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This monograph demonstrates that the Fourth Gospel is a result of highly Bartosz Adamczewski
creative, hypertextual reworking of the Acts of the Apostles. The detailed
reworking consists of around 900 strictly sequentially organized thematic, and
at times also linguistic correspondences between John and Acts. The strictly
sequential, hypertextual dependence on Acts explains John’s modifications of
ISBN 978-3-631-74893-0
VOL. 17
Bartosz Adamczewski
ISSN 2192-1857
ISBN 978-3-631-74893-0 (Print)
E-ISBN 978-3-631-75132-9 (E-PDF)
E-ISBN 978-3-631-75133-6 (EPUB)
E-ISBN 978-3-631-75134-3 (MOBI)
DOI 10.3726/b13686
© Peter Lang GmbH
Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften
Berlin 2018
All rights reserved.
Peter Lang – Frankfurt am Main ∙ Bern ∙ Bruxelles ∙ New York ∙
Oxford ∙ Warszawa ∙ Wien
All parts of this publication are protected by copyright. Any
utilisation outside the strict limits of the copyright law, without
the permission of the publisher, is forbidden and liable to
prosecution. This applies in particular to reproductions,
translations, microfilming, and storage and processing in
electronic retrieval systems.
This publication has been peer reviewed.
www.peterlang.com
Acknowledgements
5
Contents
Introduction������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 11
The Fourth Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels���������������������������������������������������� 11
Literary independence of the Fourth Gospel from
the Synoptic Gospels��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 12
Literary dependence of the Fourth Gospel on the Synoptic Gospels���������� 17
The Fourth Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles����������������������������������������������� 21
The Fourth Gospel and other writings���������������������������������������������������������������� 22
Date of composition����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 23
Sequential hypertextuality������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 24
7
2.8. Jn 4:1-42 (cf. Acts 8:1b-25)������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 63
2.9. Jn 4:43-54 (cf. Acts 8:26-40)���������������������������������������������������������������������������� 70
8
4.6. Jn 14:21-25 (cf. Acts 18:1-8)������������������������������������������������������������������������ 146
4.7. Jn 14:26-31 (cf. Acts 18:9-21)���������������������������������������������������������������������� 147
4.8. Jn 15:1-8 (cf. Acts 18:22-27g)���������������������������������������������������������������������� 149
4.9. Jn 15:9-17 (cf. Acts 18:27h-19:8)����������������������������������������������������������������� 151
4.10. Jn 15:18-27 (cf. Acts 19:9-16)���������������������������������������������������������������������� 153
4.11. Jn 16:1-15 (cf. Acts 19:17-20:2b)����������������������������������������������������������������� 155
4.12. Jn 16:16-24 (cf. Acts 20:2c-18a)������������������������������������������������������������������ 157
4.13. Jn 16:25-33 (cf. Acts 20:18b-31)������������������������������������������������������������������ 159
4.14. Jn 17 (cf. Acts 20:32-38)������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 161
9
Bibliography�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 213
Primary sources�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 213
Israelite-Jewish�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 213
Graeco-Roman������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 213
Early Christian: New Testament��������������������������������������������������������������������� 214
Secondary literature������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 214
10
Introduction
1 B. Adamczewski, The Gospel of the Narrative ‘We’: The Hypertextual Relationship of the
Fourth Gospel to the Acts of the Apostles (Peter Lang: Frankfurt am Main [et al.] 2010).
2 Id., The Gospel of Mark: A Hypertextual Commentary (EST 8; Peter Lang: Frankfurt
am Main [et al.] 2014), 31–197; id., The Gospel of Luke: A Hypertextual Commentary
(EST 13; Peter Lang: Frankfurt am Main [et al.] 2016), 35–204; id., The Gospel of
Matthew: A Hypertextual Commentary (EST 16; Peter Lang: Frankfurt am Main
[et al.] 2017), 29–201.
3 Id., Narrative ‘We’, 39–42. Cf. also id., Constructing Relationships, Constructing Faces:
Hypertextuality and Ethopoeia in the New Testament Writings (Peter Lang: Frankfurt
am Main [et al.] 2011), 159–162; id., Hypertextuality and Historicity in the Gospels
(EST 3; Peter Lang: Frankfurt am Main [et al.] 2013), 118–121.
11
acquaintance of the author of the Fourth Gospel with at last some of the Syn-
optic Gospels, especially the Gospel of Mark and possibly also the Gospel of
Luke.4 Therefore, the review of the present state of research on this subject will
be presented in two categories: (a) literary independence of the Fourth Gospel
from the Synoptic Gospels, including some kind of acquaintance of the author of
the Fourth Gospel with the Synoptic Gospels, and (b) literary dependence of the
Fourth Gospel on the Synoptic Gospels.
4 Cf. U. Schnelle, Einleitung in das Neue Testament (UTB 1830; 9th edn., Vandenhoeck
& Ruprecht: Göttingen 2017), 578–581, 593.
5 S. Mędala, Ewangelia według świętego Jana: Wstęp – przekład z oryginału – komentarz,
vol. 1, Rozdziały 1–12 (NKB NT 4/1; Edycja Świętego Pawła: Częstochowa 2010), 43.
6 G. Rojas-Flores, ‘From John 2.19 to Mark 15.29: The History of a Misunderstanding’,
NTS 56 (2010) 22–43 (esp. 36–42).
