Review

Reviewed Work(s): L'Évangile de Jean et la Sagesse (Studium Biblicum Franciscanum:

Analecta 62) by Frédéric Manns OFM
Review by: Margaret Daly-Denton
Source: Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman Period,
Vol. 36, No. 3 (2005), pp. 360-363
Published by: Brill
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/24669591
Accessed: 20-01-2020 17:15 UTC

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms

Brill is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal for the
Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman Period

This content downloaded from 196.235.130.146 on Mon, 20 Jan 2020 17:15:00 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 360 REVIEW OF BOOKS

behandelt. Mt 5,5 mit seinem μακάριοι οί πραε

την γην enthalt im NT den deutlichsten Be
Zahl Ζ wolf kann mit Land in Verbindung gebr
Nachfolger hat, deute er damit eine Wiederher
19,28) Israels an.
Im Allgemeinen muss man sagen, dass Laaks
Einteilung seiner Studie oft diirftig oder gar
Eindruck, dass sie eher aus einer neutestament
Vorbereitung des Konigtum Gottes-Gedankens h
die Quellen in ihrer Eigenart gewiirdigt werde
Des Weiteren referiert Laaksonen m.E. zu viel und auBerdem nicht immer
die fur seine Studie relevanten Themen. Von Vorteil 1st, dass er relativ viel
Literatur zusammengetragen hat. Die wirklich relevanten Behandlungen des
Themas Land erscheinen aber oft als die kurzesten Passagen innerhalb der
jeweiligen Teile.
Zahlreiche Inkonsistenzen in sowohl Inhaltsangabe als auch Literatur
verweisen sowie Schreib- und/oder Tippfehler sind stehen geblieben.
Aus dem oben Dargestellten mag deudich werden, dass ich dieses Buch
leider nicht empfehlen kann. Es hat methodische Schwachen in der Einteilung,
der Ausarbeitung der Fragestellung und den Argumentationsgangen. Die These,
dass das von Jesus verkiindete Reich Gottes vor dem Hintergrund der alttes
tamendichen VerheifJungen und Prophezeiungen konkret und irdisch als eine
Ruckkehr des wiederhergestellten Israels in das Gelobte Land verstanden wer
den muss, 1st m.E. ungeniigend begriindend.

J. Cornells de Vos

Frederic Manns OFM, L'Evangile de Jean et la Sagesse (Studium Biblicum

Franciscanum: Analecta 62), Franciscan Printing Press, Jerusalem 2003, 316 pp.,
paperback, $ 25, ISBN 965-516-051-3.

This is a collection of 20 essays written for various journals since 1990.

It completes those already collected in Manns' earlier work, L'Evangile de Jean Jean
a a la lumiere du judaisme. This review will discuss the introduction and several
samples of the essays.
Manns sees the Fourth Gospel as an attempt at an inculturation of the
message of Jesus the Jew in a Hellenized milieu. In this he believes it is com
parable with the Wisdom of Solomon where biblical revelation is integrated
with Greek thought. The author of the gospel of John professes fidelity to the
Jewish heritage, seeing nothing incompatible with Judaism in the Johannine
group's understanding of Jesus, its openness to non Jewish seekers of wisdom
and its insistence on the ingathering of God's scattered children. These essays

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2005 Journal for the Study of Judaism, XXXVI, 3
Also available online - www.brill.nl

This content downloaded from 196.235.130.146 on Mon, 20 Jan 2020 17:15:00 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 REVIEW OF BOOKS 361

on the Fourth Gospel's claim of continuity w

izing currents of thought in Second Temple p
appears in the Fourth gospel, but the Wisdom
Sir 24:3-22, Wis 7:22-9:18) can frequently sug
pervades the Fourth Gospel—the tension betw
Johannine claims concerning the exalted Jesus
7:26 where personified Wisdom declares herse
light, both the gift and the envoy of God are
John's gospel as to suggest some degree of li
Gospel's handling of the Exodus motifs—the
"sign of salvation", the manna as "bread from
the pillar of fire—suggests a reception of thes
tureture found in the Wisdom of Solomon.

Mann's first essay deals with the Johannine

Beth Beth Beth ha Midrash. It identifies indications
exegetical activity—the Johannine reading of
to demonstrate their fulfilment in Jesus. Manns b
is intentionally comparing this with the intense e
The very verb "seek" (Greek, zeteo reflectin
quently in the Scriptures with reference to W
reference to both the Scriptures and Jesus, hi
the contrast between the midrash practiced by
reading. Manns focuses on the Johannine
personified Wisdom as "prefigurations" of Jesu
of John 1:35-51, who takes the initiative in c
trast with the rabbis). According to Manns, th
practice of forestalling those who desire her by
(Wis 6:12-15). As in the wider thought world
ential current is inseparable from the apocal
the Parables of Enoch combine the Danielic Son of Man and the Servant

with the figure of Wisdom has, Manns believes, much to contribute to an

understanding of the Johannine schema of ascent and descent. This he sees
as exemplifying that inculturation whereby traditional Jewish eschatology was
modified in light of elements of Greek thought.
The essay dealing with Galilee in the Fourth Gospel would appeal to
those interested in drawing a Torah-study "map" of first century C.E. Galilee.
Manns first appraises various theories that have been proposed: that Johannine
references to Galilee have a purely symbolic intent, that they indicate the his
torical authenticity of the gospel, or that they reflect important locations for
the Johannine community. He then critiques several "cliches" concerning
Galilee, common in commentaries on John: Galilee where Jewish culture has
been adulterated, Galilee the place of acceptance of Jesus (as contrasted with
hostile Judea), Galilee the rural setting (as contrasted with the urban locations

