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Document Details : Title: To Worship the Johannine 'Son of Man' Subtitle: John 9,38 as Refocusing on the Father Author(s): STEEGEN, Martijn Journal: Biblica Volume: 91 Issue: 4 Date: 2010 Pages: 534-554 DOI: 10.2143/BIB.91.4.3188884 Abstract : Important early textual witnesses show John 9,38-39a to be absent. Because of the use of uncharacteristic vocabulary, the use of rare verb forms such as ἔφη and πιστεύω, and the unique confession of faith and worship of Jesus as 'Son of Man' during his earthly life, John 9,38 has been said to stand outside Johannine theology. I argue that, although John 9,38-39a confronts the Gospel’s reader with uncharacteristic vocabulary, this does not necessarily imply that these words were added by a later hand under liturgical influence. Instead of standing outside Johannine theology, the confession of faith and the worship by the man healed from his blindness function as the first fulfilment of the proleptic prediction of the words in 4,23 καὶ γὰρ ὁ πατὴρ τοιούτους ζητεῖ τοὺς προσκυνοῦντας αὐτόν. Then, I confront the absence of 9,38-39a with yet another text-critical problem in the larger pericope 9,35-41 — the replacement of the title υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου in 9,35 by υἱὸς τοῦ θεου — and argue that these two text-critical problems cannot be separated from one another. Finally, I explore how the designation “Son of Man” functions within the framework of πιστεύω and προσκυνέω. The worship of the Johannine Jesus can hardly be seen as a goal in itself. Instead, it is an acknowledgement that the Father is made known in the person of Jesus (cf. 9,3), and hence is typically Johannine. |
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