Texts in Conversation
1 Maccabees ends its narrative about Judas by saying his many deeds were too numerous to record, following a literary pattern common in Jewish and Greek writings. John’s gospel ends with similar language, claiming that the world itself could not contain all that could be written about Jesus.
Share:
1 Maccabees 9:22
Deuterocanon
18 Judas also fell, and the rest fled. 19 Then Jonathan and Simon took their brother Judas and buried him in the tomb of their ancestors at Modein, 20 and wept for him. All Israel made great lamentation for him; they mourned many days and said, 21 "How is the mighty fallen, the savior of Israel!" 22 Now the rest of the acts of Judas, and his wars and the brave deeds that he did, and his greatness, have not been recorded, but they were very many. 23 After the death of Judas, the renegades emerged in all parts of Israel; all the wrongdoers reappeared.
Date: 100 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
John 21:25
New Testament
20 Peter turned around and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them. (This was the disciple who had leaned back against Jesus’ chest at the meal and asked, “Lord, who is the one who is going to betray you?”) 21 So when Peter saw him, he asked Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” 22 Jesus replied, “If I want him to live until I come back, what concern is that of yours? You follow me!” 23 So the saying circulated among the brothers and sisters that this disciple was not going to die. But Jesus did not say to him that he was not going to die, but rather, “If I want him to live until I come back, what concern is that of yours?” 24 This is the disciple who testifies about these things and has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true. 25 There are many other things that Jesus did. If every one of them were written down, I suppose the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.
Date: 90-110 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Search:
Notes and References
"... When writers had more data before them than they could record, they often noted that they were being selective. Thus, for example, the exploits of Judas Maccabeus were too many to narrate all of them (so 1 Maccabees 9:22), or no human could recount all the sufferings of the Achaians (Homer, Odyssey 3.113-17). Greek, Jewish and Samaritan writers often included hyperboles like this one as well, sometimes speaking of how the world could not contain the knowledge a particular *rabbi had of the *law, and so forth ..."
Keener, Craig S.
The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament
(p. 313) InterVarsity Press, 2014
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.