John 7:53-8:11, Dr. Ehrman on NPR radio
My dad and I were just listening to NPR's interview with Bart Ehrman about his new book, Misquoting Jesus.
Dr. Ehrman talked about scribes making changes in the texts, and in particular the change in John (7:53-8:11) regarding the woman being accused of adultry. If it was indeed a scribe who decided to make that change, it would have had to have been a very educated scribe, one who knew the literary form. Perhaps someone with authority within the church suggested or authorized the change.
The person who made the alterations masterfully made the addition to John's Story 12.
The big question: Why was this story about the adulterous woman placed in this part of John's gospel?
The wisdom statement of the Wisdom section of John's Story 12 is: "If you knew me, you would know my Father also." nrsv. Following the literary form, the wisdom statement of the wisdom section must give specific meaning to the story statement of the story section. The story statement of John's Story 12 is " and making her stand before them all, they said to him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultry. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such woman. Now what do you say? They said this to test him." nrsv
In Exodus 31:18, the tablets given to Moses were inscribed by the finger of God.
Moses threw down the tablets when he saw the Isrealits had broken the first commandment. In the story statement of the story section, the Pharisees are quoting a lesser law to kill the woman. Jesus gives meaning to it in the wisdom statement of that section by bending down and writing with his finger in the ground. Jesus is identifying himself with the Father, who has forgiven the Israelites. (The literary form also tells us that the wisdom statement within each section must give specific meaning to its story statement.)
So, getting back to Dr. Erhman. He said that the addition was found in the margin of a manuscript. Why was this done? The person who wrote in the margin did so because he had and execllent example to make the point: "If you knew me, you would know my Father also," (the wisdom statement of the wisdom section). The person who wrote in the margin of the manuscript knew the literary form of the parable in which John's gospel was written, and someone cleverly placed it so that the integrity of the Story was preserved.
Dr. Ehrman talked about scribes making changes in the texts, and in particular the change in John (7:53-8:11) regarding the woman being accused of adultry. If it was indeed a scribe who decided to make that change, it would have had to have been a very educated scribe, one who knew the literary form. Perhaps someone with authority within the church suggested or authorized the change.
The person who made the alterations masterfully made the addition to John's Story 12.
The big question: Why was this story about the adulterous woman placed in this part of John's gospel?
The wisdom statement of the Wisdom section of John's Story 12 is: "If you knew me, you would know my Father also." nrsv. Following the literary form, the wisdom statement of the wisdom section must give specific meaning to the story statement of the story section. The story statement of John's Story 12 is " and making her stand before them all, they said to him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultry. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such woman. Now what do you say? They said this to test him." nrsv
In Exodus 31:18, the tablets given to Moses were inscribed by the finger of God.
Moses threw down the tablets when he saw the Isrealits had broken the first commandment. In the story statement of the story section, the Pharisees are quoting a lesser law to kill the woman. Jesus gives meaning to it in the wisdom statement of that section by bending down and writing with his finger in the ground. Jesus is identifying himself with the Father, who has forgiven the Israelites. (The literary form also tells us that the wisdom statement within each section must give specific meaning to its story statement.)
So, getting back to Dr. Erhman. He said that the addition was found in the margin of a manuscript. Why was this done? The person who wrote in the margin did so because he had and execllent example to make the point: "If you knew me, you would know my Father also," (the wisdom statement of the wisdom section). The person who wrote in the margin of the manuscript knew the literary form of the parable in which John's gospel was written, and someone cleverly placed it so that the integrity of the Story was preserved.
posted by Anne and Mike at 7:29 PM
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