7 Ibid. 38–40.
12
Paul N. Anderson develops his ‘bi-optic’ model of both the Fourth Gospel
and the Marcan Gospel as reliable sources in the quest for the historical Jesus.8
In Anderson’s opinion, since some events (the calling of the disciples, the temple
incident, and the events related to the feeding of the multitude) are described as
cohering in John and dispersed in the Synoptics, the first edition of the Gospel
of John should be regarded as an independent witness of the Jesus tradition.9
However, the American scholar himself admits that ‘one could surmise that the
Fourth Gospel has harmonized other traditions into a whole’.10 Moreover, his
argument that ‘the fact that there are no identical similarities between John and
the Synoptics argues strongly against a derivative literary relationship in either
direction’11 is in fact rather weak because a derivative literary relationship does
not necessarily involve creating ‘identical similarities’.
In his recent article, Anderson postulates the existence of ‘some variability
between orality and literacy’ in the relationship between the Fourth Gospel and
the Synoptic Gospels,12 but on the other hand he claims that ‘the dependence on
Synoptics for the bulk of John’s material is unlikely in the extreme’.13 Anderson
also argues that the first edition of the Fourth Gospel was an augmentation of and
correction to the Gospel of Mark.14 However, the scholar’s claim that John’s place-
ment of the temple cleansing at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry is historically more
8 P. N. Anderson, ‘The Origin and Development of the Johannine Egō Eimi Sayings in
Cognitive-Critical Perspective’, JSHJ 9 (2011) 139–206 (esp. 167–187).
9 P. N. Anderson, ‘Incidents Dispersed in the Synoptics and Cohering in John: Dodd,
Brown, and Johannine Historicity’, in T. Thatcher and C. H. Williams (eds.), Engag-
ing with C. H. Dodd on the Gospel of John: Sixty Years of Tradition and Interpretation
(Cambridge University: Cambridge · New York 2013), 176–202 (esp. 184–200).
10 Ibid. 194.
11 Ibid. Cf. also id., ‘On “Seamless Robes” and “Leftover Fragments” – A Theory of Jo-
hannine Composition’, in S. E. Porter and H. T. Ong (eds.), The Origins of John’s Gospel
(JohSt 2; Brill: Leiden · Boston 2016), 169–218 (esp. 186, 197); id., ‘The Last Days of
Jesus in John: An Introduction to the Issues’, in P. N. Anderson, F. Just, and T. Thatcher
(eds.), John, Jesus, and History, vol. 3, Glimpses of Jesus through the Johannine Lens
(ECL 18; SBL: Atlanta 2016), 29–42 (esp. 30–32).
12 Id., ‘Seamless’, 184. Cf. also id., ‘Contributions of This Volume and the De-Johannifica-
tion of Jesus’, in P. N. Anderson, F. Just, and T. Thatcher (eds.), John, Jesus, and History,
vol. 3, 507–536 (esp. 531).
13 Id., ‘Seamless’, 191.
14 Ibid. 207–208. Cf. id., ‘Last Days’, 32–33.
13
plausible that its Marcan placing shortly before the arrest and trial of Jesus15 is
highly questionable.16
Hermann-Josef Stratomeier, considering both similarities and differences be-
tween Jn 18:28-40 and its synoptic parallels, has argued for the dependence of
this Johannine text on a pre-Johannine passion narrative, whose general outline
was similar to that of the postulated pre-Marcan passion narrative, but its de-
tailed content and wording was different from it.17
In the opinion of Peder Borgen, John’s use of pre-synoptic tradition resembles
Paul’s use of pre-synoptic tradition.18 However, in the logical construction of his
argument, the Norwegian scholar uncritically assumes the independence of the
Synoptic Gospels from Paul’s letters. Moreover, his argument that since Jn 13:16
has a parallel in Mt 10:24-25 and Jn 13:20 has a parallel in Mt 10:40, ‘the two
gospels probably drew on sayings of Jesus which were clustered together in the
tradition’19 is unconvincing because this phenomenon can also be explained by
the hypothesis of John’s systematic use of the Matthean Gospel. Likewise, the fact
that Jn 3:3.5 displays several agreements with Mt 18:3 (cf. Mk 10:15 par. Lk 18:17)
and it exceptionally contains the synoptic phrase ‘kingdom of God’ (and not the
usual Johannine phrase ‘eternal life’) is best explained not by Borgen’s hypothesis
that ‘John uses a traditional logion’,20 but by the hypothesis of John’s dependence
on the Gospel of Matthew and possibly also other Synoptic Gospels.
Tom Thatcher has argued that the complex pattern of similarities and differ-
ences between the Johannine story Jn 4:43-54 and the parallel synoptic saying
(Mk 6:4 parr.) and episodes (Mk 7:24-30 par. Mt 15:21-28; Lk 7:1-10 par. Mt 8:5-
13), if analysed in the context of first-century media culture, is best explained
by the hypothesis that the material in Jn 4:43-54 was not directly borrowed and
15 Id., ‘Seamless’, 208. This claim is significantly weakened in id., ‘Last Days’, 34.
16 Cf. J. Zumstein, ‘Story, Plot, and History in the Johannine Passion Narrative’, in P. N.
Anderson, F. Just, and T. Thatcher (eds.), John, Jesus, and History, vol. 3, 109–118 (esp.
111–112).
17 H.-J. Stratomeier, Jesus vor Pilatus: Eine Untersuchung zu Komposition, Traditionsge
schichte und Theologie von Joh 18,28-40 (Tectum: Marburg 2013), 45–51.
