may be furthered
yevvY]6Yjvat ex jrveu^aTOc with a strong
ex ^vso^ato?.
be considered, views the
emphasis on the contrast between the two worlds of spirit and
eTcooflesh, this contrast put on a par with the contrasts
m
pavta
ta
v.
sTiiyeia (vs.
12) ava> v. xatw, the celestial-spiritual real-
o oopavo? v. 6 xoa^o?.
Thus
xal Tcveo^atoc should be put in contracorresponding contrasting expression. The con-
ity v. the terrestrial-physical reality,
the
to
position
trast
xal
e
expression
its
from
the
in
realm corresponding to the s oSatoc
be found in Nicodemus' reference to the terre-
terrestrial
is
7cvs6[J.ai:o<;
strial birth
oSatog
to
speaking
eotspov eiaeX6eiv xal
to the uSwp are si?
the
simile
evolution
time
is
si?
r/jv
mean
xotXtav
it
.
must
'return
TVJV
xocXtav
TYJ? (j.V]Tp6^
aoTOO
The words
'(evvTrjGyjvac.
of which
understanding
eXOsiv does not
of the
that here correspond
SsDTepov sloeX0siv, for the right
be emphasized, that SeuTepov slo.
.
to',
but 'enter a second time'
i.e.
not that of an involution, but of a repetition of the
of birth, or in other words, what is to enter a second
is
not
the
child
that
has once been born, but the semen
The argument of Nicodemus,
one must be born again from above, from the
celestial world, you say; how can that be done in the case of one
already born? how can the process be repeated and a man enter
into his mother's womb again as a semen from above, as a celeThe answer given is: verily, it is as you say, the
stial semen?
must
be
repeated, for that which is born from a sarcical
process
semen remains sarcical, can never in itself become spirit, and that
which is to become spirit must be born spiritually from a spiritual
semen. This, it may be suggested, is the real sense of !
that
is
to give birth
ace. to Jn.,
is this:
to the child.
3Sff-
49
u Tuvso^aro?: the uSoop is that which in the spiritual process corto the semen in the sarcical process.
From this inter-
responds
what follows
pretation the intent of
OTTOO
6eXsc
xai
Tryst,
aor
swrdv
OTI
6aD[Ada-(]<;
:{j/?j
TYJV
in vss. 8
becomes
12
clear:
8sl u[xa? yevv7]0yjvat avwGsv.
(ptovvjv
TO rcveo^a
au-cou axooeis, aXX' oox olSa? 7c60sv
sp/etai xal TTOD 6 Trays t. OOTCO? sauv Trac 6 ysyevv/](ievo<; ex TOO TCVSO(iato?, that is: marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born
again; the birth of the spirit is not a repetition of the sarcical
process, where you know rcoGev sp^etai xai TCOO o Trays t; that which
.gives rise to the spiritual birth comes you know not whence, from
a world, a reality, you do not know, and the birth itself does not
take place in the terrestrial world but in the spiritual, celestial,
which
come
you do not know (by own experience) but of
I know it and have seen it, having myself
world
a
world,
can speak, for
from that world
I
vs.
cf.
cluded
by the
been spoken
8 ea)pdxa|iev [laptool'Sajisv XaXoDfxsv xai
The section is conTOD oopavoo xatajBas).
statement, that the whole matter of which has
13 6
po5[xev
(8
sx,
to the sTtoDpavta, the heavenly things: si
o[uv xai ou TTLOTSOETS, TTW? lav elrroi) OJJAV Ta STIODpavta TrwcsoasTe; the entire exposition of the section moves in the
"ca
belongs
eiTtov
sTriysta
same sphere of ideas and uses the same contrasts as
s
oos
aofJ-dTWV
."/,
6eo5
oo
3:
01 oux
aapxo^ ODS ex 0sXv](Ji.ai:o<;.av5p6<; aXX'
Cor. 15 50 aapi xai ai(ia paocXsiay 6so5
(cf.
I
OD
Sovarat,
any foundation
as
Trveo^aTOc
illustrations
J
6sXvj[ji,aTO?
sysvv7]0Yjoav
3tX7]povo[U)aai
Is there
.xat
Ix
1
'^
for
0opa
the
r/|V a<p0apaiav xXvj
interpretation of e
forming a contrast to semen and adp^? Some
on this question may be brought from the
bearing
Rabbinical and -Jewish-mystical uses of the words HD ^ 'drop', and
1
te 'water'.
Classical are the following passages
TB Nid 16 b:
1
:
-i-'-.nn
by nsro'on i^b'o -ni^ xsr in
ix "'my
ms^a
m
^Dn \un
f
-
my
-naj
bsn
R. Hanina bar
(3rd gen. Pal.
Amor.) expounded the angel
is called Laila and he takes
the HD ^ (semen) and brings it before the Holy one, and says
Lord of the Universe! what shall arise out of this
before him:
that
is
Pappa
:
appointed over the conception
1
a
strong
MfLevy
427451.
s.
v.
H. Odebcrg.
man
or a
weak man,
a wise or a fool, a rich
3
50
5
ff-
and if the words a righteous or a wicked are not
or a poor?
included in the question, this is in accord with R. Hanina's opinion, for R. Hanina used to say: 'Everything is in the hands of
Heaven except the fear of Heaven' (TJ3 Ber. 33 b, Meg. 25 a)
The physical and intellectual properties of man and even his
external fate are potentially extant already in the oTtspjJ-a, whereas the moral, or spiritual, qualities are not given in the a7rp[i.a.
Pirqc, 'Aboj> 3
1
a
'Aqabya ben Mah Jal'el
con(ist. gen. Tann.,
said:
the
teacher
of
elder,
Paulus)
Know whence thou earnest: from a fetid
of R. Gamliel the
temporary
nrrnD ns'tra nnX2
in
]\N
drop (Ch. Taylor 56, 5/).
The dictum intends to convey the lowly, earthly, one may
say 'sarcical', origin of man and approaches the Jn-ine that which
is born of flesh is flesh.
By the side of this may be put GenR
46 2, where the reason why Abraham circumcized himself at the
2
age of 99 years (with reference to Gen. 17 4) is given thus:
flD'EE
N'SW
"nr
in
order
that
should go forth
Isaac
pniP
TIBTip
:
from a holy HS
of holiness
1
The
^*.
last dictum, thus, affirms, that the quality
be inherent
may
in the
H^E.
determination of the nature of the one
that which
sense
considered
in
is
born of a holy
the light of
TB
This seems to imply a
is to be born, in the
who
HE^CO is
Nidda i6b
holy especially
1
cited above.
when
of ns^tO in Jewish-mystical Hebrew
context
3
relating Enoch's elevation into the
heaven
and
his
transformation
into a celestial being; the
highest
in
celestial
the
hierarchy are there represented as
highest beings
to
Enoch's
entrance
into
the highest heaven, with these
objecting
What smell [one reading has: what spirit\ of a womanwords:
The
texts
is
born
is
1
mind
En
the
that Jn
somewhat
6
2
,
in a
and what taste of a white drop
this
On
occurrence
earliest
3
2
(drop of semen) that
supposition that Nicodemus, or the particular kind of Jewish
has in view and which is represented by Nicodemus, moved in
same sphere
of thoughts as those appearing in the Rabbinical
arguments might be presented in approximately the
following vein: we are taught that man's entering the kingdom of Heaven
depends on his manner of living, whether he lives as a righteous or as a wicked
{TB Nidda 16 b), but granted that you are right, in saying that one must be born
from above in order to enter the Kingdom above, hence that no one who is
not born of a holy semen can become holy, then there is no sense in your
requesting us who are not, according to your word, born of a holy semen, to
be born from on high; for how can we, who are already born, become a semen
again and enter our mother's womb a second time?
Cit.: drop of white (liquid).
dicta
the
selected
here,
his
35ff.
5 i
There is a word-play in the latter
ascends to the high heavens?
what is the reason that a white
clause, giving the double-meaning:
the
heavens?*.
high
[cj/EC HEl nt'{s "ll'T rp~] HE
drop ascends to
The idea is that one bora of a woman
n^E
DHD ? i~6iy N^riE'
%
5
1
pb
-]
of semen from the terrestrial world has no right to
highest realm of the celestial world: does not belong
and a drop
the
enter
nmy
of
corresponds with the Vp"!
1
The term DV2 is connected with
3 Enoch). Cf. also 3 En. 4807.
2
engendering functions already at an early time, i En. 54s has:
there.
(3aatXeia TOD 6so5
(The
and all the waters shall be joined with the waters: that which
is
above the heaven is the masculine, and the water which is
beneath the earth is the feminine*. The upper waters, basing upon
Gen. 1 7, are in Rabbinic termed c\5T6y D^C and also D "}!" D !^
The idea of fructifica(the celestial water, resp. the male water).
1
properties
no more
is
Johannine
celestial
is
7cvsD{ia
On
3s.
water
of course applied to the fructifying
the
of the rain; but
speculation upon the upper water
restricted to the literal meaning of the word than the
by the
tion
1
the
restricted to the sense of 'wind' attested in
contrary,
meanings merely as
is
the
mystical speculation used the literal
they desired
illustrations for the spiritual laws
convey, just as does Jn. 3s when speaking of the iryso^a=
'wind', to illustrate a property of the 'spirit'.
That this is so may be judged from
Ta'an. 64 b, GenR
to
TY
13
13. 14-'
a v/an -nb -"s :'ui
ix
ap itf
Tmas
a 'VEIN
bipb Niip ainn bN ainn a?::
ini
mapi a^Dinnnni
'^n ba
nnnis NTTJJ " napss
T
is
r
}
-
a
zn
nnsn ~"~-
in-' n-'-as-' np-^-i -pa-,-, ]--
I'avi-'b"
What
S-'-IDT
ni-'-o
n-a
ab-y bus
3'pnb
pnsin
the meaning of Ps. 487 'Deep calleth unto deep at
the
noise of the waterspouts' etc.? R. Levi (3rd gen. Pal. Am.)
said: '(this is the explanation:) The celestial waters are male and
the lower waters are female'.
us!
you
1
In
are
the
The former
creations of the
said to the latter: 'receive
Holy One, blessed be He, and we
Jewish mystical writings the birth, or 'creation' (rise of
world is spoken of in the terms of the Divine word creating
(generating) out of the 'river of fire', the 'fire' being the celestial ii),yj. Vide
earliest
life) in the celestial
3
En
2
15, 35, 47.
Vide R. H. Charles, / En-, note ad
loc.
35ff.
52
are his messengers (outflow, issue). Immediately the latter received
the former. This is (implied, alluded to in) the word Isa 45^
the
'let
'arid let them bring forth
and multiplied, 'and let righteous-
open' [qua female) ....
earth
were
salvation' for they
fruitful
spring up together', that refers to the descent of the rain,
the Lord have created it', for this purpose I created it viz. for
the preparation (bringing in order) and habitation of the world.
ness
'I
What is conveyed under the simile of or behind the interpretation referring to the fructifying property of the rain coming down
from heaven, is the life-giving power of the outflow from God's
world
to
world
the
TY Ta'anijj
D^rb HDVtC
ib
r\&
bft\y
of man.
Cf.
the benediction, recorded
i.
a.
hi bv "usta -jets6 nnir6 p^n us D^E&N f\b$
Tni
nE^El 'we are in duty bound
4
fW
PINE' lib
thousand times thousand times to praise thy name, o, our King,
for every drop (nE^tO) that thou bringest down to us for thou bestowest good upon the guilty (cf. TY JSer. 143; Mt. 545; he sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust). On the 'celestial waters'
or the QIQ as 'primaeval waters' there were cosmological speculations current, some of which were attributed to R. Isma'el (TY.
Hag. 77 a), that is: they were a constituent part of the rv&'NTD HJtyE,
the mystery of creation but they were also a part of the mystery
of the spiritual world, the niD~)D v 'l/, and to the latter sphere
of speculations does the use of the term D^E to denote a spiritual
;
or Divine engendering efflux belong. 1
GenR 26 TY.Hag. ii 77 a b
sm
TPVI bsno-o [yjnrp Sb
VN
p
a^na/s N^N n-sinnnn z-'o c 5T yn a 'a i^a rr'n
PITH q-.ya nsm/a ^bx ^"DN na^ro a-rbN m-n
-i
i
-js'-ij
|
\^
R.
Sim'on
Zoma (known
ben
for his mystical propensities)
Josua', answered him: I was medithe mysteries of Creation. (And I found that) there
when once questioned by R.
upon
was not between
tating
the
Upper
(celestial)
and Lower Waters more
The cosmological and the 'spiritual' significances of the c\n must not
be confused; that is probably the meaning of the difficult and differently inter1
-
TB Hag
14 b: R Aqiba said to his three companions in mystical expriences: 'when yow arrive at the stones of pure alabaster do not say:
water, water! (i.e. do not introduce the laws of cosmical beginnings into your
preted
dictum
c
experiences of the highest spiritual, celestial realms).
3
.
two or three
than
the
of the
Spirit
Lord was)
near
ff.
53
For it is not written: 'and
fingers' breadth.
Lord was blowing', but (and the spirit of the
'brooding',
water
the
to
5
as a bird that shakes its wings (so
one moment they are touching (it) and
i.e.
that)
1
moment they
the other
are not touching it.
In this dictum association between Spirit and
The
noticed.
close
was most probably
function
of
simile
of a
Jn
132).
(cf.
the
former
'bird'
Water may be
proximity of the Upper and Lower Waters
understood in the sense of the engendering
for
in relation to the latter.
the
Spirit
The
use of the
have some significance
may
There are also traces of a conception regarding the lower
waters
the Qinn) as representing the evil, especially in assowith 'darkness', in contrast to the upper waters as repreSince
senting the seed of celestial nature, associated with light.
the corresponding terms occur in Gen 1
these
^,
speculations
(or
ciation
I
In this coneasily deduced from that scriptural section.
nexion one may also notice the intermingling of or parallelism
between the contrasts of cosmos and celestial world on the one
hand and of evil (i.e. sarcical) and good (i.e. celestial or spiritual) in man. Hence the 'spirit' associated ivith the celestial 'water
and 'moving upon' the lower water represents the salvation of
man, or the celestial in man. In such contexts there enters, be-
were
side the antitheses
Heaven
v.
Earth, Light
v.
Good
Darkness,
v.
Evil, also the contrast Life v. Death.
GenR
2 5:
'inn'
R. Sim'on ben Laqis (2nd gen. Pal. Am.) connected the words
2
'inn' 'Ityrr an d 'Dinn' of Gen 1
midrashically with the four
evil
world powers.
mm
-p
The dictum ends:
zryiznn
qs*
'n
1
In
TY Hag
77 b this
nest, fluttered! over
up
them, beareth them on her
is t ^ e same which is
(nrTT)
word in Deut 32 " denotes
her
one moment touching
Gen 1"' must be interpreted
and the Water.
nest,
is
mn
a-nnn
rr/2
I-PEEPI "p/a bro in"n -T
ns
npn
mi vby nmi N"TO -N-n
i
]>
explained from Dent. 32 ": As an eagle stirreth
her young, (spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh
\vings), where the word rendered
used in Gen 1 2 (nE?mC DTI^N DH)
fluttereth
J ust ns
tlie
of the bird immediately above her
and another not touching it, so the word in
as picturing a similar relation between the Spirit
the fluttering
it
3
54
mao
-avzrn
2 von
Herman n^ai
by
'as
5
maT
"^"j'O'U'O'o
e
Just as this t hom is without reckoning so are also the wicked.
'And the spirit of God moved': this refers to the Spirit of King
1
approach and come down (to
the lower world)? (answer:) moved upon the waters. By reason
of the repentance (the returning to God); for repentance is likened
unto water, as it is written (Lam 2 9: pour out thine heart like
Ib 24 and 27 Light v. ifDl inn [resp. Darkness] is identiwater!).
the Deeds of the
fied with
the Deeds of the Righteous* v.
GenR 2 2 in a dictum
Wicked*.
Cf. below
on Jn 3 9~ 2I
By what
Messiah.
reason
did
it
1
!
.
Yhuda
The
bar Simon (4th gen. Pal. Am.).
Earth is said to have been iroi inn for the Celestial were Living
but the Terrestrials were Dead.-** (Cf. the dictum: man was made
attributed
from the
to
and the Terrestrial, GenR 8
present connexion reference may
Celestial
the
In
R.
u
12
14s)-
7
made
be
to
TB
12 b, speaking of the contents of the 7th, or highest, heaven:
Hag
nana
-TJ.TI
a-.uj
'is;-
S^TI
-ii:\
-JD^'OI
-pis-
p~s
la*!)
rnaiy
mm-." a^^is
xri
13
nvnnb n"ap~
c
which are [contained, the
Arabop, [the
is:
where
is
the
source
and
meaning
Judgement and Mercy,
of] Right
the treasures of Life and the treasures of Peace and the treasures
of blessing, and the spirits of the righteous and the souls and
spirits that are to be created [in the future], and the dew^ by
highest heaven], in
The commentary nJIHD
1
making
2
Ya/qttt 4, reproducing the dictum of
GenR
iinx D^nsi jiB\snn DIN
DT nt'i?Db D~p1 infix DT ntyyob another
1
1
of God'
formed
that
,
me
'jOi
explains:
^mn mpi
-nnN
'X
DUDC
rHTim DilpD
'l^D
'the salvation' logical subject.
refers
before
to the spirit
and
2s, lias an interesting addition:
W
(
of the First Man,
after', viz.
'after'
the
inn
ni
DTI^N
interpretation
as
it
is
:
nm
N"I
'and the spirit
written "thou hast
work of
the second day and 'beof the First Man existing before
the first day. The spirit
evidently the (Spirit of the) Original Man who is here associated
with the Spirit of the Messiah, or the Saviour.
3
D^n 'living' and CTiQ 'dead' are probably to be taken in the sense of
work of
the
fore'
the Creation
is
'immortal' and 'mortal'
= 'Mortality,
4
Cf.
fountains
ii
p.
227).
and
ctOa'va-ot
Perishableness' vide
-
.
For 'Life'='Eternal
Life'
and 'Death'
l
.
Distil thy dews upon us; and open thy rich
Odes of Solomon 4 10
Ilff and R.
Harris, Odes a?id Psalms of Solomon
(v. below on 4
:
.
Ovyjtol.
below on 8
.
35ff.
which the Holy one shall
As
55
the future]
[in
make
living the dead*.
Ps. 68
for the
is given:
Thou,
conception
scriptural support
didst send a plentiful rain, whereby thou didst confirm
o God,
when
thine inheritance
Ta*n
Similarly T.Y.
i\sB>
mn
D
was weary.
it
I
63 d:
bw m: inm "ft irp^ n"2pn ^ -icx -p
D^Ea. Thus said the Holy One to Elijah
"?e
\>X1
'Go and absolve the vow of the dew'
'there shall not be dew nor
(that
Elijah's
rain these years' ace. to i Ki 17'), for the dead cannot be made
1
then I will make the son of the widow
living except by dews
of Zaraphath living. The same TY tractate in the following repeatedly refers to the DTICH .rPTini! D^CIM PTlDX
{'with reference to
I
Ki 17
vow
is
r
7, 21
before
)
Ahab:
:
A
Baraiba
runs:
ib.
DipDn rrnnro D'CIM nno:i "rcn
x/tJ' ix
D\r^n
Before proceeding to Non-Jewish paralleles,
refer
it
nm^
may
bxw xb
be well to
two Philonic passages, bearing upon the present ideas:
131 p. 49 on Gen 27 Aired av6pco7rwv yevY]'
to
Philo. Leg. Alleg.
b
|isv
ate
ydp eartv
XT'
sixova
6
Philo
e
og,
ysvo?
7)
yijivos
^/z)
!
6
<p6apr^c
e yrjivog.
%ai
x aftogadoc; vfa]Q,
Mundi
134
p.
32
6 [xsv ouv OVQCCVLOQ
auvoXcoc yscbSoD? oooia?
vjv
)(ouv xsxX'/jXsv, sirdyv].
svapysorata xai Sid TODTOD
SOTI TOO TE vov it^aodevTog avsixova
6sov
yeyovoTog Trpotepov. 6 [xsv yap
z^
SvjTo? vj7] [JLETS^WV Trotdt^TOc, ex acof.iccTOS xal
e %atd TYJV slxdva ISea
avvjp 7) yovv], coasl OVVJTC)?. 6
ov%
agger OVTS Grjhv, ac
voqros,
aawf-icctog,
oippayi?,
OTI
v,cd
V]
ccvdgcofcos,
6sov yeyovax;
4
Z><?
,
OVQCIVLOC;
Siacopd
7ra[j,jxeys67]c
TOD xara
For the use of the term
'water' to signify a certain
engendappearing in the Mandaitic literature, the
following passages may be considered characteristic.
ering
efflux
of Life,
need scarcely be said that the meaning is not that the physical dew
But the intent is to convey, that in
to make the dead living.
the vow of the drying up of the dew and rain there must have been implied
a vow as to the drying up of the spiritual or celestial dew. i. e. closing it up in
heaven, preventing it from being applied to giving life to earthly man. At the
same time the physical rain and dew are 'sympathetic' symbols of the spiritual
or celestial forces named by the same words.
It
may be noticed, that, of the passages given above, TB Hag. 12 b at least,
belongs to a mystical context, and the 'making living the dead' mentioned there
in all probability has the same sense as the vivification of the dead in Jn 5 25
{vide below on that vs.).
1
It
was necessary
3
56
MLi
62
s
63
ff.
5
Qolasta xxxiii:
',
rP2
jci
B^WI
pn\xr\x
p
JOHN*
prmx NTI
vX^vXE prv: tfvi fro jc
i
j/r\x:N
N
x
Water of Life you are, j'0 /fozv #w^ from a sublime place and
//w/j the House of Life you have been poured out. With the coming
of the Water of Life from the House of Life, the Good will come
and be rendered good (receive good).
MLi
Qolasta xxii,
35
.
.
.
x^n NV:n NJJO D^N'TEE
too x
We
confessed
Piryauis, the receptacle of the Water of Live,.
Skinasar, the founder of the image of the House of Life and the
Life that fixed its eyes on the Wafer; it ascended, looked and
.
beheld
the
Nbat, the
MLi
.
.
from
nest
first
which
it
come
(had
sprout, the efflux of
forth),
Yofin Yofafin
life.-*
Oxf 77/8
2$6f.,
&prriNB'i
on the root of the Water of Life, and sent
[the Life] called
the ether and missioned
it
... to the
Skinas of
all
(for)
the Uthras: the
and were filled with delight
they drank from
and the Nasnc^ (the Nasorasan faith, the Nasoraean
The N 1 ^ and ~1N\X (air, ether)
was infused in their hearts
life)
here may be compared with the ocop and 7tyeo|xa respectively of
Jn 3 5. Further may be observed the function of NVO and ~KX\X in
Uthras smelled
and exulted
it
.
it
.
.
.
.
.
!
giving rise to, infusing a new character, a new life (Nasruj)) into
the Uthras.
This Nasru{) may be said to be born of N%ri NVO and
<~!
"IfcON
in a certain
(corresponding
GR
69
l8
[The Uthras
J
>
9
left
(Pet 13
.
.
.
the
8
degree to ocop
and
>9)
House of
Life
.
.
.
the
Abode
of splendour
and Light]
they left the Jordan of Water of Life and went
to the Water of Chaos [the t'liom of Gen I 2 also
the Lower
.
.
.
,
Water].*
GR
7733,36 787,8
(P^
794,6,10,
ii)
^^D
JOlB>n
SW^
3>ff.
57
Darkness is not reckoned with Light
and the Water of Chaos
does not shine
the children of Darkness perish but the children
.
.
.
.
.
.
of the mighty (Life) shall abide. ]
GR
230 6-8 (Pet 228 2 4~26)
N^axn
torn Nn; x:mb r
1
NnDN-Cl
JOD ?
k
They
drink
of the
Water
Chaos and are taken captive by
and say:
of
pride ... they love the pleasure of the World (Tibil)
'we will not leave it', and 'the Tibil will not perish'.
MLi
187,
at/716, to'en^n wvh
B&n
j^ri JOEH
(It is) the voice of the Water of Life that transforms the Water
of Chaos, it issues and assumes brightness (order?) it pours and
throws away the dregs. [Cf. above p. 52 1. 7].
GR
IS^-iS (/W 13
Water of
Life
fragrance of the
2
>3)
33 20
2I
(/W
nnna N^nx
-
33
may come and mix with Chaotic Water; in the
Water of Life the whole world may exult (shine).
Ace. to GR 103 the living fire mixes with the chaos-water
and earth arises (Ptahil functions as demiurg).
GR XI
26633-37 (Pet 269 8-n) s ,, n =
The Great
Life said to
iX1 iS'^
vS^l
nuji bvy N
%>I
N"I.T>J
Manda dHayye;
D
Nn
tt*n2
ribncN
nwN* Di
and go
arise,
to the
edge (lit. beginning) of the water; draw thither a thin draught of
Water of Life that it may depart and fall into the Water of Chaos
and the water (of Chaos) become fragrant (savoury) and the children
of men drink (of
it)
GR XIII 285 2
and become
3, 2 4,
like the
26-29 (Pet 288
I
jo
r
7,
w>w >xp
Great
Life-*
.
- 12
)
arnrui
xmo
JID
"JIK'H
and
older than Death, & Light is older than Darkness
Nasorseanism is older than Judaism, the (Beings) Above are
Life
the
is
1
'Water of Chaos' represents the Lower World, Darkness, the
slavement under the powers of the Lower World', mortality.
.
.
.
'Spirit's
en-
3
58
than the (Beings) Below, and the Jordan of Water of Life
Water of Chaos of the Place of Darkness. Taking
older
is
-
5
older than the
the Water of Chaos is equivalent to leaving the
the
Nasorseanism,
Right Faith, and the Life, and Light. Cf. also
or
to,
GR
loving,
28534,35 xv 2999,
xiii
Ace. to GR. xv
303
'
35.
is drawn to the earthly
as
its watchers: then the
and
Nidbai
are
Silmad
and
world,
put
Water mourns because it has been brought to the evil, nether
world.
The Watchers console it by the information that it will
serve for the baptism of the Mandceans.
Cf.
Water of Life
3 307 the
GL 7/458 4-5
(Pet 41
II > 12
I.TWJOI N
)
Who
threw me in the Water of Chaos from which the destroying
formed ?
The question is equivalent to the question,
who threw me into the suffering of the world! Who suffered me
to be born into this world
(the question is put by the spirit).
We may now turn to the earlier Hermetic writings and begin
ones
are
Herm. I (Poimandres).
with Corp.
Poimandres
in
(4, 5 a):
(the
I)
the 'beginnings of things'
1
xai OToyvdv
[ietapaXXdjievov to OXOTOC sic UYP^- V t va
%ai xarcvov airoSiSoooav w? auo jropd?
ev (Aspst Ttvl Y T VylM vov ' (popspdv TE
TJV
el8ov
'
aTroTsXouaav
^)(ov
The man who speaks
vision of
6sav adpiatov, (pw? [8s] Tuavra yeyevYj(i.va vjSidv (Scott:
tXapdv xai 7]Yaa67]v (Sc) ISwv %ai |xet' oXiyov, axoto?
6pco
IB -/MI
Ti.va
of his
tells
^
avexXaXyjTov ^outd'q' (eiTa) pov] Y^-P
aotvjs
(wg slviaaat ^CDVYJV (pwcdc.) ix, 8e TOO
'
aoovapGpo?
to5
elvai
(poaEW?
s^eTcsjxTce'co
5 b.
cpwrdc]
avw
sic
.
0(jo<;'
Kai
ex,
ay.parov sIsTrTjSvjosv
Trup
xou'fov 8s
x.al
f|V
0^6, Spaorcxdv re.
sXa^poc wy, '/jxoXo66r;a T(]> TtDpi (Reitzenstein; MSS I Turxai
TcveDjiaTt) avapatvwy (toaoDirov) (J-expi TOD ?:op6? airo yr;
o8ato?, w? 8oxiv 7cps]j,aa6at. aurov aTr' auTou.
Thus in Corp. Herm. I 4, 5 the term oypa ^uatc 'watery substance' is used for the second stage of the 0X7], the first stage
6
avjp,
nebus:
being axotos "x,ar(OTpe<; 'a downward-tending darkness'. The darkness and the watery substance, 'the chaos', correspond to the ax,d-
and a(3oaaoc of Gen
TO<;
2
The
ciple.
P-
1
Cf.
-
Cf.
57-
celestial
Walter Scott, Hermetica
mnn
// evil //
They
I.
is
principle
darkness,
II,
in
also
represent the evil prin-
called Light
pag.
r
( fw<;),
from which
i.
Rabbinic above
p.
54, in
Mandaitic above
3
ff.
5
59
proceeds a holy Word (X6yo<; afioq) which takes its stand upon
1
Then the watery substance, having rewatery substance.
ceived the Word, is fashioned into an ordered world (%oa[JL07rot"/j-
the
6siaa; Scott: sxoa[X07rot7]6'/]).
Herm. I
Corp.
The seven First Men, arising from the
Man and the <p6ai? (nature), consist of an
17:
First (Divine, Celestial)
immaterial (or perhaps better: celestial) and a material (or better:
In the formation of the terrestrial part
terrestrial, physical) part.
three elements are at work, viz. water (oStop), earth (77]) and spirit
The water is the male and the earth
(Scott: vital spirit, rcvsufxa).
The celestial part
%ai oSwp o^eouxdv.
yvj YJV
of Spirit (vo5?) and Soul (^o^y)), derived from the
and Life (Cwv]) of the First Man. There is no mention,
the female:
is
07]Xo%Y]
made up
Light (<pu><;)
however, of any polarity of male and female between <cwc and
or vou? and $O%TJ (Scott, Herm. ii 49).
Neither does oStop
Cwv]
as
term
for
a
Celestial
engendering efflux.
play any part
Scott 3 quotes a close parallel* to Corp. Herm. I 17 from Hippo-
H
ceresitim IV 43.
Refutatio omnium
doctrine which he calls 'Egyptian'; it
lyt's
a
some
Stoicizing Pythagorean, but
Pythagoras had
God
regards
learnt
it
in
Hippolytus there gives
rather the doctrine of
is
author perhaps assumed that
its
The
Egypt.
doctrine spoken
of
who
as an indivisible, self-generating
generates
[j.ovd?,
succeding numerical entities Sodc, Tptdc; etc. Then it
proceeds to speak of the cogeneration of such numerical entities,
until the process reaches the four elements of 7rvsu[xa, 7i5p, oScop
the
(YSVV^)
and
Of
yvj.
these four elements
makes the World
it
(xda[io?)
and
a polarity of male and female, dividing it in an
arranges
iipper hemisphere consisting of 7tvev/.icc and nvQ, and a loiver hemiin
it
sphere, consisting of vdcog and yi].
terized as that of the monad, the
The upper hemisphere
is
charac-
beneficent, upward-tending and
male hemisphere.* The lower hemisphere is ascribed to the dyad,
and called downward- tending, female and maleficent*. Within these
two hemispheres, again, there is a polarity Tipoc soxapTciav xai
Thus in the upper hemisphere TO Trap is the
au7]aiv TWV 8Xwv.
.male and TO TCVEDfia the female, in the lower hemisphere TO o
1
Dependent upon the idea
of
the water', combined with the Divine
Herm.
2
187
ii
Cf.
GR
n
p.
I
2
'the Spirit of
:
of
Gen
l.s
God moving upon
sl-sv 6 Oeoc);
vide Scott,
23.
TY
15,
Gen
Word
33
He nil.
Ttfan 64 b,
above pp.
ii
50.
GenR
57.
13
13, 14
above
p. 52
1.
7 (bringing in order);
MLi
6o
3
and
masculine
the
is
Y*^
YJ
5 ff.
the
is
That which
the feminine.
upper hemisphere is born EX rcop&e
born in the lower hemisphere is born
born
is
v-c/.l
e
in
which
that
TrvsujiaTO?,
oSato? xai Y 7]?-
representation occurs in Hippol. Refut. 1 2:
AidSwpoc; Ss 6 'EpETpiEDc; xai 'ApiaTdevo<; 6 [xoDaixd? <paat. Tcpoc; ZapdTav TOV XaXSaiov iXv}Xo6svai IIoBaYdpay TOV SE sxOsaGat. aimj) SDO
Another
similar
.
-
apy/jc TOIC ooaiy atria, rcaTSpa xai [j,Y]Tpa xai TuaTEpa [XEV
E OXOTOC;, TOD
ds (EOOTOC; [i-spv] Sspfj-dv, ^Tjpdy, xoDipov,
[UjTspa
sivai 'aTc'
cpwg,
e OXOTOD? (fjDXpdv, DYpdv, J3ap6, ppaSo. sx
E TODTWV icavTa
Etvai SE TOV xda[xoy
xda[xov aovestavai, sx 6yjXsia<; xai appsvo?.
yoaty.xaTa [XODOIXTJV apjioviav, Sio xai TOV vjXiov TroisiaSat rqv TtepioSov
Tay6. TOD
TOV
s TWV sx
^ a xda{ioo YWOJJLSVWV TdSe ?paai X^siy
svapjioviov. Ilspi
Y'^C
E yftoviov.
TOV ZapaTav
DO Sat^ova? eivai, TOV |j,sv ODpdvtov, TOV
xai TOV [isv x^o ytov dvtsvai r?]v Y veatv
% T "^ T^' stvai os Dwp*
'-
16 xai
ds ODpdviov 7i5p {XSTSXOV TOD aspo?. 6sp[J,6v TOD ^DypoD.
ooSsy dvaipsiv ODS [iiaiVEiv cp'/]ai TYJV (JJDX'^V sou YO'-P TaDTa
TOV
.TODTtov
TWV
ooaia
The
TravTcov.
Zarathustra
1
There are two
:
makes Pythagoras
narrative
learn from
Father
original causes of things: the
and the Mother, equivalent to Light and Darkness. And there are
two daimones, a celestial one and a terrestrial, the terrestrial daimon
from the earth, being himself water; the celestial
The Corp. Henn. I and the parallel representations attested in Hippol. thus, while containing the doctrine of
two ^vorlds and, in some sense, of tivo births, or natures of generation, present the very contrast to Jn 3 5 zvith regard to the symbolical
forth
bringing
fire.
again being
use of the term vdcoQ.
The so-called Mithras- Liturgy (ed. Dieterich-Weinreich 3, pp.
3 ff.), in an introductory prayer preserves the following charac-
*>~1~f
teristic expressions: reveoi? TrpwTY]
TOV
.
.
.
~
TO el?
TTDp
TtVQOg TtQWTOV
EjJLOi
ouota
'(e&frqs
.
s[AOD
.
.
1
.
ev
TT]C
.
.
The
.
.
TO)
.
.
.
Tva
TWV
.
.
ddavccTCi)
.
.
EV
ODar/c
sjj.oi
.
-1
.
EjJ.oi
sv
*(ew><3oti<;
dcpwTiaui)
ETTO^TSDOW
vdati
.
.
.
rt]V
Ttj)
Y e vsasa)g,
.
.
.
dpx'/]
^
XQCCCfSCOV 6sodcOQ1]TOV
vddtOQ VOV SV
vS(js)Q
StaTCETuXaa^svov
d6avdT(i) YEVsaet
7tvev{.iGTi
.
EJAYJC;
TOD
XpOCGlV
EJJ//JV
TYJC;
T
f.tol
vdcCTOQ fCQCOTOV
TrpwTYj
xai
.
.
.
'Stairfst
dGdvaTOV
TOD EV
Tc<J
T(|)
aegi
.
.
tsXstoy
ati)[xa
sv
xdo^tp
dpx'/jy
oreQeul xai
.
TE
adccvaro)
.
.
.
11
representation of Pythagoras as learning from ZurathuStra indicates
is a combination of Persian and
Pythagorean ele-
that the doctrine in question
ments.*
HG
Vide Bousset,
Female.
Pythagorean Male
p.
153
The
Persian elements: Light
Darkness, the
61
y.cd yivevorj
evdp}(to|j,aE.
.
.
fv
.
a Gaojxaoto
TO
vdcog
ispov
.
.
This moves
evidently the Divine element
ai67]p.
.
rcop
xai
.
.
.
wa
{ioo-
dy.oDa-fl
ev
6 Ccpoj'
^o ISQOV
TO aftvaaov
(.iol
6ed.ato[j,ai
Vog %al
itept-
elemental conceptions; fire is
in man; but there is also an immortal
in the
(or celestial) ucop contrasted with the terrestrial Do)p.
Clem, again represent the fire as the evil principle. The fire
is connected with the fire of the sacrifices; as its
contrast stands the water as the sacred element connected with the
water of baptism (Rec. 1 43). The water is tine Divine World- Creating
as evil principle
Principle ace. to How. 11 24
10 vdcoQ -rcoiel, TO s Dwp
(cf.
Rec. 67-8) XoYiadjj.evo? OTL ta navxa
DTCO 7cve6[AaTO<; ttLVTJaetoc; TY]V
TO
e
TrvsG^a ait 6 TOD TWV oXwv 6so5 r^v ap^Yj
Ace. to Bousset the conceptions of Clem, are closely connected
with the Elxaitic ideas and both point towards a connexion with
religious groups living in the environments of the Jordan and also
in Mesopotamia in the first century A.D. and probably earlier. With
those religious group baptismal cults or ideas played an imporpdvet.,
tant role. 2
A
TO
3
Sid TOUTCOV
siul.
TYJV
s
1
itXavaoGs
OTI
o>C
and fire is found in Epiphan.
Dcop elvat Seiov, Trap 8e dXXoTptov elvai
TWV Xs^swv Tsxva, [J/?] Tcpoc TO scSog TOD TTDpo? Tto
similar contraposition of water
Hosr. 19
TcXdyvj
yap
SOTI
pwvr]v TOD oSaio?*.
TO TOCODTOV
Hcer 53
6sov ^yoDVTat a^eSov (pdaxovTsc sivac
then Water
is
.
.
.
l
TETi[j//]Tai
TTJV
TropeDeoSs Ss (laXXov
s TO oSwp %ai TODTO
CWTJV su TODTOD*.
the male element, Fire the female.
Here
Life originates
from the Water.
Act.
Thorn. 52: (The apostle speaks over a basin of water to
it for
Come ye waters from the living zvaters,
healing):
consecrate
were sent unto
that
1
Bousset,
2
NG
HG
us, the trtte
from
the true; the rest that
was
pp. 151, 152.
Bousset lays stress on the influence of Persian ideas upon
the groups in question. Ace. to Bousset, they emphasized the celestial character
of the water as against the lower evil nature of fire in conscious contrast to the
pp.
134159
Persian conception, which was of course, reverse. Typical of the ideas here in
question is, ace. to Bousset, that of the Time (snuana akarana) as Creator, as
from the beginning, without origin or end, in the course of creation water
being brought forth, from the union of which Ormuzd arose. (Bousset,
pp. 139, 140 quoting Ulemai Islam, ed. Vullers pp. 44 ff.) The Persian
heretic Mazdak speaks of three elements, water, fire and earth, from the mixing
of which the Governor or the Good and the Governor of the Evil arose. Cf.
the frequent conception in Rabbinic of creation from 'fire and water'.
itself
and
HG
fire
3
02
5
ff-
cometh from
and
subdueth
them unto
things
sent to us from the rest, the po%ver of salvation that
power which conquereth
his own will: come and dwell
that
Gliost
Holy
all
in these waters, that the gift
be perfectly
may
consummated
1
in them-*.
of the
Here the
of the living waters emanating from the celestial Realm, or
from the Abode of Divine truth is clearly present. The similarity
with the idea, attested in Rabbinic dicta quoted above, of a
idea
between this Divine efflux and the earthly
so that the initiated can see and use the earthly water
is
vehicle for the power inherent in the celestial water
connexion
mystical
water
as
a
apparent. The healing power of this Divine efflux
attenuation of its life-giving or generating power.
is
merely an
Lastly an important section from Hippolyt's description of
8 pp. 1 10 f.
the doctrines of the Naassenes may be quoted: Ref.
Ps
iu>v
"Ydarcc
sou
rcoXXa
293) <p7]oiv
(of
17
(Naassenes)
rtokv<j%i<Sr]c;
V
0vr)T(5v yevsGiQ avSpwTcwv, ay'
TTjpiaTOv av6p(orcov
.
.
.
^?
(3ocj,
xal xsxpays Trpo? TOV a^apax-
(of Isa
IIoTa[j,o6?
43
2
CCYJOI,
),
Xsyec TYJV oypav
TYJ? ysvsasa>? ooaiav, rcop Se TYJV ETUI rf|V ysysaiy 6p[U]v xal
llepl Ss r/7? dvodov autou, Toarsarr rr^c dvaysvvrjaecos ,
.
OD aapxtxd?, Xeyst, IBTJOLV,
xal elaeXsoastai 6 (jaaiXsug
.
.
si?
.
.
Taor/jv,
MeaoTroTafiLav
sV/][3o?
7JY]
Ta|J.iav
Y'-
Qorj,
TWV
arto
.
1
/.isacov
"Eort,
s
'Eyw si^i
6 TaoTa
Iaxft)(3,
i\
TODTSOTI,
TYJV
6ao^.a
elSev
TcoX'/jv
oTrsp latlv aTco TOO TratSo?
Trootsartv
TioXvj
Ss,
(jeovoa
EITUCOV
sYVwpbOrj
cpYjaiv,
TOV
(Gen 28
latlv
vefeiov
]
7):
wa
TC|)
^
si?
MeaoTto-
TOO
[j-syaXoo
civdQWTtov
,
xal
<po(3epo? 6 Tdn:o?
oopavoo. Aia TOOTO, yvjoi, XSYEI 6
2
^ aX7j6:y/j (Jn 109, cf. Clem. Homil. 3 S )
6 OCTUO TOO
a^apaxr/jpioTOo y/jaiv, avtoGev
TcoXv]
1
'Ivjaou?
avvjp,
7t6X"/]v
.
SoiTjg,
xal TaoTTjv
'
MsaoTcora^ia
.
s6a6[Aaas r/]v oopdviov
xat aor/| '^
OOTO?
.
%a
?
6
YP a 'f]' (P s 247.9) "A pare
TYJ?
slooSov
tvjv
Tropsod^svoc
v o!J ' ey
^opsDo;j.sv(i)
wxeavoo
CYJOL,
"^
TOO
XEYWV
Oo Sovatat, ooy,
XExapaxr^piajAsyo? TsXew? ay6pa)7co?.
o reAetog avOgcortoc;, eav f-ii] dvayevvrjOf] dice favrrjg eiaeWwv
Important
is
,
here
the
connexion of regeneration, accent
into
heaven,
of generation from the TsXeioc av6po>7co?, and spiritual
birth.
This will again be touched upon in dealing with Jn 4.
From the different representations set forth above, it is evident,
that the birth from 'water and TuysojAa' occurs in a twofold conze/tf&r
nexion,
1
viz.
(i) in
R. Harris,
cosmological speculations, where both water and
ApNT
p.
389.
3sff-
63
play different and variant roles, as elements or as creative
both for the 'lower' and the 'higher' creation; Pytha-
principles
goraean, Stoic, Babylonian and Persian ideas
a cbsmological function to the 'water';
meet in assignessentially to the
of man as composed
ing
all
same sphere of notions belongs the idea
of the four elements; (2) in what may be termed
'mystical'
connotations, frequently intermingled with cosmological language,
yet clearly representing quite a different range of ideas, where
stands for a certain efflux from the Celestial or Inner or
Spiritual Origin of Life, by which efflux that Origin of Life
creates or generates or gives Life; in particular, this efflux is
viewed in the aspect of the generation of Life in the lower world,
'zvater*
'sending doivri the seed of
the
or
In this senses the 'water
life into the terrestrial beings.
(or 'rain', 'dew', 'drop')
equivalent of 'seed' , OTtepjxa.
The context of Jn 3 5, as was
that
the
"(evvTjQrjvou
av<o6sv,
YsvvYjGvjvai
s
'from
5aioc
be used as
shown above, makes
/cat.
above'.
may
Tcvso^aro?
It
may
is
it
clear,
identical
with
safely be argued, then,
oSato? %ai Ttveojia'co? primarily means ix, oTusp^aro? TTVSDfrom a spiritual seed, in contrast to earthly, or sarcical
^au'X.'/js,
seed.
Taken in this sense the expression receives a striking
that
s
comment
TCCHSL,
on
ex
em
in
1
Jn 89: Da?
avTov sv
G7teof,ia
rov
yeysvy/jfAsvot
Oeov
ovx
yeyevvijTai,
ex.
ex tov dsov a[j.apuav OD
%ai oo SovaToct a[xapTavety,
also with I Petr 1 23 dva-
6 ysyswrif-ievog
avTciJ [.level'
compared
GIIOQCIQ cfOaQTiis
a)JM acpdaQtov.
The
tedious investigation in the preceding setting forth various
parallels of the use of the term water in connexion with ideas of
creation, birth, regeneration etc., may be urged to have served to
bring into clearer light the precise sphere of thoughts, or let us
rather say, mystical representations that the Jn-ine teaching wakes
its basis or point of departure. Thus, negatively, it may be stated,
that the passage takes no account of the various themes of creawhether in physical-sarcical or in the celestial-spiritual
world
through or from certain elements: it does not view the
tion
man from
1
where
and uScop would be the component parts. Positively, again,
it may be said, that the
passage links up ivith a range of conceptions according to zvhich 'water is used as a term for celestial
viewed
and this is constitutive
as an efflux from
nature
of the
spiritual
the aspect of a xpotai?
7tvsu[j,a
Cf. The Inceptive. Prayer of the so-called Mithras-Liturgy
and Dieterich-Weinreich, Eine Mithras-Litttrgie*, p. 58, note 2).
1
cited
above
3
64
God.
To
5 ff-
the expression wants to convey,
above,
from
that
spiritual man, or, which is the same, the member or
of the (3aotXsia TOD 6eoo o^ves his existence as such to the
repeat:
the
citizen
procreative poiver of the
efflux
the
from God,
ajtspjia
in
the
-spirit.
The preceding
investigation has, however, also shown, that
very idea of a Divine efflux under the term of 'water' was,
some circles, intimately connected with the baptismal cult. This
pronouncedly the case in Mandaitic. In the Mysteries, as is
this
in
is
known, there are instances of the connexion of the ideas of
well
1
regeneration, Divine birth etc. with baptismal initiation ceremonies
although there the idea of 'water' as a Divine efflux is not attested.
,
Of
the Gnostic Menander and his circle Irenseus tells: Resurrectionem enim per id, quod est in eum baptisma, accipere eius discipulos, et ultra non posse mori sed perseverare non senescentes et
immortales.
2
Here, also, the constitutive idea of the Divine efflux
be wanting.
Touching the Jn-ine position, the mention of the baptism ot
22
4 2 and the
Jesus in the section immediately following, viz. 3
contraposition in 133 of the baptism of John ev oSati and the
baptism of Jesus sv Trveo^cm 7 Up are suggestive.
This makes it necessary to put the question: is there, after
all, in Jn 35, a conscious allusion to baptism, and in that case, to
seems
the
to
essentiality of baptism, as a rite or sacrament, for or in conwith the generation, the birth from above into the King-
nexion
dom
of God.
The predominant view among
to be, that this question
may be that this view
largely
'water' here cannot possibly
Tertullian, De Baptism. 5;
De Errore Profan. Relig. 2
1
nus,
the scholars of later time seems
must be answered
rests
2
J.
new
Irenajus,
Some
Grill,
birth)
It
upon the assumption, that
mean anything
but water of baptism. 3
V4n;
Clem. Alex., Strom.
Firmicus Mater-
(on the 'Egyptian' cult of the water).
SAngus, The Mystery Religions and Christianity pp.
a
in the affirmative.
Vide
8183.
Adv. Hcer. 123,5. Cf. H. Leisegang, Die Gnosis
comments in this vein may be quoted:
p. 104.
characteristic
in
his
kommt
Sie (the
important Untersuchungen etc. 1902
43 says:
nur xu stand i OOKTO; xctl irveu|xa-o;, mit anderen Worten
i
durch den an das Sakraments-mysterium der christlichen Taufe gebundenen Empgedoppelten Heilsguts: der Vergebung der Sunden und des heiligen
fang eines
Geistes.
die Leser des 4. Ev.
Th. Zahn, Das Evangeliuin des Johannes p. 190:.
zuriickerinnert werden.
Sie sollten es nicht anders
mussten durch 3 B an I
.
113
.
.
3
5 ff.
65
To answer the question in the affirmative presents great difThe introduction of baptism as an essential element at
ficulties.
breaks the whole continuity of the
concerned, not with contrasting the baptism
this point of the discourse (3
which
argument,
is
5)
verstehen, als dass jedermann der Wassertaufe des Jo, der Taufe der Sinnesanderung und Sundenvergebung sich unterziehen und die Geistestaufe d. h. die
uneigentlicher Weise als Taufe bezeichnete Mitteilung eines neuen[heiligen Geistes
seitens des kommenden Messias erleben miisse, um als ein neugeborener Mensch
Reich einzugehen.
in Gottes
Ev. 1912, p. 93: \venngleich durch die Taufe beWiedergeburt doch unbegreiflich, und wenn das Wasser nachher
nicht mehr erwahnt wird, so folgt daraus
nur, dass es attf diese Vennitthing
des Geistes oder der Wiedergeburt nicht ankom mt. Clemen evidently recognises,
that the idea of baptism cannot be an essential element in the idea of new
birth in Jn 3 5 and is lead to think it alluded to only through his assumption
C. Clemen, Enst. Joh.
wirkt, bleibt die
'
.
.
.
,
that the 'water' can only refer to baptism.
H. Weinel, Bibl. Tkeol. d. N. T."2 1913, p. 592:
die Taufe ist, lasst er Jesus dem Nikodemus gegeniiber
Um
,
zu sagen, was ihm
den Spruch von der
s
Wiedergeburt vertiefen zu der Forderung einer Geburt von oben 3 und erlautert das durch die Worte 'Geburt aus Wasser und Geist', den Weg anzeigend,
das ganze Stuck (lasst) in
wie solche ubernaturliche Geburt stattfmden kann
seiner tiefsinnigen und innigen Weise besser das Hochste ahnen ... als irgend
ein anderes Wort iiber die Taufe im Neuen Testament)*,
So the Evangelist contrasts their
P. Gardner, Eph. Gosp. 1916, p. 200:
.
.
.
the disciples of John the Baptist) baptism which was merely an
with the Christian baptism, which accompanied an illumination of
the whole being by means of the Spirit.
W. Bauer, JEi^ 1925, pp. 50 f.: Damit soil nicht die Geistestaufe des
Messias neben die Wassertaufe des Johannes gestellt werden und beide als unbedingt notig 7.um Heil erscheinen (cL Zahn above): vielmehr tritt der NurWasser-Taufe des Vorlaufers eine andere gegeniiber, die christliche, bei der sich
Hier wie bei den
Wasser und Geist ... zu gemeinsamer Wirkung verbinden
(referring
external
to
rite,
.
vollzieht
Mysterienkulten
neben
Branch
I 26 u.
-322
ff.
to
This
.
.
im Ritus
wohl
die gottliche Zeugung ... so kann
keine andere sein als die, den christlichen
.
.
.
Taufzeremonien zu erhohen, da ihm allein wirklicher
argument could more easily be followed if it were
effect, that an interpolator, through the insertion of uoaToq
to give the Jn-ine passage such a meaning. To read a reference
the rite as an essential element of the new birth, or even, as that in which
formulated
xai,
die Absicht
iiber alle sonstigen
Wert innewohne.
sich
to
the
had intended
is brought about, into the Jn-ine context, so that the
baptism were the
The
point of the argument, is impossible without begging the question.
usual reference to Titus 3 B e. a. is irrevelant, since the question clearly is not
whether there was any connexion between baptism and new birth
that connexion
needs no demonstration,
but whether the 'water' in Jn 3 refers to baptism.
the birth
real
fl
JWr
G
1927, p. 417: "According to the current text (of 3
is original) the Evangelist recognized the
7.0).
partnership
of both water and Spirit in bringing it (scil. the regeneration or rebirth) about.
E. Carpenter,
assuming that uowco;
5
27451.
H. Odfbcrg.
,
66
3sff-
of John with the baptism of Jesus, but with contrasting the birth
from above as a condition for entering the Kingdom 'Above'
(cf. vs. 13) as a real birth, with the birth from below (as a condition for entering the world below). The fact, that baptism is never
mentioned or alluded to in the rest of the section, is also decisive,
since it is characteristic for the Jn-ine discourses to be all through
dominated by essential elements once introduced. The difficulties
of assuming the authenticity of a primary and original reference
to baptism here have lead various scholars to regard the words
1
whereas others in examining the Gospel
have reached the conclusion that Jn does not refer to the sacraments at all 2 or rejects their necessity for the true believers. 3
R. H. Strachan, who shows a remarkable faculty of intuitive
penetration (Einftihlung) into the mind of the Evangelist, although accepting the allusion to baptism assumes that the 'water'
oSato?
as additional
x,al
some
also be
may
,
procreative symbol.
4
Dieffenbach, Pierson-Naber, Wendt, van Manen, Kirsopp Lake, von DobWellhausen, Andresen, Volter, Merx; vide Clemen, Enst.Joh. Ev. p. 92,
p. xiv marks the words ic uo-oc xl -ve'Jp.c/.To; as 'the Redactor's
Spitta,
1
schiitz,
JEv
own
reflexions'.
2
1902
B. Weiss,
Der Johanneische
p. 110:
(in
yevvYjOyjva'.
Meyer's Konim?)
naher indem er mit
punkt solchen Geborenwerdens
dem
in
9
Lehrbegrtff p. 290 f. Also B. Weiss, Joh Ev
V. 5 erklart sich Jesus fiber das avtoOsv
ix (vgl. l ia ) auf den ursachlichen Ausgangsxtzl
[iotop
itVcujxa
hinweist.
Die Artikellosigkeit
Worte zeigt, dass Wasser und Geist Jiier ihrein Wesen nach gedacht
und schliesst somit jede direkte Beziehung auf die Johannestaufe
sind
Das Wasser ist als reinigender
aus.
oder gar auf die christliche Taufe
Faktor gedacht, der die Siinde
hinwegnimmt; der Geist als loirkungskraftiges Prinzip eines netten Lebens, und der Gedanke ist, dass ohne Abthun des
alten sundigen Wesens und ohne Erzeugung eines ganz neuen die V. 3 gemeinte
Here the essential parity of water and spirit
Geburt nicht zu stande kommt.
The interpretaas terms for celestial principles or forces is rightly recognized.
der beiden
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
of water as 'purifying factor' can, however, scarcely be upheld. There is
"
trace of the idea of purification as in any way dominating the sections 1 2 '.
tion
no
8
4
A. Thoma in Hilgenfeld's Zeitschrift 1876, p. 371.
9 Born
R. H. Strachan, The Fourth Gospel*, pp. 93 f.
of ivater
:
and of
A
What does he mean by 'water'? It is quite
difficult verse.
Spirit.
in
with
his style elsewhere the Evangelist gives a double
that
accordance
possible
meaning to the words.
the
He refers to Christian Baptism. Just as in the case of the Eucharist
i.
(chap, vi) the Evangelist has in view, in his interpretation of the conversation,
a superstitious view of the sacrament of baptism. This he corrects by conjoining
Submission to the rite of baptism by itself cannot effect
'water' and 'spirit'.
the
new
Spirit,
birth.
but
There must be present not only the life-giving principle of the
The
experience of it on the part of the believer
conscious
.
.
.
3
5
ff.
67
It may be concluded: the expression s
oSarog in 35 contains
no essential allusion to baptism. Nevertheless it shall be maintained that the sense of the term 'water' is not restricted to that
of (spiritual) 'semen', but there are certainly, after Jn-ine fashion,
allusions to other ideas, and, may it be said, a whole world of
ideas.
The ideas alluded to, moreover, are such as dominate the
and subsequent discourses
present
in
summed
up, to begin with, in the nexus:
Celestial
Waters
waters from above
the Divine Gift
These ideas may be
Jn.
Water
as Divine Efflux
Life-giving, Living
coming down from on high
Water
waters of Eternal
Waters of Eternal Truth.
Life
has already been shown that the parallel conception of the
celestial generating principle under the term 'water' in Rabbinic
It
and other related representations adduced above is constitutively
up with the idea of the Divine Efflux. The mystic
(TBHag 14 b) ascends and beholds the Celestial Waters. From
Celestial Waters (D^V^y D^C) the Divine gifts come down, are
'sent down', to men as a blessing (l"O"12), in which aspect they in
the peculiar Rabbinic mode are often termed "1L2E or CCJ'.*..
The
Celestial or Divine Water coming down possesses, in particular, the
linked
believer must first have 'seen the kingdom of God' in the person of Jesus.
Thus the sacrament of baptism is psychologically conditioned, and is raised
above the level of a magical, or quasi-physical communication of divine grace.
2. Water may also
symbolise the fact of physical birth ... As in viii 31 ff.
Jesus is combating the idea that the child of Abraham is ipso facto the child of God.
It
will be noted that this interpretation suits very well the curiously allusive
The
character
of the
alternates
between the ideas of physical and
Evangelist's
thinking.
general thought of the passages
It may be remarked
spiritual birth.
here that a possible allusion to baptism in 3 would not be very well suited to
make the readers addressed understand the sacrament as 'psychologically conditioned' and to raise it, in their conception 'above the level of a magical, or
fl
communication of divine
quasi-physical
modern
who
reader,
grace'.
understands the word
may have
It
and place, or ethical, rational or psychological,
both as Jn understands it and, evidently, presumes
time
'spirit'
has
quite
different
associations.
Thus
it
uoa-coc;
of the
as
referring to the baptism,
would
baptism as involving a birth within
on
his readers to take
would not be so very
from the general keeping of the context of Jn B
i
that effect
a
mean something beyond
as the case may be.
The
'spiritual' to
far
it,
removed
" 21
1
if a reader, interpreting the
see vindicated there a conception
man
of
a
pneumatical body, that
is
Strachan
say, taking the sacrament in a magical and quasi-physical sense.
s
sees the idea of water as the 'creative element in the womb' attested in 4 Ez 8
to
.
The conception
conception;
cf.
occurring there is, however, not very closely related the Jn-ine
Box's note ad loc in Esra-Afiocalypse.
3
68
5 ff-
power of Giving Life, the coming down of the
for the DTiDn rPTin, (cf. above p. 55).
TD
is
necessary
complex of ideas the dominating notions of the present,
preceding and following contexts are recognizable: the avw0sv,
In this
'from above': 33.7.
3
T
2
6eoo, ex TOO oopavoo: 3
the Eternal Life: 3 J 5, 16,35.
OCTTO
,
l6 > 2 7, 34,
35,
divine gift: 3
ceding the connexion
xatapaoi? of 15
the discourse on
1
,
in the following, again,
the
import of this complex
3> 2 7>3
jn
1
,
the
the pre-
especially with the ideas of ava|3aai<; and
is
and
I
very markedly with
ff
The
Living Water, the Divine Gift, 47
of ideas will be further dwelt upon below
-
on 47 ff
-
Before
the
finishing
The
must be dealt with.
arrived
above
spoken of
birth
spiritual
present excurse some further questions
first question concerns the nature of the
in the section.
From
the interpretation
which the birth from
the preceding,
a real birth, contrasted with, but also,
at
according to
in
in a definite sense,
it
that
the birth from
the
follows,
physical birth,
analogous with,
above is not adequately defined as a moral change in rnan. The
is
and spiritual birth put side by side with the
and celestial world makes it clear, that the
one
is:
as
must be born as a physical organism in
meaning
just
order to enter the physical world, so one must be born as a
antithesis of sarcical
antithesis of terrestrial
organism in order to enter the celestial or Divine world.
1
Thus it follows... that John involves
quote E. F. Scott
himself in a view which may fairly be described as semi-physical.
spiritual
To
:
The
true
the
regarded as a kind of higher essence inherent in
nature, analogous to the life-principle in man, but
is
life
divine
different in quality,
spiritual instead of earthly. Ethical consepMan requires to undergo a
fall
into a secondary place.
tions
heart merely, but in the very constitution
he possesses himself of the higher, diviner
essence there can be no thought of his participating in the life of
It may be remarked, however, that such terms as 'semiGod.
physical' are not quite appropriate.. It may not be out of the way
radical
change not
of his
nature.
to
draw
into
in
Until
comparison current mystical notions of the time with
to spiritual existence.
regard
Rabbinic
Thus Jewish mystical
notions, both
and extraneous circles, pictured spiritual or celestial
as
beings
having form and appearance, and also possessing a body.
Nevertheless one was quite definite about the fact, that the celestial
body was not terrestrial, z. e. physical or material. It was conin
1
Fourth Gospel
p.
258.
Cf. pp. 288
ff.
35ff-
stituted
terms
a celestial substance, usually expressed by some such
'light', 'splendour' or 'glory' in the use of which
by
as
69
'fire',
there was a conscious contrast to the terrestrial substance of 'flesh
and blood' (QT! "ltJ'2). In order to enter the highest heaven, the
Celestial Realm, the ascending human being must change into fire,
take on a body of light, or. as it is also expressed, put on 'garments
of
When Enoch was made
light'.
into the Celestial Being, called
from flesh into fire)). 1 The best illustration to this sphere of ideas may be brought from i Cor 154oft.
%ai oa)|xaTa ercoopavia, v.y.1 acb^ara iitlyeia. ... si scmv ato(j,a tpo^ixov,
Metatron, he was changed
:
eauv
%at,
Trvsofjicmxov
copaa)|j.V
^o'i/ou,
.
.
/at,
.
%ai
7ca6ws
common
a
r/]v
efotdva
TOO
f
veal
aeX<poi, on aap
ooSs -^ tp6opa Tvjv a^6apatav
is
also in mystic notions from
origin
sopsoa[xsv
TOOTO
stxdva TOO sTCoopavioo.
s
fT]|.u,
TYJV
6soo
oo
SovaTca,
/X'/jpovojj/^aat
aijia (SaaiXsiav
Cf. 2 Cor 5 I 4.
There
y.X7jpovo(xel.
idea
of an
and places of
'body' sometimes
times
different
inner,
spiritual
viewed as merely latent in earthly men and brought into life only in
the hereafter, sometimes as the conscious possession even during
of the twice-born, who as a consequence, are able to
act both in the earthly world and the spiritual
life
earthly
and
perceive
2
world.
That the
birth into a spiritual
organism
is
also a birth into a
of moral values needs scarcely be said. The new realm
entered is the realm of truth in contrast to falsehood, of light in
contrast to darkness; the ethical aspect of the new life is clearly
new
life
enunciated
the section in vss. 20, 21:
in
oox sstat, Tco? TO
xa
"
6
Ss
TIOIWV
TVJV
Kd,c,
<wc;,
aXv]0etav sp^sTat, 7rp&
Yap 6 cpaoXa Tcpdaacov
tva
TO
(pcJbt;,
Tva (pavs
OCOTOO Ta spYoc OTC Iv 6ecp SOTCV eipYoca^sva.
Another question that ought to be put is, whether the birth
from above, ace. to Jn, takes place during the earthly life or in
the hereafter.
The answer to that question would seem to be
new birth is something that comes during earthly
doubt Nicodemus is represented as understanding it in
sense, and the answers he receives do not seem to refute the
self-evident: the
life.
this
No
The
notion.
implies
1
2
the
Vide 3
Not
interpretation of 3> as referring to baptism necessarily
There is no doubt that Titus 3 6 in speaking
same.
En
to be
\
5
.
confused with the iu^yj-sioioXov, 5<.Yn, linga (suksma)-sarira
and similar conceptions of an inner body. It corresponds approximately to the
Hindu manasa-mpa and the surap n e saiiiii of the Zohar.
70
35-
.
of the TraXtvysveaia and avaxaivoaoi? icvso^aTO? ayioo refers to the
2
present life of the baptised, and similarly St. Paul in Rom G
"^
enjoins a 'walking in newness of
II:
vs.
life'
and admonishes the baptised,
eaoTOtx; elvca vexpoog (lev .rfl
20 21
Xpicmj) 'iTjaoo. The reference of 3
to
the
to
new life spoken of in the section would also seem
imply
that the birth from above is to take place in man during his
OUTOO?
Kcr.i
u[xst?
Comae; os up
a|j,apTia-
6ec7>
XoyiCeaQe
sv
>
earthly life. The notion would seem to be genuinely Jn-ine that,
1
just as the unbeliever is judged already' (3 &) so the believer is
born into eternal life already in this life.
There are, however, in the Gospel, some pervading features
which do not allow the decision of the question quite so affirmatThese will be dealt with in discussing the import of 639ffively.
In the present connexion, it may suffice preliminarily to suggest,
that there is in the Jn-ine conception of the birth from above beside
the selfevident connotation what may be termed an eschatological
Further, it must be allowed, that there is possibly
significance.
an intentional duplicity of meaning in the expressions "ISsiv or
1
's(.aeX6stv
si?
adheres,
it
duplicity
into the
r/]v
(SaatXscav TOO 8eoo'.
may
may be
Kingdom
A
similar duplicity of sense
term CWT) alamo?. The
defined thus: there are two stages of entrance
of God, or of having eternal life. The first
be suggested,
to
the
stage is that attained during the earthly life, the second that
attained in the hereafter. It will be seen, once the attention has
been fixed on
this point, that this duplicity
1
;
is
one of the central
features of the Gospel.
It applies also to the conceptions of 8da
or
both
of
J himself and of the believers (vide below
oaa6"/jvca,
on 133i).
What
constitutes the attainment of the first stage of new life
stated
in the section: it is the TCIOTIC, repeatedly referred
clearly
to.
But in that very word there is included the idea of aspira\
is
of looking forward
tion,
3
12, 15, 16, iSj
the second stage, or the full reality:
is
in the perception of the 'open
and the partaking in the communion with the Celestial
under the term of avapaoic a dwelling on the first stage,
heaven' 15
World
similarly
to,
there
1
the experience in this life, as against the avapaoig of 3*3 referring
to the other-world experience. There is thus an allusion to the birth
from above in the avaotaotc t,afc\c, 5 2 9, and the connexion between
1
The
of elements
Gospel,
e. g.
duplicity
here
of thought,
p.
367.
maintained
two
lines of
does not a -priori imply the duplicity
thinking, emphasized by Scott, Fotirth
35the
new
71
begun here on earth through the belief on the son
3 H and the birth from above into the Kingthe second sense is expressed in the words
life
man lifted up
dom of God in
of
{iSTa[3e(37]iev ex,
TOD 6avatoo elg
TYJV
2
CWTJV 5 4.
"'
The
sense of the birth from above as a condition for entrance
and perception of the Kingdom of God is further illustrated
by vs. 1 1 o ol'Sajiev XaXoojxev xai o ecopdxa|J,ev ^apTOpoD|Asv. Here
speaks the one, who is present in the Celestial World, who sees
the Kingdom of God and knows its Realities, TOC ercoopdvia.
The
Spiritual Being, in all senses born from above, but born also into
into
:
the
speaks to those, represented by
The sentence
only ex r7\q aapxd?.
intends to picture the reality of the Life in the Spiritual World,
again in contrast and analogy with the terrestrial.
earthly
life
(adp
Nicodemus, who are
In
vss.
essentiality
i
12
of the
sfsvsto),
born
there seems
Son of Man
to
be no
for the
definite reference to the
bringing about of what
is
termed the birth from above.
This essentiality is, however, being
introduced with vs. 12, there, to begin with, under the aspect of J
as being the one who can bear testimony of the Celestial World,
entrance into which
by the birth from above.
however, the essential character of the Son of Man also
in this connexion is brought forth from vs. 13 onwards.
With
vs. 13 the teaching is conveyed, that the birth from above in reality
is necessarily bound of with the Son of Man.
the
Clearly,
is
conditioned
72
o68sis dvapsfBvyxsv st? tov oopavov st {Jiy? 6 ex toft
oopavoo xai:a[3d<;, 6 DIG? zoo dvOpancoo [6 cov sv tcp o6pavo)]
This verse evidently is intended to refer to the preceding, and
3
its
!
3
xai
with reference taken to the foregoing context,
sense,
is
quite
no one has ascended into heaven, entered the Kingdom of
God in heaven, except he who has come down from heaven, the
Son of Man. That is:
in view of the inclusive connotation of the
term Son of Man
the only possibility of being born from above,
to ascend into or enter the Kingdom of God, is given in the Son
of Man. The actual meaning of the ava(3aai and y.ata[3aaic of
the Son of Man, however, needs further investigation.
clear:
The wording ouei?
there
is
heaven.
Such
immediately suggests, that
current notions of ascent into
avapej3vjxsv etc.
a refutation here of
some
were, as is well known, frequent. Any
of
the
longer exposition
Jewish and Christian (-Gnostic) representation of the ascent into heaven will be unnecessary since such an
notions
1
Some characteristic quotations
exposition is given by Bousset.
of relevant passages may however be apposite.
En
i
name was
70
2
:
And
raised
it
aloft
came
to pass after this, that his (Enoch's)
Son of Man and to the Lord of
that
to
from amongst those who dwell on the earth ... 71 J and
to pass after this, that my spirit was translated and it
ascended into the heavens, and I saw the holy sons of God. 2
2 En 1 21 tell of Enoch's ascension into heaven, how he beholds
the celestial things and receives revelations, 22 ff. relate how
Enoch is transformed into a Celestial Being. 3 Ace. to Test Levi
2 5 ff- the Patriarch Levi ascends to heaven while in sleep Similarly
Baruch in 2 Bar** and Isaiah in Asc. Isa. 4 The ascension of
St. Paul ace. to 2 Cor 12 2 4 ( whether in the body or out of the
body, he could not tell) is well known, j En 3 16, 48 C speak
of Enoch's translation into heaven and transformation into Metatron the Unique Celestial Being. ? En 1, 2. 42 - 48 A, narrate
R. Ishma'el's ascension into the highest heaven and his visions
there in a manner suggesting that such an ascension was the
Tos and TB Hag
regular aspiration of the mystic of the circle.
Spirits
it
came
'
1
pp. 43
-
a
4
Die Himmelsreise der Seeh
pp. 136
ff.
Ct. Buonaiuti, Gnostic
Fragments
ff.
Charles's text
Charles,
P.
A &
i
A &
P.
2 En.
Cf.
Apocalypse of
Abraham
(ed.
G. H. Box) chh.
1531.
3'3-
73
14 b preserve the well-known tradition of the four 'who entered
Paradise' (R. 'Aqiba, R. 'Eliba' ben Abuya, Ben 'Azzai and Ben
Zoma) or, which is really the same, 'ascended on high'. The
hence also the aspirations to
were prominent with R. Yolfnan ben
A.D.) and his school. A regular requisite
in
experiences
mystical
ascend on high
Zakkai (about
question,
[Ql~>Dv> nfty],
4080
an angelic guide or ^stpaycoydc. 1 The stress
seems in these earlier sources always to be on the ascent into
heaven and the obtaining thereby of Divine revelations and exfor
ascension
the
is
periences of the Celestial Realities. The mystical signification of
the xardpaaLC in connexion with pre-existence is scarcely traceable.
Similarly in the Hermetic literature, the earliest part
concerned with the avajBaoi?:
Corp Herm.
xou
I
'Evvoia?
I
jxof.
Trots
ysvo[i.svY]
is
merely
TWV
OVTWV,
(I)
rcepi
Siavoia? acpdSpa, [OTTVCJJ] Ss xatao^s6ecawv (XOD TWV aco[A<mx(oy alo6y]asa)v, ou [isvcoi xaGaTTsp [T]OI[?] (DTCVC;))
|3epapY]^eyot[s] ex xdpoo Tpofpvjc T) sx XOTCOO ocoji.a'co?, soo^a
(^ot)
|j,gTeo)pto6sia7]<;
[{i.ev] r?\<;
.
Once on
.
.
when I had begun to think about the things
and my thought had soared high aloft, while my bodily
that are,
a time
senses had been put under restraint [by sleep]
yet not such sleep
as that of men weighed down by fullness of food or by bodily
weariness.
(Scott.) The general frame of the first libellus resembles
The seer is taken up into
writings quoted.
and there beholds the beginnings of things and
of the Jewish
that
celestial
regions
Quite different connotations of the descent
and ascent are presented by libellus IV, which for its bearing upon
the present Jn-ine passage and its typical salvation-doctrine may
be quoted more fully:
receives revelation.
Herm. IV
rjOsXvjas
when
in
2
Se
TOV rcavra xoa[xov eTcoujaev 6 STJJUxoa|J/^aar xda|j.ov Ss Getoo ato^aroc
S TOV
And
av6po)7rov [stxdva] Cyou a6avdcTOo Cipov 6v/jrdv.
the Creator had made the ordered universe, he willed to set
Corp.
xai
[sTrei
TTJV
yvjv
order the earth also, and so he sent doivn man, a mortal creature
in the image of an immortal being, to be an embellishment
made
of the divine body (Scott:
Herm. IV
Corp.
3,
1
Cf.
tjjo^ai?
the
.
.
.
expression
earth).
oov Xdyov, w Tar, (sv) Tcaai rote
voov ODXSTI, oo (p6ovtov TIOLV 6 yap
6dvo<;
avQpcoTCoig e^Epwe, TOV
ODX oopavdQsv ap^etat, xarto
s
avQpcoTtwv
= the
6 TOV
|isv
s
KparJJpa
oovtoTarac tai? TWV VODV
[Aeyav
repeated in
j
"//
TcXvjpwaa?
4248:
i~i2
TODTOD
JITJ
ey^dvccov
xarsT
3'3ff-
74
SOD? xvjpoxa, xai exsXeoaev
xyjp6ai. tat? TCOV av6pw7iwv xapSiac?
aeaur/jv q SovajxsvY] si? TODTOV TOV xpac/jpa [Y
sjrl
Ysyova?, xai] YJ rciaTeoooaa ou aveXeocffl TCpb? TOV x
TOV xpaTYjpa (^ YVwptCoooa STri TI "(S'-(ovaq). oaoi fisv ODV auv/jxav TOD
tdoV
BaTmoov
aort])
f
u
xai
3J3a7maavTo TOO vod?, ODTOI [xetsa^ov TYJ? Yvcbaeo)?,
Se vjfxapTov TOO
VOVTO
Y2
ocv6po>7coi, TOV voov Ss^d{JLsvot. oaot
ouTOt [ot TOV] (i-sv XoY(tx)ov [S/OVTS?], TOV [8s] VODV |J/?]
XYjpDY[J.aTO?,
xai
TsXsiot,
[xal ODTOI
,
s
(at
QD|X(T)
alaO'/josti;
xai
OD
[TOC]
iv)
(ta)
TODTWV
[xsvj,
OCYVOOVTSS
SKI TI YSTOvaat. xal UTCO Ttvoc
taiq twv aXoYwv
C(i>wv TcaparcX'/ptat
xai iv
Gao
6pY^ (TYJV) [xai a]xpaota [oov]s)(ovTat, (06)
8sa? ct^ia, talc (Ss) TWV aa)|j.aTO)v '^Sovatc %ai
xai 8ia TaoTa TOV avQpcoTcov Y s T ov ^ vat ^wcsoovrs?. oaoi
Trpoas/ovTe?,
Ss r?j<; a/ro TOD 6eoD
Swpeac JASTSO^OV, ODTOI, d> TaT, xaTa oDYXp'.cuv
avn
aSdvatot
STSpcov
Gvfltwv elai. icavTa [Y^p] sjiTCsptXapdvTS? TCI)
saoTwv vot, TOC S7ci Y'^CJ T^- 2V ODpavcj), xai si' TI EOTCV Dxsp ODpavdv,
TWV
iaDTOD? DcJjwaavTec etov TO aYaOdv, xai iSovTs?, ao(j^opdv
iv8d8e 8iaTpi|3v]v, [xai] xaTa'fpov/jaa.VTs? rcavTcov TWV
T"?]V
ToaoDTOV
aotY],
xai
(xai actopidTwv) srci TO iv xai [xdvov [cVifaSov] a7TDouacv.
TOD VOD SOTIV [ivepYsta], 7ccar/]^7j[c] TWV 8stwv soTuopia
w TaT,
((\)
'(]
(TOD SEOD xaTavovjaswc (6otOD OVTO? TOD xpar^pos).
XdYoc, o Tat, [the Creator] imparted to all men, but not VODC
Not that he grudged it to any; for the grudging temper
(Spirit).
does not start from heaven above, but comes into being here
below, in the souls of those men who are devoid of VOD?
[The
1
Creator] filled a great basin ^vith [vovgj and sent it dozvn to earth
and he appointed a herald, and bade him make proclamation to
.
.
.
;
the hearts of men:
this basin,
[Hearken, each
human
heart;]
dip yourself in
you can, recognising for what purpose you have been
believing, that you shall ascend to Him zvho sent the
if
made, and
Perhaps 'Him who sent you down to earthV)
to the proclamation, and dipped themselves in [the bath of] VOD?, these men got a share of YVWOC?;
they received VOD?, and so became complete men. But those who
basin dozvn.
Now
those
(Scott:
who gave heed
failed (to heed) the proclamation these are they who possess XOYO?
indeed but have not received voo? also. And these, inasmuch as
they know not for what purpose they have been made, nor by
whom they have been made, are held under constraint by anger
and incontinence; they admire the things that are not worth looking
they give heed only to their bodily pleasures and desires, and
at;
1
This
be compared with the idea of the Divine Efflux
above on 8 n p. 67.
may
OeoD treated of
mooed;
-r>\>
3'3ff-
75
man has been made for such things as these. But
as have partaken of the gift which God has sent, these,
my son, in comparison with the others, are as immortal [gods] to
mortal [men]. They embrace in their own vooc all things that are,
believe
as
that
many
things on earth and the things in heaven, and even what is
above heaven, if there is aught [above heaven]; and lifting themselves up to that hight, they see the Good; such, my son, is the
work that voo? does; it throws open the way to knowledge of
things divine, and enables us to apprehend God.
Then Tat expresses the desire to be baptised in that manner,
If you do not first hate
in the voog, and receives the answer:
your body, you cannot love yourself; but if you love yourself,
you will have voOg, and having VOD?, you will partake of knowledge
the
also ... It is not possible to attach yourself both to
the choice of the better is
things mortal and to things divine;
glorious for the chooser; for it not only saves the man from per(e7rtar/]|A7])
.
.
.
but also shows him to be pious towards
dition,
God
.
You
.
.
see,
bodily things in succession we have to
make our way, and through hozv many troops of demons and co-urses
Let us
of stars that zve may press on to the one and only God
my
son, through kozv
many
.
then
.
.
.
make
our
thither with
way
all
speed; for
it
is
.
.
hard
for
forsake the familiar things around us, and turn back to the
old home whence we came (ircl TO, rcaXaia %od ap^aia avaxajwrceiv).
us
to
The
of
God
this likeness with
[xo!c),
ends:
'libellus'
a likeness
my
then
Tn these
outlines,
(TOO 6so5 slxcbv);
and
if
my
son, I have
you gaze
intently
drawn
upon
the eyes of your heart (TO!? TV)? xapSta? 6<J>6aXson, believe me, you will 'find the upward path
aveo 6dv); or rather, the sight (codd: the likeness)
guide you on your way; for the [divine] (codd: the sight)
has a power peculiar to itself; it takes possession of those who
(TYJV
'rcpo?
TOC
itself will
have attained to the sight of it, and draws them upward (aveXxet)
even as men say the loadstone (^ [lafvr/TK; Xt6o?) draws the iron.
Special attention must be called to the Mandsean conceptions
of the descent and ascent of the Messenger-Saviour and their
It will
import.
necessary here to make quotations from Maud.
some length.
GR, Third Book, containing a relation of creation, composed
of different fragments.
The first two of these are dominated by
Literature at
the
contrast
Second
tion
between the
Life, N'OH^T! J^VI.
[First]
The
Life,
[Ni\S*D"Np]
N"H,
and the
opposed to the creaplanned by three Uthras generated by the Second Life. To
First Life
is
3'3ff-
76
Manda dHayye is sent do^vn. The narrative is connew fragment relating Manda dHayye's fight with
by
and victory over Ruha and her son Ur, the King of Darkness.
After his victory Manda dHayye ascends again to the [First] Life.
frustrate this
a
tinued
A
fourth fragment speaks of the descent rf Ptahil from the Second
Ptahil is commissioned with the creation. When Adam has
Life.
been created and received
from the House of the First
his Spirit
and Anos are created (?) by the
Helpers
First Life and given the function of guarding the Spirit of Adam.
This short resume of the contents of GR III may be deemed
sufficient to illustrate the frame in which the following passages,
speaking of the descent and ascent, occur.
Life, the three
Hibil, Sitil
1
GR
III,
69 8 ~'5 (Pet 73 2 -5)
^n
1
"\xr\x
vxm
&nin:i
(The Life speaks
(t.
the
e.
Uthras)
^ii ^ nvn
1
frr.ruxb
P&CBH
House
the
mn
NDISTH xn\xxi
Manda dHayye:) Thow sawest
to
left
IKXDIX IJON'I N"n ITU
?
that they
of Life and directed their face
towards the place of Darkness; they abandoned the company of
Life and loved the company of Darkness; they left the. place of
splendour and light and went (avay and) loved the worthless
Here the descent of the Uthras is viewed under the
abode.
aspect of a
GR
fall.
III 70' 6
f-,
23,
}Nn*x2 &OD \xpi by ...
<|
-pan
30
{pet 74
f.
^mnb
if., 5) 8
f.)
rputran
rmro x"n ^"wcx
N:N
"\xas'b rp-iDN
(Manda dHayye speaks:) When
Nnmy
jin^l Ds-ip
the Life said this to
NTKH ID
p
me
VX^DD
I
made
obeisance and praised the Mighty (Life)
while I was standing
in the hidden place (i. e. the House of Life, the Highest World)
.
.
.
.
before the Uthras were,
GR
went
I
III 7l33f- (Pet 75
to the
.
.
place of Darkness.
2
f.)
^b nmvu'
When
world)
I
I
GR
1
saw them
returned
77/72 7
to
f-
(i.e.
the rebels, the evil powers of the lower
(my) Father
s hotise.-i>
(Pet 75 6-8)
Vide Lidzbarski, Ginsa^ pp. 63
65.
33ff-
How
(Manda dHayye speaks:)
the
77
shall
I
proceed to that place, to
is no ray
place of darkness [and in darkness] in which there
of light ?
GR
75
IO
~ 12
I2f
-)
(Pet 77
(The Life speaks to Manda dHayye:) When thou goest (down)
do thou teach thy friends, the Bhire Zidqa (men of
tested
faith, technical term for the believers).
dependable,
to that place,
GR
79
"\xr\xb
l6 .23f-
tfT>rp:
(Pet 80sf-,8f.)
a i so
;
QR
8734^- (Pet 86
pso^ nniDNED &axB
'of.)
NDiani N^TIND by b^x
(The Great Life speaks:) Go forth against the rebels of darkness
the good shall in (on account of) his goodness (virtue) ascend and
.
.
.
behold the place of light.*
GR
7935-37 (Pet 80
Hf.)
When the Great (Life) had spoken thus to me, I went away
through his power to the place of darkness, to the place where
the evil ones have their abode.
GR
91
"-'8
(Pet 88
2
4-894)
yy
KWT
xnnw
'DJND ]DI
ND\~n &TD
in
nin^D NIIOWID nniDTi N
vS^nx
to the Evil One, Ur:) There comes (shall
one
beloved
son
who
was formed out of the bosom of the
come)
splendour and whose image is preserved in its place; he comes
with enlightning of life and with the command that his father
(Manda dHayye speaks
commanded him; he comes
in
the
garment of
living fire
descends to thy world.
GR
III 94
29
95
2> 6
-'5 (Pet 91 4-)7,i9-23)
]
iy
HMDN
xc nnnxn2
ZNEH ,xi2 x:n vxb\xr6 N^ : 1:2 ^c^ vXix^' .x
vX^my IND nnry^ vxnmy nz snNtcn s^
1
k
nnnw
"!N2
k
k
and
3'3ff-
7.8.
(Manda dHayye speaks of his return to the Highest World, the
House, of Life:) With enlightenment and praise I went and ascended
to the House of the Mighty (One): in the joy with which I rejoiced
I conversed
with the Mighty (One). The Great (Life) rejoiced
and was confirmed, it rejoiced in me (on account of me) greatly
greatly; the Life rendered me gratitude and increased my splendthe Life in its delight spoke to the Uthras: praise ye the
...
our
.
power of
man who
(this)
water
(preserved?)
in
(through?)
fire;
power of that man, whose fire did not sin; the fire did,
not sin in him; the Uthra (=that man, Manda dHayye) shone in
his enlightenment, the Uthra shone in his enlightenment and he
praise the
established a path for the perfect(ed) ones.*
It is apparent that
the real subject of the section from which the above passages
have been quoted,
in
order to teach
a soteriological one. Manda dHayye descends
and strengthen the Bhire Zidqa and he ascends
is
having established a path
virtue
in
of his
on which 'the good
ascend and behold the Place of
for the perfect ones,
shall
goodness
Light'.
The fourth book of
same idea. The central
GR
preserves fragmentary variants of the
figure is here Hibil-Ziua, who is charac-
terized as the first-born son, N~!DD JO2, of Manda dHayye and
the Great (Life)
147 5 ff. (Pet 132 ' ff-) and who descends to.
1
The
the 'vvorld(s) of darkness' by commission from his fathers.
is expressed by the following utterance by
of
his
descent
object
GR
Hibil-Ziua at the end of the book:
GR
1485 (Pet 1335
14735
Nnuxo\sn2 oxpi NDN NDIBVII
10)
xsW?
rp;D.xi
WD^D
wpbxD snuxc^rD ospn p^xn N^NH 1113 ixnto
N*Dy6 ^D\XD pjvXD ^ NnuxD'wo DxpxSn p^xn Tiro
1
I
took Kusta
one
(i.e.
my
in
right
hand and went
stood firm
some)
in
faith,
n^D^
^1220:3
nt?Dx:n joyi
-\xpfr6 rfr'kxn
to the world of darkness;
one
(i.e.
others)
retained
himself (themselves) in the world of darkness. Those who stood
firm in faith shall ascend and behold the place of light, those who
did not stand firm in faith will be brought to an end at the day
of the End.
1
GR
147
y
*
(Pet 133
*f-)
N'DX \XnxriNM;vXl DvXljV^
make
vain
what
my
fathers
rPDIJOvX?
because
I
1
!
listened to
had commanded
(lit.
said)
and accepted and did not
me,
cf.
Jn 1249.5.
3
The
J
79
3ff-
GR
1
treate of the same theme.
section) of
The time is, with the exception of the concluding lines, all through
pre-Adamitic. The descending Saviour is Hibil-Ziua (or Hibil-
book
fifth
(first
who speaks
lauar),
of the Highest Being
Mana and
his feminine
2
The Saviour's
'Image', nniDI, in the terms of Father and Mother.
work is done in several descents and ascents through different
is represented as having a number of
v
v
helpers among which are Sitil and Anos. The Rulers
of Darkness are Ruha, and, later, her son Ur, who, with the
worlds of darkness, and he
Uthras
as
'calling forth' of the earth evidently plays the role of the ap^oov
3
TOD xoa^oo TOUTOO (Jn 125i 1430 16 11 ).
Although the descents of
Hibil are pre-Adamitic, they nevertheless picture the descent of the
The difference
Spiritual- Celestial-Human into the Lower World.
between
former
the
and
latter
Hibil-Ziua type, the 'Son',
powers of the lower world
human
enslaved
GR
(S7?153
human
152
bTN
mny
really
(cf.
Jn 143,
that whereas the
this,
by but dominates
the
sv s[ioL oox, syei ooSsv),
the
or earthly beings have been subjected to the domination
Prince of Darkness. The Saviour's work is to free the
of the
"irn->-
is
not dominated
is
beings from this domination.
3' f
136
(Pet
]NI =
]
9f)
^ma-;-,
DN^ ann&n "-vjr-/2N N--,m? ""
2 5 ff
tov^rn
prpsb-'Ni-ia sn
[.
'Nr'/OT
.
N
sirs S3
b-irn -iNiN- N3N-] (Pet 137 9 f
Na-NTN-^ n-j^nn- -"NnxriNaN
rr-.E:;
N-'-ITN-'-INI
-j-
"^b-'-iNn
sr'/o'-Nn
-j-DT!
.
b-i
3
;-;"-
J
1
h
)
[GR
]Nb-'Nri-i
163
!
3
(Pet 152
!
.
)]
.
.
tOVi'n
"i-r, -j-'-^jiN-aNi ]->-b&</Q '^D^-o-T
T^a
sn
-)
a
:
T
p^cra 2-p
N'/ab
1
das \vichtigste Stuck des manLidzbarski, Gtnza, p. 149, calls this book
daischen Schrifttums iiber den Abstieg des Erlosers in die Unterwelt, and says:
Bei der Charakterisierung der finsteren Machte, der Schilderung ihres Treibens
ihres Verhaltens dein iiberirdischen, freniden Manne gegeniiber zeigt die
Darstellung eine Hohe, die sonst in der roandaischen Literatur nicht erreicht ist.
2
As in the fourth book also Manda, dHayye is the Saviour's father, (and
und
at
the
same time
RBI xxxvi
3
p.
called his 'brother'
333.
Cf. Lidzbarski, Ginsa, p.
150.
= equal).
Cf. Lagrange,
Gnose Mandcenne,
8o
2T,p
[GR 164
N3fc
J
3
(/Vf 153
&cn-:y xisrn rrat^/ai
^riNib
|
xn "I-TNS'NION
NS-'-'Na^ NDa-'T i^-j^/a
l&na b^y zip -NhNnfiN N^n tfixsw
N:N [Pet 156
u~"pb
l8
.
.
.
]
^Tib "bwiKTSN"
"-NSN-i
^-pa^D-i N^N'J:^
-n-s
Nb->t<ri
"3-
i
P
>i
3N^-i
N^Na
(Hibil-Ziua's
father)
[Petlbl
to
parents, and by the
the helpers that are with
my
"bn^-i^o'O";'
10
i^-aia
...n^pb^o 'NnNn^aN
]
in-.s
said:
Go,
all
M
-)
-;i<Tn
n^"
^".S-
go, our son and image
the Uthras! For the place
which thou shalt go, a long time you
I,
,..
"Db
whose splendour transcends that of
worlds of darkness...
NDNI
j-n-'-N- ^-.nsxi
T^
And
S-TTJ-?
1
^"ob^ -nb-Db
rin-'o-i NDX'ob-
nb&a-.wasi
tov-b
rrpb-c-
rrbTin rr'pb-'cn i-inpxn'j" [Pet 1555] ...
n^xp-i j"- sns"b S'j'i-i !Stbt< n^in- "bn-^
N^^OS'/Q
.;
n^-ia as DNSS
^rabNb
an-.nn
.
'4)]
will
have to wait
lauar-Hibil said: 'Lo!
in
By your
power of the Great Mystery and
me
those
power,
(with)
descend (to) the Darkness
Hibils
narrative
of
descent
and
subsequent ascent through
[follows
the various worlds of darkness, those of (a) Ruha, (b) ZartaiZartanai, (c) Hag and Mag (= Gog and Magog), (d) Gaf and
Gafan, (e) Anatan and Qin, (f) Sdum, (g) Krun; until Hibil-Ziua and
his helpers arrive at the
the text continues:] ... I
I
shall
.
.
.
upper boundaries of the lower world; then
and the worlds and aeons that were attached to me (accompanied me), and (sic) I said to them: 'Rejoice'...
what we have done (our work) is put in order. Now, arise, let
.us ascend and go to our parents and behold the glorious manas
and behold Mana and his image and the great Nitubta from whom
S^ff-
we
We
are (come forth).
81
ascended and proceeded; when we reached
the world of the house of boundary, we opened the gates of light
and ascended before the Father, and he, Mana and his image,
came to meet us, and, calling me, addressed me and said to
me: 'Lo, here he comes, Hibil-mana, whose splendour transcends
that of all the Uthras! ...! [Hibil-Ziua] prostrated myself before
[my] Father and said to him: 'Thou, o Father, blessed and praised
be thou that thou hast given me this enlightenment; (and) I have
descended to the Darkness and have ascended [again] to the
worlds of Light, I have come to you and am now sitting in your
company'
[Then follows a second descent:] After this I [HibilZiua] proceeded and went [down] and reached the House of
boundary of the Darkness
[whereupon there is again an ascent
and I left her [i.e. Ruha, the female ruler of the Darkness] and
ascended to my father(s), namely the Life, [who] had sent [me]
down, and remained with him (them) thousand (of) years and
stood before him (them)... and then I said to him (them): 'Lo,
the time has arrived that I shall proceed and go down (again)
.
.
.
.
.
.
:]
the
to
my
all
I
world
that
said:
Father,
worlds in
ascended
[to
thou
'arise,
knowest';
go [down],
thereupon
Manda dHayye
who puts
otir first-born son,
[Follow the third descent-and ascent:]
and stood] before my Parents. [The 'Parents'
order.
.
.
.
tell
him, that they have been anxious lest he should loose his celestial
power, his 'Mana' or 'Inmost', while dwelling in the lower world;
Hibil-Ziua relates:] I said to the Life and to Mana and his image:
'He whose power is strong [scil. does not fear; and such a one I
because of your splendour, so great and strong, [and] the
am]
power that you gave me and the helpers that you procured for me,
whom should I fear? Because of the concealment in which you did
hide me, I was not afraid of them. In your trust (i.e. trusting you,
scil. I remaind secure] until I reached [that place] and seated myself
with them and was made [in appearance] as one of them ... In
your enlightenment and knowledge and the revelation which you
revealed in your mind, you have created me; you have spoken
to me and taught [me] and planted [me]; you sent me to that
Darkness before the father and mother of Ur were, and before
their parents were; I shut and closed all the gates and barred
them all, so that they cannot go to each other.
In all, seven
descents are narrated. At the fourth Ur, as the Prince of Darkness, is born, at the sixth he is put in fetters by Hibil 'till the
time of Abathur', i.e. till the creation of the earth, which latter
;
6
27451.
H. Odcberg.
82
is
3
viewed as a
fall
'5
ft.
of the Light; at the seventh descent
Adam
is
created, with a body from the seven Planets and a Spirit from
the First World, the House of Life. This, as being typical, may
be quoted here:
GR Vi
TPB-n
1765J-1775 (Pet 172):
wxns n^zrn
D
bvfri
snDica
11
:
ITQ^DND
Nirn
^UXTPD joxrn vxr\xc^l
jomn NTH
NINMINP.
N\X~IND ~!vX\xb
wny
n^txn
WNI
N^
im HID tavni N^ni
lauar,
I,
planned
and
said:
'I
will
make Adam'.
NHJND
He
[/:
I]
the seven planets and said to them: 'Form ye (the image
his
body'. And they formed [it] as I had said to them. And I
of)
brought forth from the treasuries of the mighty Life the Spirit ...
called
which was hidden in the house of Nitufta and grew (or had grown)
in Tanna and I threw it into the body of Adam; and I made for
him Hauua, his wife, in order that this world might be enlightened
and lifted up. I shall be the procurer of the spirits who are born
here and are called Uthras there [in the world of Light] and who
shall ascend [and] behold the outer 'Ayar [= ether] and the place
ivere created (or brought forth).
And until the
of
this
world
shall
have
been
completed and they
measurfed time]
shall ascend and beJwld their First Father, the Life pays gratitude
from
to
whicJi
they
Manda dHayye and
his
son Hibil who arranges the orders for
the Mighty [and] Glorious Life.
Examples of other celestial
descent and ascent are
(i)
Figures spoken of in terms of
the 'Youthful Child, the Great Righteous
Only Begotten) One', Npnw NIT! NifcTlJT? N"6&0 tfC&O,
GR IX, 23630 (pet 235 2 i). The Youthful Child is also identified
with Hibil, son of Adam, although not of the terrestrial Man,
but of the Celestial Adam 1 i.e. he is the Celestial Son of Man:
GR A^243 (Pet 242). (2) Hibil, Sitil and Anos together, as the
Unique
(or
,
1
'He
was not begotten of
this,
of the Life.
[earthly] -man's
semen'
says
GR
243 3 5
xi-Wi>6 N12N31 vXTItOn N^NB KrSNI.
keeping
when Hibil is elsewhere called the Son of Manda dHayye, or even
(Pet 243"-")
with
'an
!t is
quite in
3'3ff-
"'three
19
IT
messengers' or
20 f 103 12 also
83
'helpers'; especially
GR
109
e. a.).
