"Lamb of God" in the Gospel of John

Extracted text from Antalya_Mar_2014.pdf:

and soteriology in the Gospel of John

 occurs twice in John: Jhn 1:29: , . RSV: The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! Jhn 1:36: ... , . RSV: and he looked at Jesus as he walked, and said, Behold, the Lamb of God!

Lamb in Turkmen can be translated as: guzy = a small lamb, less than a year old, mostly up to six months tokly = a Turkmen technical term for a lamb of approximately one year used frequently in the OT (Exo, Lev etc) janly = a more general term for sacrificial animal

guzy

tokly or janly

The 1994 NT in Turkmen uses guzy in Jhn 1:29 and 1:36. In the revision this was changed into janly . Some readers had interpreted guzy as a small, cuddly animal and Lamb of God as the one loved by God. Because the team thought that John talked about a sacrifice, the text was changed to janly : Jesus was Gods sacrifice (tokly was considered to be a too technical term).

The secondary literature on these verses indeed often interprets lamb in Jhn 1:29 and 1:36 as some kind of sacrifice: either as the Passover lamb, or in terms of the binding of Isaac in Gen 22, the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement as in Lev 16, the daily tamid offering in the Tabernacle), or Isa 53:7. It is almost always taken for granted that the words refer to atonement or expiation. My question is: does John really use in the sense of sacrifice and is atonement in view here?

Methodology

1. It is important to distinguish between the traditions the New Testament authors used and developed to express Jesus salvific role (each in his own way) on the one hand, and ideas that have emerged in later, postbiblical theology on the other. 2) We need to avoid the trap of looking at single lexemes, isolating them from their context and filling them with theological content even before we have considered the context.

Methodology

3. We will look at the evidence in the most logical order: from the Greek of John, back to the Greek of other NT authors, back to the Greek-speaking Jewish world (e.g. LXX), and then either back to the Hebrew OT or to nonJewish Greek sources.

Related terms in the Gospel of John (sheep) in Jhn 2:14-15: ... , ... RSV: (14) In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, (15) And making a whip of cords, he drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple; and he poured out the coins of the moneychangers and overturned their tables.

Related terms in the Gospel of John (sheep) in Jhn 10 (passim: chapter on the Good Shepherd) Jhn 21:16-17: ... . RSV: (16) A second time he said to him, Simon, son of John, do you love me? He said to him, Yes, Lord; you know that I love you. He said to him, Tend my sheep. (17) He said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, Do you love me? And he said to him, Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you. Jesus said to him, Feed my sheep.

Related terms in the Gospel of John only once in: Jhn 21:15: . RSV: When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? He said to him, Yes, Lord; you know that I love you. He said to him, Feed my lambs. Conclusion: the related terms in John do not refer to Jesus.

Related terms in the rest of the New Testament

Act 8:32 (= Isa 53:7): / , / ... RSV: Now the passage of the scripture which he was reading was this: As a sheep led to the slaughter or a lamb before its shearer is dumb, so he opens not his mouth.

Related terms in the rest of the New Testament The quotation in Acts 8:32 follows verbatim the LXX translation. Isa 53:7 refers to the total submission and endurance of the suffering servant (whose identity is still under discussion among exegetes). Acts mentions the divine necessity of Jesus suffering repeatedly, often in double formulas that mention both suffering and resurrection, e.g. Act 17:3 it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead. In Act 8:32 the quotation of Isa 53:7 can be read as a reference to Jesus death or suffering.

Related terms in the rest of the New Testament

1Pe 1:19: (18) ... , , 19 , RSV (18) You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your fathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, (19) but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

Cf the expression used in the LXX: (e.g. Exo 29:38) RSV Now this is what you shall offer upon the altar: two lambs a year old day by day continually.

Related terms in the rest of the New Testament

1Pe 1:19:
Cf the expression used in the LXX (e.g. Exo 29:38, RSV Now this is what you shall offer upon the altar: two lambs a year old day by day continually.) Christs blood is compared with (not identified with) the blood of a perfect lamb OT offering: ... .