18 P. Borgen, ‘The Independence of the Gospel of John: Some Observations’, in id., The
Gospel of John: More Light from Philo, Paul and Archaeology: The Scriptures, Tradition,
Exposition, Settings, Meaning (NovTSup 154; Brill: Leiden · Boston 2014), 147–164
(esp. 150–155, 160–164).
19 Ibid. 155.
20 Ibid. 158.
14
copied from the Synoptic Gospels, but it was influenced by oral performances of
the parallel passages which can be found in the Synoptics.21
James D. G. Dunn is of the opinion that the absence of passages closely iden-
tical to those in the Synoptic Gospels is the decisive argument against John’s
knowledge of the Synoptic Gospels. Therefore, assuming without further proof
that John worked in a predominantly oral society and predominantly oral Chris-
tian community, Dunn postulates John’s use of the oral tradition concerning
Jesus.22 However, the British scholar passes over in silence the relatively long
strings of verbal agreement between, for example, Jn 12:8 and Mt 26:11, Jn 13:21
and Mt 26:21, Jn 18:39 and Mk 15:9, as well as Jn 19:2 and Mt 27:29. Moreover,
he notes that the Fourth Gospel shares its particular Gospel format (a passion
narrative with an extended introduction, beginning with John the Baptist and
climaxing in Jesus’ passion and resurrection) with the Gospel of Mark, although
John’s interest in Jesus as a revealer could easily have pushed him in the direction
of a form which is known from the apocryphal and Gnostic presentations of
Jesus, a fact which points to some acquaintance of John with the synoptic literary
framework.23
According to Yao Adingra Justin Kouamé, the text of Jn 3:3.5 may have been in
some contact with the linguistically similar text Mt 18:3, but the Johannine text
displays features of independence and originality.24
Stanley E. Porter argues that since a number of sections of the Gospel mate-
rial are unique to the Fourth Gospel, and the Fourth Gospel often differs from
the Synoptic Gospels in their common material, then even if the Fourth Gospel
is at times dependent on the synoptic or synoptic-like material, it is generally
not dependent on the same sources as the Synoptic Gospels are.25 However, the
scholar’s assumption that virtually every section of the Johannine synoptic-like
21 T. Thatcher, ‘The Rejected Prophet and the Royal Official (John 4,43-54): A Case Study
in the Relationship between John and the Synoptics’, in J. Verheyden [et al.] (eds.),
Studies in the Gospel of John and Its Christology, Festschrift G. Van Belle (BETL 265;
Peeters: Leuven · Paris · Walpole, Mass. 2014), 119–148 (esp. 143–148).
22 J. D. G. Dunn, Neither Jew nor Greek: A Contested Identity (Christianity in the Making 3;
William B. Eerdmans: Grand Rapids · Cambridge 2015), 203, 329.
23 Id., ‘John’s Gospel and the Oral Gospel Tradition’, in A. Le Donne and T. Thatcher (eds.),
The Fourth Gospel in First-Century Media Culture (LNTS 426; T&T Clark: London ·
New York 2011), 157–185 (esp. 160–162); id., Neither Jew, 203–206.
24 Y. A. J. Kouamé, Commencement d’un parcours: Une étude exégétique et théologique de
Jn 3,1-21 (TGST 216; Pontificia Università Gregoriana: Roma 2015), 163–178 (esp. 178).
25 S. E. Porter, John, His Gospel, and Jesus: In Pursuit of the Johannine Voice (William B.
Eerdmans: Grand Rapids · Cambridge 2015), 81–83.
15
material must have some hypothetical tradition or source behind it26 is highly
questionable.
In the opinion of Craig L. Blomberg, it can be argued that in at least ten cases
the Marcan version of Jesus’ sayings was dependent on pre-Johannine tradition.27
However, Blomberg’s arguments rely on merely intuitive claims, like the one that a
concise version of a proverb is more original than an elaborate one.28
Ulrich Busse argues that the differences between the Johannine accounts of the
cleansing of the temple and the baptism of Jesus and their synoptic counterparts
can be explained by pointing to John’s literary aims. On the other hand, according
to the German scholar the differences in wording between these Johannine and
synoptic accounts are too great to postulate verbal literary dependence. Therefore,
Busse argues for John’s acquaintance with the synoptic material in the oral form of
liturgical readings.29
Michael Labahn is known for his application of the theory of ‘secondary oral-
ity’ to the studies on the Fourth Gospel. In a recent article, the German scholar
argues that his hypothesis is confirmed by Jn 20:30 and by his analysis of the
ancient media world, which was apparently mainly an oral one. Moreover, an-
alysing the relationship between Jn 6 and the thematically corresponding ac-
counts in the Synoptic Gospels, Labahn argues that the differences in the distinct
settings and individual wordings show that that the relationship between these
texts is not directly a literary one.30
Michael Theobald has recently argued that the passion narrative of the Fourth
Gospel is based on a pre-Gospel passion narrative, which was significantly re-
worked by Mark, so that Mk 11:17c-e is redactionally reworked in comparison to
its more original version in Jn 2:16b-d.31 However, his argument is largely based
26 Cf. ibid. 82: ‘in a number of passages […] appears to reflect independent, common
tradition’, ‘utilizes a source’.