(3)
prominent
Anos-Enos
in
MLi.
(eg.
13 3
alone, the stress
being laid on the significance of 'Man'; important references: GR29
and 47, XV 295 fif., already referred to, and MJoh sectt. 74 and
76. (4) the Watchers or Guardians of the different ages; as such
XV
are mentioned Anos, Hibil, Sam-Ziua (GR
cL MJoh, sectt. 25
and 49), and, in general, the various messengers from the World
of Light 1 especially prominent in the fifteenth and sixteenth books
,
of GR.
Adakas, called also Adakas-Ziua, Adakas-Mana and
(5)
Adakas-Malala.
A
quotation of a hymn representing the category of messengers mentioned under (4) above may be apposite here. Thus in
GR XVI
senger
is
N^nixnb
389
2I
3909 (Pet 366
l8
367
3)
an anonymous 2
mes-
introduced, speaking as follows:
wnx
wib'b
BWB
top^n NIIS- -JWD
rbwvv
IJND byi |vxn\x I:XDI ro^ii
ID \xni:6 N^NSI nciiy -ixm^y \saiti'
by
nm
\snD N^N^H ~nn:x "ivXPN ]D
wzy six
r wibib by p^n^^'Ni n^nx nby NITNDT
4
rv>E.r6
D^DND
^DI
^
^y \XDV^' jirpNnwG ri
"INTNTin NnniJJ
^W^N'CN'I Ni
)in\xDiD
N^ND^Nlf
<?///<?
s>From the place of Light / /^^
fortJi; from thee, o
glorious abode; to feel the hearts I come, to measure and test all
inclinations (or minds); to see in whose heart I am, and in whose
mind I dwell; he who thinks on me, on him do I think, he who
mentions my name, his name shall I mention; he who prays my
prayer from Tibil (the earth), his prayer I shall pray from the
place of light; he who prays my prayer and (utters) my praise,
for him I shall pray opulently and greatly; I have come and have
found the true and faithful hearts; when I was not among them
[before I was in their midst] my name lay on their mouth; I took
[them] and lifted them up to the Uthras [which] Yokabar has
created; and I said to them!
O, Perfect ones! Your scent is
fragrant and splendour rests among you.
In such a connexion as this the function of the messenger is
1
These are sometimes termed Mana, sometimes Uthra, sometimes they
names or are anonymous.
7
A preceding hymn gives Mandu dHayye or, more properly, his 'Voice',
the speaker, but the situation is different from that of the present section.
carry other
as
3'3ff-
84
to bring a
to those mortals,
message
for
a.
sensibility
longing for their
who
in their Spirit
preserve
World of Light, who carry within them a
and to take them with him up to
eternal home
the
the abodes of the Uthras.
A
peculiar character adheres to Adakas.
Lidzbarski
1
is
shortened
for
Adam
This name, ace. to
hidden Adam.
the
kasia,
represents the inner man, the celestial or Divine essence
in him, that part which belongs to, has emanated from, the world
of light.
To express the essential unity of all that has emanated
,
Adakas
from the Celestial World, or the unity of the individual spirits in
the Spirit, he is also represented as the original father of all the
2
spirits, or as the head of all the generations.
Behind this there is the conception of the spirit in the indi-
man as reaching, or being combined, at least potentially,
with the First or Highest or Original Spirit, who is also the First
Celestial Man; that is to say. the same idea that was traced above
vidual
as
This idea is also expressed by the use of
underlying Jn IS
the word 'Mana' both for the Inmost in man, and for the Highest
1
.
Being. The essential or constitutive trait of Adakas is, however,
that he took up earthly, bodily existence, entered the bodily Adam 3
,
NnJXEH DN1N*, 'became
flesh'.
GR
and one liturgical piece from GL
order to show the various ideas inherent in
Some passages from
be
may
quoted,
the Adakas-conception.
minent also here, but
in
The
aspect of descent and ascent is prohas a different colouring from that of
the Messenger-Saviour-traditions hitherto under consideration.
be appropriate to begin with a passage where Adakas
represented as giving account of himself:
It
is
it
1
-
may
Ginsa
p.
486, note
2.
Cf. the characterization
of Adakas by Reitzenstein in Iran. Erlos. Myst.
Adam nun
aucli die sichtbare Erscheinung des ersten
Menschen, so kann man sein unsichtbares Teil, die eigentliche Personlicbkeit,
den verborgenen Adam, nennen und diese Benennung wird so haufig, dass sich
fiir
sie eine eigene Abkiir/.ung bildet, Adakas
[dann] begreift man sofort,
dass auch Adakas fur den gottlichen Boten eintreten muss; er ist der verborgene
Mana, der a us seinem Ort gekommen ist, die Seele, das Wort, aber auch das
Gesetxt und das Haupt, na'mlich das Haupt der Generationen;
es ist der
Stamm der Seelen, der vor der Schopfung der Welt zusammen mil der ersten
Seele geschafl'en ist und bis zum Ende der Welt bestelu, weil ohne ihn die Welt
pp. 48, 49:
'Bezeichnet
.
.
.
.
.
.
nicht bestehen kann.
8
This seems not to have been sufficiently emphasized by Reitzenstein and
Lidzbarski.
4
GR
247
a
(Pet 246
1S
).
85
GR
X 246 i-
1
5
(Pet 245 13-23)
pn
NPtfnXD tfHXD
tfosa NJXE
KPNBW NDW WXPI
vxn\xn
NKI X
DNDX-IN
tf
xnx
N^n PNcrro
DIE;
sain: N
\xrux
xnn rvih
k
x^n
jips-vS'i
[Adakas speaks:] 'My name
Mana, who has come from his
is
p^
the
;D \x^y "iNisrt&'y
Head
place; Nibta
1
,
is
DNP p^
Adakas, the hidden
our name, the zvorld
they call me; Spirit they call me, the epithet of Mana
they give me, the redeemer of redemption they call me, the Light
they call me, Life's Groan* is our name, and Tanna is our name
and the Living Fire is our name. I am my hidden Name [or: I,
my name is hidden], for I come from the House of Life, and Adakas
of Laiv
am, the Splendour, (Ziua), who has come from the hidden place;
and my brethren, the Utliras, brought me here
they were sent
me [the punishto me and they brought me here.
decreed
on
They
ment of] deatli? from the abode of corpses [terrestrial bodily existence] in which I grew up; they clad me in splendour** and covered
me with light that was sent down on me from there, from the
House of Life
and they brought me to the house of Life'.*
I
.
.
GR
.
III 11236ff. (pet 104
4
ff-)
to^b NT*
18
[Pet i04 ]
1
Cf.
the
passages
67? 117 3* f.
head
of the
quoted
.
.
nr?:ri
at
.
/Wl07 aaf O Nin
vXin DvX2vX1vX
.
.
.
2 v^
vXn\XD~Np XPZ"ir^'
k
tyi-iD
generation was Adakas Ziya, and the references in
to Adakas as the one who created Adam, or brought
first
below
into Adam and Hauua, or 'sowed the seed' into the earthly
Adakas is the First Spirit to enter terrestrial life, and in him all the
spirits who have taken earthly bodies are inherent; in reality they are all begotten by him, and hence, carries his Mana, or the Mana, in them.
2
Life's Groans most probably refers to the longing of the Spirit [who
has come down from its home in the House of Life to the earthly existence]
ior its eternal origin.
The powers of the earthly world are felt by the
awakened spirit as a heavy burden under which it groans.
3
This clearly shows that the connexion with a mortal body is essential
in the conception of Adakas.
Adakas is the Mana in so far as it has 'become
flesh and blood'.
4
i. e.
after -the death of the earthly body.
As Adakas ascends to the
house of Life so shall the awakened Spirits of his tribe or generation also
spiritual
womb.
ascend.
human
life
Snff-
86
K JPIDS
r\x"6
in:
he [Adam] praise Adakas Ziua, the Father, from whom
He [Adam] praised Adakas Ziua, the Mana,
[come forth]
when his [Adam's] measure will
from whicJi lie Jiad been created^be completed, he [the messenger] will cause him to ascend and will
establish him in his edifice, establish him in the place of Light
ivith his father Adakas Ziua and make him an Uthra in the place
May
he
is
.
.
.
.
.
.
of Light.
GR
III 110
25
(Pet 102
i
8
)
p-bo rnnisb sv" OSDNIN
When
the Splendour of Life spoke in
Ziua. ascended to
GL
Jiis
II 18; 4S6
t*
...
S^TH NT-
nabi'-roN-o
'3
him [Adam], then Adakas
place?
l8
-4874
(Pet 6113-62').
"sams* -^n "SON a- "-'a
n-'ai
7->a-
i
n
"3
[An Uthra, messenger from the Life, says to Adam Kasia:]
hidden Adam [Adam kasja
Adakas], who brought thee
from the House of Life?
who sent [thee] and caused thee to
dwell in Tibil and to sit in the house of thy enemies? If the
Mighty One had known of thee, if the Great One had known
of thee, he would not have commissioned thee from with him! ..
Adam kasia spoke and said to the man who had asked him:
but the worla
Verily, o, Father, the Great One knoivs of me
to tvliicJi I have come
cannot
be
made
nought?
[down]
=
'O, thou
.
.
.
.
'
.
1
that
Adam
is
.
.
created from Adakas, Adakas is the Father of Adam, in the sense
speaking, did not exist as a human being, 'with spirit in
Adam, properly
him', until Adakas descended into him. By Adakas' descent into Adam, Adam's
individual spirit was born. This spirit ascends to the House of Life and dwells
father, Adakas Ziua.
That the splendour of Life speaks in Adam means that he has been
wakened up to a recognition of his celestial nature and spiritual home. Thereby
the communion with his spiritual home is established: Adakas Ziua ascends to
with
its
2
his place.
8
is
Again ihe close conjunction of Adakas with the earthly human existence
involved.
3'3ff-
GR
X 245
~ 12
(Pet 244
13
rrnm b-a-na
N-pri
T
I0
87
[Adakas speaks:] 'From Me the generations
Tibil, and it was / ^vho solved tJie seed
in
[tribes]
in the
were spread
womb
of the
s-
sap
*
women.
GR
244
'4
8
(/V* 243 -2446)
39
-Na n3bN3i Nnx aroao N-SHN irn
by
rrN-'.Jpb
.
.
tONnb" rx-
n-,NT
NTiN-'a-'UJ N3V,r
i
N-'TTT
-is-,ya
Mana who came from
i>Adakas
and Hauua,
his
N-3N"o
NnN
N-.tBi
-)
]
"
"/a
Adam
the hidden place &s\& fell into
and Hauua, his wife, on
Adam
and raised
wife,
--
-
-
-
-
2
and then
and enlightened their eyes in order to see
those seven planets ... said: 'They (Adam and Hauua) shall not
listen to the words of the strange man [Adakas] who has come
their feet'
'
and
here,
.
',
shall
we who have
and to
Ptahil,
not
learn
created
our
.
his teaching; and since it is
arise and listen to us
[accept]
Adam, he
shall
and the
father,
.
tribes [generations] of
Adam
and Ptahil, our father. But
[serve]
now he loves the strange man whose words are strange and
3
and Manda dHayye dwells in the
estranged from the world
shall
arise
and worship
us
,
1
Adakas represents the inception of
spiritual existence in bodies of flesh
and blood.
The descent of
2
a
'fall'.
Adam
This
fall has,
the Spirit from the Celestial
World
into mortal bodies
however, probably no moral import.
and Hauna were not human
(-spiritual)
Before Adakas'
is
fall
beings: they belonged wholly to
the world of the 'Seven'.
3
The
contrast here between the lower world and its beings, to which
by force of their bodily nature, belong, and the celestial world, to
which men belong when recognizing, or waking up to, their spiritual relation
to this world which latter is 'strange' to the beings of this world, may be
y.v\ 6 xoaaoq ai/cov ouy.
compared with the Jn-ine expressions: iv 7u> xoaiu;) r,v
men
also,
.
.
.
3
88
Adam
treasury of
The
tended
and
s heart
in
3ff-
Adakas Mana
came and fell
zvho
i
him.
into
J
quotations from Mandaean literature given above will have
show quite clearly what import and connotation are
to
attached
descent
the
to
The
worlds.
Terrestrial
Celestial
and
central ideas are: (i) the spirits of
men
and
between the
ascent
do not belong to this world, but have
Light, (2) from the world of Light the
home
their
in the world of
have come down to
spirits
world by a descent, (3) this descent is comprehended in the
descent of the First Man, or the Hidden Man, Adakas, (4) the
salvation consists in the ascent of the First Spirit and the individual
spirits to their home, (5) this ascent can only be brought about
this
through the descent from the world of light of a messenger-saviour,
who makes the voice of Life heard to the spirits, i.e. wakes them
up to recollect their celestial origin, and through the ascent of this
messenger, by which ascent he prepares a path for the awakened
spirits.
several messenger-saviours, the plurality in
traceable to a connexion with aeon-conceptions;
messenger is called 'son', 'the firstborn son', 'the
there
(6)
are
some contexts being
the
frequently
Unique One',
Power inherent
the
(7)
in
the
all
is
messengers
also their function; (8) since the different messengers
in the same tradition are termed 'Unique' or 'Son' or 'Firstborn',
it is evident, that it is really the Function of or Power inherent in
identical as
or given
by the
is
Mana
the
by
From
this
the messenger, that is intended
I 22 quoted below on 3*6.)
or Life to
Corp. Herm.
follows, that Jn 3
said terms.
(Cf.
it
J
3
oockic;
ava(3e(3Tj%ev
etc;
TOV
[v/j
oopavoo %aTa|3ag could be applied with perfect adequacy to the Mandsean lore.
Even the sequel, 6 u'ioc; TOO
avOpwTuoo, could, by substituting the corresponding Mandsan con-
6 ex TOD
si
oopavov
ception, be maintained to fall in naturally with the ideas referred to.
No parallel to the emphasis on exclusiveness appearing in
Jn 3*3
however, to be found
is,
Mandaean
in
literature.
When
read
against the background of Mandaean representations, the exclusive
tendency of Jn 3*3 becomes especially striking, and can scarcely
10
(I
s'-j-vcj
"*
*
s'.ut
**
sx
?>
),
*
TOO
xoau.oc
I
xoaaoy
as
'
oux syviu (17
^
TOJJTOO
/(-)
9'1\
(b
OTI ol ix TOU xo'aixoo oux iais
.
)',
.
.
^
et
s6
),
oixetc;
"
'
ix.
-OUTGO TOU xo'aixou 2373,
~
*
sx TOU xoajxoo Y ~s., o
t
/
xoajj.oc;
ota TOOTO ixiaet OIXHC o
v.o'ajxo;.
MATO
cxv
oox.
i-|Yo
^
\
totov
i-
se/i/vsi.
Ptahil here appears
as the 'prince of this world'.
1
Cf. Reitzenstein, Iran. Erlos. Myst., p. 54 (commenting upon
Weil Manda d'Haije der Urmensch ist, ist die aufsteigende Seele,
GL113
(xvOp(i)-o;
(Adakas), sein Abbild und er ihr Abbild.
wie /cum Himmel zuriick.
ihr kehrt er selbst
der
1
-):
lain
Erst in der Verenigting mit
3nff-
89
be interpreted otherwise than as a strong refutation of some current
and prominent doctrine or belief of the time concerning the possibility of ascent into heaven. The doctrine in view cannot, however, have been any lore of the kind represented by the Mandsean
salvation-mystery; in that case the formulation would have been
The teaching addressed can evidently not have
quite different.
had for its tenets the pre-existence of spirit, his descent from
heaven into earthly life, and, in particular not the inclusion of the
individual spirits in the First Spirit or First Man.
For the connexions implied by the assumption of such a
refutation being intended by Jn 3 T 3 some other current ideas must
be called attention
to.
place, then, it may be well to exhibit v a few
Rabbinic dicta relating to the descent and ascent of the S ekina,
i.e. the metonym for the Divine Presence.
Billerbeck 1 adduces as a parallel to the present Jn-ine passage
a dictum by R. Yose ben Halafta (about 150 A. D.): TB Sukka 5 a:
the
In
f
first
N3r ai-Tob irpbN- nEtt nb? toi nirob n^DE
nra'j
Nbi a~x
nil''
m^ra
-ay* annan- a->n"j
.
nTuya
a->n-j
-'n'^^n
bN nby
n-.^ro n^'ob
ET'i'Uj
7-2;
nbyfcb
~73b"<3
nby/ab -:PO
by
'ft
a
--P-
'n
-
ab-," o
IP 73 En
arnam
s^nD Nrn a-T/ab -n^b^i nan nby
niir/an
'-\
-in
so
aTPTn -n by x-nn avai vb:n
.
n^E^n
a-n:n
-tfm 'nb a
ns
-^aib
n--,->
n-iyo^ "n-'bx
-'ONT -aay
-.-'by
by-
as
TE-S
1
nan- n-EVTa
o
-
o
a
Never did S e kina descend on earth nor did Moses and Elijah ascend
on high, as
it
written (Ps 115
is
l6
):
The heavens
are heavens for
but the earth he hath given to the children of men. 2 [How
be maintained that] S e kina never descended on earth? Is
YHUH,
can
it
it
not written
mount
breadth
(Exod 19
Sinai'?
20
'And the Lord came down upon
):
There was a distance of ten fingers'
[Answer:]
S e kina and
[between
the
mount].
But
is
it
not written
(Zech. 144); 'And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount
of Olives'? [Answer:] Nevertheless it is to be understood that he
remains at a distance of ten fingers' breadth. [How can it be
maintained
that]
Moses and
Elijah did not ascend to heaven?
Mi
2
425.
Billerbeck quotes only as
far.
And,
3!3-
90
it
is written
(Exocl 193): 'And Moses went up unto God'.
There was a distance of ten ringers' breadth. But, lo, it is written
11
'And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven'.
(2 Ki 2
):
Even here it is to be understood that he did not ascend higher
than that there was a distance of three fingers' breadth. For, lo,
it is written (Hiob
269): 'He holdeth back the face of his throne,
and spreadeth his cloud upon it'. R. Tanhum said: this teaches
lo,
clouds
Holy One spreads of the splendour of
the
us, that
S e kina and
his
round about.
it
v
Since S e fcina means the Divine Presence
V*
a dictum
possible.
is
quoted
amalgamated with the
fused
into or
tions
concerning
illustrated
the terrestrials,
and
descent
the
d R.
V
e
of S kina
ij
pn nnN ab-j?n '-? nras m-b~"2- "~a nns" a ~"-
2''-is an
-TT
-i-ijo
ari
lyi'n
-roya nnN-
iayn
-I'o^jw
'ax
~Tn
1
-IN-
-''a -b^sr.b
i
in by '^ --1-
D'jB
tradi-
are further
Ndj). 34:
y
n~Ni
The
terrestrial world.
ascent
by the following passages:
e
'Alt.
among
implying that S'kina never descended on earth is imIt is also apparent, that the intention of the passage here
simply to convey that the Divine Glory can never be
,ri,r/2-i
jn."
2^
- '
1
Na
-a
nvn^
->'Q->n
''/aiZJ
>?
^^i
'212;
a- .1
n"
^^
nnto 1:^-1 f.,
?y N'nn a^:
rrrnyiz/
.
np^noj n:?^a HTJ;^ aTT'tn "in
a'la'/a" ai-a
miia-o a-pa
jnE'O'-o- n^a- -jnz'o
:
""
a
23 "i'-p/sa rmxi ayn
'>
bx -,;' Tibx
-a '-ji nn-:^
-?3t<
1
rviT'-i-1
nnxi
i^'/an
'rca nn^i TT-
'j'j;
1
naro
nbnc2
it'
ri
a-p'/a'o
~a"'-c'
^X
There are
garden
of
ten
Eden
descents
Gen 3
of the S e kina to the world:
8
(2)
to
(i)
the generation of the
Gen 18 2I (4) to Egypt
to the
Tower of
Exod 3 8
Gen 115 (3) to Sodom,
on the sea Ps 189 (6] on Sinai JS;tW 19 20 (7) on the temple,
Esck 44 2 (8) in the pillar of the cloud, Num 11 2 5, (10) in the
e
future S kina will descend in the time of Gog and Magog, ZecJt
4 '4 [the ninth descent is missing in the text]; in ten stages the
Babel,
(5)
3'3-
91
V
S e kina ascended, from one place to the other, viz. from the mercye
e
seat to the k rub and from the k rub successively to the threshold
e
of the Temple, the two k rubim, the roof of the Hall, the wall of
the Court, the altar, the town, the Mount of the Temple, the
e
The
Desert, and from the vdesert the S kina ascended on high.
e
ascent refers to the S kina departing from the Temple destined
to be destroyed.
ExR
...ra-na
2:
na-'D's
--!-i3
zn mT to
-37/2
-'/anN
bmaa
^aa
-:**
nrrn n"a
-TV
-nybs*
'-,
.
nrnsn p
Trysy ivm
-.ana-*
'->n
Nb'j:
.
.
zb-^b
bNv/jj; ~/'N
-pbr.o; -"2
':->2r;
isriN
-/'N
.
.
a-rtzra-i
bs-r.n
.
-prr-o
S-'EES
va->:?
bo^a n^-a
-
-r" n"a o nna-'DS
R
-y -j^na -a
s-.na
V
e
S mu'el
Nahman ^r^
V
bar
the
of
destruction
Temple
Pal.
gen.
Am.)
S e k!na rested
in
said:
the
until
the midst of
it
...
e
and with the destruction of the Temple the S klna ascended
R
R
'El'azar
'Aha
The S e kma
said:
S e klna did
said: the
Wall...
R
Temple,
'his
Yannai said:
did
not
certainly
even
.
.
.
move from the Temple
not move from the Western
.
.
.
v
His
S e kTna
is in heaven, 'his
eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children v of men' (Ps 114)...
even it seems as if he had removed his S e klna from the Holy
TB
behold, his eyelid
eyes
Baba Bafira 25 a
"frnbu;
try,
the children of men'.
:
np/2 ""33 na-Oiu -ac NTJ;:N 'an
a^'oxn DN n-'ay nnx ""ab 'n x-n nnx
-bn^ia'j; z-/2 o -"a Ti-bz
^^iL'-n -/'NT
tt"i>a nrDLTi'i' -^?Ct
?
if
':>"
-
-.-
N
-PN -rasa
na
-'.a
-iao
w/2^ 1
Tin -Nb/2- nan- 'ND^
'/a
n
.
"a a
r,N"
.'/3
nrar^ pa 72
-
M
*
V
thus
"'"
U ^
D^/t iw
^ Q
J ^"-^
/
i
'
V
R. Hosa'ya
for
'-
f'/.T/
says
gen. Pal.
R.
Amora)
held that S e klna
Hosa'ya: whence do
we know
is
every- where;
that the
S e kina
3'3-
92
everywhere present? It is written (Nehem 9^): 'Thou, even
thou, art Lord alone: thou hast made heaven etc.'
Thy messenlike
the
men.
not
of
The
are
earthly
messengers
messengers
gers
of earthly men bring back their message to the place from which
they are sent out. But thy messengers bring back their message
As it is written
(report at) the place to which they were sent.
send
'Canst
thou
that
the)'" may go, and
lightnings,
(yob 3835)
It
unto
Here
we
are?'
is
not
written
'that they may
thee,
say
come (back) and say' but 'that they may go and say', which shows
is
v
S e klna
that the
is
v
And
everywhere present.
v
R. Isma'el also held
S e klna
is everywhere present; for there is a Baraiha from
the school of R. Isma'el [running as follows]: Whence do we know
v
that the
S e klna
is in every place?
From \Zech 23]: 'and, behold,
the angel that talked with me went forth and another angel went
out to meet him'. 'After hint' is not written here but 'to meet
v
that the
him
e
teaching that the S klna
,
Pesiq.
Pi-y-i
-p->y
ysp's
pirrjir
yp-,b
b =,n'on
GenR
1 b,
TI-
19
is
everywhere.
CantR on
13,
NN
--nrvo
5
J
D:D&* -prra
npbnsi -"PIIN N"jna ]VD
Tn
-i"3N
';b
.
TiTi yp-ib
O^D mSE'i
''b
.
N:P;D
~N
-2 JON
-rrr; r-'j-n-nn n:-zc
"pp N-JPI "EN-IP;
-pbrc:
Z^^OTID /nb n;bEr;
.'-b
-r,-
'
I
I
*
*" "*
t"
*"i
n
"i
r"i
r"u"p
"0
"i
y
^i*p
*rn
vo
.y-N3 Pir3^
Abba
>
'
r"i"j
n
"*"n'*i
'3'i'pi
^"i^ "7*2"
N
r^n
"Tt?
^yz;-n
.
.
.
n"7" "j"n
-
)
^"/o
nzro
i
-yo/3
a
Kah a na (yd
gen. Pal. Am., disciple of R. Yoh
e
said
to
reference
Gen
It
is
here
halnot
written
nan)
[with
3^];
left (walking) but mi'phallefc, in order to convey the sense: he was
R.
bar
m
about
to
ascend
(lit.:
leapt and ascended].
As
Originally
Man
S e klna was
V
S e klna
retired to the first heaven; with the sin of Qain it removed to
the second heaven, with that of the generation of Enos to the
among
the terrestrials.
soon as the First
sinned,
third, of the generation of the deluge to the fourth, of the generation of the confusion of tongues to the fifth, of the Sodomites
to
the
sixth,
of
Egypt
in the
time of
Abraham
to the seventh.
3'3.
93
Corresponding" to those [sinners] there arose seven righteous men:
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Levi, Qehath, Amram and Moses. -When
v
Abraham
he caused
arose,
it
[the
S e kTna]
descend to the sixth
to
heaven, Isaac, to the fifth, Jacob to the fourth, Levi to the third,
Qehath to the second, Amram to the first, [at last] Moses arose
and caused it to descend from above to below [i.e. to the terworld again, as in the beginning]
restrial
.
The wicked do not
.
.
cause the S e kina to dwell on the earth.
The
are
v
ideas of the descent and ascent of the
sinfulness
of men.
severance
from
The ascent of
the
Rabbinic
in
with those of the righteousness and
interwoven
inextricably
S e klna
Divine
the
S e klna
his
through
sin.
is
a
symbol of Man's
A
1
generation of
men, or the people of Israel, or individuals, enjoy communion with
2
the Deity in measure as they are good, pure, righteous and humble.
v
The
as
these
men
of
e
ascent and the descent of S klna are in such connexions
viewed as the ascent from and descent to earthly
Nature and Eternal Life. Thus, when ace. to
also
Celestial
V
dictum quoted above the S e klna ascends from on earth to
the first heaven with the sin of the first Adam, this is to be
put in relation to the wide-reaching speculations on the Celestial
Nature of the First Adam before his sin. These speculations
the
show
traces
a conception of the 'First
of
being the Celestial Original Man, in
many
Adam'
]lE\X"in
D~1X as
features resembling the
Thus Actam
conception of Adakas-Ziua of Mandasan literature.
ha-Rison is co-extensive with the whole world 3 possesses celestial
,
4
Splendour, Ziu, celestial Light, '<9ra
or Power (T^qcef)^
With Adam's
1
On
2
TB
this cf.
TB
TB
4
5
n"2pn
injn
strength
removed from
Abelson, Iminance of God in Rabbin. Lit. pp. 135
142.
ab 92 a, Ned. 38 a. For
S e Rtna dwelling with an indib,
vide TB Sota 3 b for ascending from an individual (Ester)
Hag- 12
GenR
GenR
]nDtP
-ins*
[celestial?]
sin these are
Qid. 70
vidual (or Israel)
vide
Megilla 15
3
,
and also
b,
l
adducing Ps 22
.
a.
12s.
21 4:
ppin
inn^m
-j^m n"2pn
bv
rw
iTW
TOD
insn
-]Wyi
JTO
r&h nDpnn nns
ID^
i^rm n^n D^i?b nsib
R Simon (3rd gen. Pal. Am.) opened [his discourse with reference to
'Thou made him strong for ever and he went (away); thou didst
countenance and send him away'. The strength (power) which the
the First Man was for ever, i.e. it was intended to be his eternal
Hiob 14 20 :]
change his
Holy gave
possession.
3'3-
94
him,
as
or,
Holy One
The
to
be preserved
taken
stated,
explicitly
up
the righteous in
v
for
heaven by the
the world to come.
to
descent and ascent of S e klna is here so promias to exclude any representation of the descent and ascent
idea
nent
of the
that
is
it
the
of
First
or
Celestial
Man.
Thus
it
is
interesting to notice
of salvation and eternal Life
attainment
the
is
viewed
v
e
marily from the point of view of the S klna's coming
pri-
down among
1
earthly men.
It
is
evident, that Jn 3
J
3
cannot primarily be directed against
v
e
the
of the descent and ascent of S klna.
conceptions
Jewish
It
e
true that Jn sees the S klna embodied in the Son of Man; the
conception of Jn could, no doubt, be expressed thus: there is no
e
Nedescent of the S kina except in the Son of Man: Jn 1 J 4, J 8
vertheless the formulation of Jn 3*3 shows that it is directed not
is
.
against
the theory of the descent of the Divine
among men, but
against some theory of an ascent or ascents into heaven. It was
shown above, that the theory thus rejected cannot be the conception of the Saviour-Messenger's or the Spirit's ascents into heaven
as contained in the salvation-mystery.
Hence there is only one
known
conception
can possibly be intended in the controthat assuming that certain especially gifted
had ascended or could ascend on high while still
versial utterance,
or
saintly
earth.
on
men
The
from
conjectured
contains two
that
viz.
particular bearing of the theory rejected can be
the context of Jn 3 : 3. The preceding context
ideas
connected
with
the ascent into heaven;
viz.
the vision of (or entrance into) the Kingdom of God, the highest
realm of the celestial world [3 3] and the knowledge of the Celestial
realities [ta
I2
ibroopavia; 3
j.
Now
the vision of the heavens,
especially the highest heaven, the Divine Abode, and the knowledge concerning Divine Secrets of Past, Present and Future derived
;is he abandoned the
knowledge of the Holy One and went after the
knowledge of the Serpent, then 'thou didst change his countenance and send him
18
away'. [The same view R Simon supports by a reference to Hiob 12 ].
As soon
Tank Hay. Bern. 20:
N D\s
^N-)^ 1 hi by
1
%
m
msm
nb.u ON
pub
v*
come, when
shall bring
S e RIna back to Sion then I shall
be revealed in
glory to all Israel and they shall then see me and live eterBcr 17 a, the righteous in the world to come will
nally,
Similary, ace. to
enjoy the splendour of &T:ina. which was taken away from the first generation
In the time to
my
TB
Cf.
3
En
d-G.
I
my
-
3*3ff.
95
therefrom, are precisely the central features of the ideas in Jewish
Apocalyptic and, at the time of Jn, also in some of the Merkabaecstatic circles.
The ideas of the former are too well-known to
need
special resume here.
mysticism, a distinction must be
any
Merkaba-experiences proper
and the popular
mysticism
With regard
to
the Merkaba-
made between the esoteric, or
which really were a salvationor coarsened theories about the
1
dwelling upon the external form of the Merkaba-traditions.
The controversial formulation of Jn 3 ! 3 would,
no doubt, best apply to the latter, coarser form. In this connexion
Merkaba-mysticism
such
also
those
of
typical representations of the ascent of the spirit as
the so-called Mithras-Liturgy and Corp. Henn. I must
be taken into consideration. 2 Further the utterance of Jn 3 3
must be put in relation 2 Cor 12 2 ~~4.
Before concluding the question on the controversial bearings
of Jn 3 3 it will be necessary to investigate into the positive
bearing of the passage. In view of the background for its teaching
!
:
suggested above, it is apparent, that the passage, in common
with preceding passages referring to the Son of Man, conveys the
This essentiality may here be
essentiality of the Son of Man.
expressed thus: There
is
no ascent into lieaven apart from the Son
of Man.
The
essentiality of the
The
Son of Man does
not,
however, imply
meaning of the passage, which seems
indeed to imply such exclusiveness, is impossible. The whole
context revolves on the idea of entrance into the Celestial World
and the subject is the question how a man can enter the Kingdom
of God, which is answered to the effect, that if a man be born
an exclusiveness.
literal
;
above, he enters the highest celestial realm, In relation to
context the intent of Jn 3 J 3 is simply to bring out the
essentiality of the Son of Man for mans generation from above :
from
the
there is no birth
from above apart from
the
Son of Man.
pp. 33
39, ctr. pp. 40 ff. The difference
marked, and, strangely enough, obtains down to
mediaeval times. The popular or coarse Merkaba speculations and trainings
revolve on the three themes of ecstasis, magic and abstruse revelations.
1
Cf. Abelson,
between the two
-
Jewish Mysticism,
is
These may be
very
said to be representative.
It is
of no avail to reproduce
again the various representations in Greek and Hellenistic literature and
Gnostic systems of the ascent of the spirit. For conspectuses of these representations reference may be made to Dieterich-Weinreich, Eine Mithras-Lithurgie*
here
pp.
170212, Lietzmann, Kounn. 2
G. P. Wetter,
SG
pp. 101
ff.
Cor, Exkurs. on 12 2ff Windisch, id., pp. 374
SAngus, Myst. R. and Chr. pp. 103, 107, 140.
,
ff.
S'Sff-
96
This
import, necessarily, brings with it the inclusive aspect:
enter the Kingdom of God without the Son of Man,
man can
no
with or in the Son of
but
Man
possible to ascend
it is
to
heaven.
2
keeping with Jn-ine thought, cf. 14 ~4,6, 23 e t c
At this point it will be possible to decide in what relation
T
2 ~ 4.
Jn 3 3 stands to 2 Cor 12
Although Jn, as will be further
dwelt upon later, does not seem at all to uphold any ecstatic
views with regard to the way of communion with the Divine, it
This idea
is
in
.
appear that Jn 3*3 cannot be controversially directed against
Cor 12 2 ~~4, since both have one essential idea in common, viz.
that the ascent to heaven is made in the Son of Man (Paul: in
will
2
the
Christ);
world
'a
is
man who can in
man in Christ' (ocSa
reality
whether
in
3
Jn
Rm
!
3
naturally
Paul says:
rj)
%apSic{, OOD
Xpwcov xaTayaystv
XpcaTOV
ev
k
also
ex,
'i\
ev
ex,
ve/.pcov
suaTsooc
o
f^
-
u?
TLC
x,ai
ev
Rm
in
.
.
Christ: Christ's
10 6ff and Eph. 4 6ff
-
-.
JTIOT=CO?
Six-aiooov/]
avap'/jaetat, sic TOV
ODTOO? Xeyei.
In
\)/f]
oopavdv; TODT' soitv
apoaaov; TODT' sativ
Xeyst; eyy6? aoo TO p^j^a eauv,
x,aTa[3"/]aeTaL el? r/]v
avayayeiv. aXXa
GOD
aTo^aTi
T(j>
'f\
Celestial
apTcayeVTa
clearly brought forth also
Sovaju? TOD XpiaTOD; Paul
.
[sTciff/^woaifl].
recalls
lO^ff-
ewqj?
is
heaven or on earth, moves
S e kina dwells with him
the
to
av6po>7rov sv XpiaTi]>
TOV TOIODTOV Iw? TpiTOD ot>pavo5).
This
by 2 Cor 129: tW. ejciay.Yjva)a^ STT' e|j,e
always,
v
ascend
T^J
tt
x,apto[.
aoo*
TODT'
I'CSTIV
TO p^{j,a r/jc
%Yjp6aoo|xev.
Here the
avajBaat? of an individual is midrashically connected
with the xaTdpaai? 1% TOD oopavou of Christ; the implication alluded
to as associated with the main intent of the passage is that an
avapaaic with the object of XptaTOV xmayayelv is no longer neces-
sary: although ascended, Christ is present with the man who carries
the belief in him in his heart, Christ's power dwells with him
(2 Cor 129). It may not be out of the way to compare with this
V
the predominance of the idea of the S e kina's descent over that of
man's ascent in certain Rabbinic conceptions. 1 With the latter
part of the Pauline passage the idea of Christ's descent to [and
ascent from] the world of the dead is touched upon (cf. I Pet 3 9f-).
J
For
a
this
referred to the discussion below or Jn 5 2 S.
introduces the terms of avapaotc YMI "/aTdfiaaic in
must be
Eph 4 7 ^
connexion nearer to the central ideas behind Jn S^: Evi ds
TJ[AWV sSdGr] y) /apt? xata TO [xetpov r/j? Scoped? TOD Xpia-cou.
c
(j)
1
Above page
97
XEfsi
Xcoaiav,
ou xai
x,ai
6
[quoting,
s'Stoxsv
3taTe(3Yj
dva{3d?
Ps 68
dvapd?
19]
si?
roi?
av6pa)7roi?.
Sonata
el? Td xauoTepa [J-spT] TYJ?
D<|;O?
TO
'{j;(
s
u
dvs(3y]
eaav
si
|J.YJ
77)?; 6 %ata(3d? aoio? ecruv
orcspdyco rcdvTtov TCOV oopavwv, Tva
7rXY]pa>a-(]
Trdvra.
trd
The first thesis here may be said to be that the reference in
Ps 68 19 to the dvdpaat? is an adumbration of the dvd{3aat? of
Christ.
The second thesis is identical with that of Jn 3 3: the
J
dvd(3aac? presupposes the xaTd(3aat? and both are properly applied
to the one man and son of God: Christ.
Thirdly, however, the
dvdpaoi? and
xatdpaot? of Christ are brought
connexion with
in
believers; the gift (Scoped) of Christ from above to the believers is that of their growing into him, becoming part of him,
thereby partaking also of his Life or very being. This is brought
the
out
16: [J-s)(pc %atavcYjaw{i,ev ot Tcdvcs? si? TYJV svor/jta
in vss.
13
TOD otou TOD 6soi>,. et^ av8pa teXstov,
%al
TctoTew?
TYJ?
TV)? sirtYvwosw?
si? [j.eTpov VjXrx,ia? TOD rcXTjpw^aTO? TOD XptaTOD
dXY]6s6oycs? SE
.
.
.
ao|>ya(0|jisv ec^ aotov td' TtdvTa og sattv ^ xs^aXvy, XpcThis, it will be ob<3Td?, s^ OD Trav TO au>|xa ooyap^oXoyoofXEyoy
sv a^y.Ttyi
.
.
.
served, is congenial with the interpretation of Jn 3 3 as including
in the oto? TOD dv6po)7coo also the believers. The simile is parallel
!
that
to
of Jn 15 ^-, conveying the same sense: vs. 5 syw sl[u
OD SovaaGs icocetv ooSsy.
6[xsi? td y.Xvj^aTa
5((opt? SJJ.OD
l
a[Jv7rsXo?
.
The bearing
.
fj
.
of this essential-inclusive import ofjn 3
'3
on the
preceding context may now be summed up as follows: no one has
ever entered or can ever enter the Kingdom of God, nor ascend
the highest realm of the celestial world, without being united
[through faith] with the Son of Man; but in order so to enter the
to
Kingdom
above
of
God one must become
from the
Divine Efflux
in
a new being: be born from
the spirit; this Divine Efflux,
Son of Man,
The teaching of Jn 3 T3 is hence
directed against the theories maintaining that wan earthly can
ascend to heaven without the Son of Man and obtain kiwiuledge
independently of him. The theory addressed is probably in the
first place Jewish to judge from
the context where the controThus Jn 3 3 seems to imply the rejection
versy is with a Jew.
of the traditions of ascensions into heaven made by the great saints,
patriarchs and prophets of old (dyapspYjXsv, has ascended), such as
Enoch, Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, and also of the views of
those who at the time maintained that they could ascend to heaven
the Celestial Life-generating outfloiv, is infused by the
who descended from heaven.
r
7
27451.
H.
Odcberg.
3'3ff.
98
and obtain knowledge of Divine Things and therefore had no need
of the Son of Man. It might not be deemed impossible, indeed
is highly probable, that Jewish opponents would argue against
it
tJie essentiality of the Son of Man by pointing to the traditions of
experiences of the patriarchs and prophets, just as they are
represented as pointing to them in other similar controversies (cf.
tJie
especially Jn 8).
The question
arises, however, whether the controversial position
J
3
the
3
ofjn
rejection altogether of the spiritual experiences
implies
of those saints of the Old Testament.
The answer will be that
such a rejection is not implied. The issue is with the theories of
opponents basing upon the said tradition, not with the celestial
1
The
character and experiences of the patriarchs and prophets.
the
those
be
formulated
to
effect
retort
to
would
Jn-ine
opponents
that even the saints and prophets could do nothing without the
Son of Man; if they ascended to heaven it was in the Son of Man,
in union and communion with him. This is indeed alluded to by
Jn 856ffT7]V
6
'A(3paa[.x
i;j//]v,
v.al
sldsv
7rar/]p
vtai
D|Jiwy
s^-P
7
]
^yaXXtdaa'co
^P^ 'Appaaix
wa
t'Sifl
r?]V
^[xspav
yeveo6ai iyco el[u.
The
rejection of current gnostic and similar representations of
ecstatic ascensions into heaven, was, on the other hand, no doubt,
unqualified, in so far as they
would imply the possibility of such
ascensions with the help of each their own ^etpayooyoc. It may be
suggested, however, that the conceptions here in view, were rather
those of the more popular, rude form, than, for instance, a represenof the kind found in Corp. Herm. IV reproduced above 2
tation
;
with the latter Jn really has very much in common; and his possible arguments against that kind of speculations take a different
form. The very best survey of the various forms of the popular,
rude notions to be considered is given by Wetter 3 and to that
,
survey must be referred here.
It has been shown that the import of Jn 3*3 is organically
connected with the preceding passage and that the same sphere
of ideas underlies the whole context. It will only be natural to
surmise that the same connexion of thought applies to the following
context. In particular, it may be suggested, this general sphere
of ideas must be brought in relation to 3 '4, 15 xal xaOo) Mooay/c;
Scjxoasv rov o^cv ev
1
o5ta)
acIxoOvyvac 8st zov ocov to6 av-
Cf.
Box, Apocalypse of Abraham, pp. 55
PP-
7375,
2
;!
~YJ epvjjju;),
<'/>
Herm.
Wetter, Sohn Gotlcs pp.
30, 32.
101
113.
I
ff.
Test,
of Abraham,
p. xviii.
3
tva ftas
M
f-
xtatsocov, sv
.6
question to be decided
is:
what
is
99
ix# a)>?v aEowov. The
primary connotation of the
at>t(j>
the
It is universally recognized that the D(J)to6fjVai has the double
the future elevations of Jesus on the
significance of referring to
cross
and his glorification; the elevation on the Cross being for
otjjcoO^vai.
him
the
so
can,
pathway
seems,
it
1
to his restoration to his pristine glory*.
There
be no doubt that the said double significance
applies to the passage. The primary significance, however, might
be arrived at by the application of the methodical rules hitherto
used for the Jn-ine dicta. Thus, it may be maintained, there is
here the
usual essential-inclusive connotation of the term
Man, and,
further, the ideas intended to
be conveyed are
in
Son of
keeping
with those of the context.
The
seen
inclusive
connotation
of the Son of
Man
here must be
the unity of the believers with Him, adequately described
Eph as a unity of body where the Son of Man is the Head.
in
by
Hence the
tHJjwSTjvat,
may be
referred not only, nor even primarily,
Son of Man to his pristine glory
to the future elevation of the
that
but to an experience or a
final stage
present with the Son of Man in relation to the
This experience, further, is connected with the TnateosLv,
in the
believers.
and
second or
the
is
happening
with the act of gazing upward, directing one's
perception on high, to the Son of Man, [through the
simile of the serpent of Nn 21.8,9]. The hypothesis then may be
this
again
[spiritual]
that the 6^co6r)vat, refers to a spiritual experience with
in which the Son of Man as united with him and
put
forth,
the
believer,
him, is elevated in the believer's experience, to his
so that the believer is saved, ascends, in aspiring
upwards, towards the 6a, the 'image' of the Celestial Son
abiding
in
gaze,
spiritual
ever
of
the
Man;
scribed
experience here intended
by Jn 644: oosic
Sovaroci
is
iX6siv
identical with that de-
rapid?
[is
sav
|j//j
6 raar/jp
eXxaa^ atkdv. But also the second or final stage is
inclusive for the Son of Man and his body: the believers; in this
sense the o<J)eo0Yjvat relates to the glorification of the Son of Man
6
Tcs^a?
jxe
through and after his death on the Cross.
in its 'final' sense, viz.,
JWr
348 and 398. Similarly Bauer, JEv, p. 53
des
uioDsOw.,]
(ist) einer der bei Jn beliebten doppel[der Begriff
die Erhohung zur Herrlichdeutigen Ausdriicke. Zunachst namlich besagt er
Daneben aber umfasst er auch jene Erhohung,
keit; d. h. in den Himmel
1
E. Carpenter,
p. 366, cf.
auch dieser
.
.
.
.
.
.
welche die Vorausset/.ung der Erhebung in den Himmel ist,
Kreuz 12 33 S 28
Cf. Loisy, Le quatricme Ei'angile- p. 166.
.
die
Erhohung ans
SH-
ioo
Correspondingly there is a final ascent of the believers, when they
definitely and in the complete sense of the expression will be
'born from above', 'have eternal Life' (3 J 4) this is expressed in
the passage adduced, Jn 644, by the words: %afw avaar/]aa> atkov
sv r(j safari;] Tjjxspcf..
Cf. below ad loc.
This interpretation is confirmed by Jn 123 2 xafob sav Dc{/o)6w
;
'
:
r/jc if/js, Travca? sAxoaco Trpo? s^aoTOV.
It is strange to note that the ideas and expressions occurring
in Jn 3 4 compared with those of the context and of 644 and 12 3 2
ex,
r
appear in almost identical form in Corp. Herm. IV 5 and lib
1
Here those who have partaken of the Divine Gift
quoted above.
to
the ucop of 35, cf. 4 10 and eStoxsv of 3 '6) are
(corresponding
said to lift themselves up as far as to the highest heaven or above
heaven [eaoTOog vifjcoaawtss] to behold the Good. The upward
2
path is found by gazing intently upon the likeness of God with
the eyes of one's heart; the likeness, then, will guide the aspirant
his way, the sight will take possession of him and draw him
on
upward
(aveAxei).
The
constitutive difference
is this,
that according to the basical
of Jn the likeness of God is contained only in the Son of
Man. No other object of vision can draw the perceiver upwards.
It is apparent, that, as Jn 3 4 naturally connects with 3 3 in
its essential-inclusive
use of the Son of Man, and thereby also
thesis
]
!
with the idea of birth from above, it no less links up with 15
and 1 4. The ideas meeting here are those of vision, aspiration,
and ascent. Those who perceive the glory of the Son of Man as
the glory of the only begotten of the Father, they are drawn upwards towards him in his celestial aspect; again, their upwardstending aspiration, their believing in him (3'5) is met by Him
through his conferring upon them the Divine Gift, the Divine
Efflux, which gives them power to become children of God (I 12 ),
1
!
to
be born into the spiritual world, to ascend to heaven, to enter
and behold the Kingdom of God. 3
1
P-
7S-
the teaching imparted by Hermes.
8
Cf. J. Kreyenbiihl, Evangeliiini der Wahriieit, p. 448 [independent of the
general research on the 4th Gospel]: Wenn der Mensch iTco'jpavux erkennen will,
so kann das nur dadurch geschehen, dass er selbst aus einem
ein
ii:r(s'.o::
wird.
Was 1st a her das hochste i-o'jpciv.ov im Sinne der Mystik und
i-o'jpoiv.o;
Gnosis anders, als das evige Leben, die Erlcenntnis des allein wahren Gottes
und des Gottesgesandten, der den wahren Gott verherrlicln und sein Werk voJl-
bracht
hat (17
3
).
Audi
dieser hochste Inhalt
himmlischer Erkenntnis kann von
&
proceeding to the further development in 3
the import of the organism of conceptions contained in 3
will be necessary to consider the question relating to the use
Before
l
]
2I
~
r
in
of
it
S
3 4
J
of the symbol of the serpent of NLI 2 8 9.
From Jewish point of view the 'serpent' could not possibly be
connected with the idea of salvation. The Rabbinic dicta on the
serpent, KTU,
show
that one
was much too preoccupied with the
speculations on the evil import of the serpent figuring in the story
of the Fall, Gen 3, to be able to use the word in any other
symbolical sense. The technical term for the Serpent of the Fall
is "OlDlpn
He is the symbol
71:, the Original [or First] Serpent.
of envy [he envied the first Man his glory: TB Sank 293], he in-
troduced unclean or evil oTtepjia into mankind [TB'Ab. Z. 22 b attr.
a
to R. Yolfnan], he 'broke down the fence of the world' (TB Td ni$
the serpent who first fell into sin and introworld \TB Sank 39 b], the serpent is the symbol
of the evil inclination, inn "ISP [Tank. Ber. j}. The passage adduced
by Billerbeck ad loc. is indeed representative of the general Rab-
8
it
a],
duced
was
in reality
evil into the
kill or
symbol. Did that serpent [of Nu 2
When Israel gazed
give life? [No, it is to be understood thus:]
upwards and subjected their hearts to their Father in heaven, then
l8
binic attitude to the
]
they were healed; if not, they perished*. (Cf. below.) That is to
to the Rabbinic interpreters the 'serpent' of Nu 2 s in itself
say,
had no symbolical meaning, the only import of the 'setting up' of
the serpent was to direct the eyes, and liearts, of the obedient
Israelites toivards heaven.
Also
Thus
Mandaitic the Serpent, hinid, is the symbol of evil.
e
l6
(Pet 313 ) speaks of hiuici rabbd d hn *Ur mara
in
GR XV 4
dem gewohnlichen
TOO
otov
3'j\j.fjo\ov
fleischlichen
Menschen nicht
erfasst
werden, sondern der
Wesen hinaus erhoht werden
Wie die von Mose erhohte Schlange fi'ir
dvOporco'j).
in dem die von Schlangen Gebissenen
3M--qpiv.~ war,
Mensch muss
iiber
dieses sein
(uicuO^vcc.
oeF
~6v
die Israeliten das
Heil
und Rettung
Heil und Rettung fur den Christen nur in der Erhebung iiber
den fleischlichen Menschen mit seinen Erfahrungen von Gericht, Tod, Verderben
fanden, so
liegt
Glauben an das ewige Leben. Der Mensch muss erhoht werden, damit er
in sich selbst den Glauben habe an das ewige Leben. Das
o'koOrjvtti
des Menschensohnes ist also dasselbe Bild wie das dvajBcavE'.v si; "ov oopavov,
13
T =
VV
wie das avioOsv
1 ), und wie die Jakobsleiter und das ixeiCd)
"lOv]va'. (3
Nur der in seinem Wesen himmlisch, geistig, gottlich gewor-ou-fov in 15o f.
dene Mensch versteht das Himmlische, Geistige, Gottliclie, und nur der iiber
seine irdische Daseinsform hinaus erhohte Mensch hat in sich selbst das Wesen
,/aim
als
Erhohter
-c
und Prinzip des neuen,
christlichen Geistes, das
ewige Leben.
O
IO2
'41-
d'/tasoka sunieh, the great serpent
the Darkness.
GR
(Cf.
III 86
">
whose name
88
is
Ur, the
Lord of
'7.)
stands the well-known use of the Serpent, o'tpts,
in the mysteries, and especially in Gnosticism, where the appropriation of the OT narrative of Nu 21 6 ~9 meant the application of
Against
this
mentioned there. Thus Hip-
allegorical interpretations to the K'HJ
speculations of the Ophitic sect, called
Peratse:
are the stars which bring
The gods of destruction
upon those coming into being the necessity of mutable generation.
polyt
the
reproduces
.
These
.
cause
(the
were
.
.
Moses
.
.
and
Sea
called the Serpents of the desert which bite
who think they have crossed the Red
to perish those
water of destruction).
... to
those sons of Israel
who
Moses displayed the true and perfect
those who believed on which were not bitten in the desert,
bitten
serpent,
Therefore
in
the
desert,
None then
can save and set free those
brought forth from the land of Egypt, that is, from the body and
from this world, save only the perfect serpent, the full of the full
He who hopes on this
[6 TsXsio?, 6 7rXv]pY]c TOW TtXvjpwy 001?].
is
not destroyed by the serpents of the desert, that is, by the
that
is,
by the Powers.
.
.
.
.
.
.
He it is who in the last days appeared in
gods of generation
Man's shape in the time of Herod
This ... is the saying 'And
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of
Man be lifted up' Jn 3 4. After his likeness was the brazen serpent
in the desert which Moses set up. The similitude of this alone is
always seen in the heaven in light. This ... is the mighty beginning about which it is written. About this ... is the saying: 'In
the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the
Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things
were made by Him and without Him nothing was. That which was
in Him was life' (Jn 1 ~4)
And if the eyes of any are blessed
he will see when he looks upward to heaven the fair image of the
serpent in the great summit (or beginning) of heaven turning about
and becoming the source of all movement of all present things.
And (the beholder) will know that without him there is nothing
framed of heavenly or of earthly things or of things below the
.
.
.
.
.
.
r
I
.
earth ...
those
In this ...
who can
see.
is
.
.
.
the great
Further,
in
wonder beheld
V
17:
in
the heavens
According
to
them
.
.
by
[the
the universe is Father, Son and Matter.
Of these three
one
contains
himself
within
boundless
every
powers. Now midway
between Matter and the Father sits the Son, the Word, the Serpent,
ever moving himself towards the immovable Father and towards
Peratse]
f
3'4
.
103
Matter (which itself is) moved. And sometimes he turns himself
towards the Father and. receives the powers in his own person,
and when he has thus received them he turns towards Matter;
and Matter being without quality and formless takes pattern from
the forms which the Son has taken as patterns from the Father
/;
0X7]
arcoto?
ooaa xai
/
aa)(7]|.Ld'aa cos
sxTOTTOUTat TOC? ISsa? arco roD
All things that are
otoo, a? 6 oio? arco TOD Trarpoc sroTctoacao]
here are therefore the Father's types and nothing else. For if
has strength enough to comprehend from the things
any one
.
.
.
.
.
here that he
and made
.
is
a type
from
the FatJier on higJi transferred hither
ivholly of one substance
into a body, ... lie becomes
Father who is in the heavens,
.
.
.
and returns thither. But
he does not light upon this doctrine, nor discover the necessity
of birth, like an abortion brought forth in a night, he perishes in
a night. Therefore
when the Saviour speaks of 'Your Father
who is in heaven' he means him from whom the Son takes the
types and transfers them hither. And when He says 'Your father
is a manslayer from the beginning' (Jn 844) he means the Ruler and
ivith
the
if
.
.
.
who receiving the types distributed by the
is a manslayer from the
children here.
Fashioner of Matter
Son has produced
Who
beginning because his work makes for corruption and death. None,
therefore, can be saved nor return (on Jiigh) save by the Son wJio
is the Serpent.
For as he brought from on high the Father's
so
he
types,
again carries up from here those of them who have
been awakened and have become types of the Father, transferring
them
thither
from here as hypostasized from the Unhypostatized
But he
This, ... is the saying 'I am the Door' (Jn 107).
transfers them ... to those, whose eyelids are closed (i.e. to the
One.
naptha draws everywhere the
magnet the iron but nothing else
celestial world), as the
or
rather
the perfect
as the
and
consubstantial race which has been
but nought else is again led from the
as it was sent dozvn here by him.^
^tvorld
fire to itself
.
.
.
made
Thus
.
.
.
the image
by the Serpent, just
has been necessary to quote Hippolyt's reproduction of the
of the Peratse at length, since the prominence of the symbol of the serpent in Ophitic gnosticism, within which the doctriIt
views
nes of the Peratse fall, has probably been suggestive for the attempts
read a typological use of the word 'serpent' for Saviour
to
Son of God, into Jn 3 4. But for the Ophitic representations nobody wuld probably have thought of connecting
F. Legge, Phil., pp. 154159.
Hippol., Refut. V 16, 17.
Logos
1
T
3'4.
104
3 4
with
Z
Jn
the
representations in the mysteries of the
1
When, e.g., ]. Grill finds in Jn 3 '4 a
various
of the 'serpent'.
function
typological allusion to (Dionysos-)Sabazios, on the ground that the
the cult of the 'holy serpent' has a central, significance in the
Phrygian
Sabazios-religion, and as a support of this compares
the
nal
Jn 3 4 as a means of obtaining eter2
with the initiation ceremonies of the Sabazior-mysteries
Iifting
life
up of Jesus
J
in
as realizing the regeneration, this, it may be allowed, is rather farfetched. The parallel lacks all significance unless it be assumed
that Jn 3 ! 4 implies a typological use of the serpent as the sym-
But precisely this assumption was to be demonthe other hand the said parallel Jacks the most pro-
of Saviour.
bol
On
strated.
minent feature of Jn 3
'4, viz. the elevation of the serpent.
of
the Peratre quoted above would, however,
speculation
be of importance for the decision of the present question, if it
could be demonstrated that there was an older, pre-Johannine,
The
stratum
of
traditions,
interpreting
Num
21
8,
9
and other O. T.
such a sense, that Jn could allude to those traditions
passages
in order to make clear what he intended by referring to the O.T.
in
passage
in
question.
there need scarcely be any doubt that most of the interpretations of the O. T. -passages given in the former part of the
Now
quotation above
18) are independent of Jn 3. Similarly
(p. 102 11. 10
that
the
certain
interpretations given later in the exposiquite
3
tion (above p. 102 11. 19 ff.) are dependent upon the Fourth Gospel.
is
it
Some
21
8 >9
cpyjaiv,
Num
uncertainty, however, adheres to the interpretation of
occurring in the earlier part (p. 102 1. 14) Aa7tvo[xevoi? oov
ev
rjj
TOV
ocpiv
lp7][U|)
tsXscov,
tote;
ov
el?
TopavjX sjrsSeiie Moooavjc; TOV aXvj
TuiareoovTs? 00% iSaxvovco sv
o'.otc;
01
The introduction here of the expres8ova[iecov.
sion el? ov TuateuovTs? recalling the rca? 6 Tuiateowv of Jn 3 T 4 would
tooTsauv
1
OTTO To>v
and p. 293.
Die bei der Einweihung in die
Sabaziosmysterien den Mysten durch den Sc/ioss gczogene goldene Scblange
vergegenwiirtigte den Akt der Vermiihlung des Gottes mit dem dabei als der
weibliche Teil vorgestellten Glaubigen und xugleich der Zeugung eines neuen
Menschen, eines gottverwandten Wesens im Mysten. Clem. Alex., Protrept.,
ii
16, 2, Finnic. Matern., De Error. Prof. Rel. 10, cf. H. Leisegang, Die Gnosis,
Untersuchungen,
2
Grill,
.
.
p.
ii,
pp. 218, 219, note 653,
Untersttchnngen,
ii
p.
219 note 653:
.
in,
3
quotation
of Jn 3.
ERE,
vol. xi, p. 406 v. Serpents in the mysteries.
14
but also by the
apparent not only from the quotation of Jn 3
of Jn 1 '~ 4 S 44 and the evident familiarity 'with the whole ideology
Hast.
This
is
,
3'4f-
dependence on
a
suggest
105
But then
Jn.
it
is
possible that the
wordings of the source used by Hippolyt might have been in1
fluenced by the later adaptations to the Jn-ine language even in
those parts which were, originally, pre-Johannine or pre-Christian.
And
it
not probable that the Gnostics in question, when trying
O.T. in the light of their doctrines, could have
is
to re-interpret the
by
passed
'serpent'.
Num
21^,9 or any passage containing the word BTu,
Hence it must be concluded that probably there existed
of pre-Johannine origin
of Num 21 8 9
true and perfect
reference to the
a Gnostic interpretation
reading in that passage
who was also
The typological
serpent
good and
of
Num
laaic
6
TIO,
8
the Mediator, the Son, the X6*fo<;.
use of the 6'<ps of Moses for the XOYO?, the
found
in
Philo's
in
the wellknown allegorical interpretation
Leg. Alleg. ii 20 79: K&Q oov -/iverai
TOO 7ra6oo?; orav irepo? osi? xaraaxsoaaG^ uj) r/jc; Eoa? evav(81) ov av ooy Sd/t'fl ctyi?, 7cac 6 iS&v atrcoy
ow^pooovY]? XOYOS
.
Ttavo
C"/]0Tai'
owet,
true, is
217,
.
a
la^oair]
aXYj6<o<r
xauSslv
.
.
say
yap
({JD^LXCOC
6
TO
vooc Syj^Osl?
"^Sovfl,
TO)
rij?
Eua?
aocppoaovrjc xaXXoc, TOV Moauasax;
TOVTOV tbv debv aviov, C'^oerar [j.6voy ISsTto xai xataNotable
are the parallel antitheses: the Serpent of Eve v.
yoTjaarco.
the Serpent of Moses, the TJOV/] v. awttpoGovv], the coporeal (awjj.a)
xc
&'<py,
v.
(Jta
the spiritual (VODC); Philo here
moves
in a
sphere of conceptions
quite different both from Jn and the Ophitic Gnosis; yet the similarity with the latter is striking, in so far as Philo sees in the
serpent of Moses a symbol of the Xoyo?.
Next attention must be called to the way in which Justin
makes a symbolical use of Num 21 8 >9. Thus we find in Justin,
/ Apol. 60 the following: Ev'"fap -cat? Mwoewg 'fpa<pat<; avcqsYpcMr3
1
sxetvo TOU xaipoo ore
oi>c /caT
e^XQov a.nb AIYDTTTOD 01 'lapar/XiTat,
%al YEYovaatv sy T^ ip7][X(|), aTryjyrvjoay aotolc to[3dXa 67)pta, zyioval re
%ai aa7ci<;, %ai 6'<pswy 71 av YSVOC, 5 sOavaToo toy Xaov %ai %ar'
TOU
xat.
xal
xai
and sees
of the Cross.
tion of
Num
T(7)
aoT(T)
in
TY|V
Trapa TOD 6soti YSVO^SVYJV, Xapsiv -cov Mwasa
oraopou, xai TOOTOV OTYyaat, ETCI. T^J aYta
TDTTOV
TTOLTjaat.
SITTSIV
iv
totally,
evspYstav
Xacj)'
'Eav
TrpoapXsTCTjTs
TCJ)
TDTTCI)
TOOT<|),
%at
Here Justin evades the word
Gco0"/]aa6s.
the object of vision set up by Moses a
Striking are Justin's insertion in the travested quota21 S of %ai TCIOTSU'/JTS (as in Jn 3 4 and in Hippolyt's
!
reproduction
speculations of the Peratse) and the use of
the term acoGvjasaGs (cf. Jn 3 '7 and Wisdom of Solomon 16 below).
of the
1
Cf.,
however, the similar introduction of
-la-eeysiv
by Justin below.
3M
ro6
In
21^,9
f
-
Dial 94, again, Justin maintains that the 'serpent' of Num
was a symbol of the Original Serpent, the Evil One, and
on the 'sign' [DJ OTJJIEIOV] (i.e. the 'pole', which to
was a cross) was to adumbrate the coming salvation
by
Him who was to suffer on that sign, the Cross
from the STJyhis
being put
Justin
(bitings)
|j.ata
evil
doings,
%ataXoiv
OD
of the
the
sins.
|isv
TTJV
the
Serpent,
7Jy(Aara TOD oipswc
being the
Moar/jpiov yap Sid. TODTOD
exvjpoaaE, Si'
Sovajuv TOD ocpecoc TOO %ai TYJV 7rapa(3aoiv OTTO
.
.
.
TOD 'ASajx yvea6at epyaaa[j.svoo sxvjpoaoe' awTYjpiav SE
BKl TODTOV TOV Sid TOD OY][XtOU TODTOD, TODTEGTl TOV OTttOpOUaOai
OCTTO
TWV SYjyfianov TOD otpsa)?, airsp elaiv ai %ax,ai Tcpa^si?,
To Justin, then, the serpent was
siScoXoXatpeiat, %ai ocXXat aSixiai.
Xovca,
no way a
in
TOTUOC
of the Saviour, but, on the contrary, of the
what Justin saw symbolised by the serpent set
up on the cross might be approximately expressed by Paul's word
in Gal 5 2 4; ol de TOD XpiaTOD 'lyjaou
ODV
TTJV oapxa sataupcoaav
evil
inclinations;
TOIC 7ca6'/j|iaoiv y.ai Taig
E7t'.6o[JL'lai<;.
In Dial. 112 Justin fiercely rejects the thought that the saving21 8 9 could be the serpent: It must be
object of vision in
Num
the
which
'sign',
refers
.
the crucified Jesus:
to
C
OCOTOV
ov
.
.
.
a^opXsrcovTec,
TOiaDTa
Oeoc
TYJV
oix;
apx^s
!
);
%a>t
OL
6
sawCovTO
asaoi)X,vai TOV
avetXs
6vd(Aau
8 ""
(Exod I?
?).
T/]aoo
Xaov
el?
TOTS,
Sid
%al ODTWC; dtppdvco?
SiSdaxaXoi D[iwv (the Jewish teachers)
ol
oo a6]x[3oXa; OD^!. Ss dvoiao[J,sv
TO a'/j|isiov, ITCSI %ai McoDa^g
i
vorjO'/jasTat.
27
Tlaa'iac [Boa (/j
<*>?
[j,y.'a.ipa.<;,
Ta
6
xar/jpaaaTO
apa
ocpt<;
cpaai,
%ai
ETC!
slxova TOD aTaopa)6svco? T/]ao5
TTJV
Sid r^g sxTdaetoc TCOV y^ipthv ODV T(7>
[/.<?.
Joshua],
%al
TOV
vixw.v
Xaov D|XWV
1
Justin puts his symbolical interpretation of
against a supposed literal interpretation from the
teachers, it may be observed here, that his interpretation
Now, although
Num 21^9
Jewish
save
the
for
reference to the crucified Christ
approaches
very nearly that of two so different Jewish sources as Wisdom of
Solomon on one hand and the official Misna on the other. Thus
Wisdom of Solomon
Gvjpicov
tsXoDC
ODJJ.OC,
E|j,ivev
1658
7]y(Aaaiy
-\\
6py/j
run s: %al -yap OTS aDTolc Seivo? ercvjXOsv
o^oXiwv Sistp'Q-eipovTO ofpswv, OD |J-)(pi
TS
GOD'
voDOsaiav ds Tupoc oXiyov
E!<;
Tapd)c8"/jaay,
%OVVSQ aa)Ti]Q{.aQ, EIC dvd(J-v"/]oiv avToXy)? VOJJ.OD GOD' 6 yap
ov due TO BECOQOV/LISVOV SOOJ^TO, a&ha due as, ibv ndv^oJ)>
sTctarpafpsic
iv TODT(J) Si sTrstoac TOD? E^QpoDc ^[Jtwv, OTI OD EI 6
xai
awxf]Qa.
ov[j,fiolov
/c
TcavTo?
x,a%OD
.
.
.
and
it
continues 16
I0
TOD? Ss DIOD?
3MfGOD
ooSe
lo(36Xwv
pax,dvutov
107
sviy.Y]oay
%al iaoaro auTOO? and 16
avu7rap7)Xx)'y
sftepdrceoasv
atkou?,
o
a/Uc<r
TO
oSovtsc,
I2
e/Uog
OTS poiav/] oiks
o navra
/lo'vog
xal Y<*p
:
dog,
oov
yao
y.opie.
Misna RhS
iii 8,
again, referring both to the power of the outhand of Moses and to the Serpent of Nuin 21 8 9
1
as Justin in Dial 112 cited above
says:
stretched
just
.
W
iE
"
"O"
NI'JJ""
"11
D"!
-> rr^'a IPI"
1
-
'
3
=
T.-
i
'And
it
";b
iTaib
nn^ 13-2 N^vD z^na vn
-:OIN
iT"
|
b
OT
vrrj;
rPTV,
I'tffcSD
"
-niN
nxii
came
to pass,
73 nTT, c:
.UJJM
n
prevailed \Exod 17 ].
made wars or ended
=
a^iUJD'a
v-
-nN
z" ^" r~ a:
"fb
--N
"-:'
-
1
when Moses held up his hand, that Israel
Does that mean that the hands of Moses
wars? No, the [scripture wants] to teach
that as soon as the Israelites direct their gaze on JiigJi [towards
Holy One] and make their heart subservient to their Father
you
the
who
is
in
they are victorious (strong) and
then
heaven,
if
not,
they succumb, just as with regard to the word that yon read [in
Ntim 21'8]: 'make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole' [DJ;
sign]; and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten,
when he looketh upon it, shall live, 'this does not mean that the
serpent
or
kills
makes
alive,
Father
who
is
in
but
and make
direct their gaze on high
that
time
every
that
Israel
their heart subservient to their
heaven, they are healed and
if
not,
they are
destroyed.
The well-known passage Barn. 125
7
in
adducing the second
'testimonies' in question has no objection in referring the
Serpent to Jesus. Just as the serpent of brass, although lifeless,
'dead', can make living those who are dead, if they 'believing
of the
hope' that he can do
can make living those
(Cf. Tertull.
1
Adv. Marc
The two
known, regarded
iii
so Jesus, who died on the Cross,
believe in and put his hope on him.
18.)
and their application to
belonging to the 'Testimonies'.
passages
as
so,
who
the
Cross are, as
is
well-
loS
SMf.
.
What
common
is
Num
of
tions
21
8 9
-
to
all
from
the adduced instances of interpretaof Solomon to Justin and the
Wisdom
Ophitic doctrine of the Peratse, including the Rabbinic Misna, is
the importance attached to the 'directing one's heart, one's gaze'
'beholding' 'believing' 'hoping', in general that attitude of the soul
which is perhaps best expressed by the later, untranslatable, Jewish
word iTO. (Cf. MJoh XIII quoted below om 3 l6 .)
It may be allowed to quote some instances of later Jewish
mystical symbolical uses of Nnm 21$>9, showing the peculiar developments of earlier speculations characteristic for that mysticism.
'Thus ZoJi. iii 165 a runs:
-m
2~
'n
'And
he
shall
it
looketh
come
upon it,
when he
'bs"
bTn
-,mx nx-n -r^sn ?D -*--
">"-
to pass, that every
shall live'. Why?
N
X"n~~
"piua"
one that
(= What
is
sov"
bitten,
does
it
when
mean?).
lifts up his eyes and sees the image of the
Only this:
one who bites (= the evil one, the evil inclination) then he fears
and prays before YHUH.
Mzdr. Jia-uNcB'^lain, parasa Hpn, end.
jN'ia"
n
The
n-
1
7/3-"o
^
.-ni
'o- ^Dribi
vx yam
'a"-'o
n
fri-sn
^1::" z"rp
'-D
rrr;-,
Nb^
CD ?
-in''^-
1
^
mystical connotation of the word (relating to) this brazen
is the mystery of the evil inclination, and the reason why
serpent
Moses our
one who
teacher, (on him be peace!), put
was bitten and looked on it lived,
that he
it
is
on a sign 1 and every
to convey a mystical
who makes
use of the evil inclination only so
2
far as is necessary for the preservation of his earthly life
he is
here symbolised by the 'looking' for he does not enjoy (or make
symbol,
viz.
,
use of) the evil inclination more than as a looking into (== a passing
1
Thus ^3
s usualh'
interpreted; not as 'pole'.
Already ace. to Rabbinic teachings the evil inclination is that which brings
about and sustains the life in this world: a man who has entered life earthly
must needs use the evil inclination in order merely to live and act in this
world.
2
^
3 4
r
visit
the world
into)
than
is
3
and he
,
f-
109
will live',
necessary
who enjoys more
but he
of
for the preservation
life,
he
will
not
live,
but
will die.
YR
iv
38 a
a
rrrr/or;
1
'o
,"p
rvnri -Tabb
~vy -jvo
-,a
n"apn
"O"N:P
'-"in
-ib-iaa;
y
i
'?-
irr.En
-p r\yy
"jri^
nwn
~-N 'n
-
rvinsn '-3 ntn
tvnn TT Emr; b^
tra
'And the Lord said unto Moses, make thee etc.' This is to give
a teaching with regard to the quickening of the dead from the
principle of a minori ad majus. When, with regard to the brazen
serpent, who symbolizes the (serpent's) throwing forth death, (it is
Lord made
said that) the
serpent, as it
is
(the Israelites) living through the brazen
written 'when he beheld the serpent of brass he
how much
lived',
the
more
(shall
time of) the quickening of the dead,
Cf.
IDT
Zohar Ber.
83,
N~n N!Di
"-rjir/a
wis
col.
i
n
YJtf,
N --
Lord make living
when all is life.
the
at the
Mai. no. 46
ran 2'-
nwa
-rnr:: rniro niro
-
"~N
The rod
and
of
Moses that was changed from a rod
versa
vice
refers
to
Metatron.
If Israel
an:
into a serpent
are worthy (pure,
he is a rod (= a support, a helper) corresponding to
on
the
Mercy
right side, if they are not worthy, he is a rod corto
responding
guilt (and judgement) [on the side] where is the
the
-),"1N "?X (other God), who lusts after the shedding of
serpent,
righteous)
blood.
Jn 844;
Cf.
TOO
The
too rcaTpo? TOD 8iaj36Xoo SOTS y.al rac
OsXets Trotelv: sxetvo? civOQcoTtoxrovog rp
ujxet? iv.
TcaTpo?
OIAWV
result of the investigation into the various interpretations
Nnni 21&>9 of the time may be summed up as follows: (i) there
were interpretations current which applied a typological sense to
the word 'serpent' as the symbol of the 'Saviour' or the Xd'fog,
other interpretations viewed the 'serpent' as well in Niim 21 as
(2)
elsewhere as the symbol of the evil, and the DJ or also the Divine
of
1
The
yat'povTSC,
sense
7.0.1
y.-</.-/p<i)uevo'..
ot
(i
is
approximately that of the Pauline:
d^nod^.w~s.^
Cor
7
30>3i
).
me
\i:r,
xa~iyov~E;,
y.w.
ot
"/
01
-/Kipov-s;
me
.r
(
CP4 i-
IIO
Word
from
the symbol of or as that which was to bring salvation
that evil, (3) a third cathegory of interpretations, especially
as
of Jewish origin, ignored the reference to the serpent and
emphasized the obedience to the Divine Word, or the faith and
those
aspiration towards God as the real object of symbolisation. Common
to all was, however, as has just been pointed out, the emphasis
8
put on the words (Num 21 >9) HNT! (!8o>v) or tO^m (skspXetjjey)
of 'gazing upzvards' and TP (C'/jasrat).
Further
notable, that the term 'gazing upwards', was early
associated with those of 'hopmg' and 'believing' and the word Life
(CWYJ) similarly connected with the idea of salvation (oomjpia); this
the
sense
prominent even
in the
especially
in
is
it
is
Peratse;
it
is
especially
pronouncedly Ophitic speculations of the
significant
that the Peratic reference to
Jn 3*4 evidently sees the central idea of that passage
in the great summit of heaven*
vision
of
1
whom
in
the beatific
Him
'without
nothing framed of heavenly or of earthly things or
of things below the earth', with explicit reference to Jn 13, this
vision being attainable only by those whose eyes are 'blessed'
((xaxdptot) 'who are able to see' (ot Sovajxevoi iSsiv), i, e. who are
there
is
capable of spiritual perception.
If Jn 3 T 4 be put in relation to what has thus been shown to
be the main tendencies of the current interpretations of
at
and,
the
same
time, in relation to the context,
Num
will
it
21^,9
appear
that also in Jn the aspects of 'believing' and 'life' occupy a central
position, and that 'life' also here is connected with the conception
The
of 'salvation'.
reference
to
the 'serpent'
falls
into a secon-
may be deemed significant that Jn 3 4 omits all
dary plane.
reference to the 'looking on the serpent' as a means of life conJ
It
tained in
aoT(]>
!)((]
IVum 21 8 >9, although the sentence
<OY]V
alomov
have required a
in
iva
TTC/.C;
6 Trioteotov ev
the latter half of the verse would seem
corresponding to the rcac; 6 ... iSwv
This omission would seem to sugcommon with the Jewish interpreters, rejects all
symbolical significance of the 'serpent of Moses' qua serpent. In
fact, the symbolical significance is transferred from the occic to
the D(|ja)6^vat; hence, it may be concluded, although the elevation
to
parallel
Nwn
aotov Coastal of
gest that Jn, in
1
question.
p.
150.
2
2
Thus framed on account of the genuine astrological basis of the section
Cf. Hippol. Refut V 15, 16 end, 17, and H. Leisegang, Die Gnosis
in
CE?
21^>9.
Ctr. Hippol. Ref.
SOXXVUV70 SV T/J
V
16
z-zirt&.fe
fi'JY.
|J7jlJ.<i>.
Mtooarjc TOV aXyjfAwv
ci'ipi.y,
sic,
8v 01 sia-eu-
in
3'4f-
paralleled with the elevation of the Son of
Man, the serpent itself is not paralleled with the Son of Man. The
result is: there are four central conceptions in Jn 3 T 4, 15
(i) the
the
of
is
serpent
:
the
(2)
0<JKj*8"?ivat,,
TUIOTSUSIV,
(3)
the
Car/]
alwvto?
= awr/jpia and
(4)
the
oloc TOD avGpwTrou.
There
it
is,
Num
of
use
however, another pointed omission in Jn's symbolical
22 8 9, viz. that of any reference to the DJ aTjjxelov;
.
known what an important
is
use of
Num
part the DD played in the Christian
as
22^,9
an adumbration of the Cross (cf. the above
quotations of Barn, and Justin, lApol. and Dial.}] this omission,
bearing all the marks of being intentional, would seem to convey
that the primary significance of the otpwG^vai should not be sought
in the otaopooOvJyai
At this point it will,
connected with
Num
however, be apparent what the
22^,9, ace.
to'
Jn 3
J
4, '5,
ocjjcofjyjva'.
positively signifies.
The adumbration found in Num 22 8 >9 is the connexion between
the vifjcodfjvcci and the TC'IGTLQ of believer's as consisting in a lifting'
up of their hearts on high.
Jn 3M,i5, thus, gives a hint of the
of spiritual experience, by wliich eternal life is to be found.
the quomodo of the birth into the world of the Spirit from the
way
It is
point of view of beginning spiritual aspiration and experience. It
also the quomodo of the ascent (avapaot?) into the spiritual
is
world, which is necessary for, or equivalent with, being born from
above. Hence Jn S I ^> 1 5 must be regarded as the natural continua-
of the whole preceding exposition. In 34 9 the subject is
the entrance into the spiritual world as conditioned by a real birth
of a spiritual organism through the spiritual generating power of
tion
Divine Efflux from above, in 3 10 J 3 the teaching is: no one
mediate this Divine Efflux except the Son of Man, who
descends from the spiritual world, and lives in the spiritual world 1
the
can
and no one can ascend without him;
to 3
this is really
an introduction
treating of the spiritual experience tending tovvards the
spiritual birth, the beginning ascent into heaven; and this spiritual
experience is described as an elevation of the Son of Man, scil.
T
4.
!
5
by earthly man, and a directing of man s spiritual gaffe towards
In him (sv aotx])),
lifted-up Son of Man by believing in him.
that
then, the believer attains eternal
life.
might be observed, that the three divisions in the exposiof 34ft- just pointed out, are each dominated by a peculiar
It
tion
1
TO)
ace. to this interpretation, the concluding words of vs. 13
are not contradictory with the rest of the vs.
Hence,
o'j/><zy<j),
o
<Y)v
sv
3H-
112
term of their own
Thus
for the spiritual life in the spiritual world.
division speaks of the (SaocXsta TOD 6soo with the epithet
'above' or 'on high', the second of the oopavds, the third of the
The intention is> no doubt, to lay stress on them as
CCOTJ alamo?:
the
first
same
the
referring
to
paoiXsia
too
spiritual reality.
with
6eoo
the
oopavd?
(in
The
identification of the
its
spiritual sense) is of
similar import as the -utterance in 18 >6 -q (SaoiXsia ^ l[j//j 067, SOTIV
vov
s
S~A TOO xdofxoo TOOTOO .
|3aotXsia TJ sjr/] OUT, soTtv VTeo6sv.
'q
.
The connexion of
of assigning the
a spiritual
It is
.
oopavdg with
final
in
life
CCOYJ
alamo? evidently has the object
to the oopavd?.
o>Y] alamo?
world of the (3aotXeia TOD 0soo
realisation of the
the spiritual
.The mediation of the eternal life to earthly man is
T(j) oDpavcj).
hence necessarily viewed all through under the aspects of descent and
ascent. The germ of eternal life must be given from above through
the Son of Man, and the attainment of the full realisation of this
eternal life is conditioned by the ascent of the Son of Man, by his
1
being lifted up in the experience of earthly man, believing in Him.
With this the significance of TC torso etv is also brought into
ev
It is
light.
man when
2
a spiritual attitude or faculty or activity that arises in
the Son of Man has been lifted up to his spiritual
It is to
sight.
of as
tained
in
it
be noticed that
Trioreoetv is not,
or not only, con-
the condition or cause of the 6^oo6"^vac, but
the object of the o^wOvjvai: iva jrct? 6 TtioTeooov.
ceived
is
con-
Again
suggested that fttoteoetv has an implication of upwardsaspiration, caused by the spiritual vision of the Son of
may be
tending
Man
lifted
aoTOV
s')co
up
TV a
ft
6
a?
There
6sa>pti>v
rov
otov
xai TtiaTsocov
el?
as has already been suggested,
to the experience of the earthly man,
CwvjV alwvtov).
the lifted up
something that
in
the
64
(cf.
is,
Son of Man
draws him upwards
to that Son of Man, and with
Son of Man ascending, ultimately makes the believer ascend
into heaven, into eternal Life: x.afto eav
iX'/tooo)
If
2
ftpoc e(iaoTov (Jn 12 3 ).
thus the primary connotation
&<|>a>Q&)
ex
TYJ? f?/s,
of 6(j(o6^vai in 3
Travra?
'4, 15
is
a
mystical one, in referring to the elevation of the Son of Man to the
spiritual vision of the believer, it must needs be emphasized that
this 'lifting up' is not
vision
still
less
an
merely a psychological experience, or an
intellectiial
process;
with ch
3
ecstatic
the notion that
the earthly mind, (the psychical processes), could see or know of
the world in which this lifting up is enacted, has definitely been
Das ewige
'
Cf.
-
Cf. Gyllenberg, Pistis
Lindblom,
ii
Leben,
p. 43.
p.
277.
3
The
i6
21
H3
belongs to the spiritual world, a world of
from the world of psycho-physical
altogether
mind
that
would
remain in the latter world, could
phenomena.
rejected.
oiJKoSYjvai.
different
realities
A
fact of the spiritual world,
never experience a single
receive the gift from above.
The
could not
must be
latent
but
nevertheless
in
which
there,
man,
perhaps,
something
the birth from above can be brought about. This elusive something
ILaTaoaac. is the first step on
is hinted at by the word 'juoTsoeiv'.
the Jacob's-ladder between heaven and earth. With the VicrcEoeiv'
man has, in reality, stepped out from the erciysta into the ercoopavta
as descended in the Son of Man. But this is, at the same time, the
beginning of the ascent in the Spirit, where man is drawn upwards
conclusion
is
that there
in
towards the ever ascending, the continually elevated Son of Man.
And this ascent is not an ascent in ecstatic vision but a real ascent,
the ultimate goal of which is the final glorification of the Son of Man,
and in him, of the believer. Here the inclusive connotation of the
Son of Man
relation
in
to
the
believers
most emphatically
is
brought out.
the other aspect of this inclusiveness
In vs. 16
is
expressed,
that relating to the Father, ootcog yap vjyownyasv 6 -O-sos tov
The Father
XOOJAOV, aJars tov otov [aotoO] -cov jjiovoysv^ eScoxsv.
viz.
gave
his
that
the
Gift, to
Whereas it has been intimated before
Son of Man brings down the Divine Efflux, the Divine
earthly man, it is here enunciated that the Son himself is
son to the world.
the Divine Gift.
this also a third aspect
By
Son comprises
world
in
all
that
of inclusiveness
sent
is
introduced.
The
down from
the highest spiritual
that he can be identified with it.
It is
is
such a manner
is one
of the central doctrines of Jn, and that
aspect sees one of the fundamental laws of the spiritual
which that world essentially differs from the terrestrial
evident that this
Jn in this
world, in
world.
Whereas the
terrestrial
world appears as a world of differen-
of things existing by the side of each other,
the spiritual world on the other hand is a world of all-inclusiveness
tiation, of separation,
of realities existing in each other, penetrating each other, mutually
The essential mark of membership of the spiritual,
identical.
Divine world,
word
606^
'unity '.
%!
(635,4s),
8
27451.
7)
is, from this point of view, to be expressed by the
Typical illustrations of this teaching are: iycb sl|j.c yj
aXv]0sta y.ai
IYCO
situ 6
H. Odcberg.
YJ
w7]
(Jn
14
aptoc 6 y.arajBa?
6
),
ix,
syw
e'.ju
6
aptoc
r/jg
TOO oopavoo (64'), i^co
Ciov)?
sl|j.c
TOD oopavoo xatajSag (65 1 ), iyeb xai 6 rcar/jp iv
a wcnv iv x,avhb<; Tj^eE? (17 u ), iva TtavTs? ev watv,
Gfj.V (103), Iv
iva xai aoTol ev'Yj|UV [iv]
/.cc&cog ov, ndreQ, sv s{.iol xaycb sv ooi,
xai 7jyd7UY]aa<;
coaiv, tVa o xo'o'/.iog Ttiarevarj, on ov (.is ciTtsaTEihag
6
6
apro?
aoTOoc
a>v
y-aftax;
6
ex,
s^e YjyaTCYjaa? (17
2I
.
~2
.
.
3).
remains to point out that just as the
spiritual organism is a
want of a more exact word)
sense, the spiritual world itself is not thought of. as something
beyond space and time; it must be admitted that the spiritual
It
real organism, in a quasi-physical (in the
manifested in some kind of space, allowing
of spatial terms in a literal sense. The ascent
even within the spiritual world, is a real ascent. The
world, ace. to Jn,
the application to
is
it
of the spirit,
difference between
in spiritual space and in earthly
be
characterised
by the universal unity and allprobably
space
inclusiveness referred to above. This will account for the seemingly
contradictory views e. g. of the relation between the descended Son
of Man and his spiritual home, his abode with His Father, perhaps
most strikingly illustrated by a comparison of 14 10 with 14 !2 (. eytb
existence
to
is
.
.
xai 6 Trar/jp sv ijioi iauv
6 Ss
T([) fcatp!
[xol (j.svwv
7uar?jp 6 sv
T
v.
TOV
Tcoist
aoTos
syd)
s'pya
Tcatspa Tropsoo^oa,) or by 3 3
Tupo?
the last part is original
if, as is probable,
ooSsic avapspYjxev
el? toy oupavov el jj/?j 6 ex, TOO oupavou /caTapa?, 6 oto? TOO av-O-pwicoo,
sv
.
.
.
]
6
cov
ev TO)
oopavcj).
The
12
'journey to the Father' (14 ), the ascent
and descent, are evidently intended to be taken quite realistically,
and not as figures of speech. And yet, it is implied, there is
no separation between the Father and the Son. The spiritual
space is an extension without separation; and the centre of that
space is the Father's abode, a centre which from every other
point, if such a description may be allowed, is perceived or felt
as being 'the above', the avto, ETrdvw TrdvTWV.
Whereas the preceding has thus strongly
emphasized the
reality (or substantiality) of the spiritual world, the last section of
the discourse (Jn 3 r 21 ) turns to the constitutive attributes of the
~
world and the Divine Gift, contrasting it with the qualities
and characteristics of the terrestrial world. The attributes of the
spiritual world, the World of the Father, are expressed by the
conceptions of Love and Light. The Divine Gift is a gift emanating
spiritual
from the Father out of
his love for the world.
Love
is
the essence
Thirdly, Love is the constitutive quality of the
Eternal Life, conferred by the Divine Gift.
of that
gift itself.
3i6
Some
illustrations for
2i
II5
comparison with
vs.
S
1
^
may be adduced
here.
In Rabbinical Literature the nearest
approach to the doctrine
perhaps to be found in
the words of Gen 13
'and
of God's love of the world as a whole
GenR.
upon
had made, and, behold,
where, commenting
04,
God saw every
thing that he
is
1
it
was very
two contemporary Palestinian ist generation Amoras
1
and R. Yonahan ben '^El'azar are reported
as picturing" God's concern for his world in similar words:
good', the
RR. FPnina bar Kama
nmm
nrux nap yvbz n::tt' -fifth bvft HEN n"2m
]n rvbvnw DBO ny to ^zb ]r\ nbyft
vsb ]n n^uni? CBG ny to ^sb ]n nfe Nnn ^"6n tobiy ^iy
\s*i^n
-ICN* ib
pzsbs
n"2pn ICN ID n r\yw2 i&b
i
n nviys
H anina
R.
Kama
bar
said: It
looked at
may be
and
likened unto a king
who
pleased him; he said:
that you might always obtain favour before
me (= please me) as you obtain favour before me in this hour;
so the Holy One, blessed be He, said to his world: O my world!
palace; he
'Palace! Palace! O
a
built
it,
it
would that thou mayest always obtain favour before
me in this hour.
(R. Yonahas the same dictum attached to another similitude.) The
my
world!
me
as thou obtainest favour before
[3an
idea
underlying
world,
could
that
is
and wishes that
always
Holy One loves his newly created
would remain in such a state, that it
the
it
The
favour in his sight.
find
with man's sin the whole world
implication
is
that
Yet it always remains
The world in such sayings
his world, the object of his concern.
as that quoted is the world as planned and created by the Holy
One, and the attention is fixed on the human element in it: it
is
defiled.
equivalent with 'the human world'.
that almost without exception,
almost
be
is
remembered
obw
,DblVn, [6 %do|i.oc],
sense
is
It
should
when
also
the terms
2
alone, or i^biy Sftbw ,"]ftbw, are used, the
The world is then pictured as
the one just mentioned.
and fallen, no doubt, like a way-ward
or
accounted essentially evil, nor viewed
child, yet
rejected
It is the world of imperas the antithesis of the Holiness of God.
God's possession,
sinful
not
fection, of blindness, that will
1
Some
texts
have
'R.
some time become
Hania bar Hanina',
i.e.
perfect, the
the son of R.
worthy
Hanina bar
Mama.
2
jfVpi'y,
Cf.
SH
4 Ev. p. 46:
den Paliistinensern stabil.
Schlatter,
\vird bei
...die Forvnel: seine (Gottes) Welt,
316-21
ii6
abode of the S e fclna.
The relation of the Holy One to 'his world'
we know, never expressed by the term 'love' (rcn.rcnx).
as far as
is,
The
may be
following
cited as characteristic expressions of this
relationship:
GcnR
12
vEn
Thus
D^rnn meD Dbiyn P,N yx sms DX n"zpn -JDX
x~n:s "ox nn x^x "ns6 biD D^iyn "jxn pn
~p
k
HIED mix
pn
Ezn
15:
""in
1
Holy One:
said the
If I create the
world
in (by)
the attri-
bute
of mercy [alone], their sins will be exceedingly great]; [if]
the attribute of justice [alone], how shall the world be able
by
to subsist?
and
by
subsist*,
not save
it.
one
No, behold,
will
create
it
attribute of justice
by the
attribute
i.e.
it
I
of mercy together, and I will that it may
not become so corrupt that even God's mercy can-
the
from the destruction which his Justice must decree on
The Divine attitude toivard the world is
of Mercy and will to see it saved.
God's attitude towards man qua man
thus characterized as
1
term
of love
the wellknovvn dictum
in
is
'
by R.
expressed by the
A
qiba recorded in
Pirqe, 'Abofi 821:
2
cA
He
(R.
X12^ DIN
used to say, Beloved
qi'ba)
is
man
2'2n
Cant. 63).
[God]', ref. to
The
the term
nViy.
inherent evil aspect of the 'world'
mn
D^li/'Cn]
(=
is
usually attached to
in contrast to
6 %OO(AO? ODTOC), especially
future world). To this term can be applied, with
the features that are maintained by Bauer 2 as
(the
exactitude,
equal
1
Ct".
and '/^S
2
dicta relating to
e.g. in the sequel to
Sifre, 60 d GenR 822
says to the nations of the world: 'you have no part in him
(Israel
Nun
/TD Xin
[by God], that he
was created in [his] image.
With this may be contrasted the frequent
God's love for Israel or for the righteous,
the dictum just quoted from Pirqe, 'Abof. Cf.
nlX
J.
however, the benedictions
rabba.
Ev?
p.
als die Finsternis
Spha're.
Er hat
(I
.
in the liturgy referred to as 'a/tafia p f d/a//t'
Elbogen, Jiid. Gottcsdienst" p. 20) TB tier 11 b.
18:
Er (the /.r/yy.rj-} erscheint als der' Gegensatz xu Gott
.
.
.
das Gottfeindliche, die ganx und gar vom Satan beherrschte
weder Verstandnis fur den Logos (substitute: 'God' or 'the
.
.
ja
noch Sympatliie fur seine Anhanger. Vielmehr hasst er alles, was
von seiner Art ist und wird deshalb ausdriicklich vom Kreise derer ausFiir die abscliatzigc Beweriimg ffcs Kosgesclilossen, fur die Christus bittet.
Sejuna'),
nicht
3*6-21
117
specially characteristic for the Jn-ine conception of 6 xdojioe (OOTOC;).
Jn-ine 6 xda[j,o<; ooro? is no doubt the literal translation of
The
Hebrew nin
Hence there
(Aramic: N?:6y \sn or ]"H Nft^y).
i.s
no greater difficulty in the seemingly contradictory conceptions
The
of the world e.g. in Jn 3 l6 7 compared with 8 2 3 or 12 3
the
1
D^ll?
>
variant
use
1
!
.
term
of the
'world'
is
corresponding
Rabbinic ic'piy, God's created world, compared with nin
as the very antithesis to the Divine world.
found
DblJ/
in
the
viewed
The nearest parallels in Hermetic writings to the ideas of the
Jn-ine passage under discussion are perhaps best summed up in
the following references:
Herm 1 12 (ace. to Scott) 6 de Tuavtcov rcar/jp vouc;,
xal
ctoc;,
CWYJ
7rez6v]aey avftpwrcov aoTtj) b'jiotov. 06 7)79.067] we
TOD Tratpoc sl"/.dva s^wy. er/.drioc;
iStoo TOXOD' Trspr/caXXvjs
vjv, r/]V
xai TrapsSwxsy auT(7) Travta
6
iSiac
'fteos
apa
(J-op^Tjc'
YjYaovh] r/jc;
Corp
(i)
6
coy
Yp
But NOD? the Father of all, lie who is Life
Sy][JLioopYV]|iaTa
and Light, gave birth to a Man, a Being like to Himself. And
He took delight in Man, as being His own offspring; for Man
was very goodly to look on, bearing the likeness of his Father.
With good reason then did God take delight in Man; for it was
God's own form that God took delight in: And God delivered
over to Man all things that had been made.
The reference is
here to the First, Celestial Man. The passage is strikingly similar
T
rA
dictum in Pirqe 'Abofi quoted above. To show its
l6 we must refer to the
on
the
bearing
conceptions of Jn 3
sequel
of Corp Herm I.
The Celestial Man descends into the physical world, the (puoc?; from his 'marriage' with coats, i.e. his entrance into the physical world, seven terrestrial men are brought
forth, i.e. as physical organisms, from whom, subsequently, the
human terrestial beings are generated. Earthly man may, however, have something of the Celestial Noo? in him; to him the
Divine message is delivered:
And let the man that has you?
in him recognize that he is immortal, and that the cause of death
is carnal desire.
And he who has recognized himself enters into
to
qiba's
nios ist es beseiclmend, dass er ,,diese"
anderen
as if the Rabbinical
tritt*,
On
never existed!
1
0i<uv
sent,
sense,
6
xdaiAo;
rrj--):,.
as
is
as
o cxiYuv 6
heisst itnd so in Gegeusats sit einer
world' in a technical sense had
'this
references vide below on 9 23
c/'j-co;
It
well
Welt
term
to
that
is
be
of
af/J.iuv is
indeed a
more
noticed, that in
c'/div,
= x^^
literal
nin
.
translation than the synoptic o
is preQhiy the sense of
and frequently the cinpliasis
v.o3j).o;
is
on the former
nS
316-21
the Good.