This content downloaded from 196.235.130.146 on Mon, 20 Jan 2020 17:15:00 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 362 REVIEW OF BOOKS

of Pauline Christianity). Finally, he shows, throu

historical, rabbinic and archaeological data, all co
century Galilee had numerous centres of Torah s
Another essay proposes a sapiential reading of
turns water into wine (John 2:1-11), drawing lines
banquet in Prov 9. Manns sees Isa 55:1-3 as an im
particularly in the more sapientialized reading refl
those who lack money are invited to come and
ment to a teaching better than wine and milk.
The title of the essay, "La Purification du Tem
occupation with regard to John 2:13-22. Marshalli
tannaitic sources, Philo, Josephus, the Pseudepi
argues that the Temple, which was meant to be
the people, was seen by many to be itself in need
Jesus' action, therefore, against the background o
greed of the priestly aristocracy. Whether or no
particular emphasis, one can certainly learn a g
research about views of the Temple expressed in
the first few centuries C.E.

In a fascinating chapter on the Shema Israel, Manns proposes that there

are traces in the gospels of an interpretation of the Shema attested by m. Ber.
9:5 (and, he would hold, confirmed as current in Evangelists' times by 1QS
1:11). 1:11). According to this interpretation, loving God with heart, soul and strength
means loving with all one's knowledge, one's energies (even to the point of
risking one's life) and one's resources (riches). Manns sees this threefold struc
ture as the under girding for the Matthean version of the temptation of
Jesus (Matt 4:1-11) and for several other passages in Matthew. His similar
suggestions for Luke seem to this reviewer a little less convincing. However,
he makes an interesting case for a "spiritual journey" modelled on the Shema
on the part of some characters in the Fourth Gospel: Nicodemus, for exam
pie, makes three appearances in the gospel. At first, he seeks, through under
standing, to love with all his heart (John 3:1-12). Later by risking public
knowledge of his regard for Jesus, he loves with all his soul (7:50-52). Eventually,
he shows that he loves with all his strength when he lavishes his money
on spices for Jesus' burial (19:39). A similar itinerary for Thomas strikes
this reviewer as somewhat forced. However the hypothesis that this pattern
may underlie the threefold profession of Peter in ch. 21 seems promising.
Manns' theory finds support in the witness of the Didascalia and 2 Clement
to a Christian penchant for commentary on the Shema. All his suggestions
with regard to the Fourth Gospel depend on that "equivalence" between Jesus
and God which Johannine Christology has produced in the Christian mind
set. In light of that, it is not surprising that Manns apparently sees no allu
sion to the Shema in John 17:3.

This content downloaded from 196.235.130.146 on Mon, 20 Jan 2020 17:15:00 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 REVIEW OF BOOKS 363

Another essay offers a historico-critical complement to feminis

on the role of women in John's Gospel. Careful to place Johanni
in the context of the Semitic world, rather than to project modern
them, Manns draws attention to the many examples in the Scriptu
women play a symbolic role: daughter of Sion, Wisdom, the femin
in Ezekiel 16. Noting that there are seven women in the Gospel, "lik
columns of Wisdom," Manns enhances our appreciation of each sce
woman appears by drawing fascinating biblical parallels and adducing
tannaitic lore. For example, the four women at the cross of Jesus
recall to him the rabbinic tradition of the merits of the four mothers of Israel.

Various rabbinical interpretations of Jacob's well illuminate the story of the

Samaritan woman in John 4. As disciples of Jesus, the women hear his word
and follow him, thus welcoming Wisdom. One cannot but sense, however,
that Manns' treatment of the Mother of Jesus in this essay is a little too
coloured by the rich Mariological vein in his own Roman Catholic tradition.
One might quibble with some features of this book—the identification of
the Beloved disciple as John the Son of Zebedee, for example, Manns' ten
dency to assume (perhaps too easily) that the Targumim could be sources for
the New Testament, or the apparent ease with which he uses the Mishnah to
reconstruct formative Judaism pre-70 C.E. In recommending this book to
Jewish readers, this reviewer is all too conscious of the polemical references
to "Les Juifs" which pervade the Fourth Gospel and which Manns tends to
report without nuancing commentary. She is also sensitive to the occasional
instances of a Christian "supersedence" mentality with regard to Judaism.
However, Manns profound knowledge of Jewish sources, both biblical and
extra-biblical is surely testimony to his great love, regard and respect for
Judaism. In fact, the over-all impression one gains from reading his book is
that of a sage who has devoted his life to "searching the Scriptures." To read
his book is to look over his shoulders as he studies, always keeping his "golden
rule" for New Testament interpretation, learned from the rabbis: to explain
one text by another.

Margaret Daly-Denton

Sigmund Mowinckel, He That Cometh. The Messiah Concept in the Old Testament
and and Later Judaism translated by G.W. Anderson; foreword by John J. Collins
(The Biblical Resource Series), William B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids,
Michigan/Cambridge, U.K. 2005, xxxii, 528 pp., paperback, § 40 [£ 24.99],
ISBN 0-8028-2850-7.

In a retrospective foreword (xv-xxviii), Collins summarizes and comments

on Mowinckel's study, and briefly discusses new perspectives arising from the

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2005 Journal for the Study of Judaism, XXXVI, 3
Also available online - www.brill.nl

This content downloaded from 196.235.130.146 on Mon, 20 Jan 2020 17:15:00 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms