This volume contains cutting edge scholarship on the literary, theological, and philosophical issues in John 2:23-5:18 produced by the Colloquium Joanneum, an international group of scholars.

The essays in this volume from the 2017 session of the Colloquium Ioanneum in Jerusalem treat aspects of John 2:23-5:18, employing a variety of methods. These early chapters present interpreters with a challenging series of issues, including the strategy of revelation in John 3-4, the characterization of Nicodemus, the only references to the kingdom of God in John, Jesus' role as Son of Man, the erga concept in the Fourth Gospel and the references to John's baptism and Jesus' baptism, the background and universal program of the narrative of the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman, the universal program in John 4, and the harvest proverbs in John 4:35-38. The last two essays explore the characterization of the royal official in John 4:46-54 and the evidence for associating the Pool of Bethzatha with healing. The essays demonstrate the astuteness of an observation made by Adele Reinhartz: the closer we look at a text the more it "pixilates" and the more open to interpretation it becomes.

Autorentext
Born 1946; PhD from Duke University; taught at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Baylor University, and Mercer University, founding dean of the McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University; retired since 2016. Geboren 1962; 1996 Promotion; 1998 Habilitation; seit 2010 Professor für Neues Testament an der Universität Zürich.

Inhalt
Jean Zumstein: The Strategy of the Revelation in John 3 and 4 - Christos Karakolis: The Unfinished Tale of Nicodemus: A Reader-Centered Approach - Jan G. van der Watt: "Unless One Is Born Again He Cannot See/Enter the Kingdom of God" (John 3:3, 5): What Will Nicodemus See and Where Will He Enter? - William R. G. Loader: John 3:13-15: Re-examining the Exaltation-Glorification-Ascension Nexus in John - Ruben Zimmermann: The erga -Concept of the Fourth Gospel (John 3:18-21): A Contribution to the Ethics of John - Jörg Frey: John's Baptism and Jesus' Baptism according to John 3:21-36 and 4:1-3 - Catrin H. Williams: John's Engagement with Samaritan Traditions in John 4 - Udo Schnelle: Lokal und Universal: Joh 4,4-42 als Lokaltradition und universales Programm - Michael Theobald: 2Kön 17,24-41 als Prätext des Gesprächs Jesu mit der Samaritanerin (Joh 4,4-26) - Adele Reinhartz: Of Mountains and Messiahs: John 4:19-23 and Divine Covenant - R. Alan Culpepper: John 4:35-38: Harvest Proverbs in Their Johannine Contexts - François Tolmie: Studying the Characterization of the Royal Official in the Fourth Gospel - Craig R. Koester: John 5:1-18: The Healing at Bethzatha in Light of Archaeology, Jewish Practice, and Greco-Roman Perspectives on Healing