Manna – Bread from Heaven: Jn 6:22-59 in the Light of Ps 78:23-25 and Its Interpretation in Early Jewish Sources

Description

The author presents a new approach to the study of manna, which does not concentrate only on one particular representation of the bread from heaven (especially Ex 16). Additionally, he investigates the interconnections between Ps 78:23-25, Wis 16:20-13; 19:21 and Jn 6:22-59 and he explores the new ideas of each of these texts. He also strongly asserts that Hellenistic Judaism, represented by the Book of Wisdom, is not "a second-class Judaism". This fact is proved with the example of manna as the food of immortality, an idea not introduced by Christians in the Fourth Gospel, but already present in Wis 19:21. Cover Table of Contents Abbreviations Acknowledgements Introduction I. Bread From Heaven in Ps 78:23–25 1. Redaction Criticism of Psalm 78 2. The Structure of Psalm 78 – a Proposal 3. Some Literary Questions about Ps 78:23–25 3.1 Literary Genre and the Origin of Psalm 78 3.2 A Literary Analysis of Ps 78:23–25 in Its Context 4. The Septuagint Reading of Ps 78:23–25 4.1 Text and Translation 4.2 Some Literary Questions 5. Conclusions II. Between Ps 78 and Jn 6: Manna in Wis 16:20–23; 19:21 1. Some Literary Questions 1.1 Sitz im Leben of the Book of Wisdom 1.2 The Dynamics of the Book of Wisdom 1.3 The Structure of Wis 16:1–17:1a 2. Heavenly Food of the Angels (Wis 16:20–23) 2.1 The Scriptural Background to Wis 16:20 2.2 Food of the Angels 2.3 Crux interpretum: ἀκοπιάτωϛ 2.4 The Verbs Used in the Context of Manna 2.5 Bread Fit for Every Taste 2.6 The Miracle of the Changing Taste 2.7 Kru,stalloj as the Bread of Angels 3. Food of Immortality (Wis 19:21) 3.1 Wis 19:20–21 in Relation to Wis 16:16–17:1a 3.2 Mάννα, λόγος and ἀμβρόσιος in Philo 3.3 Bread of Life in Joseph and Aseneth 4. Conclusions III. Manna, Bread From Heaven in Jn 6:22–59 1. The Scriptural Quotation in John 6:31 1.1 Ex 16:4ab 1.2 Ex 16:15cd 1.3 Neh 9:15a 1.4 Ps 78:24a 1.5 Polyvalent Quotation 2. The Old Testament Background to John 6 3. John 6 as a Christian Midrash on Ps 78:24 4. Is Jn 6:22–59 a Synagogue Homily? 5. Conclusions General Conclusions 1. Textual Findings 1.1 The Manna Texts Within Their Contexts 1.2 The Problem of Understanding Citations and Allusions 2. Key Issues in the Manna Tradition 2.1 ~yryba ~xl. Bread of Angels or Bread of the Mighty Ones? 2.2 The Miracle of the Changing Taste 2.3 The Bread of Life 2.4 Bread Received Without Any Labour 2.5 The Novel Approach of the Fourth Gospel 3. Proposals for Further Research Appendices Appendix I. Ps 78 and Jn 6: Linguistic Similarities Appendix II. Crux interpretum: ἀκοπιάτως Bibliography