Yohanan the Immerser’s Eschatological Discourse

Matt. 3:11-12; Mark 1:7-8; Luke 3:15-17

(Huck 4; Aland 16; Crook 19)^[128]

Updated: 21 March 2024

וַיַּחְשְׁבוּ הָאֻכְלוּסִים בְּלִבָּם יוֹחָנָן הוּא הַמָּשִׁיחַ וַיַּעַן יוֹחָנָן אוֹתָם לֵאמֹר אֲנִי מַטְבִּיל אֶתְכֶם בַּמַּיִם וַהֲרֵי בָּא אַחֲרַי מִי שֶׁאֵינִי כָּשֵׁר לְהַתִּיר לוֹ רְצוּעַת מִנְעָלָיו הוּא יַטְבִּיל אֶתְכֶם בָּרוּחַ וּבָאֵשׁ מִי שֶׁהָרַחַת בְּיָדוֹ וְיָבוֹר אֶת גּוֹרְנוֹ וְיַכְנִיס אֶת הַחִטִּים לְאוֹצָרוֹ וְהַקַּשׁ יִשְׂרֹף בְּאֵשׁ תָּמִיד

The people in the crowds were thinking, “Yohanan the Immerser must be the messianic priest!”

But Yohanan replied, “I immerse you in water, but be aware: Someone is coming after me for whom I am unfit even to undo his sandal straps. When he comes he will immerse you in wind and fire. Already this someone has his winnowing shovel in his hand, and he intends to purify his threshing floor. The wheat he will store in his storeroom, but the stubble that remains on the threshing floor he will burn in the flames of the altar.”^[129]

Reconstruction

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• ^[1] Cf. Plummer, Matt., 28; McNeile, 28; Bundy, 51-52 §4; Davies-Allison, 1:312. ↩
• ^[2] On the author of Matthew’s redactional insertion of the Pharisees and Sadducees, see Yohanan the Immerser Demands Repentance, Comment to L1-2. ↩
• ^[3] The high Lukan-Matthean verbal agreement (above 80%) in the Purifying the Threshing Floor saying (Matt. 3:12 // Luke 3:17), which is included in Yohanan the Immerser’s Eschatological Discourse, also supports our conclusion that Anth. stood behind both the Lukan and Matthean versions of this pericope. On high verbal agreement in DT pericopae as an indicator of derivation from Anth., see LOY Excursus: Criteria for Distinguishing Type 1 from Type 2 Double Tradition Pericopae. ↩
• ^[4] Cf. scholars such as McNeile (28) and Davies-Allison (1:311), who regard Matthew’s version of Yohanan the Immerser’s Eschatological Discourse as a conflation of Mark and Q. Likewise, John P. Meier, “John the Baptist in Matthew’s Gospel,” Journal of Biblical Literature 99.3 (1980): 383-405, esp. 390.

  Justin Martyr was familiar with the Matthean form of Yohanan the Immerser’s Eschatological Discourse, as we see from his version of the Baptist’s saying:

  ἐγὼ μὲν ὑμᾶς βαπτίζω ἐν ὕδατι εἰς μετάνοιαν ἥξει δὲ ὁ ἰσχυτότερός μου, οὗ οὔκ εἰμι ἱκανὸς τὰ ὑποδύματα βαστάσαι αὐτὸς ὑμᾶς βαπτίσει ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ καὶ πυρί οὗ τὸ πτύον αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ διακαθαριεῖ τὴν ἅλωνα αὐτοῦ καὶ τόν σῖτον συνάξει εἰς τὴν ἀποθήκην τὸ δὲ ἄχυρον κατακαύσει πυρὶ ἀσβέστῳ

  I, on the one hand, immerse you in water for repentance, but the one mightier than I will come, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He will immerse you in holy spirit and fire. His winnowing shovel is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor, and the wheat he will gather into the storehouse, but the stubble he will burn in unquenchable fire. (Dial. §49 [ed. Trollope, 1:99-100])

  ↩

• ^[5] For a comparison of the various versions of John’s prediction of the coming of Someone whose sandals John was unworthy to remove, see Paul G. Bretscher, “‘Whose Sandals’? (Matt 3:11),” Journal of Biblical Literature 86.1 (1967): 81-87. ↩
• ^[6] In Acts 11:16 the saying recorded in Acts 1:5 is repeated with slight variation of word order. There the saying is correctly attributed to Jesus, not to John the Baptist. ↩
• ^[7] See Bovon, 1:126. ↩
• ^[8] The source of the Johannine version of the Baptist’s saying is unknown. Like Matthew, but unlike Mark and Luke, John’s version includes the preposition ἐν (en, “in”) before ὕδατι (hūdati, “in/with water”). Also like Matthew, John’s version uses the titular phrase ὁ ὀπίσω μου ἐρχόμενος (ho opisō mou erchomenos, “the one coming after me”; Matt. 3:11), whereas Luke and Mark refer to “the one stronger than I.” Like Mark and Luke, John’s version refers to untying the straps of the coming one’s shoes (Mark 1:7; Luke 3:16), whereas Matthew omits the reference to straps and speaks of carrying the shoes rather than untying them. Like the version in Acts 13:25, John’s version uses the adjective ἄξιος (axios, “worthy”), whereas all three synoptic versions have ἱκανός (hikanos, “sufficient”). Unique to John is the suggestion that the coming one has already been standing in the midst of those who were interrogating the Baptist. Perhaps the Johannine version of the Baptist’s saying is an amalgamation of the versions found in the Synoptic Gospels and Acts, or perhaps it is based on oral tradition. ↩
• ^[9] Cf. Marshall, 144; Nolland, Luke, 1:151; Robert L. Webb, John the Baptizer and Prophet: A Socio-Historical Study (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1991), 264 n. 3. ↩
• ^[10] On the author of Luke’s redactional activity in Luke 3:7, see A Voice Crying, Comment to L52-57. ↩
• ^[11] On the genitive absolute as an indicator of Lukan redaction, see LOY Excursus: The Genitive Absolute in the Synoptic Gospels, under the subheading “The Genitive Absolute in Luke.” ↩
• ^[12] Note that, according to Acts 19:4, John the Baptist spoke τῷ λαῷ (tō laō, “to the people”), exhorting them so that they might believe in the one coming after him. ↩
• ^[13] Cf. Ernst Bammel, “The Baptist in Early Christian Tradition,” New Testament Studies 18.1 (1971): 95-128, esp. 106 n. 3. ↩
• ^[14] The verb προσδοκᾶν occurs 2xx in Matthew (Matt. 11:3; 24:50), 0xx in Mark, 6xx in Luke (Luke 1:21; 3:15; 7:19, 20; 8:40; 12:46) and 5xx in Acts (Acts 3:5; 10:24; 27:33; 28:6 [2xx]). See Moulton-Geden, 861. The table below shows all of the instances of προσδοκᾶν in the Synoptic Gospels and the parallels (if any):

