The Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls: The ... - josephprestonkirk

ENNO E. POPKES 285
preexisting Logos manifests himself in the logoi of Scripture, which in
turn give witness of Jesus and find their fulfillment in the Logos incarnate.
7 Against this background we can also understand John 8:12 as an
interpretation of different motifs of light from the Old Testament, for
example, the motif from Deutero-Isaiah that the servant of God is the
light for the pagans (Isa 49:6) or that the word of God is the light of one’s
life (Ps 119:105; etc.). 8
This is only one example of many that show the literary fascination of
the Gospel of John. Yet it is precisely a passage like this that shows why
the Gospel is a literary masterpiece full of historical puzzles. In a fascinating
way the Gospel of John leads its readers into its narrative world.
However, it only gives a fragmentary insight into the historical contexts
from which it derives and the situation into which it wants to communicate.
Who is the author of this incomparable work? At what time and in
what place was it written? What tradition-historical backgrounds have
left their marks on its author? What social circumstances have influenced
the development of the Johannine community? For instance, can the
scathing polemic against the Jews lead to the conclusion that the Fourth
Gospel is testimony of a controversy between Judeo-Christians and other
Jews? Is the separation from the synagogal congregation mentioned in
John 9:22; 12:42–43; 16:2 a mark of the Johannine community at the
7. On the general hermeneutic of Scripture in the Gospel of John, see Andreas
Obermann, Die christologische Erfüllung der Schrift im Johannesevangelium: Eine Untersuchung
zur johanneischen Hermeneutik anhand der Schriftzitate (WUNT 2.83; Tübingen: Mohr
Siebeck, 1996), passim; Martin Hengel, “Die Schriftauslegung des 4. Evangeliums auf
dem Hintergrund der urchristlichen Exegese,” JBTh 4 (1989): 249–88. On particular
examples such as the modification of the motif of the iron serpent (Num 21:8–9) or
the quotation of Isa 6:9–10 about hardening, cf. Jörg Frey, “‘Wie Mose die Schlange
in der Wüste erhöht hat …’: Zur frühjüdischen Deutung der ‘ehernen Schlange’ und
ihrer christologischen Rezeption in Johannes 3,14f.,” in Schriftauslegung im antiken
Judentum und im Urchristentum (ed. M. Hengel and H. Löhr; WUNT 73; Tübingen:
Mohr Siebeck, 1994), 153–205, esp. 204–5; James H. Charlesworth, The Good and
Evil Serpent: The Symbolism and Meaning of the Serpent in the Ancient World (ABRL; New
York: Doubleday, 2006; John Painter, “The Quotation of Scripture and Unbelief in
John 12.36b–43,” in The Gospels and the Scriptures of Israel (ed. C. A. Evans and W. R.
Stegner (JSNTSup 104; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press 1994), 429–58.
8. On the creation of these direct or indirect associations of motifs, see, e.g.,
Richard J. Bauckham, “Qumran and the Fourth Gospel: Is There a Connection?” in
The Scrolls and the Scripture: Qumran Fifty Years After (ed. S. E. Porter and C. A. Evans;
JSPSup 26; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997), 267–79; Udo Schnelle, Das
Evangelium nach Johannes (THKNT 4; Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 1998,
154–45; Jörg Frey, “Heiden—Griechen—Gotteskinder,” in Die Heiden: Juden, Christen
und das Problem des Fremden (ed. R. Feldmeier and U. Heckel; WUNT 70; Tübingen:
Mohr Siebeck, 1994), 228–68, esp. 256–58.