Midrash in the New Testament: John vs. Synoptikoi

This paper deals with prefaces to the gospels of Matthew, Luke and John. From the point of view of their genre, the fi rst two are the midrash, i.e. an interpretation based on written sources and the oral tradition of Judaism. Their aim is to relate the knowledge about Jesus that was obtained from M...

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Main Author: Alexeev Anatoly
Format: Article
Language:Russian
Published: St. Tikhon's Orthodox University 2017-12-01
Series:Вестник Православного Свято-Тихоновского гуманитарного университета: Сериа III. Филология
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Online Access:http://periodical.pstgu.ru/ru/pdf/article/5815
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author Alexeev Anatoly
author_facet Alexeev Anatoly
author_sort Alexeev Anatoly
collection DOAJ
description This paper deals with prefaces to the gospels of Matthew, Luke and John. From the point of view of their genre, the fi rst two are the midrash, i.e. an interpretation based on written sources and the oral tradition of Judaism. Their aim is to relate the knowledge about Jesus that was obtained from Mark to the conception of the Messiah, in accordance with which these two Evangelists interpret the borrowed data. The historical and biographical design of both prefaces refl ects the cultural environment of the Hellenistic epoch, whereas their content and literary form are a traditional response to exclusively theological inquiries. John, in turn, draws not only on Mark but also on certain other sources or on his personal experience and goes beyond the conception of the Messiah, evaluating Jesus as a messenger (shaliah) of God or God Himself (drawing no diff erence between the one who sends and the one who is sent is characteristic of ancient cultural traditions). With all its signifi cance, the conception of the Messiah off ered only limited opportunities for the interpretation of the fi gure of the historical Jesus in the light of religious gnoseology (which was given much importance by the Evangelist John), as well as in the light of soteriology, as it came to be evident later, in the period of the second rebellion and acknowledging Simon bar Kokhba as the Messiah. The preface to the gospel of John aims to explain the meaning of Creation and the corresponding anthropology, which was necessary for the formation of the new concept of personal God, and, furthermore, gives an outline of the main issues of the entire gospel. Another way of development of the early Christian thought from messiology to theology was liturgical practice and corresponding word usage. In the fi nal part of the paper, the author points to the inadequacy of the term “Christology” for the circle of problems that make up the base of the Christian theology.
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publisher St. Tikhon's Orthodox University
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series Вестник Православного Свято-Тихоновского гуманитарного университета: Сериа III. Филология
spelling doaj-art-97443639d11445fdb342c7bd35c36a9d2025-08-20T03:48:42ZrusSt. Tikhon's Orthodox UniversityВестник Православного Свято-Тихоновского гуманитарного университета: Сериа III. Филология1991-64852409-48972017-12-0152521135http://dx.doi.org/10.15382/sturIII201752.11-356Midrash in the New Testament: John vs. SynoptikoiAlexeev Anatoly0St Petersburg State UniversityThis paper deals with prefaces to the gospels of Matthew, Luke and John. From the point of view of their genre, the fi rst two are the midrash, i.e. an interpretation based on written sources and the oral tradition of Judaism. Their aim is to relate the knowledge about Jesus that was obtained from Mark to the conception of the Messiah, in accordance with which these two Evangelists interpret the borrowed data. The historical and biographical design of both prefaces refl ects the cultural environment of the Hellenistic epoch, whereas their content and literary form are a traditional response to exclusively theological inquiries. John, in turn, draws not only on Mark but also on certain other sources or on his personal experience and goes beyond the conception of the Messiah, evaluating Jesus as a messenger (shaliah) of God or God Himself (drawing no diff erence between the one who sends and the one who is sent is characteristic of ancient cultural traditions). With all its signifi cance, the conception of the Messiah off ered only limited opportunities for the interpretation of the fi gure of the historical Jesus in the light of religious gnoseology (which was given much importance by the Evangelist John), as well as in the light of soteriology, as it came to be evident later, in the period of the second rebellion and acknowledging Simon bar Kokhba as the Messiah. The preface to the gospel of John aims to explain the meaning of Creation and the corresponding anthropology, which was necessary for the formation of the new concept of personal God, and, furthermore, gives an outline of the main issues of the entire gospel. Another way of development of the early Christian thought from messiology to theology was liturgical practice and corresponding word usage. In the fi nal part of the paper, the author points to the inadequacy of the term “Christology” for the circle of problems that make up the base of the Christian theology.http://periodical.pstgu.ru/ru/pdf/article/5815midrash gospel preface prologue epitome messiah messenger biography Christology theology historism
spellingShingle Alexeev Anatoly
Midrash in the New Testament: John vs. Synoptikoi
Вестник Православного Свято-Тихоновского гуманитарного университета: Сериа III. Филология
midrash
gospel
preface
prologue
epitome
messiah
messenger
biography
Christology
theology
historism
title Midrash in the New Testament: John vs. Synoptikoi
title_full Midrash in the New Testament: John vs. Synoptikoi
title_fullStr Midrash in the New Testament: John vs. Synoptikoi
title_full_unstemmed Midrash in the New Testament: John vs. Synoptikoi
title_short Midrash in the New Testament: John vs. Synoptikoi
title_sort midrash in the new testament john vs synoptikoi
topic midrash
gospel
preface
prologue
epitome
messiah
messenger
biography
Christology
theology
historism
url http://periodical.pstgu.ru/ru/pdf/article/5815
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