  Matt. 11:3 DT = Luke 7:19 Matt. 24:50 DT = Luke 12:46 Luke 1:21 U Luke 3:15 TT (cf. Matt. 3:[--]; Mark 1:7) Luke 7:19 DT = Matt. 11:3 Luke 7:20 DT (cf. Matt. 11:[--]) Luke 8:40 TT (cf. Matt. 9:[--]; Mark 5:21) Luke 12:46 DT = Matt. 12:50 Key: TT = pericope has parallels in all three Synoptic Gospels; DT = Lukan-Matthean pericope; U = verse unique to a particular Gospel; [--] = no corresponding word and/or verse

  The evidence is not unequivocal. The two Lukan-Matthean agreements in DT pericopae to write προσδοκᾶν proves that this verb did sometimes occur in Anth. On the other hand, the use of προσδοκᾶν in the second half of Acts indicates that the author of Luke favored this verb and the presence of προσδοκᾶν in Lukan contexts that on other grounds appear to be redactional (Luke 3:15; 8:40) suggests that the author of Luke sometimes added προσδοκᾶν to his source.

  It is possible that Luke’s use of προσδοκᾶν in Yohanan the Immerser’s Eschatological Discourse was intended to create resonances with Yohanan the Immerser’s Question (Matt. 11:3; Luke 7:19, 20), where the Lukan-Matthean agreement to write προσδοκᾶν proves that this verb occurred in Anth. The author of Luke’s redaction would then parallel the author of Matthew’s adaptation of Anth.’s wording in Yohanan the Immerser’s Question from ἔρχεται ὁ ἰσχυρότερός μου (“one mightier than I is coming”; Mark 1:7; Luke 3:16) to ὁ...ἐρχόμενος ἰσχυρότερός μού ἐστιν (“the coming one is mightier than I”; Matt. 3:11) in order to strengthen the association between Yohanan the Immerser’s Question and Yohanan the Immerser’s Eschatological Discourse. ↩

