[B-Greek] Two statements in John's Gospel
Mark Wilson
emory2oo2 at hotmail.com
Tue Aug 19 12:45:34 EDT 2003
Mitch:
You wrote:
>DIA TOUTO OUK hH HDUNANTO PISTEUEIN, hOTI PALIN EIPEN
>HSAIAS, TETUFLWKEN AUTWN TOUS AFQALMOUS KAI EPWRWSEN
>AUTWN THN KARDIAN, hINA MH IDWSIN TOIS AFQALMOIS KAI
>NOHSWSIN THi KARDIAi KAI STRAFWSIN, KAI IASOMAI AUTOUS
>
>Is this passage inconsistant with John's earlier words
>that EIS TA IDIA HLQEN, KAI hOI IDIOI AUTON OU
>PARELABON? On the surface, these seem inconsistant to
>me. One says they did not receive him, one says they
>couldn't. (Offlist responses might be better :O)
-----
For any two verses/passages to be inconsistent, you have to look at one's
underlying hermeneutical
assumptions. You mention "surface" level structure/words here. The surface
level words
and structure are a condensed set of verbal symbols to communicate, to the
extent that
such symbols allow, the writer's deep level propositions.
The following may be a rather simplistic way of solving what appears like an
inconsistency here,
but notice this footnote in the NET Bible for Isa. 6:10:
Which reads:
6:10 Make the minds of these people calloused;
make their ears deaf and their eyes blind!
Otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
their minds might understand and they might repent and be healed.14
14sn Do we take this commission at face value? Does the Lord really want to
prevent his people from understanding, repenting, and being healed? Verse 9,
which ostensibly records the content of Isaiahs message, is clearly ironic.
As far as we know, Isaiah did not literally proclaim these exact words. The
Hebrew imperatival forms are employed rhetorically and anticipate the
response Isaiah will receive. When all is said and done, Isaiah might as
well preface and conclude every message with these ironic words, which,
though imperatival in form, might be paraphrased as follows: You
continually hear, but dont understand; you continually see, but dont
perceive. Isaiah might as well command them to be spiritually insensitive,
because, as the preceding and following chapters make clear, the people are
bent on that anyway. (This ironic command is comparable to saying to a
particularly recalcitrant individual, Go ahead, be stubborn!) Verse 10b is
also clearly sarcastic. On the surface it seems to indicate Isaiahs
hardening ministry will prevent genuine repentance. But, as the surrounding
chapters clearly reveal, the people were hardly ready or willing to repent.
Therefore, Isaiahs preaching was not needed to prevent repentance! Verse
10b reflects the peoples attitude and might be paraphrased accordingly:
Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand
with their mind, repent, and be restored, and they certainly wouldnt want
that, would they? Of course, this sarcastic statement may also reveal that
the Lord himself is now bent on judgment, not reconciliation. Just as
Pharaohs rejection of Yahwehs ultimatum ignited judgment and foreclosed,
at least temporarily, any opportunity for repentance, so the Lord may have
come to the point where he has decreed to bring judgment before opening the
door for repentance once more. The sarcastic statement in verse 10b would be
an emphatic way of making this clear. (Perhaps we could expand our
paraphrase: Otherwise they might
repent, and be restored, and they
certainly wouldnt want that, would they? Besides, its too late for that!)
Within this sarcastic framework, verse 10a must also be seen as ironic. As
in verse 9 the imperatival forms should be taken as rhetorical and as
anticipating the peoples response. One might paraphrase: Your preaching
will desensitize the minds of these people, make their hearing dull, and
blind their eyes. From the outset the Lord might as well command Isaiah to
harden the people, because his preaching will end up having that effect.
Despite the use of irony, we should still view this as a genuine, albeit
indirect, act of divine hardening. After all, God did not have to send
Isaiah. By sending him, he drives the sinful people further from him, for
Isaiahs preaching, which focuses on the Lords covenantal demands and
impending judgment upon covenantal rebellion, forces the people to confront
their sin and then continues to desensitize them as they respond negatively
to the message. As in the case of Pharaoh, Yahwehs hardening is not
arbitrarily imposed on a righteous or even morally neutral object. Rather
his hardening is an element of his righteous judgment on recalcitrant
sinners. Ironically, Israels rejection of prophetic preaching in turn
expedites disciplinary punishment, and brings the battered people to a point
where they might be ready for reconciliation. The prophesied judgment (cf.
6:11-13) was fulfilled by 701 b.c. when the Assyrians devastated the land (a
situation presupposed by Isa 1:2-20; see especially vv. 4-9). At that time
the divine hardening had run its course and Isaiah is able to issue an
ultimatum (1:19-20), one which Hezekiah apparently took to heart, resulting
in the sparing of Jerusalem (see Isa 36-39 and cf. Jer 26:18-19 with Mic
3:12).This interpretation, which holds in balance both Israels moral
responsibility and the Lords sovereign work among his people, is consistent
with other pertinent texts both within and outside the Book of Isaiah. Isa
3:9 declares that the people of Judah have brought disaster upon
themselves, but Isa 29:9-10 indicates that the Lord was involved to some
degree in desensitizing the people. Zech 7:11-12 looks back to the
pre-exilic era (cf. v. 7) and observes that the earlier generations
stubbornly hardened their hearts, but Ps 81:11-12, recalling this same
period, states that the Lord gave them over to their stubborn hearts.
If one borrows these hermeneutical/interpretive assumptions, then the
inconsistency not only
disappears, but the way it is presented demonstrates a most effective
literary style (a literary
style not at all uncommon in our day).
My thoughts
Mark Wilson
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