(xal ava.YywpioaTto 6 svvou? avS-pwTioc iaotov 6Vca a^-a6 Ss avayvwpiaas
TOV al'uov TOO 'fraya/coo spco-ca ovta.
xal
yatov,
ayaftov yoopsi. 6w^> Henn I 18.) The question 'Why
he who has recognized himself enters into the Good?'
is answered thus: 'It is because the Father of all consists of Light
and Life and from him Man has sprung... If then, being made
saoToy
is
sig TO
that
it
of Life and Light, you learn
you will go back
6
ar/jxsv
rcar/jp
into Life
TWV
to
and
know
Liglit
.
that yon are made of them,
f
'0u ex CWTOC xal C(J>TJ<; aovs(
si oo ysyovsy 6 av^pcoTroc
oXcov,
.
.
.
iav ooy ex
on sx toorooy TOYXVtc, si? CWTJV
CWYJ<;
[idO-flc
(payee?
I 21.)
The Saviour, coming
xai (pw? TtdX'.v )(cop7]a:c.
Hcrui
^Tw/
from the Father, the Nou?, and also called Noug, relates of his
xal
saoTOV
coy,
function thus: '/, even Novg, come to tliose men zv/w are Jioly and
good and pure and merciful; and my coming is a succour to them,
and forthwith they recognize all things, and win the Father's
by loving worship, and give thanks
hymning him with hearts uplifted to him in
grace
(j,oai,
xal
Herm.
6
syob
Yivo[j,ac
'//
I
you?
to him, praising
affection'
and
filial
TO!? oatoic xal ayaftolc xai xa-8-apoi? xal s
Tuapooata |J,oo yiyerai aotol? po^fl'Sia, xal eu-O-uc ra
xal TOV Tcarspa iXaaxovtat aYaTcrjuxwc, xal eo^a
xal OIXVOOVTSC, TeraYj-i^voi Trpoc auToy Tfj OTOpY"fl-
22).
The conception of the supreme God as taking delight in the
archetypal man is, of course, really identical with that of God as
loving mankind, since the archetypal man includes in himself the
whole human world; similarly I 22 implies a volition on the part
of the Supreme God towards the salvation of the spiritual (noetical)
man; it is, however, apparent, that the idea of 'love' does not
any constitutive role. On the other hand, the prominence
given to the conceptions of Life and Light, and also of truth,
in
play
forms an actual parallel to Jn 3'6
The most noteworthy
21
.
however, that referring to the
attainment of Life and Light, and the
This inception is
inception of spiritual existence in earthly life.
caused by the entrance into the worthy of the succouring NOD?, the
counterpart to a certain degree of the Celestial Power-Messenger
relation
in
between the
ayaYVCoptCsty)
is,
full
Mandaean mysticism.
(YVWpiCs'.v,
parallel
they are awakened to recognize
The real entrance
origin.
Spirit's ascent, does not take place,
By
their
this
celestial
Life and Light, the
would seem, until after the death of the physical body (I 24 ff.),
yet it is begun already by the said recognition; a new life is
into
it
21
316
II9
is viewed under the aspect of aspiration, of motion
which the attainment of 'Life and Light' is somehow
Now, by the speaker in Corp. Herm. I 26 this stage is
attained which
upwards,
in
inherent.
expressed by the words:
The
16
maxsva)
xai.
si? C<o7]y %al
ore,
[AocpTDpco
here follows, not on thinking, but on an
)(wpa).
inner experience: it is itself directed towards the Life and the Light;
one might perhaps say that marsoeiy itself is a motion towards the
final goal, it is a spiritual force which makes itself felt as a realiza<(i>c;
Triareosiv
of the Life and Light inherent in that experience, and as a
aspiration towards a future complete possession of that
tion
confident
same Life and Light. A similar connotation adheres to TciaTSDsiv
in Corp. Herm. IV 4, quoted above p. 74,
believing that you shall
ascend ...
In Corp. Herm. IX 10, again, TCIOTSOSIV seems to refer
an intellectual process.
(2) God's relation to the xda^oc; is variously described in the
Hermetica. Ace. to Corp. Herm. VIII 7tdo{io? is the second God
to
(SsDTEpoc; ftsoc); v.6^[w<;
has been made, and
is
maintained
in
being,
God; God is called the Father of the %do{xoc, since
by
it
has been made by God in his image* ("//re ei/tova auroa oic'
atWoD Ysvdjxevoc); man has been made in the image of the Kosmos,
the
first
1
and feels himself to be a part of the xdaixoc, but he also apprethe first God.
In his account of the relahends
by eyyoia
tion between God and the Kosmos the writer is dependent on the
Timcens of Plato. x Special attention may be called to the passage
ace. to which the Father, having generated the %do|ioc, took
2
Ace. to Corp. Herm. VI 2 b the Kosmos is good,
delight in it.
in that
it
makes
things*, (being the
all
God
organisms*, whereas
vidual
3
things*
but
),
in
all
other
proximate maker of indisupreme Maker of all
is
the
aspects
the
Kosmos
is
not
good.
the Kosmos is not-good, as being
Corp. Herm. X 12,
to
it
is not-evil, as being immortal*, and
but
movement;
subject
There are these three then,
ib 14:
God, Kosmos, Man. The
Kosmos is contained by God, and man is contained by the Kosmos.
Ace. to
The Kosmos
is
6
%al
s
oD|j/rca
fjVtojJ.syoc
1
-
*x,da[j.o?
Philo,
3
ODTOC,
%al
W. Scott, Hermetica
W. Scott,
37
DC Ebr where oos o
\\'.
Scott,
cc.
ii
^r.
f.
ii
is
son of the Kosmos, and grand-
Corp. Herm. XII
God.
sxeiy(j),
//;.
man
son of God;
son, so to speak, of
6
(isifac
acbCtoy
TYJV
-frsc'?,
15, again,
xai.
TOD
iaov %ara
enunciates:
[isiCovoc;
siv.coy,
pooXyjaiy
TYJV
TOD
189.
Plato,
xoaiioc
O. pp. 175
f.
Timcens 37 C.
is
Wellknown
called o U.OVQ; xai
is
c/.','a-r -fjc
(
the passage in
ai39r To; aloe.
(
120
l
- 21
which is
eati rqq CWYJC;,
This whole Kosmos
is
united
and
and
an
of
him
who
is
god,
image
greater,
with Him, and maintains its order in accordance with the Father's
is fulness
of life,
There is not, and has never been,
will,
and never will be in the Kosmos anything that is dead. For it
was the Father's will that the Kosmos, as long as it exist, should
be a living being; and therefore it must needs be a god also.
(3) The expression 'God loves is applied to TO xaXdv and TO
TtaTpdc,
7tX'/]pco[j,d
a great
the pronouncedly Platonic Libellns
in
(rfaftdy
VI
(wv aoTOc; 6 {hoc; ipcj
Love
(4)
XVIII i4b:
Henn.
of Corp.
4).
as a celestial principle occurs in Corp. Herm.
souv ooy iv.stas Tipoc; dXXv]XoDc; Staxopd, ooz e'cm
(sptog)
ODX,
(
TO
VI
aXXa
sxstas,
aXXoTrpdoaXXoy
TrdvTSc;
iv
(epovouai,
[ua oe
atkwy
TtpoYywoic, etc; aoTOic; VOD? (6 7rar/jp), [ua alatbjatc;
TO
6
aoTog, jxtay s
jiEV/3'
["(dp] el? aXX"/]Xoo<; cpiXtpoy spw?
St'
apjioviay Twy urdycoiv.
be
may
It
Hermetic writings,
found
Libellus
in
(Reitz.)
nearest parallels, within the
J 6~ 21
are
thoughts contained in Jn 3
which we have here ventured to assume is the
I,
the
the
to
earliest part of Corp.
The
that
suggested
Herm}-
greater part of these parallels are closely related to Rab-
conceptions quoted above. Only one important expression
remains, which probably does not go back on Jewish teachings, viz.
I 32,
16 TTIOTSDW
The connotation of TTCGTSOECV ana/tai [j.apTDpw.
binic
lysed above
Jn S^. ^
1
evidently almost congruent with that of 7riaTeDt.v in
Suggestive, again, is the Juxtaposition of jxapTOpelv,
is
18.
also an important term in Johannine language.
Apart from |j,apon J,
of
the
Father's
used
of
the
of
and
J,
Topslv
[j,apiupia
[Aapiropia
it is used in a technical sense of a
the
Divine
testimony concerning
power of
This
J,
emanating from a personal experience of that power.
sense can be recognized already in the testimony
technical
1
by the people
OTS
Toy
in
AaCaov
Jn 12
J
7.
J
efcbvTaey
sjxaptupet oov 6 o'/Xoc 6 wv
i% TOD iy7i,eioo %at "/ecey
8;
[Aer"
autoD
aorov s%
1
This Libellus is very closely related to Rabbinic conceptions, especially
those of the Palestinian Gen R. The notions of the bisexual "AvD'pojTco? (Adam),
the archetypal man, as a Celestial Being possessing Life and Light, the obscuring
of the conception of the descent of the Spirit (mentioned I 14 in the form of
the marriage of the Celestial Man with Nature, resembling the Jewish mystical
2
as referring to the entrance of the Celestial into mere
interpretation of Gen 6
the stress being laid on the ascent (1 24 ff.) resemble the RabCf. the
Philonic) speculations on the First Man, "W/// hu-riSon.
characterization of the doctrine of Corp. /given by Scott (Hermctica ii pp. 7, 8).
physical beings),
binic
(and
3
is
Topia
the fact,
not a
that
121
/tat.
O7cyjvr/|osv
aouj) 6 o^Aog.
J a God-sent man, a prophet, who possessed a Divine
had obtained an experience of the higher life inherent
in
recognized
21
The people's |J.ap7
V
but
a testimony to
mere 'bearing record' (A. .),
and
through this ar^siov
they had seen a o7j|Jieioy,
Sid TOUTO
ysxptby.
i6
power. They
even if that experience was a very superficial one.
in J,
the
Similarly
testimony refers to the Divine-spiritual ooaia of J:
as the Light (who has come into the world) 1 8 >9, as the one who
* on whom the
Spirit
sjATrpooQ-ev ]j,ou ysyovev cm Tipwroc jxoo r/v I
Baptist's
1
13 2
descended
mony
who
,
thus
is
the son of
is
characterized:
God
The
134.
[j,s[j,apr6pY]Xv
T(J
Baptist's testiThe
cdyd'sicc 535.
same
significance attaches to the testimony which the disciples,
ace. to 15 2 6> 2 7 will be able to give in conjunction with the testimony of the Spirit of truth. Exactly identical language is used
by
I
Jn:
sv
t>|xiv
-/j[uv
y.a!
ecpaveQtod-i],
co?)
-q
TTJV
(i
er
Jn
roi
both
1
Coovjy
I 2
)
s<opd>ia|i,sy
%al
|j,apTopoo[Asv
/tat,
alamov, VJTIC v/v Trpo? Toy rcaTepa /tai
T&ediis$-a %ai [j.apTopou|j,sv OTC 6
7J|j,sl<;
TTJV
DW^
ocotiJQcc
TOU
/toa[Aoo (i
Jn 4
'4).
The
sent from the Father,
revealed to the believers, and to their experience of that Life as the
Saviour. The inference is that although the [xapTDpia is based on
refers
to
the
Eternal
Life
only he who has seen and believed can give
testimony. Only he who has believed and experienced the
higher, spiritual, divine, life of J has really 'seen' in such a way
what has been
'seen',
this
as to be able to testify.
One may compare i Jn 5 10 6 TciarsDwy sic
toy otov TOD $SGD s'^si. TYjy jj.apTOpiav ev auKJ).
Evidently the |iap:
of the speaker in Corp. Herni. 132 is likewise technically
connected with his newly obtained experience of the higher life.
Topia
The
in
identity of general connotation of TuoTsosiy and jxapTOpsiv
at the same time serves to underline the
Jn and Corp. Henn, I
Whereas Corp. Henn.. refers the TUOTIC and
the experience of the Eternal Life per se, to Jn TCIO[AapTOpstv can only have one object: the Son of Man.
constitutive difference.
(lapTOpta
to
and
Tsuety
Whatever experiences
of the Divine and Celestial
may be given a
in
be
and
the
Son
of Man.
'In
man, they
only
by
given
Him' (sy auTcp) the believer has eternal Life. Of him the believer
testifies that he is the Light and the Life.
All Divine gifts that
can
are sent
down
to the
of 3
l6
.
It
is
World, are sent down
in
Him.
The words
[Aoyoysvvj s'Sco/tsv, stand forth as the central thought
the thought that may be said to be repeated, ex-
COOTS TOV DLOV Toy
122
3
or covertly,
pressly
in
l
~ 21
every Jn-ine sentence: the essentiality and
Son of Man.
all-comprehensiveness of the
When
turning to the conceptions of the Odes of Solomon we
with a similar duplicity in the use of the term 'world' or
meet
'worlds', j,xJv\, jia\\, and in the representations of the relations
between the Divine and the world as in Rabbinic and the Hermetic
This may be illustrated by the following quotations.
writings.
Od. Sol. XII 1
3... Because the Mouth of the Lord is the
true Word
and the door of His light; 4. And the Most
(Jxx^is.S),
Higli hath given Him to His Worlds. (Worlds) which are the
interpreters of His o^vn beauty. ... 6. Never (doth the Word) fall,
but ever it standeth; His descent and His way are incomprehensible.
7. For as His Work is, so is His limit; For He is the light
and the dawn of thought. 8. And by Him the worlds spake one
to the other: and those that were silent acquired speech: 9. And
front Him came love and concord ... 10. And they (the Worlds)
were stimulated by the Word, And they knew Him that made
them, Because they came into concord ... 12. For the dwellingplace of the Word is mail, and His truth is love.-s>
The expression in vs. 3, the Most High hath given Him to
:
His worlds
compares very closely with the Jn-ine
herent and
Word
In that Divine
toy (JLovoysv/J edcoxev.
TOV otov aoroo
the Divine
from
Love
is in-
Him came
love, and
which
comes
(cf. Corp.
p. 120),
near
the
of
the
to
motive
of
the
word
was
that
very
saying
gift
God's love, especially when compared with the Jn-ine conception
of the Divine Love as inherent in the son and in the believers
I0 17 2
The worlds are the universe as God's creation
(Jn 15 9>
6).
is
brought into the worlds:
Henn. XVIII 14 b, above
concord
,
(the
of his
interpreters
on
focused
Word*.
the
man,
To man as
the true Word
gift of
Od. Sol.
X
2
:
hath caused
speak
who
the
the representative of the world the Divine
to
dwell
in
1
-
me His
of His peace;
fruit
are Devilling to come to
tivity for
beauty*),, but the attention is really
man, as the
dwelling-place of the
has been sent down, and His truth is love.
i. The Lord hath directed my mouth by His Word
hath opened my heart by His Light. 2. And
(ajK^io); and He
He
own
ideal
freedom.
4.
3.
deathless life ; and gave me to
convert the souls of those
To
Him; and
(Christ speaks:)
to lead captive a
I
good capwas strengthened and made
Rendel Harris, Odes and Psalms of Solomon,
Ib.
ii
pp. 203
f.
ii
pp. 272
f.
oi6
21
12 3
mighty and took the 'world captive; And (the captivity) became to
for the praise of the Most High and of God my Father. 5. And
the Gentiles were gathered together ... 6. And the traces of the
light were set upon their hearts; and they zvalked in my life and
T
were saved
Here the world is clearly the world of man. It is used to
me
.
.
.
express the universality of the Divine intention with regard to the
human world. Those who accept the Divine gift receive Life
and Light and are saved.
X
and
Od. Sol. XII
together reveal
a close proximity in diction and conception to Jn 3 '6-21
Od. Sol. XIX a 5*4. And the Holy Spirit opened His bosom,
and mingled the milk of the two breasts of the Father, 5. And
:
who
mixture
the
gave
to the
world without
their
knowing:
And
those
hand
(of the Father).
(it)
Here likewise the 'world' is used to express the universal object
of the Divine Gift. The 'world' refers to the totality of human
take
are in the fulness of the right
beings.
Od.
that
Sol.
VII 3
:
u. For He
(the 'Father of
Knowledge')
it
is
incorrupt; the perfection of the worlds and the Father of
Od. Sol. XVI 4
I9. And the Worlds were made by His
is
them.
:
The Father is the Father
when viewed as His creation.
Word, and by the thought of His hearts.
Worlds
of the
Od. Sol.
in their ideal aspect,
XX
5
:
3.
For His thought
is
not like (the thought
of) the world, Nor (like the thought of) the flesh; Nor like them
that serve carnally*. Od. Sol. XXII C
li. Thy way was without
:
corruption and thy
thou
face;
didst
bring thy ^vo>ld to corrup-
This
everything might be dissolved and reneiued*.
strikes another note.
Here the worlds are viewed in their aspect
that
tion;
abode of corruption, of the flesh, i.e. humanity as separated
from the Divine Light. God's relation to the world of corruption
is expressed by his will to destroy the corruption and renew the
world and restore it into its ideal state.
of the
In
Mandiean
antithesis
literature
House
to the
the
lower world,
of Life and the
viewed under the aspect of Evil.
rule
1
'-'
Rendel Harris,
Ib.
ii
pp. 298
;!
Ib.
ii
p.
241.
'
Ib.
ii
p.
284.
r>
Ib.
ii
p.
312.
(i
Ib.
ii
p.
326.
f.
O and Ps
of
So!.,
ii
the
y.dafios,
Worlds of Light
The
pp. 203
f.
is
as an
as a
entirety of the lower
3
124
~ 21
l6
1
or domains of evil, is
comprising several worlds (GR V
termed 'the Place of Darkness**, 'that region, the place of Darkness ... in ivJiicJi there is no ray of Light' ? But even with explicit
world,
}
such
the world of earthly men
'alma or tibil'
the
are
used
as:
'the
ivorld
Darkness,
mnghonse of
of
expressions
Death' 4*, 'the Nasorseans, who are left behind in the world of
reference
to
Darkness and in the Black Water' 5 'behold, the earth is black
water!'
This world is under the dominion and is the possession
the
Evil
Ones: 'the world of the Evil Ones' 7 'I brought Adam
of,
out from the World of the Evil Ones' 8 'the abode, that is the
abode of the Evil Ones, the place that consists wholly of sinners,
the world of Darkness, of Envy and Discord, the world in which
the Planets abide' 9 'the world of impediments
full of
(jsTiN^pTO,
10
of
and
fraud
world
deceit
'the
delusion,
(xiTiiOl NS" !, JOX~)rP2)'
whole
world
that
Falsehood' 11
is
is
,The
something
nothing (worthless), and (a thing of) trust there is not in it (nothing in which to
12
The Great Life addresses the world
put ones trust, no security)'
on account of it sins: O, thou foolish world!... O, thou world,
,
.
;
,
1
>
.
.
thou wild beast, that dost not know ,from left to right'. 13 Tibil,
in common with the mortal body, is called 'the house ready to
1
3
11
4
r>
Quoted above on 3 13
GR
GR
GR
GR
70
3t
.
INDN
(Pet 74 a) -jr^n
727,8
(p^
N-nn:n susuJi
756,7):
^niCH
183*7,28 (Pet 1805,6):
'2387,8 (Pet 2379.io)
JOHND NDl7n
7
H
"
GR
GR
GL
GL
265^8 (Pet 268 5,
6)
263 " (Pet 264 10);
Iff 530
'
111 51 1 12
:
N , 1S , D S D
w^
s
(Pet 92 ):
,
ND^NS
^p^u
.p niS vNn
pb\SM ND^vX
HOp^vS N^'^21 XD7N
}12
22):
^Di NIPN
10
wx
vS
DNI^
2
(Pet 78
16
NIPN NTOH
:
JOINED Nv^i xnir'rn
8
froicj'rn
N^tys
irn N
GL III 510r- 6 (Pet 77 '9 2 cf. MLi Qolasta 161.
MLi Qolasta 143 s 9:
N-ipifc'i ND^X
GL III 550 12 5 (Pet 106 2 3-24, 107
nzrvb NJxsnm
DNI^D \xbn
),
11
.
12
J
J
):
J3
c;Z /// 585 l 585".
,
probably =
Niy^ pcx^
dost not even
12
s
(Pet 129", 130 ):
^;:D ]DI
know
that
^^2
which
is
xvn NC^X N
between thy
1
left
and thy right [hand].
.
3I6-2I
fall'
1
'the worthless
,
own
our
world'
references
The
is,
or
3
abode' 2
With
.
The
.
this
Evil
Ones
might be
call
the world: 'this
compared the frequent
4
the 'King of Darkness', the 'Prince of this world'
relation between the World(s) of Light and this world
to
.
however, not viewed exclusively under the aspect of antithesis,
eternal contrast. It is also expressed in terms of the relative
pozver of the two
(Pet 77i8_ 78 5):
realities.
ViZjn
tr-i^ST
r;in
j'/a
Thus,
to
GR
quote
III 75
23
76
"o
]/a
!
9
50/2
-
soiZ
]
o
"vjjn
N-^tr^p/
-pa
xmaNu
n&rjjy
[78]
ns-
ttrr^n
]'c,
NI^-NH
"a
"o
pa
The Water
is
earlier
than the Darkness
.
.
.
the Uthras are earlier
than the Darkness, the Uthras are earlier than the Darkness and
older than the inhabitants in it; the good(ness) is older than the
of the
evil
place of darkness; the living fire is older than the
of the place of darkness, the praise is older than
and sorceries that the evil ones are doing, the third
fire
consuming
magic
the
is
older than the consuming water of the place of darkthe
wisdom
is older than whatever the evil ones of the place
ness,
of darkness are doing, the voice of the Uthras is older than the
This impressive
Mighty Evil Ones of the place of Darkness.
Jordan
picture needs
1
GL
no comment.
III 5B4 20 (Pet 95 18 ):
/// 585 10 (Pet 130")
not
[Cf.
:
above
p.
57.]
>X2, lit: 'the falling
chti- >the
D^:^
world
house
1
,
cf
GL
that falls (and) does
rise (again)'.
*
GL HI 535 w (Pet 96 ls &
GR XI 263 2 3.24 (Pet 265 s
):
3
.
They
voice
(the Evil
the
(Pet 269
4
I
call
9):
Ones) speak to each other: 'In our own world they shall not
of the Life, for it shall be our possession'". Cf. C7A' AY 267"
'the angels (demons) of this world'
5.i6)
For references vide below on Jn 12 81
:
.
126
l6
3
The
World and the 'Life' is mightier than the Lower
the Life enters into relation with this world, it is
Celestial
When
World.
~ 21
This entrance
victorious.
into
relation
with
the lower world
is
done through a Son or Messenger who carries the Life, or the
Mana, within him; and in as far as he does carry the Life within
him, he dominates the powers of this world, and cannot be overcome by them. The 'Prince of the whole world' says to Namrus,
'the mother of this world':
The man (i.e. the Messenger, Manda
greater than all the world; I beheld the image of his
did not rise to the whole height of his stature; I did
not rise to the whole height of his stature, for he is greater than
dHayye)
face, and
all
is
I
1
no match for him.) This idea is also
(i.e. I was
by frequent representations of the Messenger as the
the worlds*
expressed
world
is
of the
who
Man',
'Strange
They cannot
represented
1
this
of Darkness.
GR
all
From
as
destined
in
The
to
III 86*4-25 (Pet
Spirit
plottings
this
of the Evil Ones.
point of view
the lower
2
and the object
perish*
to the believers is to take
to
regard
world,
3
the
him.
work
Messenger's
them away from
world
eludes
get at
make them
'strangers'
ascending after death
to the
to
its
85i6):
K?Ax prarn NCJ; nncxjb ntnswrjn b"hxn KB^N rbtt NINE
nncip rfriD bw rnn HSJNI NHIDT wbx rftiD p B"BJ N^-INUS pxrn
s^obx '\\rhv p tysri biercx nncip r6u by
NIZN.-!
Cf.
GX
III 825-
(Pet 822-5):
w*^
my
ND^S*
JVXC'PN |inbD ;D
and teaches the King of Darkness: 'There is one who
is
greater than thou, and whose power surpasses all thy worlds. There is a
world that is greater than thine, and mighty ones are housed in it'.
Ruha speaks
2
GR
II
to her son,
629,10
(pe t 6717-rg):
ri
Believe
in
NDNI KI&SD D^nxca nDi^D\xn
your Lord, the Great King of Light, for
this
world terminates and
perishes.
GR
III 78 6
-
7
(Pet 79
io):
A11 the work(s) of the darkness perish, perish do the children of darkness.*
n
GR
A"
2413032
(Pet 240"-
I2
):
(Manda dHayye speaks: The Life procured for me tribes from the tribe of
the Life,) that they might voice the call of Life, that is more wonderful than the
world, and that they may estrange themselves from the World of Darkness'.
316-21
abode
original
this place!*
is
enjoined:
I2 7
home and
Bless thy ancestral
curse
1
however, the Messenger from the Life comes to this
bring Life and Light to the incarnated spirits dwelling
the relation between
the Life
and the World can be
Since,
world
in
to
it,
in
represented
a different manner, without
The Beloved Son comes
and through him, Love
(Vide the
quotation
real contradiction.
any
world from the abode of Light,
Goodness,
tabuta} enters this world.
(or
from GR 7//91 11 l8 given above p. 77). 2
to the
The love or goodness is connected with the rise of the world of
human beings. The 'three Uthras' (cf. above p. 83
the
l),
of
the
Beloved
and
the
come
the
cause
Son,
helpers
spirit,
guard
1.
of Life to be heard, and enlighten the House ready to fall
The Uthras bring Water, and create a Jordan
(i.e.
world).
in the world, and spread out splendour over it.
(GR III 92,
voice
this
Pet
The
89).
son
first-born
GR V
worlds
all
puts
in
order
(cf.
quota-
above p. 81 1. 20 f.). Hence it
can be said that the zvorld was awakened' 3 with reference to the
from
tion
Pet 155,
165,
,
world, or to the spirits of the tribe of the Celestial Adam.
similar nexus of thought Adam himself is referred to as a
human
In
a
World 4
although then also the Good that has entered the World eludes
the Masters of the House do not know that this
the Evil rulers:
Son (Bra rahima), and
beloved
5
world has a Master*.
in a
good
ally in the
in
might be
1
remains, that
It
GL
this
King of
may be used
world'
'this
",
sense, as the world in which
human
sense of the ideal
World of Darkness the
the
the
as
expressed
good has entered, essentiworld. To this human world
stands in a relation that
Life
'Friendship' and 'Mercy', actually even
as
III 51133-35 (Pet 79 s ):
1
N-iHN ]il$rb ntOl^l -[NBi'NJN PPD ? rD112
2
Cf.
GR
III 114=1719 (Pet 1059-n):
*?jj
When
the Evil
thing, that
I
IIWQD
rvc^'Nviny NJN
Ones planned
(evil things) in
might perform goodness
in the
&WQ
their evilness,
I
z\s*!'Nnny
planned
a
^D
good
world.
GR XI 261 (Pet 262): NQ^x IvWHy
GR III 10713,14,31.32 (Pet 100 8 >9- 2 3.24):
s
4
Nv^sX
'
GR
jwn
JO^ND
in
/// 106 8 -9 (Pet 99
K^I
\vi2 DvX-us
.
.
NBvn SID
sxxuj;! rvny
):
xn\x:n KIND xnvX\xb
k
3
128
as
From
'Love'.
l
~ 21
human world
the
of believers, again,
Love
is
tended towards the Life.
GR
jp-ian
We
1823-Jo ypet 17815-20);
2.
ton tfa&r-pizmD
&*PT>TI
we put trust and Kusta
great in the Greatness of thy know-
trusted in the Life and in the Life
was with
And we waxed
us.
And
ledge.
Because
the Life arose to love you (or: have mercy upon you).
Love of Kusta (Truth) and Righteousness, I clad
of the
you and covered you with righteousness as with a great coat of
mail from
Because of the Love, with which
is put upon your head.
the earth of ether.
you loved Manda dHayye, victory
GR XII
271
2
.
2I
(Pet 274
-i
Come
hoii.se
with
of
its
There
believers
goodness,
mf-
'<>)
trjotf'^
Kusta,
this
&m-3
t
o Light that descendest
friends.
is a mutual relation of
dwelling in
:
world.
to the
Love between the Life and the
The believers form the good
world 7,7.1;' l^o^v in the lower world.
For typical examples relating to the entrance of Good into
the Lower world one may refer to the passages quoted above,
pp. 57 (MLi 187, GR 15, 33, 103, 266) and 87 (6^.241), In the
fragrance of the Water of Life the whole world may exult (shine)>>.
The 'Water of Chaos', representing the lower world as the world
of Darkness and Evil, is transformed by the Water of Life. The
Good thus existing in and forming an element of, the world, is seen
mainly as the spiritual essence inherent in the human world; but
of this spiritual element even the world itself, as the abode of
the
1.
human
20 above,
accompanied
beings, partakes to a certain degree (GR 176, p. 82,
This idea is, however, always
103, p. 57 above).
by the strongly emphasized notion that the Good,
GR
the element of Life, of Mana, which has thus entered the World,
does not really belong there. Hence the scintillation between
two opposite views on the demiurg: sometimes regarded as good
3I&2I
and
sometimes as
'holy',
'evil'
1
,
129
Hence
or fallen.
also the rela-
of Life to the world as containing elements of the spiritual
may be represented as one of Love, but only in the sense of
a will to save the human beings from the Darkness and to
tion
cause them to return to the world of Life and Light.
From the parallels in Jewish, Hermetic and Mandaean langu.
age and in the Od. Sol. adduced above it is evident that Jn is
merely adopting the language of the times in his use of the word
Hence there is in the Jn-ine use of the word no indica'%6a[xo<;'.
tion of the meeting of two incompatible lines of thought as pecuHe simply adopts, and finds appropriate, the duplicity
liar to Jn.
in the current
Further
use of the word.
it
is
corresponds
cbiyn JO (J
noticeable that the Jn-ine use of the word best
one.
Apart from the technical term
the Jewish
to
^
19
ep^d^svo? e ^
xdo^ov) xda^o? is used with
reference to the created world, the 'totality of creation' (Jn I 10 6 J 4,
13 i, 175 cf. above p. 115 f., 123) to the human world (Jn 1 2 9, 3 X 7,
>
,
1
I0
442, 12*9,47, 14 9, 17 6
especially in the sense of receiver of
),
the Divine gifts (3 l6 442, 533,51) although these are accepted only
this is also attested in Corp.
by some, the believers (I 10 3 : 9)
>
,
,
but also with reference to the world
Herm., Od. Sol. and Mand.
as the domain of evil and darkness, especially,
and this is an
in
the
'this
world 6 xdaexpression
originally Jewish usage
With
the
current
above
run
ODTO?
obiy,
Jewish
p. il6f.).
(cf.
\Loq
notions on the relation of the Holy One to the world Jn, however,
joins issue, in so far as they were apt to emphasize Gods' love
1
-
,
for
as
Israel,
the
children of
Abraham 2
,
or as the accepters of
Law and the
the Tora of Moses, with the double meaning of the
3
Scripture.
God's Love,
Against this Jewish restriction Jn emphasizes that
the Divine Gift and the Salvation have for their
1
This applies to all the celestial figures represented as demiurgs: Yosamin, Abatur {vide Lidzbarski, Das Johannesbucli der Mandder pp. xxviiff.), the
'second' and 'third Life', Ptahil (sometimes represented as the son of Abatur,
as the 'fourth Life': Lidzbarski, Ginsa, p. 601, sub voce}. The underlying thought
is that,
although 'this world has been made to shine through the demiurg', the
the demiurg in bringing down the Celestial into the region of Darkness
It means the rise of a strife (cf.
Jolt 9) between the Good
the Evil; the human beings, carriers of the Mana, are led astray into love
work of
is
M
itself a crime.
and
of the darkness, they 'drink the Water of Chaos', become like the Beings of
Darkness, themselves children of Darkness (cf. above p. 57).
2
Jn 8 39 ., cf. pp. 1 16, 139.
3
8 2
9, cf. Sifre, i^sop Jia-lLeraliu, GO c, d*.
Jn 54Sf-, Gsz, 7", 9*
.
9
27451.
H.
Odeberg.
3
130
l
~ 21
whole human
world: Jn 1 2 9, 3 l6 7, '9, 442, 633,5'.
universality of the Divine Love, therefore, is one specific point
the
object
The
-
J
of the teaching.
A
TOV
second specific point
aikoo
olov
is
that expressed
'dcoxev.
[XOVOY&V"/]
words are intended to
these
tained,
TOV
by
As has
the words MOTE
already been mainthe truth, that the
stress
Son
is God's gift to the world, and, moreover, is the gift.
There
are no Divine gifts apart from or outside the one-born son. Just
as everything is given to him by the Father (Jn 133), so no gift
from above can be given
Xs-fw
a[J.T]V
ajj//]V
ovQavov, aXX
6
aX7]{kvdv,
5
ojuy,
men except by
to
the son. Cf. 63 2 ,33>35:
ov McovafjG dedaty.ev vfuv TOV CIQXOV ST. TOV
apTOV ex. TOO oupavou TOV
6 rcar/jp |xoo SiSwaiv o|uv TOV
yap
aptos TOO fteoo iouv 6 x.aTa(3atV(ov
ex,
TOO oopavoo
6 aQTog rijs ^cofjg. Just as
(07]v
Hookup
the teaching 'there is no ascent to heaven apart from the Son of
x,ai
81806?
Man'
TOO
.
.
.
syca
sif.u
stressed in intentional contrast to (Jewish) notions of the
is
possibility of ascent into heaven, so this evidently implies
issue with Jewlish reliance on certain Divine gifts obtained
Israel.
Against
this
Jn wants to convey that
all
Divine
an
by
gifts in
the past were really given by the Father through the son, and should
have as their object the directing of the hearts of the receivers
towards the one perfect and true gift, the Son.
point is that of the concluding words of
The antithesis of perdiaXX
S-^-Q
>7}V alumov.
arco'XTjTca,
(j/?j
and eternal life introduced here dominates the whole of the
6 TTtaTsowv)
(TTCCC
The
3
third
specific
3
l6
:
tion
1
2I
following part of the section, 3 ?
Corresponding to the antithesis
in the preceding portion between two worlds and two existences, the
part that follows exhibits the contrast between the attributes or quali.
ties
in
of and the laws obtaining in, those two worlds and the existence
This contrast is expressed in the terms of eternal life
them.
salvation
light
truth
and on the other: perdition
deeds
estrangement from God
side,
Some
works performed in God, on one
darkness
evil
judgement
hatred of the Light.
may be adduced.
parallels to the ideas of this section
GR V 2
182 2 7-3 2 (Pet 179 8 ~' 3)
vXDiirn
vX^n lim
NivXD^n pi Nmn:
pis
KD^N jMsrn N"wim NDV ID JDWSJO jruxi
The
every
call
city,
p
ivX^xi
Nnxs
1^x21 ]o
was [voiced] on all the earth, the splendour arose in
and Manda dHayye is revealed to all the children of
2i
man and
separates (saves) them from Darkness into Light, from
obscurity into the light of Life: 'Go out from the empty desert
and estrange yourselves and keep away from the falsehood and
delusion of this world'.*
XV 296
GR
2 7, 28
Cf.
GR
III 506
2
7-507 6
.
(pei 29923-24)
[The Life speaks to the Messenger Anos:] Teach the spirits that
they may not die nor perish nor be confined in the gloomy darknessU Cf. GR 7^147*54485 quoted above p. 78.
GR
II 3 60
l6 -25
(Pet 664-9)
NCY>
p
'fwcw
-JKITIBH KJDT
W?
]i -jwwrn NOT
1
p
N1H
]D
From
[Those awakened by the voice of the Messenger speak:]
the day that we beheld thee, and from the day that we heard
thy words, from the day that we beheld thee, our heart was filled
with Peace. They (I: vue) believed in thee, O Good one, we beheld
thy Light and we shall not forget thee; we shall not forget thee
all our days and we shall not let thee out from our heart for one
hour; for our heart shall not be blinded and these [our] spirits
shall not be confined [kept back in, shut in by the Darkness].
the children of Darkness perish but
Cf. the frequent saying:
the children of the mighty Life shall abide (e. g. GR 77, 78 quoted
above,
p.
GR
57
1.
2,
3).
2 1805-15 (Pet 17524 176 ~9)
J
^TB p
ra
iny
i
]ir
Nn\i3
voice
righteous
N
%
N nvS\sT, i n NnxrDK'
s\xy p\vjo xmci j^o^m N^ni Nor
N2Nt5'i
p
bim
N
Di
The
^'D N^ni ND^DI
x Nnoxi
NFYIC
of the
from the
Life
from
Light;
the
the Fruits
1
and the
Word
voices of the Bhire Zidqa
of the
z
from
Pire, plural of Pira; on the conception vide Brandt, Mandiiische Religion
12 and Mandiiische. Schriftcn, pp. I25f.
2
The men of tested righteousness, a technical term for the believers, confer
1
the Jewish 'anse ha-'^muna' and 'beno mehajmniilja'.
Cf.
Odeberg, 3 En,
ii
p. 179.
3
132
l
~ 21
the lower Skinas, who praise the name of the Life saying: 'We
knew the Death in Tibil. From the day that we loved the Life
and hated the Death, we put our trust on thee, o Life, and on
account of thy Name, o Life, we were persecuted in Tibil! Fear
and praise the Life, O Bhire Zidqa, and the Life will
on you, and you, O Bhire Zidqa will be established (erected,
lifted up); stand erect before me! Shine and cause to shine! My
own Light shall ascend on you.
Cf. the passages on the separation of Life from Death, Light
the
Life
dwell
1
from Darkness, Good from Evil, Truth from Falsehood, worked by
2
the Judge of all Spirits, quoted by R. Bultmann and W. Bauer
(MLi
128,
(Pet 205
8
GR
~ 12 7/56);
also the similar saying in
GR VI 206 22 - 2 7
).
Other passages
Life
cf.
more
or
illustrating the
especially,
in
connexion of the belief
in
the
the Messenger, with the attainment
of Life are:
GR XI
253 20-32 (pe t 252 5-'7)
1N1DN1 Il/Tri JIH^D
JOTTD ID
5
~Manda dHayye spoke
v^D^
!
]1
?"1NON
jWn Krn
]in^D\xp(n^)i vx^n^ ]in3Ni
to
all
5
ND^XI
(252
the beings 3 who shall be 4 and
are thrown thither into darkness
he said"
'O, all you Spirits, who
and death: when that last day shall be with you, why will you
behold the comfort of the spirits of the Bliire, Zidqa* who listened
to the voice of the Life, that he made heard to them, and who
believed in, and became established in Manda dHayye, and who
believed in the words of the three men 7 ... for you will have
:
2
3
4
c
~5
(i
D. Bedetit. der neuersclil. niand.
3
in, W. Bauer, JEv p. 56.
R. Bultmann,
(ZNTW xxiv)
p.
lit.
'worlds'.
i.e.
who
This
i.e.
n.
manich. Qucllen
etc.
are to be born into this world.
probably a later insertion.
why should you live in such a
is
from the comfort of the righteous.
7
i.e. Hibil, Sitil and Anos, cf. above
way
p.
as to be excluded at the last
82.
day
to stand [apart, below] when the Bhire Zidqa clad in splendour
and covered with light pass by you and ascend to the great
place of Light and you shall behold this when dwelling in the
In the
darkness of this world and you shall pity yourselves.
sequel the non-believers are pictured as thrown into the evil
Darkness, where their eyes do not see the light, daily undergoing
punishment, trial and judgement. And it is said: Every Nasorsean
who forsakes the way of Life and walks in the way of Darkness,
shall fare likewise*
GR XI
1
.
255 22_256
7
(Pet 254
23
255
22
)
%
N'piN*
Nora
-!vxr\x2Ni
[2555]
.
.
.
prfe N^SNJ
]D\\XD [255]
NHIDI NIDIBH N"n by
\\rcyr?h
pisi
cm
NM^D^H
Nirn N p~\xi sS^r^y NDXXDI nnaoNn NCT>
p^rvnp NJNI pn^Exx: NDI&TQ
wzb jirmxi jD^nnp n2rr6 xuiE'ni toin: by
join: |iDtonj7i vxw
nzwb xniDi NDIBH
N^zt&'D
DJis^yi
|in\xn:xDn .xuxm
xn^xn [255
2I
]
.
.
.jinN^^x
jinwNi ]ir\x:iiy2 N^ni vxxp ]np
nmrpr\x
Further, on the day, when heaven and earth take an end,
which heaven and earth were your houses, in which the planets
run their course: they all shall fall 2 ... and after [your] death you
shall go forth and fall into the Darkness.
Yet I called you to
the Life, in which the name of death is not, I called you to the
XI
254 24
- 27
(Pet 253
ia ~
n
)
tf"rn
a
The passage
and Christ say:
'I
is
in reality directed against the Christian teaching.
make you ascend to Paradise. When you leave
will
Ruha
your
~
body, you shall go there and find Grace'.
(GR 255 12 14 .) But Ruhu and Msiha
Christian
(the
Messiah) and the Sun and the Moon and the Planets all take an
end. Also the children of man who confessed Ruha, Msiha and the God shall
take an end together with Ruha.
Msiha's promises to his believers of a spiritual,
eternal Life will after their death be found out to have been a fraud. The
import
is:
Msiha was not a genuine Messenger from the
Life.
3
134
l
- 2t
which Darkness is not, I called you [saying]: 'Clothe
yourselves in splendour and cover yourselves in light and go out
on the way of the Life
And I will cause you to go out (= lead
on
the
on
which
the name of Death is not, and the
path
you)
name of Darkness is not!' But you did not listen to me, and the
words of the Uthras did not please you. Also the children of
1
man, of the tribe of the corporeal Adam and Hauua, who listened
to the voice of the Life and believed in it and were taught by it,
and heard the voice of these three men 2 and divulged (in) their
words, who hated the Death and loved the Life, who hated the
Darkness and loved the Light, clad themselves in splendour and
covered themselves with light, ascended on the great way of the Life
and came and found the Life
they also made the voice, of the
Life to be heard in your ears but you did not listen
now, on
Light,
in
,
*
/-
/%
.
the
that
way
you loved, you
.
.
your gods who
arrive to
led
you
astray.
MJoh
XIII 57 (T 524-535)
rh\x:i2
Niib&OD
imsBn
-\vhy
pm
KBiK'i nnz
[53]
nznto
wruw Nnani
rbxi
"n hw ja:NX\xb ^is
N^ibi irony 2xc& yrbv
PXDJ
ND^X j^xrn rro f Np-uxDyi OSON "j
CNIN
|ND\xnnyi NCIB'
NHDND
iin: -iNn*6
l
p ?D1 N'DD
They
created
Generations
turbulence
i.e.
Messenger and sent him
the
Adam.
He
of the words.
to the
Head
called with a heavenly voice
At
3
of the
into the
the voice of the Messenger,
Adam
4
Adam who lay in sleep awoke, and
lay (in sleep ) awoke.
went out to meet the Messenger. [Adam welcomes the Messenger,
who
as
to
The Messenger speaks
good and procured me and
having come from his Fathers house.
Adam:]
me
sent
and ascend
1
3
4
remembered thee
to thee.
deliver thee
2
'All
have come,
I
will
teach thee,
this world.
Noldeke, Mand. Gram., p. 316.
above, p. 132, n. 7.
thus Lidzbarski (mit himmlischer Stimmes).
v.
cf.
cf.
O Adam,
and
Listen and hear and take teaching
victorious to the Place of Light!'
Adam heard and
from
^
I
for
above,
p.
36.
*">
316-2!
I3S
became
blessed is he who believes after thee!
believing;
took possession of Kusta (truth); blessed is he who, after
Adam looked on high with
thee, takes possession of Kusta!
1
and
is
who
ascends after thee.
hope
ascended; happy
he,
Adam
GR XI
256 2 4 ff- (Pet 256 I2ff-). The Original, First One who
originated from himself (qadime, qadmaya, dmineh hua) instructs
his beloved Son and the three Uthras to acquit from judgement
the spirits dwelling in the World of Darkness, who listen to the
words of the Life and are established through Manda dHayye.
Hibil, the eldest brother, is given the function of being the judge
over the judges of this world. This forms a parallel to Jn 3 l8
:
6 TTiaTSDcov slg aoT&v oo xpivstat.
GR XI
NHD
257 14-20 (pe t 257
]Dro\xp(n)
3
bo
^21
FJN
~ 22
)
K
]D\xr\Xlb ]lD\XprP:
i
l6
tf"r
jovi
NDII
A11 the spirits
who
believed in (the Life) shall be established with
v
2
you as Bhire Zidqa, in this great Skin a of the Life and in the
room of the Great Life, which I have arranged for you. Manda
V
dHayye will establish you in this Skina and make you ascend to
the House of Life. Also all spirits of [those] formed out of (or: as)
flesh and blood, who listen to the voice of the Life and believe,
shall dwell before the Presence, in the House of Life.
The idea of escape from judgement for 'those who believe', is
also attested in other contexts.
GR
II 3 6026-41 (Pet 669-i6)
nah NTW nc&'^ nt^DNJ
xB>s&o by ^TUND N^NIJO
bi
by 2"Nrn JNO bra ]ibnN'Dyi
i^n ^ti'^ ^^y^n n^y INI.IN NIND
XDI
1
NDD
meant here
2
NDIETD .x^D^n
combines the sense of 'gaze, look' with that of 'hope'.
really the nJlDi mentioned above pp. 108 and no.
is
referring to the three Uthras.
rr
What
is
3
136
l6
~ 21
spoke and said to them: 'Everyone who returns (to the Life), on
spirit there shall be no decree (of judgement) nor shall it be
that the Lord shall decree (punishment) on him; but the zvicked,
they, the liars, they decree on [= bring judgement upon, condemn\
themselves; for one shows them and they do not see, and one
calls unto them, and they do not listen nor do they believe; the
I
his
wicked fall throiigh their [oivn] ivill into the great sea of the Suf;
they are made to dwell in the Darkness, and the dark mountain
swallows them up, until 'the day', the day of judgement and until
We who praise [thee,] our
the hour, the hours of deliverance.'
Lord, our sins and our guilt thou wilt remit for us.
Here, then,
the escape from judgement for the believers is conjoined with the
s^-judgement of the wicked,
GL
III 4 512
aon pnwo
22 -3i
1
^.
79V- 20 MLi
)
Qolasta
XCII
157
w
wn
"worno iirpWD torn
JOSJND
n&ox
iff^D
SPUN! NTH: ifcrnrta
iJoii
"iKorvo
n^pon N^po WHO
mNDin "wo ton
(Pet
as in Jn S
nxorpoxV"ixorpc&6
The worlds gather
them, judgement is
"wo
wn wn
7-n
^ow
m
judgement, and judgement is delivered on
on them because they have not
done the works of a truthful man. Thou, alone, O elect [and] pure
1
shalt not go to the
one, thou shining Mana, who doth shine
*
assize
and -judgement shall not be delivered on thee, not on thee
shall judgement be delivered since thou hast done the works
Here the notions of the judgement to be
of a truthful man!
executed on the wicked are within the traditional bounds.
A clear enunciation of the self-judgement of the wicked is,
2 183 Ilf (Pet ISO ):
however, found in GR
for
delivered
,
1
1
,
1
-
their o^vn
not (need
The
love
idea
of the
1
2
The
Wl
blozv[sl
blow
shall
Wicked by
their
they shall be stricken and
my
come upon them.
to)
of the
self-condemnation
Darkness and
spirit
of the believer
rP2, c f-
tlie
is
-
Jewish
their evil
meant.
of the
deeds
is
also expressed in
316-21
MJoh L
179i8-2i (T 182H-I3)
'
n:-iN3~
He who by his [own] hand blinds his eye, who shall be for him
a healer; he who with his own horn destroys his road, who shall
be for him a roadmender?* 1
It is remarkable that there exists a very close parallel between
Mandaean conception of the self-judgement of the wicked and
Fire being of old
a Rabbinic dictum conveying the same idea.
the symbol of the punishment, or the means of punishment, the
the
self-judgement could be symbolized by the fire as quelling forth
from within a wicked man and devouring him. Thus GR V 3 183
(Pet 179/180) referred to above has: Fire will blaze out from their
[own] face, it will destroy the spot between their shoulders [the
seat of the Mana] and punish them for their pride.
Similarly
Gen R, 6
jri/2
mas
10
runs
3V
fiorroJ
]33-i
-3 -T,rr
:
.'-,"
'"1
N
-Tisro
-3>-3
T2S3
.'"J-
"b
NH zv nan sya
1 1N
TvUN 'n
rr/a
.
rryjj-'n
2N3 TaNSUJ .Zj-- ;
1
'
\s
c
R. Yannai and R. Sim on both said: 'There
'day' that burns the wicked.
is
no Gehenna;
it is
Why?
(Because it is written in
Mai. 4 1 :) For behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven
Our teachers say: 'There is a Gehenna; for it is written
etc.'
(Isa 319): Sayth the Lord; who has a fire in Sion [and a furnace
e
in Jerusalem]'.
R. Y huda bar '^El ay [of the school R. tAqiba] said:
'Not a day nor Gehenna [are the means of punishment], but a fire
[the]
c
that
goes forth
Because
Why?
ye shall
2
you
bring
from the body of the wicked and burns them.
is written (Isa 33 n ): 'Ye shall conceive chaff,
it
forth
stubble; your breath as a
fire shall
devour
'
.
The background ofjn
3
l6
~ 2S
,
as has already been said,
is
formed
Quoted by Bultmann, Neuerschl. Mand.'u. Man. Qu. p. in as illustrating;:
alle wollen das Licht sehen.
2
The opinion was of course heterodox. It is significant that the come
c
mentary, Matt nop KeJiunna, passes R. Y huda's words in silence.
1
Aber nicht
by
l6
3
138
- 21
the ideas centering in the antithesis between the two spheres of
one that of Faith
Freedom of Judgement and Death
realities:
Works of
attainment of Life
Love of Light
Truth 'wrought in God', the other that of refusal to believe
Judgement and Death
Evil Deeds. To this
Perdition
Darkness
general nexus of ideas there are frequent parallels in Rabbinic:
Salvation
Mek
m
13 d 14 a
to 'm
n'fi'on
-iD-i-o^n
-/'p
.-"ay
zs<
rvi'/aa-
'"3
"--a
mrr
nnfc -.3-3 N^-PS .ab-.yn
a
13TOTZJ
b-n'j
~p
.
ab-yn
xbu; t*sv/a ~!TIN
""/aNnizj na'iai^
"P3
VSTN
baa;
~"aiN
p"n-,
(
->by
p""- cn-by
pi
'TJP
i
-,-ian
-/'p
-'/axo?
r.-rr,
''a
'331 rror/a
... .np~^s
T?
-p'.S'
in3iZ/n'i i
bso
1
TN
na'/a^n
'nay [14
n'3'2'n "3"
1
n3
i
'j"
3S
a]
zn"*i3N
"'aNni
n3
3*u
n
m
n~'iz;
rn^i" Ti/a^a n-i-3~3' -"-31 rr^'oa
i
is-jsa
>)
)
.
.
.
sro n
3
pi
f
f
-i
-
'
)
Tb?ra
-
'31
Nbx '-s^n bs-ia;-' ibxja sba?
jinx-, max maTQN -PST'O n -1212 a-oratf ^' -D
rra ~J'ON 'bysa -a
N3 c- p "S 'nb nyxn -T 2"
j^oaas ri3-,/2N b^3 ba ni lyx c^rox -rartzj p-'is
'aa;
ZN
a-ribNa
a -3T/a
Nsn ^5~"m nTn
niDTa N'SN
""'"ans
"
'
r.-jj-aa
Vi
annttizj
iaa
-pj-
"3
-'/at
...
mb-ba
isu:
na-.aNi
.
.
.
rrrnnb a TO ia
n-'
'And [the people] believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses
(Exod 143 ).' If they believed in Moses, it follows that they believed
in the Lord.
[Why, then, are both mentioned?] It is to teach you,
1
that every one who believes in a 'faithful shepherd [is
regarded]
as if he believed in the word of him who spoke, and the zvorld was
who created the world by his word]. It is the same with the
[i.e.
word you read [in Num 215]: 'And the people spake against God
and against Moses
If they spoke against God,
naturally they
spoke against Moses! But the word comes to teach you that
1
.
3
i6
21
JJQ
everyone w/io speaks against a faithful shepherd [is considered]
as if he had spoken against him w/io spoke, and the ^L vorld zvas.
Great is the faith, with which Israel believed in him who spoke
and the world was, for by recompense of their believing in the
Lord the Holy Spirit remained (d^cvelled) on them 1 and they sang a
2
song as is written: 'and believed in the Lord and in his servant
Moses' and 'then sang Moses and. the children of Israel (Exod 15 )'.
And likewise you find that Abraham our father did not inherit
this world and the world to come except by virtue of the faith
with which he believed in the Lord, as it is said (Gen 156): 'And
he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteous3
e
ness'.
R. N hsemya said: Every one who takes upon himself one
1
1
commandment
in faith is worthy that the Holy Spirit rest upon
him
And so we find with regard to Moses and David and
Debora that they sang a song, the Holy Spirit remaining upon
them; and likewise you find that Israel zew? not saved out of
.
.
.
Egypt
by
except
virtue
(recompense) of the faith, as
it
is
said:
Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the
2
(Exod 14 9f-). And
Egyptians] ... and the people ... believed'.
2
thus it is said (Ps 31 3): 'The Lord preserveth the faithful'. [And
similarly the Scripture] remembers the faith of the fathers, [as it
is said, Exod 17 12 ]:
'and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands,
[the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his
hands were faithful 4 ]; similarly (Ps 118 20 ): 'This is the gate of
the Lord, into which the righteous shall enter ? What does it say
the
'[Thus
with reference to the
men
of faith?
'Open ye the
righteous nation which keepeth the faith
this gate all the
Through
Ps 92
:
~4]: 'It
to shew forth
is
.
.
made me
.
men of faith
may
enter
gates, that the
in'
(Is a
26
2
).
enter.
[Further it is said,
a good .thing to give thanks unto the Lord ...
For thou, Lord, hast
thy faith in the nights
.
.
.
through thy work: I will rejoice in the works of
thy hands.' What was it that caused him to come into this joy?
The recompense of the faith with which our fathers believed in
this
world
glad
zvfo'c/i
is
wholly night,
for thus
it is
said: 'to
shew
forth
morning, and thy faithfulness every
thy lovingkindness in
Here, in this way, are represented the ideas of faith in God
night'.
the
83
1
Cf. Jn I
2
by the inspiration of the
"
Cf.
4
thus to be rendered ace. to the context.
"
Cf. Jn 10
Rm
.
Holy
Spirit.
43,9.
cfd with 3 1 ".
yio-21
140
and
his
righteousness (== works of truth)
this world
his Messenger,
salvation
Messenger
God and
contrasted with rejection of
darkness.
night
The deeds of the righteous are connected with Light and the
deeds of the wicked with Darkness:
Gen
1
a^p" ""^
a^yx~)
R
3
10
~iD
aTi'-i
)<
Vj:
)--
1
",
3pn nsi abiy
"nn
TSN
in^iijy'o
aTibx b-a-
pa
~' ;
imEyo
b'jj
a-'p--^ ba;
rro -bs any
1
nri^n
buj
im'na
]n^y/Q
Tn
STJ;^
a^p^is
b'iT
">X3" -i"t*
a^yujn
^*~i5^n"i
-,bN
nbnrv/c
~!"N
a;
>->
:
jn-'ajr/a
in^y/a
"b
"x n^
npa
n-'-
R. Yannai said: 'From the beginning of the creation of the world
Holy One, blessed be He, beheld the zvorks of the righteous
the
and the -works of the wicked; 'and the earth was without form and
void (Gen I 2 )', this is the works of the wicked; 'and God said,
Let there be light (Gen 13)', this refers to the ivorks of the righteo2is; 'and God divided the light from the darkness (ib.}\ i.e.
the works of the righteous from the works of the wicked; 'And
God called the light Day (Gen 15)', this refers to the works of
the righteous; 'and the darkness he called Night (ib.}\ this is the
?e><?r/b
of the wicked; 'and it was evening (Gen 1^)', this is the
works of the wicked; 'and it was morning' (ib.}, this is the works
>
1
of the righteous'.*
Lev
R
27
i
DDTI TP S^DDI
"t&'n
DJHM n"2n
"jt&'n
^'n c^'^ini Dinn
K'u2T
Y
N3
^na ^
ijsj
1CWL5'
by
"|K'n
f
"t&
~)c\y
m
inD^I
~p
iDNity
"JUT!
"icx T'D
"jar.
Qinni
mirs
'i
'
ND 1
e
huda b. VEl'ay, in the name of an anonymous Rabbi, said:
thus saith the Holy one: Gehenna is Darkness, as it is written:
'Let their way be dark and slippery, [and let the angel of the
R.
.
.
.
1
Cf. the similar passage,
and Billerbeck,
cf.
also
Gen
R
ii
2
4.
p.
427, and
GcnR
Gen
R
Is,
2
7,
quoted by Schoettgen, HHetT, p. 332,
quoted by Billerbeck, ib. pp. 427, 428,
3
~ 2I
l
141
the angel of death persecute them Ps 35 6 and the I'hom
as it is said: 'and darkness was upon the face of
is Darkness
T e hom (the deep; Gen I 2 )' and the Wicked are Darkness, as it is
Lord,
i.e.
]
works are in the dark (Isa 29 ^)', and darkness
shall come and cover him (the wicked), as is written: 'For he
cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness and his name
shall be covered with darkness (Eccl 64).
'And
said:
Gen
R
l
their
6 14
Vn nn\xon pyb ON NE&\X
^"n nci
f
~I"N
i:n
Din
'1:1
rMsi c^
rbt&'CD^ "?n:
treaty no2i
VDIIN
And
n
cp ny noy
1
i:
el
rn^i B>EBTI
1
!
""nn
day and over the night etc. [Gen l ^] R.'Ilfa
Pal.
(2nd gen.
Amor.} said: 'Do these words refer to the lights
1 6
Has not the scripture just said (Gen l l6 ): 'the
)?
(scil of Gen I
to rule over the
1
'
And why
does the scripture
say [in the present verse]: 'and to rule over the day and over
the night?' Answer: the latter are the righteous who rule over
that which has been created to give light in the day and over
greater
light
to rule the
day
etc.'?
that which has been created to give light in the night. For it is
said (Jos 10 J 5j: 'And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed,
people had avenged themselves upon their enemies'.
the Divine word gives Life, exempts from
Death and Condemnation symbolized by the Angel of Death. On
the other hand the angel of death is the ruler of this world,
until the
The acceptance of
the world of darkness and evil deeds.
Through evil doings, which
a
be
as
from God and his
deviation
essentially
regarded
himself
man
into
the
World
of
Darkness:
world,
merges
are
to
LevR
~>.n
18
3
by btnti' riDy^ nytzo
1
rw
n"2pn' Nip
"]b
N*
n
]\x
D2UD^2
!?N
'ui
^i
1
'n
nnito ycK :i
(
ni^-on by izoipionp
TP1 IQXN'- D^H^N 'H ?
bw
4
n^w
1
I"N
ncxi
TD
rnp^N 'i-cisa
1:2
'"
"21
~mx wwyw
"IB\S
b?
pm
ib
IDNI
men
-"nptt-'
mon
"JN^D
I"DI;N
1
1
!
iS^x NTif riDi?
npn
^:n
NIIHJI 2 i n2m
n^yo mn^m i"nn
man ixbco nron IDX
ncn D
1
!!^^
mm
"ti-'n
1
"
'~i
nn^n sbx nnn
3
142
Yoh a nan
R.
said in the
the Galilean: In the hour
name
when
l6
~ 21
of R. '^li'xzxr, the son of R. Yose
Israel stood on the mount of Sinai
and said: 'All the words which the Lord hath said will we do and
be obedient (Exod 24 )', in that hour the Holy One called the
Angel of Death and said to him: 'Although I have made thee a
J
(ivorld-rtiler) over the created beings, thou shall
have
no business zvith this people, for they are my
[henceforth]
sons (children). This is the meaning of the word: 'Ye are children
of the Lord God'. And he said: 'And it came to pass, when ye
heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness (De^lt. 5 2 3)'. Is
there then darkness on high? Is it not written (Dan 2 22 ): 'and
J
xoG|j oxpcx'C(rtp
the light dwelleth with him'? Answer: [the darkness refers to]
the angel of death ivho is called Darkness. This is what is written
!
(Exod 52 6); 'And the tables [of the testimony] were the work
and
of God,
upon
harujj]
niTI"!
[herfifj,
the writing was the writing of God, graven [DD!"!,
the tables'.
Do not read HP,!"! [haruf, 'graven'] but
e
R.
huda said: that is, freedom from
'freedom']
the
.
.
angel of
from judgement and death.
TB
toan
K j>nbboj)
e
'iji
children
of God, of Light, are freed
Ilia
vrr ba
'K'">
Y
.
The
death'.
a^rra
ZPSS-I
'-a
a^n p-N ms-.Nn ro?
b"n bab b"m vrr ba :
-iiybtf
'arc
ns-.iaa
b^n a-'N-:". )-. ^fba mTiN b-j ^D
-sa 'iianx'o rsm ba- -rfTiia n--n --N
ba
N-nn 'Sn
-,"s
n
-.ri
3T.a~ i'-n -5N
n-"n -nsa
n^n/a m-fi --N
R. 'yEl'azar said: the profane people are not living: as
^"asn^Tan
]>
--nn
it is
written
There is Ba(Isa 26 4); 'They are dead, they shall not live etc.'
raipa also here: 'they are dead, they shall not live': possibly' to
all? [= if these words had been written alone, they could have
J
been interpreted as referring to all mankind]. The scripture ^howe
ever, continues and] says: 'The R fa'im shall not rise'; the scripture
speaks of the one who separates (m'rappce)^ himself from the
words of the Tora'. R. Yoha nan said: ... it refers to those who
He said to him: another passage I will [adduce
turn to idolatry
.
1
.
.
playing upon the similarity between
QiNEn (r'faim) and n"l
(m erappce)
.
~ 2I
dew 1
143
as the dew of herbs, and the earth
every one ^vho makes use of tJie Light
of the Tora, him the Light of the Tora makes living, and every
one who does not make use of the Tora, to him the Light of the
expound:
and]
shall
'thy
e
out the
cast
r
Tora does not give Life'
TB
'
Ab
is
fa"im':
.
Zara 8 a
nw
(Adam
ened
From
says):
for
the day
when
I
o^r; inmoi:'
"pfc'n
sinned, the world
DVC
was dark-
me.
when Adam turned away from the knowledge
God to that of the serpent, the Light was
(i.e.
taken from Him. Works done n"2pn bw 1PJJ-6 compares with Jn 3 21
the dictum:
Cf.
laws, or world) of
:
cm
sv
-9-(T)
iottv slpyaojieva.
TB P sali.
e
30 a
m-p- ^N'/2 pN pi '"r.p-> TIN mrp Nb N-.nn zva mm
Nan zrb-yb 'pn nin abiya i" ^ TIN m T^bN I"N
-1
1
"iN-rpi
'TI
1
.
.
.
.
'And it shall come to pass
be clear nor dark (Zech 146).'
in
.
.
Nan z',"b
-jn
that day that the light shall not
the words 'clear' and
Xo what do
c
said: This is the light that is clear in
world but dark in the world to come
and R. Y e hosu ac
C. Leui said: the words refer to those children of men who are
2
glorious in this world but dark in the world to come'.
'dark'
R.
refer?
'^El azar
this
.
TB
.
This world resembles the night, the world to
3
day ib. 2 a: the sun will rise for the righteous
4
the world to come.
2 b:
P'salt,
come resembles
in
.
1
in
interpreted
p. 54
the
the
,
sense of the
Dew
cf.
above
^n^i -^n >s
IDINI
of Life, of Vivification,
f-
2
3
the wicked;
TB P'sah.
cf.
Lc
6 2 4. 16 2 5.
2 b
cnn wn &s cc^ "IIN ND^N (PS 139 ") ijnjjs -nx
oy uvb non Niniy x^n dwh ijDiiy "jB'n
%
1
"
4
"jnyD -)\x
j-frbi
4
imoN ^N "in "IONP ^n
rb^hb ncn xinit mn
~\x
1
7*5 7%j//. 2 a
^HD
^oi&'
10 N1H
nnn*
^'D
NED
1
mn
"1\X
ND^vX
obiyD
ns
(
2
Sam
"i\soi
23 4) t'OB'
icx
:<"
mi 1p2
1
DTD
i2
3^6-21
144
For the expression 'loved the darkness' (Jn 3 9) reference
may be made to Ntim R 9 6 (also Tanli Nissa 5) quoted by Schcett1
and Billerbeck 2 'She (referring to an adulteress) loved the
gen
darkness [ri^SX]'- Perhaps this passage does not use the word
n^DX in the same technical sense in which the Rabbinic dicta
21
use the words
and axoto?
quoted above, and Jn 3 9~
"jtj'n
J
:
}
,
respectively.
For
Hebrew: HDX TWW, Aramaic: NiOlS'lp T2V
3
quoted by Schcettgen and Targ to Hos 4
4
Billerbeck
and cf. the corresponding expression,
rcoubv rqv aX"/]6etav,
Yalq. N'bfini
vide
by
quoted
Xlptf "IDy (do the
T
14,
lie),
,
Targum passages quoted by
in
Another aspect of the
is
,
relation
5
Schcettgen.
between Light and Darkness
touched
TB Tamid
.
.
(31 b) 32 a
iMEnnb
.
~-
!
ny
n*
1
I
]'
N NT
ishb^'/a
-
n o i^sy
"
iL"
i
JT''^-'
3^ T'ay
Ten questions
*b "IT/ON "UJ'n ~N nb^nsn
rrb -I/QN
rs-a
|nb
N
'^3^ ID
rosy nx n
n-'n-'n
TQ&*
Alexander of Macedonia ask the Elders of
[Among the questions was this:] Which was
created first, Light or Darkness? They answered: That subject
is not to be explained (i.e. must not be entered upon publicly).
The Rabbinic teachers regarded this question as belonging to the
subjects which were apt to lead into heretical, probabty dualistic
This is also hinted at in the sequel where it is stated,
views.
did
southern Palestine.
the
that
feared
Elders
that
Alexander,
if
obtaining an answer,
would have entered upon the speculations of the things 'above,
below, before and after' which were not permissible. The dictum
should he compared with the Mandaitic passages quoted above
p. 125 (the Light is older than the Darkness etc. ). The notions
expressed there were evidently not unknown to the Rabbis. Cf.
GenR
1 at.
1
2
3
4
op.
cit.
op.
cit.
op.
cit.
p.
334, i:
op,
cit.
p.
429.
s
op.
99 3
,
333.
p. 428.
cit.
125 s 141 4
,
p.
ii,
pp.
,
QV|po
334, 335,
pvS
Targ
Hiob 31 ", 34".
to
Lev 19 3C Deut 25 10 Jerem S', Ps 53 in
,
,
,
3
For
the
must be made
saving' reference
6
21
'Son
of the
notion
1
The Rabbinic conceptions
(=
not
Messiah)
on 5
to the discussion
judging but
and 12 3
27
1
.
of the Light of the Messiah, as
the
Light which surrounds the Messiah and which he mediates to the
righteous, often identified with the original Light which God detracted from the world on account of man's sins and preserved
2
1
are set forth exhaustively by Billerbeck.
for the righteous*
3
for a resume of
Similarly it suffices to refer to Billerbeck
the Rabbinic
(D^iy
H1N
btt>'
B
Tanh,
e
TB 'a&
of the expression 'Light of the World' or 'the
to the world'.
As 'the Light of the World'
use
comes
that
Light
r
bw
D^iy
e
M
1"li)
4, ii Gib,
hcf*lo$
31 b, (3) Israel Cant
are represented: (i)
(2)
R
The
first
The Holy One:
TV
man:
Sab 5
b, cf.
4
Tora
and the Temple TB Bab. Bap. 4 a, (5) Jerusalem GeiiR 59s,
a
(6) eminent saints and teachers, e.g. Yoh nan been Zakkai: Vifr.
14, fol.
5
a (to
Cant
1 3)
,
(4)
R. Nap. 25.
For an investigation into the specific connotations of the term
an investigation which must needs be based on Wetter's
cpwc
fundamental treatise on the subject 5
reference must be made
to the discussion on Jn 1235,36.
*--*
I
With
3
a
16
to
Jn
it
may be
on
3^~
21
possible to determine the exact bearing of Jn
preceding context. This bearing may be summed up as
the
follows
background of the widely ramified current ideas related
21
of which some examples have been given above,
:
The y.dc|J.o?, in the sense of the 'human world', does not
by nature and necessity belong to the eTriyeia, the lower, 'physical'
(1)
realities,
in
the
that
which
God
(2)
it
loves
lives,
the
which it has
and because of
or with
world,
identified
this love,
should not remain identified with the
world
itself.
he
sTtiyeia
wills
but
^
be saved
(3)
.
God
has
made
an act of love,
viz.
sent as a Divine gift
the world his only-begotten Son who in himself comprises all
Divine gifts and all Divine Efflux from the Divine world to the
to
He
earthly world.
1
Billerbeck
ii
2
Billerbeck
i
Billerbeck
i
3
IO
is
428.
151,
161
236
238.
4
cbwb
5
G. P. Wetter, Phss
27451.
'i\x
H.
Life and Light and Truth.
Fesiq R
resiq
149
N^D rnn JDBTI
Upsala and Leipzig 1915.
no
quoting
bx-}w -p chwb i\x
Odcberg.
(<I>QS),
36 3 and
a
ii
348.
3
146
The human
(4)
l6
~ 21
not being
world,
of one
essence with the
world, has in itself something latent which makes
sible for the human beings to receive the Divine gift.
earthly
This latent something
(5)
human world
receives
beings
nature
true
of
man; the
ideal
its
is it, that only a part of the human world is saved,
the Divine gift? The reason is, that only a few human
actuate the spiritual element in themselves. This activa-
termed 'do the
is
To
do works
'to
truth',
in
God'.
the preparation and condition for the
step from the terrestrial existence into the spiritual existence,
it
is
also the preparation and condition for 'believing'; only
(7)
first
i.e.
in
in
Why
(6)
tion
the
pos-
state belongs to the Divine world; its
to return to the Divine, to the Light.
is
object
is
it
those
(8)
with
'do the truth'
who 'do
The rise
the
arrival
is
the truth' can faith arise.
of faith in those
of the
Light
arrives into the world, those
and 'come
(9)
who do
the
in
who do
the truth
is
connected
World; when the Light
the truth recognize the Light,
to the Light'.
The Light coming
World, or the Light of the
fact, however, is not here the
into the
the Son
World,
main object of the teaching; one may ask, why the conception
of the Light of the World is introduced here at all. The question
is
not answered merely by referring to the doctrine of the Prologue 14,5)9. The object seems to be twofold: (a) the antithesis of light and darkness being intimately bound up with the
antithesis of righteousness and wickedness, of good deeds and evils
deeds, the terms 'light' and 'darkness' are used here in order to
emphasize the ethical aspect of human allegiance to one or the
other of the two kinds of life, of existence, of realities: the spiritual and the terrestrial; men hate the Light and love the Darkness because their deeds are evil; the evil-doers do not come to
of Man.
is
This
opposite direction, away from the
enunciated, that an evil-doer can never come
By
Light.
to the Light, or believe, or enter the spiritual world.
(b) The Light is used to express that spiritual force or that
the
Light,
this
spiritual
tend
they
it
in
the
is
from the Godhead through the Son, which can
recognized by them, even before they have
spiritual ascent or been born anew.
activity
reach
men and be
begun
their
The
Light into the Worlds entails a judgethis point Jn rejects the notion,
("H.
/tpiac?,
which was frequently expressed in Rabbinic arguments respecting
(10)
ment, a
arrival of the
NJ 1 "!.
On
2i
3i6
the relation between God's mercy and justice, or love and judgement, that the object of the son's arrival was the judgement of the
world.
Indeed, in this connexion Jn is best understood, if Jewish
terms and conceptions be applied. Those who have actuated the
truth in them, come to the Light, and eo ipso, go in under the
Divine Mercy and Love ["1DH or D^cm], and escape the judge-
ment; those who are carnally minded, the evil-cloers, identify
themselves with the world of Darkness, and thereby reject God's
Love and
under the Judgement.
enter
In the use of the term
1
judgement the threefold sense of discrimination (division, 'sifting' ),
2
This threefold sense, of
verdict and condemnation is present.
and the Rabbinic ("H.
attaches
both
to
the
Greek
course,
Kp'iaic,
The words
Jewish
-p-pj
oo xptvsTat of Jn 3 &, however, probably link with the
N%i? in the sense of 'is not the object of the attribute
l
of judgement,
the Son, who
1
]
in DID'.
This
come
is
corroborated by the fact that
judge the world, is at the same
the judge of the world, not merely as the one by their attitude
to whom men were immediately judged, but also as the one who
has
not
to
tim'e
'executes judgement' (Jn 5 2 7 sooafocv s'Scoxev aoT(7) /cptacv Trotetv).
This duplicity of 'escape from judgement in judgement' corresponds
very well with the Jewish usage of the |H, according to which
the TH, 'judgement' executed by the Holy One is defined as consistor E l'E, 'judgeing in two Divine relations to man: that of p
ment' or 'justice', and "1DH or Q^m, 'love' or 'mercy', in which
i
1
E. Carpenter,
JWr
442:
p.
effect of dividing his hearers into
his
claims
and those
who
ib.
in
l
This process of sifting' was itself
not; unbelievers had experienced it already; they
the ranks of the condemned (iii 16
18).
the truth entered the world it began immediately to
Believers needed
judgment.
had placed themselves
The"| language of Jesus had the immediate
classes, those who acknowledge
two opposite
rejected them.
it
When
443:
the seeing from
p.
the blind (with reference to Jn 9 30
Those whose
were
eyes
opened recognised it at once, like the first disciples when they found
the Messiah. Judgement of this kind was a natural discrimination. By their
own characters men were self-allotted to one of two opposing groups. Thus
though the Son was not sent into the world to judge it but to save it, he
immediately became the ground of its moral partition.)*
Cf. A. Loisy, Le Qitatrieme Evangile'1 p. 168:
L'auteur ne se lasse pas
de jouer stir les mots car il entend 'juger' et 'jugement' au triple sense de
separate
).
discernement, decision judiciaire et condamnation.
Cf. \V. Bauer, JEv* pp. 55 f.:
Dabei 1st xu
beachten,
und
i.=
2.
xpi'veiv
17
= Scheidung,
19
doppelsinnige
Sonderung
...
Ausdrucke sind:
dass auch
xpi'sic
Gericht, Verurteilung;
3 l6
148
- 21
He who by his attitude
HDX, 'truth' figures prominently.
towards God, by 'belief rUlEN 2 or obedience, has put himself
under the attribute of "DD is not judged. This Jewish usage, it
1
also
be surmised,
may
here adopted and applied to man's attitude
is
towards the Light.
significant that the contrast to 'doing evil' is not
but
'doing good'
'doing truth', and the contrast to the laying bare
of the former as 'evil' is not the making the latter manifest as
It
(ii)
is
'good' but as 'wrought in God'.
It
is
not because of good deeds
wish of having their good deeds made
manifest and publicly known and appreciated either by God or
men
that men 'come to the Light'.
'Doing the truth' is not
from
indeed
nor
the
equivalent with 'performing good deeds' but, as we have already
tried to express, with actuating one's true being or that residue of
essence that tends towards the realisation of one's true
spiritual
when met by the Light, there is an
an
aspiration upwards,
aspiration towards communion with God.
The goal is: that his deeds may be made manifest as wrought
in God.
In
being.
To
this
actuation,
what
understand
meant
is
by the expression
i'v
&s(p
which speak of J as doing
eipyaa|j,eva
the Father's works and of the believers as doing, through him, God's
works also: 6 ok Trar/jp 6 ev i[J,oi iisvcov TUOISI ta spya atkdc (14 TO );
suffices to recall the passages
it
6
TtaTYJp
epyaCea'Q'ai
T(j>
sjAot
TraTpoc
OSOD; (6
.
.
epya
tou
ovdj-Lau
spya TOD
sv
ia.
.
EpyaCstai xayw epyaCo[j,cu (5 '?); vj^as 8si
TOD sts^avto? [J.e (94); id spya a iyw TUOUO sv
apu
iwc;
[j.ou
au//jv
28
)
a[j//]v
JXOD
/ccatsuete
Xsyco
n
zaVwSivo? TTOiTjasi (14
works done in devotion
TTOIO),
of the
2
12
).
TI
ott.
[j.ot
o[j,tv,
)
^);
6
iva epyaCtofj-eD'a T
7coca>[xev
eya> sv
Ttatpl %al 6 zatTjp
T(7>
TrwcsDoiv si?
|xe
done
Tlie works
Ta spya, a syw
God' are the
'in
to the Divine Will, in unity with God,
has entered the spiritual world and become a spiritual
by him who
He
being.
believes in
(10
who
Him,
En
1
Cf.
j
'-'
Cf.
above
comes
by the Truth
the truth'
made
free
to the Light, the Son,
(8
3
2
from the bondage
)
the lower world, the darkness, and attains to the
srctysta,
Divine world,
'doeth
is
where
all
activity
31 " 2 and Box,
p.
138
is
an activity
Ezra Apocalypse
p.
'in
God'. 3
122 note on 7
Hence
84
.
f.
Cf. P. Gardner, The E'phcsian Gos/>el, pp. 271 ff.
There are certain
aspects in which religious and spiritual truth presents itself to the Evangelist
In the first place, the acceptance of truth seems to him an escape from bondage
3
:
.
into
a
srlorious
liberty.
The
truth shall
make YOU
free*: that
is,
.
.
union with
3'-2i
149
from 'doeth the truth' to 'deeds
wrought in God', pictures the whole process of spiritual attainment treated of in 33 20
from the initial actuation of the Divine spark in man, the response
vs.
21,
.
.
.
,
to the Light, the belief in the
Son of Man, the aspiration upwards
with and in himself, the
drawing man upwards
met by the Son's
world, the birth into the Kingdom of
of
Eternal Life and the glorious fulfilment
Heaven, the attainment
in a life consisting in an activity wholly in devotion and unity with
ascent
the
to
spiritual
Divine Will, with God. Thus Jn 33 2I may rightly be considered as comprising the fundamental elements of the whole Jn-ine
the
representation of the teaching of
1
J.
For an understanding of the dialogue of Jn 4 7~ 26 between J
and the Samaritan woman there are three different aspects to be
considered namely (i) the teaching on the living water (2) the
discourse on the true form of worship (3) the controversy between
the doctrine of J and the specific kind of religious belief represented
by the Samaritan woman, with a side-view on the Jewish religion.
The teaching on
#8st
8(opsav
zv?v
the living water begins with vs. 10:
zl
us iauv 6 Xsywv aoc* oo jxot x(t)scv,
.
.
.
-coo -O-soo, seal
ao av fl-myaas atkov, xai s3o)XV av aoc 55<op d>v. It is introduced by a reference to the 'gift of God'. We have already, in
2I
shown what an essential element the contreating of Jn 33
,
and that
Christ
gift forms in the Jn-ine salvation-doctrine,
class of conceptions which are viewed
to
the
belongs
Divine
of the
ception
it
shall
set
from the bondage of
free
you
sin
and death
.
.
Another
.
which runs, indeed, like a golden thread through
teaching of the Evangelist,
all Christian teaching, is devotion to the Divine Will.
I came not to do mine
.
.
own
will,
the Master's
the
but the will of
life
which
is
.
Him
that sent
seen not only
Me
is
an expression of the spirit of
of the historic Jesus, but in
in the acts
of all His true followers, from that day to this. Cf. ib. pp. 268, 269:
clear that in such passages as these (Jn 8 s2 18 87 14 17 14) the reference is
to any verbal teaching, however lofty, but to the faith which unites the
lives
It is
not
disciples
life
to
eternal,
the
that
Master, and makes of the two one mystical body
they should know thee, the only true God, and
.
.
.
This
is
Him whom
thou didst send, even Jesus Christ (17 3 ). To knoiu in this passages is clearly not
to be aware of, or to be convinced of, the existence of God and Christ, but to
ha ve communion with them through the Spirit.
This is more in accordance
with the interpretation arrived at above than e.g. that of Bauer, JEv"1 p. 57
t
which the 'doing the truth' of 3 21 means
Gotteserkenntnis eingiebt.
ace. to
Cf. W.
Programm
1
ein
haften, teils
Bauer,
JEv-
p.
59:
Am
ein Wirken,
richtigsten fasst
man
wie
es die
die Perikope als
Verkundigung des Evangelisten mit ihren
apologetisch-polemischen Zielen auf.
der gesamten
wahre
teils lehr-
Jn47-i$
150
under the aspect of xaTa(3aaie. Here the conception is represented
as a notion familiar to the Samaritan woman, the right knowledge
and understanding of which, however, she lacked. The use of
the owpsa TOD Oeoo as a technical term
The Rabbinic comments upon the
is
presupposed.
OT
God
references to
as
the giver of various gifts, especially attached to passages where
God occurs as the subject of the verb ]ro (give), evolve the conception of the rtJPC, pi. P1JP, of God. The gift, or act of giving,
so/vjv, is the Tora, or the Divine promulgation of the Tora.
is
For this the specific term
]!"), the giving of the Tora,
1
TiaT
mm
developed.
As
typical passages the following
GcnR
6
7
quoted.
:
rvmNttrn rrnnn -n
sbiyb mrro "n: uria"
'-^i
mi
b&
ra m--tr/3- '-m rrjro
vrtw
may be
'soii;
r/a
"snv
',"
~i"^
n-nnn zro'iMrn
n^sn
33-- ',T
Yoh a nan
said: Three things were given to the world as a gift,
and they are these: Tora, the Lights and the Rain
R. A zarya,
e
in the name of R. Y huda after R. Simon said: 'Peace also [was
e
a
e
R. Y hosu
in the name of R. N haemya
given as a gift]'.
said: 'Even Salvation
R. Tanhuma said: 'Even the land of
Israel'
And some say: 'Even vengeance on Rome'
Our
R.
'
.
.
.
.
',
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
teachers say: 'Even Mercy
R. Ishaq bar Miryon said: 'Even
the division of the Great Sea' (referring to Exod. 14 6 2I 22 ).
.
.
.
.
'
1
TB B I'tikop
e
5 a; a Baraifya:
n"apn
-3D3
.
.
Jn47-i5
Mek
27 e (li^ro 10):
mi:rj msiTa E^EU; '"mo"
3n3
151
ONI p-no"
'
1
1
::
JON
znb
n3D3 son
p
TO IN -Nnv
''iTur;
1
p-iNiTa z"~-i"n
"?'23
'-
r,TaN' b^-ur"
i
i
v
R. Sim'on bsen lohai said: [Precious are the afflictions, for] three
and the nations of the world
good gifts are given to Israel
[
them greatly
and they are given only together with
and
these
tribulations;
they are: Tora, the Land of Israel and the
desire
]
future
Tvorld.i>
Sifre 35 d 36 a
Mi&r. Tatin. 35:
42,
^;N Tinj- ^"p/a- n-.v
nnx niin
.cD
'And
n^n" :^
"Siz;
-i
1
1
'
^b
'
i
3'/2"
.
.
.
'Vijn
n
~r
j
oD 2n-N
'33
na
rn"--"-2
give you the rain of your land in his due season,
and the latter rain (Dent. 11 M); 'And I will give unto
you': that is, / myself not through an angel and not tJtrougli. the
And whence do we know that one blessing was given
messenger
to Israel, in which all the blessings were included (comprehended)
(i.e. so that nothing else could be desired or so that nothing was
felt as wanting).
[Answer: From a consideration of the words of
Eccl. 5 I0
where] it is said: 'He that loveth silver shall not be
satisfied with silver'.
The idea is that the Divine gift, which is
a gift coming directly from God, implies complete and permanent
satisfaction, in contrast to other gifts and blessings which leave
the receiver unsatisfied.
Cf. Jn 4 3. H; ^dc 6 TUVCOV sv, TOD oScaoc:
the
will
I
first
rain
.
.
.
,
J
TODTOO O^fjGSt. TtdXtV. 0? S'oCV
OD [AT] Sc([)7]aeL sic TOV aiwva.
TV
Qidd 65
c
Jtl"(]
SV.
TOD D(7.TO<; OD S"(W 5(00(0
aDT(j),
San A. 23d:
did the Holy One give to Israel: [vis. to be]
humble
These moral
compassionate,
(modest) and charitable.
Three good
gifts
gifts are really considered as inherent in the gift of the Tora,
since accruing from the observance of the Tora.
It is noticeable that the Divine gifts are thought of as tended
to
Israel
exclusively.
It
would
seem
that the very term,
'gift',
Jn 47-15
152
of a special favour bestowed on Israel only.
may originally have been offered to the whole
implied the
The Divine
gift
world, to
nations, but Israel alone accepted
notion
all
in
the
to
refers
it
sent
voo?
it.
which God has sent'
p. 74 1. 13 and p. 75 1. 2, where
down from heaven to the human
For the conception of 'the
Corp. Henn. IV 5, cf. above
gift (Stopea)
world. 1
The
knowledge of the Divine
right
Gift
at
is
once identified
The true
with the knowledge of J.: xai U eattv 6 Xeyoov aoc
Divine Gift, acr. to Jn, is mediated only by J as the Messiah
26 and the
Messenger (454). Cf. the Rabbinic refutation of the
(4
.
.
.
)
of mediation
idea
(angel) or
of the Divine
the Messenger,
by
gift
above
either
by
a celestial being
p. 151.
The import
sa-av
TL?
.
also be surmised that the discourse on the Divine
may
It
Jn 3
of the passage: si "(jSei? TYJV Scopsav TOO $oo, %al
l6
XsycDV aoi, ... is really identical with that of Jn 3
6
36,
27
attributed
A
utterance.
man
to
John the Baptist,
it
be
); only one man (avS-pw^o?), however,
(3
from heaven, namely Messiah (3 28 ), the Messenger
the Son (335); and he, on the other hand, has received all
The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into
21
received
2
(3
relates to the present
(av^pwjro?) can receive nothing, except
given him from heaven
has
gift in
4),
gifts:
The Son comprises in himself all the
hence
no-one
can
receive any gift from heaven except
gifts,
he
him.
But
who
comes
to the Son and believes in him,
through
receives that which gives access to all Divine gifts: the Eternal
6
3
Probably in the background, behind
(Celestial, Divine) Life (3
).
each reference, there lies also the idea that the mediator and the
his hand.*
(335, cf. 133.)
divine
in
gifts
in
Jn 3
l6
the
The Divine
'Living Water
from
the
The
(i)
instance
last
are
one,
a thought clearly expressed
and 63S.4M8.53ff-
.
well
given by the Messiah is here viewed as the
living water is put in contrast to the water
with which the Samaritan woman was concerned.
gift
The
features that
seem
to
convey some intentional meaning are:
the well of the Samaritan
woman
is
Jacob's well,
i.e.
the well
Samaritans by .their 'father Jacob', (2) the well is deep,
does
not give lasting satisfaction to those who draw
its
water
(3)
from it, (4) the living water that J confers gives lasting satisfaction,
given to the
(5)
he who receives the
1
The passage
Bauer, J
Ev-
p.
64.
is
called
gift
of the living water receives also a
attention
to
in
nnnexion
with Jn 4 10 also
by
Jn47-i5
153
of water, but this is a well within himself,
water become the sources of eternal life.
well
its
For the conceptions of the
or
of
water'
En
may
and the 'well or fountain
and of the 'drinking'
'water'
a symbolical sense,
in
spring
of the water or the 'drawing' from the
passages
and
this well
(6)
the following parallel
'well',
be deemed important.
And in that place (heaven) I saw the fountain of
was inexhaustible: and around it were many
which
righteousness
fountains of wisdom; and all the tliirsty drank of them, and were
The water seems here in the first place to
filled with wisdom.*
be righteousness, i.e. right living. This is, however, really identical
with wisdom, since wisdom is contained in righteousness and righteousness in wisdom.
the power and wisdom of the Elect
/ En 49 (describing
is
For
^visdom
because the Elect
poured out like zvater
One):
One standeth before the Lord of Spirits
and in him dwells tlie
Here water is clearly set forth as a symbol
spirit of wisdoms
of wisdom. Important is the parallel of the wisdom as inherent
in the Elect One, who is thought of as the one who mediates to
men what Divine attributes he has received.
/ En 96 ^ Woe to you who drink water from every fountain.
For suddenly shall ye be consumed and wither away, because ye
have forsaken tlie fountain of life. (Moral life, right religion).*
Here the fountain of life, implying right living and faith, is contrasted with fountains giving water which represents false knowledge and evil deeds and leads to destruction.
I
48
l
.
.
/
En
65 "f-
(Enoch
tells
.
.
.
.
but as for thee,
Noah:)
my
son,
and He has
pure
the
and
will
among
holy,
preserve thee
those
who
on
the
dwell
and
earth,
amongst
from thy seed shall
a
the
and
zvit/tout
number for
proceed
fountain of
righteous
holy
the
Lord of
knows
Spirits
destined thy name to be
_that
tliou
.
ever.-*
The
art
.
.
.
.
.
fountain here symbolises the procreation of generations
men for ever, i.e. into eternity. The ex-
of righteous and holy
pression recalls Jn~3
xvyyy?
/
Enoch
58atO
!
4:
aXXouievoo
En 229
V
to 5oo)p, 6 otoao) at>uj>, YsvTyas-at, sv
sic,
CCDVJV
atowov.
Cf.
below
p.
aouo
168.
In the Seal or the Place of the spirits of the deceased,
beholds the division made for the spirits of the righteous,
which there is the bright spring ofwaterv. The spring of water
here represents the eternal effluence of life enjoyed by the spirits
of the righteous in the hereafter. But there is a counterpart in
in
the
water
of punishment: those
who have on
earth drunk of the
Jn 4 7-'
.154
5
water of sensual pleasures shall in the spiritual state see this water
changed into a consuning water of punishment.
i En 67 S Those waters shall in those days serve for the kings
and the mighty and the exalted, and those who dwell on the earth,
for the healing of the body but for the punishment of the spirit*
cf.
67 ",
*
3.
And
En 174
[i
waters*
the
(variant:
they (the angels) took
waters of life), refers
me
to
to
the
the living
cosmical
water.]
In the so-called Sadoqite Fragments, emanating from a certain
Jewish circle in Damascus 'the well of waters of life' or 'the spring
of living water' is also a fixed term. The well is explicitly identified with the Tpra, but Tora is also here connected with (Eternal)
Life and with Knowledge, Understanding or Wisdom. Further the
of the 'well' is brought into relation with that of the
Teacher of Righteousness in the end of days, i.e. the Messiah
who when he comes will tell us all things (Jn 4 2 $).
conception
Zad. Fragm. 9
zsb
such
(rec. B):
"IP-
n--,->-r3
And
28
(will
bx
z3":>->"
rr.S'aa
be] the case of
all
who
cx-on br>b
reject the
mn
"jr-/2:n
commandments
of God, and forsake them and turn away in the stubbornness of
their heart. So are all the men who entered into the new covenant
Damascus and yet turned backward and acted
and
treacherously
departed from the spring of living waters.
in
land
the
of
t>
Zad. Fragm. 5
!
2
3
7X-3-0 -,rp-3 nx bN
But
with
them
that
:
msaa
:rn
zrra
Tima
held
fast
by the commandments
-IEX
bx
'-'i
of
God
[who were left of them] God confirmed the covenant of Israel for
ever
and they digged a well of many ivaters: and he that
.
.
.
despises
1
them shall not
Schechter,
live.-*
Fragm. Jeiv.
Sect,
i,
p.
19
11.
3234,
Charles,
Ap. and
Pseitdep.
ii,
p. 820.
*
Schechter,
Pseudep.
ii,
p.
Fragm. Jew.
806.
Sect,
i,
p.
3
11.
12
f.,
16
f.,
Charles,
A$. and
47-15
Jn
Zad. Fragm. 83
">':
a
oizp'o-i
--"->
I*-
to'i
"-Tjj-n "2
-/ON
T^N m-nn
a'n-tf
a"" ~r
HN
God remembered the
up from Aaron men
"
11
"
a->:rN- n^-.ai "-N
minn
in ir-i-m
-2'i
--nn
ppin^n
-.::"'
NTI -Nun
N-p -EN pur/- y-io
'rren" --N -2, an -;&*:
"-N
"i-.i,v,
-
natz; in
-
p
--
- n-'-.-NS
men: and he made them
'A
-tt'a
son
22 n/ca
.o-'-G'1
raised
:^:
N-vtfi
\2J-M-
an-,T" y-.r-n yp
But
11
1
a^NS-pn
iNtt
155
-^" -"
p-rsr;
-.vi"
1
N'~
covenant with the forefathers: and he
of understanding, and from Israel wise
to hearken and they digged the ivell.
well the princes digged, the nobles of the people delved it
the order of the law giver (Nuni 21 lS ).' The well is the Tora
by
and they who digged it are the captivity of Israel who went forth
out of the land of Judah and sojourned in the land of Damascus,
all of whom God called princes.
For they sought him and their
was
not
turned
in
the
mouth of one. And the Lawback
bough
is
he
who
giver
interprets the Law, concerning whom Isaiah said:
'He bringeth forth an instrument for his work (ha 54 6)'. And
J
the nobles of the people are those who came to dig the well, by
the precepts in the which the Lawgiver ordained that they should
walk throughout the full period of the wicked[ness]. And save
them they shall get nothing until there arises the Teacher of
Righteousness in the end of the days.
The same complex
in conwisdom knowledge Tora
nexion
with
Wisdom
6
otat,
auTfj)
the
symbol of water
is
found
in
Sir. 15
'~3
(How
to be attained.*)
i.
6
<po(3o6|j,svoc y.opwy TCOITJOSL atkd,
TOO
2. zed DTra
e*('y,py.rq<;
VO^OD xaTaXTjjj^sTat, aur/jv.
obg
is
pjr/jp, xai
&><;
YOVYJ 7uap6eve!a
TrpoaSsisrat,
aurdv
3
aurov aprov auvsaecoc, %al SScop aoa>iag Trottasi aoirdy.
*For he that
feareth the Lord doeth this (scil. meditates on Wisdom, etc. as set
7), and he that taketh hold of the Law findetli
meet him as a mother, and as a youthful wife
will she receive him; and she will feed him witli the bread of
understanding, and will give him the zvater of knowledge to drink.*
forth in Sir. 14
And
her.
Cf. the
of
she
2
2
will
'bread of
life'
Jn 6
in
35
ft-
closely related to the 'water
life.
1
Schechter, op.
cit.
ii,
p.
6,
Charles, op.
cit.
ii,
p.
812.
Jn 47-15
156
In
Wisdom of
Toxparopog
OY]<;
Sol. 7
2
is called:
arcdppota r/Jc TOD TTOCVa clear effluence of the glory of the
5:
oocpia
siXixpivvjc,
Almighty.
well-known that the symbolism of the ''fountain' and
plays an important role in the Odes of Salomon?:
Od. Sol. VI 2
S.
For there went forth a stream and became
a river great and broad: it swept away everything, and broke up
and carried away 3 the Temple. 9. And the restraints [made] by
men were not able to restrain it, nor the arts of those whose
10. For it spread over the face
[business it is to] restrain water.
of the whole earth, and it filled everything,
u. All the thirsty
upon eartJi were given to drink [of it]: all thirst was done a^vay
and quenched: 12. For from the Most High the draught was given.
13. Blessed then are the ministers of that draught, who have been
entrusted with that water of His: 14. They have assuaged the dry
15. And
lips, and the will that had fainted they have raised up:
souls that iv ere near departing they have held back from death:
16. And limbs that had fallen they have straightened and setup:
17. They gave strength to their coming and light to their eyes.
1 8.
For every one knew them in the Lord, and they lived by tJic
water an eternal life ()&&9 )x jx_ico c,^y>c).
It
is
1
'water
the
.
Od. Sol. XI
And
5.
I
was established
upon the rock of
where he had set me up. 6. And speaking waters (jUL^b jx*:)
drew near my lips from the fountain of the Lord (|;JOJ OJ\Q^O)
plenteously. 7. And I drank and was inebriated with living tvater
truth,
that
doth
one
without knowledge,
not
Most High
my
received the
Od. Sol.
die
(^A-sb
God.
dew
14.
