Table Of ContentTHE GOSPEL
ACCORDING TO
ST. JOHN
BOOKS BY C. K. BARRETT
Published by The Westminster Press
Essays on John
Essays on Paul
The Gospel According to St. John, Second Edition
THE GOSPEL
ACCORDING TO
ST. JOHN
AN INTRODUCTION
vVITH COMMENTARY AND NOTES
ON THE GREEK TEXT
C. K. BARRETT
Second Edition
,,
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THE WESTMINSTER PRESS
Philadelphia
First published in 1955
Second impression (corrected) 1956
Eleventh impression 1976
Second edition 1978
Second edition © C. K. Barrett 1978
Published by The Westminster Press®
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
PIUNTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
987654
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Barrett, Charles Kingsley.
The Gospel according to St. John.
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
l. Bible. N.T. John - Commentaries. I. Title.
BS2615.3.B3 1978 226'.5'077 78-2587
ISBN 0-664-21364-2
CONTENTS
PRE.MCE vii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS lX
I. INTRODUCTION
1. The Gospel, its Characteristics and Purpose
2, The Non-Christian Background of the Gospel
3. The Christian Background of the Gospel
4. The Theology of the Gospel
5. The Origin and Authority of the Gospel
6. The Text 145
II. COMMENTARY AND NOTES
I. The Prologue ( r. 1-18) r.19
2. The Witness of John (I) (r.19-34) 170
3. The Disciples ( I .35-5 r) I 79
4. The Sign at Cana (2.1-12) 188
5. The Cleansing of the Temple (2.13-25) 194
6. Nicodemus (3.1-21) 202
7. TheWitnessofJohn (II) (3.22-36) 219
8. The Samaritan Woman (4. 1-42) l!:28
9. The Officer's Son (4.43-54) 244
to. Sign and Controversy on the Sabbath Day (5. 1-18) 24.9
II. Jesus and the Father (5.19-47) 257
12. The Feeding of the Five Thousand (6.1-15) 271
13. On the Lake (6.16-21) 279
14. Bread from Heaven (6.22-59) 281
15. Reaction and Confession (6.60-71) 301
16. To Jerusalem (7.1-13) 3o8
17. Controversy in Jerusalem (7.14-52) 315
18. Who is Jesus? (I) (8.12-59) 333
v
CONTENTS
19. The Man born Blind: Judgement at Work (9.r-41) 353
20. The Good Shepherd (10.1-21) 367
21. WhoisJesus? (II) (10.22-42) 378
22. Lazarus (11.1-44) 387
23. The Plot Against Jesus ( 11.45-54) 404
24-. The Anointing (1 r.55-12.II) 408
25. The Entry into Jerusalem (12.12-19) 415
26. The Greeks at the Feast (12.20-36) 420
27. The Conclusion of the Public Ministry ( 12.37-50) 429
28. The Supper to the Departure of Judas (13.1-30) 435
29. Transition to the Last Discourses ( 13.31-8) 449
30. The Departure of Jesus a Ground of Hope and Confidence
(1-4-.1-31) 454
31. The True Vine (15.1-17) 470
32. The Hatred of the World (15.18-27) 478
33. The Judgement of the World (16.1-15) 483
34-. The Future, Distant and Immediate (16.16-33) 491
.35· The Prayer ofJ esus ( 17 . 1-26) 499
36. The Arrest of Jesus (18.1-11) 515
37. The Jewish Trial: Peter's Denial (18.12-27) 523
38. Jesus, Pilate, and the Jews (18.28-19.16) 530
39. The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus ( 1g . 17 -30) 546
40. The Burial ofJ esus (19.31-42) 554
4-1. The Empty Tomb and the First Resurrection Appearance
(20.1-18) 560
42. Jesus appears to the Eleven: Conclusion (20.19-31) 567
-4-3. The Appendix. I. The Appearance of Jesus by the Lake
(2 I. 1-14) 579
H· The Appendix. II. Jesus, Peter, and the Beloved Disciple
(21.15-25) 583
The Woman taken in Adultery (7.53-8.11) 589
INDEXES 593
vi
PREFACE
I T is now a little more than a quarter of a century since I completed
the first edition of this Commentary. It was not published till 1955
because it had been written for a series and was rejected by the
publisher; it was too long and detailed. It is no small part of my debt
to SPCK, and in particular to the late Dr F. N. Davey, that the un
wanted commentary, which I refused to shorten, on the ground that it
was at that time impossible to write a commentary on the Fourth
Gospel that was both short and worth reading, came after some inevit
able delay to the birth. I can see it now as a juvenile work, and if
today I were to set about a commentary on John it would be a different
book. But life is short, and I have had to be content to revise the old
one, much of which remains, though scarcely a page remains untouched
and parts have been pretty radically rewritten. There is also a good
deal of new material.
The last twenty five years have witnessed a fast-flowing stream of
commentaries, monographs, and articles on the Fourth Gospel; many
of them are of the highest quality. I have read by no means all; even if
in the period my attention had not been directed rather to Paul than to
John I should not have been able to do so. I have made it clear to the
publishers that I did not understand the production of a new edition of
my Commentary to involve a full bibliographical guide to theJohannine
literature of the period since the first was issued. I am not competent to
produce such a guide, and those who seek one should look elsewhere
to E. Malatesta's Bibliography, to surveys by E. Haenchen and E.
Kasemann, to the splendid and still unfinished review by H. Thyen
(Theologische Rundschau 39 (1974-5), 1-69, 222-52, 289-330; 42 (1977),
211-70), and to the great commentaries by R. Schnackenburg and
R. E. Brown. From what I have read, however, I have learnt much, and
what I have learnt is reflected in this new book. Not infrequently I have
learnt by disagreeing, and I am scarcely less grateful to those on whom I
have sharpened my wits in controversy than to those with whose ideas
I have found myself in enthusiastic agreement. This does not mean that
I have ceased to be grateful to earlier guides, of whom now none sur
vives: Hoskyns, and his editor-to me, much more than editor-Noel
Davey; C. H. Dodd; and Rudolf Bultmann, who died about a week
after the manuscript of the new edition left my hands.
Though I have tried to read some at least of the latest books and to
Vll
PREFACE
learn from them, this Commentary, even in its new state, will seem to
many to be old-fashioned. To some of the most popular modern
opinions I do not subscribe. I do not believe that Qumran holds the key
to John; I do not believe that it is a Palestinian work, aimed at
Diaspora Judaism; I do not believe that it is possible to isolate sources,
unless perhaps we should describe Mark as a source; I do not believe
that John intended to supply us with historically verifiable information
regarding the life and teaching of Jesus, and that historical traditions
of great worth can be disentangled from his interpretative comments. I
believe that John does more to interpret the Nag Hammadi texts than
they do to interpret John. Before my readers dismiss all this as out of
date I should like for their reflection to recall one of the Durham
characters of a past generation. P.J. Heawood was a professor of mathe
matics who was also a diligent reader of the Old Testament in Hebrew
and the New Testament in Greek. He died in 1955 at the age of 93. One
of his foibles was to correct his watch on January I each year, and at no
other time. 'Professor Heawood,' a friend might say to him, 'your watch
is five hours slow.' 'No,' he would reply, 'it is not slow; it is seven hours
fast.'
It remains to offe r my thanks: to SPCK, for kindness in the past and
patience and help in the present; to Dr J. McHugh, for the loan of
books not otherwise easily available; to scholars in many lands who
have sent me innumerable books and off-prints dealing with the Fourth
Gospel. I wish I could have referred at appropriate points to all of
these, but a writer on John has the best of precedents for omitting all
but the most essential matters.
Durham Universiry C. K. BARRETT.