For the interpretation of Jhn 1:29,36 neither the immediate context the Jhn, nor the other occurrences in the NT are helpful. Various interpretative solutions for Jhn 1:29,36 have been given: 1) the lamb as mentioned in Isa 53 (cf Act 8:32) 2) the lamb as the Passover lamb

3. the lamb as referring to an OT sacrifice a variety of options belong to this category
4. the lamb as the Apocalyptic lamb

1) Lamb of God as the Apocalyptic lamb e.g. Rev 6:16: They called out to the mountains and to the rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the eyes of the one who sits on the throne and from the anger of the Lamb! (TEV)

the lamb of God is apocalyptic leader, Messiah as in Revelation 1) Revelation uses and not 2) Lamb is the most important Christological title for Christ in Revelation, whereas occurs only twice in John 3) combination with the genitive does not occur in Rev (there is no )

2) lamb as OT sacrifice (LXX termonilogy)

a) Lev 16: Day of Atonement: animals involved: , and 2 The carrying away of sins: in Lev 16 expressed with and (in Jhn with ) b) Gen 22: binding of Isaac: / , no removal of sins c) sin/purification offering ( in Lev 4:32): In neither of these instances the term is used.

2) lamb as OT sacrifice (LXX termonilogy)

When is used as in

d)

the daily offering ( in Exo 29:38-39, Num 28:3), which is in LXX,

there is no removal of sins (as one would expect if it is assumed the text refers to the death of Christ)

3) lamb as the Passover lamb Fits in with other details in the Gospel of John (e.g. only in John Jesus is killed at the moment of the slaughtering of the passover lambs) But: 1) in both Jewish and Christian Greek sources, the Passover lamb is never called an but always (or ) 2) the Passover lamb is not a sacrifice but eaten as a family meal 3) the Passover lamb does not remove sins

4) lamb of Isaiah 53:7 , . Isa 53 is full of textual and interpretational problems. However, it is clear that the chapter speaks about the violent suffering and death of the Servant (whether this servant stands for the Messiah of Israel, Israel itself, Deutero-Isaiah etc etc).

4) lamb of Isaiah 53:7 Isa 53:7 is perhaps the best explanation of the occurrence of in Jhn 1:29,36. But note that: a) In Isa 53:7 does not refer to a sacrifice but is used to indicate the Servants non-resistance. If Jhn 1:29,36 alludes to Isa 53:7, then in Jhn too the emphasis is more likely on Jesus submission and obedience to God rather than on his death, let alone on his death as an atoning event.

4) lamb of Isaiah 53:7

b) If in Jhn 1:29,36 the idea of Jesus atoning suffering and death is present at all, it cannot have been brought on by the word lamb (or sheep) in Isa 53:7 alone. The interpretation of Jesus death either in terms of Isa 53 or of sacrificial language are demonstrably secondary developments to an already existing, early-Christian tradition of the atoning death of the Jesus.

Origins of the idea of Jesus atoning death The traditional early-Christian, pre-Pauline expressions to describe the atoning effect of Jesus death: / with or or: plus

or plus

genitive of person / genitive of I.e. surrender and dying formula. E.g. Rom 4:25, 8:32, Gal 1:4, 2:20, Eph 5:2, 5:25, Mrk 10:45 etc

Origins of the idea of Jesus atoning death The early Christian formulas most likely go back to the Hellenistic-Jewish tradition of the martyr (e.g. 1Ma 2:50, 6:44, 2Ma 7:37, Josephus, Bell 2:201, Ant 2:159) which in its turn goes back to the Greek pagan world (e.g. Euripides, Phoenissae 998, Plutarch, De gloria Atheniensium 7 )

1Ma 2:50:
1Ma 6:44: 2Ma 7:37: , ,

Jos, Bel.Jud. 2:201: Jos, Ant.Jud. 2:159: Euripides, Phoenissae 998: Plutarchus, De Gloria Atheniensium 7:

Origins of the idea of Jesus atoning death The martyr dies for the benefit of others, bringing atonement for those who belong to him (his family, city, or people, etc) Influence of sacrificial terminology (e.g. Heb, 1Pe 1:19) or of Isa 53 (e.g. Rom 4:25, Mat 8:17, 1Pe 2:21-22) is secondary.