JJj
but
My
JL* };>c)
and
my
inebriation
was not
forsook vanity and turned to the
eyes were enlightened, and my face
I
(JJl).
XXX'
1
i.
Fill
ye water
for yourselves
of the Lord
for
from the living
has been
ji,QZo)
opened
(!;*>?.}*
to you: 2. And come all ye Thirsty and take a draught; and
rest by the fountain of the Lord.
3, For fair it is and pure; and
it
gives rest to the soul. 4. Much sweeter is its water than honey;
fountain
it
Vide G. Bert, Das Evangeli-um des Johannes pp. 85, 86: das Wasser als
Bild der erquickenden, der belebenden Kraft der Wahrheit des Wortes.
R. Harris Od. and Ps. of Sol. ii p. 233 (i pp. 12, 13).
Another rendering: 'and brought (everything) to'. Cf. R. Harris, op. tit.
1
;|
ii
p.
234,
4
J.
H. Bernard, The Odes of Solomon pp.
Harris, Od. and Ps. of Sol. i p. 73,
Rendel
55, 57.
ii
p.
366.
Jn47
'5
157
and the honeycomb of bees is not to be compared with it. 5. For
it flows from the lips of the Lord, and from tlie heart of the Lord
is its name.
6. And it came unlimited and invisible; and itntil it
zvas set in the midst they did not knozv it.
7. Blessed are they
who have drunk therefrom; and rested thereby.
abundantly clear that the flowing stream
of which the Ode speaks is the knowledge of the Lord, as it has
been equally recognized in Ode vi.)
The emphasis on 'rest' in this ode deserves notice. It might
not be too far-fetched to compare the allusion in Jn 4 6 to the
(R. Harris says:
giving
to
rest
the
It is
wearied
one
as
of the functions of the true
well.
Od.
and
XXVIII
Sol.
their bitterness I
15. ... I
was carrying water
endured by
my
in
sweetness.
my right hand,
The
possession
of the 'water' expresses the consciousness of peace and of being
guarded which is enjoyed by him who has attained to communion
2
with the eternal
life.
Cf. Jn 14 7 1635.
the
symbolical use of 'water' in Rabbinical literaregards
to be taken into account in relation to Jn 4, Billerbeck
As
ture
ad 4 10
exhaustive.
is
seldom explained
He
points out that the Rabbinic teachers
an allegorical, symbolical sense the expression
D^Pi D^D (living water) occurring in OT. On the other hand, C^D
(water) alone frequently received an allegorical interpretation, somein
being referred to the Holy Spirit, most often to the Tora.
a
contained in the third book of the Tora are
/afcoj)
likened unto living water ace. to Gen R 64 7.
The words of the
Tora are like a well of living water, ace. to Targ. on Cant 4 5,
times
H
The
1
]
Cant
R
4
2
3 o.
With reference
House of Libation (n2Nl'n
to the
rP2,
lit.,
house
'
of water) R. Y e hosu a b. Leui says: it is called
thus, because from there they drew the Holy Spirit (TY Siikka
55 a, Gen R 70s, P esiq.
Gen 29 2 'for out of that well they
1).
watered the flocks' is an allusion to the drawing of the Holy Spirit
of drawing
scil.
R
:
1
Gen 16 10 'And Isaac's servants digged in the valley, and found there a
well of springing water', refers to the third book of the Tora, Leviticus, because
this book is full of great HaJsEoI>
!
'D "i.liD D^D CVO HfC Dt ;
:
1
Nip"
2
runrtf
vS'S
DT,
anan n"o
J?B
""fin
1233
[cf.
mm
m:^n xbv
INS INS mina airc o^cys n"c pnv
Pirqe 'Atsp., Pccrceq R. MJir, 6
6 ft]
YN
nilPH C2
Jn 47-iS
158
Hama
R
H a nina
OT
simile of the
The
70s).
(Gen
retained
are
the
the
of
water
for
of
Spirit
outpouring
outpouring
in the Rabbinic interpretations, e.g. Targ to Is a 44 3.
ace. to R.
bar
The manner
which water
in
an important
forms
passage
ideas
parasa "Eqceb, 37
in Si/re,
used symbolically
is
to
parallel
cd
in
ZTN- DN
rroi
---in
z^br/a
nzr'ara
T'i3
bzoi zrv^svab en
-rczi
NE-'/a
rr<a
--in-
v/an
T'
"*~
-vo~n
~/aN2
n~-,n
n-n
"is
ZTV/a'.zro
'~Zi~7
)
z->br/a
nino --p-b run
~zn N
qN ZIN ~3 -zb
'{""'"/a
(is)
to
life
world,
as
it
z^
^D -/QN;^ coir?
a^
-pv/a
z^rroxia
-"-i"
1
The words
the
zra
z^n
-2 -pN: ai:r/a N'/aan n
zr-
is
:
d
mm
'-
for the 7 ora
Classical
4.
1
rv/a
rvab
Jn
z^zj'n-
Tora are likened unto water. Just as water
world, so the words of the Tora are life to the
of the
the
is
written (Prov. 4 22 ):
'For they
unto those that find them and health to
all
(my words)
their flesh'.
are
And
life
just
as water brings the unclean out of his impurity 2 so the words of
the Tora- bring man from the evil way to the good way, as it is
,
The Tora
written (Ps 197):
soul
(i.e.
given)
freely
causing
it
of the
to turn into the
Lord
good
perfect, converting the
way). Just as water (is
is
freely to the world so the words of the Tora (are given)
to the world, as it written (Isa'bS 1 }:
Ho, every one that
come ye
to the waters, [and he that hath no money,
and
eat, yea, come, buy wine and milk without
ye, buy,
and
without
money
Just as water is priceless so the words
price].
of the Tora are priceless. And just as [one may say:] does not water
make the heart of man glad, so [one may say:] do not the words
of the Tora make [the heart] glad? The scripture says (Cant I 2 ):
thirsteth,
come
'for
thy love
1
is
better than wine'.
Translated Billerbeck,
ii
p.
435.
2
Here should perhaps be inserted with Yalq ha-i/iMaf:., Ps 19 28 and Isa 55 J
Midras Tanntfim, p. 42: so the words of the Tora bring the unclean out of
,
their impurity; as it is written (Ps 119 lw ): 'Thy word is very pure. Just as
water makes man's soul return (i.e. restores, refreshes it), as it is written (Prov.
25 2B): 'As cold waters to a thirsty soul', so the words of the Tora make man's
soul return,
ctc.
Jn 47-15
Another feature appears
>-
b5
'z~
ma;
"]bi""
Z'p'/ab
nsr
m-n na-
z v/ab
z'p-/a
TB
in
Ta a mj>
-b'i"/a:
z^'/a
prvr/a
in "-ft ^oa to:s
159
rrab
rr/a
7
a
l
"-N -a
"b
-r<a-,b
-i
"/as
z^/ab *.zb N'/as
qs ~"a:
-ps n--,n --,a~
p'a->->pry/a
'~
N: :n
H a nina
bar 'Hi said: 'Why are the words of the Tora likened
unto water, as it is written (Isa 55 ): 'Ho, every one that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters!' [Answer:] In order to teach you that
R.
]
and goes to a low place so
words of the Tora remain only with one whose mind is low
(humble), i.e. one who does not compare himself with, or fix his
attention on, those below him, but fixes his attention on what is
above him, viz. the Holy one, and recognizes that the Tora is a
gift from on high.
just as the water leaves a high place
the
Since 'water' in general, or in its good sense, symbolises the
true teaching, knowledge, wisdom, which is the Tora, false doctrine,
may be symbolized by 'evil water' or 'other water'. To the pas-
sages quoted by Billerbeck the following
may be added:
P
z-
1
^
""'--" ^ nrr^n
1
V
R. Sim'on baen Yohai said: 'Drink waters out of thine own cistern
[and running waters out of thine own well] (Prov 5 5): 'that is,
T
in thy cistern and do not drink impure
waters and be attracted by the words of the Minim.
The original 2
of
this dictum is, no doubt, that a man cannot receive
meaning
the truth, or the right doctrine, unless he have received the Light
drink of the waters that. are
from within, unless he have a well of living water within him.
There is a variant, or an addition, to this passage, recorded
in
Midras Tannaim
"Niia
biz;
nrviZJ
z^'/a'/a
V
M
R. Sim'on bsen
cistern
(bortzfcaf
(bor^ce'ka)
1
s
p.
:
e
42
""la'-a
z^'/a
nriiz;
T/a-iN
irora
p
"ra
'i
nasya said: 'Drink waters out of thine own
drink of the waters of thy Creator
is,
that
.
Translated Billerbeck, ii p. 435.
has been interpreted as meaning: 'drink of the water that
.
-
in
It
town,
i.e.
go first
study anywhere you like'.
thy
3
Cf.
to
the
Friedmann's Sifre, pisqa
is
with thee
teacher of thy native place, then you
48.
may
Jn 47-15
160
Cant R.
1 7
pins [rrTT'/a ITV,] ;r/a -Nb-/a
-nx z~x tfa nrc/a mnicb nb3
nn-iraa nrrzra [ma-33
rib--
-3"b
-!3~"a
E
biro
np-'ay i&<ab
-
'
rv/a*:]
[bur/a]
srrin
nrrn Nbi irarj-
rr-ia
bana ban
poi)
(nb
~I"N
a- pin "a
"mE"
"p
pbTi ban iVr-inn [nniBi nb-ra]
a-riD~ n-;in b3 mio b" rrabr T/a? bx'ob
[iu?p"i]
nr/a'/a
b^'a'/a
H a ntna
said; there is a likeness: a well, deep and containing
water cool and sweet and good, and no creature was able to drink
out of it [until there] came a man who knitted rope to rope and
cord to cord and drew (water) from it, and then everybody began
R.
drink.
So [it is with the Tora, which is also likened
from word to word, and from likeness to likeness Solomon
draw and
to
to a well:]
[proceeded and was able to] stand upon (i.e. to reveal) the secret
of the Tora as it is written: 'the similitudes of Solomon, the king
of Israel'
l
(Prov.
through his similitudes Solomon stood
r
)
[for
upon the words of the Tora].
Yalq,
n
480 (P'siq R)
ii
n-r,n -na~ q
fo nbrab-o =r:r,j
bn:;
E^-pna
-r/22
ZT-a a^T.T
a-ujysi
rr^yri;
~^ ~n /ab rnnbn
-
rib^abia zprns
1
zr'cn n/a
TIUJ-
cvn
.
.
.
"'on
cai2?
n-abr:
n-o
Tnai
ij-iir
n"-r
so the words of the Tora
Exod.
[as
20] 'From heaven
as
the
waters
descend
in drops and
Just
are made into numerous rivers, so the words of the Tora, (are
a
a
received) 'two H lakob to-day and two H lakoh to-morrow', until
Just as the waters are given
arc given from above,
I did talk with you '.
it
.
from above
is
written,
.
becomes like a springing fountain.
(Cf. Jn 4 7.)
With regard to the Mandaitic use of the term 'water' it was
shown above, pp. 55 58, that 'water of Life' or 'living water'
it
(the Tora)
symbolises
the
i>
engendering effluence from the Spiritual World,
the
House of
'living water'
!
Life.
may
Some
other instances of the use of 'water' and
be adduced here.
The Great King of Light
the 'Sender of the living water'. 1
An 'olive rod' of living water is given to the Messenger by the Father,
the Life 2 and the Messenger in his turn gives to the faithful 'swords'
is
,
1
-
GR II 2
GR IV'i
56"
83
l
'
(Pet G3
a
7' 8
20
(Pet 82
)
'
X
21
)
fcosNTty
\xnNnN2Nl
Jn 47-iS
and
'spears' of living
lower
of the
powers
fire'
living
of his
water 1
161
with which to overcome the .inimical
The demiurg receives 'water and
,
world.
from the Father,
own 2
-
order to be able to create a world
in
the 'water' being thought of not as a mere cosmical
element but as the principle of creative life emanating from the
source of Life. The Life 'creates a son and puts him in the Jordan
,
came from the Life'. 3 From the original
great Jordan of Living Water is poured out upon the
Living Water that
of
the
Light
and from
First world,
and
is
Water
arise.
out
poured
of
the
water a second Jordan emanates
this living
the second World. 4
upon
the
Jordans
of
beings
the
From
world
the Living
in
question
5
The
assimilation or reception of the water of life is naturally
expressed as a 'drinking'. 'Of that water you shall drink when
thirsty'
the
;
efflux
from the Living Water on Tibil will serve
thee as water.
The term 'fountain' or 'well' of life is frequent. This term is
connected with the conception of the right faith or teaching: the
of Life'. 7
'doctrine
sage: 'This
GR
GR
GR
1
'-'
n
GR
4
6
ib.
XV 6
319 17
X, 241
".
(Pet 316
2a
(Pet 239
18
3t
X, 240
' 1
'
35
'
12 ' 14
x"n
)
III 69 7
and
-20
j
24
).
(Pet 239
8 ~ 10
)
NVVT Krr,802 ncpxi nt&'BJob
vX"n
pi
!
Important as a parallel to Jn 3 4 is the paslife which sprang up from the place
the fountain of
is
smss
"
502 Nip
K-nxtt'i
iin
'
(Pet 69,
GR 1X2
70).
235 (Pet 234
1B -23
)
pn nrcn SOXD U2 Tpx"n wi^ NTPDI m"i sin
mvxi xin NTTIS"" ]inwxn pd> ^rpwoi N^NIN: ^"i^ ]in nj^i
tf'D'acxB'
N^HDvsn
N^S
N'nDVt3 3
<|
nxpDiji
n^Di xp^si
"jin
N^TiN
PNt&n^D
N~ID
N\s~nnb sin
Nnm&'ira
GR
GR
11
7
.
The
out
III
12
(Pet 238
sXV2\xpn
p
N^TIN^
s^sDnsp N
p^i
]irpN:pcn
)
N^DI S^IZCND
1:2 jirwia'ssa
Life placed itself in the midst of the fountains of water that
from
it;
and
27451.
JIH^ID
4
Nn\x?oiN p sn^DSD
11 -' 6
in
its
splendour dwelled
doctrine (or: words, speech), in which
II
n^on
92
89,
X 240-
]iDntfy
nrmxn
11
H. Odebcrg.
it
clad
(lit:
itself.
sat)
the
name
&
were poured
of the living
1
62
Jn47-i5
we might
that
of Life,
drink
1
of this fountain of
In this
life'.
passage the fountain of life is identified with the Messenger: the
Good one, the Founder of the Original Secret, the Life that arose
from the Life, the Kusta that was from the beginning in the be2
In another passage the believers praise the Son, the
ginning.
Messenger, for the life and the teaching given them from the Life,
saying: Thou didst descend and made us dwell by the fountains
Thou pouredst out into us and filled us with thy Wisdom,
thy Knowledge and thy Goodness. Thou shewedst us the way
of
life.
on which thou earnest from the House of Life. 3 In Mandaitic,
thus, whatever secondary symbolical connotations may inhere in
4
the term,
living water
primarily denotes the efflux of life from
the World of Life into the lower world. Hence it is quite natural
that the 'living water' is identified with the upper water of Gen 1
above pp. 55 58), and put in Juxtaposition to Light, Living
(cf.
5
Fire, Spirit and Mana.
MLi 77 " (Qolasta 45)
p rro iX-TWin x"rn Ninx
3
'
k
Notice the word K20
which corresponds
-
MLi
p
3
pi
Kirn
MLi
38 9
GL
HJiD n^D'J
Hebrew y20
Greek aXXoni (LXX
vX"n
p
Pr
18 4
:
above
(cf.
p.
]irn
1.
19)
x
k
JWWDI
nDNDiy ss^ni
N^^CNDD
i
JD nsn^ni; rmsn Niniy
17
1II36 564 24>!B (Pet 11G )
^wn
l|
\sn "jxmDNis
NHDNT n,TEn N^n X^Dl WTIX inXD
"
light, e.g. three fountains
MLi 148,
JDI
where
1
of Living Water from which I took (received) victory ?
In MLi there occur references to several fountains of
life
is
the Jordan
or fountains of
three fountains and seven fountains yI/Z/265.
4
Also the expression \vhite water* occurs, but this is probably
evolved as an antithesis to the black water (GR 12 1 " 32 3I) ).
r-
160
dv
(Qolasta 24)
]o
N^n n^2
Cf.
&ari tOTn NHISONO in
77 1 (Qolasta 45)
NtotanDi
-4
"jsriDDVi
corresponding to the
to the
7G a>1
p
later,
and
1E -
MJoh XIII, 56 20 (T 51"-")
^vonxn .^DD juiom
mnxji .smnjb ^rn
N^DiX am:::
^vom
n\xn NII: by N^rpvx
.
N^VI
.
.
wish ]i:inx
xrK\xn JOI
k
They brought living water and threw it into the chaotic water; they brought
shining light and threw it into the dark darkness
they brought the living fire
and threw it into the consuming fire; they brought the spirit, the pure Mana,
and threw it into the worthless bodv.
.
.
.
Jn 47-iS
The Living Water
thesis
'water'
belonging
This latter
lower world.
T Jtom
e
the
Mandaean
also in
evil,
the
Lower Water or
Hebrew fhom the attri-
identified with the
is
From
1
I 2 7.
of Genesis
literature has as its anti-
realm of darkness and
the
to
163
.
the
butive tahem, tahma, tahme (here translated 'chaotic' or 'of Chaos')
is evolved.
synonym for 'the chaotic water" is 'the black water'.
A
Instances
of the
terms
of these
use
128.
58) 82,
PP- 55
are already given above,
of living water have their
2
The 'fountain of
'fountains of black water'.
1
The
'fountains
counterpart in the
black water is 'deep'. 3
water'
2
above
cf.
n.
129
ff.,
In
For the expression 'drink of the chaotic
on its significance cf. above pp. 58 11.
and
57;
p.
i.
GR V 3
there
is
a relation of the condition of the spirits of
This
Christian believers, kept in the Watchhouse of Christ.
is
and
since
it
with
shows
familiarity
dependence
passage
important,
the
upon thoughts and expressions occurring in the Fourth Gospel.
Thus there are allusions to Christ as the shepherd and his followers
the herd (Jn 10 ^H), as the giver (or, at least, promiser) of
8
'water' to the thirsty (Jn 4 I0 J 4,
as the one, who said: 'all
),
has been given into
hands' (Jn 335, 637 e,a.), to the words of
as
73M
.
my
2
Jn 34, possibly also to Jn 2 9 ('three days') and 10 *. 9. The
context in which these allusions occur shows, further, that the
T
,
Fourth Gospel with which the Mandseans were confronted belonged
were
to the holy scriptures of the Christian circles to which they
in
4
opposition.
1
-
3
4
Cf. the quotation
GR
GR
GR
V, 154
28
from Lev.R^JlT. above pp. 140
158 20
,
'
f.
21
.
V, 16l35ff.
187
188 22 (Pet 1S4 8
*
NmNEND
/ID
N"i pvspao
N'
^NS
NttN"
1
vXiplCN
nnN'ixro IT.XIH
1S7'
'in
byi
)
N1NH3
fDlONSNl
PMDW wh
NONH
JNINO
8
NH^D
xTii ^jnND N"pnsi
sni3Ntoi
k
^^XD
N1H
cvX
MN
1
[186
N
NITI&'D inn
N^CI
jNinND
185
s4
]
.
.
.
NnNO
xcx
k
1
j^n^N vXnN^X IH NJN P^N ?
Nn^Diy pn^Dn ]T>Ntyn in NJN
xnLi\xn
k
W*D
N^N
T2N.n
1
64
Jn
47-iS
Important for determining the connexions of Jn 4S~ 4 are
three passages from Hippolyt's description of the tenets of the
J
%
'D
pn\s in
now
-iN-injn
p
ncy DN~D
.N'nx^n
NV^r jD^cnj? ]D\>n:uxM nanny
The Spirit of the true believer, ascending after death to its celestial home,
relates how it passes the various watch-houses (mattarata) where the erring spirits
are kept. The spirit is represented as asking and receiving informations from
its
concerning the inhabitants of each mattarta.
guides
When
arriving at the
watchhouse of Christ, so the spirit tells, I asked, and the)' said to me: 'In this
watchhouse are fettered all those who deny the Life and confess Msiha
Those spirits resemble a great and numerous herd [of sheep] before Msiha. He,
Msiha, leads them to the sea and places them [there]. They ask him [to give
them] -water, but the shore of the sea is high and the water of the sea is deep
desire to drink
but
none. Then the
4 10 "
.
.
.'
1
water,
).
spiritsThey
they get
Msiha: 'Msiha, our Lord! When we were in that world we clad (the naked)
with clothes, and covered them with raiments (cf. Mt 2535ff-), we redeemed
[the imprisoned], we gave alms and gifts, why, then, do we now ask for water
to drink and get none'?
Msiha answers them to the effect that they have
(Jn
say to
to the world of those in whose name they did all this, Esu ('lyjaouc)
Msiha, the Holy Spirit, the God of the Nasarenes and the Virgin, the Daughter
of her Father (i.e. the Virgin Mary). After this there is in the text a relation
arrived
of how Msiha pays obeisance to the man of tested fait, gabra bliir sidqa,
the Messenger from the Life, i.e. the true Son], when he passes the
[probably
Mattarta of Msiha. When the spirits see this, they ask Msiha the reason, saying:
Msiha, our Lord, when we were in that world, didst thou not say: There is none
=
greater and mightier than I. I am the God of the gods, the Lord of the Lords,
the King of all worlds, the head of all works (Jn 5 SO 6 28 etc.; the allusion is,
,
of course, also to current Christian representation of ]).
Why, then, didst thou
pay obeisance to him? Msiha answers that the man of tested faith is superior
he has not confessed the name of the beings above and below,
of the Hoi)' Spirit (Ruha dQndsa), Msiha, the God of the Nazarenes
and the Virgin. Then the spirits say to Msiha: 'Msiha, our Lord, put us again
to
the
since
him,
name
body for three days (Jn 2), that we may sell all that we have, go down
and be baptized in the name of that man who passed by thee!' But
Msiha answers the Spirits: 'Oil, ye stumbling ones! When you were in that
into our
to Jordan,
world, did you ever see a child go out from
to
return
bodies
into
its
mother again, so
4
its
mother's
womb
and then made
could throw you again into your
immediately apparent that the Jn-ine pasthat
I
three days' [Jn 3 ].
It is
travestated or turned into a sense opposite to the original, but it is
sages
no less clear, that this is intentional and studied. The remainder of the passage
for
are
may here be given in Lid/.barski's translation: Christus sprach ferner zu den
Seelen: 'Wisset ihr nicht, ihr Gestrauchelten, die ihr gestrauchelt seid? Ich bin
der nichtige Messias, gerieben fiir die Bedrangnis, weise zum Bosen, der die
Pforten des Schlafes verandert, die Werke des Geistes verdreht, die frommen
Manner
betort
und
sie in die
gewaltigen Nebelwolken der Finsternis wirft.
Als
Jn
47~
I
5
165
Naassenes, the Sethians and Justin the Gnostic respectively. It
will
be well to begin with the reference to Justin: Hippol.,
V2/:
Refut.
Toy
ayaQov
/at,
STci
oTcsp
'E/retSav
%al
xapSiay
e
ojxo'o'fl
oaa
(BXsTrei,
6'ft>aX(J.6<;
av0pa>7roo ODX,
sou XooTpov
aoTot?,
w?
TODTOV
avs(jY],
TOV
op/toy,
eiaep^erac Trpo?
e!e %al 06?
oox,
y.ai TCIVSI arco
vo|j,iCooai, TT??/?} 'C,wvtoc,
OD*X,
r]y.ooae
TOD CWVTO?
vdaxog
ahko/.ie
yap, (CYJGIV, ay a [J,EGOV oSaro? y.ai oSato?, y.al s
TO
u7coy.aTto
TOD oTspsw^aTO? r^c TcovYjpa? XTOGSODC, ev (j)
oSwp
ot ^ot%ol %al tjjD^r/.oi avOpcoTioi, xal oSwp sauv DTcepavw TOD oispsw-
Ataxsywptarat,
[j.aToc
sv
(j)
TOD ayaQoo C^v,
sXoDaaTO 'EXo)t[j.
When
sv
Xouovcaj. ot 7cyst)[iaTi%ol ^wvTe? aySpoiTroi,
(j)
y.al,
Xoo3a|ieyo<; oo [j.T|XX"/]0"/j.
the initiated) has sworn that oath he enters
(i.e.
into the presence of the Good One and sees 'what eye hath not
seen nor ear heard and it has not entered into the heart of man,
2
(Isa I )'
as they
he
and he drinks from the living water which
think,
the vvell of living, springing water.
is
their font,
For there
is
he says, between water and water; and there is the
water beloiv the firmament of the bad creation wherein are washed
the earthly and psychical men, and there is the living zvater above
the firmament of the Good One in which Elohim did bathe and
a distinction,
having cleansed himself did not repent.
Next comes an excerpt from the representation or quotation
of the doctrines of the Sethians:
Hipp., Refut.
VIQ
'A XX
3
oox
s'cm, cpvjaiy,
apxstov TO
elasX'/jXoGcya'.
Toy TsXetoy ay6pw7rov, Xoyoy, st? [j/^rpay rcap6syoo 7,ai, Xuoaj. ra?
g sy sxeiyq) T(j> GXOTSC' aXXa yap |iTa TO [st?] Ta sv |J//]Tpa [A
w
siasXGetv aTueXoDoaTO %ai STTIE TO Tror/jpioy Cwyco? oSaTO? aXXo5st TtayTcoc TCIEIV TOV p.sXXoyTa a7coStS6oxEG6at, t'/jy SooXt>tY|y
o
,
(j,op7]v
y.ai
STrsvSoaaaOat. sySojia oupayioy.
is not enough, he says, that the Perfect Man, the Word,
has entered into the womb of a virgin and has loosed the pangs
But
it
which were
in
that darkness.
But
in truth after entering into the
womb, he was washed and drank of the cup
water,
which he must needs drink who was
of living, springing
about to do off the slave-like form and do on a heavenly garment.
From the section on the Naassenes, again, the following may
be cited:
foul
ich
mysteries of the
euch Pflocke und
Gold und
Schli'issel x.cigte, bctorte ich
euch und machte
eucli gierig.
schenkte ich euch, damit ihr mir in der Finsternis, in jenem
It
Orte, an deni wir stehen, Gesellschalt leistet.
might be questioned whether
there be not here a covert allusion also to Jn 10 I>Q>n
Silber
.
1
66
Jn47
is
Tootov
e
Hippol. Refut. V 9
Tco-ta^o? 6 Tstaptog Eocp pdtYjC
oY
oo
xai vj TTJS tpo'f/js elboSos,
XeyoDai, oto^a,
v) TY)S Trpoaeo^Yjq eoSos
C
.
[oc] sofppaivs'. xai
(/))
Tooto,
av0pa>7cov.
OD, ^vjaiv,
Trspi
xai ^apaxr/jptCei TOV rcveo|Aauxov TsXstov
sati to oSwp TO oTtepavw TOO
Tpstpst.
<p7]aiv,
6 aeotvjp
el'p'/jxsv
1
aoTOO, xai sStoxsv av aoi
el
flSei? TIC
sauv
6 altwv,
ao av
Cwv uSwp aXXdjievov. 'Ewi TODTO,
TO oSwp -Ttaaa y>b<3iq [elajep^etat ta? saotrjg oooia? exXsY
tpvjai,
xai 7rpoosp)(etat sxaaTig 'poaet awo TOO oSato? TOUTOD TO olxsiov,
Trap'
Ttceiv
c
otSvjpoc T^
7]
I-IpaxXeLC(.
xai
xspxidt,
TO
XL^-(;),
a'/opov
xai 6 )(pDa6<; T^ TOU GaXaoaioo
El s TI?, <p7]aiv, soTi
-^Xsxtpcj).
T(]>
'
Y Ver^C
ex
'
ta t
J/
rs'fl'sa^evo?
^
[
^wg
TO
aX'^-ivov^
5
a
ayOpwTiov
sic TOV XOOJAOV, Si
sp^d|J-svov
yj[i(ov
8 ^wtiCet
avapXe(jjat(o xai
Sta TCVO? ffapaSetooo TrajAipotoo xai itoXoaTuepjJLatoo oScop
oiovei
TWV (potwv xai fwv a7rsp|xaTcov, xai 6'(]jTai, oti
uSato? ixXsystat xai swiOTratat YJ sXata TO
a^TrsXo? TOV olvov xai TWV aXXwv xata ysvos ixaotov
s, cpyjoiy, 6 av6po)7co? sxslvoc aTt[Xo? sv T(]> xdojxtj), xai
[Asyov Sea Trdvtwv
si
e'Xaiov
auToo
xai TOD
svo?
xai
v
cpDTWV.
yj
EaTC
[sv
7uoXuTi[j,o<;
7cpoeSo|j,evoc] UTTO TWV ODX slSdtwv TOIC ODX
oupavcj),
TO])
siSdatv aotdv, XeXoYto{Jievo?
01
oc
Trveufj.a.TixoL,
Eo'f patoo Sia TV)?
we ataYwv
exXeYOfxevot
papoXwyo?
a.TCo
[J,sar]c
arco
TOO
sativ
I"/jooDc
1
r^elc; S'sa^sv, ^vjoiv,
oSato? TOD psovto?
CWVTO?
TO olxetov, Sea T^C rc&Xvjs oSsoovte?
5
YJTt?
aXvj'fl'tV'fl?,
xdSoa
6 (xaxdpcoc.
Kai
eo(JLsv
QpcoTcwv rj|xstg ^piotiavoi [idvot ...
'And the fourth river is Euphrates
e
aTrdvTwv dv-
(Gen 2 4)'. This, they say,
of
is
the mouth, which is the seat
prayer and the entrance of
and
and
nourishes
food, which gladdens
stamps the spiritual, perabove
fect man.
he
is
the
water
the firmament conThis,
says,
I
cerning which, he says, the Saviour speaks: 'If than knewest ivho
it is that asks thou would have asked of him, and he ivonld have
drink living, springing water
To this water he
given
choose
its
own
substances, and from
says, comes every nature to
this water goes forth to every nature that ivhich is proper to it, he
thee
to
.
^
says, more (certainly) than iron to the magnet, gold to the spine
of the sea-falcon and husks to amber.
But if anyone, he says, is
blind from birth, and has not beheld the true light which lightens
man
cometh into the world (Jn I 9 ), let him recover his
sight again through us, and behold how as it were through some
Paradise full of all plants and seeds, the water flows among them.
every
Let him
chooses
the
w/;<?
see, too, that front one and the same zvater the olive-tree
draws to itself oil, and the vine wine, and each of
and
other
plants
[that
which
is]
according to
its
kind.
But that
.
Jn 47-iS
Man, he
says,
is
167
without honour in the world, and
much honoured
heaven, being betrayed] by those iv/io kno^v not to those who
knoiv him not (Jn I 10 11 ), and accounted like a drop which falleth
[in
'
from a vessel. But we are, he says, the spiritual who have chosen
out of the living water, the Euphrates flowing through the midst
of Babylon, that which is ours, entering in through the true gate
which
Jesus the blessed (Jn 109
is
.
.
.).
And we
alone of
men
all
are Christians ...
Bauer 1
the third.
and
refers to the
former two passages from Hippol., but not
the similar wording of the passages
He deduces from
common difference
from the Jn-ine parallel ofJn4( ) I 4,
that the very expression 5wp Cwv aXXdj^evov cannot be derived
from Jn 4 4. It may be surmised, however, that the passage quoted
above from Hippolyt's description of the teachings of the Naassenes, which is there explicitly stated to be a quotation of the
their
I
!
J-dictum as occurring
in
Jn
4,
and yet has the similar difference of
shows quite
definitely that all three quotations are, in the
last instance, derived from Jn 4.
The difference in wording, again,
consists simply in a contraction or commixture of Jn 4 10 with Jn 4 ! 4.
version,
Whether this variant obtained in any Jn-ine source from which the
gnostic books in question drew or it was due simply to Hippolyt
himself may be left as an open question. It is easily noticed that
the scriptural quotations in Hippol., whether from the OT. or the
NT., are seldom accurate. The fact remains that we have here
to do with actual references to the discourse of Jn 4, and that the
10 ir
expression aXXdjievov uSoop C<*>v goes back on Jn 4
>
On
the
other hand
the term 'water' in
.
evident that the symbolical use of
the said Gnostic writings is not to be derived
it
is
from Jn. The influence behind this symbolical use is to the greater
part that of the OT., and, it may be surmised, of current mystical
Thus, it may be noticed, both the
interpretations of the OT.
Naassenes and the Baruch-book of Justin, connect the 'living water'
with the 'Upper, Celestial Water' of Gen 17 (cf. above, p. 154,
/ En. 174 etc., and p. 57, in Mandaitic). Jn also, obviously, bases
upon the current symbolism of 'water' and 'living water'. As has
been shown above,
symbolism contained an abundant richness
ideas may be said to be in some
way or other represented in Jn 4; in reality the object of Jn 47
is to put the complex of religious ideas inherent in the simple
symbolical terms of 'divine gift', 'living water', 'well' and 'spring'
of
ideas.
All
this
these
different
fl
1
J.
Ev?
p.
65,
cf.
Kreyenbiihl,
Ev.
d.
IVahrli.
ii
p.
404.
-
1
Jn 47-15
68
in
relation to the true teaching the spiritual doctrine of J., to
what these ideas and expressions meant
in
show
the light of the doctrine
of Spirit.
The
significance of 'living water'
nected therewith
summed up
be
may
=
and the terms
in
Jn 4 con-
as follows:
The water given by J as
(1) Water is
teaching, doctrine.
contrasted with the water drawn by the Samaritan woman symbolises
the teaching of J. This teaching is 'God's gift': it emanates from
God, and not from men; he who gives this teaching is the only
one who can mediate such teaching directly from God, the Messiah,
the Teacher of Righteousness, (ei -flSecs
TIC scmv
Msoaca?
.
otav
.
s'X6f)
.
.
avayyeXei
The Divine
rj|j,lv
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
a;cavta).
qua the true teaching, is, however, not
restricted to the sense of knowledge, either of the Tora as the
rule for and giver of a moral life or as containing deep secrets of
(2)
gift,
In neither sense can the 'water' give man abiding satis'quench his thirst'. Attaching to the conception of the
water of Wisdom (or of Tora) as life-giving water, Jn 4 maintains
Wisdom.
faction,
the
that
by
spiritual
when
J,
teaching, the gift of true knowledge, mediated
becomes the source of life, and life
rightly received,
itself.
(3)
the
the antithesis of the spring of living water within and
without, the identity of spiritual realities are
By
of water
well
again hinted at. The teaching of J is not a teaching merely concerning the spiritual realities and the eternal life, but it is the
eternal life and the spiritual reality. In the same way the receiver
of this teaching obtains, not a mere knowledge 0/"the things taught,
but these things themselves, that is, the spiritual perception, knowledge, yvwais, does not consist in the acquisition of facts relating
to outside objects, but in an assimilation with, a self-transformation
into,
the spiritual realities.
Henceforth the spiritual
realities
the knower, and the knower in them. The water becomes
a fount of life in man, springing up into eternal, i.e. spiritual, life,
abide
or,
in
the same, man has entered into eternal life.
evident that this symbolical use of 'water' links up
the similar use of the term in Jn 35. In its deepest sense
which
(4)
with
ucop
in
is
is
It
is
also
here
the
symbol of the generation of
spiritual life
man.
J
Jn 4 4 has, probably, a double meaning. The 'well of
water within, springing up into eternal life' may be brought in
he that believeth on me ... out of his belly
relation to Jn 73^;
(5)
20
Jn 4
~ 26
169
He who has been born from
rivers of living water.
and entered the spiritual word and eternal life, he will
himself be a source of eternal, spiritual life. The all-inclusiveness
flow
shall
above
of the
the
world implies that
spiritual
eternal
generation
that proceeds from
of
life,
all
oSwp
beings partake
spiritual
BIC,
aXXojievoy
O>YJV
in
alcbv.ov,
God.
apparent at this point that the section on the
2
2
is very closely related to the ideas of
5,
Jn 4
The antithesis in the latter
the discourse on the living water.
between the spring of living water within and the well of water
It
be
will
'true worship',
without has in the former as its counterpart the antithesis between
the worship in the spirit (within) and the worship attached to an
external TOTTOC: 01 Trarspss ^[iwv EV tcji opei Tooup jrpoasy.ovYjoav, %ai
c
oil sv lpoaoX6[J,o^ EOUV 6 TOTTO? OTIOD Trpoaxoveiv Set ...
,
ore.
fwai,
ev
TspoaoXujxoi?
otSats,
vov
^JJLSC?
OTS
eartv,
rcpoaxovTjasTs
aX'/j^tvoi
TcpoaxovvjTai
that there
is
6{JiC
...
Tip
opst tooTcp oiks
xpoaxoVcCTc, S ot>x
aXXa sp^siat wpa
7rpoa%uv'^aoDa'.v
7rar/]p
At
T(p
y.al
icaTpl sv
TO'.oDtoD? t'^st TOO? Trpoa-
Tcpoaxovoovta? sv ;uvs6same time it is clear
x.al -cotJ^
xai aX>yOtcf Ssc xpoaxovstv.
'cc
t.
ol'SajJiev
y.al
y^P
aorov xvt3{Jia 6 Osog
aX'/j'&eta'
scarp
TCJ)
xpoaxovoojJLSV, 8
ot
/cat
sp^erou copa, OTE DOTS sv
the
a strong allusion in this passage to the discourse with
Nicodemus, an allusion which is emphasized not only by similarity
of ideas but even by the use of identical or similar phrases and
literary form: In
calling of J (3
7rporp-/]r^
si
2
:
both passages a person convinced of the Divine
4 9: {>c(opw ore
thou iXvjXoS-a? StSaaxaXo?
J
arco
.
a6) puts questions to
him
.
.,
relating to the
way
to true
passages J speaks of himself as a member of and
from the spiritual world with the peculiar plural
religion; in both
a
messenger
expression: \ve know (ol'Sa|j.sy); in both passages there is a strange
8 s
oScaoc xai 7rvs6(j,aTOc,
repetition of an essential phrase: Jn 35>6>
2 3. 2 4
4
sx, TOU
gv 7ry0[j,aTt %ai aX'/jQstq.; both discourses
7rvs6|j,aTO<;, Jn
,
point to a spiritual world as a reality, of which nobody can obtain
knowledge except by becoming a spiritual being, by being fin
the
a
Further, the discourse with the Samaritan woman
as a whole in relation to the discourse with Nicodemus as
Spirit*.
taken
whole reveals
tions,
or
a
symbols,
peculiar arrangement of the essential concepis not without significance: Jn 3 in its
which
former part dwells upon oStop and Trvso^a. in its latter part upon
aiowo? and aXvjQsta, Jn 4, again, in its former part upon oocop
and CWY] atwviog, in its latter upon jcvsujxa and aXvjS-s'.a. This per-
CCOTJ
1
Jn 4
70
mutation of identical conceptions
it
may
suffise
to
2
- 26
will
be touched upon
that the intention in this case
state
convey that the subject treated of in Jn 4
2I
but seen from another point of view.
Jn 33
to
,
The import
later.
~
of Jn 4 20 2 4
may now
the
is
is
simply
same
conveniently be
Here
as in
summed
up as follows:
(1) What constitutes a true (or perfect) worship is not its performance in a specific external place of worship, but that it is
done in the 'spirit' i.e. in the spiritual world or in the spiritual
part of man, in other words, a true worship of God can only be
performed by one who has, at least, taken the first step towards
the ascent into God's world.
(2) The true worship belongs to the conceptions to be classed
under the heading of ava(3aai<;; hence it may be said to be another
aspect of or one of the actuations of the religious experience
described by the terms of noisiv njv aXrjOeiav, e'p^eafrai 7up6<; TO
TUOTSDSIV, Y sm]9"'i vat avwQev, e'/eiv CWYJV auovtov; hence it is
<pw<;,
,
characterized by the same spiritual properties as this experience.
ev aX^Gstq. to be brought in relation
Especially is the rcpoaxovstv
.
TYjV^aXrjOetav
truth' could also
(the)
.
.
Jn3 21
It may be said that 'worship in
have been expressed 'worship the truth',
or TOV {j.dvov aXrjOivov 0edv (cf. Jn 83 2 14 ^,
of
to TTOIWV
.
Tupoaxovstv TTJV aXTJQetav
17 '7 7 28 173); sv aXv]8eicj, just as TVJV aXijGstav of 3 2I , refers to the
true being of man, and this again relates to the communion with
the truth,
the 'only true God'.
They who worship
'in
truth' are
worshippers', aXvjOtvoi rcpooxov/jTai. Those whose worship is
enacted in the spiritual reality worship 'what they do not
'true
not
know'. 1
whole discourse on the true worship moves
21 the antithesis
v. o^eic
altogether in the ideas of Jn 3 3~
r)[xel<;
must, as has been already hinted, be interpreted in a similar sense
as 'we' and 'you' of 3 n
i.e. as corresponding to the contrast
between those who have entered the spiritual existence and those
who have not; 'we', thus, is 1, and those with me, those who believe
in me. It cannot, without breaking the whole continuity of thought,
be taken in the same sense in which it is used in the words of
the Samaritan woman, so that 7/(At? of 4 22 were = 'we Jews', and
the
since
(3)
,
=
ojmg
1
'you
Cf.
Samaritans'.
Grill,
The improbability of
Untersttchttngcn
\
p.
204:
this latter inter-
... Anbetiing Gottes geschieht iv
d. h. iiberweltlich-
wenn sie den Charakter eines niit deni wirklichen
geistigen Wesen Gottes tibereinstimtnenden Verhaltens hat
a^vjOet',
.
.
.
Jn
420-26
I7I
pretation is more apparent when one considers that J evidently
opposes the Samaritan position less vehemently than the Jewish one,
the Samaritan attitude being represented as one of willingness to
accept the truth when once it has met them. It has to be as-
sumed
words of 4
that the final
EGTCV are additional here.
22
,
OTE,
vj
awr/jpia
ex,
ubv 'looSaiwv
1
Kreyenbuhl and Bauer. Kreyenbiihl, in Ev. d. WahrDer Plural ist also ahnlich kollektivistisch gebraucht,
wie 3,n ff. and 4,48
den Samawer glaubt, der geschichtliche Jesus habe
ritern den Vorwurf gemacht, sie batten keine wahre Verehrung Gottes (scil. in
contrast to the Jews), wahrend sie der lukanische Christus (10,3037 und v.
7,ii
19) 'als den Vollblutisraeliten religios und sittlich iiberlegen darstellt', wer
der Ansicht ist, Jesus habe das Wort sprechen konnen: OTI
atur/jpia IY. TOJV
'louooct'wv ia-tv, nachdem er eben die Anbetung Gottes in Jerusalem feierlich abrogiert und eine neue Form der Gottesverehrung verkundet hatte, wer Jesus mit
1
heit,
Cf. the opinions of
pp. 410
ii,
ff.,
says:
.
.
.
.
.
.
-'r\
den Juden sich den Samaritern gegenuber in seinem religiosen Bewusstsein zusammenfassen lasst, nachdem er (im Evangelium) soeben Juden und Samariter
seinem eigenen religiosen Bewusstsein gegeniiberstellt und in der wirklichen
Geschichte
gegen das
religiose Bewusstsein des offiziellen
Judentums einen un-
ablassigen Kampf auf Leben und Tod gefiihrt hat, wer in 'Geist und Wahrheit'
nicht die solenne Ausdrucksweise des Evangelisten
wiederzufinden vermae:
O
D der
zeigt damit nur, dass er auf ein geschichtliches Verstandnis unseres Abschnittes
zu
entschlossen
verzichten
wir ...
dem
in
Zusatze
ist.
OTI
yj
Erste Bedingung dieses Verstandnisses ist, dass
XT'A.. eine der abgeschmacktesten und tin-
ooj-yjpt'a
moglichsten Glossen erkennen, die jemals einen echten Text nicht nur entstellt,
sondern in sein gerades Gegenteil verkehrt haben. Weder der unmittelbare
Zusammenhang, der Jerusalem und Garizim in gleicher Weise veiwirlt und ein
Neues proklamiert, noch das geschichtliche Verha'ltnis des Evangeliums zum
Judentum, das in der fruheren Polemik dargelegt worden ist, noch endlich der
besondere Sinn, den der Verfasser im ganzen Evangelium mit dem Ausdrucke
'louocctot verbindet und der iiberall das Gegenteil des Heiles und der Wahrheit
und der Gotteserkenntnis bedeutet, gestatten auch nur einen Augenblick an die
Echtheit der Glosse zu denken. Sie hat ihren Ursprung im Bewusstsein eines
Lesers, der den Gegensatz von Juden und Samaritern im geschichtlichen Sinne
ins Auge gefasst, diesem aber, inner Nichtbeachtung des Zusammenhanges, den
nur auf die Verschiedenheit der Gotteserkenntnis und Gottesverehrung geht, die
christliche
spezifisch
von
Wendung gegeben
hat,
dass
der Vorzug des Judentums
Welt den
also das Tleil, geschenkt zu haben.
owr/jp TOO xoo|xoo,
Bauer,/. Ev.- pp. 66: Da das utj.efc zu Beginn von 22 nach dem Schltiss
21 die jerusalemischen Gottesanbeter nicht weniger umfasst, wie die von
darin liege, der
dass sie nicht wiissten, was sie verdie Begri'tndung 22 b schlechthin unwa'ren weit eher auf eine Motivierung gefasst, die etwa im
Garizim, wird von ihnen
ehrten (vgl. Act 1723);
.
verstandlich
.
.
.
Wir
.
beiden
.
Dann
gesagt,
aber
ist
von 3iof. sagen wiirde: weil wir Einblick in die himmlischen Geheimnisse
getan haben. Der hier den Juden zugebilligte Vorrang passt weder in den
engeren Zusammenhang, noch iiberhaupt zu der gesamten Einstellung des EvanSchwerlich wirkt hier ein Einfluss des Paulus nach (Rm Ii6 2io3i
gelisten
Stile
.
.
.
Jn 4
1/2
The worship in
God is spirit. With
(5)
idea:
with
fied
the
nature
- 26
2
and truth
spirit
this the nature of
of the
founded
is
upon the
God has been
identi-
the spiritual essence of man.
true,
a cardinal conception of all mystic thought, perhaps nowhere
expressed so simply and clearly as in Jn 4, The idea can be traced
This
is
some form or other in Rabbinic Jewish mystical
Mandsean literature 2 in Hermetism 3 in Gnosticism.
dicta
in
,
in
,
,
Eher mochte man glauben, dass
94,5).
1
Urform einer von Jo
die
in
seinem
vom jiidischen Standpunkt mit
It may be surmised, that the
by one who taking the b^ets;
Sinne bearbeiteten Geschichte, in der sich Jesus
den Samaritern auseinandersetzt durchbricht.
most easily understood as a gloss
the Samaritans, tried to explain
necessarily equivalent to the Jews
was to him a. difficulty, vis. that J could include the Jews with himself
addition
{
what
as
is
as
r \i.s.l^
know what we
'we (who)
the phrase
Parce
que
Rom.
Christ doit paraitre chez eux (cf.
n'en parle pas moins des Juifs
ne
se trouvait
For arguments
worship'.
Eu
esp. Wendt, J
pp. 77
le salut vient des Juifs.
cf.
for the authenticity of
Qiiatricine Ev.- p. 184:
salut doit venir d'eux, puis que le
Ici le Logos.
Christ
2; IX 4
5).
175, Loisy,
f.,
Le
Ill,
comme
i
s'il
reellement 1'un d'eux et
n'etait pas
eux que pour realiser
parmis
Le
le
salut a 1'endroit d'oii
il
doit se
monde.
may be made to the exhaustive treatment by J. Abelson in
The Immanence of God in Rabbinical Literature and especially to the Rabbinic
idea of the correspondence between the A'esaniu. (spirit) soul in man and God
quoted by Billerbeck
(Lev. R 4s, TB Ber 10 a, Tank., Hayye Surd,
p. 437
repandre dans le
Reference
1
ii
Dent. R.
of God
This
2).
f.
is
also,
:
the
in
quoted
passage,
connected
with worship
:
un tfEun ncx *6x n"Dpnb wwii obpa nrrft
*6co
in
r\x"i
no v\
n"2m
r\\*
had David for praising the Holy One in his soul (Ps 103 ')
Answer: he said: this (my) soul fills the body and the Holy One fills his world,
as it is written (Jer. 23 24 ): do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord: Hence,
may the soul that fills the body come and praise the Holy One, who fills the
What
reason
?
whole world.
of!)
('To
fill'
here
=
to
be
the inner, spiritual reality, or essence
Cf. the sequel of the passage.
With
might be compared
this
TB
Ber. 11 a:
minto nctw
Just as the
and
TB
'Di
Holy One
Niddd 30 a
"iinto
is
e
pure, so the Spirit, (n suinn.),
(Eccl. R. 12
7,
nicLt'D
Sab 32
b,
F)N
%I
T>\S
into
physical
n"2pn HD
?
a):
xww
Diip nbin
'
n:tt' nctt':i
omnco
(
CD
Immediately
"iinta
pure.
Buba, BapiTt 16
"6 Dncix cbiyn
nnx ex ^n mine ~p
n'^pnty yir ^n
mnt2
TB
is
rfei:
Tin
1
is
?
before a child goes out into the ether of the world (i.e. is born
existence) they (i.e. God) say to it: know that the Holy One
4426
Jn
The
of the worship is met by a /aTa|3aoi?: 6 7rar?jp
aordy (Jn4 2 3); the expression is
vjTei TOD? jrpoaxovooVTa?
a counterpart to Jn 3 l ^: ODTCO? yap YjyaTUYjasv 6 fl-soc; toy y.da[xov
The third aspect of the dialogue with the Samaritan woman
(6)
ava(3aoi
.
.
.
besides the discourse on the living water and on the true worship
is
the controversial or antithetical attitude to the religious party
represented
by
the Samaritan
woman.
This needs some conside-
might be apposite, then, to reproduce the features relevant
to the characteristics of this religious party.
ration.
It
connected with Samaria, and there with the well of Jacob,
town of Sychar, and the 'parcel of ground that
Jacob gave to his son Joseph'. Jacob's well is deep, and he who
wants to obtain water from it must have something to draw with;
but the water satisfies only temporally, does not quench the thirst
It
is
said to be near the
permanently; through repeated reference to the
ot
Tcaispeg T^wy, 45,6,12,20)
and loyally adheres
ates,
is
to,
'fathers' (Jacob, Josef,
emphasized that the party veneran old tradition; the Samaritan woman
jt
i
s
familiar with the conception of the 'Divine Gifts', 'prophets', the
pure and his servants
thee is pure; if thou keep
is
lo, I will
It
before
take
it
(i.e.
it
away from
the angels) are pure- and the spirit that is given
it will be
good (for thee), but if not,
in its purity,
thee.
should also be noted that the conscious spiritual state, enjoyed by man
his fall, and which may be attained by eminently righteous men, cor13
(as was mentioned above on Jn 3 ) to the spiritual
born from above and also to the spirit in which a true
may be done. This spirit, in particular, belongs to the Divine world,
4
b&'Ci (p R *&* 3 ), /#. 'from God's', i.e. of God, of his nature or
responds approximately
state into
worship
is
n"lpn
which man
is
-
-
essence.
? That
which in Mandiean literature corresponds to the ^veuu.?. of Jn 3 24
'wana. This is used both of the Highest Being, the Deity, in which use in
exactly expresses the notion: 'God is Spirit', and of the spiritual beings emanating from the Deity as also, in a specific sense, of the spirit in man; cf. above
2
p. 81 Ih 3, 24, p. 85 f. and GR III GSsoff. (Pet 68 3-), and the stereotype inceptive formula of the hymns of GL II: I am a Mana from the Great Life,
a Mana from the mighty Life.
is
3
The
received text of Corp
Hcnn XVIII ^
has: axciixaiov
|jiv
ia-i
TCVEUJXC/.
Hermetica i p. 274 ii p. 468, Heinrici, Die Hennes-Mystik etc,
But what really best corresponds to the 'spirit' of Jn 4 is, of course,
p. 76).
the vouc, (cf. J. Kroll, Lehren d. Hermes Trism. pp. 257!"., 61 f. and E. Carpenter,
J Wr, p. 342 n. 2: that God was Mind (vouc) had been the higher religious faith
since the days of Anaxagoras; the Latin moralist sang, 'If God is mind (animus)
6 OEOC (cf. Scott,
7,33 (Dox. 305); and the Stoics
'God is spirit pervading the whole world's (cf. the Rabbinic: 'God fills the whole world as the n*sCiind, (spirit), the body', above).
Cf.
references by Bauer, J. Ev.~ p. 68.
as
the
hymns
aver'
(Catonis Disticli.; Plac.
definitely affirmed that
i
Jn
1/4
4426
'Messiah who is called Christos', who is also the Teacher of Wisdom; there is a marked receptivity among the party in question
for the teaching of J; J is recognized by many as the Messiah,
To
the Saviour of the World.
the features relating to the contro-
should, probably, be reckoned also the reference
to the husbands of the Samaritan woman in vv. 17, 18.
versial
attitude
The most important attempt
woman
at discovering the precise circle
the representative is made by
1
He finds in Jn 4 J 4 2 an 'Auseinandersetzung mit
Kreyenbiihl.
der jiidisch-haretischen Gnosis., a refutation of the Jewish Gnostic-
of which
the Samaritan
ism through
Menander
is
~
Gnosticism, the latter represented by
Kreyenbiihl the author of the Fourth Gospel).
Gnosticism referred to is the doctrine preserved in
the
Christian
(ace. to
The Jewish
8ia Bapoo^, the Baruch-book quoted by HipTupotpvjT'.XY]
2
polyt in his description of the tenets of the Gnostic Justin , and
the Baruch-book itself is alluded to. The features of the discourse
the XaXia
Samaritan
the
with
woman
are,
from
this
point of view, to be
interpreted as follows.
(i) J asks the Samaritan
woman to give him water: the author
puts himself, 'not without irony' in the position of a disciple, he
takes knowledge of the Jewish-heretical Gnosis, not in order to be
taught by it but in order to lead its adherents to the universal
salvation revealed in Christ.
(2)
The Samaritan woman
is
astonished
being a Jew, asks a Samaritan and a woman for water:
Die Frage der Samariterin ist der Ausdruck der Verwunderung,
aber auch zugleich der Befriedigung daruber, dass der Verfasser,
der schriftstellerischen Einkleidung gemass als Jude, d. h. als Angehoriger der christlichen Kirche, bezeichnet, Kenntnis nimmt von
der 'tiefen Weisheit' der jiidisch-haretischen Gnosis, der Yvwaitxoo
that
J,
1
3
Jn 4
mediator of the Divine
/.aT
scr/'<]V.
10
(3)
,
J's
answer, pointing to himself us the
water: 'I have, so the author
gift of living
wants to say, taken knowledge of the wisdom of these Ophites,
Naassenes and other widely ramified yvcooTOtoi, especially also of
the
that
TOD
secret doctrine of Justin in his XaXiai 7rpo<pT|UXod, but against
own religious insight as the true Swpsot
gnosticism I put
my
and
S-soD
(falsely)
as a
imagine that they possess
CWVTO? oSato? aXXo[j,evoo
TT/jYY]
1
-
offer its adherents the real living water,
Ev.
d.
Refut.
Wahrheit,
^23
3
Kreyenbiihl,
ii,
pp.
392433.
28.
a. a.
O.
ii
p.
404.
which they
knowledge of the 'Good'
(Hippol., Refnt. V 27, cf. above
in their
Jn
p. 165).
11 ' 12
Jn 4
(4)
:
44-26
j
75
the Jewish-heretic Gnosis says: you have
nothing to draw with, that is, you lack the special intelligence of
the gnostics; our well is deep: that is, our wisdom is deep, and
be grasped save by the gnostic; it is Jacob's
1
is drawn from Jewish religious sources.
wisdom cannot quench men's thirst after
knowledge, nor satisfy their religious need. The only water that
satisfies is that which springs up into eternal life, that is, the
contents of which is eternal life. (6) Jn 4'5; the Samaritan woman's
its
cannot
depth
that
the gnosis
I
(5) Jn 4 3i*4: the gnostic
well:
demand
is,
living water
for
to
comprehend
in
a
Wissbegier nach
jiidischen
der
hoheren
dem
Gnosis, sich mit
Menandros
wie
sense; rather does
physical,
literal,
not intended to picture her disability
nor that she misinterprets J's words
is
celestial things,
sie
versteht,
it
express eine gewisse
Weisheit und die Geneigtheit der
Inhalt der christlichen Heilslehre,
naher bekannt zu machen.
The
Jewish-heretical gnosis descends from its high position and desires
to make acquaintance with the doctrine of eternal life. (7) Jn 4 l6 7:
1
>
starting from the symbolical use of the relation between husband
and wife for the relation between God and his people, the author
with the words 'call thy husband' requires his opponents to give
account
for their
conception of God, thereby maintaining that the
decisive question
1
is
the right conception and the true worship of
Kreyenbiihl, a. a. O. ii
Cwvio; UO<XTO<; ccXXoixsvoo,
p.
'Der Brunnen ist tief, derm er 1st die
405:
Erkenntnis des hochsten Gottes, in welcher
die
der Eingeweihte sich iiber die schlechte Schopfung Elohims und Edems erliebt
und mit Elohim zum hochsten Gotte eingeht und schaut, was kein Auge gesehen und kein Ohr gehort und in keines Menschen Herz gestiegen ist (Hippol.,
Refut.
V 27). Darum
nen (Hippol., Refut.
ivdiaxetv.
f
(vtoat!;.
V8
:
oiran;
erklarten diese Gnostiker, dass sie allein die Tiefen erken-
V 6:
iaTi
[Of the Naassenes:
iicexciXeaav
icxuiou^ fvwa-w.ouz, cpwa/ovuei; jiovoi ~<y. p0r|
paOsia xai ouav.aic(K /j-TOQ ^ TOO TsXeioo dvflpdraoo
Afterwards the}' called themselves Gnostics alleging
-
TCOCVU
knew the depths*.
Thus
the knowledge of the Perfect Man
very deep and hard to understand)) F. Legge, pp. 120, 138]...). Durch den
that they alone
is
'Brunnen Jakobs'
.
ist
die
Gnosis
.
.
als jiidische bezeichnet, d. h. als eine solche,
In der Tat ist das Baruchbuch Justins
eine allegorische Deutung der mosaischen Schopfungsgeschichte, die mit EngelGenealogien, hellenischen My then und Bruchstiicken des Christentums als der
die aus jiidischen Religionsquellen schopft.
Vollendung alttestamentlicher Prophetic durchsetzt ist. Diese jiidischen Gnostiker
haben ihre 'tiefe Weisheit' irgendwie in den Buchern Moses gesucht und
gefunden. Moses und die Patriarchen gehoren aber als die Stammva'ter Israels
ztisammen und der ganzen Einkleidung der Szene gemass (vgl. v. 5 und 6) konnte
der Brunnen nicht anders, denn als Brunnen Jakobs bezeichnet werden.
alle
Jn 44-26
176
God
the
as
centre of religious
life.
1
The Jewish
heretic Gnosis,
again, avers, that it has no real God ('I have no husband'). With
this the author links up, and, pointing to the polytheistic antecedents of Samaria (the five husbands) says, that even the Samari-
God
tan's present
now
specific
V 24,
this
is
The words
not a true God.
'he
whom
thou
not thy husband' refer to the conception of God
to the Baruch-gnosis, i.e. the Good One (Hippol. Refut.,
hast
27
[6
is
sjrdvw Trdvuov
conception
of
God
is
Also
ayaQdc, 6 ayaOo?, cf. esp. V26]).
refuted by the Christian religious con-
Jn 4'9: The heretical Jew recognizes that the
representative of Christian truth is a prophet, i.e. that das Uber-
sciousness.
(8)
gewicht religioser Wahrheit auf seiner Seite liegt. The expression,
el a6, is chosen with allusion to the title 'XaXia nQOfpr^i'/.rj
7rpo<pr|rrj
S'.a
papouy' of the Baruch-book and to the peculiarity of the
Justinian Gnosticism of 'handing down other prophetic sayings in
2
4 20 21 Jerusalem symbolises orthodox Judamany books'.
(9) Jn
>
:
ism, Garizim not the real Samaritanism in its historical sense, but
the ophitic apostates. Jn 4 21 puts forth the 'worship of the Father'
new form of
religion, by and in which both orthodox and
22 ~ 2 4: the
Judaism are surmounted. (10) Jn 4
Jewish gnostic
knows not what he worships because in the Jewish gnosticism the
Divine is removed beyond all form of human knowledge and
as
heretic
3
represented as a pure mystery
1
,
in
contrast to the Christian gnosis,
ii
'Rufe deinen Mann' heisst ohne Bild:
p. 407:
von Gott, der in der Sprnche Israels der Ehemann Israels
So wird auch im Baruchbuche das Verhaltnis von Elo.him und Edem
Kreyenbiihl, a. a. O.,
\vir
Sprechen
heisst ...
jetzt
(Israel) weitlaufig als Eheverhiiltnis dargestellt (Hippol., Refut.
-
~r
j.c,
Hippol, Refut. Vi-]\
(uar.
n
liche
men
/vaX'.otc)
/era TOV
CJUTOV
i:pot5Yj~ixac ou-owo? rrapaooua!
i/.srvov
oiv.
tpoicov
V 26:
-/.a),
-v.^
Vgl. bes.
a'XXac
.
.
.
pvj
x~Ls.wvu>v pijiXtojv.
Beim jiidischen Gnostiker geht das GottKreyenbiihl, a. a. O., p. 413:
die Gestalt der personlichen Erfahrung des Menschen und ihre For-
iiber
hinaus, es hat nicht die Form des Menschlichen Geistes und seiner Wahrheit
Erst das wahre religiose Bewusstsein erkennt und besitzt Gott
und Wirklichkeit.
als
das
Vatcr, in
der
Hauptgewicht
Innerlichkeit
ist
in
und Wirklichkeit des eigenen
unserer
Stelle
darauf
gelegt,
Geistes.
p. 416:
das die Vertreter des
jOdischen Gottesbcgrifles auch in der Form der Gnosis nicht wissen, \vas sie
anbeten, mit anderen Worten dass das Gottliche nicht die wahre Form immanenter personlicher Erfahrung hat, sondern sich in einem uuerkennbaren Dunkel
verliert, zu welchem gewisse geheimnisvolle Weihen hinfuhren, welche der Eingeweihte eidlich geheimxuhalten sich verpflichten muss, dass dagegen der christliche Mystiker und Gnostiker \veiss, was er anbetet, weil sowohl wahre mensch-
liche
(f>
Religion
TSJ~r\rj}
die
(der otXyjOivo; i:po3X'Jvrj~yj'c) als das
voile Lebensgemeinschaft von Gott
wahre gottliche Wesen selbst
und Mensch in der Form des
jn
which God
to
as the Father
human
the form of
4426
is
near to men's
life,
spiritual
historical recognition of J
life
and possesses
(n) Jn 4 2 5, 2 6; these
vss. reflect
from the side of the Jewish gnosticism, as it is attested even in the Baruch-book; against the mere
recognition of the historical J of Nazareth the author puts up the
demand for the recognition of the author's spiritual conception of J.
the
The words
that speak unto thee' have as their real subject the
'I
author himself, not
J.
The symbolical
character of the controversial dialogue with
woman
can scarcely be doubted. It may be argued,
however, that Kreyenbiihl's ingenious deductions can only partly
be accepted as convincing. Nevertheless on account of the thorough
method he adopts, Kreyenbiihl's argument may be made the basis
the Samaritan
of a critical investigation into the allusive import of the controversial
aspect of Jn 4.
The account
is introduced by a comprehensive statement
and historical connexions: Samaria, the town of Sychar,
the lot which Jacob gave to his son Joseph, the well of Jacob.
The same local and historical connexions are emphatically referred
to twice again in the sequel of the story: vs. 12 and vs. 20. Jn
1.
of local
pictures
the
essential importance attached
by
the religious circle
question to their 'fathers', to the mount Garizim as the true
place of worship. The representation exactly corresponds to the
features characteristic of the Samaritan traditions as known to
in
appears, indeed, as if the author wanted to convey that
intended consisted actually and literally of Samaritans,
their characteristic idiosyncrasies, not forgetting the perma-
us.
It
the
circle
with
nent conscious opposition against the Jewish
tradition and the Divine gift of the Tora.
2.
The woman does
understand the
not
know
falsification
of religious
the real gift of God, does not
import of the Divine gift. On the other hand J
her an attitude of spirit, which would cause her
full
acknowledges in
to ask for and receive that
gift
if
only she
knew
it.
(Jn
4
10
.)
Geistseins zur Vorausset/cting hat.
Es ist also
zu sagen, dass unsere Stelle
alien Versuchen, die Gottheit ihrem Wesenjiach iiber die Erfahrung des menschlichen Wesens hinatis zu verlegen, das Christentum als die Religion der imma.
.
.
Gotteserfahrung und Gottesverehrung, als Religion des Geistes und der
Wahrheit, gegeniiberstellt. V. 24 ist also der richtige Text eines mystischen,
innerlichen, autonom personlichen, in wurzelhafter Solidaritat von Gott und
nenten
Mensch
religiose
tes
sich vollxiehenden, heroischen Christentums, in
Mensch
als
ist.
1227451.
dem
der in solche Weise
Person] und Gemeinschaft selbst der wahre
H. Odcber*.
Tempel Got-
Jn
178
This
4426
most probably to be interpreted thus: the religious life of
community in question is one of potential receptivity
is
the circle or
for the spiritual truth.
The community adheres
faithfully to tradi-
conception of which (the "water of Jacob's well')
Whosoever
they do not yet possess the spiritual, eternal life.
But their adherence to
drinketh of this water shall thirst again.
tions
their
in
their faith
is
does not make them inimical to the truth. Their 'water'
not the real water of life, yet, a prefigura-
in a certain sense, if
tion of the living water. That J asks the Samaritan woman to give
him to drink of her water accords with this. With his request,
as
also
is
reject
the
implied by vs. 9, J demonstrates that he does not
of the community, and conveys that their faith
faith
them to the obtainment of the living water, when they
in him the giver of the Divine Gift, the Teacher of
Righteousness, the Messiah whom they believed would come in
may
lead
recognize
the fulfilment of time.
3. This interpretation is corroborated by comparison with J's
attitude to the Jewish conceptions and the Jewish presumption of
adherence to the tradition of the
and
'fathers'
to the Divine truth
given by them. When the Jews say: 'Abraham is our father'
J denies this and answers: 'If ye were Abraham's children, ye
Ye are of your father the
would do the works of Abraham
.
devil,
and the
.
.
of your father ye will do ... And because
He that is of God
truth, ye believe me not
lusts
you the
heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye
are not of God' (Jn 8 3947). The legitimacy of the Samaritan's
I
tell
.
.
.
appeal to their continuity with the 'fathers' is not contested by
one word. J only offers the community a fulfilment of their hope,
the reality of what they as yet possess only potentially or imis a comparison of the parallel controversial
and 8^3^- The Samaritan woman says: [r/j
and finishes by asking for
ou [xetCwv el rob rcarp&c "fy-uov 'Ia%w|3
the living water offered by J; the Jews ask scornfully:
ot>
and finish by trying to
[XsiCwv EL too Tuatp&s Tjjiwv 'Appad(x
stone J. The literally identical question in the Samaritan woman's
mouth means: Are you possibly greater than our father Jacob ?,
perfectly.
Suggestive
utterances of 4
12 ^-
.
.
.
[j//j
.
in
the
than
mouth of the Jews, again:
.
Certainly thou art not greater
Abraham
By the same contexts it is implied,
Samaritan woman, who is ready, seemingly, to desert her
our father
that the
.
!
b
traditional religion (vs. I5 ), is in reality faithful towards the element
of truth received from the fathers, whereas the Jews, who, were ap-
Jn 44-26
unswerwingly loyal to the inheritance from their father
Abraham and to the Tora of Moses, in opposition to the demands
ofj, had already severed themselves spiritually and intrinsically from
the way of Abraham and the Tora of Moses, for Abraham rejoiced
to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad (85 6 ). And had ye
(really, as you pretend) believed Moses, ye would have believed
me: for he wrote of me.
With regard to the references to the marital connexions
4.
of the Samaritan woman there should scarcely be any doubt that
there is an inherent allusion to the religious past and present of
parently
the
community
the
Samaritan
had
five
natural
(as
(John
in
woman
iv.
knowledge
is
to
18), the figure
of the
:
outwardly imply the super-
may
Incarnate Son; but inwardly
has long been recognized,
New
1
when
quote Estlin Carpenter
told that she has no husband but has
question;
cp.,
for instance,
it
points
Wordsworth,
1886, in loc?} to the
gods brought by the five groups
from
transported
Mesopotamia by the Assyrian concthe
fall of the Northern Kingdom
after
querors
(2 Kings, xvii. 24,31).
was
the
was
no
true husband?
who
It
Who, then,
contemporary
is sometimes supposed that it was the God of Israel ignorantly
worshipped on Mount Gerizim, to whom the unchaste woman was
no true wife. But if the previous identification be correct, it seems
more consonant with analogy to look for some representative of
The Christian father Jerome
found him in
false teaching.
to
have
a
who
was
been
Dositheus,
disciple of John the
reputed
and
to
have
claimed
to
be
the
Baptist
prophet predicted by Moses
art.
Eccl.
by Salmon). A sect possessing books
Biography.,
(Diet.
attributed to him maintained a local existence till the sixth century.
Test,
of settlers
.
.
.
Mixed up with
his story is the figure of Simon the Mage (Acts
the
early Church regarded as the father of all heresy.
9)
The statement of Justin (i Apol. xxvi), himself born in the country,
whom
viii
was worshipped by almost
some modern students to fix on him.
that he
the Samaritans, has led
Neither interpretation may
all
be correct, but Jerome's reference implies his conviction that the
conversation beside the well carried within
It
may
be surmised that the criterion
it
a historic meaning.
for a right interpretation of
woman's husband who is not really her husband must be, that
must fit in, on one hand with the mystical reference to the
depth of the well, requiring an aycXyjfia wherewith to draw the
the
it
p.
-
24$.
so also Kreyenbiihl, op.
cit.
ii,
p. 407.
I
So
Jn
water, on the other
hand
4426
to the obvious connexion with the Divine
command
received from the fathers concerning the Mount of Garizim
(Argarizim) as the right TOTTOC; 07:00 Ttpooy.Dvetv Set. That is, the con-
text implies that the 'husband' cannot be identified with a religious
leader or a cult or a type of Gnostic belief that has already severed
adherents from the rigid observance of the traditional form of
worship linked with Argarizim, but, on the other hand, that the
reference must be to some contempary aspiration towards the
its
knowledge of the 'depths' or 'secrets', probably the 'depths' or
'secrets' of the Tora (== the well).
Gaster 1 has shown that within the confines of the adherents
to what may be termed the Samaritan religion, there existed from
about 200 B.C. onwards numerous circles devoted to mystical
speculations starting from the received text of the Pentateuch (the
Samaritan Tora) parallel to the similar development of mystical
In the text of the Tora, mystically promystery of heaven and earth had to find its
notions within Judaism.
pounded,
every
and every word in it (is) of Divine
origin;
potency and efficacy immeasurable.
It is only a question of knowing how to make use of the secret
This mysticism was clearly at home
powers hidden in the text ...
with members of the Samaritan community which on every point
a
held on to the traditions respecting
/afcci and worship, purported
2
to be received from the fathers and the 'elders'.
On the other
hand, there was an almost insensible transition from the circles
within the traditional bounds to the synchretistic sects that may
be called Gnostics proper.
This very manipulation of words and
letters, this endowment of every word and sign with a deeper
meaning, opened the door to all kinds of fantastic speculations,
and paved the way for those sectarian tendencies and Gnostic influences
although, no doubt, at a later period \sciL, than the
nd
2
which were able to work upon the speculative
century B.C.]
mind of the Samaritans. Men arose who read a different and
deeper meaning into the simple words of the text, and thus claimed
for themselves the right of proclaiming a different truth.
This
of
this
freedom
and
hermevery
interpretation,
mystical exegesis
neutics, lies at the basis of all mystical speculations: hence the
solution*.
it
It is
is
a Divine work,
infallible,
and
its
H
of so
rise
1
many
sects
on
the soil of Palestine.
None
of them
The Samaritans, their History, Doctrines and Literature 1925, pp. 79
the seventy elders chosen by Moses in the wilderness to whom he
ft".
2
i.e.
had entrusted a copy of the
Law.
Gaster, op.
cit.
p.
119.
44-26
Jn
!8i
from abstract systems wholly unconnected with ancient
traditions, independent theories by which the problems of the
started
world were solved and the deeper mysteries revealed.
The problems in the forefront for the deeper religious minds within the
Samaritan community under the influence of the religious condi-
were here as elsewhere those of 'the Beginnings
and the End, of the spiritual life of man, of death and immortality,
of reward and punishment, and concomitant with it the idea of a
divinely appointed Redeemer or guide and resurrection'.
These mystical ideas of the depths or secrets of the Tora as
the basis for the knowledge and attainment of higher truths are
traceable in the classical Samaritan writings. Especially important
is
Markah's commentary to the Pentateuch, from which relevant
tions of the times
1
passages are cited in Appendix
parallel
mm
I.
]?
The conception
the Jewish mystical terms
^1D and
(well of Tora),
to
mm
nDu
pi-7-
mm nPD
in
general is
of wisdom
(well
(secrets of
myste-
of Tora) (cf. above p. 160).
For the Samaritan treatment of the conception of immortality
and of the Messiah, Caster may again be referred to. 2
The resurrection is proved from Gen 3 1 9 where the Samaritan
ries
Hebrew
text runs
3
:
1
Caster, op. cit. pp. 84 ft. pictures the development of the mystical ideas
within and outside the community as follows: Jews and Samaritans alike also
had to face [the problems arising out of the religious condition of the times]
and take up a definite position, if they were not to be sucked down in the
general whirlpool, and to succumb to the new flood of ideas and superstitions
which at that time swept the world
They were, no doubt, satisfied with the
razing of the ancient idols, but they could not view with equanimity the erection
.
of
new
ones;
.
.
.
the
.
.
danger was twofold: the
first
was
to
admit
all
the
new
ideas without questioning, and to incorporate them into their own code of laws
and doctrines by assimilating them to their own standards and principles; in
that
way
they gradually became assimilated to the strange world of ideas without,
consequent loosening of the' hold which the Law had upon them.
with
the
The
other danger
was
to
try
and
find a justification for this very process of
The former led to apotext.
undiluted assimilation in the words of the sacred
stasy and to the erection of idols in the
the other to the creation of sects, some of
Temples of Jerusalem and Sichem:
whom
still clung
closely to the old
subjected the text to a dissolving exegesis until it assumed that
This activity
mystical interpretation which we find in the writings of Philo,.
in its turn led either to other peculiar interpretations of an ascetic character or
but
faith,
who
.
to the mystic speculations of the Gnostic schools.
2
n
Caster, op. cit. pp. 88 ff.
as transcribed in Hebrew square characters.
.
1
Jn 44-26
82
2iB'n
afar atta ucel afarak
1
thou shalt return.
'/{'/
The
neqam use lam, on
From the same chapter
sion has: D7&'} Dpi Dl 1 / ^/z^wz
geance and recompense.
of
after
life
r\r\x
^
nsy
//zjj/
dust
existence of future punishment and reward is proved from
and especially from Dent 3235, where the Samaritan ver-
2
Gen 9>
"psy bw
thou art dust and to
tesob': for
of punishment
death,
and
the
day of ven-
a whole theory
reward and of the final
was evolved.
events
An important early conception is also that of the contrast
between the present age of Fanuta, the dark, abysmal period,
the terrible period of Fanuta
and the future Rahuta, implying
a life in the constant shadow of God's favour and love. 3
With the advent of the Rahuta the appearance of the Restorer,
v
the Tacb pnn) or Saeb (-'~ ^') is closely connected. The Samaritans
rest their expectation of the advent of the Taeb on the promise
4
given in their tenth commandment and on Deut. 18 JS. ^. 'The
Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst
of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken
1
1
.
1
being
They
.
.
.
when he
-
interpret
to
this
mean
.
Adam and of course every human
same material form in which he was
that
return again to live in the
will
.
died.
Sam. version:
TD
%
i:&'-nN >- 72
isniN DDTI&'B^ DSCH PK "NI
reading: 'living being' instead of 'wild beast' and referring it to the punishment
to be meted out after death to the man who has commited suicide.
3
There
is nothing
really eschatological connected with that period, it is,
precede the time when the end of the world will be expected and
the fate of mankind finally decided
No definite period, however, is assigned
in
fact,
to
.
.
.
to the period of Divine favour; this may come at any time and will take place
as soon as the necessary conditions for such an era of happiness have been
must be made perfectly clear that the Samaritans do not expect this
one of conquest or great poiver: it is nothing but absolute freedom
and peace, together with t/ic conversion of tlie Jeivs to the recognition of the
fact that they had been led astray in a strange error by their false prophets...:
fulfilled.
period
It
to be
Caster, op.
cit.
p. 90.
32
18
vide Caster op. cit. p. 187:
5 30 Exod 20
repeating Deut 18
By inhere
this
that
a
like
Moses will arise in the future, who
serting
promise
prophet
will be sent by God, and to whose voice they are bidden to hearken, a unique4
,
importance has been given to
,
it.
It
has been placed next to the
commandments
as being uttered by God on the very same solemn occasion. One cannot overestimate the value just assigned to it, for it assumes a character of its own and
becomes the
basis
of
all
the
eschatological
crystallized in the belief of a TaCb.
speculations which are later on
jn
4426
!83
them up a prophet from among their brethren like unto
and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak
There is evidence even
unto them all that I shall command him
in outside sources that the expectation of the Taeb was widewill raise
I
thee;
.
spread at the time of
tions
A
1
prominent feature in the 7^'^-tradiin accordance with Deut 18 l8 would
concerning all things, he is the 'Teacher', muri
point the Samaritan teaching agrees with the
J.
was that the Redeemer,
teach the faithful
On
or mudi.
views
this
entertained
by
Fragments the Messiah
(above
,
the Sadoqites.
Cf. how in the Sadoqite
is termed the 'Teacher of Righteousness'
155).
p.
But even during the Fanuta before the advent of the prophet,
the Taeb, true 'prophets' can arise. The Samaritans' rejection of
the prophetic literature of the Jewish canon does not imply any
of the
lessening
importance attached to the functions of a true
prophet, nebi. On the contrary, this conception seems to have
played a distinctive role from the earliest down to the latest
times.
2
The
of the
controversies between Samaritans and Jews on the point
place of worship, as they appear, from the Jewish
right
point of view,, in Rabbinical writings (and also in Josephus), are set
3
Not a single detail of the
exhaustively by Billerbeck.
forth
Jewish
representation
of the controversy seems to have escaped
may be allowed, therefore, simply to refer
4
It need scarcely be pointed out, however,
here to his exposition.
that the Jewish representation gives no adequate picture of the
Billerbeck's notice.
1
It
Wellknown is the relation in Josephus' Antiq. 18.4. 1,2 of a man \vho
to Mount Gad/urn at the time of Pilate and gathered the people round
went up
him, promising to discover the hidden vessels of the Temples a feature in the
traditions of the expected Taeb.
(Cf. Caster, op. cit. p. 21).
Thus in the 'Dream of Abisa (given e. g. in J. H. Petermann's Chrest.
Sam. pp. 24 28) the angels before the Divine Throne of Light, speaking to Moses
of Abisa the priest ascending in the dream to heaven in the company of Moses:
bxitr
'.
.
his
.
1
ymcD
inys "cj
mp
O, thou prophet of God, and saviour of
time and a teacher of Israel'.
3
i
4
pp.
^xit^ 1
ytt'ici DTI*?**
Israel, thus this one
is
a
^j
rux
prophet
in
549-55'-
Reference
may
also
be
made
to
L.
Gulkowitsch's
comment upon and
translation of the tractate GTI1D. belonging to the so-called smaller tractates of
the Talmud, and setting forth mainly the ritual differences between the Samaritans
and the Jews from the Jewish point of view:
die Sainariter in
AITEAOS
i
(1925) pp.
4856.
Der
kleine Tatimidtraktat iiber
1
Jn 44-26
84
view on
Samaritan
contentions
is
1
the
The
subject.
pregnantly and
basis
adequately
of the
Samaritan
20
by Jn 4
expressed
ot Tca-epsc; TyjJwov iv zcp opst ;:o6up Tcpoasxov^aav. The Samaritans
were conscious of preserving the form and place of worship of their
2
From
'fathers'. The Samaritan reading of Deut 274 i- is wellknown.
the time of Israel's entrance into the promised land onwards, accord-
ing
the Samaritans, the worship was carried on at that place.
3
tells us
in connexion with Jn 4 is what Caster
to
Of importance
concerning the incorporation in the Samaritan community of the
heathen garrisons, (the 'five nations'). Whereas the Jewish traditions
accordance with 2 Ki 17 2 5
term the Samaritans 'proselytes
same time trying to convey that
the whole Samaritan community arose from the converted heathen
5
settlers
in the Samaritan tradition the matter assumes a totally
in
out of fear for the lions'
4
,
ff.
at the
,
different aspect.
the High Priest
.
.
.
They
state that
by the carrying
into exile of
and the priests who ministered in the Sanctuary
at Beth-El, i.e. Garizim, the service of God had come to a standstill
with the result that the curse which had been threatened
6
in Leviticus
and Deuteronomy 7 came to pass. With the cessation
of worship, drought set in, famine followed, and wild beasts overran
.
.
.
The real cause of the carrying away of the High
In the
the priests into exile was their own sins.
following upon the cessation of right worship were in-
the land ...
Priest
and
calamity
volved not only the inhabitants of the land who had strayed from
the true worship of God, but the new-comers as well. It is, therefore, in the name of the whole community that the governor and
garrison for the time being sent the .request to the king to have
the High Priest returned and the worship re-established.*
This
request having been granted, the High Priest Seraya returned,
accompanied by a number of Samaritans from the exile. With
just
after-life are
'-'
Samaritan denial of resurrection and
as the Rabbinical references to
1
misleading.
msc ^:x niyx nbvxn D^NH
7r6s nirrb nztc etc' n^n
as*
wz
The Israelites
command.
3
*
r>
op.
cit.
entering
Kanaan
Deut
PS cmsvs rnrn
civi crnx
built the first altar
on Argarizim
56 b, Hnllin 3b: PT>-\X "H 1
very term frequent!}' used for Samaritans, 'Kufum',
implying their pagan origin.
Lev 26 " f
'
pTn
(.;
ace. to
Moses's
pp. iSf.
TB Nidda
The
ic^pn
ens me-i cTijnrc
.'
is
an opprobrium
Jn
4426
!85
the ensuing re-establishment of worship the Samaritans definitely
broke with the idolatrous practices, or, as it may be expressed
by the Jn-ine simile: with the five former husbands. Historical is,
that the Samaritans from this time onwards strongly emphasized
the monotheistic character of their
faith.
1
On
the basis of Caster's work on the Samaritans, founded
on first-hand research on original and authentic sources it
may be admissible to urge that the controversial issue of Jn 4
is with a circle of Samaritans that are ^vholly ze'////?;? the bounds
of zvkat zve Jiave termed the Samaritan community. Further the
Samaritans in question are representative of the tendency towards
the mystical speculations and interpretations of the Tora, and
as
is
it
towards the seeking in the Tora of the deepest secrets of salvation
and of communion with the spiritual world. For the symbolism of
the avtXyj^a and the deep well, the dictum preserved in Cant R 1 7
and quoted above p. 160 may be considered illustrative. When,
therefore, the Samaritan woman is represented as saying toj:
'you have nothing wherewith to draw, no avcX7]|j.a' this may
at least so it seems
approximately be rendered: 'You do not
to me
possess the mystical training nor are you familiar with the
mystical traditions by which the life-giving secrets of the Tora are
brought to light, and the acquisition of these requires much study
and meditation (midras). Further it may be possible to offer a
conjecture as to the allusion to the 'present husband' of the Samaritan woman. The words 'I have no husband', in the mouth
of the Samaritan woman, in view of the strong emphasis on monotheism and the strict adherence to the Divine Tora received through
most probably mean: 'We are not allied with any
The answer is: I acknowledge the truth of what you
say.
Formerly you were allied with the worship of the gods of
the five 'nations', but now you worship and seek to find the only,
the
fathers,
foreign cult'.
true God, the
husband. But,
Father,
I
tell
THUH
He is your only God, or
not yet really your God ('he
(sinia).
you, that he
is
Auch sie (the Samaritans) verehren
a. a. O. p. 49:
Wesen, auf welches sinnliche Bezeichnungen und Vergleiche nicht angewendet werden diirfen. Der Monotheismus begegnet uns bei
ihnen sogar in reinerer Form als gleichzeitig bei den Juden, da sie alle menschlichen Ankla'nge im Gottesnamen und seinen Attributen beseitigen.
Whether it can be said with Hamburger (Real-Encykl. etc. p. 1068) and Gulko1
Gott
Cf. L.
als
rein
Gulkowitsch,
geistiges
(a. a. O. p. 50) that 'Kuthasans' and 'Dosithseans' are to be regarded as
different sects divided on the matter of greater or lesser assimilation with Jewish
religion and statutes is highly doubtful.
witsch
1
86
Jn
is
not
thine husband'), for
of
the
words
whom
'he
44-26
The import
you do not know him.
thou
now
hast
is
not thy husband
1
,
is
same as that of the utterance 'ye worship what ye know not'
and this, again, as was maintained above, refers to the same necesthe
world
2I
33
Jn
sity of entering the spiritual
realities as treated of in
in
order to
know
the spiritual
.
Hence the point of the controversy is the same as in Jn 33~ 21
the contrast between the reality of the spirit and of spiritual
in man on one hand and on the other a mere external, one
,
viz.
life
might say objective, relation to the spirit, and along with this the
truth, that J alone, can mediate this reality to man.
As has already been pointed out, the character of the controversial attitude of Jn 4 is quite different from that of Jn 3. In Jn 4
acknowledges the sincerity of the religious aspiration of the SamaHence it must be maintained, that the reference
to the husband which is no husband of vs. 18 cannot be meant
to convey any moral defect of the Samaritans.
The idea of
or
is
the outward
absent
even
from
adultery
evidently
concubinage
form of the story. The woman, although convinced of the truth,
shows no trace of understanding J's words as implying a reprimand
of her private life. 1 Neither is there in J's words a single hint of
an injunction to the woman to make amends; nor is she in the
rest of the chapter represented as disobedient or as one who
doeth the evil and therefore hates the light. On the contrary,
J
ritans addressed.
there
is
in vss. 32
as
caused
is
entirely
ff.
by the
the missionary joy ofj
result of the dialogue with the woman which
inexplicable
touched the
2
a covert allusion to
on the supposition that
J
in vs.
18 has
unpleasant subject* of the womans private life withable to touch her conscience. 3 In effect, vs. 18 must
out being
be considered as finishing rather with a laudatory utterance than
with one of blame. It is perhaps unnecessary to point out that the
18 gives a perfectly natural
symbolical interpretation of vss. 16
1
Ev.,
p.
This
182:
is
expressed, although in a different vein, by Loisy, Le Qitatrieme
L'idce du concubinage empeche certains d'admettre, que le mari
mais cette idee n'est pas exprimee dans le texte et c'est avec intenne 1'a pas formulee. Le dieu d'Israel est pour les Samaritains un
dieu etranger, dont ils ont d'autant nioins le droit de se reclamer qu'ils n'observent pas vraiment sa Loi.
soit lahve;
tion
qu'on
The expression is Dr Strachan's in his Fourth Gosficl p. 108.
The only secondary meaning of vs. 18 is to convey J's immediate knowledge of the woman's past, which to her was a sign that lie was a prophet:
w
cf. above p.
f.
sF-iv u.o'. -dv-v.
-
s
'
v.
l-oiY;3</ (4
"")
43
Jn 432,54
187
connexion of thought both with the preceding and the following
portions.
Lastly it may be of some moment to consider in the light
of the preceding, the words: Meaata? ... 6 Xsyd|Asvoc XpiaTO?. It
is difficult to interpret this as being merely an elucidation included
readers
the
for
The
I4i.
rea
i
of the gospel, as may possibly by the case with
intention is perhaps the identification even of the
Samaritan Messiah
That
may
with the
historical XpiaTog
might go back on an original 'Taeb, who
be proffered as a conjecture which, however,
it
as uncertain.
of the Christians.
is
called Messiah'
may
be regarded
1
oax. oVoa-s (4
tva
eatcv,
7cot(y?a)(o
zo
^sXvyjJia
32)
.
.
.
SJ
-w
^sjjL^av-o? JJLS xai
ideas centering round
a6to5 -6 epyov (4 34). For the
2
conception of the spiritual (3pw[Jia wVfe below on 6 7. Here
is
to be noticed especially the expression T|V u|xsic our. oYSais,
which may be recognized as the technical expression for a reality
the
belonging to the spiritual world as put in contrast to the terrestrial,
The
'this-world' experience of the hearer or hearers addressed.
utterance
is
parallel with 3
11
and 4 22 also with 7 2 9
4'
,
(arc' i|j.aoTOO
oox eXYJXofta, aXX' sauv aXvjikvos 6 7rs|j,<jja<; (is, ov o^si? oox
8 J 4, 15 (ou oiSa, TidSev ^X-S'OV xai TTOU OTrdya). u[j.Etg 8e' oox
TCo6ev sp^o|j,a!. 7) HOD DTra'cw Dfj-ei? xata
8
TYJV adpxa xpivsTs),
ol'SaTE DOTS Tov TiaTspa
s|As
ov G^etc XsysTs, ou
8s oloa at)Tov.) Just as
jj-s,
ol'Sats),
oi'Sars,
T
9
(OUTS
854,55 (e'cmv 6 Tiar/jp jioa 6 So^dCwv
u^wv sariv, xai oux SYVwxaTE aDTov, iyw
(xoo),
tl-so?
4ff-, tells the Samaritan woman
which she does not yet know or understand, lie tells
his disciples of the spiritual food which they do not yet know. It
consists in doing the will of his Father who sent him, and in
of the
J,
ace. to
4
;
gift
2
2
Similarly in 6 7~ 9 the ipydLsa6ai Ta spya TOO
is
connected with the spiritual food, /) ppwoic vj {j,svooaa sic
The significance of 43 2 34 immediately
aiwvtov, quo vide.
finishing his work.
8-soo
,
Ev J,
Wie
cinen Eigennamen ohne Artikel geCf. Zahn,
5, 6 p. 251:
braucht Jo hier (nicht so 141) die griech. Transskription des aram.
^n^'p, schwer1
licli
mit
Ritcksiclu
dies kann
wie
auf die determinirte Apposition o Xspu-svo; X^ISTO-. Denn
Rede der S. angehoren
Es kann dies also nur ebenso
nicht der
ja
die gleichbedeutenden
bemerkung des
.
Worte
Ev. sein, die
fiir
I,
31, 41
.
.
und manche almlich, eine Zwischen-
seine Leser ein Bediirfnis war.
Auch
hier,
an
der entscheidenden Stelle des Gesprnchs, will Jo dem originalen Laut der Rede
Dies scheint aber vorauszusetzen, dass das Weib wirklich dieses
festhalten
.
.
.
jiidisch-aramaische
nymon
Wort und
gebraucht habe.
nicht irgend ein bei der Samaritern iibliches
Syno-
1
88
Jn432,34
becomes
Xsyto
j.Yjy
when read
clear,
The
in
TOOTWV
of activity (14
unity
on
in J is
10
700 ftpo? toy
a
6 8s icattjp sv
:
rcaTSpa Tiopsuo^ai).
communion with
SJJ.OL
the Father
Ta spya
rco'.si
{isvwy
be given by the Son of man to those
will
airroo),
the light of 6 2 7~ 2 9 and 14 I2
si? i[xs ta spya, a 57 a> TUOIW, xaxelvo?
Tronjaet,
which
food,
spiritual
and
TriOTEOwy
6
5[uy,
Troir/asi, veal [JLsiCova
in
who
'believe',
of the Divine activity. It is
2
>34
that
evident
43
represent the same central ideas as those met
with in 1 5 1 33~ 21 and 47 26 (cf. above pp. 39, 40, 95
IOO,
henceforth
will
they
partake
,
The
130).
of the introduction
object
in
this context of the J-
evidently to express that J had really done His
Father's work through opening the eyes of the Samaritan woman
dictum
in
the
to
is
question
reality of the living water.
But
he
this implies also that
Water and the
had been received
as the living
spiritual food by
further
to
the
stress
believing Samaritans. In order
point that the
Samaritans actually attained to real belief in him, the narrative
of vss. 39
42 is superadded. The question of the historical back-
salvation
the
it
Samaritan
the
for
ground
offered
receptivity
will
for
J's
be dwelt on
and the
second part of
teaching
in the
by him,
work, treating of the narrative portions of Jn. Here
be sufficient to point out, that Jn, by the use of terms and
present
will
words
[lapTOpsiv,
[isveiv,
rciaTsuaai-Tcwcsosiy, a%Y]x6ajj,ey
v.y.1
ol'Sajj.sv,
TOD %6a[j.oo, connects the historical relation with the
aXyjGti)?, owrJjp
ideas of the preceding discourses. With this Jn conveys that the
Samaritans attained to a real experience of the spiritual world inj.
Hence, it may also be surmised, the use of the term 6 OCOTYJP too
It
is
the
in
V.OOJJLOO
Samaritans' mouth primarily links up with S 16 ?.
final emphasis on the fact that the Samaritan
1
.
intended as a
accepted the Divine gift in its whole bearing, as it is expressed
by the words: OOTCO? ydp vjyaTCYjaev 6 $eoc; TOV xoffpov, ware toy ucoy
[aoioo] TOV [lovoyey/i edw/.sv, tW. Tea? 6 morevojv B\C, aik&y JAYJ aTrdX'/jrai,
aXX'
s'/'o
xoauov,
S 1 ^'^).
Cw^]v
auovioy.
OD yap
a<rsoTetXsv
toy %da|j.ov, aXX
vtpivfl
p'or references to the
ivy.
3
6
%-BOQ
Toy o:6v
el?'
toy
Iva oco&fj 6 y.6of.ws SC auroo (Jn
vast literature on the formula
2
aomjp TOO xdajioo ^zV/r Bauer, J ^z/ p. 71 and cf. further especially
G. P. Wetter,
pp. 51, 52.
It remains to touch upon the question of the Samaritan
acceptance of J in relation to the doctrine of the spiritual universalism
expressed
There
rative
will
in
ch. 4 (e.g. vss.
be
illustrates
no
reason
the
20 and
to
extension
42), as
elsewhere
the
thesis
dispute
of the 'religion of
in
the Gospel.
the nar-
that
J'
beyond the
Jn
4434
189
of the Jewish community. 1 But on the other hand
does not cover the whole purpose of the record. What has
boundaries
this
again to be kept in view, is the strong emphasis of the Samaritan
adherence to the teaching of the 'fathers', by the side of the
which so faithful adherents to the received traditions
Samaritans are represented as being, seemingly desert their
traditional faith and accept J as the saviour of the world. Further
ease with
as
the supercession of the traditional worship
by the worship
in spirit
and truth and of the traditional water by the living water must
be considered in the light of J's willingness to drink of this
traditional water and of the fact that J is recognized by the Samaritan woman as the Messiah, prophet and teacher whose future
advent she had been taught to expect. In view of these facts
the purpose, 'it seems, is rather to teach: those ^vJlo are imvardly
directed towards t/te spiritual, the light, recognize in the light,
when
it
comes
to
them,
the
true
meaning and
the ftdfilment
of
traditional faith.
They do not even, in reality, desert the
traditional faith, for Moses wrote of J (546) and Abraham, the
their
On this interpretation
father, saw his day and was glad (8 56).
the side-reference to the Jewish faith receives a clear justification.
The arguments of the Jews who according to 539,45, 63 839,53
1
,
tried
to justify their rejection of J
Abraham and
by the simple
by
their loyalty to
Moses and
adherence to the Scripture are here refuted
that the Samaritans, who were even more
strict than the Jews in their literal observance of the Tora found
in J the fulfilment of the promises contained in the Tora. (It may
be surmised, in passing, that vs. 9 implies an allusion to this false
their
fact
or exclusivity of the inimical Jews: 'How is it that thou,
being a Jezv, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria'.)
