Jesus the Samaritan: Ethnic Labeling in the Gospel of John

242 Pages·2019·1.116 MB·English

by  Stewart Penwell

Jesus the Samaritan
Biblical Interpretation Series
Editors-in-Chief
Paul Anderson (George Fox University)
Jennifer L. Koosed (Albright College, Reading)
Editorial Board
A.K.M. Adam (University of Oxford)
Colleen M. Conway (Seton Hall University)
Amy Kalmanofsky (Jewish Theological Seminary)
Vernon Robbins (Emory University)
Annette Schellenberg (Universität Wien)
Johanna Stiebert (University of Leeds)
Duane Watson (Malone University)
Christine Roy Yoder (Columbia Theological Seminary)
Ruben Zimmermann (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz)
volume 170
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/bins
Jesus the Samaritan
Ethnic Labeling in the Gospel of John
By
Stewart Penwell
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Penwell, Stewart, 1981– author.
Title: Jesus the Samaritan : ethnic labeling in the Gospel of John /
 by Stewart Penwell.
Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, [2019] | Series: Biblical
 interpretation series, ISSN 0928-0731 ; Volume 170 | Includes
 bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018061470 (print) | LCCN 2019001451 (ebook) |
 ISBN 9789004390706 (ebook) | ISBN 9789004390690 (hardback : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Bible. John—Criticism, interpretation, etc. | Ethnicity in
 the Bible. | Ethnicity—Religious aspects—Christianity. |
 Jesus Christ—Person and offices.
Classification: LCC BS2615.6.E815 (ebook) | LCC BS2615.6.E815 P46 2019
 (print) | DDC 226.5/06—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018061470
Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface.
ISSN 0928-0731
ISBN 978-90-04-39069-0 (hardback)
ISBN 978-90-04-39070-6 (e-book)
Copyright 2019 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi,
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Dedicated to my wife Rachel,
my love and life
In Memory of
Steve Kitterman (1941–2016)
Who taught me how to live and love
Otto Maduro (1945–2013)
Who taught me how to see and understand/Verstehen
Jerry Garcia (1942–1995)
Who taught me how to listen and show kindness
⸪

Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Abbreviations xii
Introduction 1
Key Methodological Terms in the Study 6
1 Surveying Jesus’s Ethnic Incarnation 8
Introduction 8
1 Jesus the Jew 8
2 Jesus the Samaritan 14
3 Conclusion: Jesus’s Ethnic Incarnation 17
2 Ethnicity and Labeling 19
1 Delineation of Terms: “Ethnic” and ἔθνος 20
2 Theories of Ethnicity 27
2.1 Ethnicity and Ethnic Group Defined 30
2.2 Current Competing Ethnicity Theories 31
2.3 “Dear Symbols” of Ethnic Identity 33
3 Socialization: Establishing Social Norms 35
3.1 Destabilizing Roles/Categories: the Stranger and the Heretic 37
4 Labeling: Types and Functions 40
5 Conclusion 44
3 Naming Narratives 46
Introduction 46
1 The Judeans’ Narratives: the Label “Judean” in the Texts of the
Hebrew Bible 48
1.1 The Judean Label for “Samaritans” in the Texts of the
Hebrew Bible 56
2 The Samaritan’s Narrative: the Label “Israelite” for Self- or
Group Identification 58
2.1 Delos Inscriptions 58
2.2 The Samaritan Pentateuch and Mount Gerizim as
Identity Indicator 60
2.3 Who Are These “Samaritans” You Speak of?:
Etymology of a Name 64
viii Contents
2.4 The Samaritan Labels for the “Judeans”: the Categorization of
Judeans 67
3 Labeling the Samaritans in Josephus 67
3.1 Josephus’s Three Samaritan Origin Stories 69
4 Labeling the Samaritans in the Synoptic Gospels and Acts 81
4.1 Gospel of Matthew 81
4.2 Luke-Acts 83
5 Conclusion 93
4 Labeling an Ethnic Jesus 95
Introduction 95
1 The Father, the Son, and the Children of God 96
1.1 Jesus and the Gathering of “His Own” 101
1.2 Broadening Horizons 104
1.3 Children of God 104
2 Jesus “the Jew” 105
2.1 Setting the Scene: Jacob’s Well 105
2.2 Setting the Labeling Context: if You Only Knew 108
2.3 How Jesus the “Jew” Asks for a Drink 118
2.4 Labeling Jesus a “Jew” 120
3 Jesus the Samaritan 123
3.1 Setting the Scene: Jesus in the Jerusalem Temple 124
3.2 Setting the Labeling Context: You Are Your Father’s Children 125
3.3 True Disciples 128
3.5 Labeling Jesus a “Samaritan” 135
4 Intra-textual Labeling of an Ethnic Jesus 138
5 Conclusion 144
5 Ethnic Assessments in the Gospel of John 146
Introduction 146
1 Who Are “the Jews” in the Gospel of John? A Retrospective 148
1.1 “The Jews” as Judeans 148
1.2 “The Jews” as the Enemies of Jesus 150
1.3 “The Jews” as the Religious Authorities 151
1.4 The Gospel of John’s Jewish Occurrences 152
2 “Misrecognizing” Jesus in the World 154
3 Ethnic Assessments in the Gospel of John 155
3.1 First Occurrence of “the Jews”—Ethnic Assessments of
John the Baptist 156
Contents ix
3.2 First Occurrence of Belief—the Disciples’ Ethnic
Assessments of Jesus 159
3.3 “The Jews” as Judeans in Galilee 161
3.4 “The Jews” as the Religious Authorities—Fear and
Division of “the Jews” 165
3.5 “The Jews” as the Enemies of Jesus—Jesus and the
Bultmannian Jews 168
3.6 Every Jewish Occurrence 172
4 Implications of John’s Employment of the Ethnic Label “Jew(s)” 174
5 Conclusion 176
Conclusion 177
Bibliography 181
Index of Modern Authors 207
Index of Ancient Sources 212
Index of Subjects 222