Atoning death in the Gospel of John? Some refer to Jhn 3:16 , , . The question is how the verb should be interpreted. There is no or followed by either a genitive of person or a genitive of . The verb does not seem to have the meaning as in a surrender formula.

Atoning death in the Gospel of John?

John does of course mention the cross, but he does not primarily understand it as the place of Jesus suffering and death or as the place where salvation was brought about, but rather as the place of Jesus glorification. Undoubtedly there are also traces of the older, traditional soteriology visible in John (in 11:5051 and 18:14 he does make use of a traditional dying formula) and the plot of the narrative focuses on the crucifixion, but the overall emphasis in Johns soteriology is not on Jesus death. Cf. e.g. 3:14, 8:28, 12:33, 34.

Atoning death in the Gospel of John? The expression (Jhn 10:11ff) means to risk ones life for (Freundschaftethik), rather than to give ones life for the act of risking ones life for does not necessarily lead to death Jhn 10:11ff TEV: I am the good shepherd, who is willing to die for the sheep GCL: Ein guter Hirt ist bereit, fr seine Schafe zu sterben FCL Le bon berger est prt donner sa vie pour ses brebis TLA El buen pastor est dispuesto a morir por sus ovejas.

Atoning death in the Gospel of John? Jhn 1:29 What does mean?

It does not come from Lev 16:10 ( ) and not Lev 53:4 ( ) verb in the Gospel means to take away, remove (cf 2:16, 10:18, 11:39, 15:2, 16:22 etc) rather than to taken on himself or carry

Atoning death in the Gospel of John? Note that Jhn 1:29 uses in singular, contrary to Lev () and Isa (). Singular does not refer to a multitude of past sins but to the one particular sin of not believing in Jesus (cf Jhn 15:22, 16:9 NLT: The worlds sin is that it refuses to believe in me. with recitativum) A translation should, when possible, keep the word in singular, not as TLA Jhn 1:29: Entonces le dijo a toda la gente: Aqu viene el Cordero de Dios que quita el pecado de la gente del mundo! Por medio de l, Dios les perdonar a ustedes todos sus pecados.

Taking away (present tense) the sin from the world is not the same as having died (past tense) for past sins. Johns soteriology does not have the Pauline stress on Jesus death as saving event, but focuses on the yes or no to Jesus in the believer s encounter with him and on the necessity of acknowledging him as the unique representative of the Father. Considering the wider context of the first chapter and the Gospel as a whole, the phrase must mean that Jesus has come into the world to take away (present tense) the worlds sin. It refers to his appearance, his presence, his message, not to his death. Cf e.g. 3:15, 3:36, 5:24, 5:29-30, 6:40, 6:47, 10:10, 12:28

Conclusions

1. Background of Jhn 1:29, 36: Isa 53:7 but with an emphasis on obedience and submission, and not on suffering and death 2) Image of lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world does not have sacrificial meaning (does not refer to Jesus death) 3) Origins of the early-Christian idea of the atoning effect of Jesus suffering and dying do not lie in the Hebrew Old Testament but in Hellenistic-Jewish concept of the martyr: influence of sacrificial imagery and Isa 53 are secondary

Conclusions 4) Johannine soteriology is different from Pauline soteriology and does not emphasize the salvific effect of Jesus death: rather, John emphasizes the importance of accepting Jesus as the one sent by the Father Translation proposals: = to risk ones life for; if occurs in the singular form, one should preferably keep it singular because of its particular Johannine content

P.S. In the Turkmen translation the final rendering of is guzy = lamb and not janly (sacrificial animal).