The Creation

1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth— 2 Nowa the earth was formless and empty, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light!” And there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good, and God caused there to be a separation between the light and between the darkness. 5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

6 And God said, “Let there be a vaulted domeb in the midst of the waters, and ⌊let it cause a separation between the waters⌋.”c 7 Sod God made the vaulted dome,e and he caused a separation between the waters which were under the vaulted domef and between the waters which were over the vaulted dome.g And it was so. 8 And God called the vaulted domeh “heaven.”i And there was evening, and there was morning, a second day.

9 And God said, “Let the waters under heavenj be gathered to one place, and let the dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 And God called the dry ground “earth,” and he called the collection of the waters “seas.” And God saw that it was good. 11 And God said, “Let the earth produce green plants that will bear seed—fruit trees bearing fruit ⌊in which there is seed⌋k—according to itsl kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth green plants bearing seed according to itsm kind, and trees bearing fruit ⌊in which there was seed⌋n according to itso kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.

14 And God said, “Let there be lightsp in the vaulted domeq of heavenr ⌊to separate day from night⌋,s and let them be as signs and for appointed times, and for days and years, 15 and they shall be as lightst in the vaulted domeu of heavenv to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 And God made two great lights,w the greater lightx to ruley the day and the smaller lightz to rulea the night, and the stars. 17 And God placed them in the vaulted domeb of heavenc to give light on the earth 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to ⌊separate light from darkness⌋.d And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

20 And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly over the earth across the face of the vaulted domee of heaven.f 21 Sog God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kind, and every bird with wings according to itsh kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning, a fifth day.

24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kind: cattle and moving things, and wild animalsi according to their kind.” And it was so. 25 Soj God made wild animalsk according to their kind and the cattle according to their kind, and every creeping thing of the earth according to itsl kind. And God saw that it was good.

26 And God said, “Let us make humankind inm our image and according ton our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of heaven,o and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every moving thing that moves upon the earth.” 27 Sop God created humankind inq his image, inr the likeness of God he created him,s male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of heaven,t and over every animal that moves upon the earth.”

29 And God said, “Look—I am giving to you every plant that bears seed which is on the face of the whole earth, and every kind of tree ⌊that bears fruit⌋.u They shall be yours as food.” 30 And to every kind of animal of the earth and to every bird of heaven,v and to everything that moves upon the earth in which there is life I am giving every green plant as food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made and, behold, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning, a sixth day.

The Prologue to John’s Gospel

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 This one was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and apart from him not one thing came into being thata has come into being. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of humanity.b 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcomec it.

6 A man came, sent from God, ⌊whose name was⌋d John. 7 This one came for a witness, in order that he could testify about the light, so that all would believe through him. 8 That one was not the light, but camee in order that he could testify about the light. 9 The true light, who gives light to every person, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, and the world did not recognizef him. 11 He came to his own things, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But as many as received him—to those who believe in his name—he gave to them authority to become children of God, 13 who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a husband, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh and took up residence among us, and we saw his glory, glory as of the one and only from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John testified about him and cried out, saying, “This one was he about whom I said, ‘The one who comes after me is ahead of me, because he existed before me.’ ” 16 For from his fullness we have all received, and grace after grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came about through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time; the one and only, God, the one who is in the bosom of the Father—that one has made him* known.

1. PROLOGUE (1:1–18)

Unlike the other Gospels, which commence their story about Jesus either with the ministry of John the Baptist (Mark) or stories about Jesus’ birth (Matthew and Luke), the Gospel of John begins with the pre-existent Logos, who became incarnate in Jesus. The Prologue introduces this one to the readers before the story proper begins so that they will know the true identity of the central character. Barrett, speaking of 1:1 says, ‘John intends that the whole of his Gospel shall be read in the light of this verse. The deeds and words of Jesus are the deeds and words of God; if this be not true the book is blasphemous.’1

The Prologue also introduces the main themes that are to appear throughout the Gospel: Jesus’ pre-existence (1:1a/17:5), Jesus’ union with God (1:1c/8:58; 10:30; 20:28), the coming of life in Jesus (1:4a/5:26; 6:33; 10:10; 11:25–26; 14:6), the coming of light in Jesus (1:4b, 9/3:19; 8:12; 12:46), the conflict between light and darkness (1:5/3:19; 8:12; 12:35, 46), believing in Jesus (1:7, 12/2:11; 3:16, 18, 36; 5:24; 6:69; 11:25; 14:1; 16:27; 17:21; 20:25), the rejection of Jesus (1:10c, 11/4:44; 7:1; 8:59; 10:31; 12:37–40; 15:18), divine regeneration (1:13/3:1–7), the glory of Jesus (1:14/12:41; 17:5, 22, 24), the grace and truth of God in Jesus (1:14, 17/4:24; 8:32; 14:6; 17:17; 18:38), Jesus and Moses/the law (1:17/1:45; 3:14; 5:46; 6:32; 7:19; 9:29), only Jesus has seen God (1:18/6:46), and Jesus’ revelation of the Father (1:18/3:34; 8:19, 38; 12:49–50; 14:6–11; 17:8).

The Prologue functions as an introduction to the Fourth Gospel, much as an overture functions as an introduction to an opera. Or, to change the imagery, the Prologue is like the foyer of a theatre, where various scenes from the drama to be enacted inside are placarded. It appears to have been carefully crafted with a chiastic structure, which can be best seen by setting out its content as follows

Paragraph d stresses that the purpose for the Word becoming flesh and bringing life and light into the world was that those who receive him, those who believe in his name, might become children of God. This corresponds to the stated purpose of the Gospel: ‘Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name’ (20:30–31).

A. The Word as he was in the beginning (1:1–5)

This opening paragraph of the Prologue (a) describes the person and work of the Word in a number of brief but highly significant statements.

1. The first statement, in the beginning was the Word, echoes the opening words of Genesis, ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth …’ (Gen. 1:1). As God was in the beginning prior to the creation of the world, so too was the Word. This implies something to be stated explicitly shortly: that the Word partakes of divinity.

The second statement, and the Word was with God, is susceptible to two interpretations. It may simply mean that the Word was with God in the beginning, just as Proverbs 8:27–30 says Wisdom was with God at creation. Alternatively, it could mean that the Word was faced towards God,2 in intimate relationship with God. The final paragraph of the Prologue (a1), which balances this first paragraph and extends its meaning, makes just this point when it describes the Son (= the Word) as the one ‘who is close to the Father’s heart’.

The third statement, and the Word was God, on first reading might suggest a unitarian understanding of God, the Word being simply equated with God. But the original language (kai theos ēn ho logos) will not allow such an interpretation.3 To read the text in that way also overlooks the stress on the relationship existing between the Word and God (being ‘with God’ and being ‘close to the Father’s heart’). Relationship implies different persons, and this moves us away from unitarianism (one God, one person) towards trinitarianism (one God, three persons—Father, Son [=the Word] and Spirit). As the Fourth Gospel unfolds it becomes clear that this is what is intended. Jesus, the Word incarnate, claims to be one with God, but that involves being in relationship with God. So when the Prologue says ‘the Word was God’ it is not saying that the Word and God constitute an undifferentiated unity, but rather it is saying, in words aptly coined by Moloney, ‘what God was the Word also was’.4

2. Two key ideas stated separately in verse 1 are brought together and repeated in verse 2: He was with God in the beginning, i.e. the Word was in intimate relationship with God and he was in that relationship at the very beginning.

3. The evangelist explains the work of the Word in the beginning: Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. Genesis 1:1–31 tells how God brought the universe into being by his creative word. The evangelist picks this up when he says that it was ‘through’ the person of the Word that God brought all things into being, or, putting it negatively, without his agency God brought nothing into being. This teaching is also found in Colossians 1:16–17 and Hebrews 1:2.

4. Further explaining the role of the Word in creation, the evangelist says, In him was life, and that life was the light of men. Because the Word shares in deity, he shares in the life of God (cf. 5:26). The evangelist does not make clear how the divine life in the Word illuminated human beings. Some suggest it relates to our creation in the image of God so that we participate in the light of reason in a way lesser created beings do not. Others suggest it refers to the light of general revelation, whereby the character of God is reflected in creation itself to be understood by human beings (cf. Rom. 1:19–20).

1 bI give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart;

before cthe gods I sing your praise;

2 I bow down dtoward your eholy temple

and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,

for you have exalted above all things

your name and your word.1

3 On the day I called, you answered me;

my strength of soul you increased.2

27 My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they will never perish ⌊forever⌋,f and no one will seize them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them* to me, is greater than all, and no one can seize them* from the Father’s hand. 30 The Father and I are one.”

31 Theng the Jews picked up stones again so that they could stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good deeds from the Father. For which one of them are you going to stone me?” 33 The Jews answered him, “We are not going to stone you concerning a good deed, but concerning blasphemy, and because you, although you* are a man, make yourself to be God!” 34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods” ’?h 35 If he called them ‘gods’ to whom the word of God came—and the scripture cannot be broken—

27–28. The response of Jesus’ disciples was the opposite: My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. Concerning them, Jesus said, I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no-one can snatch them out of my hand. The gift of eternal life is depicted in several ways in this Gospel. It is (1) like water for the thirsty (4:14; 7:37–38); (2) something experienced now, culminating in the resurrection on the last day (5:24–26); (3) like bread for the hungry (6:27); and (4) a relationship with the living God (17:3). Those to whom Jesus gives eternal life ‘shall never perish’; they are safe in his hands.

29–30. Underlining the eternal security of those who follow him, Jesus said, My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no-one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. Jesus referred to his disciples repeatedly as those the Father had given him (6:37, 39; 17:2, 6, 9, 24; 18:9). Because the Father is greater than all, the security of believers is guaranteed—no-one can snatch them out of his hand. Jesus implied that just as his disciples are in his hand (28), so too they are in the Father’s hand, because, as he said, I and the Father are one (cf. 14:8–11). This is the first explicit statement of Jesus’ oneness with the Father. Describing this oneness, the evangelist does not use the masculine form of the adjective ‘one’ (heis), which would suggest that Father and Son are one person. Instead, he uses the neuter form (hen), suggesting that the oneness of Father and Son here is oneness in mission and purpose. Father and Son are at one in their commitment to prevent anyone from snatching believers out of their hands. Here the nature of oneness is functional; later in the Gospel it involves unity of being (17:21–23).

31–33. Jesus’ claim to be one with the Father provoked an angry response: Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, ‘I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?’ Miracles of Jesus in Jerusalem already described include the healing of the lame man (5:1–9), and giving sight to the man born blind (9:1–7). But he had performed many more than these, as general references to his miracles in Jerusalem indicate (2:23; 3:2; 7:31; 9:16; 10:25, 32–33). Perhaps Jesus drew their attention to these miracles in the hope that ‘the Jews’ might yet recognize their significance as far as his true identity was concerned. Perhaps he was confronting them with the injustice of their intended action. Anyway, they brushed aside his reference to his miracles and focused upon his claim to be one with the Father: ‘We are not stoning you for any of these,’ replied the Jews, ‘but for blasphemy’. In the Mishnah (Sanhedrin 7:5) blasphemy involves the pronunciation of the divine name itself (the Tetragrammaton, YHWH), which does not coincide with what Jesus said. Why ‘the Jews’ thought Jesus was guilty of blasphemy is clear enough: you, a mere man, claim to be God. What Jesus said would have been blasphemous if he and the Father were not one.

34–36. In response, Jesus answered them, ‘Is it not written in your Law, “I have said you are gods” ’? The expression ‘Law’ here is used in its widest sense, meaning the entire OT, including the Psalms from which the quotation comes. Referring to ‘your Law’, Jesus was not denigrating or distancing himself from the law, but reminding his opponents that his appeal was to what they too held as sacrosanct. Jesus’ argument based on the quotation from Psalm 82:6 ran, If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken—what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? To understand these verses one needs some knowledge of events surrounding the giving of the law at Sinai, and rabbinic exegesis of Psalm 82:6–7 in relation to the Sinai events. The full text of Psalm 82:6–7 reads:

I said, ‘You are “gods”;

you are all sons of the Most High.’

But you will die like mere men;

you will fall like every other ruler.

The statement ‘You are gods’ was understood in later rabbinic exegesis to be God’s word to the Israelites at Sinai when they received the law. God said to them, ‘You are gods,’ because in receiving the law and living by it they would be holy and live like gods. But because they departed from the law and worshipped the golden calf while still at Sinai, he said to them, ‘you will die like mere men’. The opening words of Jesus’ argument, ‘If he called them “gods”, to whom the word of God came’, suggest that he interpreted the quotation from the psalm in relation to the Sinai events as did later rabbinic scholars. Jesus reminded ‘the Jews’ that ‘the Scripture cannot be broken’. Both Jesus (7:38; 10:35; 13:18; 17:12) and ‘the Jews’, especially the Pharisees (5:39; 7:42), regarded the Scriptures as authoritative, as did the evangelist (2:22; 19:24, 36, 37; 20:9). To be a follower of Jesus involves a commitment to the authority of the OT Scriptures, as well as to the gospel message.

Jesus’ question, based on his reading of Psalm 82:6, was that if God named those to whom he gave his law ‘gods’, why should he be charged with blasphemy if he, as the one whom God himself ‘set apart as his very own and sent into the world’, said, ‘I am God’s Son.’ It is an argument from the lesser to the greater: if those to whom the law was given can be called ‘gods’, then surely the one whom God has commissioned and sent into the world can call himself ‘the Son of God’ without being guilty of blasphemy. Jesus used the exegetical methods of his opponents to show they had no grounds for accusing him of blasphemy. It did not mean Jesus endorsed this approach. It did, however, buy him time.

There is a possible irony in Jesus’ reference to his being ‘set apart … and sent into the world’: while ‘the Jews’ celebrated the rededication of the temple, they rejected the one ‘dedicated’ (i.e. set apart) by God and sent into the world.

37–38. Jesus said to ‘the Jews’, Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. Several times Jesus claimed that he did the works of his Father (5:36; 10:25, 37–38; 14:10; 17:4). He now invited ‘the Jews’ not to believe him if he did not do what God does. However, there is a corollary: But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles. The miracles of Jesus were the works of God, and Jesus invited his opponents to believe in him on account of the miracles, even if they could not believe what he said. This he said was so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father. Though belief based on miracles is not ideal (4:48), many did believe because of his miracles (7:31). Sadly, there were many who saw the miracles and still refused to believe (12:37). Nevertheless, the evangelist records Jesus’ miracles to engender belief in his readers (20:31).

Jewish Education

Because of the importance of reading the Scriptures in the synagogue, Jews in the Graeco-Roman world were more highly educated than the typical members of the lower classes of Graeco-Roman society (Millard, Reading and Writing in the Time of Jesus, 157). Outstanding young Jews would have been tutored by a rabbi, often forgoing other employment opportunities so that their entire life might revolve around their relationship to their teacher. As recorded in the Midrash, Talmud, and other rabbinic literature, the Jews had a system for studying the teachings of preceding rabbis as well as interacting with those teachings, which could include disagreeing or modifying the positions put forward. Such a system saw lively interaction over the interpretation and application of the Hebrew Bible. The teaching methods of the rabbis may have followed a similar format of discussion and debate.

The exact format of Jewish education in the first century is difficult to discern, as most of our knowledge comes from later Rabbinic literature.

specifies that at 5 years old, Jewish boys could begin instruction in Scripture, at 10 the Mishnah, at 13 the commandments, and at 15 the Talmud. Such an education would train the student not only in basic subjects such as reading, but also in the Scriptures and the tradition of interpretation. However, it is unclear whether these later texts reflect the first-century system. It is also unclear which point in this process constituted formal education. The leading theory is that the instruction in the Mishnah at age 10 was the start of the formal schooling process (Drazin, History of Jewish Education, 69). An alternative position is that the formal schooling process began between the ages of 5 and 6, with school finished by age 12 (Safrai, “Education and the Study of Torah,” 952). By the rabbinic period following after the close of the New Testament, there was a formal graduation for Jewish men who had completed rabbinic education equivalent to that of a college education. At this time, graduates received the title of “rabbi,” which gave them authoritative status in answering questions on the

The elementary school, significantly called Beth-hasepher, the “house of the book,” was originally housed in some easily available room; but by A.D. 200, it had become firmly established in the synagogue. Boys entered at the age of six or seven and continued until 13. Here, study was wholly devoted to the written law. This involved the learning of Hebrew, since Aramaic had long before replaced Hebrew as the everyday language of the people. Knowledge of the written word, in school as in the home, had the religious goal of bringing about obedience to the law.

The school was not only a place of learning but also a house of prayer; its aims were not cultural but religious. A strong sense of community responsibility, evidenced by an education tax on all parents, had by A.D. 200 opened all schools to the children of the poor. However, the Jewish school, like the Greek school, remained an independent, fee-paying institution. See Education in Bible Times; Scribes; Synagogue; Torah.

9 “For as the heavens are ⌊higher⌋m than the earth,

so my ways are ⌊higher⌋n than your ways,

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10 For just as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,

and they do not return there

except they have watered the earth thoroughly

and cause it to bring forth and sprout,

and give seed to the sower

and bread to the eater,

11 so shall be my word that goes out from my mouth.

It shall not return to me without success,

but shall accomplisho what I desire

and be successful in the thing for which I sent it.