John

Background and History

The chapters above are the King James text. This essay is the setting of John: who is said to have written it, when and where, what happens in it, and how the text has been copied.

At a Glance

Who Wrote It

The last chapter names the writer without printing the words “John the son of Zebedee.” John 21:24John 21:24 · King James VersionThis is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true.John 21:24 · King James VersionOpen the Source (1) says the disciple who testifies of these things wrote them, and that “we know that his testimony is true.” John 21:20John 21:20 · King James VersionThen Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?John 21:20 · King James VersionOpen the Source identifies that disciple as the one who leaned on Jesus’ breast at the supper. The same figure is at the table in John 13:23John 13:23 · King James VersionNow there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.John 13:23 · King James VersionOpen the Source and at the cross in John 19:26John 19:26 · King James VersionWhen Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!John 19:26 · King James VersionOpen the Source. John 19:35John 19:35 · King James VersionAnd he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.John 19:35 · King James VersionOpen the Source says the one who saw the piercing bore record. The “we” can be a circle adding its witness to his. The verse still says this disciple wrote.

Irenaeus, writing in the second century, supplies the name the churches used. Against Heresies 3.1.1, after Matthew, Mark, and Luke: (2)

Afterwards, John, the disciple of the Lord, who also had leaned upon His breast, did himself publish a Gospel during his residence at Ephesus in Asia.

The clause about the breast is the Gospel’s own scene. Irenaeus is not inventing a different John. He places this Gospel after the other three, at Ephesus. He does not print a year. The range in At a Glance is a later inference, set out below.

The Muratorian fragment, a damaged Latin list usually placed in the later second century, says the fourth Gospel is that of John, one of the disciples. (4) The English follows restorations. The same fragment then tells a story of Andrew and a fast. This page quotes the naming sentence only, as Who Wrote the Gospel of John? does, and does not build a chronology on the restored story around it.

Papias of Hierapolis, preserved by Eusebius, names John twice. In Church History 3.39.4 Papias says he asked what Andrew, Peter, Philip, Thomas, James, John, and Matthew had said, and what Aristion and the presbyter John were saying. (3) Eusebius, in 3.39.5, reads that as two men: one John among the apostles, whom he calls the evangelist, and another John, a presbyter, listed after an interval with Aristion. That two-John reading is Eusebius’s inference. It is not a sentence of Papias that says “the presbyter wrote the Gospel.” Eusebius himself says the first John is the evangelist. Later writers use “John the Elder” for the second man. The word presbyter means elder. 2 John 1:12 John 1:1 · King James VersionThe elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth;2 John 1:1 · King James VersionOpen the Source and 3 John 1:13 John 1:1 · King James VersionThe elder unto the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth.3 John 1:1 · King James VersionOpen the Source open with “the elder,” and those letters are a separate question from this Gospel’s signature.

Polycrates of Ephesus, quoted by Eusebius in Church History 3.31.3, says John, a witness and a teacher who reclined on the Lord’s bosom, sleeps at Ephesus. (3) Eusebius also quotes Irenaeus to the effect that John remained among the elders in Asia until the time of Trajan (Church History 3.23.3). (3)

Who It Is Not

John the Baptist did not write this book. John 1:19John 1:19 · King James VersionAnd this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?John 1:19 · King James VersionOpen the Source introduces him as a witness, and the narrative continues after him. Mark 6:27Mark 6:27 · King James VersionAnd immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison,Mark 6:27 · King James VersionOpen the Source (5) says he was beheaded. A man already executed does not stand at the cross in John 19 or write the chapters that follow his death.

Acts 12:2Acts 12:2 · King James VersionAnd he killed James the brother of John with the sword.Acts 12:2 · King James VersionOpen the Source (6) says Herod killed James the brother of John with the sword. That James is the son of Zebedee. Acts does not narrate the death of John his brother. This page does not repeat a later legend about how the apostle died.

John Mark is a different man. Acts 12:12Acts 12:12 · King James VersionAnd when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying.Acts 12:12 · King James VersionOpen the Source names John, whose surname was Mark. Papias attaches Mark to Peter’s preaching. That case is Who Wrote Matthew, Mark, and Luke?. It is not this Gospel.

What Scholars Say

A Johannine community is a modern way of talking about the “we” in John 21:24John 21:24 · King James VersionThis is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true.John 21:24 · King James VersionOpen the Source and the shared style of this Gospel and 1 John. The style is real. A circle that preserved the book can sit beside the verse that says the disciple wrote it. The circle replaces the disciple only when that verse is set aside. Some readers assign the book to the presbyter Eusebius distinguished, or to an unnamed later writer in Ephesus. Those are real proposals. They should be stated at full strength. They are not what Irenaeus says, and they are not what John 21:24John 21:24 · King James VersionThis is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true.John 21:24 · King James VersionOpen the Source says. Who Wrote the Gospel of John? stays on the witnesses and the counter-readings.

