Chapter 17 John 5:19–30: The Son of God is the Apocalyptic Son of Man
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Abstract
The Christology of John 5:19–30 is not adequately explained by the category of divine agency. Neither is verse 27 plausibly read as a claim that the son has the divine prerogative of judgement because he is a special kind of man, as some have claimed. Verse 27 cites Dan. 7:13–14 and vv. 22–30 have multiple allusions to Daniel 7–12. John 5:22–30 knows Daniel in the form attested in the Old Greek translation of Daniel, which is a valuable witness to an apocalyptic Son of Man tradition. It is also likely that John 5:22–27 has some connection to the Parables of Enoch and its portrayal of the Son of Man messiah, especially in view of the striking similarities between John 5:22, 27 and 1 En. 69:27. However, the nature of the relationship between John 5:22–27 and 1 En. 37–71 is complicated by recent proposals for the tradition history of the Parables in relation to the Book of the Watchers and the Parables’s distinctive political theology. All studies of the Christology of John 5:19–20 should now start from a recognition that in this passage Jesus relies on an apocalyptic Son of Man tradition.