• ^[15] Cf. Bammel, “The Baptist in Early Christian Tradition,” 106 n. 3. ↩
• ^[16] Cf. Marshall, 145. ↩
• ^[17] See Hatch-Redpath, 1:304-305. ↩
• ^[18] See Dos Santos, 71. ↩
• ^[19] See Bovon, 1:125. ↩
• ^[20] Note also the negative connotations of מַחְשְׁבֹת לֵב (maḥsh^evot lēv, “thoughts of the heart”) in Gen. 6:5. Cf. Prov. 6:18; 19:21. ↩
• ^[21] In LXX ἐν [ταῖς] καρδίαις αὐτῶν is the translation of בִּלְבָבָם in Ps. 27[28]:3; 77[78]:18; Zeph. 1:12. In Eccl. 9:3 and Jer. 5:24 בִּלְבָבָם was rendered ἐν [τῇ] καρδίᾳ αὐτῶν. ↩
• ^[22] In LXX ἐν [ταῖς] καρδίαις αὐτῶν is the translation of בְּלִבָּם in Ps. 34[35]:25; Zech. 12:5. In Ps. 73[74]:8 and Eccl. 3:11 בְּלִבָּם was rendered ἐν [τῇ] καρδίᾳ αὐτῶν. ↩
• ^[23] See Hatch-Redpath, 2:1475-1476. ↩
• ^[24] See Dos Santos, 123. ↩
• ^[25] Thus, Nolland (Luke, 1:150) missed the point when he stated, “Nothing in John’s ministry attracts thought of a Davidic messiah.” In the Second Temple period messiahs could be Davidic or otherwise. ↩
• ^[26] Cf. Marshall, 145. ↩
• ^[27] See LHNS, 11 §4. ↩
• ^[28] Luke’s word order dictates reconstructing John’s statement as אֲנִי בַּמַּיִם מַטְבִּיל אֶתְכֶם, which, if not impossible, is at least awkward and unusual. ↩
• ^[29] Cf. Marshall, 146. ↩
• ^[30] Matthew’s word order dictates reconstructing John’s statement as אֲנִי אֶתְכֶם מַטְבִּיל בַּמַּיִם, which is truly jarring. ↩
• ^[31] See Davies-Allison, 1:312. ↩
• ^[32] For a different view, see Harry Fleddermann, “John and the Coming One (Matt 3:11-12//Luke 3:16-17),” Society of Biblical Literature Seminar Papers 23 (1984): 377-384, esp. 378. ↩
• ^[33] This is how Davies and Allison accounted for the presence of ἐν in Matt. 3:11. See Davies-Allison, 1:312. ↩
• ^[34] See Yohanan the Immerser’s Question, Comment to L21. ↩
• ^[35] Cf. LHNS, 11 §4; Lindsey, HTGM, 87. ↩
• ^[36] See Hatch-Redpath, 2:1381-1384. ↩
• ^[37] See Dos Santos, 110. ↩
• ^[38] On the popular identification of John the Baptist with Elijah, see Yeshua’s Words about Yohanan the Immerser, Comment to L23-27. ↩
• ^[39] See John A. T. Robinson, “Elijah, John and Jesus: An Essay in Detection,” in his Twelve New Testament Studies (London: SMC Press, 1962; repr. from New Testament Studies 4 [1958]: 263-281), 28-52, esp. 29-31; Schuyler Brown, “‘Water-Baptism’ and ‘Spirit-Baptism’ in Luke-Acts,” Anglican Theological Review 59.2 (1977): 135-151, esp. 136-137. ↩
• ^[40] Some scholars object that “the Lord” and “the messenger of the covenant” of Mal. 3:1 ought not to be equated with “my messenger” of the same verse, but must rather be identified as God himself. See Knox Chamblin, “Gospel and Judgment in the preaching of John the Baptist,” Tyndale Bulletin 13 (1963): 7-15, esp. 11; John H. Hughes, “John the Baptist: The Forerunner of God Himself,” Novum Testamentum 14.3 (1972): 191-218, esp. 193. Whether or not they are correct with regard to the author of Malachi’s original intention, there are good reasons for equating all three personages. First, having begun to speak in the first person (“I will send my messenger”), why would God then refer to himself in the third person (“he will come suddenly”)? God resumes speaking in the first person in Mal. 3:5, so it is natural to assume that the figure(s) spoken of in the third person in Mal. 3:1-4 is a single individual. Second, “messenger of the covenant” is a qualifier of “the lord” (“the lord whom you seek, namely the messenger of the covenant”), and it is natural to suppose that the messenger of the covenant is none other than “my messenger,” whom God promises to send in the opening of the verse. It is understandable, therefore, that some readers would reach the conclusion that the coming of a single person is envisioned throughout. Ancient Jewish commentaries on Mal. 3:1 are scarce, but at least one Jewish interpreter, Rabbi David Kimhi (Radak [1160-1235]), who may have been passing on earlier traditions, not only regarded "the messenger of the covenant” as one with “the lord” and “my messenger” as a single figure, he identified that figure as Elijah: אמר מלאך הברית על אליהו (“It says ‘messenger of the covenant’ concerning Elijah”). See Rabbi David Kimhi, Duodecim Prophetæ cum comentariis R. Dauid Kimhi (Paris: ex officina Roberti Stephani, typographi Regii, 1539), on Mic. 3:1. This is the second of two possible identifications of "the messenger of the covenant” that Rabbi David Kimhi proposed, the other being the Messiah. It makes perfect sense that God would not reenter the Temple until it had been purified for him by an eschatological high priest. ↩
• ^[41] On the influence of Malachi’s prophecy on John the Baptist’s preaching, see Jeffrey A. Trumbower, “The Role of Malachi in the Career of John the Baptist,” in The Gospels and the Scriptures of Israel (ed. Craig A. Evans and W. Richard Stegner; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1994), 28-41, esp. 34-36. ↩
• ^[42] See Robinson, “Elijah, John and Jesus: An Essay in Detection,” 31 (italics original). Brownlee also discussed the possibility that John the Baptist expected the coming of Elijah. See W. H. Brownlee, “John the Baptist in the New Light of Ancient Scrolls,” in The Scrolls and the New Testament (ed. Krister Stendahl; New York: Crossroad, 1992), 33-53, 252-256, esp. 48. ↩
• ^[43] The coming Someone’s function of purifying the Temple and priesthood matches the role of a priestly, rather than a Davidic, messiah. Strengthening the identification of John’s coming Someone as Elijah are Jewish traditions, likely reaching back to the Second Temple period, that Elijah was a priest as well as a prophet. See John C. Poirier, “The Endtime Return of Elijah and Moses at Qumran,” Dead Sea Discoveries 10.2 (2003): 221-242. ↩
• ^[44] Scholars who attribute εἰς μετάνοιαν to Matthean redaction include Allen (25), McNeile (28-29), Nolland (Luke, 1:151) and Bovon (1:126 n. 56). See also Fleddermann, “John and the Coming One (Matt 3:11-12//Luke 3:16-17),” 378. ↩
• ^[45] See Harnack, 3. ↩
• ^[46] Catchpole, 10. ↩
• ^[47] On the author of Matthew’s rejection of the notion that John’s immersions could effect forgiveness, see A Voice Crying, Comment to L35. ↩
• ^[48] Matthew’s word order dictates a reconstruction such as הָאַחֲרַי בָּא חָזָק מִמֶּנִּי ("The one behind me is coming, stronger than I"), which is nonsensical, since a preposition cannot be used as a substantive, or perhaps מִי שֶׁאַחֲרַי בָּא הוּא חָזָק מִמֶּנִּי (“Someone who is behind me is coming. He is stronger than I”), which is bizarre. We would have expected the Hebrew statement הַבָּא אַחֲרַי חָזָק מִמֶּנִּי (“The one coming behind me is stronger than I”) to be expressed in Greek as ὁ ἐρχόμενος ὀπίσω μου ἰσχυρότερός μού ἐστιν. ↩
• ^[49] See Meier, “John the Baptist in Matthew’s Gospel,” 390-391 n. 24; idem, Marginal, 2:79 n. 76. ↩
• ^[50] Pace Fleddermann (“John and the Coming One [Matt 3:11-12//Luke 3:16-17],” 378) and Tuckett, who argued that ὁ ἐρχόμενος in Matthew came from Q. See Christopher M. Tuckett, “John the Baptist in Q,” in his Q and the History of Christianity: Studies on Q (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1996), 107-137, esp. 117 n. 34. ↩
• ^[51] On reconstructing ἔρχεσθαι (erchesthai, “to come”) with בָּא (bā’, “come”), see Demands of Discipleship, Comment to L8. ↩
• ^[52] LHNS, 11 §4. ↩
• ^[53] In Acts 13:25 the Baptist’s saying is quoted by Paul, who, according to Acts 21:40; 22:2, was a Hebrew speaker. Paul may well have memorized the Baptist’s saying in its Hebrew form. ↩
• ^[54] Cf. Fleddermann, “John and the Coming One (Matt 3:11-12//Luke 3:16-17),” 378; Webb, John the Baptizer and Prophet: A Socio-Historical Study, 265. ↩
• ^[55] Our suggestion presupposes that the author of Luke believed that John the Baptist was speaking about Jesus when he spoke of Someone coming after him. John himself does not appear to have identified the coming Someone with Jesus at the time when he prophesied the Someone’s coming to the crowds. Cf. Manson, Luke, 28; Bammel, “The Baptist in Early Christian Tradition,” 97. ↩
• ^[56] The phrase -מִי שֶׁ appears as the reconstruction of ὃς ἐάν in Yohanan the Immerser’s Question, L45. ↩
• ^[57] The phrase -מִי שֶׁ appears as the reconstruction of ὅστις in Demands of Discipleship, L21, L29-31. ↩
• ^[58] In a talmudic discussion Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi states:

  אני איני כדי לעמוד מפני בני

  As for me, it is not fitting for me [אֵינִי כְּדַי] to stand in the presence of my son.... (b. Kid. 33b)