27 C. L. Blomberg, ‘The Sayings of Jesus in Mark: Does Mark Ever Rely on a Pre-Johannine
Tradition?’, in S. E. Porter and H. T. Ong (eds.), Origins, 81–98.
28 Cf. ibid. 87.
29 U. Busse, ‘Johannes und die Synoptiker: Der Beginn der johanneischen Leidensge
schichte im Formenkreis der Pseudepigraphie’, in M. Ebner, G. Häfner, and K. Huber
(eds.), Kontroverse Stimmen im Kanon (QD 297; Herder: Freiburg · Basel · Wien 2016),
180–227 (esp. 204–210).
30 M. Labahn, ‘“Secondary Orality” in the Gospel of John: A “Post-Gutenberg” Paradigm
for Understanding the Relationship between Written Gospel Texts’, in S. E. Porter and
H. T. Ong (eds.), Origins, 53–80 (esp. 72–79).
31 M. Theobald, ‘Stellt die johanneische Erzählung von der sogenannten “Tempelreini-
gung” Jesu (Joh 2,13-22) eine Relecture ihrer synoptischen Parallelen dar? Kontroverse
16
on the allegedly evident, but in fact highly questionable use of Zech 14:21 MT
in Jn 2:16d.32
in der Forschung – nicht im Text’, in M. Ebner, G. Häfner, and K. Huber (eds.), Kon-
troverse Stimmen, 228–260 (esp. 238–253).
32 Ibid. 232, 239–242.
33 U. C. von Wahlde, The Gospel and Letters of John, vol. 1, Introduction, Analysis, and
Reference (ECC; William B. Eerdmans: Grand Rapids · Cambridge 2010), 369–374.
34 S. A. Hunt, Rewriting the Feeding of Five Thousand: John 6.1-15 as a Test Case for
Johannine Dependence on the Synoptic Gospels (StBibLit 125; Peter Lang: New York
[et al.] 2011), esp. 281–283.
35 Z. Garský, Das Wirken Jesu in Galiläa bei Johannes: Eine strukturale Analyse der Inter-
textualität des vierten Evangeliums mit den Synoptikern (WUNT 2.325; Mohr Siebeck:
17
procedures of hierarchic denotative text analysis and latent semantic analysis.36
Accordingly, he described Johannine allegorical reworking of a given synoptic
text in terms of reworking of not all its elements, but rather its linguistically
defined ‘core’.37 Such a mathematically controlled way of analysing intertextual
transvalorization of another text is certainly better than using the rather vague
terms ‘quotation’, ‘allusion’, and ‘echo’, especially if ‘echo’ is defined as reproducing
neither the elements nor the structure of the pre-text.38 However, this proce-
dure can be applied to relatively small fragments of a given text, and its semantic
component cannot be strictly controlled. Therefore, analyses of larger textual
sequences remain more or less intuitive as concerns defining the main themes of
their constitutive elements (for example, ‘old’ vs. ‘new’).39
In his commentary on the Gospel of John, Johannes Beutler has argued for the
dependence of the Gospel of John on all three Synoptic Gospels, particularly in
the fragments concerning John the Baptist and some miracles (esp. Jn 4:46-54),
Jn 6, and the passion and resurrection narrative.40
According to Mark Jennings, Jn 13:31-33 is a thematic reversal of Mk 13:24-
27, Jn 13:33-38 is a thematical reversal of Mk 13:27-31, and Jn 14:1-3 is a the-
matical reversal of Mk 13:24-27; 13:1-2. In the opinion of the Australian scholar,
these correspondences, even if taken separately they are evidently rather weak,
taken cumulatively they could point to John’s knowledge of Mark at least from
memory.41 Jennings’s argument from the number of the postulated parallels is
certainly persuasive. However, the logic of considering a set of thematic oppo-
sitions as pointing to literary dependence can hardly be regarded as convincing,
unless the Fourth Gospel is interpreted as a kind of systematic correction or
parody of the Gospel of Mark.
Wendy E. S. North is of the opinion that John’s reworking of the thematically
corresponding Marcan and Lucan accounts in Jn 12:1-8; 20:3-10 is consistent with
his creative reworking of earlier materials in his Gospel. Therefore, she argues that
Tübingen 2012), esp. 297–298, 303–306. See my full review of this monograph in
ColT 83 (2013) no. 2, 224–227.
36 Z. Garský, Wirken, 44–77.
37 Ibid. 135–142.
38 Ibid. 34.
39 Cf. ibid. 148–150, 212, 231.
40 J. Beutler, Das Johannesevangelium: Kommentar (Herder: Freiburg · Basel · Wien 2013),
esp. 60.
41 M. Jennings, ‘The Fourth Gospel’s Reversal of Mark in John 13,31-14,3’, Bib 94 (2013)
210–236.
18
the hypothesis of John’s dependence on the Synoptic Gospels is more plausible
than the hypothesis of his independence from them.42
Manfred Lang has suggested that John marked his dependence on the synop-
tic material in Jn 6:10-11.13-15 with the use of the particle οὖν (‘so’).43
Tobias Nicklas has argued that the Johannine accounts Jn 5; 10:22-39 are not
simply literary borrowings, but rather ‘new inscenations’ of the thematically cor-
responding synoptic passages. In the opinion of the German scholar, John verba-
tim copied some elements of the synoptic accounts, but he also reorganized them,
placed them in new contexts, and supplemented them with new elements.44
John Painter, following C. K. Barrett, has noted that the Fourth Gospel begins
in a way which resembles that of the Gospel of Mark: with the noun ἀρχή, the
verb ἐγένετο, and a reference to John as sent by God. This fact is best explained
by the hypothesis of John’s familiarity with the Gospel of Mark.45 On the other
hand, Painter has argued that the Fourth Gospel is not a patchwork of fragments
of the Synoptic Gospels, and it may also include elements of oral tradition.46
James W. Barker has recently argued for John’s literary dependence on the Gos-
pel of Matthew, which was hitherto regarded as the least plausible candidate for
being one of John’s synoptic sources. In Barker’s opinion, the bipartite formula
concerning forgiving and retaining sins (Jn 20:23) is a reworking of the structurally
and thematically related bipartite Matthean formula concerning binding and loos-
ing (Mt 18:18), together with its Matthean redactional context concerning church
discipline (Mt 18). Likewise, in his opinion the scriptural quotation in Jn 12:15 was
in fact borrowed from Mt 21:5 because of the common pattern of similarities and
19
dissimilarities of Mt 21:5 and Jn 12:15 in comparison to Zech 9:9 LXX.47 However,
in his discussion of Matthew’s and John’s different attitudes to Samaria,48 the Amer-
ican scholar does not take into consideration the possibility of John’s use of Acts, in
which the mission in Samaria is an important element of the Lucan story.
In his recent article, Roland Bergmeier argues that numerous particular details
of various literary characters in the Fourth Gospel (Mary of Bethany, Nicode-
mus, etc.) were borrowed from the Synoptic Gospels.49
In the opinion of Michael Chung, John’s use of the literary technique of inter-
calation in Jn 12:1-2.3-8.9-11 reflects its Marcan use in the thematically corre-
sponding text Mk 14:1-2.3-9.10-11, a fact which points to John’s familiarity with
the literary form of the Marcan Gospel.50 Alas, Chung’s argument concerning
thematic correspondence between the curious Jewish crowd (Jn 12:9-11) and the
Jewish betrayer Judas (Mk 14:10-11)51 is rather unconvincing.
Chris Keith has recently presented an interesting argument for John’s literary
dependence on the Synoptic Gospels. The British scholar has argued that the in-
tentionally competitive rhetoric of the ‘colophons’ Jn 20:30-31; 21:24-25 suggests
that their author was familiar with earlier, similar, book-size textualizations of the
Jesus tradition, which were most probably known to him in the form of the Syn-
optic Gospels.52
In his recently completed and translated commentary on the Gospel of John,
Jean Zumstein has argued that the dependence of John on Mark and possibly also
Luke does not resemble that of Matthew or Luke on Mark, but it should rather be
explained in terms of literary hypertextuality. In the opinion of the Swiss scholar,
the implied author of the Fourth Gospel assumed the implied reader’s know
ledge of at least the Gospel of Mark.53
20
Udo Schnelle argues that the common literary genre of the gospel, as well as
composition analogies (especially in the passion narrative) point to John’s ac-
quaintance with the Synoptic Gospels, especially the Gospels of Mark and Luke.
However, according to the German scholar, John used the synoptic traditions
in a highly selective way, reworking them according to his theological aims and
supplementing them with other traditions.54
21
although, contrary to Köstenberger’s intention to present John as an eyewitness of
Jesus’ life,57 it seriously undermines the historicity of the Johannine story of Jesus.
Petrus Maritz has recently argued that John used not only the Synoptic Gospels
(including the Gospel of Luke), but also the Acts of the Apostles.58 However, his ar-
guments that the motif of Judas’ greed and ‘fall’ (Jn 12:6) originates from Acts 1:18,
and that the allegedly planned stoning of Lazarus (Jn 12:9-11) reflects the stoning
of Stephen (Acts 7:54-60)59 are rather weak. More plausible is Maritz’s structural
argument that the narrative shift in the Fourth Gospel: John the Baptist → Peter →
the disciple whom Jesus loved reflects the similar narrative shift in Acts: Peter →
James → Paul.60 Likewise quite plausible is the argument that the story of the Sa-
maritan woman (Jn 4:1-42) reflects the importance of Samaria in Acts.61 Therefore,
although Maritz’s arguments for John’s dependence on the Acts of the Apostles are
at times quite weak, some of his intuitions are certainly worthy of notice.
The suggestions presented by these scholars, although evidently not fully de-
veloped, commonly point to the fact that there are some intriguing correspon-
dences in the order of themes and/or geographic locations in the Fourth Gospel
and the Acts of the Apostles. The present monograph is devoted to an in-depth
analysis of such preliminary suggestions.
57 Id., A Theology of John’s Gospel and Letters (BTNT; Zondervan: Grand Rapids 2009),
561–563; id., ‘John’s Transposition’, 219–220.
58 P. Maritz, ‘Judas Iscariot: Ironic Testimony of the Fallen Disciple in John 12,1-11’, in
J. Verheyden [et al.] (eds.), Studies, 289–316 (esp. 312–313).
59 Ibid. 312.
60 Ibid.
61 Ibid. 312–313.
62 For arguments suggesting this direction of literary dependence, see U. Schnelle, ‘Die
Reihenfolge der johanneischen Schriften’, NTS 57 (2011) 91–113 (esp. 102–110); id.,
Einleitung, 517–522.
