Saint John John Marsh The Pelican New Testament Commentaries THE PELICAN NEW TESTAMENT COMMENTARIES * The Gospel of St John JOHN MARSH Penguin Books PELICAN BOOKS THB PELICAN NBW TESTAMENT COMMBNTARIBS EDITED BY D. E. NINEHAM THE GOSPEL OF SAINT JOHN John Marsh was born in Brighton in 1904 and edu. . cated at Skinners' Company school, Tunbridge Wells, at Yorkshire United College, Bradford, and at the universities of Edinburgh, Oxford and Marburg. For two years he taught at Westhill College, Birming ham, and then in 1934 he became Minister of Otley Congregational church. In 1938 he was appointed Tutor, Lecturer and Chaplain of Mansfield College, Oxford, and in 1949 he became the first Professor of Theology at Nottingham University. From 1953 to 1970 he was Principal of Mansfield College, Oxford. He has played an active role in the Ecumeni cal Movement, notably in the Faith and Order Movement, in which he was Secretary of the Com mission on Intercommunion. He is a member of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches and Chairman of its Division of Studies. He is also Chairman of the Executive of the Inter Church RelatiOliships Committee within the Con gregational Church and former Chairman of the Congregational Union of England and Wales. From 1954 to 1965 he was adviser to the I.T.A. on religious television and he has been a member of the Central Religious Advisory Committee oft he B.B.C. Dr Marsh, who is an M.A. and D.phil. of Oxford University and an M.A. and D.D. ofE dinburgh, was awarded the C.B.E. in 1964- He has frequently visited and lectured in the U.S.A. PENGUIN BOOKS Published by the Penguin Group 27 Wrights Lane, London 1118 STZ, England Viking Penguin Inc., 40 West 2)rd Street, New York, New York 10010, USA Penguin Books Australia Ltd, Ringwood, Victoria, Australia Penguin Books Canada Ltd, 2801 John Street, Markham, Ontario, Canada L}l\ 184 Penguin Books (NZ) Ltd. 182-190 Wairau Road, Auckland 10, New Zealand Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England First published 1C}68 Reprinted 1971. 1972, '974, 1976, 1977, 1979. 1980, 198), 1985, 1987, 1988 Copyright © John Marsh, 1968 All rights reserved Printed and bound in Great Britain by Cox & Wyman Ltd, Reading Set in Monotype Bembo The Bible text in this publication is from the Revised Standa,d Version oj the Bible, copyrighted 1946 and 1952 by the Division of the Christian Education, National Council of Churches. and used by permission Except in the United Scates of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not. by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar'condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser This book is dedicated to the memory of WILLIAM HEAL BY CADMAN Fellow, Senior Tutor and Yates Lecturer in New Testament Studies at Mansfield College, Oxford. A loyal colleague and gracious friend, he spent his life in the study of the Fourth Gospel, entered deeply into its secrets, lived by its faith, and taught with its aim. Permission to quote from The Fourth Gospel by Hoskyns and Davey, published by Faber & Faber, is gratefully acknowledged. Contents EDITORIAL FOREWORD 9 REFERENCES AND ABBREVIATIONS II MAP U INTRODUCTION 13 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING 83 PLAN OF THE GOSPEL 85 COMMENTARY ~ INDEX OF REFERENCES 689 INDEX OF NAMES 703 INDEX OF SUBJECTS 704 Editorial Foreword Biblical commentaries are oj various kinJs. Some are itJtenJetl solely for the specialistj others are devotional commentaries meant simply to help the Christian believer in his prayer and meditation. The commentaries in this series belong to neither class. Though they are based on full scholarly study and deal with technical points wherever necessary, the aim throughout has been to bring out the meaning the Evangelists intended to convey to their original readers. Since that meaning was religious, it is hoped that the commentaries, while being oj interest to readers oj any religious persuasion or none, and giving a fair indication of the ament position in Gospel study, will help Christian readers to a deeper and more informed appreciation oj the Gospels. Technical terms have been avoided wherever possible; where used, they have been fully explained in the Introductions, and readers are advised to read the Introduction to each volume bifore beginning on the commentary proper. The extended Introduction to the volume on Mark is in some degree intended as an introduc tion to the series as a whole. References and Abbreviations Biblical references are made to chapter and verse, thus: Luke, Chapter 12, verse 24, the first part of the verse (a): Luke 12Z4a. kcferences which have no name of a biblical book are to the Gospel of St John; thus 12'4 refers to John 1224. I means that a synoptic reference has parallels, not always cited. Some commentaries have been referred to in shortened form. They are: Dodd: refers to C. H. Dodd, The Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel. Barrett: refers to C. K. Barrett, The Gospel according to StJohn. HQskyns: refers to Hoskyns and Davey, The Fourth Gospel. Bernard: refers to the International Critical Commentary by J. H. Bernard. Lightfoot: refers to S. H. Lightfoot, StJohn's Gospel: A Commentary. The abbreviations of the names of biblical books will be found in the Index of References (pp. 689-701). ad loc. ad locum, at the place A.V. Authorized Version C.G.T. Cambridge Greek Testament I.C.C. International Critical Commentary J.B.L. Journal of Biblical Literature N.E.B. New English Bible N.T. New Testament O.T. old Testament R.S.V. Revised Standard Version R. V. Revised Version EB Tttrarchyof EEa HerodAntipas E88888 Tenirory directly undtJ:' ~ PontIUs Pilate ~ TetmrrhyDfPhilip