  ↩

• ^[59] See Yohanan the Immerser Demands Repentance, Comment to L10. ↩
• ^[60] Cf. Fleddermann, “John and the Coming One (Matt 3:11-12//Luke 3:16-17),” 383; Webb, John the Baptizer and Prophet: A Socio-Historical Study, 271. ↩
• ^[61] Pace Creed (53) and Tuckett (“John the Baptist in Q,” 117 n. 34), who thought that Matthew preserves the original form. See Davies-Allison, 1:315. ↩
• ^[62] See Hatch-Redpath, 2:889. ↩
• ^[63] Fleddermann (“John and the Coming One [Matt 3:11-12//Luke 3:16-17],” 379) suggested that the author of Matthew attempted to simplify the imagery in the Baptist’s saying. ↩
• ^[64] For the view that Mark’s aorist is a Semitism, see Taylor, 64, 157; Guelich, 24. ↩
• ^[65] For the view that Mark’s aorist is theologically driven, see McNeile, 28; Bultmann, 111; Bundy, 50 §4; Mann, 197; Catchpole, 11. See also Fleddermann, “John and the Coming One (Matt 3:11-12//Luke 3:16-17),” 382. ↩
• ^[66] See A. B. Bruce, 84; C. K. Barrett, The Holy Spirit and the Gospel Tradition (rev. ed.; London: SPCK, 1966), 126; Beare, 39 §4; Ernest Best, “Spirit-Baptism,” Novum Testamentum 4.3 (1960): 236-243; Schweizer, 51-52; Cf. Davies-Allison, 1:317. ↩
• ^[67] According to Josephus, God used the Romans to purify the Temple with fire (J.W. 4:323; 6:110). Flusser suggested that Josephus’ apologetic explanation for the Romans’ burning of the Temple was based on earlier apocalyptic notions of the Temple’s purification by fire. See David Flusser, “Jerusalem in Second Temple Literature” (Flusser, JSTP2, 44-75, esp. 69). Note that the English version of Flusser’s article is marred by numerous translational errors. Those of which we are aware have been collected on this website in the blog post entitled Corrections and Emendations to Flusser’s Judaism of the Second Temple Period. ↩
• ^[68] On the disagreement between John the Baptist and Jesus over a two-stage or three-stage division of history, see David Flusser, “The Stages of Redemption History According to John the Baptist and Jesus” (Flusser, Jesus, 258-275). ↩
• ^[69] See David Flusser, “The Literary Relationship Between the Three Gospels,” in his Jewish Sources in Early Christianity: Studies and Essays (Tel Aviv: Sifriat Poalim, 1979), 28-49, esp. 48 (in Hebrew); idem, “The Baptism of John and the Dead Sea Sect,” in his Jewish Sources in Early Christianity: Studies and Essays (Tel Aviv: Sifriat Poalim, 1979), 81-112, esp. 98 (in Hebrew). ↩
• ^[70] The Baptist’s affirmation in the Fourth Gospel that “this is the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit” (John 1:33) betrays the influence of the synoptic tradition, or perhaps direct knowledge of the saying of Jesus recorded in Acts 1:5. ↩
• ^[71] A major problem with the hypothesis that the Baptist spoke only of an immersion of the Holy Spirit is that proclaiming a bigger and better immersion that was soon to be available would have been a major disincentive to participating in John’s water immersions. Why not wait for the upgrade and save oneself the trouble of being immersed twice? In order to avoid this difficulty, Kraeling argued that originally the Baptist spoke only of immersion in a wind (ἐν πνεύματι) of judgment. John’s saying was subsequently reinterpreted with the addition of ἁγίῳ (“holy”) as a reference to the Holy Spirit, as reflected in Mark 1:8. Finally, the addition of καὶ πυρί (“and fire”) was a reaction against Mark’s reinterpretation of the Baptist’s saying, and therefore the entire phrase ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ καὶ πυρί should be understood as a hendiadys implying that the one whose coming John foretold would “destroy you with the fiery breath of his Spirit.” See Carl H. Kraeling, John the Baptist (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1951), 62-63. ↩
• ^[72] Scholars who suppose that “Holy Spirit and fire” represents the independent combination of the Markan and Q traditions by the authors of Luke and Matthew include Harnack (3), Manson (Sayings, 41), Brown (“‘Water-Baptism’ and ‘Spirit-Baptism’ in Luke-Acts,” 136), Luz (1:138) and Bovon (1:126). Scholars who suppose that “Holy Spirit and fire” was already in Q include Taylor (157) and Fleddermann (“John and the Coming One [Matt 3:11-12//Luke 3:16-17],” 381). Bultmann (111 n. 1) preferred not to decide between these two options. Neither did Hartwig Thyen, “ΒΑΠΤΙΣΜΑ ΜΕΤΑΝΟΙΑΣ ΕΙΣ ΑΦΕΣΙΝ ΑΜΑΡΤΙΩΝ,” in The Future of our Religious Past: Essays in Honour of Rudolf Bultmann (ed. James M. Robinson; trans. Charles E. Carlston and Robert P. Scharlemann; New York: Harper & Row, 1971), 131-168, esp. 132 n. 6, 137 n. 25. The main weakness of this proposal is that the substitution of “fire” with “Holy Spirit” remains inexplicable, since neither the words nor the concepts in Greek or Hebrew bear any similarity to one another. ↩
• ^[73] The notion of two mutually exclusive immersions is advocated by Robert L. Webb, “The Activity of John the Baptist’s Expected Figure at the Threshing Floor (Matthew 3.12 = Luke 3.17),” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 43 (1991): 103-111, esp. 109-111. The weakness of this solution is that it undermines the contrast John the Baptist drew between himself and the one whose coming he foretold. John immersed at the present time in water for the salvation of those who repented. The one who was coming would immerse at a future time in wind and fire for the destruction of those who did not repent. Two additional contrasts between the present and future immersions are that John’s immersion was limited and voluntary, whereas the immersion administered by the coming one would be universal and involuntary. Cf. Kraeling, John the Baptist, 117. ↩
• ^[74] See Flusser, “The Baptism of John and the Dead Sea Sect,” 98 n. 41. ↩
• ^[75] Elijah’s association with fire is emphasized in Sir. 48:1. Sir. 48:3 notes that on three occasions Elijah called down fire from heaven. These took place during Elijah’s contest with the priests of Baal on Mount Carmel (1 Kgs. 18:36-38) and twice when Ahaziah attempted to summon Elijah to Samaria (2 Kgs. 1:1-12). ↩
• ^[76] See Manson, Sayings, 41; Thyen, “ΒΑΠΤΙΣΜΑ ΜΕΤΑΝΟΙΑΣ ΕΙΣ ΑΦΕΣΙΝ ΑΜΑΡΤΙΩΝ,” 136. ↩
• ^[77] On the high self-awareness revealed in Yohanan the Immerser’s Eschatological Discourse, see Catchpole (8-9); Meier, Marginal, 2:55. ↩
• ^[78] Other instances of rendering בָּאֵשׁ (“in the fire”) as [ἐν] πυρί (“in fire”) occur in Exod. 3:2; 12:10; 19:18; 29:14, 34; 32:20; Lev. 4:12; 6:23; 7:17, 19; 8:17, 32; 9:11; 13:52, 55, 57; 16:27; 19:6; 20:14; Num. 31:10, 23; Deut. 1:33; 4:11; 5:23; 7:5, 25; 9:15, 21; 12:3, 31; 13:17; 18:10. ↩
• ^[79] The authors of Luke and Matthew both achieved above 80% verbal identity with one another in the Purifying the Threshing Floor saying, which marks Purifying the Threshing Floor as a Type 1 Double Tradition (DT) pericope. The author of Luke copied most Type 1 DT pericopae from Anth. See LOY Excursus: Criteria for Distinguishing Type 1 from Type 2 Double Tradition Pericopae. ↩
• ^[80] Cf. James D. G. Dunn, “Spirit-and-Fire Baptism,” Novum Testamentum 14.2 (1972): 81-92, esp. 85. ↩
• ^[81] See Webb, “The Activity of John the Baptist’s Expected Figure at the Threshing Floor (Matthew 3.12 = Luke 3.17),” 103-111. ↩
• ^[82] Ibid., 107. ↩
• ^[83] Ibid. ↩
• ^[84] Ibid., 109-110. ↩
• ^[85] The identification of the ἀθηρηλοιγός (“chaff destroyer”) as a πτύον (“winnowing shovel”) was made at least as early as Eustathius of Thessalonica (12th cent. C.E.) in his Commentarii ad Homeri Odysseam (ed. Gottfried Stallbaum; Leipzig: Wegel, 1825), 1:402 §1675.49 (on Odyssey 11:127). See Jane E. Harrison, “Mystica Vannus Iacchi,” The Journal of Hellenic Studies 23 (1903): 292-324, esp. 301-303. ↩
• ^[86] The passage reads:

