From: Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Date: Sun Aug 02 1998 - 17:19:03 EDT
As promised I have catalogued and analyzed the Johannine instances of the
phrase ZWH AIWNIOS and I offer here as briefly as possible my results.
There is at least as much implicit in this brief discussion as there is
stated; I have tried at the same time to keep theological presuppostions to
the minimum (I doubt that they can be avoided wholly here) and to
concentrate on what the Greek phraseology in each instance seems to me to
imply.
ZWH AIWNIOS in GJn
I have found 16 instances of the phrase ZWH AIWNIOS in GJn.
(1) Half of these (3:15,16,36; 5:24,39; 6:40,47,54) display ZA as an
accusative object of the verb ECW in one form or another, most frequently
as a third singular verb with a subject PAS hO PISTEUWN. Yet PISTEUEIN
seems to have an expanded sense, to imply more than either acceptance of a
proposition or commitment to a person. 3:36 implies that it is obedience,
inasmuch as hO APEIQWN TWi hUIWi will not "see Life"; in 6:54 it is not the
"believer" who "has Eternal Life" but the one who TRWGWN THN SARKA KAI
PINWN MOU TO hAIMA, which might be understood in either or both of two
manners: (a) the ritual participant in the "body and blood" of Christ has
Eternal Life, or (b) metaphorically, the one who has covenant communion
with or "mutual indwelling" with Christ (cf. the Vine) is the one in
possession of Eternal Life (ECEI ZWHN AIWNION). Three of these
characterize the eschatological implications of this phrase more precisely:
(a) 6:47, 54 specifically point to the believer's or the consumer's of
Jesus' body & blood being raised by him "on the last day"; more strikingly
"realized" in its eschatological formulation is 5:24: the believer EIS
KRISIN OUK ERCETAI ALLA METABEBHKEN EK TOU QANATOU EIS THN ZWHN. Jn 5:39
has the same phrase ZWHN AIWNION ECEIN, but instead of referring to the
believer as such, it refers to "scriptures" as that wherein people suppose
(DOKEITE) that they have Eternal Life, but then it adds that the
"scriptures" point to Jesus.
(2) In two other instances (10:28, 17:2) ZWH AIWNIOS is the accusative
direct object of the verb DIDWMI; in 10:28 Jesus says that he gives eternal
life to his sheep, and (consequently) they will never perish or be taken
away from him, their shepherd; in 17:2, as "high priest" Jesus says that
the Father has granted him authority over all flesh, to give Eternal Life
to everything given him by the Father. I'd say this is in accordance with
John's special determinism whereby those who are "his own" are at once
those whom Jesus has chosen, those who have chosen Jesus, and those whom
the Father has given Jesus. I would understand ZWH AIWNIOS here too as
covenant existence shared by Jesus with those who believe in him--unending
covenant existence.
(3) Genitive dependent on object of ECW: Yet another instance of ZWH
AIWNIOS with the verb ECEIN is somewhat different: in 6:68 Simon Peter
says to Jesus that he (alone) possesses hRHMATA ZWHS AIWNIOU. Presumably
the loose adnominal genitive in this expression is to be understood
pregnantly as "utterances" which can confer Eternal Life upon Jesus'
adherents/disciples or make it possible for them to gain Eternal Life.
(4) Similar in implication and very close in sense, it seems to me, is
12:50, where ZWH AIWNIOS is a predicate noun equated with hH ENTOLH AUTOU,
the Father's commandment or mandate; it is not that the mandate/commandment
itself is identical with Eternal Life, but rather the gaining of Eternal
Life by Jesus' adherents is a consequence, or perhaps more properly, a
concomitant of acceptance of that ENTOLH, and presumably that is closely
related to what it means to be a PISTEUWN.
(4) Similar in implication and very close in sense, it seems to me, is
12:50, where ZWH AIWNIOS is a predicate noun equated with hH ENTOLH AUTOU,
the Father's commandment or mandate; it is not that the mandate/commandment
itself is identical with Eternal Life, but rather the gaining of Eternal
Life by Jesus' adherents is a consequence, or perhaps more properly, a
concomitant of acceptance of that ENTOLH, and presumably that is closely
related to what it means to be a PISTEUWN.
(5) EIS + ZWHN AIWNION: There are four instances: 4:14; 4:36; 6:27; 12:25.
(a) One of the most striking is 4:14, spoken by Jesus to the woman at the
well in Samaria regarding the "water of Life" or "living water," hOS D'AN
PIHi EK TOU hUDATOS hOU EGW DWSW AUTWi, OU MH DIYHSEI EIS TON AIWNA, ALLA
TO hUDWR hO DWDW AUTWi GENHSETAI EN AUTWi PHGH hUDATOS hALLOMENOU EIS ZWHN
AIWNION. Here is the contrast between the earthly water that slakes
physical thirst and so temporarily postpones the death that comes to those
with insufficient water and that "living water" which satisfies the "thirst
for life" forever and forever removes the threat of death. The fascinating
thing about this utterance is that the metaphor shows Jesus' gift
transforming itself in successive stages: it is a drink of water that then
becomes an inner bubbling spring that keeps replenishing life forever.
(b) In 6:27 people are bidden to labor for THN BRWSIN THN MENOUSAN EIS
ZWHN AIWNION. This is clearly a metaphor parallel to that of 4:14; the food
that satisfies hunger and postpones death temporarily is contrasted with
the "bread of life" given by Jesus to satisfy hunger permanently; it is the
gift of Jesus internalized so that its possessor "has" Eternal Life.
(c) In 4:36 we have the recurrent NT eschatological image of reaper and
sower: each is concerned to produce a "harvest" FOR Eternal Life. I would
understand this as meaning simply, in terms of the passages wherein ZWH
AIWNIOS is the object of ECEIN, that the work of evangelists is intended to
produce a rich harvest of believers who will "have" Eternal Life.
(d) Finally in 12:25 we have the distinctly Johannine form of the gospel
paradox equating self-surrender with self-preservation. The endeavor to
retain & gratify selfhood in this world must fail, while scorn for selfhood
in this world guarantees that one EIS ZWHN AIWNION FULAXEI AUTHN--so that
the self will "have" eternal life.
To sum up the grammatical functions of EIS + accusative in the four
instances of EIS ZWHN AIWNION in GJn, it seems to me that the accusative
form (ZWHN AIWNION) in each instance functions as an ultimate limit or goal
TO which, FOR which, or INTO which the endeavor of the believer, the one
who accepts Jesus' gift, the one who commits self to Jesus in
self-surrender ultimately issues. Each of these accusatives is an
accusative of "limit" or "end of motion"--but the "limit" or "end of
motion" in each instance is metaphorical rather than one in space and time;
indeed the "limit" or ultimate "end of motion" would appear in each
instance to be a mode of existence that transcends space and time.
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University
Summer: 1647 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/
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