22
The same, mutatis mutandis, refers to the dependence of the Fourth Gospel on
the Pauline and post-Pauline letters, the writings of Josephus, and the Synoptic
Gospels.63
Date of composition
The terminus a quo of the composition of the Fourth Gospel is determined, as is
consistently argued in this commentary, by its literary dependence on all three
Synoptic Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The Gospel of Mark was written
after the writings of Flavius Josephus, so not earlier than c. ad 100–110, maybe
even as late as c. ad 130–135.64 The Lucan Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles
were most likely written c. ad 120–140.65 The Gospel of Matthew was probably
written c. ad 130–150, most likely c. ad 145–150.66
The terminus ad quem of the composition of the Fourth Gospel is constituted
by its use in Justin’s Apologia I67 (cf. 1 Apol. 61.4-5 and Jn 3:3-5, etc.),68 which was
63 For a similar use of other writings in the Synoptic Gospels, see my recent hypertextual
commentaries on the Gospels of Mark, Luke, and Matthew.
64 Cf. B. Adamczewski, Mark, 110 n. 12, 158–159 n. 140, 202 n. 17.
65 As concerns the Gospel of Luke, see e.g. C. Mount, Pauline Christianity: Luke-Acts and
the Legacy of Paul (NovTSup 104; Brill: Leiden · Boston · Köln 2002), 168: sometime
before about ad 130; B. Adamczewski, Luke, 23: c. ad 120–140. As concerns the Acts
of the Apostles, see e.g. W. O. Walker, Jr., ‘The Portrayal of Aquila and Priscilla in
Acts: The Question of Sources’, NTS 54 (2008) 479–495 (esp. 495): in the middle of the
second century ad; R. I. Pervo, Acts: A Commentary, ed. H. W. Attridge (Hermeneia;
Fortress: Minneapolis 2009), 5, 20: c. ad 115; id., ‘Acts in the Suburbs of the Apologists’,
in T. E. Phillips (ed.), Contemporary Studies in Acts (Mercer University: [s.l.] 2009),
29–46 (esp. 46): c. ad 110–130; K. Backhaus, ‘Zur Datierung der Apostelgeschichte: Ein
Ordnungsversuch im chronologischen Chaos’, ZNW 108 (2017) 212–258 (esp. 258):
c. ad 100–130.
66 Cf. B. Adamczewski, Matthew, 27.
67 The possible use of the Fourth Gospel in the writings of Ignatius of Antioch and Papias
is not taken into consideration here because of the uncertainty of the dating of these
writings. All other writings which allude to or quote the Fourth Gospel are usually
dated to the second half of the second century ad or later. Cf. T. Nagel, Die Rezeption
des Johannesevangeliums im 2. Jahrhundert: Studien zur vorirenäischen Aneignung und
Auslegung des vierten Evangeliums in christlicher und christlich-gnostischer Literatur
(ABG 2; Evangelische: Leipzig 2000), 473–475.
68 See ibid. 94–116; C. E. Hill, ‘“The Orthodox Gospel”: The Reception of John in the
Great Church prior to Irenaeus’, in T. Rasimus (ed.), The Legacy of John: Second-Century
Reception of the Fourth Gospel (NovTSup 132; Brill: Leiden · Boston 2010), 233–300
23
in turn composed in ad 153 or shortly after that date.69 The palaeographic dating
of the earliest known manuscripts of the Fourth Gospel can only suggest that this
Gospel was composed before the end of the second century ad.70
Accordingly, the Fourth Gospel was probably written c. ad 140–155, most
likely c. ad 150–155.
Sequential hypertextuality
In my earlier monograph concerning the relationship between the Fourth Gos-
pel and the Acts of the Apostles, I argued that this relationship can best be ex-
plained in terms of sequentially arranged, hypertextual reworking of the Acts
of the Apostles in the Fourth Gospel.71 Some recent studies on the relationship
between the Fourth Gospel and the Old Testament reveal that the idea of the
Fourth Gospel being a hypertext of earlier writings gradually becomes persua-
sive to biblical scholars.
In his recent study on the relationship between the Fourth Gospel and the
Greek Pentateuch, Ronald D. Peters first presents Gérard Genette’s concept of
literary hypertextuality72 and then proceeds to argue that John’s conscious and
deliberate use of the noun σημεῖα creates a hyperlink between the Fourth Gospel
and the Septuagint.73 Although Peters’s study is mainly devoted to the use of the
(esp. 252–265); P. F. Bartholomä, The Johannine Discourses and the Teaching of Jesus
in the Synoptics: A Contribution to the Discussion Concerning the Authenticity of Jesus’
Words in the Fourth Gospel (TANZ 57; Francke: Tübingen 2012), 12–13.
69 Cf. Justin, Apologie pour les chrétiens, ed. C. Munier (SC 507; Cerf: Paris 2006), 28.
70 For the dating of the manuscript 𝔓52, which seems to be the earliest preserved manu-
script of the Fourth Gospel, see B. Nongbri, ‘The Use and Abuse of 𝔓52: Papyrological
Pitfalls in the Dating of the Fourth Gospel’, HTR 98 (2005) 23–48 (here: 46): ‘any serious
consideration of the window of possible dates for 𝔓52 must include dates in the later
second and early third centuries’; D. Barker, ‘The Dating of New Testament Papyri’,
NTS 57 (2011) 571–582 (here: 575): ‘a date of II or III could be assigned’. The manu-
script 𝔓52 is dated to 125–175, but probably to the second half of the second century,
by P. Orsini and W. Clarysse, ‘Early New Testament Manuscripts and Their Dates:
A Critique of Theological Palaeography’, ETL 88 (2012) 443–474 (esp. 462, 466, 470).