  σιτουμένην δύστηνον ἀθλίαν φάβα μέσακτα πλευρὰ πρὸς πτύοις πεπληγμένην

  A wretched piteous dove, in quest of food, dashed amid the winnowing shovels [πτύοις], its breast broken in twain. (Aeschylus, Fragments §119 [210]; Loeb [adapted])

  Text and translation (slightly adapted) according to Herbert Weir Smyth, Aeschylus (Loeb; 2 vols.; New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1926), 2:455. ↩

• ^[87] The custom of setting up a winnowing shovel in a grain heap is mentioned in Theocritus (third cent. B.C.E), Bucolic Poems, “The Harvest-Home,” 7:155-157. For text and translation see J. M. Edmonds, trans., The Greek Bucolic Poets (Loeb; New York: Macmillan, 1912), 106-107. See also Harrison, “Mystica Vannus Iacchi,” 305-306; idem, “Mystica Vannus Iacchi (Continued),” The Journal of Hellenic Studies 24 (1904): 241-254, esp. 241-245. ↩
• ^[88] On equating the πτύον and the ventilabrum, see Harrison, “Mystica Vannus Iacchi,” 310; K. D. White, Agricultural Implements of the Roman World (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1967), 32-33. ↩
• ^[89] Text and translation according to Roland G. Kent, trans., Varro: On the Latin Language (Loeb; 2 vols.; Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1938), 1:130-131. ↩
• ^[90] Text and translation (slightly adapted) according to William Davis Hooper, trans., Cato and Varro: On Agriculture (Loeb; Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1935), 286-287. ↩
• ^[91] See Webb, “The Activity of John the Baptist’s Expected Figure at the Threshing Floor (Matthew 3.12 = Luke 3.17),” 107. In Symmachus’ translation of Isa. 30:24, πτύον is the translation of רַחַת. See Hatch-Redpath, 2:1329. In MT the noun רַחַת is found only in Isa. 30:24, where it is said to be used for winnowing. ↩
• ^[92] See Harrison, “Mystica Vannus Iacchi (Continued),” 242-243. ↩
• ^[93] See Creed, 54; Davies-Allison, 1:318; Webb, “The Activity of John the Baptist’s Expected Figure at the Threshing Floor (Matthew 3.12 = Luke 3.17),” 106. ↩
• ^[94] See Bernard P. Grenfell et al., eds., The Tebtunis Papyri (4 vols.; London: Henry Frowde, 1902-1933), 2:212-213 no. 373.10. ↩
• ^[95] Text and translation (slightly adapted) according to Allen Rogers Benner and Francis H. Fobes, trans., The Letters of Alciphron, Aelian and Philostratus (Loeb; Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1949), 120-121. Noted in Webb, “The Activity of John the Baptist’s Expected Figure at the Threshing Floor (Matthew 3.12 = Luke 3.17),” 108. ↩
• ^[96] Since διακαθαρίζειν appears to be unattested prior to Matthew, there is the outside chance that the verb was coined by the Greek translator of the Hebrew Life of Yeshua. ↩
• ^[97] Cf. Harnack, 2; Creed, 54; Nolland, Luke, 1:153; Bovon, 1:127 n. 59. ↩
• ^[98] See BDB, 140-141; Jastrow, 197-198; Vinzenz Hamp, “בָּרַר bārar; בַּר bar; בֹּר bōr; בֹּרִית bōrîth,” in the Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament (15 vols.; ed. G. Johannes Botterweck et al.; trans. John T. Willis et al.; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974-2006), 2:308-312. ↩
• ^[99] The verbכִּפֵּר (kipēr, “purify”) is used specifically for the purification of the Temple and its sacred vessels. As we noted above, διακαθαρίζειν does not occur in LXX, but the cognate verb καθαρίζειν does occur twice in LXX as the translation of כִּפֵּר, once in relation to the purification of the altar (Exod. 29:37) and once in relation to the golden altar of incense (Exod. 30:10). Nevertheless, using כִּפֵּר for the purification of a threshing floor would probably have sounded outlandish, even if the threshing floor was intended as an allusion to the Temple. ↩
• ^[100] In favor of adopting טִהֵר for HR is the frequency with which καθαρίζειν occurs in LXX as the translation of טִהֵר (ṭihēr, “purify”) (see Hatch-Redpath, 2:698); the use of καθαρίζειν/טִהֵר for the purification of the Temple (2 Chr. 29:15; 34:8) and the altar (Ezek. 43:26), as well as ordinary objects; and the occurrence of טִהֵר (LXX: καθαρίζειν) in Mal. 3:3, the very prophetic text that appears to have inspired John the Baptist’s prediction of a coming Someone who will engulf Israel in wind and fire when he purifies the threshing floor (= Temple) (see above, Comment to L9). (On reconstructing καθαρίζειν with טִהֵר, see Yohanan the Immerser’s Question, Comment to L40.) Nevertheless, טִהֵר suffers from the same weakness as כִּפֵּר, namely that it cannot simultaneously refer to clearing a threshing floor and to purification. ↩
• ^[101] See Hatch-Redpath, 1:60. ↩
• ^[102] See Dos Santos, 39. ↩
• ^[103] See R. Steven Notley, “The Gospel According to John the Baptist,” from the lecture series Are You the One Who Is to Come? Jesus in First-Century Understanding (recorded September 19-21, 2002 in Zeeland, Michigan) (Holland, MI: En-Gedi Resource Center, 2006). ↩
• ^[104] The fact that the Temple was built on a threshing floor may be the key to understanding the otherwise bizarre association of threshing floor imagery with the Day of Atonement in the following rabbinic midrash on Jacob’s statement that his brother Esau was a hairy man (Gen. 27:11):

