The Literary Form and the Message of John 8:31-36

• Authors: Adam Kubiś

Title variants

PL

The Literary Form and the Message of John 8:31-36

• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

PL

The paper deals with the relationship between the literary form and the message of the pericope John 8:31-36 (along with its immediate literary context). Our examination of five different possible literary forms demonstrated that identifying the precise form bears directly on grasping the correct semantics and pragmatics of this Johannine passage. John 8:31-36 actually reflects the merging of at least two different literary forms: misunderstanding (also called riddle and test) and the covenantal offer of freedom. The ultimate meaning of the text, taken as a whole, should be seen as the offer of freedom. This, however, is misunderstood and eventually rejected by Jesus’ interlocutors, who failed to recognize in Jesus God, the Redeemer and Liberator, and thus did not pass the test of being his true disciples.

Keywords

EN

Gospel of John; form criticism; literary form; literary genre; freedom; liberation; midrash; covenant; misunderstanding; riddle; test; forensic process

PL

Ewangelia Jana; krytyka form; gatunek literacki; wolność; wyzwolenie; midrasz; przymierze; nieporozumienie; zagadka; test; proces sądowniczy

• Publisher: Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II
• Journal: The Biblical Annals
• Year: 2014
• Volume: 4
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 121-145

Dates

published

2015-11-14

Contributors

author

Adam Kubiś

• Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II. Wydział Teologii. Instytut Nauk Biblijnych.