71 B. Adamczewski, Narrative ‘We’, 39–43.
72 According to Genette, hypertextuality can be defined as any relationship uniting a
text B (which is in such a case called hypertext) to an earlier text A (which is called
hypotext), upon which it grafts itself in a manner that is not that of commentary:
G. Genette, Palimpsestes: La littérature au second degré (Seuil: [s.l.] 1982), 13.
73 R. D. Peters, ‘Σημεῖα, Signs, as a Hyperlink between the Fourth Gospel and the Greek
Pentateuch’, in L. K. Fuller Dow, C. A. Evans, and A. W. Pitts (eds.), The Language and
24
notion of signs in both the Pentateuch and the Fourth Gospel, he also interest-
ingly suggests the presence of at least one element of sequentially arranged hy-
pertextuality between the Fourth Gospel and the Greek Pentateuch. Peter argues
that just as the Fourth Gospel begins with an allusion to Gen 1:1 LXX, it ends in
Jn 20:30-31 and also Jn 21 with an echo of the obituary of Moses, who did signs
and wonders (Deut 34:10-12 LXX).74
In a somewhat different way, Brian N. Peterson has argued that the general
thematic structure of the Fourth Gospel reflects the general thematic structure of
the Book of Ezekiel.75 Peterson does not use the notion of sequentially arranged
hypertextuality, but his argument can be described in terms of postulating John’s
sequential hypertextual use of the Book of Ezekiel.
It is interesting to note that in his review of Peterson’s book, Pieter de Vries
agrees with Peterson’s main thesis that John structured his gospel around the
four visions of Ezekiel, so that the macrostructure of Ezekiel had a formative in-
fluence on the Fourth Gospel.76 On the other hand, Wil Rogan’s review of Peter-
son’s book is much more negative. Rogan argues that Peterson simply juxtaposes
texts from John and Ezekiel, generalizes elements of both texts, posits a parallel,
and on that basis asserts literary dependence. In Rogan’s view, Peterson’s parallels
are too general to function as proofs of John’s literary dependence particularly
on Ezekiel. Moreover, Rogan argues that the hypothesis of literary dependence
should be based not on the mere existence of parallels, but on their function in
the later text, in this case in the Fourth Gospel.77
These conflicting reviews show that the hypotheses of the existence of a sequen-
tially arranged, hypertextual relationship between the Fourth Gospel and some
earlier texts can be persuasive to some scholars, but unconvincing to others. In
fact, in modern biblical scholarship high level of ‘visibility’ of references to other
texts (defined as quotations, allusions, and echoes, according to the diminishing
Literature of the New Testament, Festschrift S. E. Porter (BibInt 150; Brill: Leiden ·
Boston 2017), 371–397 (esp. 374–377, 385–395).
74 Ibid. 394.
75 B. N. Peterson, John’s Use of Ezekiel: Understanding the Unique Perspective of the Fourth
Gospel (Fortress: Minneapolis 2015).
76 P. de Vries, Review of B. N. Peterson, John’s Use of Ezekiel: Understanding the Unique
Perspective of the Fourth Gospel (Fortress: Minneapolis 2015), RBL 01/2017 [https://
www.bookreviews.org/pdf/11199_12447.pdf].
77 W. Rogan, Review of B. N. Peterson, John’s Use of Ezekiel: Understanding the Unique
Perspective of the Fourth Gospel (Fortress: Minneapolis 2015), RBL 12/2017 [https://
www.bookreviews.org/pdf/11199_12457.pdf].
25
level of ‘visibility’) is usually taken as a token of their communicational signifi-
cance and authorial intention.78 However, low level of ‘visibility’ of intertextual
references does not necessarily mean that they are less significant or less intended
by the author, even if in such cases the possibility of demonstrating their existence
and meaning with a high degree of scholarly certainty is much more difficult. In
fact, scholarly experience with the interpretation of literary texts shows that an
analysis of covert allusive structures, which were expressed with the use of barely
recognizable, subtle evocations, but in a structurally organized way, may be much
more important for discovering the overall meaning of the text, as well as the au-
thorial intention behind it, than an analysis of clearly ‘visible’, but textually isolated
quotations.79
Wil Rogan is certainly right in arguing that in order to postulate the existence
of a hypertextual relationship to an earlier text, the impact of this earlier text on
the later text must be demonstrated. However, Rogan is wrong in suggesting that
such impact must be a part of the communicative intention of the author of the
later text. In fact, the creation of a literary, even quite loosely planned reworking
of an earlier text usually leaves some unconsciously left traces, such as logical
inconsistences, surprising features, etc.
Therefore, in the analysis of the postulated, sequentially organized, hypertex-
tual relationship between the Fourth Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles sev-
eral criteria for detecting such a relationship should be taken together into due
consideration. In line with the results of previous research on the phenomenon
of intertextuality in biblical writings, the following ten criteria should be regard-
ed as particularly important: (a) accessibility of the postulated hypotext to the
author of the hypertext, (b) common order of the postulated correspondenc-
es between the hypertext and the hypotext, (c) density of the postulated corre-
spondences, (d) thematic similarity of the corresponding fragments, (e) verbal
similarity of the corresponding fragments, (f) distinctiveness of the postulated
correspondences for both texts, (g) probable intended function of the postu-
lated correspondences, (h) surprising features in the later text caused by the
postulated correspondences to the earlier text, (i) significance of the postulated
correspondences for the explanation of the later text, and (j) analogy with the
78 Cf. e.g. P. Foster, ‘Echoes without Resonance: Critiquing Certain Aspects of Recent
Scholarly Trends in the Study of the Jewish Scriptures in the New Testament’, JSNT 38.1
(2015) 96–111 (esp. 109).