  ר′ לוי אמר לקווץ וקרח שהיו עומדין על שפת הגורן ועלה המוץ בקווץ ונסתבך בשערו, עלה המוץ בקרח ונתן ידו על ראשו והעבירו, כך עשו הרשע מתלכלך בעונות כל השנה ואין לו במה להתכפר, אבל יעקב מתלכלך בעונות [כל השנה] ויש לו יום הכפורים להתכפר לו

  Rabbi Levi said, “[The contrast between Esau’s hairiness and Jacob’s smoothness may be compared] to a curly-haired person and someone who is bald who were standing at the side of a threshing floor and the chaff went up on the curly-haired person and caught in his hair. The chaff went up on the bald person and he put his hand on his head and removed it [i.e., the chaff—DNB and JNT]. So it is with Esau the wicked. He soils himself with sins all the year long, but he has no means by which to be purified. But Jacob soils himself with sins all the year long, yet he has the Day of Atonement to purify him. (Gen. Rab. 65:15 [ed. Theodor-Albeck, 2:726])

  The rabbinic work Genesis Rabbah, in which this midrash appears, does not tell us to what circumstances it might be responding. The tone is polemical, and a plausible reconstruction is that the midrash responds to competition for control of the Temple mount. One thing is clear: the hairless Jacob represents Israel. Esau, dubbed “the wicked,” typically stands for the Roman Empire. Therefore, the hairy Esau in the above midrash could allude to the Roman occupation of the Antonia fortress, which guarded the Temple complex during the Second Temple period. Alternatively, Esau’s access to the threshing floor might refer to the temple of Jupiter, which was constructed on the site of the Temple during the reign of Hadrian. In any case, the polemical thrust of the midrash might be that while both Jacob (i.e., Israel) and Esau (i.e., Rome) had access to the threshing floor (i.e., the Temple mount), only Israel had the Day of Atonement whereby its impurity could be removed. ↩

