‘Night’ and ‘Day’ in John 9.4-5: A Reassessment

Year
2015
Type(s)
Author(s)
Hugo Mendez
Source
New Testament Studies, 61 (2015): 468-481.
Url(s)
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0028688515000223
BibTeX
BibTeX

This article argues that John 9.4–5 should be reanalysed as an appeal parallel to 12.35–6, so that the ‘night … when no one can work’ of 9.4 corresponds to the avoidable ‘darkness’ of 12.35. Viewed in this manner, ‘night’ represents the condemned state of the unbelieving after the departure of Jesus. Jesus urges his disciples to ‘work the works’ of God so that, at the historical onset of ‘night’, the Paraclete may mediate a continuing, covert experience of ‘day’ within them. That onset, then, marks a critical phase in the eschatological separation of the ‘children of light’ from ‘the world’.

SCImago Journal & Country Rank