79 Cf. E. H. Gerber, The Scriptural Tale in the Fourth Gospel: With Particular Reference
to the Prologue and a Syncretic (Oral and Written) Poetics (BibInt 147; Brill: Leiden ·
Boston 2017), 71–79.
26
procedures of literary reworking used in other writings composed in the same
literary milieu and at roughly the same time.80
The main aim of this monograph consists in analysing the details of the se-
quential hypertextual reworking of the Acts of the Apostles in the Fourth Gospel.
Therefore, allusions to other works in the Fourth Gospel will only be discussed
here in a selective way, in order not to overload the analysis with mentioning all
possible intertextual references to other writings.
80 For a discussion of these and similar criteria, see e.g. R. B. Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the
Letters of Paul (Yale University: New Haven · London 1989), 29–32; D. R. MacDonald,
‘A Categorization of Antetextuality in the Gospels and Acts: A Case for Luke’s Imitation
of Plato and Xenophon to Depict Paul as a Christian Socrates’, in T. L. Brodie, D. R.
MacDonald, and S. E. Porter (eds.), The Intertextuality of the Epistles: Explorations in
Theory and Practice (NTMon 16; Sheffield Phoenix: Sheffield 2006), 211–225 (esp. 212);
B. Adamczewski, Luke, 24–32.
27
Another random document with
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Giovane che fin da’ suoi tempi e da lui e da altri prestantissimi
uomini se ne gridasse all’abolizione.
L’universale delirio per questi giuochi giadiatorj, l’affluenza del
pubblico, l’intervento del principe e de’ magistrati, la descrizione di
queste pugne e l’interessamento dovunque ad esse per parte d’ogni
classe di persone, non escluso il sesso che suolsi appellare gentile,
io dirò meglio colla viva dipintura che ne fa l’illustre poeta tedesco
Federico Halm, ossia, per togliergli il velo della pseudonimia lacerato
non ha guari da morte, il barone Münch Bellinghausen, nella sua
tragedia Il Gladiatore di Ravenna, la quale abbiamo la fortuna
d’avere egregiamente recata in italiani versi da quel chiarissimo
letterato che è il prof. dottor Giuseppe Rota:
. . . . . . . pectusque jacentis
Virgo modesta jubet, converso pollice, rumpi [143]
Non io di sferza
Nè di buone parole a te mi parco:
Tu dunque bada a farmi onor: m’intendi?
Impassibile mostrati e sicuro:
La coscïenza di vittoria è mezza
Già la vittoria: tieni gli occhi agli occhi
Del tuo rivale e dove intenda avverti
Pria ch’ei muova la man.
TUMELICO.
Lo so, il so bene,
GLABRIONE.
TUMELICO.
E qual?
GLABRIONE.
Nel caso....
Intendi ben.... ciò non sarà, ma pure
Esser potria.... nel caso che abbattuto,
Gravemente ferito.... egli è un supposto...
Tu ti sentissi, allor fa di cadere
Sovra il manco ginocchio e fuor protesa
La destra gamba e del sinistro braccio
Fatto puntello, declinato indietro,
Grazïoso a vedersi e pittoresco,
Statti aspettando il colpo estremo [144].
Talvolta il popolo era tanto feroce che dava tumultuosi segni
d’impazienza quando il combattimento durava un po’ più dell’usato,
senza che alcuno dei due campioni fosse rimasto ucciso o ferito.
V’eran tuttavia degli intervalli di riposo in queste lotte di gladiatori e si
chiamavano deludia: Orazio usò nell’Epistola XIX la frase deludia
posco, per dire chieggo un armistizio, togliendola a prestanza dallo
stile gladiatorio e dall’anfiteatro.
La presenza dell’imperatore faceva d’ordinario accordare la vita al
vinto, e fu ricordato come un esempio di crudeltà il fatto di Caracalla,
che a Nicomedia, in uno spettacolo gladiatorio, avesse licenziato
coloro che eran venuti ad implorarne la vita, sotto pretesto
d’interrogarne il popolo; lo che si ritenne quanto l’ordine di trucidarli.
Byron, l’immortale poeta del Corsaro, di Lara e di Don Juan, nel
Pellegrinaggio di Childe-Harold, dinnanzi al capo d’opera di Ctesilao,
il Gladiatore morente, da lui veduto in Roma, e del quale Plinio il
Vecchio aveva detto che l’artefice vulneratum deficientem fecit in
quo possit intelligi quantum restat animæ [145], così lo descrisse e gli
prestò tal sentimento da sembrare che le barbare orde settentrionali
e le sventure tutte piombate poi sull’Italia e Roma, non altro fossero
che la giusta espiazione del sangue sparso da’ poveri e innocenti
prigionieri di guerra condannati in sollazzo pubblico a’ cruenti
spettacoli dell’Anfiteatro.
Così alla meglio tento di rendere in italiano i bellissimi versi inglesi: