Re: Concepts and Words ~ John 4:22

From: dalmatia@eburg.com
Date: Wed Jul 01 1998 - 11:38:29 EDT


kmesserschmidt@canberra.com wrote:
>
> <I've thought about this for a few days, and I finally decided to look
> for an example of Jesus rendering PROSKUNEW. Although, I find no
> explicit examples of this, I did find an interesting thought in John
> 4:22: hEMEIS PROSKUNOUMEN hO OIDAMEN. Jesus seems to
> include himself as a worshiper of the Father. What think ye?>
>
> If I may interject,

> 1) He was a Jew and was speaking for his race in general to a Samaritan
> (v9)

Kevin ~

Adtually to a Samaritan woman... I am not so sure that Jesus was
speaking for his race ~ He was there for the 'harvest' eh? And the
Jewish race did no 'harvesting', only Jesus was doing that ~ I don't
think the Jews as a race would find much to even talk about with a
Samaritan, let alone a woman Samaritan, yet she is destined to be the
transmitter of the news of Jesus' arrival to her village. I don't
know what it means, but am just noting the events here. John's usage
of the 'GUN-' root has been filling my 'back burners' of late.

I suppose you could say that to her He was a Jew, and so she would be
understanding Him as speaking for His race, and that might very well
be the case, yet he reveals himself step by step to her, confounding
her [mistaken] first impressions, and this might simply be His
enigmatic way of introducing Himself in the course of their
conversation, which would thereby argue very much against Christ's
'speaking for His race in general', or speaking 'as a Jew'.

My reading so far has taken the course of the conversation as a
'preparing of the way' for this Samaritan woman for the final
revelation to her by Jesus that he is the Messiah, and that his
cultural and racial Jewishness, while intimately involved in that
fact, is very much not the point of the encounter.

> 2) he did not reveal himself as the Messiah til v26, so he was just a Jew
> to her and nothing more

Which fact he is in the process of turning about, eh?

> 3) He was simply pointing out differences between Jewish worship and
> Samaritan worship

Well, OIDAMEN would seem to indicate knowledge ~ First hand knowledge
I would imagine ~ of what/who is being worshipped ~ And neither the
Jews nor the Samaritans as a culture had it ~ 'Tis why Jesus came in
the first place, yes? So I have assumed the editorial 'we' is
referring to His followers/disciples, and that He does include Himself
in this group as a fellow worshipper, even though he does not say 'I'
worship.

So until I get a firm grip on John's usage of 'we', I am going to have
to include Jesus as worshipping here.

George

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George Blaisdell dalmatia@eburg.com

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