Saturday, August 3, 2024

Maurice Casey on the use of εγω ειμι in John 18:6

  

The final 'I am' saying is remarkable for the reaction to it. When the cohort who come to arrest Jesus say that they seek Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus identifies himself with the words 'I am'. 'When therefore he said to them "I am", they retreated backwards and fell to the ground' On 18.6). This dramatic reaction further suggests that the 'I am' statements are intended to recall Old Testament passages such as Exodus 3.14 and Isaiah 52.6, and to hint thereby at Jesus' deity. We shall see that this is not the only reason for regarding the Johannine account of Jesus' arrest as the product of secondary rewriting. (Maurice Casey, is John’s Gospel True? [London: Routledge, 1996], 42)

 



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