BT Bible Translator
ECC Eerdmans Critical Commentary
ESV English Standard Version
ExpTim Expository Times
ICC International Critical Commentary
IVPNTCS Inter-Varsity Press New Testament Commentary Series
JBL Journal of Biblical Literature
JSNT Journal for the Study of the New Testament
JSNTSS Journal for the Study of the new Testament Supplement Series
LCL Loeb Classical Library
LNTS Library of New Testament Studies
NCB New Century Bible
NCBC New Cambridge Bible Commentary
NICNT New International Commentary on the New Testament
NIV New International Version
NJB The New Jerusalem Bible
NovTSup Supplements to Novum Testamentum
NRSV New Revised Standard Version
NT New Testament
NTS New Testament Studies
OM Operation Mobilization
OT Old Testament
RSV Revised Standard Version
Str-B Strack, H. L., and P. Billerbeck, Kommentar zum Neuen Testament aus Talmud und Midrash, 6 vols. (Munich, 1922–61)
TDNT Theological Dictionary of the New Testament
TNIV Today’s New International Version
TNTC Tyndale New Testament Commentaries
TynBul Tyndale Bulletin
WBC Word Biblical Commentary
WUNT Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament
ZNW Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der älteren Kirche
General
ET English Translation
LXX Septuagint
MT Masoretic Text
par. parallel
Ancient Sources
Adv. Haer. Adversus Haereses (Against Heresies)
Corp. herm. Corpus hermeticum
Hist. eccl. / Eccl. Hist. Eusebius, Historia ecclesiastica
Apocrypha
Bar Baruch
1 Esd 1 Esdras
1/2 Macc 1/2 Maccabees
Sir Sirach
Wis Wisdom of Solomon
Dead Sea Scrolls
CD-A Cairo Genizah copy of the Damascus Documenta
1QM War Scroll
1QH Thanksgiving Hymns
1QS Rule of the Community
1QSa Messianic Rule
4QFlor Florilegium
4QTest Testimonia
Josephus
Ant. Jewish Antiquities
J.W. Jewish War
Philo of Alexandria
Agr. De agricultura (On Angriculture)
Cher. De cherubim (On the Cherubim)
Det. Quod deterius potiori insidari soleat (The Worse Attacks the Better)
Her. Quis rerum divinarum heres (Who Is the Heir?)
Leg. Legum allegoriae (Allegorical Interpretation)
Opif. De opificio mundi (On the Creation of the World)
Post. De posteritate Caini (On the Posterity of Cain)
QG Quaestiones et solutiones in Genesin (Questions and Answers on Genesis)
QE Quaestiones et solutiones in Exodum (Questions and Answers on Exodus)
Sac. De sacrificiis Abelis et Caini (On the Sacrifices of Abel and Cain)
Somn. De somniis (On Dreams)
Spec. De specialibus legibus (On the Special Laws)
Mos. De vita Mosis (On the Life of Moses)
Pseudepigrapha
Ascen. Isa. Ascension of Isaiah
1 En. 1 Enoch (Ethiopic Apocalypse)
Jub. Jubilees
3/4 Macc 3/4 Maccabees
Pss. Sol. Psalms of Solomon
T. Abr Testament of Abraham
T. Dan Testament of Dan
T. Gad Testament of Gad
T. Jud. Testament of Judah
T. Naph. Testament of Naphtali
Rabbinic Literature
b. Babylonian Talmud
B. Bat. Baba Batra
`Erub `Erubin
Mek. Mekilta
m. Mishnah
Bek. Bekorot
Ber. Berakot
Ketub. Ketubbot
Mid. Middot
Ned. Nedarim
Nid. Niddah
Pesah Pesahim
Rab. Rabbah
Roš Haš. Roš Haššanah
Sanh. Sanhedrin
Šabb. Šabbat
t. Tosefta
Tg. Exod. Targum on Exodus
Tg. Isa. Targum on Isaiah
Tg. Onq. Gen. Targum Onqelos on Genesis
Gen Rab. Genesis Rabbah
Exod Rab. Exodus Rabbah
Introduction
There have been many commentaries on the Gospel of John since 125 CE, when the Valentinian gnostic leader Heracleon first wrote one. Commentators, particularly after the Reformation, have usually taken an exegetical and sociohistorical approach. Some scholars have used rhetorical criticism, a social-scientific approach, narrative criticism, and/or a sociorhetorical perspective based on literary/rhetorical and cultural perspectives for interpreting John.1
Any writing of the first century needs to be set in its historical, religious, and social contexts for a proper understanding of its complexity. Previous studies have located John’s Gospel in a context of purported conflict between Jewish Christians and the unbelieving Jews in the late first century.2 By observing the literary and rhetorical texture of John’s Gospel, Keener attempts to reconstruct the social contexts in which John was written.3 The events recorded in the Gospel and the writings of the late first century and early second century help us to reconstruct the historical situation in which John’s Gospel was probably written.
In this commentary I attempt to set the Fourth Gospel in its historical setting and then to show that the vision of Jesus for