• ^[105] Webb (John the Baptizer and Prophet: A Socio-Historical Study, 299) raised the possibility that the threshing floor symbolized the Temple only to reject it. Webb’s rejection of this possibility on the grounds that “John’s ministry was not addressed to the temple establishment specifically but to all Israel” is all the more surprising because he argued that Yohanan the Immerser Demands Repentance was addressed specifically to the Sadducees (ibid., 175-178), and that John’s immersions were an emergency substitute for the Temple’s rites, which the Temple authorities had invalidated through their corrupt practices (ibid., 203-205). ↩
• ^[106] See J. Armitage Robinson, The Historical Character of St. John’s Gospel (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1908), 25. ↩
• ^[107] See Robinson, “Elijah, John and Jesus: An Essay in Detection,” 40. ↩
• ^[108] On the temple of Onias, see Robert Hayward, “The Jewish Temple at Leontopolis: A Reconsideration,” Journal of Jewish Studies 33 (1982): 429-443; Abraham Wasserstein, “Notes on the Temple of Onias at Leontopolis,” Illinois Classical Studies 18 (1993): 119-129; Erich S. Gruen, “The Origins and Objectives of Onias’ Temple,” Scripta Classica Israelica 16 (1997): 46-70; Joan E. Taylor, “A Second Temple in Egypt: The Evidence for the Zadokite Temple of Onias,” Journal for the Study of Judaism 29.3 (1998): 297-321. ↩
• ^[109] Essene Zadokite sympathies are expressed in the Damascus Document (CD-A III, 18-IV, 12), the Rule of the Community (1QS V, 1-3), which requires obedience to the sons of Zadok, and the Rule of the Congregation (1QS^a I, 1-3, 24; II, 2-3), which envisions the leadership of the Zadokite priests in the last days. See also 1QS^b III, 23-24. ↩
• ^[110] On the identification of Elijah with Phineas in ancient Jewish sources, see Ginzberg, 2:996 n. 3; Alexander Zeron, “The Martyrdom of Phineas-Elijah,” Journal of Biblical Literature 98.1 (1979): 99-100. Already in Ben Sira’s eulogy of famous men, Phineas (Sir. 45:23) and Elijah (Sir. 48:1-2) are distinguished because of their zeal. In Mattathias’ deathbed speech, Phineas (1 Macc. 2:54) and Elijah (1 Macc. 2:58) are again noted for their zeal. Phineas and Elijah are not identified with one another in these sources, but the two characters are presented as being cut from the same cloth. Pseudo-Philo’s Biblical Antiquities (second cent. C.E.?) draws striking parallels between the lives of Phineas and Elijah not supported by the biblical text (L.A.B. 48:1), such as Phineas' being fed by eagles (cf. Elijah, who was fed by ravens), Phineas’ ability to open and shut the heavens (cf. Elijah’s ability to dictate rainfall), and the promise that Phineas would be taken up to heaven (cf. Elijah, who was taken up in the whirlwind). ↩
• ^[111] By means of its genealogies, the book of Chronicles indicates that the high-priestly succession within the line of Eleazar (Phineas’ father) was interrupted during the period of the Judges, when Eli of the house of Ithamar (Eleazar’s brother) became high priest (1 Sam. 14:3; 22:9; 1 Chr. 24:3; cf. Seder Eliyahu Rabbah, chpt. [11]12 [ed. Friedmann, 57]). According to the book of Samuel, the priesthood was corrupted under Eli’s leadership, his sons being referred to as בְּנֵי בְלִיָּעַל (b^enē v^eliyā‘al, “worthless persons” or “sons of Belial”; 1 Sam. 2:12) on account of their abuses. Eventually, Eli was confronted by a prophet who told him that his descendants would be removed from office and that the LORD would raise up a faithful priest, for whom he would build a sure house (1 Sam. 2:35). The book of Kings informs us that this prophecy against the house of Eli was fulfilled when Solomon removed Abiathar, a descendant of Eli, from office (1 Kgs. 2:27) and appointed Zadok, a descendant of Phineas, to take his place (1 Kgs. 2:35). Regarding the Essene hopes for the reinstatement of the Zadokite high priesthood, it should be noted that the Damascus Document (CD-A III, 18-IV, 12) presents the members of the Essene sect as repeating in their own time the temporary interruption by the house of Eli to the succession of the high priesthood among the descendants of Phineas. The members of the sect are the “sure house,” the “sons of Belial” (i.e., the wicked priests in control of the Temple) again run rampant in Israel (CD-A IV, 13), but the “sons of Zadok” will stand in the end of days (CD-A IV, 4) to offer sacrifices in a purified Temple. On this section of the Damascus Document, see Daniel R. Schwartz, “‘To Join Oneself to the House of Judah’ (Damascus Document IV, 11),” Revue de Qumrân 10.3 (1981): 435-446. ↩
• ^[112] Cf. Randall Buth and Brian Kvasnica, “Temple Authorities and Tithe Evasion: The Linguistic Background and Impact of the Parable of The Vineyard, the Tenants and the Son" (JS1, 53-80, esp. 69-70). ↩
• ^[113] See Fleddermann, “John and the Coming One (Matt 3:11-12//Luke 3:16-17),” 379. ↩
• ^[114] Cf. Harnack, 2 n. 2. ↩
• ^[115] Cf. Fleddermann, “John and the Coming One (Matt 3:11-12//Luke 3:16-17),” 380. ↩
• ^[116] See Hatch-Redpath, 1:188. ↩
• ^[117] Luz (1:138) rightly pointed out that chaff is not burned, but his assertion that “Linguistically, ἄχυρον cannot mean the straw” (1:138 n. 48) is surprising, given the LXX translators’ preference for rendering תֶּבֶן (“straw,” “hay”) with ἄχυρον. Luz is also incorrect that ἄχυρον is not burned. According to Moulton-Milligan (100), “feeding the fire was the normal use” of ἄχυρον. Windblown chaff is called ἀθήρ (athēr). ↩
• ^[118] We refer to the illustration in Song Rab. 7:3 §3 as a fable rather than a parable because the ability of inanimate objects, plants and animals to speak is more typical of fables than of parables, which are more rooted in the experiences of everyday life. On the distinction between fables and parables, see Young, JHJP, 5-6. The rabbinic sages were certainly aware of fables, such as those of Aesop, and they reshaped and reused them for their own purposes. On fables in rabbinic sources, see Joseph Jacobs, ed., The Fables of Aesop, as first printed by William Caxton in 1484, with those of Avian, Alfonso and Poggio (2 vols; London: David Nutt in the Strand, 1889), 1:110-124; idem, “Æsop’s Fables Among the Jews,” JE, 1:221-222; Young, JHJP, 238-239; Haim Schwarzbaum, “The Fables of Aesop and the Parables of the Sages,” Maḥanayim 112 (1967): 112-117 (in Hebrew). An English translation of Schwarzbaum’s article is now available on the Whole Stones blog: “Aesop’s Fables and the Parables of the Sages” at www.WholeStones.org. ↩
• ^[119] We cannot, therefore, agree with Dunn (“Spirit-and-Fire Baptism,” 88), who maintained that “the wind...is purely a sifting separating force, neither beneficial nor destructive.” Wind was a destructive force to the chaff, the element in which it was eradicated. The poetic name “chaff-destroyer,” which Homer conferred on the winnowing shovel, was earned because with the shovel winnowers exposed the chaff to the element in which it was dissolved. ↩
• ^[120] Recognizing that the different kinds of refuse were disposed of in different ways helps us to understand why John the Baptist referred to an immersion of wind and fire. Wind did away with the chaff, while fire did away with the larger refuse. The fact that straw might be put to good use was overlooked by the Baptist, since it did not serve his rhetorical purpose. ↩
• ^[121]

  Yohanan the Immerser’s Eschatological Discourse
  Luke’s Version		Anthology’s Wording (Reconstructed)
  προσδοκῶντος δὲ τοῦ λαοῦ καὶ διαλογιζομένων πάντων ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις αὐτῶν περὶ τοῦ Ἰωάνου μήποτε αὐτὸς εἴη ὁ χριστός ἀπεκρείνατο λέγων πᾶσιν ὁ Ἰωάνης ἐγὼ μὲν ὕδατι βαπτίζω ὑμᾶς ἔρχεται δὲ ὁ ἰσχυρότερός μου οὗ οὐκ εἰμὶ ἱκανὸς λῦσαι τὸν ἱμάντα τῶν ὑποδημάτων αὐτοῦ αὐτὸς ὑμᾶς βαπτίσει ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ καὶ πυρί οὗ τὸ πτύον ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ διακαθᾶραι τὴν ἅλωνα αὐτοῦ καὶ συναγαγεῖν τὸν σεῖτον εἰς τὴν ἀποθήκην αὐτοῦ τὸ δὲ ἄχυρον κατακαύσει πυρὶ ἀσβέστῳ		καὶ διελογίσαντο οἱ ὄχλοι ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις αὐτῶν Ἰωάννης αὐτὸς ὁ χριστός ἐστιν καὶ ἀπεκρίνατο Ἰωάννης λέγων ἐγὼ μὲν βαπτίζω ὑμᾶς ὕδατι ἔρχεται δὲ ὀπίσω μου οὗ οὐκ εἰμὶ ἱκανὸς λῦσαι τὸν ἱμάντα τῶν ὑποδημάτων αὐτοῦ αὐτὸς ὑμᾶς βαπτίσει ἐν πνεύματι καὶ πυρί οὗ τὸ πτύον ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ διακαθαριεῖ τὴν ἅλωνα αὐτοῦ καὶ συνάξει τὸν σῖτον εἰς τὴν ἀποθήκην αὐτοῦ τὸ δὲ ἄχυρον κατακαύσει πυρὶ ἀσβέστῳ
  Total Words:	77	Total Words:	69
  Total Words Identical to Anth.:	59	Total Words Taken Over in Luke:	59
  Percentage Identical to Anth.:	76.62%	Percentage of Anth. Represented in Luke:	85.51%