August 1976-January 1978.
viii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
I N this book :John' signifies both the Fourth Gospel, and the Fourth
Evangelist. No assumption is implied regarding the identity of the
. latter. For th~ shortened titles used for some ancient books (includ
ing papyri and inscriptions) see the Index of References. In addition to
the conventional contractions the following abbreviations are used in
the references:
GRAMMARS AND DICTIONARIES
Bauer, Wiirterbuch Griechisch-Deutsches Wiirterbuch zu den Schriften des
Neuen Testaments and der iibrigen urchristlichen Literatur,
by W. Bauer, 1958. E.T., Greek-English Lexicon of the
New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, ed.
William F. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich, 1957.
B.D. Grammatik des neutestamentlichen Griechisch, by F. Blass,
revised by A. Debrunner, 1949; Anhang, 1950. E.T.,
A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and other Early
Christian Literature, ed. Robert W. Funk, 1961.
B.D.B. A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, by
F. Brown, S. R. Driver, and S. A. Briggs, 1906.
E. Bib. Encyclopaedia Biblica, edited by T. K. Cheyne andJ. S.
Black, 19 14.
G.K. Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar as edited and enlarged by
E. Kautzsch, translated by G. W. Collins and A. E.
Cowley, 1898. .
Jastrow A Dictionary of the Targumin, the Talmud Babli and
rerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature, compiled by M.
Jastrow, 1926.
K.B. Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti Libros, by L. Koehler and
W. Baumgartner, 1948-53.
Lewis and Short A Latin Dictionary, by C. T. Lewis and C. Short, 1907.
L.S. A Greek-English Lexicon, by H. G. Liddell and R. Scott:
new edition by H. Stuart Jones and R. McKenzie,
1925-40.
M.1 A Grammar of New Testament Greek, Volume 1, Prolego
mena, by J. H. Moulton, 1908.
M. n A Grammar of New Testament Greek, Volume n, by J. H.
Moulton and W. F. Howard, 1929.
IX
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
M. III A Grammar of New Testament Greek, Volume III, by N.
Turner, 1963.
M.M. The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament, illustrated from the
papyri and other non-literary sources, by J. H. Moulton and
G. Milligan, 1914-29.
Moule, Idiom Book An Idiom Book of New Testament Greek, by C. F. D.
Moule, 1953.
Palmer A Grammar of the Post-Ptolemaic Papyri, Volume 1, Part I
(Publications of the Philological Society, xm), by
L. R. Palmer, 1946.
Radermacher Neutestamentliche Grammatik (Handbuch zum Neuen
Testament, 1.1), by L. Radermacher, 19II.
Robertson A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of
Historical Research, by A. T. Robertson, 1919.
Rutherford The New Phrynichus, being a revised text of the Ecloga of
the Grammarian Phrynichus, with introduction and
commentary, byW. G. Rutherford, 1881.
T. W.N. T. Theologisches Worterbuch zum Neuen Testament, edited
by G. Kittel, subsequently by G. Friedrich, 1932-(in
progress). E.T., Theological Dictionary of the New Testa
ment, 1964-
Turner, Insights Grammatical Insights into the New Testament, by N.
Turner, 1965.
W.M. A Treatise on the Grammar of New Testament Greek, by
G. B. Winer, translated with large additions by W. F.
Moulton, 1882.
COMMENTA RIES ON ( OR INCLUDING) j OHN
Bauer Das Johannes-Evangelium (Handbuch zum Neuen Testa
ment 6), by W. Bauer, 1933.
Bernard A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according
to St John, by J. H. Bernard, 1928.
Brown The Gospel according to John, Anchor Bible 29, 29A,
by R. E. Brown, Vol. 1, 1966; Vol. 2, 1970.
Bultmann Das Evangelium des Johannes (Kritisch-exegetischer
Kommentar i.iber das Neue Testament), by R. Bult
mann, 1950; Erganzungshefte, 1950, 1957. E.T., The
Gospel ofJ ohn, 1971.
Fenton The Gospel according to John, New Clarendon Bible, by
J.C. Fenton, 1970.
Field Notes on the Translation of the New Testament, by F. Field,
1899.
Hoskyns The Fourth Gospel, by E. C. Hoskyns, edited by F. N.
Davey, 1940.
Lagrange Evangile selon Saint Jean, by M.-J. Lagrange, 1948.
x