Thus the narrative demonstrates the truth of the reprimand to
loyalty
the reason why you reject J is not at all to be sought
your belief in Moses or your sonship of Abraham; the reason
that you hate the light, because you do not do the truth
20 21
and this again shows, that you do itot believe in Moses
),
the Jews:
in
is
(3
>
(547)
stead
nor are the children of your father Abraham (839), but, inthe children of the Sid(3oXoc, the father of falsehood (844);
is significant that the Jews' retort to this
reprimand
not well that thou art a Samaritan
.?'
(848).
it
.
1
is:
'say
we
.
Samaria as
the nearest representative of the world outside the
E. Carpenter,
p. 385, P. Gardner, Eph. Gosp. "pp. 221, 222 E. F. Scott,
4 Gosp. p. 1 10 R. H. Strachan, 4 Gosp. p. 100.
Jew
JW,
1
Jn 435-38 5 9-29
9o
'
It
35
be put forth as a hypothesis, that the words of vss.
connexion in which they now stand 1 are to be
as an allusion to the salvation through J as being a
may
the
in
38,
interpreted
true fulfilment
6
OsptCwv
longings, and expectations of the fathers.
of the
XajAJSdvst xai oovdysc,
OJJLOO /acp$ xai 6 Ospi^ov
jj,j,a06v
:va 6 aTcetpcov
aXXo
x.ai
,
6
Ospc^ov
.
.
xapxov
si?
o)>?v
atawov,
aXXoc; eartv 6 axstpwv
aXXot xsxoTctdxasiv, xai 6piec scg tov
.
.
.
.
XOTCOV aotGiv ecasX^XoOate. Whatever may be the original significance of the passage, it is probably to be understood here somewhat as follows: J recognizes in the traditional faith of the Sama-
work of a Divine sowing; with the
ritans the
sown
gift
of the Tora
God
the Samaritans a seed, which with the coming of J
as the Messiah has become a harvest which he can reap.
With
Zahn 2 the singular aTrstpwv and GspiCtov are to be taken as referring
has
in
God and
respectively. In the 'fathers', Moses and the 'prophets',
acknowledged by the Samaritans, J recognizes workers, sent by
to
J
3
God
to labour with the sowing
the harvest of which J sends his
7.
In its deepest
disciples to reap in accordance with Lk 10
,
3I
sense the 'labour' perhaps means the longing for the 'living water',
for Messiah, the teacher of righteousness and restorer of the happy
age of communion with God,, which J knows to have been present
the worshippers of the past and by them communicated to the
in
present generation.
The
discursive
comprising
The
of Jn 5 may for the purpose of the
conveniently be divided into two sections,
part
present investigation
1929
(i) vss.
and
(2)
vss. 30
47.
immediately to the subject of the
relation between the Father and the Son:
d|Jiy?v
djxy/v
06 Sovorcac o oib$ KWS.W a' saoit>5 ooosv , dv JL u
xrcspa xotoovca* a y^-P av sxstvo? xoqj;/, tao-ca.x.ai 6
IC
Thus this relation is first viewed under the
rcotsc.
(5
aspect of the performance of the Father's work. This, in accordance
with the characteristic form of the Jn-ine discourses, forms a clear
connexion with the last discursive utterance, that of 4 3 2 34. A further
first
section
turns
.
.
.
|)
.
connexion with the preceding sections is established by vs. 20:
6 ydp Tua-cy/p ^tXst tov ocov xac xdvra osix.voajv aotcj) a
xoiet, xai {JistCova totrocov osclst aouj) epya, tva t)jjic<;
1
Jt
will be
urged
in part
ii
that the passage has rightly been taken as not
in any case that it does not
emanating from Jn. A superficial analysis shows
belong to the Jn-ine discourses.
3
!i
Ev.J.
cf.
5)(i
p. 263.
Zahn, op.
cit. ib.
E. Carpenter,
JWr.
Jn 5 '9-29
The former part of
Divine Love in 3
1
5,
S
1
this verse
J
6
is
latter
The specific aspect of the present
ofysaQs).
with
vs.
introduced
21, though even here in connexion
(uistCw TODTCDV
discourse
an allusion to the subject of the
part recalls the wording of
is
and the
191
.
.
.
with earlier conceptions and expressions: waTcep ydp 6 Tccrajp eystpcC
TOO? vsxpotk xai
The
relation
<j)o;coct,
OOTG)
between
the
xai ojnog o[)
Father and the
complete dependence upon and obedience
ojo;cocc.
O-sXsc,
Son
to the
one of
Father on the
is
part of the Son, but, on the other hand, this is characterized by
the complete conferment on the part of the Father upon the Son
of the Father's whole authority and power: (i) the Son does the
Father's
(3)
6
'works',
(2)
...
executes judgement,
7uaT7?p
xptvst
...
27 xai
ot(j)
ooSeva,
he
is
gives life, 'makes living' the dead,
the judge of the world.
22 o68s yap
dXXa
T^V
Tcdaav
xptatv
osoojxsv
.
.
sarcv.
T(7>
s|ooatav iStoxsv aoTqj xptatv xocscv ore, otoc
29 xai exTCOpsoaovcac ... ot
to, ^aaXa
soTtv ...
tg dvaaraatv xpcaecoa
^ xptats ^ sjxv^ Scxaca
The relation between the Son and the world in his func.
.
.
.
and Judge is further pictured under the simile
calling from the world of the Father into the
of Life-giver
tion
of the
Voice
The reaction of the voice upon the lower world, or
the
'dead', constitutes the occurrence which inaugurates the
upon
judgement or the condemnation for some, the obtainment of life
lower world.
for others:
3-tv,
ot
ot
25
ot
axo6aav-i:;
^ot^
ized
Xsyoj
vsxpoi axoaaooa;,
ajjiv^v
d|J.yjv
ojxcv
^5
^aooatv ...
8-t
spy^srat copa
^(ov^^ -06 ocoa
28 ipy^tat copa,
V
-coo
xai vov
Oso6 xai
^ zdvc=c;
ot sv
But it is emphas^tov^^ aotoa .
that the relation between the Son and the world is eo ipso
jjt,v;2JJ.totg
dxooao)at
^^
.
.
a relation between the Father and the world; the attitude taken
towards the Son implies the same attitude towards the Father:
23 i'va xavc
ztjjuoat TOV tnov xaO-wg ttjjubac zov xatpa. 6 |JL^
tov otov 06 Ltjx^ tov ^a-pa TOV 7usjjL(|;avta ao-ov . . . 30 o^t
to 0X>y{JLa TO sfxov aXXa TO 0X7y[j.a TOO ^|j.(J>av-6^ fxs.
Among ^Mandsean parallels reference may be made in the first
place to the following:
GL 1 1 42429-425 2
(Pet 22-5)
Jn 5
192
Then
J
9
29
the
Great First Life called, appointed, equipped and sent
the Deliverer; (and Qmamir Ziua), who delivers and removes
souls and spirits from the body.
And he is called Death in
the
world,
Saur
the
c
el,
but Kusta (Truth) he
who know of him.
is
by those who know
called
[the initiate],
GL 1 1
In
the Angel of Death carries the functions of an ap-
pointed Messenger, and the stress is laid on the Messenger-aspect:
he is falsely called Death, in reality he is Truth (cf. Jn 14 6; iyw
Important parallels are the following features:
aXTJGsia.
Y]
Saurel, the Deliverer, is sent to Voice a call to Adam', the first
man, (cf. Jn 5 2 4, 25,28 ^ (pcovi) TOO oloD TOD GEOD), (2) the object of the
voice called forth to Adam is to take him out of earthly life into
e![U ...
(i)
the true
through his earthly death
life
TOD fJavatoo sic
TYJV
Car/jv,
5
2
5);
(cf.
Jn 5
2 4:
|j.eta[2s(3r|xev
ez
the Messenger speaks the words
to speak and 'doeth the works'
(3)
that the First Life commands him
of the First Life (cf. Jn 5 7, I 9 f; 36 3 26 % r]x,ODoa Trap' aotou, taota
XaXco); (4) Adam, to whom the voice is made heard, is called
l
1
ace. to Jn 5 2 5 those who hear
'mute, foolish, deaf and veiled'
the voice of the Son of God are the 'dead', ot vexpoi.
(5) What
is
brought about by the Deliverer's 'work' and Voice' in taking
away the spirit from the body of death, or the 'life of death'
;
in the lower world, the earthly existence) to the true life, is
the union of Life with Life, that is to say, of the Great First Life
with the awakened life in man, through the Messenger. Hence
(i.e.
'
the
section
(GL 1 i)
is
concluded with the frequently occurring
formula:
NZ'^N
The
l'5'.ov);
"'?-
Life
SOT!
-Tf-
NS'i'N
X-'TTi
N-'T!
b?
"NE
supported the Life, and the Life found its own (= TO
its own and my spirit found what it aspired to!
the Life found
The underlying idea is that Life is a spiritual essence, in its
highest and fullest degree possessed by the Great First Life
(= the Deity, 6 rcac/jp of Jn 5), and by him conferred upon the
Messenger, who by virtue of his possession of Life brings the
spirits of the believers into
Life
extant
sv eauT(T),
1
in
them.
ODTCO? y.al
GL If
425
9'., 17
T(j>
1
Life or rather
Cf. Jn
DU]>
5
2(
^:
sSw/ev
(Pet 2'3f.,
awakens the residue of
woTrsp yap
C^'/]V
s^e'.v
6
rcar/jp
sy_'.
Ca>"/jV
sv s
if.):
vX\x?2~N*
Nirx; CNIX
Jn 5 9-29
T
193
As in Jn the conceptions of Life brought from the Life by the
Messenger are constantly connected with those of LigJtt, Truth
and the Way. The terms are interchangeable, connoting that the
Characteristic
spiritual reality behind them is always the same.
the
also are
of the
instances
repeated
and 'being' and 'giving'. 1
marked in Mandaean literature than
This
sessing'
who
,
426
in jn.
addresses the Messenger both as *O, thou caller
me!' and 'thou, O Voice, that didst call me' (GL
didst call
28
perhaps, even more
Thus in GL Ii, here
is,
Adam
referred to,
425
sense of 'pos-
identical
29 2
).
The passages speaking
of the Messenger as Life and bringer
In connexion with Jn 5 '9^ the following
of Life are numerous.
is
of special importance:
GR XII 2
271 20 -272
n3N
N-rnn nan-!
N-TCji
njs* N-^ji
28
(pc t 274'-2757)
N^DNa^
rrii"-
N
-
sbiD
"Nns-.r:;
'
:N to-p- nun-
1
N'/a
"-?
i'/2"i
p-p
N"n-r s^N'/ai^p P.XSN Nb^p [275
1/2
3
]
Come in goodness, O Kusta (Truth),
3
Thou art the
Light, that goeth to the house of its friend(s)
4
Elect, Victorious One, who establishes! thy whole tribe in victory.
(An alphabetical hymn.)
O
;
Gimra 5 (Gimra guntra). An Elect One, in
whom there is no defect. Thou art tJie ivay 6 of the Perfect Ones,
the path leading up to the place of light.
Thou art life from
Thou
a
art
perfect
above pp.
1
Cf.
2
PetZi:
NnXp
Pct 4*3f.
''
p.
n.
to
i.e.
113!".,
N^^p
:
the
168, 186.
N^l^
^l
N^JNp
N"
1
1
?! ^nNp N^
lower world, where the believers are dwelling.
Cf.
above
128.
ss
Jn 16
''
Cf.
r'
The sense of
Here
3.
it
i'((o
vV!/.yjxa
the
~w
xoau.ov.
'
word giinra
might perhaps,
in
is
not clear.
Cf. Lidzbarski,
tion' or similarly.
11
13
Cf. Jn
14:
27451.
H.
SY<'>
Odcberg.
'-!'.'-
/;
ooo:
GR
view of the world-play, be translated
Y.V''.
r
t
yjjfi&.y.
w\
r
'Cwf
(
(
.
p.
158
'perfec-
Jn 5
194
J
9
29
who comest forth and dwellest in a truthful heart...
Thou art \hefirst Voice, which the Life called forth
[GB
2i].
of
out
its own nature.
Thou art the greatest of the Gan(created)
1
to
The
whom
the
Life
zibras,
gave command over every thing.
dead heard thy voice and lived, and the sick heard thee and were
healed.
Thou forgivest the perfect and elect ones, in whose heart
Eternity,
272
Kusta
(the Truth) dwells.
2
'
well-known that the figure of the Voice' is frequent in
For the connexion of the Voice with conferment of Life
It
is
Mand.
reference
GL
III 62 5969-12
rr"
Viin
A
made
further be
may
(
to
Pet 137
N-CVJ;-
9
HI?-;
the
passages
who
wakeful hears; some
is
.
.
above pp. 130 seqq.,
quoted
listened to
134 (GR XI):
believed in it and were taught by
and found the
loved the 'life
p.
.
...
it
the
esp.
of the Life and
hated the death and
voice
who
Lifev>, and p. 135 (GR XII:
the spirits of those formed out of flesh and blood who
the voice of the Life and believe, shall dwell before the
.
all
to
The Voice
.
.
House of Life.
the
in
Presence,
of Life
the Messenger
there:
GR
to
lived, but others wrapped themselves up [and continued
sleeping].*
Cf. further
listen
m~rj
of Life called: the ear which
voice
heard and
Also
f.)
is
is
present
the Voice of the Messenger; as long as
the world, the Voice of Life is heard
in
VIII 2225-io (pe t 221 8-12)
S^TH
N-irn
]'o
tsbspb
tf-
N-TJ-T
-
n*!N"7
Who
is
NT>T
able to overcome the Voice of Life which was from the
Even
beginning?
now
until
now
the Voice of Life
Voice of Life
Voice of Life is in the Tibil do
until
1
2
the
Cf. Jn 5
Cf.
Jn S
27
:
4 1
'
,
ij-o'jat'av
Jjn
1
s
,
somxev
2*.
.
.
.
falls
I
on
my
ear.
is in Tibil.
As
Even
long as the
hear the murmuring (the Mantra)
Jn 5
29
'9
195
of Hibil Ziua [the Messenger]. I say: 'Even until
has not ascended from his generation '.
GR AY266
i'pcpj
I
2
now
Hibil Ziua
xxp
^-.p^/o
9-5- (Pet 2694-6)
s^n
ms"
(Manda dHayye)
j-rn-m
N^rn
jv/a-'u;-':-:
said before the Great Life: 'This world, into
send me in order to make heard the Voice of Life^
may hear and live and ascend to the House of Life .'.
Especially significant in the present connexion is the concep-
which you
that they
which
tion of the process in
the voice of
the
.
.
life.
It is
life
brought to those who
is
listen to
a process beginning during earthly
moment when man
is
awakened from
his
'sleep',
at
life,
i.e.
his
insensibility to the spiritual realities, continued after death by the
spirit's ascent and having as its final goal the entrance into the
-
'House of
the
Life'.
This corresponds
fairly
with the Jn-ine idea of
(oojroi7jai.
For the general idea of the Messenger as possessing life and
bringing life reference may be made to the passages quoted from
MLi 134, 196, 199, GR II 58 2 3 by R. Bultmann. 1
A close parallel to the expressions of Jn 5 respecting the
derived judge-ship of J (5 2 7) connected with the idea of deliverance
from judgement of those who 'hear the voice of the Messenger and
believe
in part
in him who sent him'
above pp. 131 and 135
2
4)
(5
found
is
GR
in
II j, quoted
of him-
The messenger speaks
ff.
Messenger of the Light' (Qlihd dN/wrd) the King who
truthful messenger (SlUia kuStdna), whom
the Great One sent into this world (drabba saddran lhasen alma).
He sends out a voice into the world. Those who hear the voice
and believe in the Messenger are not judged, or not condemned,
self as 'the
came from the Light, the
1
MLi
in
Die
inand.
nciicrscJilossenen
ttnd manich.
Quellen
13! 8 '" (Qplasta 76)
(speaking of the Messenger:) Life dwelt in his
n
pm:>'>nx
L
'?!
etc.,
pp.
109
f.
_
pD^n n\v
<i
mouth*
^HTPNI
o'Thou [O, Messenger] earnest from the
MLi 19G
7
~9
(O.rf. I xxvi)
p
rvny
earnest;
what
IHKD n^ni? N^TI rp2
o crb ^
House of
Life.
Thou
'I
didst thou bring us?'
brought you [the gift] that you shall not die and that
your spirit shall not be fettered (imprisoned). I brought you life for the day of
death and joy for the sorrowful day.'
1
Jn 5 '9-29
96
1
Messenger will forgive their sin and guilt. The section
Praise be to thee, O King of Light, who didst send the
ends:
truth to us, thy friend! Thou wert victorious, O Manda dHayye,
and didst make all thy friends victorious. The Life makes all
the
but
z
ivorks victorious (successful).
Further, it is to be noticed that in this section,
i>
(its)
GR
II3, the
judgement of the unbelievers, in analogy with the conferment of
life
on the believers, is represented under two aspects: (i) it belongs to the ivorks with which the Messenger is commissioned by
the Great Life, the judgement in this sense consisting really in a
wicked, in not listening to the Voice (cf.
self-judgement of the
above
p. 136), (2) the final judgement is assigned to 'that day,
day of judgement' which, for a class of the believers again is
the 'ho?tr of deliverance'. Cf. Jn 5 2 9: y.ai sxTuopsucovtai 01 ta aya6a
(o^', ol os ia caoXa 7rpaavTS? st? avaTroivjaavTsc stc dvdoTCcatv
ataatv xpC3SG). The 'day of judgement and hour of deliverance'
tlic
GL 1 2 s
day of resurrection (qaiamtaj
Ginza representations of inter4
mediary states both for the wicked and the good between the
first and last stages of judgement or obtainment of Life.
On this
vide Brandt, Mand. Rcl. pp. 72 ft and below on Jn 14 2
Neveris
in
With
this
also called 'the great
coheres that there are
.
in
.
1
be forgiven; cf. above
17 - 10
61
(Pet 66
):
or: cause to
GR Us
2
p.
136.
'- 5
1
rP27 "jHcn&n ? NINIE-'
j^mx-isE'i xiinjn JO^NE r\XjN* rPZN&'c
to-Ninj; prfcb pxi &PTII "SErusn
D
GL 1 2
437"*- (Pet 19 i
f
-):
1
NC ?^ W"1
Dl 1
ND
that day, the day of judgement, and until that hour, the hours of deliverance, until the great day of resurrection
'until
.
4
and also for the intermediate: 'the believing Mandeans that have sinned'.
The 'day of judgement' is also termed 'the day of the End' (rpCH NE1 1 GR IX i
225 x 2 XI 2f>5* 6f -e. a.) or 'the last day' (xiNHP^D ND1 1 c f- above p. 132 1. 27).
Cf. Jn (3"
II 24 (iv -;] (xvaaTciaet Iv ~-(j ia^r(j rjui^x) and 12* 8 (o
WYO;, ov i/>(x/.r,3a
ix.sivo; x.p'.vst K-JTOV iv r^ iay-/j v^iif/a). On the twofold representations of judgement cf. Bultmann, Die neiicrschlossenen niand. iind ittanich. Qitellen etc. p. 137:
,
'
;
!)
,
Ebenso (scil. as in tlie Fourth Gospel) steht es in der mandaischen und der
vcrwandten Literatur: auch hier kreuzen sic'h vielfach xwci Eschatologien, indem
7.\\
dem
eigentlichen
entscheldenden Ereignis, der Predigt des Gesandten, nocli
tritt, die im allgemeinen nicht so
Erwartung einer defmitiven Eschatologis
vergeistigt ist \vie im Joh.-Ev.
die
Jn 5
29
19
197
both the judgement and the obtainment of life are evidently
viewed as one continuous process.
A characteristic parallel to Jn 5 is found in GR XL Here the
Messenger is called the Son of his Father; he is the judge, and his
judge-ship is justified on the one hand by his being 'like his
Father' and on the other hand by being the 'head of the tribe'
of the spirits living on earth, i.e. men. This is conform to the
theless,
Jn-ine representation of the son as having obtained the 'authority
to execute of judgement' (i) from the Father, (2) 'because he is a
son of man'. 1
i
GR XI
m
257" (Pet 256 12 -257 9):
256 54
wn
Nns6n tfnrw by
:ra:pny
n&'Dso
aosn
pi
vX"ND-kxp aoc'np ]i:^\sp Din
fn::
Nnsciyo c^nxn pixi ]jn
HD Nnici *Qi&rn nrmxn
jiDvXi
pn
pn\s:pD NnNCi^j [p^xi] (t^wi)
ini
xz
k
fi
~i
N'nrp;
in
NZN*
vXi:'
1
tip
NHN*
ND^
^
p ]DI nn.x^xn
NCSS
'
[257
%
N\S D"N*
]inpvXDi
Then the Primeval, First one, wlio was out of himself, established the three
Uthras and blessed them and established them, and established his beloved son
the Discerner, the First One, who was out of him (the Father), and he said to
these three Uthras: 'I blessed you with the blessing with which the parents
blessed their children. Go out to that world, execute judgement and deliver there
the spirits that have been taken thither from here. They were
brought into that world in which are darkness and death! Deliver from judgement and bring out the spirits among them that are called and desired, which
liear the voice of tJie Life and are established bv
Manda dHayve
and hear vour
*
J J
from judgement
'
*J
-s
splendour and light of Manda dHayye and become
established (in) the House of Lite. On you, three Uthras, Hibil your eldest
brother will pronounce judgement, and he will execute your judgement. For
iwice
the
and go
eldest
out
brother
in
the
is
(as)
tJic
Father.
He
shall be the head, he shall be the
judge over the judges of this world. They cry to him: 'Whither has this flint
(i.e. hard
one(s)) come upon us, that stand(s) and rebuke(s) us in this our own
world!'
[He is] the head of our tribe in this world, whose s-peech, voice and
word are heard. And the First One speaks to the three Uthras: 'Go out [from
that world] and return to the Skina, from which you are gone out, [return to]
J
Jn 5 9-29
198
refers to M.Li 206 (Oxf. I xxxviii) as a parallel to
the idea of the function of judge assigned to the son of man:
Bauer 1
UN
I
stand
splendour of [my] Father
the
in
.
.
.
the evil ones
who
against me: there is a man who rebukes them;
power (they are punished) but with the power of the
themselves
raise
not with
my
The 'man'
mighty Life.
To sum
in
up:
is the Great Life.
Mandaitic Literature the general ideas forming
are pronounced, and frequently attested.
background of Jn 5 7
The Messenger is sent from the Great Life, the source of all Life.
He is entrusted with Life and power emanating from the Great
He receives authority from his Father and is commissioned
Life.
by him to do the works which his Father commands him. The
works* consist i. a. in making the Voice of Life heard in the
world and in conferring His Life upon those who listen to his
the
:
His
voice.
mission
The grounds
in
the
world also
constitutes a judgement.
judgement are from one point of view that
of the same 'tribe' as the spirits of earthly man,
for the
the Messenger is
the other point
from
to execute
ff-
judgement,
of view that he possesses the authority of
he is as (his) Father*. 2
The same principal ideas occur in the Odes of Solomon in a
characteristic setting of their own. Thus we find here the conception of the Son, who possesses the Life of the Father within him,
has
the Spirit in him, and confers
who
listen to his
Voice;
life
pronounced
is
upon those who
join him,
the notion of the Voice as
and of the Life as being conferred on, the dead
of the Son as having obtained authority, dpminion and power from the Father; of the Son as the judge, whose
appearance is a judgement for those who do not listen to him,
being proclaimed
v
who
that
dwell
in
which the
Room
of Light.
30
(Jn 5 ).
to,
Seol
;
Life
lias
You
shall
Cf. also further
procured for you, the Palace of Splendour and the
go out victorious, when your works shall be finished.
below
in
the
same
section
10
(GR AY257"- TV/257 10
=2
)
the spirits who believed in (the Life or 'the Father')
etc.*. It will be noticed that in the passage quoted all the principal expressions
and ideas of Jn 5 are represented.
quoted above
1
J
2
Ev*
135:
p.
p.
sail
82.
These two
ideas coalesce in the conception of the Messenger's
aiithority
as judge depending upon his being the head of the tribe of spirits; he who hears
the voice from the Life through the Messenger of his own nature separates
himself from this head.
2
r
Jn 5 9- 9
who cannot
of the
final
believers
in
receive the
199
Word, because they
are not of the Truth;
judgement or the final conferment of Life upon the
the end of time, the new world. It will be well to
quote the relevant passages in their proper connexions.
Od Sol III 7 and because I shall love Him that is the Son,
I shall become a son;
8 for he that is joined to Him that is immortal will also himself become immortal; 9 and he who has
1
pleasure in life (or: in the Living one), will become livings.
Od Sol VII 4 He became like itie, in order that I might receive
him: he was reckoned like myself in order that I might put him
on .... 6 Like my nature he became that I might learn him, and
like my form, that I might not turn back from him.
This may be
2
regarded as bearing upon Jn 5 7t>: ou 016? av6pw7roo iouv. The
Son, whether conferring Life or judging, can do this because he is
of the same nature as, is one of, the children of man.
Od Sol IX
Open your ears and I will speak
me your souls that I may also give you my soul,
I
to you. 2 Give
word of
3 the
the Lord and his good pleasures, the holy thought which he has
devised concerning his Messiah. 4 For in the will of the Lord is
life
your
none of those who hear may
who have known him may not perish.
... 6 ... that
those again
Od Sol
X
fall in
war, and
6
[Christ speaks:] they walked in my life and
were saved and became my people for ever and ever. 2
Od Sol
heard
4 ears have become mine and / have
V
his truth ... 9 death has been destroyed before my face: and Seol has
been abolished by my word: 10 and there has gone up deathless life
in the Lord's land, and it has been made known to all his faithful ones,
and has been given without stint to all those who trust in him.
Od Sol XXII i [Christ speaks Ho who brought me down from
on high also brought me up from the regions below ... 4 He who
3
gave me authority over bonds that I might loose them
[The
believer speaks of Christ:]
7
thy hand has levelled the way for
those who believe in thee 8 and tltou didst choose them from the
XV
.
.
.
.
.
.
:]
.
.
.
.
:
1
R. Harris, 0. Ps, Sol., A. Robinson, Od. Sol.
bo)
.
}\z*
jaoVj
\;=*
ooj
JJj
j
o)
QO)O
.
.
200
Jn 5
1
29
9
graves and didst separate them from tlie dead. 9 Thou didst take
dead bones and didst cover them with bodies; 10 they were
motionless, and thou didst give [them] energy for life.
Od Sol XXIII
5 And His (God's) thought was like a Letter;
descended from on high
10 But those who saw it went
after the Letter that they might know where it would alight, and
who should read it and who should hear it. II But a wheel received
it and it was coming
upon it: 12 and a sign was with it of Dominion
and Government (Jloj;o^Joo Jla.i-\32) ... 17 The Letter was one of
command (Jj.oaS)
18 and there was seen at its head, the head
which was revealed, even the Son of Truth from the Most High
Fattier, 19 and he inherited and took possession of everything.
His
.
.
.
will
.
.
.
.
.
.
Od Sol XXIV
5 and the abysses opened themselves and were
and they perished, in the thought, those that had existed
from ancient times; 8 for they were corrupt from the beginning;
and the end of tJieir corruption was the Life; 9 and every one of
them that was imperfect perished: for it was not possible to give
them a iv0rdtha.t they might remain ... 12 and so they were rejected,
because the truth was not with them. 13 For the Lord disclosed His
way, and spread abroad His grace: 14 and those *vJio understood it,
know His holiness. Here the idea is attested that with the advent
of the Life there necessarily follows a judgement and perdition
hidden
... 7
i>
for those
who
are unable (or unwilling) to receive it. The judgealso to the underlife?) is extended
ment (and the conferment of
world, the world of the vsxpoi.
Od Sol. XXVIII 5 for I am ready before destruction comes:
and I have been set on his incorruptible wings: 6 and immortal life
has come forth and has kissed me, 7 zn& from that life is the spirit
within me, and it cannot die, for it lives. 1 Cf. Jn 5 26 warcep *(ap
:
6
7car?]p
S'/EI
CWTJV
sv
orkax; v.al
eaoT<7),
TM
ot(j>
e'Scoxev
CCOYJV
s^eiv sv
Od Sol XXXIII 3 He stood on a lofty summit and uttered
His voice (oj^js) from one end of the earth to the other: 4 and drew
to him all those who obeyed him; and there did not appear as it
were an evil person, 5 but there stood a perfect virgin 2 who was
jp/
JJo
2
for the
Probably =
'Wisdom'.
Christ's voice, in
.
>-oj j~o
6^W
OOJJJ p,JO
,aojix>o
.
,^
wjajQjuo Jioio
analogy with the use of the simile of
JU?
'virgin'
29
Jn 5 9
I
2O
I
proclaiming and calling and saying: 6 O ye sons of men, come ye ...
7 and forsake the ways of that corruption and draw near unto me,
8 and I will, enter into you, and will bring yon forth from perdition^.9 that you be not destroyed nor perish: 10 hear ye me and be
.
.
redeemed
.
.
.
1 1
.
.
am
/
.
who have put me on
new vvorld
Notice here the reference to the
with
the immediate conferment of
connexion
eschatology
and also that the conferment of life is conjoined with the
that is
incorrupt.
in
final
life,
judgeship of Christ.
Od Sol
XXXV
my
your judge (-W jj/ VQ.U^J); 12 and they
be injured: but they shall possess the
shall not
head, 2 which
... the cloud of peace he caused to rise over
guarded me continually ; it was to me for salvation
i
:
3
things were shaken and were affrighted; and there came forth
from them a smoke and a judgement; 4 and / was at rest in the
Lord's commandment* Cf. Jn 5 2 4;
6 TOV Xdyov (j,oo azoocov y.ai.
all
.
Ttiaieocov
TCJ)
Trs^avd
jis I-/EI CCDYJV
words of
Cf. also the similar
Od
.
XLI
.
.
aubvtov, zai
Od
Sol
1
etc,
XXXVJ
XQLOIV ovx sQ^trcti
.
.
.
and XXXVIII.
And
his word is with us in all our way; the
and does not reject our souls 2 the man
who was humbled, and exalted by his own righteousness, the Son
Saviour
Sol
li
who makes
alive
Most High appeared
,
the perfection of His Father.-*
[Christ speaks:] Seal saw me and was made
miserable: Death cast me up and many along with me. 12 I was gall
of the
Od
Sol
XLII
in
ii
and bitterness to him, and I went down with him to the utmost
of his depths ... 14 and I made a congregation of Irving men amongst
Jus dead men, and I spake with them by living lips 3 : because my
word
and those who Jiad died ran towards
Son of God, have pity on us 16 and
do with us according to thy kindness, and bring us out from the
bonds of darkness: 17 and open to us the door by which we shall
come out to thee
18 Let us also be saved with thee: for thou
art our saviour.
I heard their voice ... 20 and my name I
And
19
sealed upon their heads: for they are free men and they are mine.
When turning to Rabbinic parallels to the section, attention
must first be called to the clear Rabbinic background for 5 '7: 6
The Rabbinic speculations on thefrarqp IJ.OD icog apt', sp^a^eiat.
be void:
shall not
me: and they
and
cried
.
.
15
said,
.
continual activity of the
Holy One
are attached exclusively to the
JUo
(.
Jn 5
2a
..
<>'.
vsx.pol
</.y.QU3<i>3i
~r^
cs<ov>j;
TO'J
'j;oD
~<yj
OeoD.
Jn 5 9-29
J
202
of the
concomitant idea
2
(Gen 2 )3 Exod
10 12 11 n
refers to Gen
Creation
26
(fol.
to
R
Ex R
c),
Bauer.
by
,
30
2
6.
To
Gen
Divine
Sabbath-rest from the works of
2ti 11 }.
Billerbeck
Tank Ki
R
11
n
ad
Tissa, P'siq
and
Ex R
the references adduced
30
by
loc
1
quotes
R 23, M'k to
6
and
20
IJ
are also referred
Billerbeck
may
be
added also the following:
M k 37 b
e
(to
31
J7)
jjiin TO'ib --a'-n -pin "o "N n-na"- vo
as'vzro"!
"-D
p-s
N-I-
-vsi 5*
na^
rro'o
p- abiyb pssb'a baa "~n
-ps ro--> rros- "On
-o -r-ys ip-an -r,xn -raiNi
days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the
1
(Exod 31 7)'. From
day] he rested and was refreshed.
what did he rest? From [his] work [with the Creation] or from
judgement [i.e. from his work as judge]? The Scripture says 'and
six
'[... in
seventh
for new work], teaching that judgement does
him for ever. And in the same sense it says:
\Ps 89 -l) Justice and judgement are the habitation of thy throne:
mercy and truth shall go before thy face', and it says: \Deut. 324)
was
not
refreshed'
cease
(scil.
before
r
The Rock
c. the Holy
One], his work is perfect, for all his ways
[z.
judgement etc.'
It might safely be assumed that Jn 5 7 is based upon the Jewish
notion of the relation of the Holy One to the Sabbath. It calls
attention to the accepted truth that God, although as regards 'physical' work he himself observes the Sabbath commandment, yet
as regards the works of judgement is continually active from the
are
1
beginning of time unto eternity. The latter part of the vs., ttafcb
spY#Co|J.oa, then, expresses that J stands in the same relation to the
Sabbath as God and is continually active in the same work as
his
the
Father, namely that of judgement, implying (in analogy with
dictum of GeuJfllii 3 ) punishment or condemnation of the
wicked and conferment of life on the believers. From this it beclear that 5 7 on the one hand belongs intrinsically to the
narrative portion 5 2 ff-, treating of the healing on the Sabbath, but
on the other hand introduces, or gives occasion to, the subject of
comes
1
8
"
1
ii
/
p.
461
"2
God's
P-
f.
78, 79-
work
is
concerned with nijJcjn *?!' TnijJTilEli ''e retribution of
tne remuneration of the righteous.
^'
the wicked, and
QipilJ}
pri',
Jn 5
29
*9
203
the discourse: J doing the Divine work of conferring life and executing judgement. At the same time it serves to bring into clear light
the main point of attack from the side of the Jews: when J said:
xay<b epydCo[iai, this implied truly that, as vs. 18 expresses it: ou
IXoev
{iovov
sense
the
TO adpjjatoy,
dXXd xal
of laov eaorov TCOUOV
TO>
e'Xeyoy TOV
Tca-uspa I'Sioy
ikcj).
This point also
8-scjv,
is
in
taken
up by the following discourse which, consequently, treats of the
relation between the Father and the Son, i.e. forms itself into a
1
Christological sprech.
With regard to the continuity of thought between vss. 17, 1 8
and the inceptive argument of the discourse, it is important to
note that the consecutive force of the argument is best explained
from the background of current Rabbinic modes of thought. Thus
the formula laov TTOLSI iaoToy TC]) ftsip corresponds exactly to the
Rabbinic expression Dv6N/ icay HN nitt'D which to a Rabbinic ear
is equivalent to 'makes himself independent of God', i.e. by usurping for himself the Divine power and authority; the expression,
in the Rabbinic sense, implies some degree of 'rebellion' against
the Divine government. A son who rejects the paternal authority
who "P2N ? lEUi? mtJ'D, 'makes himself equal with
his Father'.
From the Rabbinic point of view the profanation
of the Holy One which inhered in the words of J in vs. 17 consisted not in his calling the Holy One his Father, but in his pre1
is
characterized as
2
a peculiar sonship in virtue of which he had the
of
right
performing the same 'continual work' as his Father. This
was a blasphemy, equivalent to saying 'I am equal with, 'as good
suming upon
my
as',
Father'.
Against this interpretation of the words of
d|j,Y]y
[AY]
6
a[j/?]V
Xeya)
D[J.IV,
ou Suvatat, 6 otog
TCOISIV
vs. 19 declares:
iaotoo ooSev, sav
J,
a'f'
Tcatspa iroioDvia. a yap ay iv-siyo? TTOI-(J, taDia %al
Tuosl.
6 yap
toy otov, %ai Tcdyra Ssi'/.yua'.y
oiAOtcog
Tuar/jp tptXsi
pXsTTfl -toy
r.
o'.o?
This is exactly how one versed in Rabbinic
TCOCSI.
to
would
make his compeers understand the relation
thought
try
between the Father and the Son. The expressions reflect, as has been
aoTcj),
a aurog
3
characteristic Rabbinic thought
pointed out already by Schlatter
and language. The point of the argument is: The Son does not
,
1
of the
These considerations only serve
concluding
Bauer ad
-
''
vss.
of the
narrative
strengthen the usual interpretation
postion of Jn 5. Ct. e.g. Loisy and
to
loc.
GrR.W SHZSb
Sfir. u.
Hciin.
if.
O.
a. s.
vierten
p. 136.
Ev.
pp. 357
f.
J n 5 '9-29
204
'make himself equal with' the Father, he does not presume upon
independent authority. On the contrary, all his authority is
derived from his father. He is not a rebellious son, a blasphemer
of the Divine Father; on the contrary, his peculiar opposition is
justified by his being and acting in absolute unity of intention
and thought with his father. His continual activity is not independent of the Father's activity; on the contrary, he does the
Father's works, he executes what the Father shows him, and
commands him to do.
A parallel to the Jn-ine picture of the relation between the
Father and the Son is found in the representation in 3 EnocJi of
the mutual relation between the Holy One and Metatron.
an
in
Thus,
the
1st
century
fragments
contained
in
3 En the
following suggestive traits appear:
The Holy One shows (ntTl"), teaches (min) and reveals
to Metatron all secrets (C^P) and all zvorks (D^'M:): 3
20 11 ~3
20 Travra dei'/.wow
Metatron watches
[cf. Jn 5
ao~(j>].
(1)
(rbS)
C
48
En
J
,
Jn 5*9:
[cf.
behold'
'to
intently
socv
what the Holy One shows him: 3 En II 2
u fany\
[J//j
TOV Tratspa Troioovca].
Whatever word and whatever utterance goes forth from
before the Holy One, Metatron
carries it out.
3 En 48 C I0
-%>
cf. Jn 8
y.aQw? soiasv [J.s 6 rcar/jp, tauta XaXco.
(2)
.
.
.
(3) The Holy One gives Metatron the authority of judgement,
commissions him with the p"), ('judgement and government')
saying: 'Every angel and every prince who has a word to speak in
my presence shall go into his (Metatron's) presence and shall speak
to him instead. And every command that he utters to you in my
name, clo ye observe and fulfil!' \3 En 104,5]. Metatron receives
abase by his word the proud to the ground, and
authority to
he
exalt
to
by the utterance of his lips the humble to the height,
by his speech, to turn kings away from their paths,
to smite kings
set
to
up
rulers
over their dominions [?
En
48
C
10
cf.
]
Jn 5
2 3:
zpivst. ouSeva, aXXa TYJV v.piatv Tiaaav SeScoxev TC]> DUO.
Metatron performs the 'continual work of the Holy One, on
his authority.
3 En 48 C '. He distributes 'Greatness, Kingship,
Dignity, Rulership, Honour and Praise and Diadem and Crown of
A remnant of this tradition
Glory' and 'maintenance' 3 En 16
ooos '(ap 6 Tcar/jp
1
(4)
!
!
.
:
is
also found in
TB
f
Al>. Zaru, 5 a.
Ace. to mystical traditions attested in later literature Metahas the function of taking care of and conferring eternal
(5)
tron
life
upon the
spirits of the
deceased.
Jn 5
J
29
9
205
(6) It is strongly emphasized that all his authority is conferred
upon him by the Holy One: he does not do his own will, but the
Cf. Jn 5
will of the Holy One: 9 En 16.
oo 56va|j.ac 700 TTOIEIV
a?r' ejxaoTOt)
ooSsv ... oo C'fjTco TO OsXrjjj.a TO e|j,6v aXXa TO OsXr,|j,
5
TOO 7r(-u|>avTdc
[is.
in the 1st and 2nd centuries there were circles
even within Palestinian Judaism who preserved and developed the
of a partaker in the Divine work,
idea, already attested in I En
This shows that
1
,
especially that of judgement.
circles, in analogy with what
What
is
is important is that in these
found also in Mandaitic literature,
partaker is no longer pictured as a figure of the 'time to come',
but as functioning already in the present. Since it can be shown
with some certainty that the ideas of these circles were not un-
this
to the leading Rabbinic teachers, who determined the
development of later rabbinic orthodoxy, but on the contrary were
2
it
vehemently repressed by them
may be assumed as highly
known
,
20 22
try to make the Christological teaching
probable that Jn 5 9>
understandable by linking it up with the conceptions in question.
With respect to the elaborations on the subject following in
1
20
Jn 5
in
.
>
2 3ft-
it
is apposite to call attention to a few other details
the current representations of the partaker in the Divine work.
The Divinely-appointed judge has to do with Life and
(i)
>
He executes the Divine functions expressed by the words
'Yhuh killethand maketh alive, he bringeth down to Seol and bringeth
3
One may also compare the
up again' 'ppi ^1X' ""HID nTiDl rPE 'Hway in which the highest two figures in the angelic hierarchy
Death.
to the angelological
ace.
system preserved
in
j En
18 are called
Yhuh memip and Soferiel Ihu/i nfliayyce (Soferiel Jhuh
who maketh alive). 4 It is easy to trace here the conception of a
'maketh dead and
being, a 'son', who 'by authority of Maqoni
maketh alive". Hence it might not have been any startling novelty
Soferiel
'Book of Similitudes'; vide esp. i En 46' 5 (this Son of
and shall
up the kings and the mighty from their seats
loosen the reins of the strong
shall put down kings from their thrones and
1
Man
in the
Namely
.
.
.
shall
1 '
raise
.
.
.
.
.
.
8
kingdoms"), / En 51 (t]ie Elect One shall in those days sit on my (variant:
For
throne, and his mouth shall pour forth all the secrets of wisdom
the Lord of spirits hath given them to him), i En 453, 554, 61 8 G2 2ff 69 2 7, 29.
his)
.
,
-
:1
cf.
2
5
4
En
3
.
the writer's
cf.
/ Sain
Ki
"'
.
.,
An
7
3 En, Introd. sect. 8.
2, LXX: K'jp'.o: OGCW.TO! 7.u\
LXX:
IS 23
early
'
6
iho; ipi ~oo Octvcraosa
1
.
^(noyovsl,
y.v.<.
24
.
name
of the Deity,
2
j En IS
xcraqsi
'Cwj-'ivrfcrj.*..
'
1
.
si";
oioou
x.oil
vc<v'.,
Jn 5*9-29
206
even to Jewish ears when Jn 5
TOO?
ysxpoog
Tuanjp
[CwoTcor/jaai].
or
vice- regent
Holy One
is
simply means 08? 6eXst
special way in which the Divine
the Divine work is attached to the
that 08?
in
by the
expressed
says: 'warcsp yap o Trar/jp systpsi
xai 6 old?, ou? 8-sXsi, CwoTiotei,
fteXet,
the
(2)
partaker
21
OUTGO?
CWOTTOISI,
when considering
especially
6
xal
Holy One
sense
special
which general
in
epithets
partaker, and in
by
which Divine names are assigned to him. In this respect the
earlier Jewish mystical traditions seem to have gone farther even
of the
are
used
this
.
than
when
Thus,
Jn.
in
One
addressing Metatron, the Holy
is
called 'thy begetter', (qonaika,)^ , this evidently carries quite another
when the phrase is used of man in general.
to express that he has received all the Divine functions with regard to the angelic and terrestrial worlds. With this
than
significance
It
is
meant
may be compared how,
ace.
to Jn 5
!
^,
the 6
rcar/jp
[J-oo
in
the
mouth of
J was by the Jews understood as used in a specific
sense: eCfjtoov atkov ot 'looocuot. arcovastvca cm
naxsQa idiov
.
.
.
K)syt,v lov dsov.
Similarly when Metatron is called 'the little IJinti
this constitutes a specific relation between the Holy One and his
vice-regent; it expresses that he is, 'me? en', 'a reflexion of, 'in
unity with', and
Iliuti
in
is
its
'similar to' the
2
Holy One.
widely, different
import
from
The term
the
epithet
3
by high angelic beings, and even by Messiah.
carried
'the little
'Ihuh'
(3)
The
the Divine work, the carrier of the Divine functions is
to be a judge-testifier, because he has once lived the life of
in
partaker
able
a terrestrial being, because he is a son of (wo)man. In this aspect
is called 'child' or 'youth'.
Thus ace. to 3 En Metatron is called
4
'child, (Nafar
youth)' because he is Enoch, the son of Jared.
he
i
The underlying
Jn 5
2
1
-
3
4
5
7:
eooaiay
1
3 En 4
4
En
12
3
idea
is
s'Stoxsv
here, as in Mand., identical with that of
atkcp xpiatv rcoiely, OTI oloc; avftptoTroo sauv.
5
'
Lam R
3 En 4
.
cf.
,
II
1
1^; 3
to
,
10'.
En 189-
2 ' 10
.
be argued that 'youth', 'child', ^j, in Jewish mystical thought
really stands for the sum representative of the spiritual beings who have taken
up earthly existence. This is corroborated by a comparison with the Mandarin
It
may
of the 'youthful child' ^Su) N'O"!- Cf. references in the writer's
In relation to the Deity this 'youth' is the 'son' in a
Introd. pp. 68 f.
specific sense, the 'Unique One' (cf. op. tit. pp. 68, 83), in relation to the human
world, he is a son of man. This corresponds to the personal identity between
conception
3 En,
the 'son of God' and the 'son of man' in Jn.
Jn 5
It
a
is
strange
fact
T
29
9
207
Rabbinical and earlier
real parallel to the conception of the
The conception of the echo of the
there
that
Jewish mystical literature no
is
in
Voice' as occurring in Jn 5.
Divine voice, termed Ba$ Qol' the daughter of the voice, might
perhaps be recalled in connexion with 537, cf. below. The idea
'
,
implying the advent of the spiritual into the
earthly world, bringing life to those who receive it, who 'listen to the
voice', is, however, not attested. Whether this is to be explained as
an evasion of an expression or conception prominent among opposed
of the
Voice'
as
analogy with the evasion of the terms 'son' and 'son
of man' ), or simply as an indication of unfamiliarity with the idea,
cannot be decided with any certainty. It is remarkable, though, that
the midrashic expositions never make any allegorical use of the
circles
(in
1
numerous O.T. passages referring to the 'hearing of the voice of
Ihuh' (e.g. Gen 77, Dt 5 22 2 3, 2 5, 18^, fsa 6 8, 50', 666, Ps
l6 9 10 IJ
,H, 109).
29Vl,5,7,8,9, _>rt 8
Hearing the voice is in
2
the M'Tcilta equivalent to
the
command
without any
obeying
,
.
,
,
deeper significance.
A
in
more mystical connotation adheres to the 'hearing the voice'
the Samaritan traditions. Thus we find in
F liata
e
Asfar
rivb^-
rf-N
Di!
"o
in
'nn-ns
n/a
elMarqa, 181 a b
-pr":^-
TIN-
"0
nn-i3
nbn "wi
cp
-DID
-
Exalted
{'jN-j'o
be
bnb
the
'CN'O
faithful
n
''
N"--
)
zp xb nmiD
-"as --'- -nN- -,^1
~""^~ """^
"/2
-ib'/a
-jrooD
nro-rro rr>33 '3-,n-
2-p->
r>-?->-n
rfn'U
^i:-2^5
bap "0
rvias
^-
>--,"
rroro
-jTfc
-2-1
n^-,2[D]
x-i'jj-n
'"-ON
rrnbNn
r'-x nj
ipn-ni rn2-: -'ux
"in
nnr:-o/2"p
prophet, Moses, the
man
^D
"1-^
of God,
who
2
y.aS-wc sSiSasy [AS 6
taught what God taught him (cf. Jn 8
tauta
Like
him
unto
there
did
not arise [anyone], and
TcaiYjp,
XaXco).
there will not arise a great prophet like unto Moses who came from
1
Cf. the writer's
2
M'k
nnx muz:
24 a
/.
S/'CB?
18:
j En,
fap
ncx
%
]N
Introd.
7
a.
n
Hpyi (Exod 19
m
?ycK n
!
j/ictfi'
i^pn ycD'H i/'1C2' CN
CN mtyp m^nnn brit*
n2in mac ^ n
)
J
Jn 5 9-29
208
(i.e.
And
understood) both the secret things and the revealed things.
for his sake the Lord said: (Dent 34 10 ) 'And there arose
not a prophet since
(pervert)
the
teaching
Who
unto Moses'.
in Israel like
(doctrine)
him?
like
is
and then we
it,
and we
will
recognize their lies
will
he
can change
warned
Let us hear his voice that
(against it).
live! He established us on the truth
on
Who
And
of Life?
us
we may
remain established
and beware of them.
He leads us on the way of deliverance and keeps us away from the
way of perdition. Let us listeji to his ivords, for in tJiem is life;
and let us guard (treasure) them, for our preservation is in them.
His words are as oil, a healing for all our wounds. He who
Thus the 'voice of
receives from him, him no evil can reach.
the prophet' is connected with the obtainment of life. Attention
might also be called to
a
Asfar F'liata 9
>"-
N'-I
iras- Nb
"3E"
"ii
N"~
ZN
,
2^
11
"-
[ll ]
.
.
.
bD
rvb-a -pbN
a
]'?
'Wa nsx-
bD p"77 o ]JO-)3- itrbs
-
.
.
.
-.fia
nr'a-'o
rr./ab ITS 12 IT;:*
~~ rro
"op"-
bap->
prr/op "n^ ""Q b^n ^-pN-
Moses answered
his Lord after all this words which he had heard:
do
not
believe
me and do not receive my voice, what shall
they
be the sign that I shall show them'.
[Thereupon God shows
Moses signs or works to be done by him, and says:] 'If they do
not believe in these [works that I have shown thee], thou shalt do
great wonders shake all
greater ones than these before them
their hearts.
There is none who will be able to do similar works,
'If
.
.
.
for thou art the 'second one' in the world below.
20 6 ...
y.at
5
Tcdvca osbcvoa'.v atmj)
Jn
(xeiCova
7car?]p
TODTOOV 8esE, aoT(j) ep'/a, tva ojAsi? 8 ao|icy.C7)Ts. Cf. also the references
to the expression 'voicing a call' (nn
^C"l
P.D), given
save
thou,
Cf.
.
.
.
.
.
.
i
CVp
below on 7
^p2
37.
It may be possible to see in the Samaritan passages quoted
an evidence that the expressions relating to the 'voice of the Messenger' or the 'prophet' were so fixed in certain circles outside, but
nearly related to, Rabbinic Judaism, that the technical or symbolical
use of this term did not commend itself to the Rabbinic teachers.
Jn,
the
no objection against this use, but, on
congenially in the language of the extra
In view of the position taken in ch. 4, it would
on the other hand,
contrary,
moved
Rabbinical circles.
felt
Jn 5
J
9
29
209
no way surprising if Jn would be shown even in ch. 5
to link up with Samaritan traditions in contraposition to Judaic
indeed be
in
ones.
weightiest problem of the present section still to be
on the ideas
approached is that of the bearing of vss.
more
of
immortality or,
adequately,
centering round the conception
of the obtainment by the 'dead' of eternal life. The problem may
The
2429
be put simply thus: at ^vhat stage of his existence does the believer
step out from perishable into imperishable life? Speaking in terms
of current mystic or gnostic thought one might face three different
possibilities: (a) the eternal life may be brought to man during
his earthly existence: he may pass directly from earthly, mortal
existence into the highest spiritual life, from sleep to wakefulness;
when leaving earthly existence, dying physically, he wakes up to
full enjoyment of eternal life in his spiritual home; (b) he may fail
ascend to heaven* during his earthly
to take this direct step, to
after
death
he
enters
the intermediate state of the sdead* 1
existence;
the state expressed e.g. in Od. Sol. by the O.T. term
S e 'ol;
,
while in this state, .he may, however, at some earlier or later time
after his earthly death, obtain
eternal life, enter into spiritual,
or
divine, life, (c) The obtainment of eternal life
heavenly
,
may be
related to a definite eschatological event, viz. that of fmal
consummation*; in this case the object of speculation is the totality
of individuals
who have experienced
without subsequent
intermediate
earthly
existence in
life,
the
either with or
world of the
dead.
Now
evident that in vss. 24 29 there are three different
pronouncements on the obtainment of eternal life, viz. vs. 24 (A),
it
is
vs. 25 (B) and vss. 28 f. (C).
Moreover, those three pronouncements may be correlated with the three different stages of transition from perishable into imperishable life mentioned above. Thus,
it
might be maintained, A speaks of a transition from mortal into
immortal,
i.e.
existence,
B
divine-spiritual, life beginning already during earthly
refers to the conferment of such divine life on men
who have passed from
of the
'dead'
a
earthly existence into the intermediate state
which forms part of the
life,
conferment of
Son's present and continuous activity, thereby distinguished from C,
which refers to the future, the final consummation.
1
It
should be unnecessary to point out that the word 'dead'
is
not to be
any sense, implying annihilation of personality, individuality or consciousness; the dead
think, feel, hear.
taken
14
in
27451.
H.
Odeberg.
210
Jn 5
'9
29
This interpretation of the present context, which is, so far,
merely hypothetical, although supported by contemporary and
affinited mystical terms and conceptions, will, it is hoped, be seen
to accord with the Jn-ine system quite as well as other interpretaThe main crux mterpretwn,
tions, be they orthodox or 'modern'.
viz. the apparent contradiction between the conceptions of vss.
1
21
The interpretation,
27 and vss. 28, 29 is here removed.
very naturally with the finer details of expression,
the subtle way, in which B is at the same time
connected with and differentiated from A and C: with A it is
connected through the common incipient form ajr/jv ajAYjV Xsfto
further, falls in
especially
with
and through its relation to the present time, with C again it
conjoined by the common phrase OTC ep^eioct aipa and the focus
on a post-terrestrial state. The difference between
and C, viz.
u[j,iy,
is
B
the absence in
C
of xal vuv SOTIV and the mention of the
graves,
B
generally recognized as implying two different situations in
and C. Likewise is the connexion between A and
commonly
is
B
B
accepted. Not so, however, the evident connexion between
and C, nor the difference between A and B\ the latter, therefore,
need
special
may
be said
consideration.
to
centre
in
The
the
difference
phrase aXXa
between
A
|iETa(3s(3Y]XEV
and
EX
B
tot>
6ayatoo si? TYJV Cconjv of vs. 24. The emphasis in this phrase is,
not simply on the experience of transition, but on the immediateness
of transition, on transition without any intermediate stage. Hence
the 'death' here spoken of is not equivalent with 'mortal existence'
or 'quality of mortality', nor, to be sure, with 'spiritual death', but
refers simply to the event of physical death.
The import, thus,
identical with that of Jn 11 2 5, 2 6; 6 TUIOTEUWV si? Q\LS xav arcoSdvfl
xai rcac 6 Cwv xai TCIOTSUCOV el? ![ie ou (J.YJ owcoGayfl sic; toy
C'/jasTca,
alwva. The believer, in whom the eternal life has begun already
is
during earthly life, passes at the moment of physical death directly
that is the point
continued eternal life, and thereby
into
escapes the state of being 'dead', does not enter into the condition of the vexpoi
In
expressions are here,
in
1
The only
difficulty
B
the situation
is
different.
The leading
regard to A, the sp^srat wpa and
remaining
is
the
oi
somewhat un-Johanhine
vsxpoi.
contrast
TO ayaOa ico'.Tjaav-e:; and oi ~OL <p5X icpa^avcs^. The genuinely Johannine contrast is that expressed Jn 3 30 21 o itoioiv T/JV XvjOeictv v. 6 cpcxuAa Tupaaacov.
But, on the other hand, there is no necessity for the writer in this context to
emphasize his peculiar terminology; just as he uses the current word vda~aats
between
ot
'
so he
makes use of the likewise current <iq0
Tcpa^avtec.
Jn 5
T
211
29
9
The
Son's activity includes also the vexpot, but these are not the
The vexpoi are those who
'spiritually dead' among earthly men.
have not been able to pass directly from earthly death into real
divine-spiritual life; this is conveyed by the sp^erca copa pointing
to the post-terrestrial existence
to the 'hereafter', which is obviously referred to in C, where the same phrase is used. The
vivification of the
dead in B is, on the other hand, not identical
with the avacsTaaic tfsff\c, of C, the final consummation of the 'last
day'.
This
expressly indicated by the addition
regards the connexion between A and
JAs
C
is
'r-ai
B
VDV screw'.
1
on one hand
be said to represent the (essential)
which is,
continuity of the CWOTCOIYJCHC; from the inceptive stage
treated of in A and B, to the final fulfilindeed, determinative
ment, described, under the traditional term avdcrracnc, in C.
with
on the other
it
may
,
Note Buchsel's observation (Joh.
Ferner, fur das echte Judentum 1st das ewige Leben
Audi Johannes erwartet eine Aufergeluitipft an die Auferstehung der Toten.
stehung der Toten. Der Gedanke ciner Unstcrblichkeit der Secle liegt Jolianiics
1
Cf. also the use of vsx.poi in vs. 22.
u. d. hell. Synkret., p. 55):
augenschcinlich ganz fern. Das ist um so bedeutsamer, als es schon vor Johannes ein Judentum gab, das an die Unsterblichkeit der Seele glaubte. Johannes
ist
an diesem Punkte von der Verbindung von Judentum und Platonismus ganz
unberuhrt, wie sie in der Weishet Salomos und bei Philon vorliegt. Der Untergrund seiner Anschauung vom Leben ist das palastinensiche, nicht das alexandrinische, hellenistisch verseuchte Judentum.
(Ib. n. i:)
ojyj cunvio; entspricht
judischen, hebraischen wie aramaischen Formeln.)> With this the present writer
so far agrees, as ace. to Jn,
immortality or eternal life really carries the
l
olam
more than those adhering to the conceptions in
Greek,
and, by the way, modern sense. Immortality, eternal
not a quality pertaining to the 'soul' per sc, it is a life to be acquired
life, is
by, or given to, man, and this is not mere ceaseless conscious existence, but
conscious existence on a particular stage, or, better, in a particular world viz.
of
associations
their
/iaiie
Hellenistic
=
Divine world.- Eternal life
Divine Life, the Life that the 'Father has in
Himself and has given to the Son to have in Himself (Jn 5 20). One might perhaps
exist consciously),
reproduce Jn's position thus: a man may live, (if to live is
eternally, i.e. endlessly, without ever obtaining Eternal Life, or tJieorctically, he
may pass through an indefinite series of existences, (such as earthly existence,
followed by existences in the post-terrestrial state) without having Life. The
Eternal Life, thus, ace. to Jn, may be said to be constitutively linked up with
Man's soul, or rather, spirit, only in so far as that Life is his trtie life. The
Mandrean conception is, indeed, similar: The Deity, significantly, is itself named
the
=
'Life',
Haile,
constitutive
the
'Great
participation
Life',
of the
HUM
Rabbe.
Divine
Life
On
is
the other hand the spirit's
more pronounced
in
Mand.
:
man's spirit is called, i.a., 'a Manu of the Great Life'. In Jn the emphasis is
on the other-ness of the Eternal, Divine, Life from every other form of existence.
Cf. Lindblom, Das Eiuigc Lcbcn, pp. 221
235.
Jn 5 '9-29
212
The same
ment,
%piai<;,
applies, correspondingly, to the sphere of judgeas also belonging to the Son's activity.
For each
stage of obtainment of eternal life through the Son's activity there
a corresponding stage of failure to obtain that life, a failure
is
which involves a judgement. This correspondence is expressed
thrice in the section vss. 24
29, viz. (i) s^ei CWYJV atowov, %ai
el? %piaiv
sv
e)(iv
00% ep^srai, vs. 24, (2) oorax; %al T(j> olqi sSw%sv COOYJV
saouj). %ai eooaiav eScoxev aotcj) %piaiv Ttotsiv, vss. 26, 27,
avdaraaiv COOT)?
el? avaaTaatv %paecoc, vs. 29.
Hence, it
be urged, there are three main stages of judgement, (i) during
earthly life: 'he that believeth not is condemned already' [Jn 3*8],
(2) the intermediate stage of the vsxpoi: being ve%pd<; is itself a
sic
(3)
.
.
.
may
Son and the eternal life, (3) the avdataai?
same time there is an essential unity and con-
%pujc? in relation to the
At
%piasa>g.
the
tinuity of the judgement; 'the ayaaraot? 5Cp[aea>c
1
tion of the 'present' %ptoc<;.
is
the final comple-
'
The
2
interpretation here vindicated for Jn 5 5, it is well recognfree
ized, will seem far-fetched both to orthodox and to modern,
But, surely, our task is not to overcome difficulties
exegesis.
which have arisen through an age-long amalganation of Jn-ine
thought with more or less traditional views. Our object is not to
demonstrate that the passage in question can be understood, as
here set forth, by a present-day reader, but, instead, to point out
that it would easily be so understood by the circle and at the
time to and
with a circle
in
which
was
it
written.
That
this
would be the case
with writings and ideas of the type represthe Odes of Solomon, the Mandsean. scriptures
familiar
ented by and in
and similar literature now a days so frequently adduced for the
understanding of Jn, needs, so it is hoped, no further proof. But
even if we limit ourselves to Jewish sources from a period before,
contemporary with and after the approximate time of Jn, we shall
easily find ourselves confronted with similar ideas and modes of
The different ideas concerning death, judgement, intermediate state of the dead and final consummation found in the
expression.
1
Thus,
sah \vohl
seiner
das
J
(5~'
inneren
let/cte
,
12 4H
,
in
... in
a
der
vvie
similar
Bauer fjoh. EV."*, pp. 83, 84 ad lociim) : (Jn)
einen einheitlichen Prozess, den der Mensch nach
vein,
ODOTCOITJCJI:;
ausseren
Seite
unterliegt
.
.
.
Die leibliche Erweckung
ist
Glied der Belebung uberhaupt, so \vie das Gericht am Jiingsten Tage
17
1 Jn 4 ) den feierlichen Abschluss der schon von dem irdischen Herrn
uber die Menschheit gebrachten xobi; bildet. Dem entsprechend (sollen)
die
die
Genitive 0'^? und xp/asiD?
vaa-ai; als eine solche charakterisieren, wie
sie dem bereits vorhandenen Leben, dem schon vollzogenen Gericht entspricht.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Jn 5
r
9
29
213
various writings classed together under the term of Pseudepigrapha,
are sufficiently well-known to be merely reminded of here. Though
no uniform doctrine is represented by these writings, the problems
and terms in question are frequently recurring.
Of special imin
facts
this
connexion
the
of
course,
are,
portance
(i) that the
of
the
dead
between
the
intermediate
state
of
question
eartly life
and the great day of judgement* was a real problem, for which
different solutions were offered, (2) that we already in the Pseud1
epigraphic writings find traces of the idea that this intermediate
affords special opportunities for those who have failed in
state
earthly
life
and yet are not wholly corrupt, (3) that the term
used in connexion with all the three stages (earthly
is
'judgement'
intermediate state, last day)
and with the obtainment of life. 2
life,
in
an actual interrelation, mutually
These problems and ideas obtain
the following period, as may be seen both from Rabbinic and
Jewish mystical sources. In these sources it is possible to discern
in
a development of ideas which brings us to a very close parallel
to the conception of Jn 5 2 4 2 9.
Thus (i) to A corresponds the
notion that a certain class of men, in Rabbinic termed the 'righteous',
saddiqim,
faith'
(2)
the
3
in
who
B
Jewish mystical sources possibly also 'the men of
4
pass from earthly life directly into Divine Life
,
particular the conception of the fate of
so-called intermediate class (the benomiiiin, i.e. neither wholly
to
corresponds
in
or wholly wicked); these are, either together with or
from
the wholly wicked, 'judged' immediately after death
apart
and confined to an intermediate abode, sometimes identified with
Se *ol, sometimes with Gehenna; here they are deprived of Divine
Life, but they may, through intensive prayer, or after a certain
righteous
1
For more elaborate discussions vide R. H. Charles, Eschatology, G. F.
Moore, Judaism, ii, pp. 300 308 and the admirable exposition of the various
ideas and expressions concerning S e 'ol, Gehinnqm, Gan 'Eden, ressurection and
judgement, by Billerbeck in vol iv, pp. 1016 1212.
2
Vide especially / Enoch ch. 22.
It will be borne in mind that the
'Son of Man' plays an inportant part in the different stages of judgement, ace.
to i Enoch chh. 45
It will further be remembered, that the consummation
57.
of the fate of the 'dead' in the intermediate state is frequently coached in terms
exactly parallel or identical with these of Jn 5 2 9, cf. e.g. f Enoch 203^-, 22 X 3.
See also Testament of Abraham, ed. G. H. Box, p. xxiv, xxv, 23, 24.
3
4
3 Enoch 48 D.
The spirits of
the .righteous* at the time of death pass directly to
a
^Afabop, the highest heaven, the abode of the Holy one (T.B.
]>iga 12 b),
they return to their Creators (j En 42). Cf. the expression destined to eternal
or to the life of the world to come below on 8 01
life
H
.
J
Jn 5 9-29
214
purgatory period, be brought out from this intermediate abode and
participants of the life of the spirits of the righteous, i.e. of
made
Divine Life
which
ta
cpauXa
avaotaoiv
C corresponds
2
Come
to
all
to
(3)
,
Time
the
in
1
men 4
,
the conception of the
day of
the
'resurrection'
3
Last
Day
(Jn: avaoraot?)
are involved; this day is for the wicked (Jn: ol
essentially a day of final judgement (Jn: sic
Tcpa^avte?)
for the others again, the day of the great
y-ptascoc),
5
the age of complete Divine,
renewal, the beginning of a new age
8
Life (Jn: el? avaotaotv C<>Yj<;).
,
The final question to be put is: in what relation does Jn
stand to the various known circles or systems of religious thought
with regard to the ideas of judgement and eternal life as revealed
in Jn 5 2 4
Can he be
2 9?
any one of those circles?
(1)
With regard
said to
move, wholly or mainly, within
to be obvious:
The answer seems
to language, terms, expressions, used, or pro-
blems treated, it may safely be stated that, on the whole, Jn 5 2 4 3
-is most akin to Jewish, early Rabbinic, terminology.
The section,
it is true, makes use of two
single terms which are foreign to the
Rabbinic terminology, as far as it is known, viz. those of the
Voice and the Son of God, terms, which are familiar to other
circles.
Yet, there is no doubt but that the large proportion of
terms used and the contiguity of the statements best fit in with
Rabbinic modes of reasoning and assertion.
With regard to the inner meaning (roughly speaking:
(2)
the doctrine) conveyed, on the other hand, it must be urged that
Jn moves in a sphere far removed from the Rabbinic world of
The situation in this respect might perhaps be best pictured
of the two suppositions following viz. (i) either that Jn,
one
by
himself completely familiar with, brought up in, Rabbinic Jewish
ideas.
1
3
3
En
44, 45.
Tos> Sank. 13
N'D'P "PPyfr], freqq.
3
CTDn
4
On
b,
TB.
RsS-tiaS-Sana 16 b
tne
(jnnxn U\\
l
ast
day,
is
17
a.
not frequent in Rabb.)
(Aram. NPC^p; Mand. NPDSOXp-)
consensus of Tannatftt: op'mico vide Tos Sank. 13s
Stfre 58 d (232), TB Sank. 91 b. The two well-known statements
P'TIP
freqq.
this point there
T.B.R.H. 16
3-
is
a
,
by Josephus concerning the opinions of the Pharisees on resurrection (Bell.Jud.
ii 8 14
163 and Antiqu. xviii 1 3
14) are somewhat misrepresented by Bauer
In reality Josephus makes the Pharisees hold that only the
(ad. loc. p. 84).
good receive the complete life, with body and soul, the bad again are judged
and confined to everlasting punishment and imprisonment.
5
JOn C^iy
"
Numerous
freqq. TIN"! NO ?!?. HX ?!?
references could be given.
TB. San/iedrin 90
Lev. R. 4s.
1
ff.,
Tanhuma
1
(ed. Buber),
NobyVide especially
M. Sanhedrin
10
Uajniqra 12, M*fi., B'sallah, Sira
1
2,
2
Jn 5 '9- 9
215
and schools of thought, tries to convey to Rabbinic
readers, by using their terms and language, a doctrine, yea, a
spiritual reality altogether different from their world of thought
learning
or
addresses himself to readers who, although
terms
and
sharing
language of Rabbinic religious thought,
to
a
circle
different
from normative Rabbinic Judaism.
belong
from
this
Starting
pair of possibilities one is led to the further
(2)
else
that Jn
the
question, whether the doctrine, or the spiritual vantage-point, (or
as some would say, the 'mythology') forming the inner meaning
that Jn tries to convey by near-Rabbinic terms, may be urged to
be related, more or less closely, to any known religious circle.
Where do we find a system of ideas which is identical with or
bears close resemblance to the inner meaning of Jn 5 2 4 3?
For an answer to this question one naturally, in accordance with
the present trend of research, resorts to Gnostic, Hermetic, Manichsean and Mandsean, possibly also Samaritan-mystical and Jewishmystical instances. In neither of these instances we meet with a
doctrine identical with that of Jn. With respect to affinities, however, it should be agreed that such exist, and, further, that the
affinities of inner meaning are perhaps greatest between Jn and
Mandaean literature, between which there is also a certain com-
A
munity of terminology.
reader of Mandaean literature,
who
is
sensitive to expressions of religious experience, will easily find that
this literature, especially the finest poetical parts of the Ginza, and
the Mandcean Liturgies, breathes an atmosphere much more akin
to Jn than the early Rabbinical sources.
One might perhaps call
this atmosphere 'mystical', but since this has become so general
a term it might be appropriate to use the qualification 'salvationmystical', without, however, by that term implying, a priori, any
theory as to origin (e.g. Iranian) nor any allusion to a definite
1
If,
then, we call the religious atmosphere
salvation-V/y^/w/tfoy.
the Johannine (Christian) salvation-mysticism* it might be
of Jn
said that the Johannine salvation-mysticism uses an idiom which is
Rabbinic style and terminology.
that
in the scanty sources of early Samaritan
significant (i)
and Jewish Mysticism or Gnosticism we meet with a similar salva-
most nearly related
to the
It is
tion-mysticism,
1
The
(2)
present
that
writer
apt to veil the fact, that
we
we
are actually able to demonstrate that
objects
to
the term 'mythology', since tins term is
in the sources named, with clear traces
have to do,
of an original and genuine religious experience. The term 'mysticism' is better
suited to convey this last-named fact. The mythology is a secondary accretion.
J
Jn 5 9-29
216
there existed already in the first and second centuries A. D., in the
Judaism that moved within the folds of Rabbinic tradition, several
and (3) that some of these,
and expressions, were more closely bound up with Mandcean mysticism than with any other known mystical religious
formation outside Judaism. 1 Certainly Jn cannot be maintained to
be identical with or to have developed from any of these and still
less from Rabbinic circles
but the sources in question afford
to
and
make it possible to discern the
Jn
parallel phenomena
circles of a salvation-mystical character,
in ideas
,
approximate position of Jn
The preceding
in
relation to Palestinian mysticism.
investigations especially on the discourse sections
of Jn 35, will it may be urged, have tended towards a solution
of the problems of such relation on the line of the hypotheses
given above on p. 214 f. They will have been seen to apply not
20 ~ 2
only to the ideas of Judgement and Eternal Life (Jn 5
9) but
to the world of ideas of Jn as a whole, as far as it is revealed in
As an open question which still has to be settled there
the problem, whether Jn has any special and intentional
address to norrnative Rabbinic Judaism, such as is found, beyond
Such an address we have,
dispute, e.g. in the Pauline literature.
chh. 3
5.
remains
hitherto,
been inclined to detect
in
some
of the controversial parts
of the Jn-ine discourses. The question will
the course of the following investigations.
1
This the present writer believes
Inirod. pp. 64 79.
Enoch,
3
to
be kept
in
view
have sufficiently demonstrated
in
in his
Jn 530-47
The
53047.
same category
relation to
order
to
section 5
as
473.
bring
3 22 ~3 6
3
in
Like these
the
217
47 is a typical ftf^-section,
relation
it
2
33
to
'
and 43'
takes recourse to a
of the
42
new idea
j
n
in
spiritual reality, treated of in the preceding,
under a new aspect.
The new conception used
here
is
that of
the testimony, the jj.apTOpia.
It is the merit of Lindblom
to have pointed out what an
important part the conception of 'the testimony', [lap-cupia, plays
in Jn.
He lays stress on J's function as bearer of the testimony
1
We have already 2
from the celestial to the terrestrial world.
analysed
import of the [j/xpi:opia under the caption of 'the
and found that the [xapTopia in its technical
the
believer's testimony',
sense, in other words, the Divine, or spiritual, [xocptupia, is actually
the Divine Life itself in relation to the world, and that it falls
naturally under the general ideas of Kai:d(3aai<; and avdpaatc. To
repeat: the Divine [laqivQia is based upon, or rather is itself the
Divine-spiritual reality,
and
brought doivn to earthly
also, the self-expression
upwards
in his
of that reality in
experience of Jesus (ava(3aatc),
man
cf.
men
(%aTa(3aoi?)
(ascending ever
above pp.
120, 121).'
Es ist niimlich zu bemerken,
Lindblom, Das ewigc Lebcn, p. 223:
Person
und
das Werk Jesu vorzugsweise
Schriiten
die
johanneischen
von. einem Gesichtspunkt aus betrachten, der hier starker als anderwarts betont
wird, niimlich von dem Gesichtspunkt eines Ablegens eines Zeugnisses. Jesus als
der in der Welt erschienene und handelnde Gottessohn legt durch seine Person
und sein Werk ein Zeugnis ab, um von den Menschen durch Glauben empfangen
zu werden. Jesus hat den Menschen eine ^ap-upta zu bringen. Diese np-opt'
bringt er den Menschen durch sein Erscheinen iiberhaupt, durch seine Person,
durch seine Worte, durch seine Taten. Jesus spricht zu Nikodemus: 8 oiocqisv,
1
J.
dass
die
xal T/JV (nzpTOpiav r^wuv ou X0u.pcy~E (3 11 ).
XXoO[j.ev '/.ai o
ti)px[j.ev i.uxp~'Jpou|j.Ev
Der Tiiufer bekennt, dass Jesus eine jxctpTopta vom Hinimel zur Welt gebracht
und konstatiert den tragischen Erfolg: niemand nimmt seine |xap-op!a an
Vor Pilatus bekennt Jesus selbst: 'Ich bin dazu geboren und dazu in
gekonmien, um fur die Wahrheit Zeugnis abzulegen' 1837.
Die Erscheinung Jesu in der Welt bedeutet also nicht nur, dass etwas in
der Geschichte gescheben ist, und geschehen musste, damit Gott den Menschen
Die Erscheinung Jesu in der Welt kondie Gabe des Lebens schenken konnte.
nen wir sagen, hat fur die Menschen eine noch unmittelbarere, immer gegenwartige Bedeutung, sie hat in eigentlichem Sinne Offcnbarungscharakter, indem
hat
(33i H-).
die Welt
Durch seine Sendung in
Zeugnis ablegt von einer gottlichen Wahrheit.
Welt und
durch sein ficrsonliches Sein
legt Jesus von der gottlichen
Liebe Zeugnis ab.
sie
.
die
.
-
.
.
.
above pp.
120, 121.
.
.
.
.
Jn 530-47
2i8
xardpaaic and
the
Since
Son, the (Aapropia in all
contained in the Son.
avdpaatg are wholly contained in the
connotations may also be said to be
its
The Son gives (xapTOpia (to the world),
he receives ^aptopia (from the Father on one side, and from the
believer, i.e. from any one who has experienced his Divine Life,
on
the
he possesses the ^aptopia (in the sense of the
in him of Divine Life: the whole fullness of
other),
constant presence
Divinity corporeally).
The Johannine conception of the Divine (laptopta may be said
be only another instance of the peculiar idea of the all-inclusiveness of the Divine-spiritual reality concentrated and revealed in
the Son (cf. above p. 113) or, from another point of view, of the
identity of spiritual realities (cf. above p. 168). Hence, one might
to
formulate
the
thus:
conception
the spiritual
[laptupia
is
not
the case with the external, terrestrial, [xaptopia
a [xapTOpta
a
certain
of
facts
or
certain
details of
merely concerning
body
as
is
but
to repeat again
it is the spiritual reality, with
it
He who, in any degree,
as
itself.
qualification:
expresses
reality,
the
possesses,
i.e.
has transformed himself into, ascended
pervading spiritual
topia.
Further,
in
reality,
to,
the
he eo ipso possesses the Divine
all[j,ap-
the light of the rule of the essentiality of the
Son of Man, it is evident, that no spiritual [xccpTopia exists apart
from the Son of Man. Just as J can say: I am the Truth, or
I am
the Life
or I am the Water of Life, he could say:
I
am
the jj,apTopioc.
Lastly, however, since the essentiality of the
is based, not
upon an independent authority of His, but upon
His unity with the Father, the inclusivity of Divine Reality and
Son
implies that the real source of the (.laQxvQla is the
otherwise
Father, or,
expressed, that the (.laQTVQla is: the Father
as present in the Son.
[lapTOpta
in J
An examination of all passages in Jn containing any form of
the words ^aptopia or [laptopetv will bear out the adequacy of the
above analysis; such an
another important aspect
Divine-spiritual
copia
[laptopta
in its usual,
examination
viz.
and
will,
however, also reveal
the frequent antithesis between the
another kind of [xaptopia, viz. [iap-
normal, earthly, and, consequently, to
Jewish
minds comprehensible sense ([xapTopia in its common sense may
be
termed external |j.aptopta). This antithesis again is the natural
x
application of the general rule of the antithesis between the DivineThe
spiritual reality and the non-spiritual, e.g. terrestrial world.
antithesis, further, is used to
show the complete other-ness of the
Jn 530-47
spiritual
[laptopia
all logic
of the
53
the
per
J
apparent starting-point the external [J.aptopia,
a man's testimony for himself is not valid
and the apparent sequel is: J does not depend merely on
as
of which
rule
se,
from the external [xaptopia; the former defies
latter.
take
ff-
219
his self-testimony.
starts with a rule
is:
But the dictum really goes deeper, and
in fact
concerning the spiritual jxaptopia to the following
self-testimony is not only not -valid, but it is eo ipso not
There is a clear allusion to, and linking up with, the
effect:
true.
2
starting-point of section 5 9~ 9, viz. 5 9; oo Sovatai 6 oio<; TUOISIV
tt,
eaotoo
av
ooSsy,
ot(j>'
pXsTrfl TOV rcatepa Trotoovta' a yap av
[J//j
taota
6
%ai
sxsivos TTOffl,
oio? 6[Loitog TTOIEI, z'.^. J again states his
r
r
complete dependence on another, viz. his Father. Just as the
activity of J is wholly derived from that of his Father, so also the
very existence of J's [laptopia is conditioned by his absolute unity
with and dependence on his Father. Thus self-testimony, in the
sense in which it is spoken of in 53 1 means not merely testimony
concerning oneself but an act of severance from the centre and
,
of the spiritual world, the establishment of oneself
an independent or self-dependent being; such an act of selfassertion in the spiritual realm at once relegates the subject of
that act to the class of beings
who are of the lie, who hate
fountain-head
as
use another technical expression of Jn for this
seek
their oivn glory* (8 5), or who
come in their
category,
own name (543 ctr. 53). (Cf. the implied sense of the expression laov saotov Trotajv tcp 6e<7>, 5 J 8, treated of above pp. 203 f.)
the
or,
light
to
i>ivko
To
express the antithesis between the spiritual and terrestrial the
teaching might be worded thus: in the terrestrial world it may be
give testimony of oneself as an independent or selfdependent being, but in the Divine-spiritual world this is impossible,
since, in the Divine world, there exists no separateness.
to
possible
5
32
aXXo?
:
[j.apTop[a
v)v
early 6 [JLaptopwv rcepl i[j.oo xai olSa
jiapTOpst Tuspi ijioo;
still
speaking
in
on
aXvjO'/]?
eativ
YJ
the terms of 'external'
[lapiopta J conveys that the ^apiopta originates from his Father,
this [xaprupta he knows to be true, i.e. the Divine [i.ap'copta
carries the truth in itself, it is identical with the spiritual truth,
and
which
in
itself.
An
turn, as the jiocpTDpia, is identical with the spiritual reality
external ^aptopia, a [lapTOpia concerning something, may
false.
The Divine [laptop ta which is not a jiapthe
but
concerning,
thing itself, cannot be false, it either
be either true or
topta
exists, or
does not
exist,
i.e.
a
man
either possesses this
220
Jn
53047
or does not possess it.
53 2 also implies that, properly speaking,
there is only one spiritual [Aapropia, namely that of the 'Father'.
This
%ai
is
followed up
(xs^aptop'/jxey
topiav
6
by 53335
XOUOJASVO?
570)
aXv]6=ic.
aXXa taota
Xcqxpdvo),
Xo/vo?
T^
xai
o^sl? aTrsoTaXxa-ce rcpo? 'IcodvvTjv,
os ou Tuapa avGpwTuoo r^v (xap-
Xeyco,
(paiveov,
iva
o^etg
o|xsic
s
ittsivos T)V
aco6rjTe.
6
ayaXXiaGvjvoa
7|6eX7]aaTs
am ao-coD. John the Baptist did possess the
wpav sv T(J)
Divine [xaptopia within himself, and hence he bare witness to the
Since whatever experiences of the Divine may be given
truth*.
Tcpog
a man can only be given in and by the Son of Man, the Baptist's
testimony must of necessity have been a testimony of the Divine
the Baptist's testimony
reality as mediated by the Son of Man:
to
refers
p.
121
11.
!
2
Divine-spiritual ooota of J (lA 9> 5 3 34 cf.
6 ff.).
But I receive not testimony from man
the
words
>
above
with
does not refer to the Baptist
for an external testimony from him on his own behalf.
These
This is a highly-important
things I say that ye migJit be saved.
these
points
J
out that he
It contains a further revelation concerning the nature of
Divine [xaptopia, vis. in that it answers the question: -Hozv
can t/te Divine {.iccQTVQia be brought Jwme to exclusively external
or
beings, to beings who do not possess the Divine |j,apTopia?
How can it be translated into the terms of external {laptopta, be
dictum.
the
an external [xapTopta?
(In reality a special case of the
how can the spiritual be revealed to the wholly
The answer is: it cannot. Or, to follow the argunon-spiritual?)
ment here implied in the mind of the Judteans: How can J
demonstrate to men who possess nothing of the Divine [xapTOpta,
that He is of Divine origin and acts and speaks with Divine
Answer: he cannot possibly demonstrate it to such men.
authority ?
Positively formulated: there is one single point of possible connexion between the Divine {lapropta and the hearers addressed,
were
viz. the fact, that they -asent unto Johnu and that they
valid
as
general question:
although
willing*
light*, i.e.
the mere
only
fact
for
that
a
season*
to
rejoice in
his
the hearers for a short time were
accessible to the testimony of John the Baptist
shows
that, for that
time at least, they were not merely external, but possessed within
themselves an element of the spiritual; for that time they had,
even
made
very faint degree, the Divine ^aptopia which
them responsive to the Divine [mpTOpta that spoke in John
if
only
in
a
that element of spiritual life could only be reactivated, they would be open to the Divine (Aaptopta of J, and thereby
the Baptist.
If
Jn 5
to the salvation
3
brought by him
221
47
tJicy ^cvould
be saved.
Thus, to
sum
up, J does not appeal to the external testimony of John the
Baptist in order to demonstrate this Divine authority, but He tries
to awaken in the hearers the memory of that spiritual experience
of theirs, which for them was associated with their time of rejoicing
the Baptist's light; through this reminiscence the experience
in
would perhaps be revived and thereby not only the responsive-
itself
to the Baptist's [lapiop'la but also to the present ^aptopta
of J. There follows as a corollary the following consideration
which is in keeping with express pronouncements in the sequel
of the present section and with a cardinal thesis in the Johannine
namely: there was also, beside the spiritual
system of thought
^aptopia of the Baptist, an external testimony by hiin concerning J.
ness
This
memory
the
the record, or perhaps, the personal
in the minds of the hearers, of the actual words in which
external
Baptist
testimony
bare
is
witness
unto
the truth
We may
.
infer that
without the element of spiritual
this
testimony, qua external, i.e.
the hearer, cannot be accepted by them. This was also
the implied fact: the hearers did not believe in J in spite of the
life
in
Baptist's testimony.
5)6 IYW e
tion with 535<
1
I)(co
TYJV
[j,aptupiav
(istCw
TOD 'Icodvvoo in connec-
sxslvo? TJV 6 Xo^vo? 6 %ai6(ievo<; %al sdivoov brings
out the singular position of J: his essentiality. He possesses the
Divine testimony in a higher degree than JoJm, i.e. really, he possesses the Divine [xapropia in its entirety, to its fullest extent,
l
whereas John the .Baptist, like everyone else who has received the
has received it through the
Divine [lap-copia
the Divine Life
Son of Man. The Baptist like all other bearers of the Divine
6 or Moses
5
(546) O r Isaiah (12 4'), was
jxapTop'.a be it Abraham (8
)
dependent on, or
Son of Man.
really
rather, actually implied in, included in, the
5 36 b T
yap EpYa a c/sSar/.sv [lot 6 Tratrjp "iva TsXsicoaw aora,
atWa Ta spya a TTOCCO, |j,apTOpst! Tcspl SJAOO ou 6 rcar/jp jxs aTusaraXxsv.
This links up with 5 7~ 9. Hence the meaning of the present
reference to the 'works' of J is grasped, when one recalls the
1
significance
The
of the
I
Son's works or activity according to 5 9~ 2 9.
profound sense, are not mere external
I
'works', then, in their
performances by J to which he appeals, by
way
1
of external
testi-
which is generally accepted instead of the variant jjiet'&ov will, on
jjLSi'Cci
consideration, be seen to suit the interpretation of |A<xp~o ol</. here vindicated better
(
than usi&ov.
222
53047
Jn
mony, in order to make it probable or evident that he was sent
by his Father. The works are that activity of J, in absolute dependence upon, but also with complete authority from, his Father,
above p. 191), which implies that He is doing the Father's
(cf.
work of making the voice to be heard, of conferring life and executing judgement.
Thus
to
the 'zvorks, spya, are a spiritual jxapTOpia,
far as. and only for those on which he
in so
testimony
Jesus,
has done the Father s zvorks of conferring life; to those who have
heard his voices, accepted his word [Xdyoc;] (cf. 5 2 4) and believe
Him who
has sent him, his works have become a [jiapTopia,
and, naturally, since the Son's activity is the Father's activity,
the [xapTOpia is a testimony that his Father has sent Him. This
sense will perhaps appear still more self-evident, if one puts by
in
the side of the present dictum the wellknown utterance of Jn 7*7:
sav TIC; 6sXi(] TO 6sX'/]jia aoTOU Tuotetv, yvwas'caE, Tuspi TYJC; SiSa^vj?
rcoTEpov sx TOD 6soo EOTiv
"/)
870)
s|j,auTOU XaXto.
7t'
Only one who
has been the responsive object of J's activity, who has 'done the
truth' etc., in other words, who has had the Divine reality revealed
to himself, can accept or has accepted the (xocpTOpta of these
works. 1
In
xal 6
vs.
37
;rs[j/|ja<;
not on the beginning sentence:
ff.
the emphasis
jxs
Trar/jp, exeivo? [xejxapTOp'/jxsv Tiepi
is
I|j,o5,
for this in
without saying from the immediately preceding, and
moreover, a repetition of vs. 32, but on the sequel: OUTS <p<oyy]y
itself follows
is
TTWTUOTE
OUTS
axY]x6aT
ODX E^ETE
SV
Vf.UV
The
elSo?
(.LEVOVTCC,
aoTOD
stopdxars, xai TOV Xoyov
0V
aTUEOTSlXsV SXEIVOC, TODT(j>
Oil
testimony concerning the Son,
of an external [xapTOpta, is indeed a sheer
For they have never heard his voice nor even seen
impossibility.
him; the question whether the cptoVT] aoToa here contains any alluOD
TcioTsosTe.
who know only
to those
sion
i.e.
to
the Jewish conception of the
^p nz (Bajj Qol, daughter,
of the Divine Voice) must, I think, be regarded as
improbable. It is generally known that the JElaf Qol, so
echo,
highly
far
Father's
from
implying
the voice of the
a
presumption
Holy one, instead
on the possibility of hearing
was an expression of
actually
1
One might perhaps even press the sense to the tautology: only he who
entered the spiritual reality, has entered the spiritual reality; some sort of
intentional tautology ma}' indeed be said to be involved in the Jn-ine statements
has
reality, since the absence of the quality of separateness
that logically every statement concerning the spiritual reality
down to an identification of that reality with itself, or to the
concerning the spiritual
makes
can
it
be
formula
evident
brought
:
all is
all.
Jn 53
47
223
1
On the other hand, vss. 37 and 38 clearly allude
opposite.
to 5
lov
(6
"koyov [ADO axoocov %ai Ttiorevcov xa~) jtsf-iifjavri |j,e) and
5 2 5 (axovocoai r/j cpcovfjQ TOO oioo TOO 6eoo) 2
indeed the whole
the
24
of the
1
5
present section,
Tos. Sots 13
3
47,
alludes to the preceding section
2
tfit^D tcnipn
nn npos
c^nrks'n c\x>23
bip
'Gxi msi
DID ]rb ]TCtf
vn
p
ID
^y
since the death of Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, the last of the prophets, the
Holy Spirit withdrew from Israel but nevertheless they (i.e. God) communicated
z'..
The Baf> Qol is a substitute for the closer communication
God and his people in the former days. We have, of
17
Me I 11 9 Jn 12 Z & Acts II 7 Rev. 10 4 instances of the Bap
course, in Mt 3
Qol as giving testimony (on J), worded so as to convey that it is God that is
speaking: And lo a voice from heaven, saying this is my beloved Son, in whom
J am well pleased".
A clear and exhaustive anatysis of the conception of Bap
with them by Sap Qol.i>
could be between
that
7
Qol and
of the
that
Nobody
is
different
of the term is given by Billerbeck I 125
135.
acquainted with the Rabbinic idea of the Bap Qol
uses
in the least
would of course detect therein the
in
5
Jn
2B
;
the
and on
For an interesting instance of the
questions
faintest
approach to the meaning of
cptuvyj
gives separate, definite pronouncements on definite
definite occasions. (Cf. Abelson, Immanence, p. 258
267.)
Bap Qol
known, reference may be made
Bap Qol
to the
(voice
from heaven), not generally
7*estament of
Abraham,
ed. G. H. Box,
God is the subject, the I of the pronouncement of
the Bap Qol.
The Voice of God became a Metatrom> is a mystical utterance,
2.
Cf. also NumR 1435 speaking
preserved, though not understood, in GenR
p.
Also here
25 (ch. xiv).
of Yhuh's voice in the Tabernacle.
2
serves
Notice the characteristically Johannine manner of the allusion, which
to underline (i) the essential sameness of sense of the passages con-
cerned, (2) the interrelative identity, if such a term may be used, of the spiritual
conveyed through the terms of the passages. The method of inter-
realities
change of correlative terms or permutation of identical conceptions has been
called attention to above, pp. 169 f. It will be apparent from the following
paradigm
:
52426
~dv Xo'(c> v
oo
537-39
~ov
(xxoti(i)v
)v.oyov
[j.
~0?^
1U13~UO)V
1<L
TC|X^aVTt
I
J.
0V
CX~
oD
ax.ouaoiai
To
(i)
~?jc
cp(i)v^<;
~ou ulou 7oD
COTE
<ztj~ou
oux sye~e iv
sex.
u-
|JLSVOVTOt
3"CS
lA.
SXStVO? ~o6
V
TCiaisue-s
cpcovvjv
au~ou
"cotoTS
the permutation of terms there are here added two other characteristic features:
in one passage is said of the Father, in the other is said of the Son,
what
and vice versa, meaning: the Father and the Son are one; he
who
has seen the Son,
has seen the Father, (2) 5 2 4 26 speaks positively, of the believers, of those who
are open to the Spiritual reality, 537 39 speaks negatively, of those who are closed
to that reality
object: to bring out the sharp contrast between the two classes.
Jn 5
224
>~47
The meaning is: the only possibility of hearing the
5 19 29
Father 's voice or seeing his shape is hearing the Son's voice and
seeing him, in the spiritual sense of the words.
<
alwvtov
47 the jJiapTOpia of the Scriptures, specifically
tag
epeovate
ypa^dc, on D|XSI? Soxstre Iv aoTat? COOYJV
%al
Ixslvai
elatv at jjiaptopooaat Tcspl s(j,ou. xai 06
s^stv
OeXste
eXOstv
Vss. 39, 40,45
of Moses:
xpoc;
xar/)yop7]a<o ojuov rcpoc;
el? ov 6[j,eic; TjXrcbtaTe.
Tcspi
yap
Triateoets,
EJJ.OD
SOXSITS on syw
tva
G)??V e'x^te
{xyj
tov Tcatspa: eauv 6 x,ar/]yopa>v 6[xa>v Ma)5a>j?,
.
fxe
ey.elvoc;
el
.
.
yap iTrtarsoere Mcooaet, sTctateDSTe ay s^oi*
eypacjjev.
el
Ss
sxeivou
TOIC
JTW? TO!? sjiot? p7]|iaaiv TrtotsDoeTe.
ypa[i[xaatv
This dictum
is
06
closely
connected with the discourse with the Samaritan woman concerning
the 'well of the Tora' and the 'true worship'. The sense of the
present reprimand to the. Jews has also been brought out already
in
connexion with the analysis of that discourse (vide above
It is a sweeping
condemnation of the hearers' study
p. 189).
(viidras)
of
the
Scriptures
(kiffie ha-qqoctces).
they themselves maintain or believe,
Scriptures; they do not even believe
are closed
to
tJie
faithful to
in
They
are not, as
to the
and devoted
the Scriptures, because they
which the Scriptures belong, of which the
The hearers have placed themselves in a sphere
reality to
Scriptures speak.
of existence altogether severed from that from wJiicli the Scriptures
have proceeded. They are therefore, simply unable really to believe
the
The
hearers belong to the sphere of axorog
of
hatred of the light, spoken of and put
<J;e6So<;
to J's world in Jn 3 I(^~ 21
The Scriptures again,
as belonging to the spiritual world, of necessity possess the Divine
in
Scriptures.
(darkness),
in contrast
ta,
i
(lie),
.
and of
elotv
like necessity, this [xapTopia
at |iapTDpouoat rcept SJAOD
is
(Aramaic:
the [xaptopia of
^ill&n
J:
ha.uin
1
It is to be noticed that J does not deny the validity of the statement that
the Scriptures confer eternal life. The sense of vss. 39 f. in this respect is not:
you think you have eternal life in the Scriptures, and because you think so
maintain that the Scriptures contain all you need to obtain eternal life) you
do not come to me for eternal life*, but instead: you consider yourselves to
have the means of attainment of eternal life in the Scriptures and rightly so,
for they testify of me as the bringer of eternal life; and yet you do not come
to me that you might have life. J denies that the hearers really believe in the
(i.e.
Life of the Scriptures (kifibe ha-ggodccs). Thereby he relegates the hearers' relation to the Scriptures to a mere external one: they study, expound, ponder over
the external, the written or traditionally recorded wordings of the testimony of
Holy Writ, but they are altogether deaf and blind to the Divine aap-opict
of the Tora. (Ctr. Bernard, ICC, Gospel of St. John, pp. 252 f.)
the
53047
Jn
With
understanding of the
this
Scriptures and Moses
cerning
the
vss. 41
44 are put
the
in
225
.
real sense of the
1
it
is
passage conimmediately clear, why
the midst of that passage.
They contain
the statement concerning the hearers'
to
natural
corollary
self-severance from the
of the Scriptures, or which
world
is
the
same, the world of Truth, of Life, of Light, of the Father's Love.
The self-severance from that world is a 'declaration of independ-
God: T/JV S6av TYJV rcapd TOO [AOVOO sou 00 CUTSETS
do
not care for the honour [that comes] from God
they
with
the
expression: 'they do not do the will of God').
(parallel
ence'
against
'
(44);
The expected
'do their own
really, in analogy with the expression
seek
their oivit glory. That is said also,
they
but a further, fine detail is added: they receive honour/)'*?;// each
This covertly expresses a specific doctrine of the Fourth
other*.