  ↩

• ^[122]

  Yohanan the Immerser’s Eschatological Discourse
  Mark’s Version		Anthology’s Wording (Reconstructed)
  καὶ ἐκήρυσσεν λέγων ἔρχεται ὁ ἰσχυρότερός μου ὀπίσω οὗ οὐκ εἰμὶ ἱκανὸς κύψας λῦσαι τὸν ἱμάντα τῶν ὑποδημάτων αὐτοῦ ἐγὼ ἐβάπτισα ὑμᾶς ὕδατι αὐτὸς δὲ βαπτίσει ὑμᾶς πνεύματι ἁγίῳ		αὶ διελογίσαντο οἱ ὄχλοι ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις αὐτῶν Ἰωάννης αὐτὸς ὁ χριστός ἐστιν καὶ ἀπεκρίνατο Ἰωάννης λέγων ἐγὼ μὲν βαπτίζω ὑμᾶς ὕδατι ἔρχεται δὲ ὀπίσω μου οὗ οὐκ εἰμὶ ἱκανὸς λῦσαι τὸν ἱμάντα τῶν ὑποδημάτων αὐτοῦ αὐτὸς ὑμᾶς βαπτίσει ἐν πνεύματι καὶ πυρί οὗ τὸ πτύον ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ διακαθαριεῖ τὴν ἅλωνα αὐτοῦ καὶ συνάξει τὸν σῖτον εἰς τὴν ἀποθήκην αὐτοῦ τὸ δὲ ἄχυρον κατακαύσει πυρὶ ἀσβέστῳ
  Total Words:	29	Total Words:	69
  Total Words Identical to Anth.:	22	Total Words Taken Over in Mark:	22
  Percentage Identical to Anth.:	75.86%	Percentage of Anth. Represented in Mark:	31.88%

  ↩

• ^[123] Cf. Fleddermann, “John and the Coming One (Matt 3:11-12//Luke 3:16-17),” 383. ↩
• ^[124]

  Yohanan the Immerser’s Eschatological Discourse
  Matthew’s Version		Anthology’s Wording (Reconstructed)
  ἐγὼ μὲν ὑμᾶς βαπτίζω ἐν ὕδατι εἰς μετάνοιαν ὁ δὲ ὀπίσω μου ἐρχόμενος ἰσχυρότερός μού ἐστιν οὗ οὐκ εἰμὶ ἱκανὸς τὰ ὑποδήματα βαστάσαι αὐτὸς ὑμᾶς βαπτίσει ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ καὶ πυρί οὗ τὸ πτύον ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ διακαθαριεῖ τὴν ἅλωνα αὐτοῦ καὶ συνάξει τὸν σεῖτον αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν ἀποθήκην αὐτοῦ τὸ δὲ ἄχυρον κατακαύσει πυρὶ ἀσβέστῳ		καὶ διελογίσαντο οἱ ὄχλοι ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις αὐτῶν Ἰωάννης αὐτὸς ὁ χριστός ἐστιν καὶ ἀπεκρίνατο Ἰωάννης λέγων ἐγὼ μὲν βαπτίζω ὑμᾶς ὕδατι ἔρχεται δὲ ὀπίσω μου οὗ οὐκ εἰμὶ ἱκανὸς λῦσαι τὸν ἱμάντα τῶν ὑποδημάτων αὐτοῦ αὐτὸς ὑμᾶς βαπτίσει ἐν πνεύματι καὶ πυρί οὗ τὸ πτύον ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ διακαθαριεῖ τὴν ἅλωνα αὐτοῦ καὶ συνάξει τὸν σῖτον εἰς τὴν ἀποθήκην αὐτοῦ τὸ δὲ ἄχυρον κατακαύσει πυρὶ ἀσβέστῳ
  Total Words:	58	Total Words:	69
  Total Words Identical to Anth.:	45	Total Words Taken Over in Matt:	45
  Percentage Identical to Anth.:	77.59%	Percentage of Anth. Represented in Matt.:	65.22%

  ↩

• ^[125] According to Acts 19:4, however, Paul claimed that John the Baptist exhorted the people “that they might believe in the one coming after him, namely Jesus.” ↩
• ^[126] Scholars who believe that John the Baptist heralded the coming of God himself include Bretscher (“‘Whose Sandals’? [Matt 3:11],” 85-87), Hughes (“John the Baptist: The Forerunner of God Himself,” 191-218), Thyen (“ΒΑΠΤΙΣΜΑ ΜΕΤΑΝΟΙΑΣ ΕΙΣ ΑΦΕΣΙΝ ΑΜΑΡΤΙΩΝ,” 135-136) and Bovon (1:126). For a critique of this view, see Meier, Marginal, 2:34. In addition, if, as we suppose, John the Baptist really did inquire whether Jesus might be the Someone whose coming he predicted, he can have hardly meant, “Are you God incarnate?” Such a conceptual category did not exist in Second Temple Judaism and took time to develop even within Christianity. Hughes’ attempt to get around this difficulty by proposing that ὁ ἐρχόμενος (“the coming one”) in the Baptist’s question (Matt. 11:3; Luke 7:19, 20) does not refer back to the Someone of his prediction because it lacks the qualifier ὀπίσω μου (“after me”) is feeble (“John the Baptist: The Forerunner of God Himself,” 204-206). ↩
• ^[127] See Robinson, “Elijah, John and Jesus: An Essay in Detection,” 29-30. ↩
• ^[128] For abbreviations and bibliographical references, see “Introduction to ‘The Life of Yeshua: A Suggested Reconstruction.’” ↩
• ^[129] This translation is a dynamic rendition of our reconstruction of the conjectured Hebrew source that stands behind the Greek of the Synoptic Gospels. It is not a translation of the Greek text of a canonical source. ↩