Johannine Prologue
In antiquity the use of bottom-of-page footnotes was unknown, so any remarks an author wished to make upon a text he was quoting simply went right into the flow of the text he was using. Quotation marks, and indeed punctuation of any kind was also unknown. This situation leads to some intriguing interpretive problems, which can be readily exemplified by the so-called Johannine Prologue, the first eighteen verses of the Fourth Gospel.
The Prologue has been called an overture (Heitmuller, and also Bowen), and this apt term captures the dramatic nature of the Prologue, and its relationship to wahat follows much better than "introduction" or "preface". That the Prologue can stand on its own was recognized by Harnack (1892), who did not think that verses 1-18 were oiriginally part of the gospel at all. Be that as it may, the literary integity of the Prologue is evident. As to the literary character, it seems to be a myth of some sort at first glance, because it speaks of a divine being's life and destiny. A strong dose of Gnostic influence is detectable, as are comments or clarifications inserted by a Christian (I will say the Evangelist himself) to explain the text or to score polemical points against followers of John the Baptist.
Let's look at the text, divided up as Rudolf Bultmann has it in his commentary on Gs Jn..
John.1
[1] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He was in the beginning with God; [3] all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. [4] In him was life, and the life was the light of men. [5] The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
[6] There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. [7] He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him. [8] He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light.
[9] The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world.
[10] He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. [11] He came to his own home, and his own people received him not. [12] But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God;
[13] who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
[14] And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.
[15] (John bore witness to him, and cried, "This was he of whom I said, `He who comes after me ranks before me, for he was before me.'")
[16] And from his fulness have we all received, grace upon grace.
[17] For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. [18] No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.
The underlined parts are the comments inserted by the author. The plain text is the original cultic-liturgical petry, or we might say, hymn. It seems that the hymn, which to us is far from clear, was well-known to the community for whom the gospel was composed, and so the theme of the Logos being made incarnate, and his/its pre-existence, was nothing obscure and needed no explanation. What did need explanation was the position of JBap vis a vis the Incarnate Word (=Jesus Christ). in case anyone should think otherwise, the Evangelist stresses that JBap "was not the light", and that JBap himself acknowledged that Jesus "ranks before me" and was pre-existent.
With JBap spoeaking in verse 15 we might think that his discourse continues right to the end.I don't think that is right. JBap's confession must end where indicated by the quotation marks (which of course did not exist in the original). What follows in verses 17 and 18 are more comments and explanations by the Evangelist.
Though of course and thing like a reconstruction of the orginal hymn without the Evangelist's commentary is highly speculative, let's see how it looks by itself.
Johannine Prologue: The Proto-Gnostic Hymn
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 through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.
In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world.
He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not.
He came to his own home, and his own people received him not.
But to all who received him, he gave power to become children of God;
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.
And from his fulness have we all received grace upon grace.
(I have italicized the catch-words linking the verses of each couplet.)
The Prologue has been called an overture (Heitmuller, and also Bowen), and this apt term captures the dramatic nature of the Prologue, and its relationship to wahat follows much better than "introduction" or "preface". That the Prologue can stand on its own was recognized by Harnack (1892), who did not think that verses 1-18 were oiriginally part of the gospel at all. Be that as it may, the literary integity of the Prologue is evident. As to the literary character, it seems to be a myth of some sort at first glance, because it speaks of a divine being's life and destiny. A strong dose of Gnostic influence is detectable, as are comments or clarifications inserted by a Christian (I will say the Evangelist himself) to explain the text or to score polemical points against followers of John the Baptist.
Let's look at the text, divided up as Rudolf Bultmann has it in his commentary on Gs Jn..
John.1
[1] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He was in the beginning with God; [3] all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. [4] In him was life, and the life was the light of men. [5] The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
[6] There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. [7] He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him. [8] He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light.
[9] The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world.
[10] He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. [11] He came to his own home, and his own people received him not. [12] But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God;
[13] who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
[14] And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.
[15] (John bore witness to him, and cried, "This was he of whom I said, `He who comes after me ranks before me, for he was before me.'")
[16] And from his fulness have we all received, grace upon grace.
[17] For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. [18] No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.
The underlined parts are the comments inserted by the author. The plain text is the original cultic-liturgical petry, or we might say, hymn. It seems that the hymn, which to us is far from clear, was well-known to the community for whom the gospel was composed, and so the theme of the Logos being made incarnate, and his/its pre-existence, was nothing obscure and needed no explanation. What did need explanation was the position of JBap vis a vis the Incarnate Word (=Jesus Christ). in case anyone should think otherwise, the Evangelist stresses that JBap "was not the light", and that JBap himself acknowledged that Jesus "ranks before me" and was pre-existent.
With JBap spoeaking in verse 15 we might think that his discourse continues right to the end.I don't think that is right. JBap's confession must end where indicated by the quotation marks (which of course did not exist in the original). What follows in verses 17 and 18 are more comments and explanations by the Evangelist.
Though of course and thing like a reconstruction of the orginal hymn without the Evangelist's commentary is highly speculative, let's see how it looks by itself.
Johannine Prologue: The Proto-Gnostic Hymn
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 through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.
In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world.
He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not.
He came to his own home, and his own people received him not.
But to all who received him, he gave power to become children of God;
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.
And from his fulness have we all received grace upon grace.
(I have italicized the catch-words linking the verses of each couplet.)
posted by SkipChurch at
12:59 PM
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