Gospel,
viz.
corollary
is
will':
The
that of the coherence of the world of Darkness.
world of separation and self-dependence,
have a feeling of kinship with each other, yea, there exists a real
kinship: they are children of the same Father, viz. the 8ia|3oXos
(844), they detect in each others' manner, acts, volitions, familiar
citizens, so to speak, of the
they love the common family-feature, viz. the Darkness (3 9),
they hate that which reveals itself as not being of the Darkness
but belonging to another world (15 ^> : 9), whereas they 'cannot
hate' those which, are of the same kin, belong to the same world
!
traits;
!
(oo Suvatat, 6 %da[io? [uaeiv
their
very
6^a?
when they
nature,
77).
Hence
reject J,
it
is
in
keeping with
because he comes in his
Fathers name (54?aj whereas it is also a necessary consequence
that they accept one who comes in his own name (i.e. who is selfj
dependent, who has severed himself from God, (543^). J, on the
other hand, does not receive honour from men (vs. 41), i.e. from
2
the men of the world of separation, that of his hearers
but,
2
instead, he knows them (%ap8i07Vto>or/)s as he is, cf. on 2 5) and
,
knows that they do not belong to the Spiritual World, that not
even a single ray of the Father 's Love (ace. to 3 &) has penetrated
into their world from the Spiritual World,
on ty?v aya^v 'cou
}
Osot)
(sent
1
oox s'^sts ev saotoic, amounts to saying:
when the Light
by the Father's Love) came to the world, you loved the DarkCf.
on 3", 6 82
,
7
19
s7
and 9 28
39
;
Moses
Moses
Abraham and
the hearers' relation to
with their relation to Abraham: their descendance from
is
identical
their disci-
are merely external: spiritually they have denied both.
does not refer to any authors of the O.T., or to John
the Baptist, but evidently to 'men' in the same sense as in 3 1 " (those who love
the darkness 'more than' the 'light').
pleship in relation to
-
T.v.(>v.
1527451.
ctvOptoTCOJv
H.
Odcberg.
226
Jn
ness
than
better
the
53047
Light and did not come to the Light
(i.e.
you the Father's Love). Thus the genitive TOD 6so5
should be taken as a possessive genitive, not as an objective.
receive within
there in the words of vs. 43 b eav aXXo? s'XG-fl sy tcj) 6v6[J/m
The
iSui), sxetvov Xvj^saSs any reference to a definite individual?
Is
T(j)
guess that the aXXo? is the tragical .Z&zr Kos'tbd, proclaimed as
Messiah A. D. 132 135, is well-known. Earlier exegesis identified
this 'other one' with Antichrist. The analysis of the real meaning
present passage given above seems however to open the
a solution that is in perfect accord with the subject of
whole section and also with the Johannine system of thought
of the
way
the
to
On
as a whole.
the
basis
of the doctrine of the kinship of the
world of separateness and their filiation to a common
is
there
Father,
only one single, definite, individual that can be
citizens of the
referred to
by the word aXXog; and that
is
the father of the children
But the SiapoXo?
of falsehood himself,
indeed ace. to Jn-ine conception xai' soy_7]V one who comes in
his own name, i.e. who separates himself from God, and indeed
it is true of his adherents, his
children, that they will receive
him: (844) tag extOojjicag too ftatpo? 6{juov OeXsts jcotecv.
The conception of the Divine [xapTOpia in its antithesis to the
the
6ia[5oXoc of ch. 844.
is
external [j-aptopux as analysed above is indeed specifically Johannine.
But the question
parallel can be found in other sources.
No
whether the language, the general terminology, used by
convey the specific conception in view, can be shown to
Jn
exhibit close affinity to that of any known source.
In Mand&an literature there are quite numerous instances of
remains,
to
the use of the terms 'witness', 'testimony', 'testify'. To the literary
phenomenon of Jn 53' 47, consisting in that Jn seemingly makes J
appeal to a series of witnesses: the Baptist, God, the Scriptures,
Moses, further to the conception of the Father and the son as
testifyers of the spiritual life in the believer, there may be said to
be certain parallels in the Mandaean literature. The instances, in
to show both the type of expressions and language used
and also the difference of inner meaning from Jn, must needs be
order
reproduced
at
some
and 'testimony'
length.
frequently
Naturally the references to 'witness*
occur in connection with statements
concerning the Divine judgement on the spirits, immediately after
death or at the Last Day. Then it is the spirits that need witnesses. But there are also instances of the Messenger's appealing
to witnesses.
Jn 530-47
MLi
I xxi 337
Qolasta
rrjrs
uts
'N-'Nna
34
227
8
Nnx/aiira-T
5*35*53
to-jorva bTPBJ
Hb-"-,BN
into-?
nrps>
From Jordan
(The newly baptized speaks:)
met the tribe of the spirits, the tribe of the
ascended; then I
spirits did I meet,
who surrounded Sipil, our Father. They said to him: 'By thy life,
O Sipil, our Father, (we beseech thee), go with us to the Jordan'.
'If I go with you to Jordan, who will be your zvitness?
'Jordan
I
will be for us as witnesses, Pitha, Kusta and
our
be
witnesses, Sunday and the almsgiving, the
Mambuga
tabernacle in which we worship, the zidqa in our hands (i.e. the
alms given by us) will be our witnesses, our Father at our head,
This it is that I desire, this it is that I
will be our zaitness.'
pray for (when I ascend to the House of Life, and go to the
and
its
two banks
will
.
shining
abode;
.
when the
come and
testify).
they say.
(Cf.
GL
.
GL
Life questions me, then witnesses will
Truthful witnesses they are, and true is all that
85.)
III 3 5127f- (Pet 79
-
8
)
Sunday, Kusta and alms, be ye witnesses for the spirit (ascending
home).
Another instance of the Mandsean use of the term 'witness'
may be illustrated by the following passage.
after earthly life to its spiritual
GR
XIII 285 35-286
'2
(pet 288^-2899)
y
"
by-
os
228
Jn
to-y
iaa
b->3Tj
D-
53047
NntrourD
spnra
(p
prTN-ittby
N->-nNoa nap-in- N-PD*, rvr-n
y
jj-'aN'jj
"rp
Na^a^n
Sn
N
&o~nNoa N^-'N^TN
NTET^
^i^n
N-'S-I
prrs<iNby
N->->rn
ma
fti
j*bxp
p
-nn
[Against the false and unfaithful Mandseans] we call the following
witnesses: 'The Mighty, First Life we call as witness against them.
Yosamin, the pure one, who dwells up on the treasures of water
and
upon the mighty,
pure springs of
celestial,
light,
we
call as
and
in the deep, and sees what
guarded one, who is
is hidden and searches the worlds and generations, sees what they
are doing and is appointed over the spirits to weigh all the works
him they call as witness against them.
that they have done
and
'Anos
Hibil, Sipil
they call as witnesses against them. The
sun and its splendour, the moon and its brilliance they call as
witnesses against them.
Sunday and the almsgiving they call as
witness
them.
'Abapur, the
high and seated
against
ancient,
high,
secret
witnesses against them. The Voice of the. Life, the Word, the
commission and the warning that came from the house of 'Abapur
and from the house of the Great, First Life
they call as witnesses against them.
The
priests
.
.
.
are called as witnesses against
them.
GR XV 5
N-PJ&O naws
317
28 -3i
tf-ntfo
(Pet 315
^a-nn
-r.na
7
f.)
P.&MX
NTT a;
tf
-iNnxb "pcra -Nb->-
For the Nasorseans who are ardent and persevering be thou (soil.
the Messenger) a witness; a witness be thou for them,
and through thy poiver they shall ascend to the abode of Light.
Sam-Ziua,
In
the
connection
believer
the
with baptism as the birth of spiritual life of
messengers
give testimony (sahfai'jja) to the
spirits*.
GR XIII
by-
282 Jo- 1 3 (Pet 2854-6)
N^Nrn ND-HIO
by toubNiBtt-r
-
NSn--nNoi
Jn 5
47
3
229
Silmai and Nidbai who are appointed over the Jordan of Life and
over the Great Baptism of Life and who give testimony and name
and sign to the spirits.* The 'testimony', put on a par with
1
and mystical
'name'
'sign'
('rusma
J,
here
a possession of the
is
believer, concomitant with the possession of spiritual life. This is
the nearest approach to the Johannine conception of the inner,
Divine
GR XVI 11
JTP~P33
397 9~", 20-24
n-nmb
tf-
The
n"PT>33
tr'/abs
"b-nN'/o "i-n^/a n-iTia
a
of Manda, dHayye,, standing at the outskirt of the
he stands at the outskirt of the worlds and calls for his
elect ones; he calls for his elect ones and summons witnesses
against them; he speaks: '0 Life, be a ^vitness for me against the
6 et
called ones which I called from Tibil!'
sin.) This
(Cf. Jn 17
voice
worlds;
is
a sort of parallel to the Son's appeal to the Father's testimony
in Jn.
In Jeivish Mystical litterature
one might point to the following:
3 En 45 48 C 2 Metatron, the 'little Yhuti, is God's witness
against those who separated themselves from Him and said: to
him:
Depart from us, for ive desire not the knozv ledge of thy
,
(Job 21
^i.vaysi>
with
!
4).
God and
dependence
A
(cf.
fragment
stratum,
viz.
Here Metatron
in
contrast
above).
in the
j En 48
na-3
~T
D
actually is brought in unison
the world of separation and self-
to
same work, belonging
6, 7
^b -y
Nin b^-iir Tibs
'n
.
.
Metatron (the
Israel, is
my
(the sequel
appeals to
with
the
little
Yhuh, the
zvitness that
somewhat
to a
later
contains the following passage:
when
'Son') said:
.
..
.
"-JITO
.
.
.
ntr/sb HT 71
t>Y/iu/i,
the
revealed this secret to
I
God of
Moses
.
.
.
of no moment.)* It may be noticed that Metatron
God as his witness, and that this testimony is connected
is
giving to Moses of the inner meaning of the Scripture.
Cf. the identical cabbalistic
term
'
nisma
.
230
53047
Jn
Qomd
Sfiir
"~
Tibtf r"MiT3
1
has the strange opening
n-r,y
Metatron, the Great Prince of Testimony, said: I witness this
witness (== I give this testimony, jiapTOpia) concerning Yhuh, the
God of Israel etc.
Metatron, thus, is the bearer of the {lapropia
and this is a (xap-copia concerning the inmost secret of the Godhead.
With regard
to Rabbinical instances of the use of the terms of
and 'testimony' the following may be considered relevant.
e
Ros ha-s Sana 3 1,
To
531 the /flaJka:
$ubl>o$ 2
(1)
A man's testimony is not valid for himself, (vide Billerbeck
II 466, 522), which is taken as starting-point; one may also consider
'witness'
M
M Makkoj)
MK
containing the rule that a witness
16,
is to
<>'.
be judged
intentionally false only if his false testimony can be brought
11? rclT
down to a false ^-testimony ]ES8> PN
Dnyn pxas
1W
To
CWW
appeal to his Father's testimony. The corresponding
(2)
formula in Rabbinic:
The Holy one bears witness to ... refer
to a Divine utterance recorded in the Scriptures, as was observed
J's
3
by Schlatter
TYK $
e
'witness' viche also *Aboj) 4 22
For God as
26 c Midr. *0sar
Tel)
15
Enocli, Introd.
p.
a.
and
cf.
Mel. '01 27.
Warsaw
In Sifra rf^ndam gadma'a, ed.
1
j
.
1913
fol.
30 col.
c.
Vide Odeberg,
103.
2
The Johannine travestation in 5 sl and 8 1S is not Rabbinic: the Rabbinic
h a laka or this point was indeed extremely logical. It has, however, been. mentioned above (p. 219) that the travestation must be considered intentional: the
object was, here as elsewhere, to show the absolute other-ness of the spiritual
by putting it in startling contrast to the conditions of this world. Ace.
reality,
to the rules of the terrestrial
world
a self-testimony
is
not valid, but
it
may
be
either true or false; in the spiritual reality a self-testimony is always false, in so
far as it implies a declaration of self-dependence, of separation.
The literary
formula 'bear witness of one-self would seem to be attested
in early Rabbinic
through the instance given by Schlatter, S. u. H. 4 Ev. p. 70 from M^li,
Be$allah, 20 a, which runs: 'hu
'al 'asmo scchu man Safeno ijoreft Id base
e
e
e
it, i.e. the mannah, bare witness
sabbap j/ lo L :iom toft u lo l win hakkippurlm
to itself that it was mannah, because it did not come down either on Sabbaths,
on festivals or on the Day of atonement, (i.e. it conformed to the Divine rules
of the Tora, and thereby showed itself to be really mannah, i.e. a gift of Divine
literature
mid
,
M
made
claimed,
i.e.
'gad',
a
.S.
\ny-p
D 1 !"!^
now
b. Yohai, unknown to Schlatter, has 'maggid' (prorevealed) in order to allude to the letters of the word
81
coriander, with which the mannah was compared (Ex 16 ).
u. H. 4 Ev. p. 70 Exod. R. lao:
e Tdlta
origin).
nny
^s~l
I
1
^
^
know
d*R. Sim'on
it
known,
m
y6y -pyo n'^pniy TOD omstf
|jpi
*- c
God gives zuitness to Abraham with
-
that thou fearest
God.
1
ntWD ? p^y
letpp
the words (Gen 22 ia
Jn 530-47
To
(3)
1
Billerbeck
231
the appeal to the testimony of the works performed
adduces GenR. 16 6.
passage be taken as a whole, it will be found to contain
6
near
very
parallels of phraseology with Jn 53
If that
.
nab
ps*
msb
a-'-sa'N
bp-nb
-ab^xb
a^-aiN ~a
.
.
a^iaiN
.
TUN a^y-'a
.nj*i3'
i
R.
5
Y e hosu a
Amora,
'
c:a
ibin
'~
i a IE a
'jjya
p3ao~ yw~r\->
^fis 3 N b 't< ^b" n
-1
f
-1
I'll
'bip ya*j;3
T'T'ya TDTn^^B a^a^ns IDN
b"
f
-nb
r^
b"j<
n
^'bn b"x "bin "bip
^b'n aabip T ^ nab
aabip nab pno
1
'Db-'
from Siknin says in the name of R. Leui (Palestinian
300 A.D.):
They ask the river Euphrates: 'why is
not thy voice heard?' (why are thy waters so quiet?). The river
answers: T need not (make my will heard) for my works 'make me
known'
They ask the river Tigris: 'why is thy voice heard? (why
.
.
.
do thy waters make such noise?)' It answers: 'that my voice may
be heard and that I may be seen. They say to the fruit-trees:
'why is not your voice heard?' They answer: 'we have no need
thereof, for our fruits bear witness of us'...
is
your voice heard ?
'why
and seen'.
They
They ask the wild trees:
we may be heard
answer: 'that
The object of the Rabbinic dictum is to teach a morale; there
not the slightest parallel of thought with Jn 53 6
The absence
of parallelism of thought evidently applies also to the Rabbinic
is
.
instances of the use of the terms 'self-testimony' and 'Divine
2
The
mony'.
testi-
linguistic, correspondence again is
one
even
venture to say exact.
extremely close,
might
This correspondence of phraseology and expression between
Jn and Rabbinic may perhaps best be illustrated by the following
diagram, where the sentences of the present section have been put
side by side with the corresponding Rabbinic phrases.
1
II
p.
phraseological,
467.
2
Jn may be said to make external allusion to Rabbinic ideas; e. g. there
might be said to be an allusion to the Rabbinic connection of Divine testimony
and the testimony of the Holy Scripture: 5 3T compared with 5 39
.
Jn 530-47
232
Rabbinic
Jn
Hebrew
3
1
Aramaic
'Eav lyo) jiapxupw
jiapTiupia
Y]
oux
by
T
inline
JJLOU
saxiv
32 $XAo
ECTUV 6
Tupwv
Tispl
|j,ap-
e|jioO
oioa
11
ea"ccv
Ttspc
YJV
ejioO
by ii
33 li[JUXpTUp7]UV
34
ou
oe
yw
uapa
Tupiav
xauta
ya
%eTvog
35
YJV
6
rbn
Xu)(-
vo? 6
cpat'vwv
ibll)
ev
wpav
36
yw
TW
ni^wn
SE
no ib ni
(TYGen48i 9 )'pln1i
TOU
l
pa
'Iwawou
Ta yap spy a a oeStOXEV
Y
JJLOt
6
i'va
,iinni
aura, aura Ta spya
a
Traiw,
jiapTupET
ejiou OTI 6
,8ii35i
:
or]
Jn 530-47
233
Rabbinic
Hebrew
37 xai
Aramaic
rbn
6
Tcept.
EJJLOU
OUTS cpwv/jv auxou
ibi
p n^bp sb
s
TCtOUOTE
OUTE
38
ttat "UOV
our.
Xdyov aftxoO
EV ujjuv
E'^ETE
nbn
a OTI ov auexouo
uca-
Toe?
ypa-
TUT
39 EpsuvaxE
cpag
6jjLlg oo-
OTC,
EV
inn
auxacg
atajvtov
ESLV
xac execvaf etatv at
jiapTupoOaat
T^spc
EJJIOU
40 06
Tcpdc;
GsXX
[IE
E/lOstV
I'v
a ^WYJV
[cf.
:
41
ooav uapa
TCOJV
5 34
or]
b
avGpw-
sb
ou XajAJSavw
[btnD 151
din
n^in
42 aXXa iyvtoxa
.
6|j,ac;
tsb
(Diptt)
t^nbs
OTl T7JV aytXTlTjV TOU
OEOU oux
eETE
sy
EV
TW
43 Eyw EXYjXuGa
ua-u-
n^in
Jn 530-37
234
Rabbinic
Jn
Hebrew
peg
[JLOU
(3avT
5ta:
irm
ou
Aramaic
ibin
av #X
jjte
ovd
Xoc; iXOTfl EV Tto
TOO
{lau
vov
44
uwc; ouvaaOe O
Ttapa aXX<Y]X(jL>vXa|>
v
45
|-tYj
OOXSCTS
sb]
Osou ou
Y^nn
OTJt
ov
46
sc
av
pa
Ttapa
TYJV
|j,dvou
paw
[pnoa
yap
i\ioi'
niaiaa
^
TiEpt
yap
lypa-
47
St
ibii)
ypa|i|jLaaov ou
tUSt,
TTW?
ib^i
TCta-
TOT?
uia-
1
For the Rabbinic idea of belief in
and
trtist in
Moses, vide the
e Tdlta
fundamental passage
1 d 14 a, cited in full above pp. 138, 139.
M
Jn 6 26-71
235
6 26
7*. The difficulty of the present discourse may be said to
centre in the problem of the relation between the conception of the
'Celestial Food' (the 'bread from heaven', the 'bread of Life')
and the conception of the 'Flesh and Blood of the Son of Man
and since the two conceptions, or complexes of conceptions, dominate each their own sections of the discourse, the said problem
is at the same
time a question of the literary relation between
those sections.
The
different
solutions
of the
problem
may be
classed as
follows:
A.
Partition theory.
The
discourse
is
regarded as composed
1
of two or more strata.
Spitta treats (i) as original ('Grundschrift'):
the utterances speaking of Jesus as the giver of the true heavenly
'the redactor's reflexions' : the portions identifying
(2) as
bread from heaven,, and (3) as additions, adduced
with
the
Jesus
from a non-Johannine source: the portions speaking of the flesh
bread,
and blood.
2
the sacramental section*
form
and
present
position to an editor of
(i.e.
56)
the Gospel, similarly Merx, assigns the portions alluding to the
eucharistic sacrament to redactors, and considers
ideas of the
the
the idea of a
spiritual bread coming down from heaven,
GS
1
Thompson
owes
!5
,
maintains that
its
conception of the spiritual food, as the old, genuine
conception* of the section. Generally it may be said, that, the
premise of a composite character of the section once accepted,
mystical
meaning, i.e. that which best fits in with the gospel
found in the complex of conceptions here defined as
that of the Celestial Food or Bread from Heaven and not in the
'sacramental' ideas, i.e. the conceptions connected with the terms
the
original
as a whole,
and
'Flesh'
is
'Blood'.
3
Cf.
the discussion of the partition
further
theories in part ii of the present work.
B. On the assumption that the discourse is a literary unity,
the solutions offered usually take the form of an interpretation of
the whole discourse in the light of one of the parts. Thus, either
the so-called sacramental section
at
the
all,
sacramental section, as
1
J.
2
is
maintained not to be sacramental
=
since the bread from heaven,
Ev.
TJie
p. xxii,
it
is
145156.
of John vi
Interpretation
is
the teaching of J, or, since
then urged, cannot possibly but
(77te
Expositor, Ser.
PP- 337-348).
3
Das Evangeliiun
des Johannes
etc.
pp.
122
140.
8, vol.
n,
1916,
Jn 6
236
allude
2
67i
the eucharist, the whole of the discourse (and also,
to
the way,
the
eucharist.
It is
by
narrative) must refer primarily to the
needless to go into the history of the exegesis in
preceding
would merely be a repetition of what every
standard commentary on the Gospel records).
It suffices to state that what may be called the 'leading opinion'
these
respects
(it
modern exegetical scholarship sees
the present section a
clear allusion to the sacrament and, moreover, maintains that the
main intention or object of the section is to give a doctrine of
of
The
the eucharist.
58) necessitates the
rpwysiv (vss 54
the
whole
eucharistic
Further,
terminology
fourfold
idea of a real 'eating'.
is
found
the
in
TCIVSIV,
cpavsiy,
The
aap.
atjia,
can
Homer, and
eternal
life
oTrsp
n
chapter, as so^aptOTSty 6
2
4
9,2o
22
i
65' (Me 14
Lc
Christ,
edible
be traced
is
that
is
object,
the
of
idea
also
of the eucharist,
idea
of
collected
'
I
aproy
to
in
by
man
SiSdyai
11
2
4),
which nourishes
celestial
the Greek world as far back 85
in the East.
The underlying
the
of
the
of
flesh and blood
i.e.
eating
in some
embodied
the
Deity,
consuming
at
enters
sharers
3,
Co
food
the
in
2
hpme
into
communion with
Life*.
in
1
the Deity and
even the
Nevertheless
thereby
(eternal)
leading opinion
although otherwise maintaining the essential
is
seriously inclined to doubt that the
unity of the Gospel
section 51 b
is
the
which
'sacramental' portion '/at' S^O^TJV,
58,
Thus Loisy surmises that
which
he terms 'the poem on
551,5358
2
is independent of the dialogue,
and J. Estlin
5^
that
55
should
be
Carpenter virtually urges
regarded as an
forms an original part of the discourse.
526,27,32,33,47,48 anc
the Bread of Life'
j
J
3
explanatory addition.
works bear the official
Modern Roman Catholic
scholars,
whose
Imprimatur, naturally connect the section
4
with the eucharist. M.-J. Lagrange, in his admirable commentary
defines 65 T ~59 as a
revelation (scil. by Jesus) of the eucharist
,
Bauer, Jo?i. Ev.~ 95, 96, Loisy, Le Quatrieinc Evangile pp. 236, 244
The Fourth Gospel and the Sacraments (The Expositor,
246, J. B. Naish,
8 Ser., 23 pp. 5368), J. Estlin Carpenter, Johannine Writings, pp. 429 ff.,
Notice, however, the strange turn in Carpenter's interpretation on pp. 435 f.
1
(cf.
428,
p.
3
3
1.
20).
Le Quatricme Evangile p. 233.
Johannine Writings p. 428 and
>I cannot avoid the convicib. note 2.
on a very different plane compared with that in
50 has been here embodied. The verbal indications are, it is true, but
32
slight; they point, however, to other modes of religious utterance, and these
(it may be argued) are in the sequel practically disowned.*
4
Evangile selon Saint Jean pp. 171, 183.
tion
that
in
51
58 language
Jn 6
and 6
26 -7i
237
25
5
to this revelation, as a prea necessary prelude
as
paration of the spirits of the hearers for a spiritual understanding
of the manducation, indeed very real, of the body of Christ.
1
Similarly F. Tillmann, regards the eucharist as the central idea of
the section, treated of directly 648 5 s and subjointly 6 2 5 47.
From the more conservative Anglican side Nolloth may be
He naturally takes a more spiritual and positive religious attitude to the Fourth Gospel. But also to Dr Nolloth the
chief importance of Jn 6 seems to lie in the fact that this chapter
upon the meaning
gives the sauthoritative teaching of our Lord
quoted.
of the Sacrament of the Eucharist.
2
An
independent and highly ingenious interpretation of the
given by Kreyenbiihl (whose theories are usually passed
From his starting-point, viz.
silence by the commentators).
section
in
is
that the Gospel
is
the self-vindication of a mystic, Gnostic, Chri-
(Menander) against the doctrines of the organized Church
the said premises, is
(Ignatius), he evolves a solution which, on
of
the
leading opinion which finds
vastly more consistent than that
in ch. 6 an advocating of the consumption of the flesh and blood
of Christ on the line of earlier and contemporary ideas of the
consumption of Deity as this opinion sees and judges them.
Kreyenbiihl maintains that the section really speaks of the Eustian
charist, but not
rejection ot
Church.
by way of advocating
this sacrament, as being a
The
put against
intended by
object of the Evangelist is, ace. to Kreyenbuhl, to
the Sacrament of the Church (which in the text is
the
'mannah', the
his
Ignatian-Church)
and blood of the Son
his
but by way of a strong
ritns, an institution of the
it
religion,
his life
'J
ews>
f
text
being
really the
own spiritual understanding: the real flesh
of Man (= the Evangelist) are his teaching,
in
God and
of
God,
and these only are
3
potent of eternal Life.
1
Das Johannesevangelinm
riickblickt,
den
Gedanken
heraus,
V. 48 stellt, indem er auf V. 33 zu115
der beide Teile der Rede zur Einheit ver-
p.
klammert: Jesus ist das Lebensbrot sowohl als der in dem Glauben gewonnene
wie auch als der in der Eucharistie empfangene Christus.
2
The Fourth Evangelist pp. 142 f.: The true significance of the Eucharist
only became manifest when the discourse in the Synagogue at Capernaum was
published. The Sacrament is shown to be rooted in the fundamental relations
of God and man and to be the application of the principle of the Incarnation
to the spiritual
3
ing
needs of the individual.))
Evangelium der Wahrheit, ii, pp. 12 102. Notice especially the followWir verstehen den Tadel Jesu v. 26: Die kirchlichen
passage (p. 38 f.)
Jn 6 26-71
238
Independent of the leading exegetical opinion is also FY.
who in his important study of the Gospel declares it to be
a false method to interpret the whole discourse as referring to the
1
Eucharist.
The Eucharist is spoken of only in Jn 65 58. In a
discourse .on the Eucharist, 6 3 6 4 and 6 4447 would be superfluous.
The discourse is primarily concerned with the right to
and duty of Belief in Christ. 2 He shows that the interpretation
Biichsel
1
by the leading exegetical opinion (represented by Bauer)
makes the discourse simply unintelligible.
The principle of the present investigation is to try to find
given
the
meaning of the discourse by viewing
real
it
in its
connexion
with the Johannine system of thought (or mystical representations}
as a whole and to understand the expressions used, on the back-
ground of the phraseology, terminology and ideas of the religious
thought of cognate or in any way related circles.
The conception of the Bread from Heaven is to be understood as parallel to that of the 'Water
i.e. it falls under the
of
the
the
of
Divine, spiritual efflux. This
category
conceptions
is so self-evident
that it hardly needs demonstration.
It is im'
,
mediately apparent
conception
as
sphere
'Celestial
chh.
and
Christen suchen
^virkt,
sie
present section, with regard to the
Bread' moves in exactly the same
with regard to the conceptions of the
the
that
of the
3
4
Jesus nicht den Geist, der die vZeichen* des Evangeliums
Geistes, Wiedergeburt, Leben, eiuiges Leben, sondern
Brote des kirchlichen Abendmahls essen und salt warden. Was
in
Neuschaffung des
wollen
vom
des vierten Evangeliums \virkt, sind die arista .2 11 1S 3 8 4 M die von
den Juden nicht beachtet werden (v. 26); was die grosskirchlichen Gegner wirken,
warum sie sich ausschliesslich bemuhen, das ist die vergangliche Speise des
der Jesus
'
,
AbendmaJils, welcher der Gnostiker die Speise, die das eivige Leben bleibt>
Er ist der
Mensch, den Gott zu diesem Zwecke beglaubigt
gegeniiberstellt.
und gesandt hat. Damit ist das ganse Thema der grossen Rede ausgesprochcn.*
^Johannes und der hellenistische Synkretisimis 1928 p. 49 52.
Following observations by Biichsel will be seen to be very much to the
... Beziehungen zu jener barbarischen Kultfrommigkeit, in der man die
point:
Gottheit ass, liegen also nicht vor. Das ist durch V. 63 und schon durch die
gesamte Gottesvorstellung des Evangeliums ausgeschlossen. Selbst wenn sich
Johannes hier an Formeln aus einem Kultus anlehnen sollte, in dem man die
Gottheit ass, so ha'tte er diesen uberkommenen Vorstellungen durch die Verbindung mit V. 63 einen ganz anderen Sinn gegeben, den paradoxer Einseitigkeiten, die von der entgegengesetzten Einseitigkeit her verstanden werden sollen.
Wer Johannes 6 nimmt, wje es uns nun einmal iiberlierert ist, im Zusammenhang des Johannesevangeliums und des johanneischen Denkens, kann hier keine
Anschauung vom Abendmahl finden, die auf einer Ebene mit den heidnischen
Vorstellungen von den Mysterienmahlzeiten u. dgl. lage op. cit. p. 51.
26 -7i
Jn 6
239
from above', the Spiritual arcep^a and the 'Water of Life':
between the celestial-spiritual reality and the
of the Divine into the realm of earthly
the
descent
terrestial,
of
the
men,
every Divine efflux or gift in the Son of
comprising
Man (= I am the bread that descends from heaven). The parallel with the Divine Birth and the Celestial Water goes even
'Birth
the
antithesis
the birth from
that
Just as ch 3 wants to ima real birth into the celestial
to the realistic emphasis.
viz.
further,
above
is
press
world, in every sense as real as the birth into earthly existence,
so the bread from heaven is no mere symbol, or simile, say for
'doctrine' or 'teaching', but the Spiritual Bread is quite as real a
as earthly
food ((Bpcoaic;), nota dene: within the Spiritual world,
The transition to the conception of the
earthly food.
and blood of the Son of Man is quite
of
the
flesh
consumption
or
bread,
Since
natural.
must
self
sprint
the Son of
really
i.e.
,
be
Man
eaten
He must
enter
is the Celestial Bread, He himnota bene: in the world of the
into
and
be assimilated with the
spiritual organism of the believer; it is quite in keeping with the
strong realistic emphasis of the discourse on the birth from above,
eating of the spiritual bread is put realistically as eating
the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of Man, i.e. in order to
impress strongly that the acquisition of the heavenly bread, the
if this
'imperishable
food',
was no mere allegory.
But with
this under-
standing of the meaning of the discourse it is obvious, that no
still
less the whole of it
can pripart of the discourse,
refer
to
the
of
who
sacrament
the
one
Eucharist.
In
fact,
marily
understands the words of the eating and drinking of the flesh and
blood to refer to the bread and wine of the Eucharist takes
exactly the mistaken view of which Nicodemus in ch 3 and the
'Jews' here are made the exponents, viz. that J's realistic expressions refer to objects of the terrestrial world instead of to objects
of the celestial world.
It
also apparent that the uManna of Moses* is the exact
Water of the well of Jacob* of 47~ ! 5 and of the
is
parallel
of the
^worship on the mount of Garizim or at Jerusalem-* i.e. it belongs
to the category of such objects of religious devotion or such religious ideas
in
through and
in
which men imagined themselves to be
communion with the Divine world
have
Life,
(with the spiritual reality) to
but which, ace. to Jn, did not communicate the
spiri-
tual reality, Life.
The
expressions
'Bread
from
Heaven',
the
'Imperishable
Jn 6 26-71
240
1
Food
may
are
correspond to current ideas and expressions. Briefly it
be said that the 'heavenly bread' and the 'celestial food'
be identified with the terms parnasa (nD31D) and mdzon
which actually expressed the idea of a spiritual food coming
to
(illfth
down from
especially
the
world.
spiritual
Rabbinic,
circles,
It is significant that, in
the
conception
Jewish,
of the parnasa was
frequently connected with that of manna which latter in many
cases plays the exact role of the parnasa. It is also to be remembered that parnasa and manna, as designating or symbolising
>
the divine
further
'gifts',
connected
between
lelism
the spiritual efflux, are in the mystical language
with the terms \vater', 'rain' etc. The paral-
bread'
'celestial
and
water
'spiritual
1
is
thus not
confined to Jn.
GenR
20
22
'wra nbiiwb
nwn&i no:n&b nbis
nbistt
5"aiBi
"^n
i?
nniSD 'xsw
gpo D^ nn^b
n"apn
/w
7?.
^l^tisar
said:
TIBS
bsn
5>n
nb^
^
lion obvb
bDb anb }niD
mb
d ^ bsn no:n&
1
rtbistt
sjs
by nosisoni
^"y nos^s
D'^ nyiip-a
'b55iy
ntt
w
^
bs^a
b"n^
13 ^lun bDb
iisi ^n bsb
Dnb
the salvation compares with the pdrndsii and
are on a par, and mutu(/.<?. they
one can kno" of one from the other) as it is written
2
2
And hath redeemed (= salvation, 'g e *itlla) us from
(Ps 136 4 5):
our enemies: for his mercy endureth for ever; who giveth food
(= parnasa) to all flesh: for his mercy endureth for ever. Just
as the salvation is connected with miracles, so the parnasa, is
connected with miracles, just as the parnasa is (given) daily so the
v
e
salvation is (worked) daily. R. S mu'el bar Nahman said: yea (the
the parnasa with the salvation
ally
related,
parnasa is even) greater than the salvation, for the salvation is
worked through an angel, but \ho. parnasa is given by the Holy One
Himself; whence do we know that the salvation is worked through
an angel? (answer:) it is written (Gen 48 ^): 'the angel which saves
me from all evil'; whence do we know that t\\e parnasa comes through
the Holy One Himself? (answer:) for it is written (Ps 145 l6 ) 'Thou
openest thine hand and satisfies! the desire of every living thing!'
ar
ben Leui said: the parnasa is greater than the (miracle
R. Y e hosu
of the Red Sea (basing upon Ps 136 3 and 136 2 5).
division
of) the
r
r
26 ~7i
Jn 6
TB Ta
fa
mf) 2 ab
^m
mbia
swi
241
1*1005 sbrc
n^nDi ron
bra
n"npn bw ITS ninns'a
d^tran
n^nn
diwiw
biai
nsia n ^b 'n nn*^ n^rm d'Wtt
n ^nnsn ^ ^D dtwi
bra
rtaim
'a
pfi^
brai
w tax
rm
bra
in
ns nna^i
nb
Yoh a nan
said: Three keys are in the hands of the Holy One,
which he does not commit to any messenger (= angel). And these
they are: (the key) of birth (or of the womb), of the rains, and
R.
of the vivification of the dead; of birth, as it is written (Gen 30 22 ),
'and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb', of the rains,
as it is written (Deut. 28 12 'The Lord shall open unto thee his
)
the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his
:
season', of the vivification of the dead, as it is written (Ezek. 37 3)
'And ye shall know that I am the Lord when I have opened your
good
treasure,
graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves.'
In Palestine they say: also the (key) of \.\\e parnasa, as it is written
Thou openest thine hand and satisfiest the desire of
)
a
every living thing.' And why does not R. Yoh nan say this (i.e.
a
include the parnasa]} Because R. Yoh nan says: rains also are
l6
(Ps 145
parnasati
(i.e.
'rain'
and
'food',
as
spiritual
effluxes,
are
really
identical).
TB
&abb 120 a the words of Isa 3 'the whole stay of bread'
are explained as referring to the Tora: in GenR 70s (to Gen 28 20
it
is said that the proselyte may find in Israel 'the bread of the
Tora (ace. to Prov. 95). In CantR \\ it is said: 'As vvater
refreshes the body so does the Tora refresit the soul:
In
1
)
M'%.
9d
(to
Exod. 13
pa rrmyi
'And God
deeds
1
16
(=
As
is
27451.
)
t^o:
rrnsyb
^3 ayn ns
t^nbs
led the people about, (through the
Red
of the
l8
sea)'
in
1
SovajisK;
)
order to do miracles
through the manna, the quails and the
well-known ouvaai; does not occur
H.
Odeberg.
way of the wilderness
(= ayjjieia) and migthy
in Jn.
zvell.
Jn 6
242
GenR 54 1:
dnb
bn
mm
^""nan
iin
'Aha
wai
bu)
Salomon
hungry, give him bread
(R.
water to
said):
said
to
i
^nnbn nanb 1:6 s""pan
(Prov. 25
eat,
and
if
2I
):
'If
he be
thine
enemy be
thirsty, give
Understand: the bread of the T0rd,
drink'.
mm
in
him
accordance
=
with the word (Prov. 95; Wisdom
Tora, says:) Come, eat of my
bread, and the ivater of the Tora, in accordance with the word
55
(Isa
!
)
The
Ho, every one that
of the
idea
Manna
thirsteth
come ye
to the waters.
of the Messianic age
is
.
well-known
and the passages referring to it frequently cited.
And it shall come to pass at that self-same
Ap. Bar 29 8
time (sell, when the Messiah shall begin to be revealed) that the
treasury of manna shall again descend from on high and they shall
eat of it in those years, because these are they who have come
to the consummation of time*.
Interesting in connection with Jn 6 is the parallelism between
Moses, as the first Saviour and Messiah as the 'Last Saviour'.
1
EccLR las
jiiosn
s*
bsi5
ma
bat* *p
(cited
by Billerbeck
ii,
p.
481)
inns* baia "p "pisbn bsiio pnsi
Y'm
TOS main
'n
^ttnn by dswi i^a ni in^^ n
ns ^nin iino^n bia n Trann by
ns' T'Ti'' linns* bia
d^iun p dnb dDb
ia tjx nsan ns nbyn IUBSI bia n^a
n bna ns niyni ar* 'n
5i
R.
B e raekya
said
in
the
name
of R. Ishaq (Palestinian 'Amora,
2
generation, about 280 A. D. ): As the First Saviour (Go* el,
Moses) so is the Last Saviour. Just as it is said with reference
third
i.e.
to
the First Saviour: (Exod. 4 20 )
and
them upon an
'and Moses took his wife and
so also it is said of the Last
Saviour (Zech 99) 'lowly and riding upon an ass'; just as the
First Saviour caused the manna to descend, as it is written (Exod
his sons
'behold,
164)
1
"
of the
set
I
will rain
ass',
bread from heaven
The Apocalypse of BarucJi,
for you',
so also the
transl. Charles (T. E. B.), p. 53.
real time of the ideas in question is of course much earlier than that
This is demonstrated in the present case by the passage in
tradens.
The
Ap. Bar.
Jn 6 26-71
Last Saviour
(Ps 72
l6
cause
ivill
to
as
descend,
be bread of wheat upon
'There shall
)
manna
the
243
it
written
is
the earth'.
Just
as the First Saviour brought up the well, so the Last Saviour will
1
bring up the water, as it is written (Joel S ^) 'And it shall come
pass in that day that ... a fountain shall come forth of the
house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim'. Signito
expressly stated that Moses brought
down the manna: the view with which Jn 5 3 2 joins issue 1 (2) the
juxtaposition of the well, fountain, water and the manna, which
ficant
here:
is
that
(l)
is
it
'
,
the well
and the
water of life of ch. 4 on one hand and the manna and the
bread of ch. 6 on the other.
celestial
M
e
the Johannine
with
coincides
with
parallelism
9c
h.
psb
ns I^D*
bsnttn
^
sbs niinn
rtos 'tinw '^snn
The Holy One,
s^
^s as
IMS
^bas jm
^
blessed be He, said:
p
prvron
If I
now
ji"sn
aisi
pb^s
iww
suffer Israel to enter
the (promised) land, then they will at once seize (= be absorbed
in the cultivation of) each his field and each his vineyard and be
idle in (or interrupt) the study of the' Tora.
Instead I will 'lead
them about' in the desert for forty years that they may eat
manna and drink the zev^r of the well and (thereby) the Tora
will
be united (assimilated) with their body.
The Manna,
like the
parnasa,
is
a spiritual food for the
mem-
bers of the spiritual world:
M'ltilta
s
R. '^razar
d'R Sim* on ben
ini
H
a
shall not find
to
come
(in
masa
it
asi'n
tins
said:
in
(scil.
Yoliai 78,
and
M'ft.
19 d
-s nrn
the terrestrial world (this world) ye
ye shall find it in the world
the Manna);
the spiritual world, n.b. not necessarily
= the
future
world).
Ace. to
1
Ri/pR 5
TB Hag
6,
NiunR
12 b in the heaven S e haqim
11
3,
pn
CantR
n
2
22
1
end of 45 days He (the Holy One or Messias)
brings down to them the manna*.
at the
produced the
record the dictum:
en ? imci en ?
1
is
r6:,:
[is
revealed to them] and
Jn 6
244
Manna
26 -7r
1
the
righteous (tradens: ft. Mtf'tr ab. 150); similarly
21 (33 b), the manna is prepared for
ace. to Tanlwwa, ed. Buber
for
the righteous in
of the spiritual
the spirits (n'samoj)), the members
J
7: -uj) vixtovu Swoto
aottp TOD
frQil Cv>lJ7, i.e. for
world.
Cf.
Rev. 2
fxdvva too y.xpo[i(xsvou.
Manna as the Celestial food,
old idea),
also attested as a
is
namely as the
dictum of R.
tA
angel's food (an
q!ba (died about 135),
recorded
TB Yoma
inis
75
pbDis*
is
dnb
b, in
mian
a Baraiba
^D55b)3ia
dnb u^s bss
d^ss
dnb
>Ta
dnb
d^p'a
n'Vis
b dnb
*6s ^nbs
dnb d^a^ dnb
is
means
When
words.
say to R.
bread? Is
cA
answer:
it
:
not written
(Deut 99)
But how do
I
not read:
'do
that
has
these words were told R. Jsma'el, he said Go and
you are mistaken: do the ministering angels eat
qiba:
drink water'.
i.e.
n
a Baraipa: '(Ps 78 2 5) Man did eat angel's food'; that
rA
the food that the ministering angels eat. That is R. qiba's
There
bread
^3
ybnsffi
is
'I
neither did eat bread nor
'
explain the words lalicBm "abbirim* ?
'l&li&m- ^abbiriui but Icelicem 'ebdrwi, i.e.
(wholly) consumed by the 248 bones of the body,
cf. Acts of Thouias, Syr. version cited
no excrementa,
below p. 246. The opposition, or controversy, between RR. cA qiba
and Isma'el on this point is only a literary form. Both those
scholars were versed in the mystical thought, and the quoted dicta
both belong to the tradition of Jewish mysticism.
According to early Jewish mysticism (i and 2 centuries A. D.)
the spiritual qualities are viewed as celestial substances. Important
the present connection is (i) that among those substances is
the parnasa, here clearly taken in the sense of spiritual food, but
at the same time on a par with 'Life', 'Love', 'Tora'.
(2) that
in
those qualities or substances are committed by the Holy One to
Metatron, the little Yhuh, the Jewish mystical counterpart to the'
'Son'.
(3)
that they are thought of as distributed
the world.
3 En
by Metatron
to
*
8
i
enumerates the following
mitted to Metatron:
vide Billerbeck
iii
532.
spiritual substances
com-
Jn 6 26-71
245
Hotcma (Wisdom), Bind (Understanding), Hayyim (Life), Hen
a
e
(Grace and Loving-Kindness), 'A/t b& (Love), S fffin&
fA
ndud (Meekness), Parndsa, Rolf mint
(Divine Presence), Tora,
Sdlom
(Mercy),
(Peace), Yifcvfr Sdmdim or Yir^ajy Net, Fear of
Heaven or Fear of Sin.
ud-Hd'sezcl
One
(542 etc.),
a*(<y.tt'fl
(4
3
2
,
notices the parallels with the Jn-ine:
6
2 7,
5
5),
saxTJvwaev
elpijvT]
(14
2
7,
ev
(1*4),
YJJJUV
CCOYJ,
8i.8a.yjfi
1633), also ytvwaxsiv
be observed that
l6
/apis (1*4,
(7
(cf.
l6
'
I
7),
:
>
7),
(3puxKa
above on
2
'5).
(and term) of the spiritual
may
the
different
obtains
stages of development of
parndsa
throughout
Metatron gives parndsa to the celestial
the Jewish mysticism.
It
this idea
world. This parndsa is expressed by the words mdtur (rain, to
denote the 'descent' (Jn ttard(3aaic) of the celestial food, and man
The
(manna).
continuity of tradition
is
recognizable in the follow-
ing passage:
Y.R.
i
60 a
pro sini
a^ns
anb Kin
ID
'pan
110 nbsp ^byn bss
^Dn^n^ ni^^wn iitti nib^^n ns
^ian -ja anb asb iiBtitt ^52n siron
im
'
n^n lataa bsiioi isbnu) nsm
irrus
n HDS aioaww iy nii^anb niiantti nsb
nn anb niwi iniis niniui
sin iai awn Tawia a^&n
n 110 in n^ta^ niisb misto ipbm3
i
It is known to the masters of mystical tradition (qabbdld) that
the mystical meaning of the manna is contained in the sentence:
'it is the food of ^abblrlm
(angels); it is the spiritual (ruliam) food
(mason)
for
'emanation'
the angels which comes to them from the sphere of
*
a
from the side of 'fullness'
silu]j) and
(or efflux:
fa
which are derived from the name of Metatron (i.e.
descend from Metatron); to this alludes the passage of the scripture (Exod. 164); 'Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you',
for all the spiritual world receives its maintenance from him. And
( siru]j) }
those forty years that Israel walked in the desert, that manna
was caused to descend (flow out, emanate) from sphere to sphere,
and from t e umrd to fi/iura (t e inurd = lit. change; manifested, phenomenal existence, roughly: from one spiritual world down to
another) until it flows down into the sphere of the Rason (the
Will), which is the sphere of miraculous transformations (///.
all
26
Jn G -?
246
that
renewed by
is
the earth,
its
1
And when it descended and reached
was changed and it was transformed into that
consumed by the bones ^tibarim, R. Isma el,
miracles).
quality
pure bread, that was
c
above p. 244) and Metatron, the Prince of the Divine Presence,
whose name is the same as the name of his Lord (i.e. YJiuh), he
sweetened it and spiced it and he changed its substance for the
purpose of its descent. That is the mystery (the mystical meaning)
of the manna and the mystery of the rain.
Acts of Thomas I, 6, 7, Syriac version (in the song of the
daughter of light, ('sung in the Hebrew tongue'): ... and (the
groomsmen, bridesmaids and attendants of the bride, the daughter
of light) shall attend at that banquet whereof the eternal ones are
accounted worthy, and shall put on royal raiment, and be clad in
and
robes;
bright
shall
the
glorify
in joy and exultation shall they both be, and
Father of all, whose proud light (nuhra gazia)
they have received, and are enlightened by the splendour (siu)
of their lord, whose immortal food (purnaseh) they have received
that hath no failing and have drunk of the (ivater of) life that
giveth them neither thirst nor desire^ (cf. Jn 4 4, 535). Notice
J
here
(i)
to
refers
the use of the technical term purnas(a), (2) that the whole
realities of the spiritual, Divine realm, (.3) that ligJit,
splendour, food and water
Zoliar
ii
2
156 b
sinni swrwa snns suns by bs^b
ia nin snbtt 1111 bsis sin l^an
sttby sinna aiinsi sniiiDns in^s
aril
suns
^n^i
^31
IDTE
pbia by
-fbttn
an
iai snins
n
^iis
^
131
ii^nsi
^b3i5
^by ^D^b^i
sinni sinDaa
wira
.-'i3
IM pbia
^nn ^nn^j sn'awii ^&IDDI sail* in^a
5ira sni ^s s^by sinnn
ibi2b in^s ^T^ ssira
nia^a
mb
tfttbyn
!iB
niai
terms
(also: raiment] are parallel
5iia3
s^aby
baiioi ibD^
pnbi
^
^in
i
snnbi
Man's table
ra),
1
in
makes him worthy
M. R. James, The AprocrypJial
New
Zwei Gnostische Hymnen, pp. 15,
The word 'water' does not occur
stood (the text has: uestiu men hayya}.
schen,
to
the pleasure of that world
the
another table
eat
at
(i.e.
the spiritual world) as
Testament, pp. 367, 368,
cf.
E. Preu-
17.
in the Syriac
list,
but
is
to be under-
Jn 6
26 ~7i
247
Sam. 9 J 3): 'for he did eat continually at the king's
and King David says (Ps 235) 'thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies'. That is the preparation
of the table in that world, for in accordance with the enjoyment
(pleasure) and aspiration (longing) of the spirit will its enjoyment
be in the celestial (lit. future) world. And is there, then, a table
for the spirits in that world?
Yes! For this food (m esona) and
bounty (sippuqa) of pleasure they eat in that world similarly as
Do then the celestial angels eat? Yes,
the celestial angels eat.
it
written (2
is
table',
Of
they do.
And
ness.
same kind
the
that
food
is
(of food) did Israel eat in the ^vilderthe secret of the dew that descends and
from above from the secret of the future world, and
e
food of light spreading over the holy Glory (r l)uf) qtidsa,
And the spirits of the righteous
i.e. the realm of the Divine Glory).
into
about
to
be
born
earthly life) are nourished from
(the spirits
that place (soil, from the 'secret of the spiritual world, the fountain of the dew and food of light') in the garden of Eden for there
attracted
is
it
the
is
the
spirits
of the
Eden below,
Cf.
clothe themselves, in the garden of
1
appearance of this world (i.e. in earthly form).
righteous
after the
GenR 40 2
abiyb TOTI y'yb bss
f'mm iw6
fro
SIT-TO:
where tiruf against the later commentators and J. Ftirst, should
be translated 'nourishment': He (scil. the Holy One gives nourishment to them who fear him in this world, but in the future he
also
will
GenR
8
i
remember (them
\m
saka 'addw
eternal (nourishment).
with)
'oftet
ste 'olamoj)
'if
man
is
Cf. also
deserving he
two worlds'.
Also in Mandcean literature similar ideas are met
Mandaean conceptions might indeed be used to shed
shall eat of the
the
question
ideas, in so
with.
The
light
upon
of the peculiar relation of Jn 6 to the sacramental
far as, in the Mandsean religion, there is a kind of
bread, vis. the pihta. This piJita? together with a
drink of water, called mambuJia (mambuga), is given to the baptizand at the occasion of his baptism; there is also a distribution
sacramental
of pihta with mambulia of water to the congregation, a parallel
to the eucharist, and a priestly communion, consisting of pilita
and mambuha, in the latter case purportedly of wine. 3
Der Sohar und seine LeJire-, 1923, p. 78.
Aramaic J^pPE J>itt*p(i 'piece of bread', 'bread', Syr.,
cf. Brandt, op. cit. below note 2.
3
Vide A. J. H. W. Brandt, Die mandaische Religion, pp. 107110.
1
Vide Ernst Miiller,
*
Probably
=
the
1
.
26
Jn 6
248
~ 7i
Now, when the Mandaean sources speak of the
'celestial
one would
pihta,
naturally expect to find in that expression to
be merely a projection into the celestial world of the pihta of the
This might be the case even
cult of the congregation on earth.
if,
the minds of the believers, the celestial pihta were the ori-
to
ginal, the prototype of, or the source of, the earthly pihta. But it
turns out that the conception of the celestial pihta goes beyond
a mere projection of the sacramental pihta. Just as in the case
of the celestial 'water
was independent
that
so
'water',
word
was possible
to detect a line of tradition
not to be derived from, the baptismal
with the conception of the celestial pihta. The
is
it
it
of,
the expression, as if by way of translation, of a celestial
essence, centred in the innermost spiritual realm, yea, in the
central spirit itself, the Mana. As this pihta is viewed under the
is
aspect
terms,
of emanation, of outflow, it is associated with the other
of spiritual efflux as Light, Water, Fountain,
or qualities,
Truth, Life etc.
GR Ar
239
2
7-2405 (Petermann 238 1-7).
aws
rrnn ixsi
rbns^ri nssnsi
wsm
srnns
&rran
rntfirn
1:0
^n anwi
T'pa'n
rnin
siinsi
iip
SDStt
irn
xvn naiwo^ni
arums pa n>T ps&ii
pitta?
STSI in
rrnrM
roairn
b
b^ssmsu) irn
the mystery and the book of the Splendour that glows
(sparkles) in the Pihta, which shone in its own splendour and was
great in its Light, for that first Mana existed, created and dwelt
This
in
it.
is
It
believed
splendour
which was
forth
out
and
in
in
it,
the
Mana
dwelling
which was in
the name of which
light
it,
is
it
v
in
it,
it
believed in the
believed
Sarhab'el.
in
the Mana,
Splendour came
Pihta, Light dwelt on the Pihta and went out
radiated) from it. It called itself Sprout, Splendour
of the
(emanated,
and Light, where Light, where splendour flows out of itself.
From the parallel beginning of Book IX of Ginza Yamina it
appears that pilita might be exchanged for mana without any
It is evident already from the passage
greater difficulty.
quoted
above that pihta belongs to that inmost realm of celestial reawhere there is mutual identity or community of essence,
lities,
where all is all and all is in all. pihta as representing, like mayye,
Jn 6
26 -7i
and mambuha the outflow and distribution
249
to,
and assimilation by,
of the world of the Divine Life, naturally unites
whole sphere of beliefs, religious aspirations, obser-
the inhabitants
in itself
the
and
cults of the terrestrial community: the baptism, the
the zidqa, (almsgiving), the prayer, as well as
the
mambiiha,
piJita,
the doctrine of Life.
vances
As
further illustrations of this conception
Ginsd Yamina (GR)
XV,
may
be cited
15.
yn*ai
s
the Life to Yosamin, in order to teach him
[Hibil Ziua is sent by
and inspire courage in him. He speaks to him:] I gave thee
power through the great Voice of the Life, from which thou didst
receive victorious power. I gave thee power through Pihta, Kitstn
and Mambuga, O thou head of (thy) whole tribe. Here, then,
Pihta, together with the Voice of Life, the Kusta and Mambuga
qualities powers inherent in the Protanthropos, the
the
Son. He is the possessor and bearer of the Divine
Messenger,
Pihta just as he is the possessor and bearer of the Divine Life.
are
spiritual
Cf. also Ginsa Smala (G. L.) III. 13, 528 3 8 (Petermann 91 8 ), where
the spirit reascended to the House of Life, and reunited with the
Light, says:
my Light prepared the piJita and my mind placed
the
it.
(nhur pfya pihta, vfesar qaiem
reascended
msabbalon):
spirit has the pihta within
for it is simply the light, which again is the Divine Life in
before
itself
Life
praising
.
the
Ihaiie
itself,
which the
spirit shares.
Dram dYahya
(M. J.) 32 4 (Text 263), pihta is seemingly
used as an equivalent of profane bread. Lidzbarski, ad loc. thinks
it
possible that the underlying meaning is that the celestial beings
eat pihta (it occurs in a dialogue between Yosamin and Manda,
dHayye). The members of the celestial world eat (food) which is
not destructible and drink what is not wine.
MLi Qolasta xli is quoted by Bauer 1 as a parallel to the
sacramental ideas of Jn 6. The passage runs:
In
!
,
anrns sn& a^rn sn^ ^2*1^ iins
1
2
Joh. Ev. p. 97.
GL I i, 428 Ilf
-
(Pet. 8'4-f.):
26 -7'
Jn 6
250
worshipped (paid honour to) and praised the treasure of Light,
Great helper of the Life. He prepared pihta in the secret
V
and gave it to the mighly first Life in its S 8 kina.
It need scarbe
that
the
food' of the
said
even
as
the
'sacramental
cely
piJitd,
of
all
to
the
sacrament
offers
no
at
Manda;ans,
Jn 6 ace.
parallel
to Bauer's view of the latter.
For pilita is in no way connected
with the idea of the consumption of the Deity through an edible
The eating of pilita and drinking of mambiiga is a cultobject.
act, just as baptism and as kusta (the hand-clasp, which was the
sign of the reception in the community). But there is really
quite a close resemblance between the Mandaean conceptions of
pihta and the Jn-in conception of the bread from heaven and its
relation to the sacrament of the eucharist.
The ground for the
resemblance again is that the ideas both of Jn 6 and of the Mandaean literature are on a far higher religious level than that with
which Bauer seems to associate them and from which he tries
to interpret them. With this we have touched the real nucleus to
I
the
the failure of the leading exegetical opinion (perhaps, after
all,
it
own
'leading' only
opinion) to account for Jn 6. It does
not face its subject with the attitude of true scholarship, but with
the attitude of superiority. Once the purported parallel with the
in its
is
idea of the eating of the deity was detected, the whole gospel falls
The idea to the
pitiably to the ground in the eyes of the critic.
in question is of course absurd and so also Jn becomes
His ideas and conceptions are 'massive' (as Bauer loves
to express it).
Bauer's attitude towards Jn may be said to be a
scholars
absurd.
parallel to the attitude
rature
against
taken
by Peterson to the Mandsean liteto whose authority Bauer
which Lidzbarski
1
sharply remonstrates, viz. that of making a low
religious stratum the norm of interpretation of the documents of
a very high one, simply on the ground that the two happen to
rightly defers
be connected or use resembling expressions or nomenclature. 2
1
In
Z.Nt. W.
vol. 27,
1928,
pp. 321
327
(Alter
und Heimat der man-
diiischen Religion}.
It is outside
the scope of the present work to go into the problems of
the significance and development of the ideas of the 'eating of the Deity' from
the point of view of history of religion. It may be observed in passing, however, that these problems are as yet not solved at all. It may well be doubted,
-
for instance, whether the NT exegetes have any understanding for the real religious aspirations and experiences that lie behind the various cult-observances in
question. This doubt is strengthened when one notices, how e. g. Bauer mixes
together the most incongruous religious cults, from primitive to comparatively
Jn 6
6
aXX'
now
remains
It
26
7i
to go into an analysis of the section.
26
a|A7]v
OTI
ex
OY](isia
the
'signs'
CYJTSITS
on
si'Ss'S a^jj.=ca
There are two
The antithesis between
(i)
and apto? or (paysiv ex TOOV apTcov xai.
and the 'bread'. (2) The antithesis be.
motives for seeking Jesus, viz. to behold signs made
to receive food from him. To these leading antitheses
tween two
by him or
are added
vs
in
27
two
further conceptions:
aXXd
PQWGLV
fiQaJGiv
tr]v
alwvtov,
rjv
of the
\vork\ sp^ov spfdCsaGai, and
aTtokkuf.ievijv,
6 {HO<; TOD
'i\
av6pw7roo
food'
'perishable
able Jjpod'
oo^(
jxs,
xai. sy^op-cdaOujts.
utterance,
this
iSeiv
ai,
0|j.iv
tdiv ap"(ov
in
implicit
or
Xsyo)
ajJiTjv
efpdysTs
antitheses
the
251
ppwatc
'(\
TTJV
t>[uv
/.<?.
Scoast,
eQyaL,ead
ii]v (.tsvovaav
(a)
(ATJ
eic;
TTJV
CWYJV
the conception
the antithesis between
(b)
^ aTcoXXo^svY] and the 'imperishthe
food of eternal life, the spiri[Asvoooa,
'q
(3pd>oi?
tual food.
Upon these conceptions again are immediately brought to
bear two fundamental, wellknown aspects of Jn viz.
(a) the Son of Man as the giver of everything spiritual (^v 6
oi&c TOD avQpwTCOD D[uv Scoast)
(p)
the complete dependence of the
Son upon the Father and
the complete conferment of authority by the -father upon the Son:
the Son's dependence-authority [vs. 28: TODTOV yap 6 TuaTYjp sarppayiasv
6 6e6?].
The inception djjty/v ajJi^v Xsy^ 6[J.fv naturally designates that
dictum in question (6 26i contains the clue to the folfaviiig discotirse.
By the same inception, however, a second dictum of the
tJie
)
section
is
marked
out, viz. vss 32
f.:
a|AY]V ajv/jv Xsyco D|iiv,
OD MwDavjc
Gjitv
apTOV
ODpavoD, aXX' 6 Tcar^p [J.OD StSwaiv
TOV
sx
TOD
TOV
6[j.iv
apTOV
ODpavoO
aXvjOtvdv. 6 yap apTO? TOD GEOD sartv
6 xatapatvwv sx TOD ODpavoD xat.
CWYJV IODC T(7> xoa^co. This dictum,
SsScoxsv
sx TOD
TOV
1
96 f.). One is even forced to assume
exegetes the whole significance of these cult-observances is exDie
hausted by Bauer's statement, op. tit., p. 97:
Ueberzeugung, dass aussere Dinge sich mit dem Gottlichen verbinden und, leiblich angeeignet, den Be-
developed ones
(cf.
Bauer
y^.
^E ^. pp.
that to these
.
.
.
vermitteln konnen, hat die Seite des Kultmahles
Teilnehmer durch Genuss geweihter Speise in magischer
Weise gottliche Kriifte -zu gewinnen dachten. And with this statement, to
Bauer, the whole meaning also of Jn 6 is exhausted! What would these exegetes say, if someone tried to interpret the Upanisads in the manner of the
lowest Kali- and Durgacults, i.e. reduce the highest teachings of the former to
sit/c
iibernaturlicher
erzeugt,
bei
dem
Giiter
die
the magical or superstitious ideas of the latter?
Bauer and Loisy with regard to Jn.
And
yet that
is
the
method of
26 -7'
Jn 6
252
then, may be expected to supplement some other central ideas of
As such may be considered
the section.
the conception of the 'bread from heaven': the imperishof vs 27 is no other than 'the bread from heaven',
In this is already implicit
'the bread of God'.
(a)
food
able
aspect of xaTa/?aov,g : the 'bread from heaven' is sent
given to, the 'world' (/.oojioc), descends (ttaTajBaivcov) from
(b) the
down
to,
heaven
the antithesis between
(c)
is
with
parallel
the perishable
be given from heaven,
SsScoxev
.
.
(oo MtoDovJ?
.)
Now, what does the
TOD
heaven and earth,
cannot be given from earth
it
section teach concerning the central ideas,
the fundamental aspects
(a)
xdajj-o?,
the bread from heaven gives Life to the world.
(d)
in the
God and
the antithesis between the imperishable food and
food; the imperishable food must come from and
in
question?
'work', IpYov; to do the work of God is to believe
one who has been sent by God. vs 29: TODTO scmv TO spyoy
the
6eo5 1W, 5uaT=DY]T
etc 8v
aTueoTstXsv ezsivoc-
God
of the doing the works of
The
identification
e'pya TOD GEOD) with the belief
(TO,
God's Messenger (TuiaTeoeiv el? ov arcsateiXey sxetyog) should, however, be seen in relation on one hand to the association of the
'work' with the 'imperishable food' (vs 27), on the other
in
hand
to
6
to the identification of the 'belief (Tciateoev) with (i) 'coming
Jesus' as the Bread of Life (vs 35: iyo> eiju 6 apTO<; rqq Car?)?
.
e()%6{.ivoc; fCQog
TTWTCOTS.)
SujjTjaet
TO
sartv
6eXyj(j.a
f.i
(2)
TOD
Ttiorevutv
sic.
avmv
learning
from
the
/.ai
ot>
'beJwlding the Son
IJ.OD
roarpdc:
s^
Father
jxaGwy sp^erai Trpo?
The
Tceivaaij]
JIT]
with
Cw
xai 6 TtiGTEvwv eig
"?]
(vs. 45:
jJ^s).
tW
atwytov
v
.
TTQC?
.)
TCCC?
o
(vs 40:
fyie
OD
TODTO
OetoQwv rov vibv
[J/?j
yap
v.o.1
and (3) with Jiearing and
6 axooaac Tcapa TOD rcarpo?
.
hand an activity directed towards
obtainment of the imperisliable food, on the other hand the
belief in J
the heafyrjng and learning from the Father (the 'doing
the truth' 3 21 ) and coming to Jesus,
The activity for the imand
food
the
towards
perishable
J is one and the same
coming
'work', then,
is
on, one
the
=
thing,
since Jesus is the imperishable food (635: eyw el[u 6 ap-cog
The teaching on
the belif in J clearly points back to the anaOne meets with the same or
3.
logous parts and utterances of ch
Jn 6
26 ~7i
253
1
in both discourses. Hence the utterances should
be understood in the light of the discourse of ch 3. The teaching
on the work directed towards the imperishable food, again, points
to the discourse of ch 4.
similar expressions
easily seen, why the work is defined as a connection
identification of belief in J and activity for the im2I the
food.
perishable
Already in ch 35
neccessity of this conIt
is
between or
The ground is:
in the Johannine teaching is prefigured.
the coming to Jesus, the belief in him, is no external belief. The
approach to him cannot be made in the external world; it necesnection
from
a 'step
sitates
existence',
believer
himself
the
since
which,
contained
is
whole of the
in Jesus,
from the external,
(
existence
terrestrial
the
the
into
spiritual
spiritual world to the
a step into the Son of Man
terrestrial, point of view one would
means
say: a step into the world of Jesus; the teaching ofjn is that the
world of J is J himself and vice versa
and entrance into him.
),
But the entrance into J (spoken of in 3 4f-, vide above p. 99 and
316 2i vide above pp. 145, 146) is eo ipso an entrance of J into
the believer, and this in no mere allegorical sense, but, in a real
T
(
To emphasise
sense.
this reality of J's
entrance into the believer,
conception of the imperishable food, the bread from heaven
presents itself as most suitable.
the
The work,
then, which ace. to 6
2
is better than the seeing
simply the activation of the
spiritual element in man, and consequent upon that, the first step
from the terrestrial into the spiritual existence. The necessary se-
and seeking the
quel to the
teaching on the 'work', therefore,
(b) the imperisJiable food
The 'work
of the
spiritual
^,
'signs' or 'miracles', is
1
ascent
itself,
of the believers evidently falls under the aspect
into the spiritual, or the receiving the
As a continuation of the 'work', the ideas of
reality.
food,,
may
ch 6
~d
Q
6
fj
-ouiiv
TTJV
afojOsi
be considered
first
ch 3
21
bread.
(ava{3aoi?)
the celestial bread, or the imperishable
3
the teaching on
is
the celestial
6
rj-
~
r>
~
J
~i(>~(
OsoD
"
~o I'ppv TOU Oeou
K
"V'
ip-faCssOs
(xivouaav
*rj-/-.a<.
-poc 70
<coj;
g
33 ' 87
G'
G
85
14
'
6
ipyd|jLevo;
iXOstv -po;
l5
'
-ixe-a
-po; ae
[j.s
ppiuatv
T/
(
V
26 ~7i
Jn 6
254
under the said aspect. The expressions referring to the 'celestial
food' under this aspect are the following:
6
27
Ppwaiv
TYJV
635 oo
Tceivdaig
[j/r]
6-4
e'Q
6
Tva Tie s
5
65 1 edv
653 sav
TTJV
.
jisvooaay el? CWYJV aubviov
00 [v/] St^yjost TTWTTOTS
.
.
647 l^ei
CtoTjy altovioy
CCOTOO
<pdy-(]
xai
CCOTJV
[iyj
alamov
dTuoOdvif]
TOOTOO TOO apTOO Cvjaet el? TOV alwva
TOD Dto5 TOD ay6po)7roo xal TCIYJTS aDTOD
JXYJ cpdYYjte TYJV aapvca
TO ai[xa, 00% S'^ETS CWTJV Iv eaorotc
Tt
'P^-Y'fl
sy.
6 54 6 TpcoYwy [loo T'?]y adpxa xal TTIVCOV (JLOD TO at[i.a e^ei CWTJV altovtoy
5
6 57 6 TpcoY^v [AS xaxeivo? C'^jost 5t
SJAS
65^6 TpcoYwv TOOTOV TOV apTOV C'/]GSL el? TOV alwva and, also, although
not mentioning the 'celestial food',
6 ^ 2 edv ODV
TOV
Sscop^Te
DLOV TOO
dv6po)7:oD dvapouvovTa OTIOU
YJV
TO
TrpOTepoy.
The
allusions to the expressions of the preceding discourses
These allusions are important for determining the
obvious.
are
of the
significance
6
2
passages involved. Thus, of the expressions
meat zuJiidt endureth imto everlasting lifei>
the
quoted
corresponds to 4 '4; the water I shall give him shall be in him a
shall never
well of water springing up into everlasting' life*. 635
J
shall
to
4:
never
thirst*
4
whosoever
drinketh
hunger,
corresponds
just
of the water
650,5i to 5
I
2
7,
shall give him shall never thirsti> 640.47 to 3 J 5, J 6 e.a.,
653 to 540, 654 to 336, (357 to 5 26, Qb2 to j 52
4,
and 3H.
The exact
2
parallelism between 6 7 and 4 4 is indeed in itself
decisive for the interpretation of the former. The 'spring of living
!
water' designates, as
was stated above \ the abiding
spiritual living realities.
man unto
eternal
life.
in
man
of the
Similarly the 'imperishable food' abides in
The spiritual realities have entered into him.
in -contrast
ch. 4, the idea of the indwelling well of water is put
to the idea of the external well, the well of Jacob,
which
could be said to be identical with the knowledge
Now,
in
latter
of,
the teaching about, the celestial world and mysteries of the spirit.
If the parallelism is complete, there will be a corresponding contrast in ch. 6. There is, indeed, an apparent correspondence in the
contrast to the 'manna' of Moses (63 r ,3 2 ,49), the manna which the
of 4 20 ).
Here it should, however,
be remembered that the appeal of the Jews to their fathers or to
'fathers'
1
p.
ate
161.
(cf.
the
'fathers'
Jn 6 26-71
Abraham
Moses
as
was pointed out above
1
is
not accepted
the appeal by the Samaritans to their 'fathers'.
This
distinction in the attitude of J is apparently observed even
J as
by
or
255
fine
is
here.
The rejected views of the manna, parnasa from heaven,
are easily recognized in the Rabbinic ideas, as preserved in Rabbinic literature: (i) When the Jews ask for a 'sign' and convey
like that of the manna, and J
not give the manna from heaven, this really
presupposes the various ideas met with in the Rabbinic litterature.
The expression, oo McDoavjc SsSwxsv 0[uv TOV aptov ex too oopavoo
they want a miraculous sign
that
retorts, that
Moses did
quite unintelligible as it stands in the text, if it does not contain
a conscious allusion to the Rabbinic mode of expression and exe-
is
But on the supposition of such an allusion
gesis.
with
It
refers
to
the
meaning.
manna to descend from heaven
expression
it
is
pregnant
Moses caused the
(cf. above pag. 242 Eccl.R. 1 28)
Tora was given by Moses. For the derivation of the
statement
Moses gave the bread from heaven from a scriptural
the
or
passage presenting God as the giver of the manna the passage
from Eccl.R. quoted above (p. 242) offers an exact parallel. The
Rabbinic opinion was certainly not that Moses, and not the Holy
one, gave the manna, but it was the Rabbinic opinion, that Moses'
mediator of the manna was a sign and token (a o<ppayk)
of his saviourship. Further the gift of the manna was necessarily
bound up with Moses and his time, it was something of the past.
The expectations of a renewal of the miracle of the manna in the
office as the
Messianic
age only give greater prominence to this linking up
with a specific happening and a specific figure of history. Three
points must, however, be remembered in order to the right understanding of the contrast between the imperishable food of J and
the food of the Jews: (i) the 'manna' was to the Jews, whether it
be the Jews as they appear in the Rabbinic sources or in Jn, no
mere food for the physical needs of man; the 'manna' was altogether a religious conception, imbued with spiritual meaning; the
contrast to the imperishable food spoken of in vss 32 and 49 f. is
as in vs 26
a 'physical' food, but the Jewish conception
not
of the
spiritual
manna,
(2)
there
was
in
Rabbinic
and related
clear conception of a 'celestial food', 'descending from
that was not historically and necessarily linked up with
Judaism a
heaven',
Moses, but was continuously emanating from heaven; this was connected with the 'manna' as the food for the members of the
1
p.
189.
Jn 6
256
celestial
world,
(3)
26 ~7i
within Rabbinic circles the conceptions of the
'bread', the 'food', frequently were mere
parnasa or of the
spiritual
1
Hence the
allegorical expressions for 'the teaching of the Tora
antithetical significance of vss 27
32 might be rendered thus: (vs 27)
admonishes the Jews to work for the imperishable, the
food which he gives them; for he has received the authority
(the seal) of God, (vs 28) the Jews understand the expression
'work for the imperishable food' at once in a symbolical or allegorical sense: by the work for the imperishable food Jesus must have
meant the 'works' of God, the doing the commandments of God.
Jesus
spiritual,
This identification of epydCeoSai r/jv ppwaiv rqv [isvooaav sic; CWTJV
alcbvtov with lpydCsa0at, TOC spya too 6so5 must be understood as
depending altogether on the reasoning of the Jews, not on Jn 4 34.
Jews the works commanded by
and Tora gives life to
world and in the world to come (i.e. eternal
The imperishable food was
God
in
those
the Tora, for Tora
who do
it,
in this
to the
is
called 'food'
2
(vs 29) Jesus accepts the identijxsvoooav siq CWYJV aluwov)
fication of the works for imperishable food with the works of God,
life:
only he modifies it: there are no 'works of God' without the Son
of Man whom God has sent to do his work; all works are comprised
in
the one work
(spyov
vs.
there
sent'.
spya): 'to believe in Him whom God
is
an allusion to Jn 434. The only
work is to believe in him, who him-
Here, indeed,
of doing God's
self is doing the work of God, in unity with God (cf. above
p. 188 11. 4 -7). The Jews understand this statement by Jesus: he
demands to be acknowledged as a possessor of authority and Divine
possibility
commission like those possessed by Moses, the first saviour, and
expected from the last saviour. He wants to be considered as a
3
'faithful shepherd'.
Hence they,
of
ask
for
the
tokens
of
his
their point
view,
J
legitimacy.
Moses gave the manna in the desert to the fathers, the last saviour
will give the manna to his generation. Show us that you can give
go'el,
'saviour', a roce rice^inan,
from
us the spiritual gifts which a saviour can mediate! Jesus answers
by reminding then of the spiritual continual parnasa. (vs 32) Do
not say: Moses gave us bread from heaven in that far away time
my Father gives you nozv the true bread
For Gods' bread (the Divine food) is that which
but realize instead that
from
heaven.
1
3
cf.
above pp. 242, 243.
cf. e.g.
v45/i 6
7
mn
nbiy2
rp&'ij;'?
[Prov 4"] D.-PHSD'?
3
Cf.
above
p.
i38f. from
M*Wta
c"n rom:
en c^n ^
13d, 14
a.
NYiir
rrnnn r6n:
ICNJIS?
&cn
26 ~7i
Jn 6
descends
heaven and gives
from
257
life
So
to the world.
far the
They even ask Jesus to
Jn,. are able to follow Jesus.
of that celestial bread. The real controversy may be
Jews, ace. to
them
give
not yet to have begun. (The parallel with the dialogue
with the Samaritan woman is so far exact.) What reveals the nature
of the contrast is vs 35 ff.: I am the bread of Life etc., i.e. the
said
view against which Jn 6 is directed, is what
externalistic view of the spiritual realities,
attainment
of spiritual
gifts
or
spiritual
be termed: the
may
of the
or,
means
of.
the view that
i.e.
life,
earthly being, can partake of spiritual, celestial, Divine gifts
or know of the Divine worlds or do the Divine will, without entering
an
into the spiritual reality. The externalists are here defined by the
words of vs. 36, aXX' EITTOV DJJ.IV or. v.cf.1 ieapaxaTS [J,e %ai oo TUOTEUSTE
(but I have said to you: although you have seen me, you do not
However much the Jews may acknowledge
believe).
spiritual realities
of the Divine
of the Divine
gifts,
the fact of
will,
they can-
although they see externally they do not
are
not
open to the spiritual world. (Cf. above
really see, they
1
on
IS
and
Against the external attitude of the Jews
p. 99).
p. 37
stands the attitude of those who really 'behold', who have actuated
not
accept them,
the
spiritual
TOU
GsXvj^a
auT&v
for
element
Tuatpd?
themselves:
in
[J-oo
iva
xa?
6
40) TOOTO Yap sauv TO
Qsopcov tov ocov xal rciaTEUcov
(vs
alawov, 'every one who beholds the
the Son in his capacity of Son)
sees
spiritual eyes
This is followed up in particular by vss 45, 46:
slg
e'^-fl
CCOTJV
.
Son
.
(i.e.
with
.'
It is
written
prophets: 'and they shall be all taught of God'. Every man
therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father cometh
in the
unto me.
Not that any man hath seen the Father save he which
of God, he has seen the Father*. This is on a line with 5 37, 3^
TCE^as |j,s rcaTYJp, auTO '[As^apTupYjXsv rcspi g|uu OUTS <pu)VYjV auTOO
is
(6
axYjxoaTs OUTS ei'So? aoTOU itopaxaTs
axoucov y.cd TUCITSUCOV Ttj> rcsjJiijjavTi JJ.E), S?
TUCOTCOTE
[j.ou
.
ip^d[xsvo<;
...
6
sibpaxev
%ai rjxoooEV
TOUTO
.
1
.),
^
5 2 4 (6 TOV Xdfov
(6 sx TOU oupavou
^apTupsi ...
TYJV
6
OTI
[JiapTOpiav
Xa^wv
11
0s6c
.
'
6
locppaYiasv
aXYjGrjc EOTIV), 3
o
%al
6 8s TTOIWV
Ewpaxa^EV [iapTDpoD|iev
(o ol'8ajxsv XaXoujisv
iva
TO
T
aoTou
aX'/]6etav s'p^sTat, Trpo?
(pavspcoG^j
spYa OTC iv
tpwc,
auTOu
soTtv
will
EtpYaa^sya).
be
not
The
apparent
real
until,
sense
in
of the
the
light
.
.
dictum of
vss.
45,
'
21
r?)V
scj)
46
of the passages cited,
character of intentional tautological paradox be comprehended.
The paradox is this: no one can come to the Son, without
its
having
17
received
27451.
H.
the
Odeberg.
teaching
from
the
Father;
no
one
can
26 -? 1
Jn 6
258
hear and
reason
from
learn
Father except through the Son.
the
paradox and
for this
its
The
application to the prophetical pas1
sou
is that precisely
through its
sage Isa 34*3 of the 8i8a7ol
paradoxical formulation the reiterated
law of the Divine reality
should be brought home, i.e. the law of all-inclusive identity, union,
communion, pervading the whole Divine world. The term SiSa/aol
no
eoo ace. to J points to the fact that
real
knowledge
exists of
world, that does not proceed from God, it points to
sou is to be subinternality versus the externality; SiScwcoi
Divine
the
the
sumed under the general
yevy/jQevres sx
one can enter into the
Divine
member
sou.
Hence, just as no
world without being born as a
of that world, as a spiritual being, and as this can only
and through the Son of Man, so there is no knowledge of
spiritual world without entering into knowledge-communion
with the spiritual world, and, in the last instance, with God, and
such communion is given only in and through the Son. This communion is a communion of life. The nucleus to the section 48 63,
from the point of view of the partaking of the Divine reality, is
be
in
the
vs 57:
y,a6wc
6 Tptoyoov
xat.
sent
me and
shall live
5 26
(as
Son
to
aTcsareiXsy
Cw ota TOV Tuatspa
the
as
living Father hath
|j,e %a%etvo?
SJJLS,
C/jasc,
I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he
(5v rcanjp, xaycb
t
me.
by
^s 6
This utterance, which should be linked up with
life in himself: so hath he given to the
the Father hath
have
life
in
himself), conveys the possession of the Divine
a real possession of those who have been born into the
spiritual world; this possession of life, however, is not to be viewed
as a possession, for each individual, of a separate 'life', a 'life' for
Life
as
himself,
an individual of the terrestrial world may look upon
and speak of it as 'my flesh and
as
his 'body' as a separate entity,
blood' 2
but the life possessed is the one life of the spiritual world,
of the living Son, living through the Father. To emphasize
the all-inclusiveness of the one life of the living Son, it is not be
the
,
life
considered'as strange, when J resorts to the startling term of 'masticafor the sharing of life.
The 'mastication', then, may be said
tion'
The life of the
to stand for 'complete assimilation', 'absorption'.
Son enters into the member of the spiritual world so that it fills
his entire being.
That the idea of complete absorption and
milation as contained in the expression
1
Vide Burney, The
ad locum.
Billerbeck
2
Rabb.:
i
Aramaic Origin of
'to
the
assi-
eat the spiritual food',
Fourth Gospel
p.
118 and also
Jn 6
was not foreign
to the religions
26
7i
259
thought of the time
is
shown by
the Jewish-mystic-Rabbinic interpretation of the 'food of the angels'
as the food that penetrates the whole organism and is absorbed
1
by
it.
The whole
teaching of the 'celestial food'
may be summed up
as follows:
(1)
-Those
who
spiritual element
are
in
open to the
spiritual,
themselves so that
it
who
i.e.
actuate the
responds to the calling
of the spiritual (to the Son's voice), do the work of God,
(2) this consists in the spirit's continuous aspiration to and
towards the Son
ascension
who
in
himself comprises everything
spiritual,
this
(3)
ch. 3,
(cf.
consists
aspiration
ill)
p.
in
J,
the
as
in,
or
is
founded upon, the belief
'Messenger',
the
bringer of the
spiritual from the Godhead to man, he who connects the Godhead
with man,
(4) the belief, as an ever-increasing, ever-ascending aspiration
towards the Godhead, the Divine Life, already implies the actuality
he who believes has eternal life (vs. 47).
of the Divine Life:
The
belief
is
a confident assurance of the obtainment of the Divine
is
That
Life.
this assurance entails the actual possession of this life
accordance with the Johannine fundamental
in
.thesis
concerning
the Divine-spiritual reality, the thesis to which ch. 6 is especially
devoted: the belief cannot be an intellectual act within the terrestrial,
psycho-physical, organism of man; it is no belief about or
concerning a thing, for the terrestrial as such cannot in any way
the
grasp the spiritual; to the terrestrial the spiritual is properly nonand if the terrestrial proffers statements concerning the
existent,
spiritual, these are delusions, lies.
force),
(or
belonging
|The belief is a spiritual activity
spiritual organism, hence already
world, and thereby sharing virtually in
going on within the
to the spiritual
The belief is a
all-pervading Divine Life of that world.
continous acquisition of the Divine Life, an avdpaacc, directed
towards the final goal, God Himself. The belief, thus, is a belief
the
in
God.
belief,
The
thus,
tion
of the
just
as
the
comprising
1
Cf.
an avdjBaaic in and through the Son; the
a belief in the Son. As an actual continuous acquisi-
avd(3aoi<; is
is
is an acquisition of the Son:
continually drawn upwards in the Son as
himself the whole Divine reality, so the believer
Divine
believer
in
above
p.
2/14.
Life the belief
is
260
Jn 6
26 ~7i
simultaneously may be said continually 'to draw the Son into him1
to absorb the Divine Life.
self,
The
(5)
belief
is
the acceptance of the teaching of Jesus.
But the teaching
teaching is called 'the celestial bread'.
external doctrine after terrestrial manner.
and
life
Son.
am
I
same
brought home to man.
reality
spiritual
reality
spiritual
is
the
the bread
!
no
the everlasting
And since the
Son, the teaching may be said to be the
Eating the celestial bread, thus, is this
or the continuation
as,
It is itself
The
is
tion with, the absorption
the believing.
of,
by the
spiritual
the assimila-
It is
organism
the Divine
of,
Life, of the great spiritual
organism: 'the Son'.
(6) The spiritual organism is as real as the earthly organism,
which is expressed by the term 'flesh and blood' (basar iia&ani).
In order to emphasize this reality Jesus uses the specific term for
earthly organism, 'flesh and blood', also for the spiritual organism:
'6 Tpurfwv JJ.OD
xai TUIVWV [J,oo TO at[xa ev s^oi [xsvet, xa"(w
TYJV aapy.a
sv aoT(]>
OUTO? sauv 6 aptoc; 6 sx, too oopavoo xaiapd?.
.
.
.
But
(7)
in
order to
make
clear that the 'flesh
it
the spiritual organism, and in no
restrial 'flesh and blood', the utterance is added:
It
altogether to
refer
makes
that
the flesh avails nothings, vs. 63.
is born of the flesh
living;
with the saying: That which
that which is born of the spirit is
line
there
stood,
and
vs.
63;
When
and blood'
way
to ter-
the spirit
is
This
is
flesh
is in
and
thus under-
spirit (3^).
not the slightest divergence between vss. 51
58
on the contrary, the utterance is what was to be
is
the words that I have spoken unto
expected; the continuation,
are
are
also
fits in exactly with what has been
and
life,
spirit
you,
propounded above under (5) and also above p. 168 (3).
(8) There is one single sentence that remains as a
the interpretation here given,
to
syw
Scbaco
that
I will
1
/
f
aap
give is
t\
SOTIV
[iot>
my
This reciprocity
the following:
uvcep TYJ? too v.oa^oo
flesh [given]
is
viz.
2
for the life
clearly expressed
by
vs.
56:
6
CwvjS
(the bread
of the world
.
.
.
difficulty
apto? oe 6v
,
diuelleth in
vs. 51).
me and
in himi>.
2
In Aramaic:
Ntfpjn
N"M by ton noz rp^nx N:NH XOTI
The
reconstruction of the sentence into Aramaic, thus, removes the difficulties
af construction inherent in the Greek text. Much discussion has been given to
the absence of the article
Oidp
r?j;
taken
que
je
ioD
Vj
(or o) before uTcsp, or to the possibility of connecting
with OIOOID. The latter is without discussion
XO^JLOU Cor?;; directly
!
by H. Delafosse (Le guafrieme t va?igtlc,
donnerai pour la vie du monde c'est ma chair.
for granted
p.
159):
et le pain
26
1
Jn 6 -?
261
The 'flesh' is here evidently not an expression of the reality of
the spiritual organism, but the expression of the appearance of J
in the earthly world, of the fact that he has been born into a human
The word oap
earthly organism.
sense as 1 J 4; and the Word was
here used in the
(flesh) is
made
same
and dwelt among us.
The 'flesh for the life of the world', further, is on a line with
3 J 6, ! 7: 'God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have
everlasting
For God
life.
demn the world; but
(= for the life of the
sent not
flesh
His Son
into the ^cvorld to con-
that the world through
world).
The
'flesh for
him might
the
life
be saved'
of the world'
with 'the Son's TwcapaGK; into earthly existence
1
in order to bring the Divine Life down to the world'.
J's earthly
appearance, his oapi, may be defined as the vehicle for the revelation of God's love, or for the spiritual reality.
By this vehicle
is
thus
identical
Jesus speaks words that are received by the ears and minds of earthly
men, and, in the case of those who 'do the truth', awaken the
dormant
spiritual
element
in
men, so that they are able
to 'hear
the calling of spirit to spirit. In this sense
the 'words' of Jesus in the flesh may be said to be celestial bread,
namely the bread of the descended Son. And the 'bread', to go
his
(spiritual)
further,
voice',
may be
identified with the earthly activity of the incarnated
Son in its totality, and if that activity is what is meant by the
word oapi, the sentence in question might be considered not very
2
far removed in general bearing from the rest of the discourse.
1
This is evidently, on the supposition of essential and consistent unity of
thought in Jn, the primary connotation. Reference to the coming death of J
not implied in any other sense than that this in common with the final
is
glorification forms part of the process set in by J's -/.a-d^a^.c, in the flesh; the
future 'oo'iaio' demonstrates nothing in this respect, since the ministration of Life
to the believers or to the 'world' is always to be assigned both to the present
and to the future. An exact parallel to the ocoaoj of 6 Bl is that of 4 14 Nor is
there
on the same ground
any reference to the future instigation of the
.
Eucharist:
uTrip
of 1 Cor 11 st
etc.
has no demonstrating' force.
exposition by Biichsel (Johannes und der hellenistische Synkrctismus, p. 50) might be adduced here: Der Gegensau, gegen den diese Rede sich
richtet, besteht im Anstoss an der allzu irdischen Art der Gabe (V. 31) und Person
3
The
(V. 42).
Demgegeniiber betont Jesus, dass man ihn in seiner irdischen
Art so, wfe er ist, hinnehmen muss, und steigert die Ausdri'icke dafur(V. 57, 58)
so, dass es schliesslich heisst: wer mich kaut (V. 57). This interpretation would
be applicable also to vs. 51, and would be supported by the objection to Jesus
derived from his lowly origin* (Strachan) voiced by vss. 42 ff. The sense would
be: even in his sarcical, i.e. earthly, manifestation, the Son is the bread descended
Jesu
262
Jn 6
The
of the
parts
26 -7i
discourse relating to the
y.ai:d|3ac;i
of the
and to the Son's function as including in him both the
avdjjaatc, and the zardpaatc are perfectly natural and, moreover,
necessary, constituents of it, when viewed in the light of the previous exposition. 6 3 2 00 Mcooavji; SsScoxsv o|itv TOV apTov EX TOD
spiritual
oopavoo, aXX'
-6
aXv]6iv6v
Tcar/jp
[J.oo
SiSooaiv o[uv TOV
aptov
been dwelt upon already above
has
0soo
ex,-
TOD oopavoo TOV
p. 255.
633
6
TOD oopavoo y,a CWTJV
apTOC
of
eternal
life ace. to ch. 3 (cf. above
as
the
germ
TCJ) y.da[X(|>; just
p. 112) must be given from above, so the real Divine bread is a
TOD
bread
e
r qi
a
that
6
7.aTaj3atvo)v
!
ex,
.
a
the divine world, the 'heaven' (raqi
ei[u 6 apTO? rqq Cw^c, I am that bread,
descends from
ta
'~
SOTIV
635
raJbof)J.
syw
'~,
descended from heaven, every Divine
comprised in the Son, is the Son. 6 37
gift,
xs oo
The view
representing
same kind
as intended for a solution of the
this
dictum
the sense that
of the Jews
in
whether man
shall believe or not,
The
leading.
it
is
efflux
Tudv
from above,
is
o SiSwoiv jxoi 6 jrar/jp
j/?
together with others of the
problem of the unbelief
the Divine Will that decides
must be rejected as highly mis-
characterization of the believers as 'those
whom my
Father has given me' is an instance of the peculiarly Jn-ine way of
expressing the complete dependence of the Son upon the Father
insolubly connected with his complete authority. That this is the
object in view is apparent from the immediate sequel, 63 >: on
iva TUOUO TO 6eX*/][xa TO EIJ.OV aXXa
y.ara|3sJ37jy.a arc 6 TOD oopavoo OD/_
<c
TO
is
sv
The TUOCV 8 SiSwoiv [xot 6 Ttar/jp etc.
OsXyjaa TOD Tce^avcos [is.
line with 33Sf- 6 irar/jp a.^<y.ndf TOV uiov x,ai xavca SsScox.sv
with
TJJ
*/=cpl aoToo, 6 ^tatsowv stg zov f)tov e/et iw/]v alwvtov,
on
made flesh. The emphasis, then, is clearly upon
the celestial Father appearing in him, so that vs. 63
even in this case follows naturally: the spirit is the life-giving, the flesh avails
from heaven,
the
spiritual
lie
is
the 'Word'
revealed in
J,
hi dini e hai[a bisrd laip inahne k^lvvi).
observed that the construction TOV o is easily understood with
the background of an Aramaic kol a ', which latter stands equally for 'every one
who', 'all who' and 'all that', 'everything that'. It should not, however, be
treated as a mistranslation in the sense of a translation footed on a misunder-
nothing
1
It
(nisin
is
e
pa
to be
7
of the original, but instead as a more or less unsuccessful attempt at
rendering into Greek the Aramaic sense of 'the totality of. A writer, thinking
in Aramaic, would be inclined to feel the expression TL<XVCC/. 6'v or 7ravTc<; ouc to
be a less adequate rendering of ~i Sn than TMV fj. Notice the parallel, in vs. 39,
standing
with the supplementary
CCUTO.
Jn 6
1837 rcas
2
67i
r^g aXy]6eiac axoosi
6 (ov s%
263
[iou r/j? (pwvTjc,
3
21 6
TO ^wc 'iva tpavepooQ-fj a JTo5 TOC spya on
and with 644 and 10 2 9. To belong to those
?
Iv
spheral
aXijGsiav
TYJV
SOT'.V
6s(7>
elpyaajj.eva,
by. the
'given
rcpo?
Father'
is
= to
'be
of the truth'
= to
belong to
As
to the spiritual.
actual or potential sharers in the spiritual world they are given to
the Son. Since the Father is the source of the all-pervading Divine
who
those
to the
listen
Son,
who respond
of the spiritual world, it is certainly true to say that He is
ground for and source of the spiritual element in man.
Life
the
also
is true that
man can receive nothing, except it be given him
from heaven (3 2 7). But it is false to deduce from these statements an answer to the problem, whether the reason for man's acceptance of Jesus is to be sought in his own will or in God's will.
The Jn-ine system of thought implies on the contrary that this
very problem is to be rejected as wholly irrelevant: it is an external
It
problem. Strangely enough the correlating problem, whether the
unbelief should be deduced from man's own will or from a Divine
does not appear equally irrelevant. It is to be answered
the unbelief is founded upon a corruption of
man's own inclination, whereby he identifies himself with, merges
himself entirely into, the world of darkness, falsehood, externality.
This corruption of man's own inclination causes him to shut himdecree,
quite
positively:
self against the spiritual: GS^.
words of
ip^o^evov Trpoc |J,e oo [17] sy,[3aX(o
said to be a direct refutation of the notion that in-
In fact, the
may be
ea)
the
sensibility
to
He
does
not
His
work with regard
1
1
6 37 b TOV
spiritual
reject
depends upon the Son's arbitrament.
out anyone from the spiritual.
shut
or
to those
who
actuate the spiritual within
Mit 36 schweift der Evangelist
p. 93)
sich erst 41 zuruckzufinden und von 44
46 aufs neue
Bauer's statement (Joh. Ev.~,
Hauptthema ab, um
Faden zu verlieren.
spriinglichen
vom
den
Man kann
Bestand
des
Zweifel daran hegen, ob diese Teile zum urAbschnittes gehoren. Ihr Verfasser ringt mit dem
Problem des Unglaubens der Juden.
Dieser noch 5 40 auf ihrem bosen Willen
Grund zuruckgefuhrt: Gottes Wille (vgl.
unfounded. The Evangelist never looses his thread.
The doubt concerning the passage in question is only born of Bauer's prepossessed interpretation. The Evangelist (or the author of 36 40, 44 46) does not
beruhend, wird
Rm
9
11)
is
37
auf seinen
letzten
in every detail
wrestle with problems of thought.
He only
wrestles with the problem,
how
to
87
is not the explanation of
express in words what to him is absolute truth. 6
3B
as Bauer treats it, but contains the antithesis to the unbelief of the external,
6
,
minds, viz. the eo-ifiso belief of those who are open to the spiritual
and thereby already sharers in the Divine world, and hence belong to the
Father's world and by him are committed to the Son.
terrestrial
Jn 6
264
2671
themselves, and hence come to him, is devoted entirely to drawing
them ever upwards, filling them evermore with the Divine. In this
he acts
in
complete dependence upon the Divine
rou oupavou oir/
arco
7taTa{3s{3vjxa
tva TTOIW TO
will:
(63$)
6sXvj|xa to-ejxoy
gu
aXXa
The
Son's work consequent upon his
to
is
about
the
continuous
bring
avdpaacc, ascension, of
*/iara(3aaic,
the believers in the Divine-spiritual world, towards the final goal:
to 6sXvj{i.a too
TcsjJuJjavToc;
in the Father: (639) touto 5s iotiv to 6sXr/[ia tou
The jj/?|
autoo.
6. SsSw/tsv JI/H [r/j a/uoXsaw l
the complete
life
7ts[j/{javt6s [is
iva Tcav
aTcoXsaco
aotoo
i
[xs.
counterpart to oo JJ.YJ IxpdXco eoa, and
should not lose (cause to be lost,
the
is
might be translated:
'that ... I
perish, vanish) from Him' ; the believers, being in the Divine world,
1
are virtually in the Father as they are in the Son (cf. 17 2l 2 &)
~
;
aXXd avaanqaw aoto
the
ev
r^ ecr/drfl
these words, then, represent
with the believer's, viz., to repeat:
sjxspcf,;
goal of the Son's work
2
upon them of the complete life in the Father.
links up with 5 2 9 and is not additional (cf. also above
final
conferment
the
The
vs.
p. 100
11.
i
5).
54245-
th e believers' ascent, their
drawing into themselves the
(= the Celestial Bread), is correlative with the Father's
This is contained in the y.a.i<y.$<y.Gi<; of
them
to Himself.
drawing
the Son from His Father to those who believe in Him. But just
Celestial
life
Son
dependent upon His Father, so the
are dependent on the Father.
They live
The
antitJiesis
between
as the
in
and
Him.
Jesus
only
through
son of Josef (in the mouth of the Jews: 64 2 ) and the Son of the
as
the
believers,
is
as
completely
believers,
Father who sent mei> (644) is brought out clearly, and followed
up in vss. 46 and 51 ( >>ne who is from the Father). There should
be no doubt but that the "/.atdpaai? is a real 'descent', the descent
of a transcendent and preexistent being: the Son. It is this transcendent being zv/w /ias been sent*? 644 is a repeated expression
*
of course, a mere conjecture. One might
desale/ii d'Tcol dihcib It la 'ofad niinneh, of
which the Greek of vs. 39 would be a word for word reproduction, but which
carries the sense of the conjecture given above.
1
This
change of reading
construct in Aramaic:
"
Aramaic:
whether
otvaar/jato
the
day' the
'last
hMa
hi
se
is,
biifta
xnnx] nSlfQ ND112 riTEipN N/Nor to ^ 11 ^^s
to
C^pi^
[v
If
would correspond
mi ght be discussed
F r tne expression
Mandaaan expression 'ismii baprala (the 'last day') as the day
and judgement should be remembered (Ginza RigJit XI 253 23)
The Mandaean literature uses the verb 'qayyeiii for 'resurrect'.
of resurrection
s
(Pet 252 ).
3
the
1
The import of the presented difficulty of the Jews to understand how
son of Joseph, of parents known to them, could proclain himself as de-
Jn 626-71
265
communion between the Father and the Son, the
complete dependence of the Son upon the Father, and the complete
of the absolute
scended from heaven, is not easily grasped. Once it should be recalled that the
idea of a high celestial spirit (n esama) as descending into an earthly being was not
foreign to Jewish thought. Jewish mysticism of the early second century A.D.
held as a central tenet that the Divine n esania of the First
Adam
the First
(i.e.
descended from heaven into and joined itself with the spirit of
'prominently righteous men' of subsequent ages (the Watchers of the ages), such
Spirit-Man)
etc.
(Vide 3 En, Jntrod. pp. 122 f.) The
Elias, I am Enoch etc., and, vice versa
the earthly bearer could speak of himself in the name of the r^sdma: I am etc.
who descended from heaven (Pirge de R. Ismcfel, cf. also 3 En 4 !). This idea
was also known to Rabbinic Judaism of the late first and early second century,
as
Enoch, Abraham, Moses,
n esdtnu could speak of itself,
Elias,
I
am
is seen from a comparison between Philo's haggada on Genesis 1
3 and the
Clementine Horn 2 03 3 ao IT 4 18 s Recogn. i 52 ii 22 on one hand and the
on the other. What is specially
haggada of Genesis Rabba on Genesis
as
,
,
,
,
13
rejects the said idea without, howbeing able to suppress the conceptions allied with it, viz. (i) that of the
'Light taken from Adam when he sinned and preserved in heaven for the
which conception has no significance except as an
righteous' (GenR 11 2)
integral part of the idea of the Spirit of the First Adam as a Divine 'Essence'
significant,
however,
is
that Rabbinic
Judaism
ever,
brought down into terrestrial mankind.
(2) The conception of the &Ttina as
dwelling on Adam until he sinned but removed from him with his sin, yet
brought down again by (i.e. in) the righteous (cf. quotation from P estqpa, GenR
and CantR above p. 92) as the carriers of the age, the pillars of the world.
(3) The connection between Adam and Abraham (and other prominent saints).
Vide GenR 146 and the dictum: v-p
S/'UEJ-C DT12N' PN
nnnn
i
1
<l
Pl"11~n
""!nN ?t'
"PjE^tt'
The Holy One
PlITi b'CD'^'
created
n"2p<~UX"D
Abraham in
the midst of the generations, in order that he should carry the generations before
e
him and the generations after him.
(4) the 'glory' (ksboft, aram. i gara) a reflex
of the
12s).
Divine glory, possessed by Adam, taken away with his sin (GenR 11 2,
The conception of Messiah as 'the last Saviour' who will bring down
(s)
,
what was
lost
by
Adam (GenR
12s).
42 ~ 44
Further, it is to be noticed that the controversial point of 6
27 - 29
to that of 7
and that both passages quoted prefocus S C4 ~ 08
is
similar
.
between the earthly and celestial origin of Jesus
the light of the general Jn-ine doctrine of the antithesis
between terrestrial and celestial birth, and consequently, in relation to the conLastly,
should
be
troversial
the
antithesis
viewed
in
implications
of that doctrine
(cf.
above pp. 50 and note
i,
51
55,
63, 64).
On
these
might be argued that the controversial signi(i) the Jews do not reject the idea
that a man appearing on earth as an earthly being could be descended from
heaven; they maintained that Elijah and other celestial figures appeared on earth
and dwelt among men as earthly beings; (2) neither do they reject the idea, that
a man, born of known parents, of 'woman', of 'earthly semen', could receive a
Divine calling, be a messenger from God, obtain revelations from the Divine
world; (3) but they rejected the idea that a man born of earthly semen could
ficance
of
considerations
6"~ 44
is
somewhat
it
as follows:
2
Jn 6 &-7i
266
authority conferred
upon the Son by the Father.
'be connected with 5
ay
6
|J.v]
oloc;
of unity
and
to
9:
of the
all-inclusiveness
referred to above.
644
hence
It is
3
OD oovarai 6 uioc KOIBIV a<p iaoTOU oooev,
TJ.
TOV
pXsTTfl
Tuatepa rcoiouvta' a yap av i/sivos rcorfl Taura vtod
The relation of these utterances to the law
Tto'.ei.
6[j<o[)c;
J
spiritual
world has
been
With regard
to the experience of the believers
to be connected with 4 2 3: 'The Father seeks such (men) to
is
worship him' (vide above p. 173) i.e. as an expression of a %atdJ
(3aai
emanating from the Father, and also with 3 4f- (vide above
2
3
if
I
12
'And
be
lifted
with
I,
pp. 99 f.) together
up from the
will
men
me'.
The
draw
all
unto
earth,
avdfiaoig of the believer,
the vtywOfjvai of the Son in relation the believer, the xctTaSaoiQ of
the Son, the ehxvfiv of the Father and the Son in coimmmion in
:
respect of the believers, are merely different aspects of one continuous
of the experience of the Divine Life,
process of spiritual experience,
in
its
final
the avdaraaic; of the last day,
consummation:
emerging
i.e.
the definite and
entrance into the Divine existence.
final
1
548, 50 a, 51 a, c, 55, 58 might be passed shortly, since the significance of these passages from the aspect of %aTa|3aai<; is already
at the same time be a celestial being, of celestial origin, could have descended
from heaven. Clearly the idea of the appearance of celestial beings on earth
implied in no sense the descent of the Divine from heaven to earth in that being;
the only 'descent' in the mystical sense is, ace. to Rabbinic Judaism, the descent
of &Ta'na (cf. above p. 94 11. 3 8). (4) It is entirely false to say that J 'ignores
the controversial utterance of the Jews completely' (Bauer, J.
the contrary
vs.
Jews
his
puts
J
Ev?,
p.
93).
On
42 on every point. Against the opinion of the
of the absolute contrast between the earthly and
44 answers
doctrine
vs.
earthly birth, hence, has nothing to do with spiritual origin. As this
applies to men in general, so it applies also to Jesus. Ace. to his earthly birth he
is
truly the son of earthly parents, but to his spiritual origin he is the Son of
the 'Father
Further: of his spiritual origin only those who have entered the
spiritual;
'.
world can know, but even'one
knows J's spiritual origin and comes
spiritual
who
to
has entered that world of necessity
him.
The Jews know only of
his
earthly origin.
1
The
use of iXxusiv as the expression of a religious experience is idiomatic
Cf. e.g.Cant R 125:
\vith what does God draw Israel so
in Rabbinic literature.
that
it
'runs after
Him' (Cant.
pzni nsro "nnx unpo
1 4)?>
The
teachers said:
"h itpyi zprc.-o
nun: -pnx UDirc
urira -\w.w nnB'nB' HDD
i|
"jnj
Dt&'
ppte* by
mn
-pox
on earth God draws Israel, and with the ascension
an earth, God draws them (viz. in pursuance of the
S e ltina). Ib.: Just as a wife follows her husband wherever he 'draws' her (from
place to place) or as Israel followed Moses whitherever lie drew them, so they are
drawn by and follow the Holy One, for they are avid (c^tCinb) of
With
the presence of the
of the S e l?ina from
S e l?infi
.
26 -7i
Jn 6
in
implied
The
267
the corresponding" aspect of avdpaaig dealt with above.
identifications: syw
=6
ttarapaivtov
(J)
=
6
apTog vqq
=6
'C.ifi'fjc,
=6
aprog 6
TOD
"/
==
aprog 3v eyo) Scoao)
v)
aapi [ADD, are in perfect keeping with the doctrine of the Fourth
who gives Life
in giving
Gospel. The Son is the Living One
oupavoo
aprog 6
GJV
descending from heaven
Himself
from the Father to earthly
beings.
657.
This utterance is a strong point of support for the inter2
pretation here urged. Linking up with 5 5, speaking of the Son
and the Father as having Life in themselves, it may be said to
give an actual explanation of the choice of the strange expression
It is used
of Tpwysiv.
81 i(j,s.
The explanation is: Tpwysiv
CTJV
to point out that in the spiritual world, whose members have real
=
spiritual organisms, tJiere is no separateness of organisms, but tJic
Life consists in an assimilation ^vith the spiritual organism of the
Son, the spiritual life is not a life in oneself but a life in the Son,
who himself lives in the Father.
2
6^
which to a superficial reading seems quite unconnected
with 6^1 as well as with the preceding discourse, actually introduces
The interpretations of this
the natural sequel to that discourse.
,
vs.
To quote Bauer (who
are manifold.
follows O. and H. Holtz-
mann): in vs. 62 Jesus does not intend to increase the oy.dvoaXov
but instead to solve the riddle of his paradoxical speech. His
ascension
heaven
to
show
will
that he has not
meant
to enjoin
The vers is an aposiopesis and its latter part
how could you then (when the Son of Man shall
anthropophagy.
would be, e.g.:
have ascended) eat his flesh?
This might be correct to a certain
a
But
that
such
could have any force at all
statement
degree.
in the mouth of one, whose sole or main object is to teach the
necessity of the partaking of the Eucharistic eating and drinking
of the flesh and blood of Christ
is
as Bauer interprets it
in
the
mouth
of
It
be
might
incomprehensible.
comprehensible
scoffers who wanted to put ridicule upon the belief of the Christian
Church with regard to the nature of the elements of the Eucharist.
In fact, what Kreyenbiihl 2 says of this piece of exegesis is, from a
r
)
(
adequate. The interpretation in questreating the aposiopesis as a removal of
critical standpoint, singularly
tion, he says,
the o/avSaXov
in
is
right in
(offence).
But the oxavSaXov
itself
did not consist
the idea of anthropophagy, either with the Jews, or with Jesus
1
/.
2
Ev.\
p.
97-
Das Evangelhttn der Wahrheit,
vol.
ii,
p. 79.
26 -? 1
Jn G
268
or with the disciples. The 'offence' is on the contrary this: that J,
with regard to his 'sarcical' origin so well-known, declares himself to
be the celestial bread, a celestial gift. Hence, when he points to
'
his ascent, this does not imply a pointing out of the impossibility
of an anthropophagy in respect of the ascended Christ, but instead
a confirmation of his xaTapcdveiv "ex, TOO oopavoo: his avdpaaicj
show
that he
be followed. 1
will
may
The
to
the
(i)
The
6
full
is
So
really of celestial origin.
far
Kreyenbiihl
understanding of the passage will be attained by adding
by Kreyenbiihl the following considerations:
observations
Oscopy/ts TOV olov TOO av6pu>7roo retrospects 'on vs 40:
Ocwpc&v TOV olov %ai Tccatsoaw sec; atkov e%rj ^w?)v akoviov.
both
hence,
of which is
cases,
the
refers
6swpeiy
to a spiritual vision
2
,
Tuacj'
In
the
The mode
of expression 6^2
further clearly alludes to two passages in the preceding, viz. IS 1
o^saOs TOV oopavov avsyyoTa x.ai TOOC ayyeXooc; TOD 6500 avajBacvovta?
y.al 7,aTa[3atvovTa<; eTci TOV tnov too
avOp<6ftOO and 3'4, 5 ..
object
the
Son.
(2)
!
TOV otov TOO dvOptoxoo,
Set
tva
Ttac; 6 rccatsorov ev
auovtov, of which the former, as we have seen, refers to
the opening of the faculty of vision in the spiritual world, by which
the believers
will see the connexion being brought about between
the celestial
in the flesh
appearance,
(cf.
8oa
36,
with
to a spiritual
Man
the
above pp.
of Christ, and his appearance
40) and the
latter, to repeat,
the
refers
which the Son of
in
believer,
experience
with him and abiding in him, is elevated to the
spiritual gaze, so that the believer ascends in aspiring
united
as
believer's
ever upvyards towards the
8oa
of the Celestial
Son of Man
(cf.
The
above
significance of the aposiopesis, then, is quite
p. 99).
be
reduced to this statement: The offence which
It
might
simple.
now
in
take
you
my words will be removed, when once you will
have entered the
have been opened.
1
to
his
The
spiritual
world,
Then you
when your
will see
spiritual
me ascending
eyes shall
to the
abode
sequel to Kreyenbuhl's analysis is here as elsewhere its application
viz. that the speaker, the
is in reality, not J, but the
i-(''>
hypothesis,
The Jews are the members of the organized Church, the
the disciples of Menander, and the offence taken by them was that
he put 'the Eternal Life' in the place of the sacrament of the Church, although
he himself was a mere human being of earthly-sarcial origin and hence could
Gnostic Menander.
'disciples' are
have no authority
like that
of Jesus, of the Great Church, and of the Institution
of the Eucharist.
-
cf.
Abbot, Johannine Vocabulary,
p.
106 (1598).
26
Jn 6
whence
come, and where
I
understanding 6
the oap
6
63 a
269
From
this
the spirit that gives
life,
am, that of the Father.*
I
follows of
avails nothing*.
~ 7i
itself:
is
it
1
2
63 b
ta pTfjiiata- a eya> XsXaX'/jy.a ojuv 7CV0[j,d SGTIV %ai COOY]
This is not intended as a definition or qualification of
ecmv.
TuvsD^a
consist
and
urq,
as
if J
would say: the
Spirit
and the Life
really
a qualification of the words which
J (eyd)) speaks, in contrast to other words: his words are spiritual
and living. If a modern mind might be inclined to fasten upon
in
my
words, but
is
it
verse and to see there an evidence of what he would call a
this
conception of
'spiritualized
exactly
what
this
opposite, viz.
'flesh and blood'.
religion',
modern mind
very
quite
What
it
must be maintained that
calls 'spiritualized'
is
to Jn the
external and un-spiritual as earthly
a modern, or else philosophical, mind
as
would regard as the most immaterial of
all, e.g. speculations upon
'absolute truths', 'pure thought', e.a., to Jn belongs to the sphere
of reality described by the expression 'that which is born of
flesh
is
flesh'.
expressed
(cf.
ch. 4),
Just as J's teaching
is
or
as his
{jLocptopia
not a doctrine that can be
an intelligent earthly mind
not an external [Aaptopia, so his
the sense in which they are uttered
words comprehensible
in
to
is
mere words in
and accepted or rejected by terrestrial beings. His words are to
be understood as belonging to the spiritual world, and the words
of the spiritual world are spiritual realities, living entities, viz.
In His words He gives Himself, and therely
actually He himself.
'words' are no
the spiritual Life.
568,69 contains the typical
his
spiritual
eyes opened:
auovtoo eyet$'
otai
confession
who has had
of one
rcpoc tiva a7csXsood{xs6a,
p^|j.a~a
%st<; xsTcta-csoxajxsv %ai eyv<i)>ca|j(.V
The rcpos uva a7rsXsoad[j<s6a alludes
u
(oiy
a^
^
to the
ay&og "coS Oso5.
expression sp^eoGai 7tpo<; of the discourse; it is the confession in
the mouth of a believer of the experience of which J has spoken
6
thou art the sole possessor of the spiritual things,
(eg. 637.45):
the giver of the spiritual gifts.
have believed (taken the step
into the spiritual) and know (with spiritual knowledge, as members
We
of the spiritual world) that thou art God's Holy One.
This believer
has already 'seen the Son of Man ascending up where he was before'.
1
The
final
'glorification' is implied, but
does not constitute the primary
sense.
-
For the
avajfoa'.^-significance
of this
vs. cf.
above
p.
260.
Jn
270
1
"
738. The
J
main
adheres to
738
difficulty of the discourse part of the section
6: 6 "/caipoc 6 sixoc oo/rco Trdpsony, 6 8e y.aipo?
6 o|j.tspo<; TrdvtOTs souv iroi^og. The antithetical formulation points
!
and since the antito a deeper meaning than the obvious one
7
3
vs.
,
of Jn regularly subsume under the one, great, antithesis:
viz. that between the Divine-spiritual and the terrestrial, it is to
be expected that such is the case also here. Thus the xaipoc 6
theses
would connote some spiritual zaipo?, or a yaip6? connected
with the spiritual ouoia of J, whereas 6 6e y.aipoc; 6 6|XTspos would
refer to the terrestrial y.cupoe or to the terrestrial xcapd<;-conditions.
eij,o<;
But a comparison with other antitheses of this kind, e.g. between
and terrestrial birth, spiritual and terrestrial teaching and
knowledge, Divine and external [xapTOpta, at once makes it evident
that the present antithesis cannot without difficulty be put on a
line with the named contrasts. The difficulty is this: the spiritual
entities of the said antitheses always include the whole spiritual
world, they reveal the all-inclusiveness of the Divine world; the
so it seems
cannot be claimed to be identical
y.aipog, again
spiritual
with the spiritual reality itself. The spiritual otaipd? is 'not present',
is
spoken of not as a spiritual entity, but as a point of time.
it
One might even add
the following consideration: it would, theoretibeen quite possible and in keeping with the Jn-ine
system, to have spoken of a spiritual y.aipoc; that, in contrast to
the terrestrial, would be 'always ready or present'. Here on the
have
cally,
contrary, the spiritual zaipde is evidently
a specific event of some kind or other.
= the
appointed time for
These observations are
The obvious meaning is aptly described by Archbishop Bernard (ICC
a word which Jn uses only in this passage; it stands for the
is
'xaipo;
moment of opportunity, the fitting occasion, rather than for the predistined
hours (wpa), on which the Fourth Gospel dwells with such insistence. The fitting
1
i
269):
time had not yet come, Jesus says in reply to the suggestion, reveal thyself to
the world (v. 4); and by this is meant not the hour of His Passion, but rather
the
best
time
for
that
public manifestation of Himself as Messiah, which He
to the Feast of Tabernacles (v. 8). Such public
would make when He went up
declaration was made, when He
o 03
It
did
7.o/i.prj~
<J
not matter
b[i.i-erjr}~
when
did
go up:
cf.
T;C<V~OTE iaTiv jTO'.aoQ.
they went up to the
vv. 29, 33, 8
Their case
feast,
it
12 ' 28
is
etc.
different
was one of
from His.
strict obliga-
but the exact day on which they would present themselves in Jerusalem
was of no consequence, provided that they attended. Any day would be a
fitting day (xcapoc;) for them to arrive, for they would not be received with
tion,
hostility, but rather
with indifference.
Jn
73-8
271
absolutely necessary to an understanding of the Jn-ine conception
of xaipds (here) and wpa (in general).
As
typical for the Rabbinic conception of the 'appointed time'
be cited
may
TFO i-miD
GenR
.'jarrta
3s:
wi
siy
sbs ,a"38
my
i"a
1^0
irp
mini
fftl
Y huda
e
R.
said in the
name
of R. Simon:
it is
not written:
'let it
be
evening', but 'and it became evening'. Thence we know that the the
e
institution of appointed times (se$<zr z mannlm) existed before that.
The
sc'dcer
z'mannlm does not mean
sense
the
of the
term.
It
philosophical
the institution of seasons or measure of time.
times
of appointed
tion
invisible,
celestial
and
(z'mannlm)
terrestrial.
z'mannlm are of Divine,
the Divine will itself as
for
'time-order', in
'time',
does not mean merely
It
means the
institu-
thing, visible
every
The Rabbinic
idea
and
that the
is
pre-existent, eternal origin, are implied in
it
is
had no connection with the
of eternity. The tfmannwi, therefore,
origin of the world: this origin was
e
dependent upon its z man (vide below).
This conception is fundamental with Jewish Rabbinic thought.
The rationale for its formulation in the present and similar passages
on the other hand, should probably be sought in the confronta-
itself
tion with philosophical speculations concerning the origin of 'time'.
One might compare
Scripture
passage,
mean morning and
for
e.g. the Philonic
instance
evening,
in'
Opif.
comments on the same
mundi 9: And these, I
must be placed
in
the class of in-
corporeal things, perceptible only by the intellect; for there is
absolutely nothing in them which is perceptible by the external
senses, but they are entirely ideas, and measures, and forms, and
seals, incorporeal as far as
regards the generation of other bodies.
But when light came, and darkness retreated and yielded to it,
and boundaries were set in the space between the two, namely,
evening and morning, then of necessity the measure of time tuas
immediately perfected, which also the Creator called day, and He
called it not 'the first day' but 'one day' and it is spoken of
thus,
by
on account of the single nature of the world perceptible only
y.ara
intellect, which has a single nature.
(Yonge;
the
.
TOD
ixdXsasv,
TYjV
It
^pdvoo
x.od
[Aetpoy
arceTeXetTO
suQ6c,
aXXa
o
xai
.
.
vj[j.spay
XeXexiai
6
ia
[uav, T)
-fyxepay oo^i Tupwr/jv,
TOD VOVjTOD ^dc^OO {J.OVCOC51V {XOVar/.7]V Sy^OVTO? CJDGIV.) Cf. ib 1,
therefore follows also of necessity that time was created either
'.
'
Jn 73-8
272
the
at
same moment with
venture to assert that
with
consistent
the
creator
of
it
is
the world, or later than it
and to
older than the world is absolutely inalso
Cf.
philosophy.
time,
ib.
De Imm, Dei (God
4,
being the father of
father, xoqxoc;; the
its
grandson of God, cf. Corp. Herm. cited above p. 119).
Philo is clearly dependent on philosophic speculations, going back
to Plato's Timaios and Poseidonion's commentary on Timaios. His
time
the
mode
of reasoning, however, also betrays
Rabbinic Haggada.
It should be noted that, in spite of the
tion of the
with
familiarity
the
the concep-
fact that
sfmannim and the speculations on the origin of
'time'
were actually confronted with each other, they apparently belong
to entirely different spheres of thought.
There seems to be no
reason
conception of the s
the
why
e
mannlm should
clash with
speculations on the /povo? at all. The quest for a possible solution
of this problem would seem to point towards the complex of ideas,
might represented by the
that
1
Kpdvoc;
is
far
yvcapd?.
removed from
zurvan
series
The conception of
cduw
the sui'van
The
that of the tfmannlm.
XP
VO<=
evidently,
conception of the
itself,
survan, sooner, touches that of the ^pdvoc; of Philo. As a name
2
of the Deity it should, as Schseder very ingeniously has shown,
be compared with the Jewish maqom (via TOTTOS). Similarly, the
conceptions evolving out of astrological speculations are not
e
cient to explain the specific colour of the z Manntm-idea.
astrological
sometimes
conceptions
in
Although
actually
subsist
side
by
suffi-
The
side with, and
e
close conjunction with, the
maniftm-\fa&?
the zurvan %cupd<; complex and the astrological
e
conceptions do not suffice to explain the s mannwi-\dea, there are,
however, instances of a similar idea in Iranian religion, which idea,
again, as it happens, is frequently combined with the conception
of zurvan and with astrological notions. That is the idea, evolved
from the speculations on the world-ages, of appointed times for
the
appearance of certain
1
5
events,
and, especially, as
Vide Reitzenstein, Iran. Erlos. Myst., pp. 177
Iranische Lehren pp. 320
f.
is
natural,
ff.
Cf. also Reitzenstein,
ofi. cit, p.
181
on
Philo's
polemics against the identification of niiT with the Syro-Phoenician Time-God.
3
It
might be assumed, for instance, that the s etftafnftit/t-idea would have
to be explained as the result of the subsumption of the astrological conceptions
under the central Jewish notion of the absolute omnipotence and authority of
God. But whereas such a subsumption is actually to be observed in the Jewish
astrological
speculations, the z^mannir/i-'iden
independent of the astrological ideas.
is
clearly to
its
origin
and setting
73-8
Jn
273
the revelation and activity of the Messenger or Saviour.
To
follow this idea in its details would fall outside our present scope,
for
but
might not be inopportune to quote some relevant pehlevi
it
passages.
W. West) And he (stil. Aharman) sends
Zad-sparam 44
(]?.
the thousand decrepitudes (auzvarano)
with
Asto-vldad upon him
his
and diseases which are
own, sicknesses of various kinds, so
ill
and
cause death. Gayomard was not
that they may make him
reason
was because it was a decree of
and
the
secured by them,
in
the
Time
(zorvano)
beginning of the coming in of
appointing
10
Aharman,
that:
'Up
to
thirty
and preservation of
brilliance
winters I appoint Gayomard unto
And his manifestation in the
life'
.
sphere was through the forgiveness of criminals and instigators of confusion by his good works, and for that reason no
opportunity ^vas obtained by them during the extent of thirty years.
For in the beginning it was so appointed that the star Auharand Kevan was death
mazd was life towards the creatures,
celestial
.
.
.
.
.
.
The astrological speculations are in
towards the creatures etc.
this passage obvious accretions; they are foisted upon an original
conception of a plan of zurvan implying the existence of an appointed time for the appearance, the works, and the death, of the
Saviour (Gayomard).
Similarly the following passage might be adduced:
Dlnal Malnogl-Khlrad 27
I0
>
u
Because the
affairs
of the world
of every kind proceed through destiny and time and the supreme
decree of the self-existent eternity (zorvan), the king and longSince, at various periods, it happens unto every
is allotted, just as that which is
necessary to
continuing lord.
whom
for
one,
it
1
happen.*
To
e
elucidate the Rabbinic use of the idea of z mannim
some
further quotations are needed. It should be observed that synonymously with z* an also sad and 'ona are used for 'appointed time'.
m
GenR
9
SIM
2
inatCQ awa-iron ^"tf iwsa n&^ rrow bsn
n
nn&
pb
Opening with the Scripture passage
every thing
1
On
Dadistani
Dunk
cf.
37
further
10
(the
(speculative in character).
18
27451.
H.
Odcbcrg.
Zad-sparam
unlimited
1
24 ~ 27
time),
U
Tanhuma
beautiful in his time', R.
si/rvan
(Eccl. 3
)
'He hath made
said:
'
T/ie ^vorld
(time as a creation of Auharmaxd).
Ginnamk Vigar 16 31 7I" RU
S'ikand
'
274
Jn
73-3
ivas created in its appointed time ('ona). The ^vorld ivas not
(or rather 'appropriate') to be created before that.'*
M. Baba M'sia
3
worthy
7
ban ni^an ^sb bnn
TY
according to measure and everything
is
everything
is
according
time.
to (appointed)
Ta a M$
li:
i&b
bsn sniwan ^sb ban
everything according to the occasion, everything according to the
(appointed) time.
Cf.
TB Ta a Mj>
14 b
^b
tarn
4
bsn
^sb
bsn
3
yb&n ^nn bi
bob
nifcipan
ib
c'l^ b^b tn
^nn
bi?
^stt) is^i ib
iw
nyta ib
^rais
n^n
He (scil. Ben 'Azzai) said: despise no man and carp not at any
thing; for there is not a man that has not his hour, and there is
The idea here is that every
not a thing that has not its place.
being and every thing has
its appointed time and place of activity
so it
and existence within which it preserves its full worth and
.cannot be surpassed by any other being
may be concluded
or thing.
TB
Sab 10
a
prrofc
*fox
mm
DS
rpnibsn "Hswa sp"i ssisttn nib
nbsn
jwi
^ib^b riM snwaiaa ^oy urn
rrnn
nun
yiiaTa
Rabba saw
R.
n^m
iinb
IIT
-
n
rr^a
s^h^
mn
wa TWO
Hamnuna
prolonging his prayer.
He
said: they
and occupy themselves with the life of the
hour. For he was of the opinion: 'tJie time of prayer apart and
e
R. Irm ya was sitting before R. Zera
the time of Torn apart
and they occupied themselves with (the study of) the traditions.
leave
the eternal
life
.
73-8
Jn
275
grew dark (and the time) for prayer (approached). Then R.
Irm eya hurried (with his reading of the h a laka); then R. Zera recited
(the following Scripture passage, applying it) on him: 'He that
turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall
be abomination' (Prov. 28 9).
It
TB
Sank. 101 a
rnita
iso laws pins snipn bD
every one who reads (each) Scripture-passage
time brings blessing on the world (Prov. 15 2 3).
Deut. R. 2
in its
appointed
7
r\yio
wi
bbsn^i Trim bbsrna
^n
.
.
.
ran
R. Hiyya Rabba said: '.
pray and pray again, and there is
a tzme'that they shall give thee', i.e. continue praying, and know
that at the appointed time God will give thee that for which you
.
.
have been praying.
Qoh. R. 3
mn
ib
,
.
.
"pan
n^b
.
,
,
ib
,
1
,.j>"ab
n^n
pn
OWE ^"rmb
,
,
,
nn^nb
s-pn
bTanb i^nb n^n i^n
nb^an
"
b^iu^b niinn ^nsnia n^n
.
mm
1^D5>1 d^tiion
Valqut Simunl 968
pb
ini^ttj
(to
^T ,psn
DDD^IU rob ib
,
,
^
nby)ab
Eccl. 3
bsb nan par
n^n
]ni^ Dn^n^b n^'n par
pr o^ian nnn f&n bsb
-pro n^nio in inib n^n
n IT
ib
1
)
d^ias rmrc y sn ini^b n^n
.
jttt
fan
bob
n^n
nr
): 'To every thing there is a season, and a time to every
under the heaven.' There was a time (z e man) for tJie
first man, that he should enter the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2 5) and
there was a time for him that he should go out from it (Gen. 3 2 4)
there was a time for NoaJi that he should enter the ark (Gen. 7 )
and there was a time for him to go out (Gen. 8 l6 ). There was
a time for Abraham, that he should be given the circumcision
(Gen. 179) and there was a time for his children to be circumcized
'and a time for every thing (so the midras) under heaven':
there was a .time that the Tora should be given to Israel. R. Bebai
(Eccl. 3
1
purpose
!
1
.
.
.
Jn 7 3-8
276
said: there was a time (appointed) for that thing which had been
given above the heavens (scil. to the celestial worlds, the angels)
and now should be given below the heavens. And what was that?
v
It was the Tora.
(Yalqut Simoni preserves the reading:) 'And a
time for every thing*. A time was for .that thing zvhich was in
heaven that it should be given to the earth. And what was that?
It
(answer:)
was the Tora.
M'Wta
3c
v,
nsni itnsi -pb^ IIMNI TOIS unn
p
n"nn
Mapya ben Hcferses (about 130 A. D.) said: (it is written, Ezek.
'When I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy
^:)
R.
16
time was the time of love'.
One swore
to
Abraham,
(The time of) the oath that the Holy
He would save his children, had
that
arrived.
TB
Ta'
a
mp
IMT 3Wtt)
19 b
'p'O
:
as soon as his (appointed)
time arrived*.
TB
HttlliH 92 a
btu
n3)ar
yan
laiaT
jw
,
.
.
,
,
.
'nbsas
b^w
^a by
niaibi
niisb
^iab
bDi
pr
bi
(sfman) to be fruitful and multiply, with
Arrived Israel's time to be saved (the
Israel's salvation arrived), with reference to
Arrived Israel's time
reference to Exod.
appointed
time
1 7
for
...
(where V-bxjN is taken to allude to bvX.'i, 'save')
the time of Egypt to drink the 'cup of trembling'.
Isa 63
3
TB Td a ml)
.
.
.
Arrived
14 a
bw
in
the
predetermined hour of man's death.
TV
K'frubbdl)
sim Dbwn
ii
(cf.
Cant. R. 8)
IH ipbob
D^^SS
bue
^naiy
^^ ^^
n"npn
The Holy One knows when the appointed time fond) of the
eous to take them up from the world has arrived, and then he
them
up.
,
,
.
right-
takes
Jn
TY
Yoma 42
c:
TB Yoma
(cf.
ns
barrttn
nns
WDi
ifcy
277
39 b)
puffin
TWOM
ra^ia
nnx n^a ^s nsrn nswa
dwpn OTp tfsb OSM writ?
p^sra
mn
ipr
fc6i
73-8
nsia
ib
nimi *w sewi ^y
irn
nsioi nsis bD
]nb
D^DS
ni inns
/h
niwi
V
Forty years long did Sim'on the Righteous (about
[A Baraifta]
B.
serve
Israel in the office of High Priest. The last year
300
C.)
said to them: 'In this year I shall die'.
his
he
They
service]
[of
said to him: 'Whence do you know?' He answered: 'Every year, at
the time when I entered the Holy of Holies (i.e. on the day of
atonement) an aged one clad in white garment and cloak entered
with me and went out with me. This year he entered with me
but did not go out with me'. [Here the Baraiba ends.] They asked
R.
Abbahu
[to
!
explain this]: "lo, it is written (Lev. 16 7) 'There
in the tabernacle of the congregation', not even
10
it is written
(Ezek. I ): 'the likeness of their face
be no man
shall
those of
whom
the face of a man"; he said to them: 'if someone says that it was
(the son of) a man, I on the contrary maintain that it was the
is
Holy One'.
From
the passages thus quoted the following expressions
be collected,
(T)
z'uianno: his
'oncifio,
e
(2)
yes
Sail l
(3)
ye&
sci
(4)
Jdggi
(5)
higgi* zemanni:
a
a'
e
(6)
(7)
(8)
It
(its)
has
etc.
time.
its
(or: a) time.
have
my (appointed) time.
e
z Dian: the appointed time (has) arrived.
It,
lo,
etc.:
I,
time has come.
my
e
:
there was a time
and such that he should.
higgi* tfman see- + imp erf.: the time had arrived
li/ lonl
.
Jiiggi* &
The
.
e
for
see- -r iinpcrf.
.
exact
wpa
:
nian Jidya
should
may
viz.
.
.
such
that
.
.
.
.
Mdn
e
(z //iauno etc.) l
constructions
equivalents
to
(7)
the
and
e
+inf.: the time had arrived to
(8)
are
important as forming the
woe-construction of Jn 12
Tva So^ao8^ 6 olo? TOD avOpwrcoo.
...
The
2
3:
see- -\-iinperf.
iX^XoOsv
't\
(Aramaic:
2;8
Jn
73-8
d e + imperf.}
is very naturally, almost
necessarily, reproduced by
a iVa-construction. 1
In
preceding only such dicta have been cited that have
the
adduced by Billerbeck
not been
Jn 24 and 12
2
Among
7).
to the relevant passages (viz.
those quoted by Billerbeck special atten-
might be called to the following:
Deut.R. 2 2, with the repeated Aramaic formulas tViny
appointed time has passed'. Further the expressions 'his',
tion
WW,
'the
or
'time':
'its',
(7F
Ber. 8
Sab. 55
r
d,
TB
b,
5V.
H g.
a
Of Mand&an
GR Hi
nttWJ,
ItiSTB,
4
tob
61
c,
'your time'
TP
H g.
a
78
'her'
DD5W
TB
a,
b).
48 '5-2o {pet 5317-21)
wi^r
swawabsran
the
TP Yom
9 b,
JlSttT,
instances only the following deserves notice:
ibsran
(In
mMJT,
13ttT,
^tjsm
answaia^
sttbx tfttbsa
by
p^na
^b^nta
iOttbs
swi
sb
by
.
.
,
din
well-known context speaking of the appearance of the
in the different world-ages.}
After that (soil.
messenger, Enos,
Enos's revelation
in
the time of Pilate)
we do not
reveal ourselves
to the world, until the time (ztbna) arrives and (until) the measure
of the world is complete.
Then, at the ends of the worlds (= the
world-ages: Lidzbarski) we come to the spirits of the perfect ones
and to the spirits of the sinners that have sinned and erred in the
world and therefore dwell in the Darkness.
From
Pistis
Sophia,
the
following
might be cited (Horner's
English translation, pp. 83, 84):
speaks to the Pistis Sophia:) 'Not yet did my Father comme, he who emanated me out, for to take away their
But I shall seal up
light from them (sell, the inimical Rulers).
(a'^paylCecv) their Places (TOTCOI) of the Selfwilled (aoGaSyj?) with all
(J
mand
to
his Rulers, these
And
also
I
which hate
shall seal
thee, because tJiou believedst the Light.
up the Places of the Adamas with
his Rulers,
Supposing a writer, used to thinking in Aramaic (or in the Jewish-Aramaic
Hebraic formulas), were to attempt to render into Greek a construction of
1
or
kind present in his mind at the time of writing; then his resort to a 'ivaconstruction would not be merely a sign of deficient mastership of the Greek
language; the '[v<x-constructidn would present itself as the only construction
this
preserving the specific nuance of the Aramaic construction. The present writer
finds an analogy to this in his own English rendering of the construction above,
pp. 275 f. The English is certainly clumsy, but the construction with 'that
.
should'
was
felt to
preserve the specific colour of the original.
.
.
.
Jn
73-8
279
that they should not be able to war with thee, until their time is
and
fulfilled,
me my
cometh the season
until
Father,
that
(xatpd?)
and commanded!
to
should take away their light from them'.
said to her 'Hear and I (will) speak with thee
I
But afterwards also I
of their time in which these (things) will happen, namely, these
which I said to thee, they are about to happen whenever the three
times should be fulfilled.' Answered the Pistis Sophia, said she to
me, 'O Light, whereby shall I know when (will) happen the three
times, that I might be glad and rejoice because approached the
time for thee to lead me unto my Plaee, and also I shall rejoice
because came the time (when) thou wilt take away the powers of
light from all, those zv/to hate me, because I believed thy light?'
'behold, I appointed that they should not dare (to do) unto thee
Now
anything of evil, until were fulfilled the three times'
therefore whenever they should oppress thee at that time, hymn
up unto the Light, and I, I shall not fail thee for to help thee
I am coming unto this Place in which I put thee,
until I lead
thee unto thy Place, this out of which thou earnest.
The three
times are evidently the three aeons, sometimes spoken of as the
three days, of the world-drama with reference to the salvation of
the spiritual from its incarceration in the non-spiritual. (Cf. the
Manichsean Book of the three times.)
This specific nuance, viz. the Saviour-Messengers appointed
.
.
time,
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
evidently that which forms the nearest approach to the
is
At least, one might reproduce that conception
Jn-ine conception.
somewhat as follows: J has a specific time of his own, and this
'time' is not on a par with appointed times extant for 'every man and
1
every thing
but
,
is
an essential attribute of his function as Saviour,
Messenger and Son.
On
the other hand, the linguistic formulations and the terminThe antithesis of vs. 6
are those of the Jewish traditions.
ology
particular point only from an understanding of this fact.
seen that the real force of the dictum is contained in
gains
its
It
then
is
the second part of that vs.: ?>your 'time* is always at hand. To
it was a self-evident truth that every man had his time;
they would easily acquiesce in a statement by J like that of Jn 24
the Jews
or of 7^
Ids
a
.
hearers
'Your time
1
tiiULir.il
was
is
his
of an
'
appointed time'' for
claim brought out.
Ids
of
startling novelty
1
at
would
in
hand'
its
always
deeper implication to
Only
zevY/^
abnegation
the
should be remembered that this 'deeper implication' would be the
one, at once understood by a contemporary hearer.
It
280
Jn
73-8
as an utter absurdity, and as an
intended,
absurdity
evidently
although to a modern ear the
sense of absurdity is lost. The significance of this statement is to be
hearer sound
a contemporary
is
it
xdajAoc
relation
in
apprehended
ojia?,
[-uaeiv
EJJIE
aoTOo rcovvjpa ecmy.
s'p'fa
of the
oo Sovatat 6
7:
cm eya> [laptop a> rcepi aotoo, ore ta
what capacity do the hearers lack an
In
The answer
'appointed time?'
are
the antithesis of vs.
to
8s |.uaei,
'
qua belonging to the world' they
is:
\
'world', for such is the implication of the expression:
'the world cannot hate you' (cf. above p. 225). The contrast would
be simply: me the world hates because I do not belong to the
world.
This is also a common idea of the Saviour-mysticism. 1
But the antithesis is supplemented in Jn by the addition: 'because
I
testify of
it,
that the
works thereof are
evil'.
J as the
possessor
of the Divine jxaptDpta, testimony, is a testifyer to the evilness of
the world, that is, the Divine-Spiritual in J, when clashing with
the 'cosmical', reveals the 'world' as
sion of the
same
spiritual
phenomenon
One might have expected
defined
the
time
evil.
that J's
The dictum
an expresof
S ^
9.
spoken
appointed time would be
is
as that
1
]
appearance in the world. Speaking
simply from the premises of the Saviour-mysticism this would have
been quite natural: the descent of the Saviour to the world belongs
to his 'time' as much as his ascent.
But the Jn-ine terminology
goes a step farther. J's time is not to be defined only as the time
appointed for his activity as Saviour, but as the time for the
as
consummation
of
(TusjuX'/jpootai
his
7 8 ) of that activity, viz. his final ascent,
his return to his Father.
i.e.
The
result
is:
there exists an internal connexion between 7 6
The antithesis contains on one side: the appointed time
which is a spiritual time, viz. the consummation in the realm
of the Father of the work of salvation performed on earth in relation to the world, on the other side: the timeless-ness of the
and
of
77.
J,
hatred against the spiritual. The
time-order instituted by the
terrestrial world, centering in its
^uorld has
severed
itself
the
from
will, and now it has its own time, which is always at hand.
In spite of this severance, however, the time of J has also its effects
Divine
~
21
upon the world, vide on 3 l6
The question remains: does not the inclusiveness of the Son
.
of
Man apply
the
as
just
1
pp. 123
Cf.
The answer is easily
who have opened themselves
to the present idea?
found:
those
to the
believers,
Bultmann, Die Bcdeutung der neuerschl. niand.
126.
und manicJt
.
Oitellen,
73-8 714
Jn
281
39
spiritual reality, are included with J in the antithesis to the xoa|ioc
Jn 15
^
:
Not
so also they are included in his 'time'.
9!
that
the time of J's glorification, as an 'external' point of time, meant
the simultaneous consummation for the believers, but their entrance
the spiritual realm implies that they, through J, partake of
the Divine time-order: there is also for them a 'final ascent', con-
into
nected with the experience of the aydpaacc; of J. This is confirmed
by a comparison of 3 : 4f-, 644 and 12 3 2 (Vide above p. 99
1.
32
p. 100 1. 7.)
.
78
D[Aic;
avdpTjTs el?
Djxeic;
TOCDTYJV, cm. 6
s[i,6
avd(3Y)T
do not make
occasion.
7
I
-fi
TIC
TO
6eXi(]
my
This
The
s|i7]
'final,
7)
TTJV sopr/jv
between
allusion to a
spiritual ascent', at this festival
loc.)
8ia)(Y] ODX e'auv i^Yj
6sXv][xa aurou
ex TOD 6eo5 IOTIV
elc;
antithesis
evidently contained in the latter part:
is
dvd(3aaic;,
ad
(Bauer,
5'-
ODX avapaivw
and IYW ODX ayajSaivw postulates the
spiritual antithesis.
I
TYJV eopTTJv. eya)
xatpoi; OUTTW TrsTcX'/jpwcai.
270)
Troietv,
aic'
aXXa TOD
yvwaeToa
IjiaoToD XaXw.
Trepi
Trejj^avTog
T^? StSayjjC
[is.
eav
Tuo-cspov
This forms the natural
counterpart to the statements concerning the 'self-testimony'. J
gives a doctrine, a teaching, but this is not his own; it is not a
teaching proceeding from his earthly, external study of the scriptures, reached
by deduction and
exegesis.
For so the hearers are
represented as taking it. They acknowledge that he is a 'teacher',
but in contrast to the teachers in general, he does not present
himself as the
disciple of a teacher: [j//] [xe^aGvpuoc, T^abfi "pi*.
allusion when speaking of the StSa^Y], is to the Scriptures,
a doctrine in general in the philosophical, or Hellenistic
That the
not to
evidenced by the immediate reference to the Tord: 1 9.
The general nexus of ideas, hence, is even in this respect the
same as in 5 3 47. J opposes the hearers' study of and teaching
on the basis of the Tora. While they profess to teach only what
has been handed over from Moses pSD'E fllD'a flllfl Sank, pb etc.)
}
is
sense,
be the disciples of Moses (cf. Jn 9 2 ^), they do not observe
the Tora, since their attitude towards it is an external one. J again,
and
to
seemingly independent, speaks only out of his unity with the
real
He is not a TaSiya ^TP 1 in
originator of the Tora, the Father.
the Rabbinic sense of the words, but a StSavao? GSOD (645) in the
prophetic sense. Similarly, the real discipleship of J is not the
external one, but that which proceeds from a will to do the will
M.
TB
K
e
Half. 2 1,
pubb. lit a (Joseph
of
capacity
perfect righteous).
1
was
a yu(fa a
*
ui^asmo
in his
Jn 7 '4-39
282
of the Father. And this has to be explained from the conception
of the performance of the Divine works of ch. 6.
The contrast between J and the hearers is concentrated in the
know me, and ye know whence I am:
come of myself but he that sent me is true whom
followed by 733.34: 'Yet a little while am I with
statement of 7 28,29 'Ye both
and
ye
am
I
know
not
not'
I go unto him that sent me.
Ye shall seek me and
me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come'. The
hearers falsely maintain that they know J; their knowledge of him
is of the same kind as their knowledge of the Scriptures
it is
merely external. His spiritual ooata they do not know, nor do they
you and then
shall not find
=
know
the Scriptures, or
God
of
whom
The
these speak.
spiritual
them: they cannot enter that world where J is
at home and where he will be exclusively abiding when his external
appearance has passed from their vision. To the same fact refers
vs. 24: [rj] xpivsTe xat' O<JHV, aXXa TYJV Sixaiav xpiaiv xpivare.
The
hearers' judgement is based upon an external vision, they judge
reality is closed tp
J1
according to the flesh, wca TYJV aapxa (8 >). They are, however,
here admonished to 'judge righteous judgement'. This presupposes,
the
that
evidently,
hearers'
destination
true
is
know
to
the
and do the Divine works. It is, also, significant
that the hearers addressed are in vs. 24 evidently the oy^Xog, the
mass, not the Pharisees. In the case of the o^Xo? there was a
world
spiritual
possibility
of an attainment to the spiritual light.
the Pharisees, as in 8*5, the externality of judgement
simply as an unalterable fact.
The
contrast
between
external
and
spiritual
In the case of
is
pronounced
knowledge
is
further brought out in a manner that would be especially striking
to a Rabbinic hearer, viz. through the reference in vss. 26 b, 27
Messiah would be unknown before his appearThe Rabbinic and pre-Rabbinic speculations on
to the idea that the
ance as Messiah.
this point are
1
admirably resumed by Billerbeck
Notice esp.
ib.\
Die Worte (Jn
7
37
)
(vpl.
ii,
p.
488
1
f.).
sind niclit so zu verstehen, als ob
wisse, von wem er abstammen, oder wo er werde geboren werden; denn daran, dass der inessianische Konig ein Davidide sein werde,
bestand seit Ps Sal 11, 21, also etwa seit der Mitte des letzten vorchristl. Jahrh.s
vom
Messias niemand
kein Zweifel mehr; u. ebensowenig war unbekannt, dass Bethlehem als sein mutrnasslicher Geburtsort anzusehen sei
Vielmehr liegt den Worten Job 7,27 die
.
.
.
Vorstellung zugrunde, dass der Messias vor seinem offentlichen Hervortreten
unerkannt irgendwo in der Verborgenheit weilen werde, so dass vorher niemand
wisscn konne, wer fiir das messianische Amt berufen sei,' u. woher der Betreffende
plotzlich
komnien werde.
Von
Jesus
aber wisse man, dass er aus
7H-39
Jn
283
These speculations, says
J, are merely external, and, by the hearers,
externally applied. From the external point of view, it is true,
J is not unknown nor, after being unknown, suddenly revealed, and,
externally, proclaimed as Messiah. But the Rabbinic dictum might
yet be said to contain a truth,
were spiritually interpreted: for
he comes from one
whom they do not know. But this one is not an external, terrestrial being; on the contrary he is a 'truthful one , one of the
world of truth, i.e. of the spiritual world. 1 aXujGsia and Sir//] are
spiritually J really
if it
unknown
is
to the hearers,
the characteristic terms of the spiritual world
the present sec-
in
tion: vs. 18.
To
734 one might compare the Mandsean passages
J and 268 4.
GR
259,
260, also 256
sss ins biDsn
(The Messenger confirms
^y
fir-prows fins S5s=i
ins
to his hearers, the believers, that they
This
is really in accordance with the Jn-ine
always
idea: the believers are included, or destined to be included in the
return of J to his spiritual abode.
This is affirmed Jn, 144,5.
will
find him.)
3
737:
Ev
s
t-fl
sa^drfl "^spcf.
[xeydX'fl
rjj
r/Js
sopr/js eiar/jxei 6
ixpaev Xeycov idv TCC 8ifydf ep^eaGw Tcpog (is y.al TTIVSTO).
The expression s%pasv has probably a deeper meaning: it refers
to the Voice of Son of Man, spoken of above on 5 9~ 2 9. He
voices a call 2 to the world, inviting men to come to him and
obtain the water of life, referred to in ch. 4.
xat,
'Ivjaou?
X
darnm konne
Nazareth
sei,
haben.
Billerbeck refers to Justin, Dial.
sein Auftreten mit
c.
dem
des Messias nichts zu schaflfen
Tryph
8, 110,
4 Ezra 13" and the
frequent Rabbinic expressions Messiah will be revealed*, Messiah appears* n^jJ
Res.R 36, 37, Pe >iq 149 a, cf. TB Derail 5 a, Midr Rup la, Messiah is hidden*
etc.
xim
DDi?n: (M:PS. 21,. psig. R.
difficult to follow Wetter
34).
when he maintains (Sohn Gottcs, p. 97)
answer the objection concerning J's known
The fact is on the contrary, that such an objection forms an excellent
origin.
illustration for the 'Evangelist's' aim of showing the otherness of the spiritual
world and J's adherence to that world.
For the expression sbr^xet
xcd sx.pc^ev one might point to Rabbinic,
Manda2an and Samaritan parallels:
1
It
is
that the Evangelist
is
at a loss
how
to
"*
.
.
.
(1)
Rabbinic; M'Ti (14 22 ) 31 a (Mispatim par.
(2)
Mandaan: GR.
(3)
Samaritan:
97, 117, 125, 189, 208,
nn
Cl/'p
>C~)
bp2
1~12
8)
GL.
-ExodR. 297
(Schlatter).
65, 107.
Asfar
I'eliata
ISb, 19
a,
35
b.
Jn 7
284
Billerbeck
1
r
4-39
and Vacher Burch 2
somewhat disregarded of
late,
to
reaffirm the allusion in
the libation
of water
Sukkob-festival and to the ideas connected therewith.
737,
at the
If J, as is
probable, here refers to the libation of water, he means to says
to his hearers: 'you consider that you have in the libation of water
a symbol of the drawing of the water of salvation of which the
(Isa 123)
prophets
is fulfilled
promise
prophesied;
now and
know
here, in
sion to this Jewish custom
ideas of the living water,
then,
than
the prophetic
me
The
(thus Billerbeck)'.
parallel to the allusion to
allu-
Samaritan
and like the latter (ch. 4) it aims at
the usual transference of the attention from the external to the
This is also the object of the startling sequel:
Divine-spiritual.
is
Tuareocoy st? sjxs xa6w? eiTrev v) fpa^, no-capol sv. rqq xoiXia?
auToo peoaooaiv oSato? WVTO<;. It seems unnecessary to assume a
mistranslation here, as Burney does. 3 The utterance fits in perfectly with the Jn-ine doctrine of the Spiritual Water as the
6
Son becomes the
in
The Water
given from above through the
possession; he partakes of the 'life
one self characteristic of the spiritual world (4M); of this the
efflux.
generating
receiver's
the necessary and naturally sequence: he partakes also
generation of Life in the spiritual world, ex TTJC
present
is
of the
Divine
aotoo naturally refers to the spiritual organism of the
spiritually born. Out of the spiritually born the spiritual generating
efflux will proceed as it does from the Father and from the Son:
xcnXiag
4
the spiritually born will generate in the spiritual world.
The reference to the 'Scripture' (%a6o>? ewuev (\ ypacpv])
markable.
is
re-
The attempts made at finding the passage quoted, in the
known to us must be said to have been unsuccessful.
Scriptures
Of the two remaining possibilities (a) that J quotes 'freely mixing
together several passages', and (b) that the quotation is from a lost
writing, hence apocryphal, the latter is that which, further demonstration lacking, appears as less forced. Bauer's construction, referring
aoiou to the Saviour, supposed subject of the quotation, is allow-
able only
also on Bauer's
(
that the present wording
pretation
1
vol.
2
Fourth Gospel, pp. 80 ff.
Ar. Or. 4 Gosp., p. no.
Cf. GenR. 4.
3
own premises
unintelligible.
on the assumption
Hence, with the inter)
or reconstruction
here afforded, this construction
His observation that xoiXta connotes the
need not be considered.
4
is
ii,
pp.
490492.
Jn 7*4-39
285
organism mainly with respect to its functions of generation and
1
This applies also or even more to
is
to be noted.
nutrition
assumption
Hence Billerbeck's
equivalent,- d^tt, Aramaic "p^O.
that Kotkla is to be interpreted in analogy with the
Hebrew
(originally
the
Hebrew
2
|15
'cavity')
.
as
'person',
or as substitute for
3
the personal pronoun, is perhaps to be rejected.
The very idea of the believer's generative function
in the spiri-
counterpart the Rabbinic conception of the
disciple as himself by possessing the water (=the teaching) be4
coming a teacher who in his turn calls forth disciples-teachers. Just
world has as
tual
its
as J against the Jewish conception of the water as doctrine, teaching,
Tora, puts the spiritual, realistic, idea of the water as life itself
so he puts against the said Jewish conception of the overflowing
of the water as the continuous tradition from teacher to teacher,
the spiritual, realistic, idea of the generation of spiritual
life
from
the side of spiritual beings.
1
2
J. Ev?- p.
vol.
ii,
p.
1
10.
492.
8
Cf. V. Burch,
4
22
Si/re Deut II
Fourth Gospel,
When
pp. 83 ff.
the disciple is like the well, then just as the well
sides so from that disciple there will come forth
flows out living water on all
disciples and their disciples
(quoted
in Philonic writings
cf.
Grill,
by Billerbeck,
Unters., pp. 16, 127.
vol.
ii,
p. 493).
For
parallels
286
Jn S
8 12 syw
ev
el[u
T^
TO
OXOTIC;.,
12
29
tpwg TOU x,da[j.otr 6
aXX' iet TO <pa><;
axoXooGwv ^ot oo
[JLYJ
The
Spiritual
does not need to walk in the
TYJ?
/]<;.
is Light.
He who follows J,
of darkness, but enters the spiritual world, receives the
spiritual reality, the life.
J's self-identification with the Light is
parallel with his self-identification with the Celestial Bread. He is
the Spiritual World come down to the world of Darkness, illuminat-
World
world
ing
The
it.
taken
in its spiritual
bread of
the
lifted-up
on 3'9 2I
6 axoXoo6wv [xoi must be
sense, i.e. as an expression parallel with 'eating
'drinking the water of Life', 'believing in the
vs. retrospects
Life',
Son of Man'.
spiritual world.
Cf. 12 26
It
.
implies
following J into
the Divine-
.
I am the Light of the World
could,
^^"-predication
Rabbinic standpoint, be uttered only by the Holy One
Himself or possibly by the Tora. The epithet 'the Light of the
World' or 'the Lamp (Xo/vo?) of the World' might, however, other-
The
from
a
wise be
Tank
ii
applied besides (i) to God, NumR 15 4 (pbl? bp TYW),
Sab. 5 b,
61 b (dbV bttf 113), (2) to the first man, Adam,
TY
a
prominent saints or teachers, as R. Yoh nan ben Zakkai
'JB. R. Nafian 25, (4) to the Tora, TB Bab. Ba$. 4 a, (5) to Israel
CantR '1 21 (DbVb W18 bsniDi), CantR 1 65 (Qbl2>b mi
of Israel), (6) to Jerusalem GenR 59s (^1 ... Dbiy bffi
x
n"npn dbffilT bUJ Mils Kin). F^<? Billerbeck 237 Particularly
(3)
to
i
mystical significance adheres to (2), Adam as the light of the world.
In him the Divine-spiritual was brought down into the world (cf.
further below).
For the terminology
of 8 12 one might further compare TB
nTin
118 min IISO 1B)anii5^n he who makes
K'lmbb. Ilia
of
the
of
the
use
Tora, him the light of the Tora will make
light
e
living*, and the conception of the n sama (spirit), being of Divine
origin, as the light in man: P'siq 145 a, TB Sal) 80 ab (cf. Jn
Wma
1235,36).
In Jewish
Mystical literature it is quite natural that the little
Yhuh, Metatron, should be able to utter the self-predicative: 'I am
the Light of the World', for by this. he merely states that he has
1
To
the quotations given by Billerbeck he.
NumR
cit.
one might add also
14
-pux rrn mivxm cbiy bv n\x
Thou (God)
art the
wn nnx
Light of the World and the Light dwells with thee.
Jn 8
I2
- 29
287
received authority from the Holy One, and fulfills his functions
with regard to the world. He carries the light of the Holy One,
which light pervades the whole world. (Cf.j En 10 l 12 J 3.) The
,
self-predication in general
(I am ...)
is
also characteristic of the
Jewishmystical presentations of Metatron in j En 3 15.
Bultmann (in Die Bed. d. neuerschl. mand. u. manich. Quellen
etc., pp. iiof.) has collected a number of Mandaean passages
under the caption
the Messenger leads from the darkness into
the Light. It might, indeed, be considered unnecessary to give
special references in this respect, since the whole Mand. lit. teems
with such general passages referring to the 'Light' of the spiritual
The particular expression relevant here, viz. / am the
world.
Light of the
the
since
World,
idea
in
is,
This is strange,
extant.
The
certainly
Messenger
a Son of the Light, he speaks of
however, not to be found.
question
is
comes from the Light, he
is
himself (frequently) as a bringer of Light to the world of Darkness;
the (faithful) spirits themselves are of the Light, love the Light
when
through
to them, clothe themselves in Light, and ascend
Messenger to the House of Light etc. etc. To the
comes
it
the
passages quoted by Bultmann (and secondarily by Bauer, ad.
may be added:
loc.}
the following
GR Vs
179
22
This (one)
(Pet 1757-12)
swra
pT
snirw
~ 27
^is&wn iob^nyi
'p^snaib
jiD^'ap^i
rrnansna
osifc&wi
faith praised
it.
in
pran
n^ny
w
the Light of the Life,
is
men of proved
'I am
come in
$o^rn" snina
^su^b
am^n
a
which was revealed, and the
said to them:
And Manda dHayye
order to dwell with you and
I
shall establish
you
the Light of the Life (cf. TO <pd><; rJJc; CO&TJS). I have separated
you from the nations and the generations, I will establish you in
in
the Love of the Truth (Knsta) and
you
shall
be truthful ones
(i.e.
28 before me in
)
aXyjOiyd^ of Jn 7
the Light of the Life.* Cf. the quotations given below on Jn 1235 *
For the general conceptions of the Deity and the Saviour-
citizens of the world of Truth,
Messenger as Light
Bauer.
it
may
cf.
suffice to refer to G. P.
Wetter 1 and
2
i2i!
ivisscnscJiaft
-
J.
1915 and
I 2,
Ev-,
i>Ich bin
pp. 166
pp.
das Licht dcr Welt*
201, 191/1.
115117.
in Bcitriigc
zur
Religions-
Jn 8
288
It
I2
~ 29
then specially to be noted that both Wetter and Bauer
is
expressly recognize the Oriental, non-Hellenic, provenance of the
Ace. to Wetter they go back
ideas and formulas in question.
to
ultimately
Babylonian
(astrological
religion
the
conceptions,
12
heavenly Lights, the Fire of heaven etc.). Bauer again, forjn 8
connects the ideas principally with the Gnosis in its widest sense.
,
\
I
Typical, however, for Bauer's exegesis is, that he, founding merely
on two passages, viz. Corp. Herm. I 6 and a dictum by Alexandras
from Abonuteichos laid in the mouth of his God FXoxtov finds
reason to maintain: there seems to have been a fixed fonmda^}
1
The
by which the Deity introduced itself: I am the light)).
superficiality of this statement is even more apparent, when one
compares it with Bauer's total omission of mentioning the numerous Jewish references to the Deity as Light. Bauer might as
well to his scanty references have added the following passage
from the Baskalamantropanisad 23, where Indra, the God our
Father* speaks of himself: / am light and immortality, I am the
bond [of the ivorld], ivhat has been, is being, and ivill be born*.
Quite inadmissible, however, is Bauer's careless identification of
the Jn-ine cpcoc; TOO 7*00^00 with the cpwg r?jc; '(vcbaecoc;. No attempt
is made to analyse the specific bearing of the Jn-ine dictum of 8 12
.
With a much more
scholarly grasp
upon the problem
treats of the Jn-ine conception of the Light
3
,
Biichsel
hence also of Jn 8
12
.
He analyses the Jn-ine conception and then puts it in relation on
one hand to Jewish on the other to supposed Hellenistic parallels.
The Light
'spiritual
ODOLCC
is
metaphysical Reality* (what we have here termed
It is the
Good as contained in the Divine
reality').
revealed
to the world.
World corresponds
the
Light of the World.
1
op.
used such
cit.,
p.
116.
a formula.
J's self-
predication as the Light of
God as the
to the Jewish designation of
The T-formula
is
already to be found
in
the
The object is to convey that Jn belongs to circles that
Bauer's real interest with this statement is to demonstrate
He
Jn is un-Jewish, and belongs in a West- Hellenistic environment.
forgets that he has just declared that the ideas are un-Hellenic and specifically
Oriental. That he has previously quoted Mandcean (by Hellenistic thought and
religious ideas quite uninfluenced) passages need not cause astonishment, since the
that
Mandaian quotations have been inserted
rest of the
-
random after the completion of the
at
work.
Four Unpublished Upanisadic Texts etc., Madras 1925.
contains several passages that might be quoted as parallels to the
S. K. Belvalkar,
The Upanisad
Jn-ine expressions.
3
Joh.
und
d. Jiell.
Synkret., pp. 66
68.
Jn 8
There
O.T.
the
other
is
no ground
I2
~2 9
289
for the derivation either of the
one or
The
parallels in Philos
writings correspond exactly with the Jewish traditions whereas the
related conceptions in Philo founding upon Greek thought are
from
in Jn.
missing
the
Gnosis.
Hellenistic
1
In general Biichsel's observations hold true. There is, however,
It is certainly correct to say that
distinction to be made.
there is nowhere so close a parallel to Jn 8 12 in linguistic expres-
one
sion as in Jewish (Rabbinic) sources. But it should also be noted
that the expression 'the Light of the world' carries another signi-
The difference
it, usually, does in Rabbinic contexts.
might perhaps but be characterized thus: the Rabbinic use is
merely symbolical corresponding fairly with the idea evolved by
ficance than
the phrase in question in the mind of a present-day reader: God
is the Light of the World because He enlightens men's minds and
hearts concerning Goodness and Truth, and so on. The same
might be said
The
aspect.
him what
of the
Tora.
In
particular,
it
'Light of the World' illumines man's
comes an
ethical
way by showing
and good. It might, however, be presumed that
symbolical sense is not the original or only sense
Rabbinism is concerned. Just as the word 'Light'
is
right
this exclusively
so
as
far
(especially in the form rhIiS, as distinguished from ^Itf) in certain
clearly conveys the conception of a Celestial radiance,
contexts
be
to
perceived
as
an
actual
light
by
celestial
beings, or
by
beings possessing the Celestial within themselves (the
Great or Divine N'saina), so the phrase 'the Light of the World'
might be expected to have been used in a similar 'literal' sense.
terrestrial
be maintained that at least a trace of such a 'literal' sense
found in the passage TY Sab. 5 b speaking of Adam as
the Light or Lamp of the World.
will
It
</
may be
\Venn man philonische Worte iiber das
Buchsel, op. cit., p. 68, not 9:
zum Vergleich heranxieht, spurt man, dass dieselbe Grundlage auf beiden
Seiten vorliegt. Auch fur Philon ist das Licht das Gute, das sich dem Menschen
1
Licln
offenbuvt.
Aber bei Philon ist dieser Grundgedanke mh den
Denkens vorgetragen. Diese (elilen bei Job.
griechischen
von Gott
als Licht redet,
nennt er ihn die
begriffl'ichen Mitteln
Z.
B.
\venn Philon
Sonne, vor der das Dunkel
dass die reinste und liebcns-
intelligible
Leidenschaften und Schlechtigkeiten zerstiebt,
werteste Erscheinung der strahlenden Tugend erscheint (Jniinanit.
Oder
164).
des Seienden, das fremden Lichtes nicht bedarf, selbst aber
er redet vom
der
Aue
Glanz strahlen aussendet, die nicht sinnlich, sondern intelligibel
Den Gegensat/c von VOYJTC!; und
97, ahnlich sown. I
75).
Tugenden, die Leidenschaften, das Seiende findet man bei Joh. nicht.
urbildlicher
als
sind
(cherubim
<x'*aOr ':o;,
die
j
19
27451.
H. Odcbcrg.
Jn S'2-29
290
nin
12111
praam dis
112
bra
i^ nbyi TI' niroi dbiy bu> im
airon ,rpn dbiyb mint) nbn -jira&nn
psn
rranw
ib
ns dinbs
.
,
nnifc nin ib statn
.
,
.
.
n^issn
r\wn dinbs
The
First
Man was
Blood of the World,
the
is
as
praam
"pa
n^n
'ara
it
is
written
'and there went up a mist from the earth etc.' and Eve
Death
The First Man was a pure dough
upon him
brought
for the world, as it is written (Gen. 29) 'and the Lord God formed
(Gen. 2
6)
.
man
.
.
of the dust of the ground'
and Eve brought death upon
the First Man was the Light of the World, as it is written
.
.
him
.
2
(Prov. 20
7)
'Adam's
spirit
(n'sama) was a lamp of God'.
The
Eve brought death upon him.
whole of
this
passage
Man, to
First
.
.
.
of the
cerning
his
(as
And
original significance of the
here reproduced)
is
clearly mystical.
The
N'sama, was an essence of the Deity, a spark
Divine Light, shining in the world'. The statement conEve's function in bringing death upon the First Man is
The implication is: through the sin of the
suggestive.
pair the Celestial Reality thithertofore dwelling in man, was
removed from him. The connexion with the conception of the Light
specially
first
of the
First
the
for
Man, removed with
righteous,
is
but preserved in heaven
Light was clearly no mere
but a substantial reality. The Splendour
obvious.
his sin,
This
symbolical expression,
1
of the S'Ttinu, has the same character of substantiality.
It would now seem to be a highly important fact that the
conception of the 'Light' and
World" has the following two aspects,
Jn-ine
(1)
to
it
of J as the 'Light of the
viz.
relates to the ethical side of the spiritual Life as revealed
21
p. 146 (9)); this is the particul(cf. above on 3'6~
mankind
,
arly Rabbinic use of the term 'Light',
J is the Light
(2) it refers to a spiritual, substantial reality.
of the World in the same way as he is the Bread from Heaven,
1
Cf. Odeberg, j> Enoch, Transl., p.
j En. the presence of the &fihia with
15,
note
(4).
In the preserved setting
splendour (siu) is connected with
The removal
the. presence of Enoch Metatron, the little Yhnh, on earth.
the light of the S e luna from earth to heaven is
('lifting up') of this carrier of
identified with the removal of the light of the S e luna itself. (j> En 6 compared
of
its
'
with 5
the
1
" 14
.)
ivhole
Adam
as
The background
is:
world (j> En 5' / is
Adam Qjidmon the
1
the Light (or Splendour), which 'shines llnough
the little Yhiih, who has descended in
really
=
Protanthropos,
in
Enoch, and subsequently
in
The Light
Isaac, Jacob, Elijah (the lists of incarnations vary).
is a spiritual substance, also a sustaining substance, a spiritual food, n.b. for the
members of the celestial world, the shorers in celestial existence.
Noah, Abraham,
Jn 8
namely as comprising
of Life,
<pwc
r/jc;
291
is
the Spiritual Life itself in
The Light
its
Divine,
1
should be maintained, that Biichsel's
thesis that the Light was conceived in a
Wetter's
of
29
Himself the Spiritual Reality.
in
CCOYJC;,
substantial Reality.
In this latter respect
rejection
12
it
material sense, might be misleading. The best expression, it may
be urged, of the actual import of the conception of the Divine
will be found
Lindblom's characterization of the Jn-ine conception of the Eternal Life as comprising on one hand the religious
and ethical character and on the other hand the metaphysical2
That the characterizaphysical Divine substance of immortality.
Light and of J as identical with that Divine Light,
by applying
it
to
of the Light apply to that of the Life is evident already
from the general rule of the all-inclusiveness of the spiritual world.
Of this significantly Bernard: The phrase TO cpcoc; TYJS Cayrjc; may
tions
mean
mean
the Light which imparts life or illuminates life; or it may
the Light which issues from Life ... When we apply such
concepts as Car/]. <p&q, to God or to Christ, we cannot treat them
we knew them
to be fundamentally distinct.
They are quaor aspects of Absolute Being, and it is beyond our powers
to define them adequately or explain their mutual relation. In the
Fourth Gospel, Christ is the Light: He is also the Life (11 2 5, 14 1 ).
as
if
lities
1
tit.
op.
ist
ware,
2
66:
p.
Dass
es als
metaphysische Wirklichkeit
stofflich
gedacht
aber nicht gesagt.
Das ewige
Lindblom,
here Lindblom's
summary
Leben, pp. 236
ff.
Jt
might be allowed
to
quote
in full:
Die Hauptziige des religiosen Lebensideals johanneischen Typus sind also:
Das ideale Leben ist gottliches Leben, das in erster Linie von den gottlichen Personen, Gott und dem Sohn Gottes als Logos und Chrisms, besessen
wird, und das vor seiner Offenbarung in der Menschenwelt eine Existenz hat,
die von aller menschlichen Geschichte unabhiingig ist.
1)
2)
lichen
Das letzte Ziel des Liebeswillens Gottes ist, die Menschen dieses gottLebens teilliaftig zu machen. Die Hindernisse dalur werden durch das
objektive Erlosungswerk Christi ans dem Wege geraumt.
3) Der Mensch
erlangt das gottliche Leben dadurch, dass er durch Ver-
tiefung
erlebt,
in
die
wodurch
Glaubensgnosis
er gottliches
und den Vollzug der Taufe die Wiedergeburt
anzieht, ein Kind Gottes in supranaturalem
Wesen
Sinne wird.
4) Das durch die Wiedergeburt gewonnene gottliche Wesen umfasst einerden religiosen und sittlichen Charakter des 'Christen in alien seinen Auswirkungen, andrerseits aber auch die mctaphysisch-fihysische gottliche Unstcrblichkeitssubstans.
Diese gottliche Unsterblichkeitssubstanz als reale, konkrete
seits
Kraft
ist
der speziiische Inhalt des Begriffs des idealen
neischen Schriften
Lebens
in
den johan-
Jn 8
292
Perhaps Light is
1
stood, is Lights
Life,
in
its
I2
~29
essence; perhaps Life, truly under-
31419
the self-testimony. The thoughts of 53
47 recur here.
formal contradiction (Bernard) between 8 '4 and 53 1 is probably
It is another instance of the method of impressing
intentional.
The
the other-ness of the spiritual world by startling utterances.
With
the interpretation given above it is evident that, spiritually seen,
there is no contradiction.
self-testimony is false, taken in the
A
sense
testimony of oneself as a separate entity; in
the spiritual world the self-testimony is the testimony of the Father
in the Son.
For the expression 8 7 in your Law (DDJflini) cf.
2
The expression is an allusion to the frequent Rabbinic
Lagrange.
terrestrial
of
J
^"TnifQ (our Tora, in our Tora). It is strange
no modern commentator has hitherto suggested an explanawhich to the present writer seems to be very near at hand.
indefensible to take into account only one the following facts,
Pharisaic) iS^FHIh
(i.e.
that
tion,
It is
vis. (i) that J doubtlessly speaks of the Tora as containing spiritual
words, as belonging to the Spiritual World, hence cannot possibly
reject it, (2) that he never says 'our Tora', but several times 'your
Tora'.
The explanation seems
both contexts
in
47
and
to be: J declares himself expressly,
here, in both passages referring to
be a Celestial Being, the Son of his Father.
Law' but either 'my Law' or 'your Law'.
says
stands in the same relation to the Tora as his Father. The Tora
the
Holy Writ)
God never
J
(5
3
to
'our
secondary to J, and, this was especially the case with the Tora
as manifested, in zvriting and tradition, to the Jeivs? J's position
in regard to the Tora is similar to his position in regard to Abraham,
is
He certainly does not reject Abraham or Moses
they
the
to
before Abraham I am!
If
but:
belong
spiritual world
this interpretation be true, the phrase
Tora
the
carries
your
or Moses.
supplementary significance: The Tora such as it presents itself to
you in your external study of and speculation upon it. With this
coincides that the 'quotation' of Dent 19*5 supposed to be intended
by 8 '7 is only 'a vague reference'. It does not reproduce either the
1
ICC, Gospel ace. to St. John, p. 293.
ILvangilc scion Saint Jean, p. 234: L'argument etant ad hominem Jesus
votre
mais puisqu'il se preoccupe de lui donner satisfaction, il n'en
loi,
Bernard,
2
dit
done pas 1'autorite. Cependant si desormais il dit votre loi (x, 34) ce n'est
pas sans ironic, parce que les Pharisiens aflectent d'en fa ire leur chose.
3
It is well-known that even the Pharisees-Rabbins had the
concept of an
rejette
eternal, pre-existent
Tora and
a
manifested Tora,
cf.
GcnR.
Jn 8
LXX
or the
Hebrew
I2
1
original.
-29
It is
293
rather a free formulation of
a legalistic rule, such as the Pharisees
would
establish, a rule that
would, however, rightly be maintained to be 'written
The expression
intt^
"pi.
nexion
=
l6
xpiot? ... aXvjGivv]
in
the Tora'.
is
specifically Jewish:
)
(7
impossible to refute Schlatter's comment: the conbetween the concepts of Truth and Judgement "p^J and
It
is
was stable with the Palestinians*. 2 For J 'not judging
and yet judging' and the different shades of meaning attaching to
The theme of the
p^T (x-piois) z'zVfe above pp. 145 and 196 if.
section revolves on the conception of the utter contrast between
J's world and the world of his hearers 8*4, 9.
The same contrast is repeatedly brought to the fore in the
FTJOK
l3Ttt)p,
1
2 9.
2I
The hearers cannot enter his world, they
from below (Ix TWV xdTo>\ But this fact, that they are from
below, is the result of an act of their will: it is a sin. Because
they have so identified themselves with the world below 'this world'
following section 8
are
that they are unable to enter the
Divine world, they
will
'die in
their sins'.
The synonymical expressions here used for the contrast between the spiritual and the terrestrial are all specifically Jewish.
'EX twv xdro)
Ix TWV avco correspond to the Hebrew ("I'LJ'ab'lD'sa and
fibatobttJtt
(Aramaic: snbltt and [s]b'tf6 Ttt). Related are the expressions: DWblPi-l, 'the upper ones' = 'the celestial', and D^inninfi,
fc
below'
=
'the terrestrials', "jb^bli) Ffi^li, the Beings above,
nti"Q
the
Beings below, etc.
ptt
That 6 xda|io<; ootog corresponds both in expression and meanSttby (Aramaic) needs
ing to the Jewish inTin dbtPii (Hebrew),
no special demonstration. It can no longer be maintained that the
'those
bin
f^M
1
2
Burney, The
S. u.
Aramaic Origin of
H. 4 Ev.,
p. 94.
Cf.
MK
the
22 c
rpn ibxD 3in2n i^y nbyo iP^xb
Fourth Gospel, p.
in a fuller form
118.
:
PCN
%
1
i
*;
N^ncu'
^
n^K'vNiD nt^i/'CD
The
n"Dpn-Dy
teaches that every one who brings out a true
truth the scripture reckons it to him as if had been
Scripture-passage (".r. 18
13
)
judgement according to its
a sharer in God's work at the Creation.*
Cf. with this the quotation from TB Sank
Cf. further
ExR.
6
7 a given
by Billerbeck,
ii
522.
i
cnsi n"2n n"co bw vnn^m VPHD inx -imnb \sifi n^n ^ xin ID
1211 ^21 br^' VJD^ D^isn en iuw
n2 "i2in cn^) yniDi nte bit' N ?DD2
1
<|J
'?2iU''n2
r~llJ"i
21
PDN rnnTil (^^
h'ls
judgement
is
a true
judgement)
Jn 8
294
i
2
~29
Jewish expressions referred exclusively to the conception of the
present age, the present world in contradistinction to the coming
All depends in this respect upon the contexts. It is only
that the vertical and horizontal conceptions intermingle.
world.
natural
They do
so also in Jn.
the phrase
in
ically
above on 5
(Cf.
p^M
J
fcttab^Q,
2
9
Suggestive linguist-
9.)
with a locative
this world',
'in
1 (uncally) instead of the temporal b. Still more remarkable is
that the expression ^fc^ tiftby, the world to come, is actually
found to be used where the context necessitates
and frequently
the sense: 'the Celestial world'
(in
the present 1 )
= 81tt!l
tfaby (that
Pea 4x8, GenR 82 9 [1r6
world), the 'World of the Spirits'.
e
Dbl3> bffi],
k 19 c. and 22 b, where the spiritual world, called
(M
M
2
expressly distinguished from the 'new world', lO^fi dbl3>
TB Tcfan 11 a etc. etc.) For the expression sv rfl djiapucj. o|icov
owuo8avela6e (8 21 cf. 8 2 4) the Rabbinic conception of this world as
dbtP,
is
,
the world of the
'evil
and of death' should be
inclination of sins
3
as a background.
For Mandsean parallels
to
cited
the
above pp. 132 134.
point
passages
seen
between the Messenger and
2458-12)
'this
world',
nw
by
s^imsto
din
cf.
GR
awn
it
will suffice to
For the contrast
X 245 3236
(pet
yin
din
tsn
pTn
Lo, zw
head
stand
///^
to the
beginning^
men
I
of proved
wispering against
did come,
faith.
me and
And
and then I did come as the
the Seven Ones (the Planets)
then they
against the Son of Splendours who has
dom is not from here and ivhose Light
GR XI
8
258
2 4.
J
make
a secret plot
come
is
hither, whose Splennot of this ivorld.* (Cf.
2
The
f.).
death
in
self-identification with
the sins of this world, caused
and self-merging
by the
into this world
is
hearers'
connected
On the mystical meaning
ore iycb el|ii.
of the expression eyw e!|.u (5S1M ^3^) cf. below on 8 5^. TTJV apx'^v
o TI xal XaXw D|XIV 8 2 5, since obviously connected with the preceding
8
5
ort,
sya> et[j/. and prefocussing 8
Trplv 'A(3paa|A ysvsa6at eyto sl\u,
with the failure to believe
1
On
this use at
2
8
'
this
vide
Billerbeck, iv 819, 820.
about A. D.
The
Billerbeck dates the beginning of
50.
passage is very old: witness the use of the Divine name C^pExhaustive collection of references by Billerbeck, iv pp. 847, 848, 852.
Cf.
25)f 8
Jn 8
'
.
Jn 8
must
what
to J's
refer
pre-existent
I2
~ 29
being:
295
from the beginning
8 28
.
as
If,
to J's
arily
I
am
1
speak to you:*.
One might essay an Aramaic: (min) serufya via de a,marna,
I
is
usual, orav u^warj-cs,
elevation
that the dictum
is
on the Cross, per
e
l fcon.
2
taken as referring primit must be admitted,
se,
incomprehensible, especially if, as also is usual,
maintained to proceed from the Evangelist, not
from the historical J. To be sure some exegetes have seen here
utterance
the
is
is
an expression of the experience of the Church; only with J's death
and resurrection His power became visible. But then it must be
remarked that the words in question are addressed to the Jews,
i.e.
to
according
these
exegetes,
of vs. 30).
to
And
the
representatives of the
was certainly not the
experience of the Church, that the Synagogue recognized J after
3
his elevation on the Cross.
The solution, it might be urged, is
Synagogue
to
be
J's
elevation
(in
spite
it
a line with the interpretation of 3 J 4f- put forth
above: otav u^wcr/jTS does not refer merely to the external fact of
sought
in
on the Cross but instead primarily
to the believer's
4
When you shall have lifted up the
experience of J's elevation.
son of man in your spiritual vision, then you will know, that 710
and that I do nothing of myself but as my Father hath taught
e![u,
me,
speak these things
I
...
Naturally the believer
will
know
this,
The
since he will then have himself entered the spiritual world.
utterance is a parallel to 7 '7.
Secondarily, of course, the passage
refers to the elevation on the Cross (J's 'hour', 'appointed time')
as the fulfilment of his work, but this also only in relation to the
believer's experience. 6
For Manda^an parallels to 8 2 9, cf. above
pp. 41
f.
Bernard (ICC, 502): Primarily, I am what I am
selon St. Jean, p. 257 ff.): Fautil nieme seulement que je vous parle?
Similarly Tillman: Was rede ich uberhaupt noch zu
euch?
je suis d'abord ce que je
Delafosse, Le qnatrieme- evangile, p. 170:
vous dis.
1
Bauer, J. Ev.-,
z
3
p.
119.
you, Lagarde (Evangile
telling
Cf.
e.g.
Scott,
The Fourth Gospel",
Lightfoot (Hot: Hebr.,
p.
1043),
who
Bauer, /. Ev", pp. 119 f.
84.
maintains that the best interpreta-
p.
quod a principio dico vobis* calls attention to the Rabbinic terms
ND'C. by which are expressed the primary and secondary objects of
consideration, e.g. in dicta of h a lalca. This terminology, however, does not lend
tion
-nilhid
is:
N^'il
itself to
4
5
application here.
Cf. above pp. 99 f., in
113.
It follows that the passage has
gogue or the Church's experience
(viz.
no bearing on the attitude of the Synaof certain external facts of history).
Jn 830-59
2Q6
83059.
and knowledge are here combined with
83'f- Truth
another concept met with in this section only: freedom. 'If you
abide in my word, you are in truth my disciples', i.e. not connected
with me in the Jewish, external, manner of connexion between
and
teacher
as
will
in
life'
J's
equivalent to 'in
know the truth
reality
but in the internal manner,
disciple
beings sharing
and very existence.
as spiritual
i.e.
might be treated
the spiritual world', 'spiritually'.
'And you
i.e. the spiritual reality
and the spiritual
aXv}6ft><;
make you free'. The mode of allegiance is different
members of the spiritual world from them who
will
the case of the
have identified themselves
The
with the world of Darkness and Sin.
spite of its complete dependence and strict allunity of obedience to the One, Divine, Will, is one of
former,
in
pervading
freedom. Every
the other hand,
man who
is
has not entered the Divine world, in
may imagine himself
a slave, however free he
to be.
833.
It
is
indeed missing the whole point of the controversy
when one takes the Jews to misunderstand the freedom spoken of
by J in a political or else literal sense. Here, as elsewhere, the
Jews are only too ready to understand J's words symbolically. The
'freedom' of which the Jews were so sensitively proud (this pride
is
qua God's
happily pictured by Jn) was primarily
from
and
sin.
Their
idolatry
people and possessors of the Tora,
freedom was guaranteed through the covenant with Yhuh, and
their freedom,
Abraham,
their
'father',
was the 'covenanter'
xat'
the
i^o^vjv,
representative of Israel as alleged to God. Since the allegiance
to God centered, further, in the acceptance of the Tora, the 'gift
of the Tora' was the token of freedom. The reference to the
promise of a future world-dominion for Israel (Gen 17
l6
,
22
1
?. 18
)
not present here.
For the early Rabbinic conception of the religious freedom of
Israel (i.e. of the Pharisees, the true observers of the Tora) one
is
might point to
M'Tc 3 c
rrana
bs
isftaiB
sbi
marc 12^1 naita
p
os
ntttt)
f'yn u>i^sb
bx
13^1
niTnb
Dn^ys map
sin "^n
'tti
mim
nmroa
iKisitt
rprnu
inn
sbs
'ttis
sirraj
mvQ p
dis ib
inn^^ m^y
nffitt
bs
umc
rrtim
w
^DI
IST
p
sbi
'1*1
^
mi
Jn 830-59
Y e huda
R.
ben Bapira
hearkened
not
bondage)'.
And
and does not
said: Lo, the Scripture says: (Ex 69) 'they
for anguish of spirit (and for cruel
Moses
unto
there, then, a
is
It
rejoice?
who brought
297
to
tidings
man who
receives a
written (Jer. 20
is
my
J
5)
A
father, saying,
good
tiding
'Cursed be the
man
child
is
man
born
unto thee, making him very glad. (Or is there a slave) whom his
master brings out into freedom and he does not rejoice'. If that
why
is
so,
it
was hard
is
it
in
written 'they hearkened not unto Moses'? Answer:
eyes to sever themselves from idolatry, as it
their
written (Ez. 207) 'then I said unto them, Cast ye away every
the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with
is
man
an O.T. context, plainly treating
'political' liberation, the Rabbinic midras reinterprets
into a symbolical sense: 'liberation from the bondage of idolatry'.
Similarly Pdrceq R. Mtflr (AbdJ) 62), quoted by. Billerbeck,
the
idols
of.
Thus,
Egypt'.
primarily of a
522
ii
by
nnn
pew
gin t^nbs srott arottw
IE
tfbtf
p
-pin
ib
'psiD
n^n dinbK twyn nnbni wisi
win
win
sbtf
b
nnbn
nun
iTabnn
snpn
And
(the Scripture) says: 'And the tables were the work of God,
and the writing was the writing of God, graven (lidrujj) upon the
tables (Exod. 32^); read not liaru]j (graven), but
no freeman but him who
x
of
the
Tora
learning
for
thou
wilt
find
.
TB
M
Bab.
.
is
lierujj
(freedom),
in the
occupied
.
e
s 85. b
Everyone who makes himself a slave
of the words of the Tora, he will be
in this
made
world for the sake
a freeman in the world
Cf. further DcntR. cited below p. 300, note 4.
Behind this utterance lies the commonly accepted truth
of the relation between man's sin and the domination of 5>in IS'
to come.
8
34.
1
yescsr ha-ra\
the evil inclinations of the sinner
it
is
said that the
over him'. 2 The speculations on this subject
vogue at the time of the Book of Sirach? The
'evil inclination rules
are already in
1
full
Sayings of the Jewish leathers, p. 114.
For the Rabbinic (and general Jewish) conceptions of the IlL^i 1 the
'good impulse' and y-\n "iy ^ ie ev il impulse' vide the excellent monograph by
F. Cli. Porter, The Yeqer Hara A Study in the Jewish Doctrine of Sin (Biblical
C. Taylor,
-
,
'
and
Semitic Studies) and Billerbeck, iv pp.
8
Vide F. Ch. Porter, op. cit. p. 137.
466483.
Jn 830-59
298
fundamental passage there is ch. IS
the references are very frequent.
11
"
1
1
In Rabbinical literature
?.
But
to observed that, as
is
it
in later discussions of the yescer the question at
puts it,
issue is not the speculative question of the relation of body and
soul to the fact of sin, but the religious question of the relation
Porter
God and man
of
to sin,
and the practical question of the way of
2
escape and victory*.
Of
importance in the present connection are the
according to Rabbinic opinion, the basis of
particular
3
facts:
following
(i)
vh
x;u-'
ocn ms*2
T^X rx
^pnn
j\v 13
-pra
vxT ? row
1
"we bxD noxn
"o
xin
b$
-mm
}$
njn
(isnin T2 inmc/'i) cnxn }O2 n^'Ni2a QTiiw
win niE'Sfb n:ixi msiD -ICKTI ^?nn ex
xbi 'n jot? nzyni
snn -wx2
c^oi t^x
tc'N niioi
u. Say
not.
of
12.
-psb psio
c^n cix
'js?^
u
^
13
u
15
^
J
7
not, My Transgression was of God; for that which he hateth he made
Lest them say, He it was that made me stumble; for there is no need
men of
Wickedness and an abomination the Lord hateth, and
that hear him.
14. God created man from the beginning (and put him in the hand of him that would spoil him), and gave him
into the hand of his yescer (impulse to sin).
15. If thou choose, thou mayest
keep the commandment; and it is faith to do his will. 16. Fire and water are
poured out before thee; upon whichsoever thou choosest stretch forth thy hands.
17. Death and life are before a man, that which he shall choose shall be
will
not
violence.
let
it
13.
them
befall
given him.
2
cit.
Porter, op.
8
108.
p.
whole complex of ideas in question is the long
midrashic exposition on Satan, sin and evil inclination found in TB Bafta Bap'ra
15 b 17 a, from which it might be allowed to quote some excerpts:
'n
Illustrative
"ID^I CDinz
ib
SN
-]2^)
nciyn
c.i
]tci&Ti
TtCB' y"K'2~i TUB
"jbnnn cip
the
for
1
?
N'2"
'n by 2s" nnb
i
1
]
trn^n
mcNK'
]i:i6'n
")i2y
bx
'n
pN
cm22 JDW
ic^i
n^nx
n2m
^D
]b
w^
Dx
1
\s DiDD x"ipo xbobx ]:nT> "i"x cj? 12
Di nbiu ni?nci i^n 1 x:n .no-'ji imx ^n^-rD'
y-in
^
i^
xin
1
-02 is'in CITI
1CX H2 "jSinnCl
]t:ty
xin '^pb
mm
p
6 x~o
;IJ?CB'
n"x
un^om
cix2
nciyj
nr^x pxz:
'1:1 2rx H2y
^12
"?ci:i
<|
23
n
mzn
men "vso
yin i3*> n"2pn x~i2
S2n
cbiy
pyc mn cbiy^ n"2pn "jc
py^
n P)N x"
cn~i2x
en
-\"r
"6x1
^ppi pny
nx niyo zy^ ra cn"i2x en ibx men X^D Dn2
xb
CIT a) ...
-ji^n
pn^ cmnx en
1
!
.
ibxi
.
1
e^
Jn 830-59
sinfulness
not
is
the
yeseer
299
ha-ra" in itself but the domination of
the yescer 1 over man, man's slavery under the yescer. z
is a double use of the word
viz. on one hand
'sin',
used
on the other synonymously with
freedom from slavery under the yescer ha-ra
synonymously with
vescer /id-rd\
There
(2)
s
(3)
it
is
'sinful acts',
,
or mastery over the yescer, is a constitutive mark of the righteous, 4
(4) types of complete masters of the yescer are Abraham, Isaac
I
(With reference to Hiob 1:) Satan said before Him (God): 'Lord of the Universe!
have been rummaging through the whole world and I have not found any
whom Thou
faithful one like Abraham, thy servant, to
Arise, walk through the land in the length of
will give it unto thee.'
(With reference to
and
it
didst say
17
(Gen 13 )
breadth of
in the
it;
for
I
Hiob 2 3 one asks the question:
Is Satan able to destroy a man altogether? A Barai[>a answers: He (i.e. Satan)
descends on earth and destroys (leads astray) a man, he ascends and accuses
c
him, he receives authority (from God) and takes away the spirit ... R. Sim on
b. Laqis said: Satan is = the Evil yescer and = the angel of death
God created
the evil yescer, but he created also the Tors as a remedy against it ... Three
(men) the Holy One allowed to taste the other world already in this world
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob... Three men (there were) whom the evil yescer
did not master: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob... and some say, even David...
three men (there were) whom the Angel of Death did not master: Abraham,
The passage is valuable as showing
Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aharon and 'Mirjain.
the natural connexion subsisting in Rabbinic expositions between Sin
Evil
Yesar
Death on one hand and Abraham, the mastership over sin, the
Satan
freedom granted Israel as Abraham's vow (Gen 13") on the other.
.
.
.
,
.
.
.
:
1
The
'evil inclination' is often called
2
TB
Sukka 52
9
The
parallel
b;
of
simply yescer.
TB Be r. Gib Baraipa, quoted
TB Sukka 52 b, referred to in
below note
4.
the preceding note, viz.
GenR 22, has 'sin' instead of yescer ha-ril'. Similarly Sukka 52 a has a passage
speaking of the yescer Jia-rrf, which in almost identical form recurs in GenR 22,
instead of yescer Jid-ra
To one familiar with the Rabbinic sources
of the frequent synonymity of yi!scer ha-rcf and sin (het) needs no
demonstration. Cf. Brti. BfiJ>. 17 a, quoted above p. 298 note 3.
but with
the
'sin'
.
thesis
4
TB
B*r. Gib, a Baraffa:
w
^
~iDx:ti' psiiy sitcn ny 1
crpnx icix 'h'bzn
D^U'CI "cb 2ip2 yw^h x/'is'D DJO icto? JEDI&' -\"n&
'K'D: v ?i o jwin ? |V2x
irp N:H ivXi
nciP "a
.cipa bbn
mi
ni
1
f
1
.
i
S/'fcH
^
IX Nin
pHS
'-i
^:n
cwi
\S
R. Yose the Galilean (about 125 A.D.) said: The righteous, over them the good
yescer rules, as it is written (Ps 109") my heart (libbi, referred to the evil yepjer),
pierced within me. The wicked, over them the evil vester rules, as it is
written (Ps 36') the transgression of the wicked saith within my hearts; and the
81
intermediate, the one and the other rule over them, as it is written (Ps 109 )
is
for
rule
is
He
shall stand at the right
over his soul
.
.
.
righteous or wicked."
hand of the poor,
And Rabba
said:
to save
A man knows
in
him from
tlwsc that
himself whither he
300
Jn
and Jacob, 1
Abraham,
(5)
83~S9
Israels father, is in particular the proto-
type of a master of the yescer and is by himself, a guarantee of
freedom from sin and yescer ha-ra. 1 (6) Yescer ha-ra is connected
2
or even identified with Satan, (7) as such the activity of the evil
3
yescer is directed towards man's destruction, he is a 'man-slayer'.
of God.
as destined to freedom from the yescer, is called the 'son'
The means of. freedom from the yescer and the basis
(9)
of
the
(8) Israel,
is
it
Tora and the observance
of,
and study of the Tora;
the last instance, then, the love of God, consequently: the real
origin of man's mastery over the yescer, is God himself; when
obeying God, and mastering the evil yescer, the Israelites are 'the
in
God is their Father, and vice versa: in recognizing
as their Father, the Israelites are free from the dominion of
sons of God',
God
and
evil yescer
1
TB
Cf.
,
sin.
4
17 a quoted above p. 298 note
Bsb.Bnj>. 1Gb
3.
TY B*r.
14 b
(What does the expression 'a love like that of Abraham' mean? Answer:) AbraSeta 20 c, CnntR 44 (Moses,
ham, our Father, made the evil y facer good.
David, and Ezra as masters over the evil yescer; vide Billerbeck, in 479 cc. end).
TV
GenR 22 12
.
i2?rn
jra
NZN- I"N
irn rusn nm PUN "in -i"n^ -Q nnn ncD
i"nn ircD ^nnn nbmn 12 j\siy nani irzx cmzx -itfjjty
TOSJD v.iroi
R. Abba said: ... how many generations did the evil y ester destroy! The
generation of Enosh, the generation of the confusion of tongues, and the generation of the deluge.
But as soon as our father Abraham arose and saw that
was no
there
the
scripture
hope for
(real)
he began slaying
it
24
passage (Ps 89 ) 'And
I
it;
this
is
the meaning of
his face
down his foes before
murdererfrom the beginning
did beat
44
pictured as a
(Jn 8 );
but.it has power only over those who obey it; Abraham, again, is the first one
(i.e. ace. to Jewish
terminology, the head or father of those) who master the
Here the
etc.'
yfacer
evil
y facer
'
is
and thereby become
Israel, as the heirs of
free.
Abraham and
freedom from the slavery under the
as the possessors of the Tora, are granted
facer : GenR 22 15 twice IJi^t^ p"x
evil
y
And if thou
wouldst say that it (the evil yesaar) is not in thy power, lo, I have written of
old in the Tora (Gen 4 7 ) 'And unto thee shall be its desire, and thou shalt rule
over him' Tanhitma BeresilD,
the evil yescer is given in thy hand (i.e. in thy
ID
bic'Dh
nn&o inpi&n T^NI rniro
TCHD I:D -jiwa
power).
2
Cf.
TB Bab.
TB
Bap. 16
a,
above
p.
298 note
3.
Also
TB H^.
16
a, Biller-
Yews. 67 b compared with Sifre Lev. 183 fbeck, iv 474,
8
Cf. the identification with the angel of death, above p. 298 note 3; further
*Ab.
de
4
R. Nafian 16.
Deut. R. to 14 1
who had
delivered
his
cited
by
H. 4 Ev.,
commanded that
Schlatter, S. v.
Son out of
slavery,
p. 95,
As
a king
the dav of libera-
Jn 830-59
.
.
301
might be urged that the utterances in the present section
mouth of the Jews not only reproduce exactly the early
Rabbinic conceptions but also constitute a picture, artistically
drawn of the Rabbinic mode of reasoning. The section postulates
a real first-hand knowledge of and familiarity with the Tannaitic
mind as well as the Tannaitic world of ideas. The utterances
ascribed to J also take as starting-point current Rabbinic notions,
and this is in accordance with the whole trend of the
although
It
laid in the
same time
the J-utterances serve to underline the
constitutive differences between Jewish ideas and the teaching of J.
at the
Gospel
cannot be
on
the
basis
of
Rabbinic
(i.e.
actually
adequately grasped except
Pharisaic) complexes of ideas.
But
precisely
this constitution of the basic differences
835 6 5s SouXoc ou [xeyet. ev rj obuq. el? toy aw&va, 6 ot&c [isvet
8 3 6 sav oov 6 ot&s o^ac; sXeoGspcoo-fl, O'VTCO? sXe&Qspoi
eig toy auova.
is
a typical startling utterance by which the complete
saea6s. This
J's teaching and of the Divine world is brought forth.
hearers
The
who, according to the sequel, by their acts acknowledge
the devil as their father, are only slaves, not sons and freemen, in
otherness of
world with which they have identified themselves, the world
Therefore they do not even
in their own world [the house, olvcia] possess any abiding power.
Only the member of the spiritual world is a son, who, qua son,
abides 'for ever'. But here the essentiality of the Son comes in.
the
of darkness and essential falsehood.
no sonship, no 'abiding for ever', no freedom, except in
Thence the startling, but thouroughly Jn-ine,
transition to the subject of the Son as the deliverer of men from
their false self-identification with the world of Darkness and de1
ceptive freedom to the 'true' freedom.
There
is
and through the Son.
83741.
member
j speaks as a
of the Spiritual world, speaks
day of festival, because on that day, he says, 'my son went out
from darkness into light, from iron (rule) into life, from slavery into freedom,
so also the Holy One lead Israel from slavery into freedom, as it is written
(Deut. 14') 'ye are the sons of the Lord your God'.
Cf. Si/re Dent, to the same passage (Deut. 14 1 ),
96: 'if you deport yourselves as sons, then you are sons; if not, you are not sons'.
Thus R. Yehuda
His contemporary, R. Me'lr said: 'in either case you are the
(about 140 A. D.).
tion should be a
sons
of the
Lord your God'.
This
passages are. numerous.
1
G. P. Wetter, Sohn Gottes,
p.
27518, 2765
ooD?v.ov,
iv
oiiosv
ouosv i~c
(
r
t
c,
aci'ju.c'.'ci
i/UuOspov.
p.
aXvjOe?,
It
is
is
an often-cited passage.
The
relevant
100 quotes Stobaios, Ekl. I. ed. Wachsimnh,
iv d^n\>.d~w ~o ~av aieuoic, oOosv iv fj~jfJV.~M
easily noticed that Jn
is
differently focussed.
Jn 830-59
302
of this
out
world
to
hearers.
his
He
recognizes that they are
Abraham's seed, but he denies that they are Abraham's children. 1
The clue to this distinction is: they have made an act of selfseverance from their terrestrial as well as spiritual ancestor Abraso
ham,
he
that
is
in
no longer their
reality
spiritual ancestor.
The 'misunderstanding'
to
of the Jews does not consist in their appeal
descent from Abraham, but in their failure to
their
earthly
grasp that they
Abraham's
through their ow.n acts
Abraham
spiritual world.
no longer belong to
did not do such acts
(84o)
t
Abraham was spiritually seeing: he saw J's day, and was glad.
Abraham recognized that J was 'of God' ix TOO 6eoo, sx TOO rcaTpog.
The Jews are blind to J's Divine origin: this shows that they are
directed away from God's world to the world of 'another one'. Quite
naturally such an utterance would to a Rabbinic mind imply an
accusation of idolatry, an accusation which would hit the Jews on
their sorest point, and, in particular,
Were
greatest injustice.
that with the greatest
would seem to them
to
be the
not they, in the whole world, the party
possible passion vindicated the absolute
^
J/W. Thence
unity of the God, their Father: "nx 'n i;v^x 'n bsT
2
the vehemence of their retort: 'We be not born of fornication
1
,
we have one Father, even God'.
842.
However passionately the hearers uphold the belief
one God, the Father, they do not have him for Father. For
in
in
as spiritual
would of necessity have of themselves
no
have
But
now
words
lias
J's
recognized J.
place in
beings
them (8 37), hence, however much they, externally, adhere to the
Tora, they do not hear God's words (847) they do not understand
they
J's external words, because they do not hear his word (8 43)
do not apprehend the Divine-spiritual reality (cf. 5 2 4f-, 537). The
reason why they do not apprehend it, is that they, are not 'of
that case they
=
TOO
God', ex
3
world.
1
p.
He
Gsoo
distinguishes
(847),
they
between
.
are
outside
3~ir>\>.a 'A(3p.
and -ixv
the
Divine-spiritual
'App.: Bauer, J.
Ev?
121.
2
Fornication
s
In
strangly
is
the Rabbinic as well as O.T. simile for idolatry.
resembling terms the Mandasans express themselves against
the Jews:
GR XII 3
2773-36 (pe t 277 "-25)
Jn 830-59
844.
Definitely, then,
is
it
303
stated, that the
Jews addressed are
sense of the expression, they have
'devil',
become immerged in the world of Satan, nationalized, so to speak,
as the citizens of the realm of which he is the ruler; they have
of the
the
in
moreover become
At
literal
his children, his will
this point
it
the world of Satan.
has been infused into them.
important to note what it is that constitutes
Evidently this is not primarily the terrestriality,
is
corporeality, but the fact of the opposition against, or rather,
the severance from the Divine world. Satan has set up Falsehood
or
against the Truth of the Spiritual world, or, rather, severed himself
from the Truth, and therewith constituted the ^soSoc; (falsehood,
The very
lie).
insensibility of the
world of falsehood to the world
what constitutes the former, or, perhaps better, the
world of falsehood has been created by the constitution of such
of truth
is
an insensibility to the world of Truth.
severance
from
the
Divine
^(.vorld
It is
which
is
the very act of selfthe origin of Satan's
world.
With
Lie
accords
this
that
Satan
is
called
the Father of the
1
(844).
In the exposition of Satan's role as the originator of the world
and Darkness, Jn most clearly bases upon and
consciously
up with Rabbinic-Jewish ideas. This has been
shown
admirably
by Biichsel, who also analyses the peculiarly
2
of
features
the
Biichsel recognizes that Jn in
Jn-ine
conception.
the
idea
of the Fall of Satan, and
every probability presupposes
of death
of Lie,
links
D p
X^N' NE'JOX
Woe
r\SJ21 TUTI NP1D1
the evil day that is preserved for the Jews in the world!
They sow
crime and harvest an harvest of Lie. Their heart is full of fmstcrnis and their
to
eyes arc blind and do not shine. Delusion seized them and Ilicy did not see
the abode of Liglit
They stand outside Kiixta (Jn ctXvjOeia) and do service
outside Goodness (Grace)... They are the Gate of Death and kill the children
.
of'men.
.
.
Cf. also in the present connection:
GL
III75 5885896
*>
(Pet 131
-132"), the Spirit speaks: 'The evil Ones
and my heart caused -me to think of everything evil, and my
tongue, through Lie brought me to fall. Man da dHayye, the messenger of all
messengers, spoke to me: O spirit! When / called tlice, then thou didst not
answer
because thou didst love dream and deception thou shalt fall into the
kettles (the abode of punishment).'
Thus most naturally x! 6 7rcn:^p KOTOO. Cf. Biichsel, J. u. h. Synkr.,
note 4, and Bauer, ad loc. (J. Ei>?, p. 123).
p. 104,
lead
me
.
astray
.
.
.
.
.
1
3
Biichsel, op.
cit.,
pp. 103
106.
Jn 850-59
304
from the truth; and that this latter trait is peculiarly
accords what we have ventured to
maintain above. It might be concluded, then: the origin of the
this fall as a fall
With
Jn-ine.
this observation
^vorld of Darkness, ace. to Jn, is the fall of Satan, and this fall
consists in his self-severance from the Divine Life.
The members
of the world of Satan have become such members by such acts of
self-severance, and, consequently upon that, self-identification with
the ^vorld of separateness.
847 fits in exactly with this interpretaThe hearers are unable really to hear, because they 'are not
tion.
of God': they are severed from God's world.
From this exposition it is clear that there cannot be any
question of a dualism between God and the devil, in the sense of
two independent, opponent powers. Nor is there any dualism in
the
conception of the Divine world, the world of Light, and the
There is a duality, an antithesis. The moral
World of Darkness.
and
religious bearing of this antithesis is connected precisely with
the self-separation from the Divine of that which by nature belongs
to the Divine and its self-identification with 'this world'.
For the question concerning the
position and sympwhich Jn writes, these two verses give
Once it is remarkable that the Jews accuse J of
inportant hints.
1
being a Samaritan. It is certainly correct, as Bernard does, to
connect this with vss. 39, 40, where J is reported as combating
the claim of the Jews to be the true children of Abrahams, and
as challenging
For this was
their boasted spiritual privileges*.
a principal point with the Samaritans, who would never allow that
848,49.
of the
athies
circle
for
the Jews had any exclusive right to the promises made to Abraham
his seed. Secondly, the fact, that J, while rejecting the second
and
part of the retorts of the Jews' (x.ai
a word reject the imputation that he
ai[j,6viov
e'^eic),
does not by
was a Samaritan, cannot,
in
view of the subtlety of the writer, be taken merely as accidental:
it must be understood as
serving a positive purpose, vis, to convey
J actually was willing
with the Samaritans against the Jews.
208 f.)
the truth that
to
own himself
(Cf.
in sympathy
above pp. 188 ff. and
the progressive parallel to 5 2 4, hence the meaning is:
the believer who holds fast to and keeps the word of J, he will
85
at
1
is
the time of physical death pass directly into the realm of the
Divine-spiritual reality, he will not behold 'death',
with people
1
in
Gospel ace.
general, with unbelievers,
to St.
John
ii,
p.
316.
is
i.e.
that which
implied in the physical
Jn 850-59
death, -viz.
on 5 2 )). 1
of the
the
beginning
The
distinction
305
existence as vsxpo?
(cf.
above
made between
in J's words
Oeoopvjaij]
words should probably
be understood as intentionally conveying the antithesis between
The
J's conception of the escape of death and that of the Jews.
Rabbinic expression was, to be sure: 'not to taste death' d^t3 $b
ntY^JQ.
This expression was used of the escape of physical death,
which escape was thought to have been the privilege of some
exceptionally righteous or holy men. At the time of J it is certain,
that as such were counted Enoch and Elijah 2
probably also
Messiah was reckoned to this class. It deserves notice, however,
that the speculations on the 'immortality' of Enoch and Elijah
were especially cherished in the mystical circles. It might be
surmised, that the Jews when asking 'whom makest Thou Thyself?'
(853), are (ace. to Jn) subtly conveying that J makes the claim of
852
and
ft.
ysoayjTca in the Jews' repetition of those
;
being Enoch or Elijah or a compeer of these. The exclamation
'surely, thou art not greater than our father Abraham!' would
then be directed not only against J specifically but also against
mystical circles of Enoch and Elijah.
mere guess. The actual speculations or ideas
however,
to here, are perhaps impossible to determine with any
the over-valuation current
This
in
a
is,
alluded
What would serve as a secondary support for the
of
a possible allusion to the Enoch-mysticism is the
hypothesis
consideration that this mysticism seems to afford a clue to a
probability.
particular
problem of the argument
of the Jews.
The problem
is
escape death, whereas the
claim had been simply that He Jiimself
this: J's claim is that his follcnvers will
Jews answer him, as
One might hence
1
possible
translation' of
if
his
translate 'death' with 'mortality', corresponding to a
with 'eternal life'. In this case it must, however,
'life'
understood, that 'mortality' with Jn would mean exactly this existence in
states of manifestation, first in earthly life and then in the 'life' as
be
perishable
whereas immortality would be the possession of the Divine-spiritual life,
is
Vide above p. 211, n. i. This immortality
imperishable, eternal.
vsxpo;,
which
in strange correlation to the Rabbinic expression 'destined to Eternal
9 a,
103 b,
fccn C^lJJn "rib pllD (?B Ber 61 b,
Kcl.^b,
48
K*p 35 a ['Ob. Zara 10 b, 17 a], vide Billerbeck ii pp. 726, 727 ad Act 13 )
down
but
an
immediate
s not identical with
written
for,
implies
quality
lEMTD
adherence to the Divine world, given to earthly men.
of immortality
stands
MQ
Life'
TV
&p
TY
>
=
2
enumerate: Enoch, Elijah, Messiah, Eliezer (Abraham's
Hiiam, Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, Ya'bes (the son of Juda the Patriarch),
Bil>ya (the daughter of Pharao) and Serah (the daughter of Aser): Deer. *sEr.
Zut. 1 (19 a).
Later
records
servant),
2O
27451.
H.
Odeberg.
306
Jn 830-59
.
was exempt from death. The Enoch-mysticism now seems to
supply the natural connexion between those claims, viz. through
the idea that the ideal saint (e.g. Enoch) through his own escape
eo ipso acquires a peculiar function of guide for those
of death
who
aspire to immortality
of the righteous.
8)658.
1
or takes special charge over the spirits
as a 'true'
Abraham,
member
of the spiritual world
who
falsely claim him as their father)
is the general trend of the section,
and the case of Abraham again is an instance of the general rule:
the holy .men of Scripture, the 'fathers' and the 'prophets', like
(as against the 'liars', vs. 55,
of necessity knows J. This
the Scripture
itself,
belong to the spiritual world and hence share
the living reality of
in
The
J.
vs. 56 centres in the two questions
what period of his existence did Abraham 'rejoice to see
Christ's day' and actually see it? and (2) what is meant by Christ's
day? Neither question can be answered without having recourse
problem of
specific
(i) in
contemporaneous Jewish speculations. Also the exegetes generally point to Philo, De mutatione nominuvi 130 seqq., in order to
to
support
theory that the time of the promise of the birth of
the
Isaac and then Isaac's actual birth, as symbolically interpreted, are
alluded to by vs. 56. 2 But the right perspective, it would seem,
may be obtained only with consideration of the- whole trend of
the Jewish speculations and legendary expressions with regard to
Abraham.
versed in Jewish speculations seem
natural
a
by
necessity towards the associawith the narrations of God's revelations to Abraham
Expositors
really
to have been driven as
tion of Jn 85
3
What would lend special
to
in
this
the
association,
weight
opinion of the present writer, is
the fact
hitherto
that in the
overlooked
strangely enough
visions
(in
narratives
etc.)
of coming
of this
kind a stereotypical formula recurs:
saw ... he rejoiced*
J
revelations
Adam,
to
the
1
ad
elSsv
xal
syapv]).
1
/\.
I
The
when he
fact that
such
1
narrated not only as given to Abraham, but also
Moses, Elijah or some other prophet, does not lessen
of the
association:
in
the case of Jn there
-Ii. Odeberg, 3 Enoch, Introd., pp. 79, So, 96, 113 e.
Vide Lagarde, Ei'atigile seJon Saint Jean, pp. 253 255,
is
a
Cf.
cf.
also Bauer,
loc.
a
p.
(cf.
\
are
importance
2
events.
ni
So Westcott
n.,
Billerbeck
referring
ii,
pp.
(pointing to GcnR. 44 20), Burney (Aram. Origin 4 Gospel,
to the Tarqumical renderings of Gen. 15 and, especially,
525, 526 quoting
and referring
to
numerous passages.
Jn 830-59
307
phenomenon, viz. the statements that Isaiah saw his glory
124i) anc Moses wrote of Him (546). j t se ems safe to assume
parallel
i
(Jn
that
J's
speculation in question form the background of
the Jewish
6ff
Jn 85
day', then, would
Son of Man' (Burney 1 ).
Difficulties are: if J's saying bases upon the traditional beliefs
question, why do the Jews take objection to it on the ground
in
sayings
The expression 'my
-
allude in particular to the 'day of the
in
that
implies not only Abraham having seen J but J having seen
The solution tentatively proffered by Bauer 2 that Jn
it
Abraham?
has
over from some other source a controversial dialogue
the present context does not satisfy, since Jn never
taken
not
fitting in
makes a lapse
of this kind.
The
be intentional and belong to the
reversal implied by vs. 57 must
class of startling utterances so
The only
solution possible seems to be that prereversal
cisely through
Jn wants to convey that J has made
it
clear to his hearers that the relation between J and Abraham
for Jn.
typical
this
was not
relation in
question whether
the
(in
be expressed simply as a prevision from the side of
of the future 'day of J', but instead as an actual interthe spiritual world. From this it would follow also that
to
Abraham
loses
'Paradise')
Abraham saw J during his lifetime or after
momentum. The answer is: he 'rejoiced in
the anticipation of J's day during his lifetime, he saw it during his
lifetime (as the Scripture symbolically teaches) and then continued
being aware of it while living in Jesus as a spiritual being. Speci-
however, the
fically,
'day of
as his entrance into earthly
J',
life,
was naturally seen by Abraham at the time of its arrival, i.e. at
the time of J's birth and his self-revelation as the Son of Man.
The
the
poral
and
spiritual
however, lies, not on the specific moment of
day and of Abraham's vision, but on the tem-
real stress,
arrival
of
J's
existential
This
world.
all-inclusiveness
underlined
is
5
3
by
of
as the centre of the
J
vs.
'before
58:
a|j/?]y,
a[j,tjv
Xsyco
Abraham
was, I am'.
The expositor who has best grasped the depths of the present
4
section is perhaps Adalbert Merx.
Merx too, has in the Jewish
Tcpiv
D[j.iv
1
2
:|
Appaa^
Aram. Origin 4
Joh.
Cf.
EV?
ad
91
Gospel,
70)
p.
111
el[u,
n. (on p.
112).
loc.
77/6' Structure and Message of St. John's Gospel,
that Abraham rejoiced to see His day. This was
(men)
ways of telling men and women how Pie and His revela-
Vacher Burch,
Jesus tells
one of His pictorial
p.
YsveaGca
.
:
.
.
.
.
.
tion 10 ere tiincles $>>.
4
Das Eu.
d. JoJi. crlautcrt, Berlin
1911, pp. 182
235
.
..
85059
Jn
308
(Midrasic) speculations found the only
understanding of the import of the controQuite rightly he points out that these speculations are not
versy.
1
Thus, it should be
'dogmatically exact' but fleeting and plastic.
in
accordance with Merx's premises to state, it is rather the
Gnostic
Samaritan)
(and
key
possible
the
to
system of imaginations, the general trend of
which forms the background, than any specific idea,
let alone dogma.
This seems also to have been in his mind. 2 In
Merx's exposition, however, one misses the stress on the complete
difference between the standpoint of J and that of the Jews which
Jn wants to conwey. Thus, when Merx seems to hint that the
evasive
underlying
speculations,
objection taken by the Jews is directed towards the self-presumption of J as a pre-existent Messiah in line with the Jewish speculations on this figure, this must be stated to go beside the point.
makes a much greater claim than to be identical with the preHe claims to be the.
existent Messiah of the Jewish speculations.
and
ever-central
to
whom
over-existent
Son,
everything and every
J
being of the spiritual world are constitutively and essentially related;
their very existence in the spiritual world being bound up with
him as truly and necessarily as they are bound up with the Father.
This could be no better expressed in the current mystical languthan
age
With
to
the
with J's
this
to
application
statement
Himself of the Divine
we approach
Name
the final problem with regard
Perhaps noel\)/i.
section: the import of the eyw
present
more apparent, how misleading a mere linguistic
investigation might be. In spite of the fact, that the Aramaic or
where
in
Jn
is
it
Hebrew equivalent of rcplv 'Appadji Ysvsa6ca, eyco equ would, from
a linguistic standpoint, be exactly and, perhaps even best, con3
structed simply as ^5SS arms ^&b
sim. (Lightfoot
Merx 4 ),
?.
1
alle
,
whole context and the solemn introduction postulate beyond
the
A. Merx, op.
cit.,
pp. 181
f.:
...es bleibt stets zu beriicksichtigen, dass
Anschauungen weich und riicht zu dogmatischer^Exaktheit durchgesind.
Das Gauze ist nebelhaft unbestimmt und wurde verschieden vor-
diese
bildet
gestellt
.
.
.
2
Alle diese Notizen solleti dazu dienen, die
A. Merx, op. cit., p. 183:
Denkweise des Judentums, wie sie in der Zeit des Abfassungs des Evangeliurns
war, dem modernen Leser na'her zu riicken, derm ohne sie lassen sich die Be-
trachtungen
iiber
die
Abrahamskinde und Abrahams Sehnsucht doch
stehen.
3
Horcc Hcbraiccc
4
op.
cit.,
p.
179.
et
Tahimdiccc,
p.
1047.
nicht ver-
83-59
Jn
309
any possible doubt that the meaning to be conveyed is somethingmore than
I exist, or have come into being, before Abraham
As Archbishop Bernard says 1 it is clear that J means to represent
Jesus as thus claiming for Himself the timeless being of Deity,
as distinct from the temporal existence of man.
Comparative
agreement seems to obtain that the ?(*> el[u- 'actually represents
.
,
an appropriation by J of a. Divine Name.
2
(Klein
),
name
the
that
vis.
bilities,
the n^ns
IttJS
Of
the different possi-
question was the Tetragrammaton
n^nS of Exod. 3 : 4, the prophetical Sin ^S
in
I0
464, 48 I2 ), or a title of divine being taken
(Deut. 3239, Isa 43
over from the Hellenistic environment (Wetter 3 ), the general con,
sensus seems to verge towards SIM ^DS. As support for the lastnamed expression one might forward (i) that it fits in very well
with the linguistic construction of the phrase (to be rendered
approximately: Sin ^S dn"QS 8SM1B D^lp), (2} that Sin ^S in
O.T., while avoiding the Divine Name, clearly suggests it
that
we have in LXX Ps 90 2 rcpo TOO opy] YevvTjOvjvoa
arc 6
(3)
the
.
TOO
ataivoe
TOO
sco?
auovo?
an
el
at>
all
but
.
.
literal parallel to
the
4
present phrase.
The
however, would suggest that the Divine
be sought rather on the side of n^ns 11BS S^
i.e. in the speculations evolved from Exod. 3H, than in the S
A review of contemporaneous and earlier mystical Name-speculations recalls the extreme importance given not so much to the
n^nS ^tUS n^nS as to the single n^lS. In fact, the mystical
speculations concerning the Divine Names were focussed precisely
in tivo Names %a-c' s^o^vjv, viz. (i) the Tetragrammaton Sin" and
n^ns. 5 Whereas the nVlS t&JS n^ns does not fit in
(2) the
Name
present
intended
is
writer,
to
1
linguistically
the
case
with the phrase
with
n^ns
:
n^ns
rcpiv
^5S
'Appaajx
etc.,
DnnnS SIMW
this is eminently,
dllp.
This would
excellently reproduce the Jn-ine style: this rendering alone gives
the perfect double meaning, firstly 'before Abraham was, I am'
and secondly 'before Abraham was,
Divine
Name
There
is
n^lS)'.
a parallel
1
The Gospel according
2
Der
3
4
I
phenomenon
am n^ns (He who
in
bears the
Jewish mystical literature
to St. John, ii, p. 322, cf. Introduction, p. cxxi.
dlteste christliche Katechismits, pp. 44 ff., 55 ff.
TJieol. Studien u. Kritiken, 1915, pp. 224 ff.
Cf. Bernard, The Gospel ace. to St. John, ICC, ii, p. 322.
Instances given in H. Odeberg, 3 Enoch, Translation with Notes, pp. 161,
174-
310
Jn
which might be adduced here.
me
called
the
SlItT1 ',
my names
from
take
little
83059
Of Metatron
further:
and called
it
is
said: 'He, (God)
'Seventy names did I (God)
him by them to enhance his
Names and of the Names
the
two
Metatron
names
'the
little
filST
and the fl^ntf
given
are the central names, from which the other names are evolved. 1
It should be
remarked, however, that the Name rPJlK, to its
In the enumerations of the Divine
glory'.
'
to
1
import, is always consciously linked up with fi^fiS TUJ&5 SYiJltf, or
with Exod 3 T 4. Hence, with regard to sense implied, it represents
of 'changelessness' and 'uniqueness'; 2 as a
Divine Name, again, it might perhaps, with some hesitation, be
defined as 'the first emanation of the Tetragrammaton'. The Sl^irii?,
Divine Attribute
the
hence, plays the part of Xoyo? and
is
associated with pre-existence
3
as well as ever-existence.
=
is
'I
S$1!~l ^JS, it may be argued,
Against the theory of lyw sl|U
^55$, as a solemn declaration by J, would equal
am God' or 'I am the Father', a declaration that is clearly out
the fact that 81tt
of keeping with
ances.
~Eyd)
Divine
the
the
general bearing of
= fT!
el|u
J's self-predicative utteras
again,
implying the appropriation of
'I
and the Father are one', the
equal
1
!!*,
Name, would
central, reiterated thesis of J in Jn.
9 4,5.
(i) fyj.ac Sei epya|so6a!. ta e'pya TOD TrsjJ^avcog
On the basis of the interpretation of the 'we' of Jn 3 11
.
.
.
|j.s
above
there will be no difficulty in accepting the reading r^ac. J speaks
from the centre of the Divine World, where all works of God,
activity in unity with the Divine will, is included in him. (Cf. above
on 6 2 6 seqq.) 4 Hence the expression Y][j,a? osl ipydCsoQat etc. is
Si'ur Qoia(i), 3 Enoch 12 \ 48 B 48 C r>!) 48 D 1
Vide Bernard, op. cit., Introd., p. cxxi.
3
Cf. the Samaritan quotation given by Merx, op. cit. p. 182 (not used by
him for the purpose of elucidating the expression i-^oj 'efju'):
1
1
.
,
,
2
i&\x rrns i^y
m:\xi nfei mix pp nu'D
tt'sb
cbsn CIN
mKSN
tz'ibi ci 1
S721N
p
iTHN
the day (of First Beginnings, 'B c rosTl:>) when Adam clad himself in the Divine
Image, Moses (as pre-existent) clad himself in the Splendour of the Original
On
Light and
in
the
Crown, on the four
sides of
which
is
written
rpHX
"'U'N
/TuN";
Name
here clearly associates with the idea of pre-existence.
He is the First Life,
Cf. also the Mandtean G. R. XII 4 of Manda dHayye:
He was the great splendour, when the spirit
the Life that was from of old
the
.
came out from the House
.
.
of the Great Life.
4
Cf. v. Harnack, Das Wir ii Johanncsevaiig. etc., p. 307:
Jesus spricht
auch hier von sich im Wir als potenziertes Ich, weil im gewissen Sinn aUcs
Gottcswirkcn scin Wirkcn ist ...
Jn 830-59
mere maxim of experience
no
TOO Qeoo.
sp~(Cf.
(2)
ico<;
OTOCV
(3)
sv
311
but has special reference to the
1
SOTIV sp^sTai vo ore oooe'.g Sovarai ipYaCssQai.
%da|up w tpcos sl[U TOD KOODOO proffers difficulties. The
fyj.spa
T(7>
continuous activity spoken of Jn 5 7 seems here to be exchanged
for an activity limited to J's earthly existence.
Even if it is true,
]
that J's 'time' in a special sense
is
= the
time of his ministry upon
would be quite against the whole Jn-ine system of thought
to say that the end of J's earthly activity would mark the beginning
of a 'might', a period of darkness, when all spiritual activity would
be excluded. In particular it is the expression OTS ODOSI<; Suvatca
The solution of the
IpYaCsaQai, in which the difficulty centres.
difficulty is perhaps to be found by taking into consideration that
the Jesus-utterances in question form an integral part of the narrative of the man born blind.
They form a natural continuation
of 93, which is wholly within the purview of the narrative. The
unmistakably discursive character of Jn 94,5, hence, must not
obscure the fact that the dictum presupposes the situation of the
earth,
it
Just as J at a definite time is the light of the blind man,
a definite relation to the temporal continuity of men
general, i.e. of the 'world'.
Consequently, 'the night when
narrative.
so
in
he
is
in
nobody can work' does not
to
the
history of men,
i.e.
refer to the temporal history of J, but
refers primarily to a certain period
it
of men's existence which can be thus characterized.
Which
is
this
period?
This question might be perhaps answered if it be allowed that
from the discursive
Jn 939,41 forms a direct allusive continuation
of view
point
And as the topic of judgement is in2 9.
clearly by manner of retrospection on 5 9
certain parallelism between the conceptions of
of 94,5.
troduced here, this
Now,
there
is
a
]
is
on one hand, and those of 'blind'
and 'seeing' of 9 4,
on the other. Realizing this, it might
be possible to define the time when no one can \vork as the
'death'
and
'life'
of Jn 5*9
5.
period of men's
life
29
39. 4 1
when they cannot pass
directly from darkness
into light.
Even
here,
however, the
parallel
seems
to
fail:
the natural
equivalent of the period of darkness would seem to be the time
of the state of being dead. The state of the dead, again, ace.
to 5 '9 2 9, offers the possibility of life, whereas the state of dark-
ness
seems to
of the
'night'
Bernard,
The Gospel
1
ace. to St.
exclude
John,
ii,
such a possibility.
p. 326.
This
Jn 830-59
312
makes it necessary to press the parallelism farther, and point to
the expression used in 5 : 9 2 9 of hearing the. Son's voice. Then
it
becomes clear that the 'night' is neither the period beginning
with J's death, nor the period of men's existence in the state of
the 'dead', but the period beginning with the discursive judgement
for those who, although having the possibility of seeing, condemn
do reject the light that
comes
The night, then, refers to the darkening of moral
(or fathers spiritual) vision which is caused by complacent satisfaction with the light that is already enjoyed
Those who see
not
and
do
to
desire
see more clearly, lose the power
only dimly,
of sight wholly; they become blind*. 1
themselves
because
blindness
to
.
they
to them.
.
To
proceed: 94,
5.39, 4i
.
.
should be put in relation to 3 9"~ 21
T
.
There we meet with the same correlation of the ideas of 'judgement', 'light' and 'darkness'; there, too, the 'light', is viewed in
its
If the question were to be. put: what
relation to the world.
would correspond to the term 'night' in 3 '9 2I ? the answer would
have to be: the period of men's existence marked by their turning
away from the Light, their self-judgement.
The next
inclusive
(A)
"/jjxa?
step is the taking into consideration again of the
aspect of the Son of Man in relation to the expressions
OBI spyaCeaGat, ta epya too Trejujjavrd? [is i'coc; yjjispa saw,
vo
(B) sp^siai
y.6a[i(t)
J's
(j),
ote
ouSei?
Sovarai
<pws slju TOD xda[j.oo.
doing the Father's works,
work of God
Now one might
the
it
to believe in
spyaCeaGat,
and (C) orav
iv
T(|>
Although (A) primarily refers to
also includes the believers, for 'it is
Him whom God
has sent' (Jn 6
2
9).
the believers there will ever be day;
there will never come any 'night' for the believers, just as there
will be no 'death' for them (5 2 4).
(B) as has been maintained
state:
for
3 9 2 * and
(C), lastly,
view
serves
to
underline
the nature
constantly kept
of J's activity, and does not admit of any negative corrollary. The
cause of the failure to grasp the real import of 94,5 is that the
reader is almost as by a hypnotical force mislead into adding to
above refers
to the unbelievers only.
939)4i
95 a parallel to 9
-1
b
some such sentence
be
in
J
in
the world etc.
,
that parallel then naturally forming itself into
the time cometh, when I shall no longer
As soon as this false deduction is removed,
as
the consistency of the interpretation here put forth
be apparent.
1
Bernard, The Gospel ace. to St. John,
ii,
p.
340.
will, it is
hoped,
Jn 10
1
- 18
313
.
10 1-18. Th e difficulties of the present section might be
summarized under the three headings (i) J as the Shepherd at the
same time as the Door, (2) J as the Door leading to the Flock at
same time
as the Door for the use of the Flock, (3) the
of
the
'thief, 'robberer', 'hireling' or 'stranger'.
identity
The difficulties of interpretation are unsurmountable as long
as the exact identity of the Fold and of the Flock remain undefined
the
or incorrectly defined.
The usual identification of the Flock with
the Christian Church, or with the specific community behind the
Fourth
Gospel, does not
ideas or the coherence, of
enable
to explain the sequence of
Instead of having recourse
us
J's sayings.
the hypothesis that Jn has taken over an allegorical discourse,
the original elements of which he has not been able to fit in with
to
own
his
purpose,
to
attempting
or
similar
an
find
1
theories,
identification
Jn-ine spheres of ideas in general
to the discourse.
This truth
need
move
not
that
the
is
correct
in
method
is
keeping with the
and gives unity and coherence
admitted, it appears that such an attempt
within mere guess-work or arbitrary hypotheses.
once
One has only
to admit that J in every self-predicatory utterance
of
one
and the same subject, viz. the spiritual reality, in
speaks
~
order to realize that also in 10 1 l8 the subject is: the Divine-
world
spiritual
and J as the
all-inclusive centre of that
world by
virtue of his unity with His Father.
The
sheepfold, then, is the Divine-spiritual world into which
lead men through his coming into the 'world', his
his
unto death'. The sheep are those who 'listen to
'love
'work',
his voice', recognize him, and hence 'enter through him' into the
J seeks
to
Divine
this
reality.
Already
interpretation
there
at
is
this
no
point
it
will
be
clear, that with
difficulty in the dual dicta:
I
am
Joh. Ev", p. 138: Innerlich zusammengehalten wird die Perinur durch die Begriffe der Schafe, des Hirten und seiner GegenAber diese sind bald Fremde, denen die Schafe nicht gehoren, bald
spieler.
Diebe und Rauber oder auch wieder Mietlinge. Das geht nebeneinander her und
1
e.g. Bauer,
kope 10
1
at
durcheinander bin. Aus dem Hirten wird im Laufe der Ausfiihrungen der gute
und zwischen beiden steht die Ttir, zuna'chst vielleicht zu den Schafen,
dann sicher fur die Schafe. Dieses unausgeglichene Gewoge fordert fast zu
Hirt,
Erkliirung die Annahme, dass der Evangelist bier allerlei fremde Bilde
tout Begriffe ubernommen hat oJme die Kraft, sie zu ciner Einheit susainmen-
seiner
suschmelscn.v
Jn 10
314
the
Shepherd
a
contrary
and
I
am
J
the
necessary expression
- j8
Door.
This duality is on the
of one of the central theses of
and has as its parallels other characteristic dual utterances:
and J is the Bread of Life, He
J gives the Bread of Life
sJwivs the Way
and He is the Way, He teacJiers the Truth
PIe is the Truths.
and
In fact, so far from having been unable
to 'melt into a unity' various 'foreign' conceptions and similes, the
juxtaposition of the terms 'Door' and 'Shepherd' in self-predicatory
dicta is precisely that intentionally startling feature by which J
Jn
seeks to convey the peculiar truths of the Divine-spiritual World
and of
I
J's activity
am
the
and ministry.
Good Shepherd* conveys
the
essentiality
of J:
no shepherd apart from J.
I am the Door
conveys
the all-inclusiveness of J: everyone entering the Divine-spiritual
reality enters through J.
For connexions of the simile 'the Shepherd' or 'the Good
Shepherd' it should not be necessary to go into any controversy
with the expositors who with all their might try to linkup with
so called 'Hellenistic' 1 notions.
Even Bauer does not dare to
advocate the 'heathen influences' 2 on this point. Likewise the
generally known O.T. and synoptic instances might be passed in
silence.
Among Rabbinic instances of the use of the terms 'Shepherd', 'Faithful Shepherd' and 'Good Shepherd' reference should
e
first
of all be made to
This passage, which has
ft
13 d, 14 a.
been quoted in full above pp. 138, 139, is important not only for
its close parallelism of phraseology and expression with the present
section 3 but also
and this, strangely enough, has never been
There
is
M
1
In
the sense of un-Oriental, or tin-Palestinian ideas, as the case
may
be,
an obviously muddle-headed conception of 'Hellenism'.
2
heidnischer Einfltiss, a strange and tin-scientific term.
a
This has been excellently analysed by Paul Fiebig
Mekhilta imd das Johannes-Evangclitimi> in AITEAOI', i,
in his article
p.
57
ff.,
Die
where he,
however, quotes only a lesser part of the passage. It may be allowed to
reproduce Fiebig's comments at some length: Merkwiirdigerweise bieten StrackBillerbeck diese tannaitische Stelle niclit, wo zu Joh. 10 n von Parallelen die
Rede ist. Jesus sagt Joh. 10 n: s'(o> etui 6 i;o'.|X7jv o v.ct^dc. Damit stellt er alle
anderen guten Hirten in den Hintergrund. Er ist der gtite Hirte. In dieser
Betonung
Hirt.
liegt
hier
das
Originale,
nicht
aber
in
der Bezeichnung als
guter
Neigung der neutestamentlichen Forschung, das Joh.Evg. in allererster Linie zu Philo, den Mysterien und Ahnlichem in Bezieliung
y.u setzen, denkt man nun, wie Grill in seinen
reichlialtigen und wichtigen Untersuchungen zum Joh.-Evg. etwa daran, dass Dionysos als -OIIJ.TJV bezeichnet wird,
auch als POKXIJ/.O;. Das bedeutet aber Rinderhirt, wa'hrend Joh. 10 an einen
Bei
der heutigen
1 -' 8
Jn 10
noted before
for its successive
315
introduction of both the present
the 'Shepherd' and the 'Door' or 'Gate'.
background for the said terms is seen also in ExodR.
terms,
viz.
where
26,
occurs.
the
exact counterpart of
nS^ Wll is found
The term
1
1
7roi[r7]V
in
The Rabbinic
P siq$aR.
e
2,
zal'g, viz. flP n21"l,
an identical sense also
in
as Schlatter has printed out. 2
The Rabbinic passages
as a 'Good Shepherd' (apart from God himself) are
accounted 'Moses' but also 'anyone of the prominent
ExodR. 1L
show that
primarily
Holy men or prophets of Israel'.
Of instances not adduced by Billerbeck the following may
be quoted
R g.
TB
a
3 b
ins 051& pni ins bs ins
r\yren
sin
A11 (the precepts of the Tora)
one shepJierd
(soil.
Moses)
were given
(i.e.
handed down) by
etc.
So weist Grill noch auf Orpheus hin; er hiitte auch an
ist.
konnen, Gestalten, bei denen Schafe als Attribute begegnen. Auch
an die Aussagen Philos tiber den Logos als Hirten konnte man denken, an
Poimandres und den Hermes xpto'-popo:;. Moglich ist, dass der Evangelist auch
solche Hirten hat in den Hintergrund driingen wollen. Im Munde Jesu selber
diirfte an derartige Beziehungen schwerlich zu denken sein. Aber nun ist folgendes
Tatsache: 7:011x7; v xtxXo; = n? 1 i"ly~l ist, wie Str.-B. nachweisen, rabbinisch, und
anderswo ist diese genaueste Entsprechung nirgends belegt. ~^ ni/'~l
guter
Hirte ist damit gleichbedeutend und ebenfalls bei den Rabbinen gelaufig.
Franz
Delitzsch in seinein hebraischen NT, das ja fiir die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft von grosster Bedeutung ist, sagt daher hier: ^1t2 M>~^- Unser obiger
= e n treuer Hirte, was denselben Sinn hat. Die Bezeichnung
Text hat
r\\T\
Schafhirten gedacht
Attis erinnern
i
]?^XJ
Ps Sal l?4of. an, wo der Messias als treuer Hirte besind in der judisch-rabbinischen Gedankenspluire
Alle diese Beziehungen sind
Moses, David, die Propheten die guten Hirten
schon im Munde Jesu durchaus moglich, ebenso in dem Gedankenkreis des
am
klingt
schrieben
genauesten
wird.
Im
in
iibrigen
.
4. Evangeliums, das ja doch eine sehr reichhaltige, tiefgehende jiidisch-hebraischaramaische Seite hat, die heutzutage noch zu viel \venig beachtet zu werden
Eine derartige Eigenheit ist das Denken in gegensatzlichen Parallelismen,
dem obigen Text der Mekhilta hervortritt. Ebenso denkt das Joh.Evg. gern von Jesus zu Gott, wie obiger Text von Moses zu Gott und umgepflegt.
das auch in
und zwar verbunden mit
kehrt,
TC'.a"cs'jt
a.
a.
!Q
~ov
9'ov,
7.W.
^
glauben.
las
Man
^'.a-susTE,
vergleiche besonders Joh. 14 i:
-M, wozu also Schlatter
ebenso 12
O. mit Recht obige Mekh.-Stelle heranzieht:
ulJM t; TOV TtlixiavTCJ IXE.
6
TT'.ateuwv
si; iixi,
1
-
The passages
Spr.
it.
are
quoted by Billerbeck,
Heiin. 4 Ev.,
p.
393.
ii,
p.
536, 537.
sic
iui
o-j
-ISTEUEI
i-iS
Jn 10
316
As
M
e
in
13d 14
fc
a Moses' function of shepherd
is
connected
with his predestined function as Saviour:
ExodR.
^s
IT
"pb
2
4
^
p
*pb- ipirwa n^n in sins
dinn ^s by "pcim 'swtJ dbiyb
lipni
t3rvia nbnrta
'And Moses was
a.
nbiaab
rranai
rm
nn^n
..... rrrnsn
^&
Everyone of
shepherd.
rum
bn
ab nrrnan
whom
the word
used
(together with a verb) is predestined for that (which the
verb denotes). Thus (when the Scripture says) FT !! d'ltf it denotes
that death was destined to come into the world through him, as it
is
1
is
written 'and darkness
was upon the face of the deep' (Gen
I 2 ),
death, that darkens the face of the world (lit. the created beings,
2
[the serpent (Gen 3 ) was destined to bring retributions.
Noah was destined to bring salvation. Josef was destined to bring
i.e.
men)
maintenance (parndsa) etc.] and Moses (was destined to bring)
salvation.
From the beginning of their creation they were destined
*
for such (and such function).
The Flock ace. to Rabbinical typology is generally
Israel.
Israel is the flock of the Holy One.
Moses, or some other prominent figure of the O.T., is the Shepherd of the flock. Thus e.g.
.
=
ExodR.
2
D"nsi
3
pp
wa
inpisiB
^
0*1*6
nbrfo ^15
n"npn
nbi^^b
nsnn
n"nn
pi .i^an niby ^n)o
inpbi
bnn
'DawiB
ta
-jia
.pni
jKis^nb
nioti
Tn
l
ia
"pa*
The Holy One does not
previously
tested
him
in
^i?
t3n ^ns
JSOID
n^ni as
JK
n ^ni^i
n^ns Ta5i
-j^sn
itoiK s?in
give greatness unto a man until he has
some small matter. Then he lifts him
whom
Behold, there are two great men of the world
greatness.
the Holy One tested in a little thing and (when) they were
found
faithful
up
to
David with
[and]
He
lifted
them up
to Greatness.
He
tested
the flock, and he did not lead [the sheep] but in the
1
Notice that Moses is not the only Saviour: there are several. The point
of Jn 10 is that J is the Shepherd and Saviour. Note also the expression 'from
the beginning of their creation' and cf. above on Jn 8 C8
.
-' 8
Jn 10
1
317
in order to save them from beast of prey.
For thus
Eliab say to David (1 Sarn. 17 2S ) 'with whom hast thou left
those few sheep in the wilderness'. For David established the
wilderness
did
misna: 'they do not rear small cattle in the land of Israel'. The
Holy One said to him: 'thou hast been found faithful with the
Go and be a shepherd for my flock, as it is
(of sheep).
written (Ps 78 (7) 7 ) '(He chose David also his servant, and took
him from the sheepfolds:) from following the ewes great with
flock
1
young he brought him
(to feed
Jacob his people and
Israel his
And
thus (the Scripture) says of Moses: (Exod. 3 )
inheritance)'.
'And he led the flock to the backside of the desert' i.e. in order
1
to save them from beast of prey.
And the Holy One took him
to be a shepherd for Israel as it is written (Ps 77 20 ): 'Thou leddest
J
thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Cf. also
ExodR.
^
m*
nrcttb
ffiab
tj
nstn
5
ib^nb i^nns
pab ^afc
And they said
may judge you!'
nia^a
bsnttn
them:
to
etc.
'tn taiswi
rtf'nri
Tra
p
"p
to^by 'n aii an^bs
mis
nron
bicnb
y^
i-ra^i
nsrn sara nrob
asm
pai
nmn
'The fear of H' be over you and he
They said to Moses: What do we
6
(Ex. 5 ).
(Answer:) A sheep which the wolf comes to take away
and the shepherd runs after it to save it from the mouth of the
wolf; between the shepherd and the wolf the sheep is rent (torn
Thus, said Israel: O Moses! between thee and Pharao
asunder).
resemble?
we
die (are killed).
GenR
"ra
59
barron
8
(ns)
David was
^y n
nyin nns?
ions sb vn 'n
^issts^
masttiB
b^nia^
n"nn
bm pin
^r\
bi
Chron ll 2
'Thou
Who, then, was David's
shepherd? (Answer:) The Holy One, blessed be He, as it is
written (Ps 23 J
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want! 2
the shepherd of Israel, as
shall feed my people Israel'.
it
is
written (1
)
)
1
This seems -to have been a favourite theme of Rabbinic Haggada, to
from
the frequent variations of it. One of these variations is quoted and
judge
translated in two excerpts by Billerbeck, viz. ii p. 537 (the beginning) and ii
p. 209 (the sequel) (from &em. R. 2 2).
-
of the
Boniha'user (Das Johannesevangelium, pp. 58, 59) thinks the background
parabola of the 'shepherd' is (i) the simile of the Shepherd-King of
Jn 10
318
1
- 18
Schlatter 1 and Fiebig 2 have pointed out,
As
early Rabbinical
Ezechiel 37 22f
literature
also
very
we have
in
the
close parallels to Jn 10 in
(2) the Rabbinic complex of ideas as met with particularly
in Misnn, vis.
Wahrend dasBild des Hirtenfisba
1.
Sfibifop 8 and
konigs aiis Ezechiel stammt, ist das Material, mit dem das Verhalten des Hirten
-
and
M
M
M'^d
wird deutlich einem Anschauungskomplex entnommen, den die
Mischna (Schebuot VIII und Baba Mezia VII) bietet. Da treffen \vir unter den
vier Arten von Hutern, die es gibt, den Lohnhuter (ij.iaO(D-d; *~C&' MtJ-'lj)Da
beschrieben
wird dariiber verhandeit. ob es ein Zwangsunfall ist, wenn tin Wolf kommt,
d. h. ob der Hiiter schadenersatzpflichtig ist, wenn der Wolf ein Schaf raubt,
oder nicht. Da erscheint der Dieb, der stiehlt und schlachtet,' und der Rauber,
der im Gegensatz zum Dieb bewaflnet ist. Wenn der Rauber kommt, ist es ein
Zwangsunfall. Der LohnhiUer kann darum nicht schadenersat/pflichtig gemacht
wenn ihm ein Schaf entrissen wird.
Im Gegensatz zum feigen LohnhiUer, der sogar weglauft, wenn ein Wolt
kommt, obwohl er ihn abzuwehren verpflichtet ist, \vagt der gute Hirte filr seine
Schale das Leben. Im Gegensatz zum schwachen Lohnhuter, dem der starkere
Rauber das Schaf entreisst, ist Jesus der Hirte, aus dessen Hand niemand und
werden,
nichts die Scliafe reissen kann.
Es
ist
deutlich, dass hinter den
Worten
des Evangelisten der in der Mischna
vorliegende Anschauungskomplex als Voraussetzung liegt.
Bornhauser's observations are important. They may be supplemented by
e
Schlatter's references to
Ttilta and Sifrt (Die Sprache und Helmut des vicrten
M
Evangelisten, pp. 393
f.).
However, when Bornha'user maintains (ib. p. 57) Es darf als ausgemacht
dass das Hirtenbild den Konig, den Messias meint, nicht etwa den Propheten, this does not hold true with regard to contemporaneous Rabbinic
terminology. There is no single instance in Rabbinic literature of the epithet
gelten,
'faithful' or 'good shepherd' being applied to the Messiah. The
45
only instance from writings nearly related to Rabbinic literature is Ps Sol 17
the
word
Billerbeck
ii,
(noticed by
p. 536) where, without, however, using
'shepherd', the writer says of the King Messiah, Son of David: '(For He is
of 'shepherd' or'
strengthened in
flock of the
one ...
Lord
His deeds, and
His pasturage.
in
is
in righteousness
JJo
might}' in the fear of His God:) feeding the
and
in faith;
rxio
(^ft_\o ^o)O r
JJLa_AJO..opo JJLaa..jp>
and He will not suffer that any
,-s^
^
>:o
o>_lriaoA
^QQJ
a_i.ioo
J..;:cn
Strangely enough, the thought of the King-Shepherd, the One Shepherd,
of EsecJiicl 87 2t is never developed nor even mentioned by Rabbinical expositors,
although
the
verse
then,
hypothesis,
is
lies
in contexts treating of the King-Messiah.
The
hand, that the Rabbinical expositors were averse
of Shepherd to the Messiah, and such a fact would
adduced
near
at
applying the title
have to be explained only by the assumption, that some contemporary opponents
were wont to use the said title of the Messenger or Messiah. The sources at
hand, however, do not allow any sure deductions on the point.
Die S/tracJic and Heiinat des inerten Evangelisten, pp. 393 f.
Die Mckliilta und das Johannesevangeliiim (AJTEAOX, vol. I, pp. 57 59):
against
1
'-'
Zu Ex 15
i
finden sich in der Mekhilta
Ausfulmmgen,
die in
dem
Satz gipfeln:.
Jn 10
the
- 18
1
319
thought of the 'shepherd', or the leader of Israel as having
'given his
life'
for Israel or for the Tora.
have been noticed by Bultmann 1 and
~
Bauer
Joh XI 44-51, and GR 2 181 l8 21 (Pet.
They are
~
22
]8
The latter may be quoted here in the original.
177
).
The Mandaean
2
.
nis
And
parallels
M
by
aw
ss3
IID
*wo
nil bis
Manda dHayye put your trust! As a good shepherd
who feeds them (i.e. the sheep) he keeps away from
you every spirit of defection. As a good shepherd who leads his'
in
(raid tafca)
sheep to their fold he sets and plants you before him.
In order to understand the peculiar sphere
Excursus on 10 9
18 takes
of speculations, of which Jn 10
account, it is necessary
.
i
Jcde Sache, fiir die ein MenscJi seine Seele gibt, ivird nacJi seinem Nanien genannt. Es \vird da gesagt, dass der Tempel nicht nur Haus Gottes, sondern
auch
Haus Davids
seine
heisse, weil David sich so sehr um ilin bemiiht,
Seele fiir ihn gegebem> habe. Dann ist von Moses die Rede, der fiir das
Gesetz,
Es
dass
das
da
\vird
Volk, die Rechtsbestimmungen unter Lebensgefahr eingetreten sei.
auf Ex 34; Deut 9; Ex 2 verwiesen. Besonders wiclitig ist nun,
Ex
Mekh. zu
die
dass die Vtiter
und
12
i
den allgemeinen Satz
aufstellt:
Du findest
liberal/,
und dabei an
Sam. 24 17, wo
die Prophetcn Hire Seele fiir Israel hingaben,
Dieser sagt 2.
(1 12) und besonders an David erinnert.
vorher von der Plage des Volkes zur Strafe fiir die Volkszahlung, die David veranstaltet hatte, die Rede ist, im Gebet zu Gott: t>Siehe, ick Jiabe gesiindigt
Jonas
und ich habe mich
Mogc docJi
getan?
F^ir
-j^xjn
n>as haben sie
verschuldet; diesc aber, die Schafe |{<yn
dcine Hand gegen niicli und inein Vaterliatis scin.v
hat die
LXX
-a
Da haben wir
also die
Die Mekh. formuliert im Hinblick auf
Hingabe der Seele fiir Israel durch die Va'ter
~^M-M.
diese Stelle obigen Satz von der
und die Propheten.
Hingabe der Seele durch den guten Hirten
Franz Delitzsch iibersetzt das
Schafe.
Tt'9r aiv
mit
1
]P
UXi ~y3
Tii-'EDj-
^ tatt
auch ~)D^,
]PJ
fiir
seine
CXUTOU
6077;
u~sp TOJV i:f/opa'-ojv
findet sich bei clieser Redeweise in der rab(
TTJV
v
statt lU'rij auch l^xjy.
Gedacht ist dabei bei
den Rabbinen an das Einsetzen des Lebens, die Hingabe unter Lebensgefahr. Der
Hauptunterschied zwischen Jesus und den anderen guten Hirten des jiidischen
Gedankenkreises ist dabei der, dass bei ihm diese Aussage besondercs Gewicht
dadurch erha'lt, dass er den Tod tatsachlich erleidet, wahrend bei Moses, Jonas,
David dieses nicht in dem Sinne iiberliei'ert \vird, dass ihr Eintreten fiir das
Volk zu ihrem gewaltsamen Tode fiihrt.s
1
Die Hedeittung der neuerschlossenen mandiiischen und inanichiiischen
binischen
Literatur
Quellen etc., p. 116.
Joh. Ei>.-, p.
139.
J- 18
Jn 10
320
dwell on the implications of Jn 109, and the background in
contemporaneous thought for the dictum: I am the door. Then
it will be well to make the usual review of Gnostic, Mandsean and
Rabbinic parallels.
Od. Sol. XVII 6 ff. This must be quoted at some length,
in order to show the different connection in which the dictum
1
is put.
(Christ
speaks:) And all that have seen me were amazed, and I was supposed by them to be a strange person: 7.
And He who knew and brought me up, is the Most High in
all
His perfection: and He glorified me by His kindness, and
to
my
raised
He gave
thought to the height of Truth.
me t*he way of His steps, and
8.
And
from thence
!
/ opened the doors
broke in pieces the bars of iron: But
my own iron (bonds) melted and disolved before me. 10. And
nothing appeared closed to me, because I was tjie opening of everyII. And I went towards all the bondsmen to loose them;
thing.
that were closed:
that
I
and
9.
I
might not leave any man bound
.
.
(,o
.
~A
JI~L} f,-r>
JJj
The passage
latter
4
is
mentioned by Bauer 2 and by Bultmann 3
.
us out from the bonds of darkness; 17.
shall come out to thee
^
The
j
;
And open to us the, door,
for we perceive that our
death does not touch thee.
It is to be noticed that in both these passage the door is the
door of the house of bondage; the door here is simply
the
5
deliverer or the way of deliverance
whereas in Jn 109 the door
,
a
4
i
also points to
by which we
1
|
JUo
Od. Sol. XLII (Christ speaks:) 15. And those who had died
ran towards me; and they cried and said, Son of God, have pity
on us; 16. and do with us according to thy kindness; and bring
a
\
so Rendel Harris.
Others hold that the speaker
Joh. EV?, p. 139.
Die Bed. dcr ncnerschlosscnen mand.
il>.
u.
is
the believer (the saved).
manisch. Quellen,
p.
135.
il>.
The two
passages quoted are striking instances of what mischief may be
by quoting only a single sentence (or half a sentence) without taking!
into consideration the context.
By adducing only the latter half of vs. 10 of
Od. Sol. XVII and the former half of vs. 17 of Od. Sol. XLII the impression
s
This is
might be made that we meet here with an exact parallel of Jn 10
Witness how he makes mention of Od. Sol. XVII 10
actually done by Bauer.
Od. Salom. 17 ro sagt der Erloste, der vollige Freiheit gewonnen hat: die PJorte
zu alien war ic]i geworden.* That is all!
:
caused
.
:
'
J- 18
Jn 10
the
is
321
Hence
entrance to the innermost abode of the Godhead.
there
almost no parallelism of thought at
is
XVII, XLII, and Jn
109.
of Bauer and
justification
In
all
spite of this it
Bultmann, that there
between Od.
might be
is
(in
Sol.
said, in
mystical or
gnostical literature) a certain counterbalance between the figures
of the 'door or doors of heaven' and the 'doors of the netherworld'.
would be entirely
It
of the
heavenly 'door' or
false,
however, to say that the idea
constantly or constitutively
linked up with the speculations on the gates of the lower regions.
The former is the centre of a whole range of ideas with which
the
latter
Of
concerned
in relation to
Mandsean
the
main work,
GR
not
are
viewed only
viz.
(soil,
gate for
it
the least;
in
and Jn 109
is
be
to
the former.
none of those occurring
instances,
in
the
Ginza, have been called attention to before
the
III 947-io (pet 914-6)
as
swabsb
I
is
'gate'
nii&ran
rrwi
the Son) made a road for the good ones and put up a
the world; a gate for the world I put up and erected in
a throne.
GR XI
2646-9
(Pet 266 '-3)
Every day do mine eyes gaze towards the road in which my
walk and towards the path by ^cvJiicli Manda dHayye
does come. I gaze and behold the door of heaven being opened.
This is a parallel both to Jn l5i and to Jn 10. The door of
heaven in the passage quoted is that through which the saved ones
enter, and this is evidently opened by the Messenger or Son.
brethren
A
277
very important parallel
is
GR XII 4
275 '3-22 (Pet 276
24
4)
strain rvn
n^^^^^i
in siin
BTU
san in S
^Dnia^ ^^nn nwaisa ^12^ s^rn
nbn^b
I
heard the
Voice of the Life in the Great Abode, the House
the Voice of the Great splendour speaking and
of Completion,
27451.
H. Odeberg.
Jn 10'
322
l8
e
teaching in its S kina. He is the great sign with which the Life in
e
He who hears the words (lit. speech) of the
its S kina is signed.
Life,
suffered
is
dwell
to
the
in
e
S kina of the Life.
He
is
the
delightful Gate, the Light without end.
Here we seem to move in a similar sphere of thought as in
TJie' Messenger is the
Voice of Life and the Door; the
Jn 10.
phraseology as a whole is Johannine.
Both Bauer 1 and Bultmann 2 among Mandsan passages make
mention only of MLi Qolasta III Ixxvi (1349-1353)
rrn&i rvny nsea smsnb fiWisron SWISTI
Tn
ssnsb nssbi KD^TD
nnsxb s^rn
nanni
am smw
SOT*!
snsb
Praises be to the First of the First, to the
roTn
nbrmn
Son of
the Great First,
whom
the Life created, (and it came before him) and equipped
him and sent him out into the Age. Thou earnest, openedest the
Door, madest the road even, puttest up the border-stone and estLife,
A
Helper, Leader and Companion, thou
werst for the great stem of the Life. Thou didst introduce him
into communion with the Life, didst build him into the great
ablishedcst the connexion.
.
of Truth and bring him out into the great
Light and to the House of splendour.*
structure
Abode
of
centre of the symbolical, mystical use of the terms
or 'Gate" in relation to Jn 109, we arrive, after considering
Mandaean instances, by putting side by side the Rabbinical
Into
the
of 'Door
the
passage M'Tc. 13d 14 a (quoted above pp. 138, 139) and a passage of the Sermon of the Naassene (ace. to Hippolytus, Refut. V],
both basing upon O.T. passages containing the terms in question,
M
Great
is
e
13d
fc
the
14 a
faith,
with which
him who spoke
and the world was, for by recompense of their believing in the
Israel believed in
1
Jo/i.
2
:l
Ev. 9
,
P.
the
But concerning
that
is,
the
that
he
may
Naassene s z
his ascension,
being born again,
be born spiritual,
not fleshly, he says, the Scripture
139.
p.
Die Bedeitt.
Sermon of
(f.
Legge, vol.
neuerschl. viand, u. manich. Quellcn,
i,
p.
154.
p.
134.
;
i- 18
Jn 10
Lord the Holy Spirit remained
And thus it is said
on them
2:
(Ps 31 5) 'The Lord preserveth
.
the
.
.
faithful
(Ps 118
20
.
'This
)
And
.'
.
is
similarly
the gate of the
Lord, into which the righteous
What does it (the
Scripture) say with reference to
shall enter.'
men
of faith? (Answer:) 'Open
the
gates, that the righteous
ye
nation which keepeth the faith
the
in' (Isa 26 2 ) Through
all the wen of faith
enter
may
this
gate
(technical term for the mystics,
although perhaps not here) enter.))
323
up the gates, ye
rulers,
ye lift up, ye
everlasting doors, and the King
of Glory shall enter in'... The
same entrance and the same gate,
he says, Jacob saw when journeyfor Mesoing to Mesopotamia
'Lift
speaks:
and
be
potamia, he says,
is
the flow of
great Ocean flowing
the
forth
from the middle part of the Perand he wondered
feet Man
the
at
'How
heavenly
terrible
is
gate,
saying:
this place!
It
none other than the house of
God, and this is the gate of
Heaven' Gen 28*7. Wherefore,
is
he
'I
says, the saying
the true gate'.
am
of Jesus:
Now He
who says this is, he says,
Perfect Man who has been
the
im-
pressed above (with the image)
of the Unportrayable One.
The Naassene passage, it may be urged, allowance being
made for the abstrusenesses, really gives the J-dictum of Jn 109
true connexion, in linking it up with the mystical speculations
Gen 28 I2ff-, the 'Jacob's-ladder'. In fact, Jn 109 should I? e
understood as implying the same ideas as those beJiind Jn l^ 1 It
its
on
.
more than a coincidence, when the Naassene passage further
places its quotation of Jn 109 side by side with a reference
to the 'Man who has been impressed by the celestial image', a
is
1
to have formed an integral
typological expression found above
of
the
on
the
part
mystical speculations
Jacob's ladder.
Hence
the 'door
There
it
may
be concluded:
Jn 109
of
is
a
refer to
further
the
parallel
f
and
vis.
heaven open of Jn
'the
1
Jn I5i
jn
Hereafter ye shall see heaven
I
of God
man
open
and
the
angels
U
same spiritual reality.
between Jn 15 and Jn 109,
am
109
the door:
enter
in,
by me
if
any
he shall be saved,
Jn 10
324
3
ascending and descending upon
and shall go in and out
Son of Man.
the
~ l8
&t\& find
pasture.*
The italicized words would seem to have nothing in common;
however the inclusiveness of J be taken into account, the parallelism becomes striking.
Hence Jn 1 5 may be used to explain
the import of the expression 'shall go in and out' of Jn 109.
Almost certainly this import is not exhausted by the natural features
if
1
of the parable (the sheepfold
etc.),
but focusses a spiritual experience.
of the uses of the term 'gate'
Some further Rabbinic instances
(door) may be adduced here
TB B r.
32 b
(also
TB
itftwiD
nb&n
iiyio
e
a
D
B$ba M'sfa, 59
un^n
ibws
a)
n^n Dirn
b&5
R. '^El'azar said: Since the destruction of the
as
of prayer are shut,
and shout, he shutteth out
prayer
(Ps 39
to
my
are
I2
)
'n
shut,
run
M
8)
Temple the gates
'Also when I cry
prayer!' But let it be the gates of
the gates of tears are not shut as it is written
my
'Hear
Babd
(Lam. 3
written
is
my
prayer,
O
Lord, and give ear unto
tears thou wilt not be silent'
TB
DM
it
e
f
si
i)a^5ii5
d 59 a (a
nsi
cry,
further on from the above)
little
iiiMDtt
my
.
pfi
"pbytt Diiyran bs tfiDn
DI
train
R. Hisda (died A. D. 309) said: all gates are shut except the
gates of oppression, as it is written (Amos 77) 'Behold the Lord
stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his
hand'.
(The meaning
is:
all
gates are shut except the gates of
prayer of the oppressed.')
These references may be supplemented by two features from
early Jewish mysticism, (i) The 'little Yahuse', Metatron, according
to the mystical literature, has many names, among, them Piflit el
or Pafalifel (from pa]) all, open, and pa;]jali, door) explained from
opening the door through which men's prayers as
his function of
1
Cf. the explanation
by Rnsi:
nyts-n ]\x
cnn
riw\s by
'- 18
Jn 10
well as the spirits of the
righteous
325
may
enter, in general
he
is
said
to preside 'at the door'
below p. 907). l (2) The little Yahuse
(cf.
also has 'all gates' opened to him by the Holy One. 2
No instance however is to be found, to the writer's knowledge, of a
predication 'being the door' applied to Metatron. In that case
of all parallels the Mandaean ones come nearest to Jn 10 9. 3
At
of
this
Hipp.
Kai
ex,
Ttov
ADTYJ,
aoTOi,
^6X^
v.
Refitt.
in at its apposite place
:
82327:
saXo&yTat
TJOIV,
EX,
TWV
[iv/j^stcov
ol ysxpot,
TODIEOTIV
OD aapx.ty.oL
aoofxd.TtoV TWV -/oczwy avaYsyv/]6svu<; 7uyeo|.i,aTtxoc,
sauv
Sta
avdoraatc Y)
r/js ft6Xr;g YtvojJ-evY] Twy ODpa(pvjaty,
TJ
ot
r}<;
sloeXSdvtes,
[XYJ
toy
<I>puYe?
<{j7]ai,
6soy.
come
will
JcdXtv,
oV
yd>y,
however, another quotation from the Sermon
point,
Naassene
the
FtyeTat Y^p?
ElasXeuasTat
"/jat,
at>Toy
<pv]at,
Too-coy
6edc, otay
ix.
rcavTe? [xevoDat vszpot.
TudXty
ysy.pwv
ex,
O'i
os
(lET
ayaara?
S'.a
TOV oupayoy.
etc;
Taor/]y, 'f'/joi, r/]y
aTcdaroXo?, Tcapayot^a? sy [j,Dar/]ptci) xat siTcwy Yj
aYYsXou v.ai Y T v ^ vai ^' w<^ Sso-uspou y.al Tpt-coo oupayoo sic Toy
otsy
Xo?
DTTO
6
ao-cdy, y.al
swpay.syat a iwpaxs y.al ay.Yjzosyat py]{j.a.Ta
a
ODX
Taurd sort,- cv]at, TOC appvjra UTTO
i^oy
appyjia
dy6pd)7U(j) stTrsty.
a txuar/]pia, a [y.al XaXoD^sy] ODX, sv Sioay.Toii; dy
TtapaSsioov
aXX' sy SiSay.totc 7iyD|xaroc, 7rvso{j.aTty.otg Tiys
5s avOpcoTco? OD Ss^srat rd TOD Tuys'jjj.a
<jjo^tx.6c
tc,
T'.y.d
aoY/tptyovts?,
Yp
TOD OSOD, [xcopta
[j.Dar/jpta,
ouSsl?
6
JJ.OD
a
aorcj)
^[j,ic Ibp-sy
Sovarat
oopavto?.
SGTt,
xal -cauTd
[J.dyoc.
Hspl
eaTt
TODTcoy,
TOC
TOD
'r/]ai'y,
Et'p7]y.sy
6
Ttva sXy.6o*o 6 TraTYjp
Trpdg (J.e,
jr/j
shall leap forth
he
'the
dead
says,
again,
iXGeiy
And
y]atv
eocy
from their graves', that is, the spiritual man, not the fleshly, shall
be born again from the bodies of the earthly. This, he says, is the
comes through the gate of tJie heavens, through
do
not enter, all remain dead. And the same
they
he
Phrygians,
says again, say that this same one is by reason of
the change a god.
For he becomes God when he arises from the
dead and enters into heaven through the same gate. This gate,
resurrection which
which
1
2
:i
ladder'
if
Vide Odeberg, j Enoch, Transl. with Notes,
j EnocJi Ch 8 and 'Asfirii haruge mallcujD.
In
pp. 173, 174.
Jewish mystical literature, Metatron is frequently called 'the
f
Jacob's ladder) or 'middle column' ( ai/iwi(da a' 'autiHCftpa,). The
of these epithets, however, is not very far removed from that of
later
(i.e.
significance
terms of 'door
1
or 'gate'.
Vide Odeberg,
3 Enoch,
Introd. pp. 123
f.
J-' 8
Jn 10
326
he says, Paul the Apostle knew, having set it ajar in mystery
and declaring that he 'was caught up by an angel and came unto
a second and third heaven into Paradise itself and beheld what
he beheld, and heard ineffable words which it is not lawful for
man to utter'. (2 Cor. 123>4). These are, he says, the mysteries
called ineffable by all 'which (we also speak) not in the words
taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit,
spiritual things with spiritual; but the natural man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him'; and these, he says, are the ineffable mysteries of
comparing
we alone behold. Concerning them, he says, the
Saviour spake. 'No man shall come unto me, unless my heavenly
Father draw some one (unto me)' Jn 644.
the Spirit which
For the expression 'go in and go out' we shall again have
recourse to Jewish mystical literature. It is then first to be recalled,
that in Jewish mysticism the innermost abode of the Deity or the
innermost recess of the
celestial
keeping with
Seventh Hall. It
the
In
this,
world
Door
is
xat'
might be considered
called 'the
e^o'/vjy,
is
fanciful
Seventh
the
to
Hall'.
Door of
the
compare the
of Jn 10 with the 'Seventh Hall' of Jewish mysticism,
the interpretation of Jn 10 here advocated be correct, such
a comparison would indeed be quite to the point.
'sheepfold'
but
if
Secondly, 'the little Yahuae' or Metatron is both covertly and
expressly pictured as the one whose function it is to establish the
connexion between the world outside and that within the Seventh
Witness 3 Enoch 10 ff-: 'All these things the Holy One,
blessed be He, made for me. He made me a Throne, similar to
the Throne of Glory
and He placed it at the door of the Seventh
Hall and seated me on it, and the herald went forth into every
heaven, saying: This is Metatron, my servant. I have made him
into a prince and a ruler over all ... and every angel and every
prince who has a word to speak in My (God's) presence (before me)
J
Hall.
.
shall go
into
command
set
(God)
he may
.
his presence
and speak to him instead. And every
you in My name do ye observe and
that he utters to
also
Cf.
fulfil!*
.
up
The latter runs: I
Enoch 16 and 48 C 8
Throne at the door of My Hall that
T
?
^
.
his (Metatron's)
and judge the heavenly household on high. And I
placed every prince before him, to receive authority from him, to
sit
perform his
will.
Thirdly, there
one
who goes
in
is
an oft-recurrent expression of the type 'every
(goes
out) before the S'fMfia
or 'through' the
1-18
Jn 10
327
door of the Seventh
Hall'.
In contexts, where this phrase occurs,
connexion
with mention being made of Metafrequently
tron as the one who has control over the access to the Seventh
it
in
is
1
Hall.
of
Having now treated at length of the implication of the terms
'Shepherd' and 'Door' we may resume the analysis of the
The
difficulties centering round
the questions of the
of
the
'door'
and
the
of
the
duplicity
identity
'stranger', 'robber',
'thief and 'hireling' will be seen to vanish as the analysis proceeds.
section.
10
r
6
[XT]
Sia
elasp5(d[ievoc
rr^ 66pa<;
e!g rr]v
aoXvjV TWV Tupo-
aXXa avapcuvoov aXXa)(66sv, exslvoc; xXsTTTYjc; iauv xal X^OTYJC.
(3aTcov
The reference is to one who is not intrinsically connected with
the Divine Reality, and with the 'Door' to the Divine World, i.e.
one who is severed from the Divine spiritual reality, but still
wants to take possession of it, although in his own way and after
his own mind.
To whom does that characterization apply? Evidb
44,
ently to the same class of beings as those referred to e.g. 5 37
i.e.
to those who 'seek their own glory' 'who search the scriptures and imagine to have eternal life in them etc'.
And if any
single individual be intended, he can only be identified with the
'Father' of all those separated from the Divine Life, i.e. the
Cf. ava|3cdvcov aXXa)(66ev with say aXXog s'X8ifl of 543 and
Sia[3oXo.
vide above p. 226.
A further point for consideration is the parallel between the
epithets of 'murderer' and 'liar' of 844, there applied to the devil,
and those of 'thief and 'robber' here.
The
1
earliest
instance
is
j En. 18 1 9, where
it
is
said witli reference to
and every single prince who goes
counterpart of Metatron):
out on goes in before the &Tctna, goes out or goes in only by his permissions.
A passage showing the general sphere of speculations in which the terms 'door'
'Asfel
Softer
'gate'
occur
is
(a
the following:
(in 3 Enoch 15 B): Metatron, he is prince over all the
and he stands before Him who is greater than all the Elohim
And when Moses ascended on high, he fasted 121 fasts till the habitations of
the liasmal were opened to Jiim
Moses prayed for mercy, first for Israel
and then for himself: and He who sitteth on the Mccrka^ta, opened the windows
3 Ascension of Moses
princes
.
.
.
.
.
.
that are above the heads of the K*ri(biin.
And a host of 1800 advocates
and the Prince of Presence, Metatron with them
went forth to meet Moses.
And they took
Y*hn<jt
that
and
the prayers of Israel...
In that moment spoke 'ATiapri'el Yah
to Metatron the Prince of the Presence:
Let no prayer
8 e ba dp and said
:>
he (Moses) prayeth before me return (to him) void.
his desire whether (it be) great or small.
fulfil
Hear
thoti
his
prayer
1 -' 8
Jn 10
328
might be concluded with some probability that the 'thief
It
and the
'robber'
103
= the
is
with his kin.
<5id[3oXog
The
'porter', as the
This
is
context stands, most naturally
is
= the
Father.
an antithetical counterpart of such dicta as 544, 844,
is, most probably, to be identified, even
more directly than the 'robber' and 'thief in 10 r with the devil.
10
5
The
847.
'stranger' here
,
10
s
retained 1
be
to
is
probable,
ever came before me'.
that
'All
,
J
If
the
rcpo
[105,
as
is
who have
The
sheep.
speaks of forerunners
sought to gain access to the sheepfold or to the
forerunners cannot possibly be Moses or the Prophets, improbably
the Hasmonean princes or the princes of the house of Herod
for these are never alluded to elsewhere in the
(Zahn, Trench)
the
mention
of them would give no spiritual lesson
Gospel, and
nor Messianic revolutionaries (Lagrange) nor 'Pseudo-Christs' (Wellhausen). If on the other hand, the Pharisees were meant, it would
have been in keeping with the style of Jn to make a direct
'You
adress:
addressing
thieves
are
the
in
'Jews'
would seem to
and
(compare the manner of
Otherwise this identification
robbers'
2
839ff-).
context best, especially in view of the close
of
ch.
10
with
ch.
9, where the manner of the Pharisees has
unity
been vividly pictured. 3 John, the Baptist, again cannot possibly
suit the
be meant, since he was, ace. to Jn., quites as loyal as any O.T.
He, indeed, was not separated from the Divine-spiritual
prophet.
With some reason such disciples of John could
wold (1 ^i?
533).
,
1
words;
7jXOov
Lagarde, for instance (J&vangile scion Saint Jean, p. 277), omits these
the strongest of his grounds for such an omission he formulates thus:
avec Tupo i|xou cela est plus difficile
reprocher a ceux qui etaient ventis avant lui de n'etre
est deja difficile a concilier avec eiai,
encore: Jesus pouvait
pas entrees par lui?
This argument
il
is
for retaining the ^ oo
so conclusive that one
is
instead of omitting
it:
iij.o5
(
apt
to
present
themselves to an
making an alteration of the text
iuou is, however, of long standing.
-
To
tempted to treat it as a ground
such arguments were specially
copyist as a sufficient reason for
the interest of logic. The doubt of T^JO
'intelligent'
in
argue that J speaks here to the Jews in general, not
to
but o/~the
would obviously be beyond the point.
3
\vho the 'thieves and
Cf. R. H. Strachan, The Fourth Gospel, p. 146:
robbers' are is not quite clear. The reference may be to the Pharisees of chapPharisees,
ter ix,
and to those
who have
among
ism and ecclesiasticism
nation
I
of their
16; Jer. xxiii,
power
I
4).'
to
been responsible for so emphasising ceremonialthe Jewish people, that they have robbed
the
recognise their Messiah and Saviour (cf. Ezek. xxiv,
'-18
Jn 10
329
be thought of who did not observe their teacher's loyalty to J, but
even this interpretation does not fit in with the context; their
would not be a matter of the past, which 8 b presupposes.
The means of arriving at an idea of the approximate meaning
of vs. 8 a is the realization that the passage should not be treated
as an isolated utterance but should be viewed in relation to
activity
some other passages
be considered 3
3> 5,
of a
", 1315,
similar
2 7,
36,
5
As such may
Then it will appear,
men who have falsely
construction.
2 3,
3739.
that the forerunners belong to that class of
claimed to possess knowledge and vision of the
and to be able
they have long
and know only
'externalists'
ago
of
of chh.
may be
it
siahs',
world
Divine
and lead others, whereas in reality
been separated from the Divine-reality,
teach
to
the
5,
6,
non-spiritual things.
8 etc., 'false prophets'
conceded,
if
only
it
or
the
are
They
'false
Mes-
be remembered, that the
paramount interest of J is not the proclamation of himself as the
true Messiah as against the false ones, but the impressing upon
the
hearers
be
may
of
World.
Divine
held,
the
as
'thieves
independence and reality of the
and robbers' were to be found, it
among
the Pharisees as in circles outside
absolute
Such
well
In the last instance they all derive from,
For
one might say, descend from, the arch-robber, the AicxpoXoc.
the works of their father they would do.
the fold of Pharisaism.
Why
Tcpo i[i,oo
it
excludes
and what does that expression imply? Negaall those who really belong -to the spiritual
world: Abraham, Moses, the Prophets.
For in their case the spiritual view would have to be applied, according to which they
were not before J: rcply 'A(3paa[A ysvsa6ai syw eiju (85 s ). Positively,
it signifies all those who before
J's appearance on earth, had voiced
tively,
claims externally similar or identical with J:s claims.
could be said: they were all thieves and robbers.
The
spiritual
sheep,
world
them), those
i.
e.
9 I0
those
it
those actually or virtually belonging to the
spiritual element within
(who had actualized the
who were
'of the truth*
did not hear
'heard' only that voice which they recognized as
Divine world, from their spiritual home.
10
Or
he shall be saved,
i.e.
them. They
coming from the
shall live, shall obtain in ever
increasing degree (more abundantly*) the Life: he shall go in and
go out, the connexion with the Head of all Life shall be continual,
and find pasture, his prayers shall be heard, he will have the words
of J within
himself continually as a bread of Life (14
I0
1
5,
21
).
33O
*J \J
'
Tn
/
10
2$
38
1118 The
indissoluble unity of love between J and the
Father on one hand and J and the sheep on the other is here
the one truth focussed.
There is a danger in following up the
identification of the 'thieves and robbers' with that of the hireling.
IQ
The word 'hireling' here merely has a negative purpose:
shepherd who gives Himself wholly, his very Life, to and
sheep, he is no hireling who is able to abandon them. The
again, has a definite significance:
(12
3
1
143
16
n
)
against
whom
it
J
is
is
J
is
a
for his
'wolf,
the ap^wv TOO vtdaixoo TOOTOO
the safe protector and the
guardian of the sheep.
10 6 is an instance
of such passages where one particular
It seems
interpretation has got a hypnotical hold of the reader.
impossible to explain 'this fold' otherwise than as referring to
J
(the disciples within) Israel and 'other sheep' as referring to the
Gentile Christians to-be.
But this interpretation is not by incesIt merely states that
sity implied by the wordings of the verse.
there are some, whom J counts as his sheep, yet who do not now
belong to the fold; further that he regards it as his mission to lead
those other sheep into-hearing his voice, and thereby being incorporated into the unity of shepherd and fold which constitutes the
Divine-spiritual world.
10
with
25
the
3
8
is
the coda-section of the preceding.
of 5, 6 and 8 are easily seen.
discourses
The
parallels
Vss 26
29
connect the section with vss 11
18.
Vs 26 strangely retrospects
on vs 16. There is a parallelism between aXXa 7cpo(3ata e')(a) a
oox sattv sx r^c auXvjc Taor/js and 'cm oox eats sx twv xpo^dtcov
which one can scarcely avoid deeming intentional. The
f.icov,
textual variant, adding at the end of vs 26: zaQeoe; eurov >[uv
('as I said unto you'), at least does not lessen the weight of this
impression. It would seem that vs 26 wants to express that the
hearers 'who are not of J's sheep' in some way yet belong to or
are connected with 'the other sheep of J who are not of the fold'.
There is, in fact, one feature common to both classes, viz. that
TCOV
neither as yet hear J's voice.
One might
venture the distinction:
the hearers of vs 26 are farther away from ever hearing J's voice
than the sheep spoken of in vs 16. The possibility of arriving at
hearing him, however, seems not to be excluded in the case of the
former. This is supported by vs 38, where the admonition 'believe
works etc.!' is surely not to be treated as merely rhetorical.
the allusion of vs 26 to vs 16 be accepted, it follows of course
the
If
2
Jn 10
the
that
'other
sheep'
538
33l
cannot be identified with the Gentile be-
lievers.
10
3
eyw vai 6 rcanjp iv
causes no astonishment
ness
so|isv.
at
The dictum
this point of
in all
its
the Gospel.
great-
The
unity of the Father and Son are so reiteratedly set forth in
various words and similes.
It has also been the attempt of the
present exposition from 15* onwards to point to the fundamental
importance of this statement of unity as the necessary condition
for an understanding of any and all discursive dicta of Jn.
It
will be unnecessary to enter into a discussion of the well-known
investigations of Dieterich regarding the idea of the unio mystica
between the Deity, the Father, and the Son. 1 The dictum Corp.
Herni I 6 of the unity of Nous, the Father and AOYOC, the Son,
commonly known. The Mandsean literature frequently
the idea of the spiritual unity of the Life and the Son or
of the highest manifestations of the Deity by whatever names
is
likewise
attests
they
may be
called.
Any influence from one or other system or
upon Jn is maintained neither by Dieterich nor by Bauer.
There is, however, one special point to be considered in con-
'religion'
nexion with Jn 10 3, vis. the question of the allusion here, as in
8
5
to a Divine Name.
This question has been put up by Professor Box, who has called attention to the ancient, mysterious
exclamation IJll ^tf and the use of h 5tf as a Divine Name recorded
1 >4,
in Pa-gs
Snkka 4 2 TB Sukka 45 a, 53 a.
'Abojj
8
,
M
,
X
Pirqa 'Abo]) 1 4 and TB Sukka 53 a preserve a strange dictum of R. Hillel the Elder in two different versions.
Pirqe 'Abo])
1
J
4 runs:
The meaning
is dark, but might perhaps be rendered thus:
If /
is
for
not
for
who
I
am
for
and
when
me,
me,
(i.e. God)
(man)
if
and
not
when
what
am
but
it
also
be
I,
now,
?,
myself,
may
is
rendered:
am
If
alone,
1
2
(God) do not own myself who owns me, and
2
I and if not now, when?
A. Dieterich-O.
further Bauer,
for
I
Not
to
myself,
able to do?
misses the
I
what am
ad
Weinreich, Eine Mithras liturgie* pp. 68, 155
loc. (JoJi.
Ev"
p.
f.
Vide
141).
mention the current Jewish rationalized translation
It I deal not
And if I be for my self alone what am I
will do for me?
And yet if not now when?* a translation that beyond all doubt
:
who
whole import of
the sentence.
'
2
Jn 10 5-38
332
TB
Sukka 53
a
nrtattn
mais rprrojs iprn bbn by Y
ift
SD 1518 DSI BS ban &o iss DS
3
There
a Baraifya.
They used to tell of Hillel the Elder that
rejoiced with the joy of the festival of [the house of]
is
is here, all is here, and if
water-drawing he said thus: 'If
is
when he
T
who
not here,
is
M. Sukka 4
SDS sw
swn
2
'n 838
3
Every day
T
here?'
pniaisi
n?
irain
nns D2& mran n
im ^s
ittis
(of the festival of SukkoJ))
altar saying: 'Oh, Lord, save,
A ni U'/M
to say:
(I and he?)
'
Oh, Lord,
do save!'
^ptt df
min^
'i
ban
.
.
.
553
they used to go round the
Y e hucta used
deliver!' but R.
The underlying meaning of R. Hillel's and R. Y ehuda's words
(which has been obscured by the Rabbinical tradition) seems to
based on the mystical belief that the Salvation
brought about through the union of the Holy One and
(his abode or presence on earth, e.g.V in the Temple).
men's sin the Holy One and his S e kina have been
e
R. Y hucta's dictum is
(result: the Temple destroyed).
be
explanation:
Father
Let the union of
V
(=
the
e
S ftina) and
was
to
be
v
his S'frind
Through
separated,
easiest of
'He'
(=
the
Heaven, the Holy One) bring about the Salvation!*
Hillel's words again would express some inner dialectical process
in the Divine mind regarding the separation of the Godhead from
in
his earthly
abode.
On
the hypothesis that Jn 103
utterance of J of the type of Iftl
the
Se fwia,
are united,
for
is
^8
a mystical self-predicatory
it would mean: in me (J)
is present, and nozv (in me) the Father and the S'fcina
and Salvation is brought about. (Cf. 1H, 12 2 .)
This would explain the hatred of the Jews and the accusations
that thou, being a man, makest
J:
blasphemy brought against
thyself
God
(833).
103438.
Here the argument
is
taken up as
if J
had merely
Vss 34, 35 are, indeed, scarcely Johannine
sonship.
in character.
36 38, on the other hand, may well be accounted
stated
his
In
genuine.
36
38,
it
is
view of the intimate connexion between
safe- to
34,
35
and
conclude, however, that also the former are
Jn 11
9,
10
-ll
2 5, 26
333
On the passage vide Bernard ad
Law'
vide above, p. 292.
'your
original.
loc.,
on the phrase
A
119, 10
mystical meaning lurks behind the literal meaning
of the words employed*. 1 Especially is this true of the last clause:
ou TO ^pw? ouy. SOT iv sv aouj>. The expression is analogous with
'i\
aX'/]6sia sv o|uv,
'^
/coo
ayd-iTf]
6so6 sv
OJJAV,
TOV Xoyov tbv stxov 00%
man, that
bjuv (j-svovta;
which is also spoken of as sv aotcj) 7T/]yr] oSaro? aXXojievoo etc.
But the specific meaning of this utterance as applied to the
context is to be understood by recalling the discussion of the
'spiritual time' in ch 7: the possession of the 'Light within' implies the inclusion into the Divine 'time-order', and this may be
viewed as a constant guidance in the zvay instituted by that timeorder.
Nothing from outside, from the world of 'night' can cause
the possessor of the light to fall. For extraneous parallels vide below
on 1235.
S-'^STS
sv
refers to the spiritual Life in
it
,
11
25
eyo)
e![u
'(]
aTroQavfl C'/peTcu, xal
For
alwva.
si? TOV
avaoraat? xai
life
pp 209
J's
may
it
'2 1
6 TutOTSDwy
<*].
si
S[JLS
xav
6
the thought of immortality (oo
to
Y)
Cwv xai TutOTSucDV sic s^s oa [XYJ aTroGdvfj
the idea of 'resurrection' and its relation to
TTOC?
suffice
to
|j//]
a7uo6dvi{])
or passing from death
on 5 2 4 29 above
refer to the excursus
The problem here is: what exactly is meant by
I am the resurrection and the Life. To an-
6.
self-predication:
swer the question
intimate
it
connexion,
is
only necessary to take into account
in the self-predication, of avdoTototg
(i)
and
the
COT/].
word avaotaotc the mind is focussed on the final consummation, the word Cw/j serves to underline that J's activity or
being is not concerned merely with any precise external happening
If
by
the
(such as the vivification of Lazarus regarded as a single miracle
or the resurrection at the Last Day or the resurrection of an individual on his Last Day), but that in J Life is always present, He
is (contains, unites in Him, includes, the whole spiritual Reality,
the Life from its earliest beginnings to its final consummation).
'Every one who lives, and believes in me (i. e. who has entered
through faith into J's world, ace. to 3 4 ft-) he shall never die
e. he shall never
(/'.
experience the state of the vsxpoi, the dead)',
but shall pass directly at the time of death into the Divine-Spi:
ritual Reality.
2
1
Bernard, The Gospel ace. io St.
3
Bernard
John ICC,
Everv one
excellently:
and a believer in me shall never die).
who
is
ii
p.
living
377.
(sc.
in
the heavenly
life)
may
It
'I
114M. 2
Jn
334
am
the
12*3
36
be observed that the Aramaic equivalent of the phrase
and the Life' most be S^W W^jp 55555.
resurrection
The expression
in
sively
term
the
Detrain Jn^ntl (vivification of the dead) used excluRabbinic phraseology gives no sense. For the use of
KFTQ^p we have the strong support of the Mandsean
sources.
The Mandsean term
Son
etc. is technical.
'Life'
as a
use, approximately corresponds
however here GR XIV 291 lof (Pet
-
y
am
inais
iss
for the
Godhead, the
as regards frequency
with the 'Father' of Jn.
Cf.
294 l6f
of
I
name
In Mandaaan literature
it,
-).
iisroy
55555
^n
55^n
"in
He
the Life, the Son of the Life, one, His Son,
55555
has sent
to thee.
114i rcatsp exactly corresponds to the Aramaic inception 55i55
(frequent in Rabbinic, Jewish mystical and Mandsean sources).
aoi on TJxooaa? ^oo (]WQ1B ^1 55555 ^D^tt). This pictures
so"/apicjTto
J's
unity with
His Father
in relation to prayer.
He
is
conscious
2
prayer being internally included in the Divine will. 11 4
of
eternal
even more emphasizes this
aspect
J's consciousness. The
1
Garvie 2 and Bernard 3
latter clause of this vs must, with Spitta
of
his
,
,
be accounted an addition.
12 2 3. Links up with ?6*-, quo vide. Out of the unity with
His Father J is the exponent of the complete accord with
12 2 4 2 7 Synoptic saying and
the Divine-Spiritual time-order.
4
Pauline
,
'Where
I
but
am
put
in
there also
the
my
Johannine
light
servant shall
of
spiritual
insight.
be', is a repetition
of the
Jn-ine emphasis of the inclusiveness of the Son of Man with regard
to the believers (vide above on 15 J 3S. 11 etc.), followed by the
2
aspect of inclusiveness in relation to the Father (cf. 5 3).
,
12
2 8.
The understanding
Glorify thy name.
of this prayer
demands the consideration
also of the fact that J carries (one might
even venture to say: is) the Divine Name. The father is glorified
The 'glorification' is here 5
in the glorification of his Name
J.
=
really
Jewish term. It means the establishment of God's ^TUD
(Hebrew) or 551p (Aramaic), being God's heavenly Glory, on earth
a
1
'-'
:|
'
Das Joh. Ev.
i
5
pp.
XXXI, 250
f.
The Beloved Disciple pp. 19, 128.
The Gospel ace. to St. John ICC ii p. 398, 399.
Cor 1536, Me 835, Mt 1039, Lk 9*4, 17 33.
Against Dalman, Jesits-Jesc/uia, p. 195 f.
Jn 1244-50
in
the
in^Dli)
Passion
the
12
.
3 1.
World'
3
TDD and
H^DIW
will
all in
J.,
.
With
the 'glorification' the
power of the
set at nought, vis. over those
is
The com-
be demonstrated to
and his lifting up in the experience of the
2
the Voice fr-om heaven' vide above on 537
of
On
1
believers
vide above on S5 8 and 103).
(= Jesus,
plete unification of
335
who
'Prince of the
are willing to hear
the Son's voice and unite with him (143). It is a judgement, i.e.
a divisive judgement, between those who continue their adherence
to
the
'Satan'
Prince
of the
and thereby also continue to be under the power
of the World. (For the distinction between the
World and the Ata(3oXoc, vide further Studies in
Here
20 of the Johannine Gospel, on 143 and 16 IT ) 4
the 'judgement' is conclusively seen in its consummate aspect: it
is not a final
contest between two powers, but a judgement on
account of complete severance from or reunion with the SpiritualDivine; hence, it has the two corresponding aspects of salvation
and self-condemnation.
12 3 2
On the double significance of this dictum reference
may be made to the discussion of 3 T 4 above.
1235,36. 'Sons of the Light' is an expression preserved especiThe expression is used
ally in Maudes an Literature: iTlinS tf^D,.
as an epithet of the inhabitants of the Divine world and frequently
occurs as an apposition to 'Uthras'. Cf. GR III 67 2 5 (Pet 71 6 ),
5 20234 (Pet 203 S), 20335 (Pet 204 H), VI 211" (pe t 21122),
IX 2 2362 (Pet 235 2 ),
246 8f (Pet 245 '9), GL 1 2 435 "f- (Pet
163 iO"D15i fcO'li? four men sons of Light, of celestial beings cf.
MLi 24", 833), /^ 44638 (Pet 30 I2 ), 448 10 (Pet 327), 449' (Pet
f.
33^5), 450) (Pet 35 3 f-), 4516 (pet 3516^ jf s 451 4
(Pet 43 '9 f-),
IJ
2
MLi Qolasta I x IS xvii 24 xxv 41 ', II xxxviii 715), xlix 84
As an epithet of the 'men of proved faitli, the believers, it is
used in MLi Qolasta I xxiii 36 8
For Mandsean parallels to the
Prince
of the
chk fj
.
.
X
-
:
.
,
,
.
general expressions 'walk in the Light', 'live in the Light', 'be of
the Light' vide
XI 25228_253 2 (/ta 251 6-13), 25529-53 (Pet
GR
2556
1
Notes
256
10),
1
3
The reading
(Pet
TO
'5
6'vou.a,
'7)
et
hence,
passim.
is
seen to be essential.
Contrast Pallis,
p. 29.
-
P. 222
3
On
f.
and 223 note i.
the conception of the
c
Prince of the world* (Sar ha Olam) im Jewish
3
2
mysticism vide Odeberg, j Enoch ch SO 08 notes, and Schlatter, Spr. u. PI.
i2i.
4 Ev., p.
4
Cf GR I 17 s // I'10 (Pet 15 2 ) N^x: WNJCND 'the falling Satan'.
,
Jn 1244-50
336
12445
contains
the
final
summary
of the doctrines of the
of Jn 1
12.
Every single utterance occurs in some
form or other in the preceding: the Unity with the Father, the
Son doing the Father's work, the Light and the Darkness, the
discourses
Belief,
Hearing
J's
words, Salvation- Judgement, Eternal
3553-22388
Life.
I
B
' 891? 51
Odeberg
The fourth gospel
'
615e
.V/-.-I
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
22 242 142
*
P
I
texi
sh'j
Ifei!
"*
.1
!
%!
4
',:'
"
K8610'66
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
22 242 142
Bettina Morello