When and Where

The book’s own last scenes are in Jerusalem and then in Galilee. Irenaeus places the publication at Ephesus in Asia. (2) The ruins of that city lie near the modern village of Selçuk in western Turkey. (18) The Turkish Museums address for the site is Selçuk/İzmir, so the province is İzmir. (19) UNESCO traces the settlement down to the present at Selçuk, under the Izmir conservation council, with the management plan prepared by Selçuk Municipality. (20) That is the place in At a Glance: Ephesus, near modern Selçuk, İzmir Province, Turkey.

The year is not a line in the manuscript. Britannica’s article says many scholars suggest the book was written at Ephesus about AD 100. (9) Bible Gateway’s survey, by Jacob Edson, gives AD 90–110. (10) Those two statements are the basis of “about AD 90–110.” They are reference works, not a date written on P52. Eusebius, citing Irenaeus, keeps John in Asia until the time of Trajan (Church History 3.23.3). (3) Livius dates Trajan’s reign to AD 98–117. (13) A writer still at Ephesus into that reign can sit inside AD 90–110, or in the first years of the second century. The range is the inference. It is not a stamped year.

Eusebius also says John returned to Ephesus after the death of Domitian, from exile on an island (Church History 3.23.1). (3) Livius dates Domitian’s reign to AD 81–96, with the murder on 18 September 96. (12) That is Eusebius’s narrative about the apostle. It is not a verse of the Gospel.

The story the Gospel tells is earlier than the writing. It runs through Jesus’ public signs, a final week in Jerusalem, the cross under Pilate, and the resurrection appearances. John 18:13John 18:13 · King James VersionAnd led him away to Annas first; for he was father in law to Caiaphas, which was the high priest that same year.John 18:13 · King James VersionOpen the Source names Annas, and says Caiaphas was high priest that year. The Gospel does not print Tiberius’s name. Pilate’s term belongs to Tiberius’s reign.

Rulers at the Time

Places in This Book

What Is Happening

John 1 opens with the Word, who was with God and was God, and then with John the Baptist’s witness and the first disciples. John 2 through John 12 are the public signs: Cana, the temple, Nicodemus, the woman of Samaria, the bread, the man born blind, and Lazarus. The hours and the feasts keep the reader in Jerusalem’s calendar. John 13 through John 17 are the supper, the foot washing, and the long words to the disciples, including the promise of the Spirit. John 18 and John 19 are the arrest, Pilate, the cross, and the burial. John 20 is the resurrection and Thomas. John 21 is the appearance by the sea and the note about the writer.

The book is not a second copy of Mark. It tells fewer miracles, longer conversations, and a ministry that moves between Galilee and Jerusalem. A reader who wants the storyline can follow those five stretches without waiting for a commentary.

Key Themes

The Gospel says why it was written. John 20:31John 20:31 · King James VersionBut these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.John 20:31 · King James VersionOpen the Source (1) says these things are written so that the reader might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, they might have life through his name. Belief is the aim. The signs are the path the book itself names in John 20:30John 20:30 · King James VersionAnd many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book:John 20:30 · King James VersionOpen the Source.

Life, light, and witness run through the conversations. John 3:16John 3:16 · King James VersionFor God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.John 3:16 · King James VersionOpen the Source says God gave his only begotten Son so that whoever believes in him should not perish. John 14:6John 14:6 · King James VersionJesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.John 14:6 · King James VersionOpen the Source has Jesus call himself the way, the truth, and the life. John 14:16John 14:16 · King James VersionAnd I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;John 14:16 · King James VersionOpen the Source promises another Comforter. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are in those sentences. What Is the Trinity? is the confession this site states from them.

How the Book Points to Christ

Jesus is God. John 1:1John 1:1 · King James VersionIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.John 1:1 · King James VersionOpen the Source (1) says the Word was God. John 1:14John 1:14 · King James VersionAnd the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.John 1:14 · King James VersionOpen the Source says the Word was made flesh. John 20:28John 20:28 · King James VersionAnd Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God.John 20:28 · King James VersionOpen the Source (1) has Thomas answer the risen Jesus, “My Lord and my God.” John 8:58John 8:58 · King James VersionJesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.John 8:58 · King James VersionOpen the Source has Jesus say, “Before Abraham was, I am.” The cross is public, under Pilate, in John 19. The resurrection is the chapter that follows. What Is the Deity of Christ? and What Does John 1:1 Mean? follow the disputed words. Jehovah’s Witnesses read John 1:1John 1:1 · King James VersionIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.John 1:1 · King James VersionOpen the Source differently in their New World Translation (Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible). That wording is on Which Bible Translation Is Most Accurate?.

Text and Manuscripts

The oldest fragment often discussed is Greek Papyrus 457 in the John Rylands Library, called P52, a piece of John 18. The University of Manchester’s page gives the first editor’s date in the first half of the second century, between 100 and 150, and says recent research points nearer to 200, with no convincing evidence of an earlier New Testament fragment. (7) Both dates belong in the answer. A fragment is a copy. It is not the autograph, and it does not sign the author’s name. Is the Bible True? sets that scrap beside the other early copies.

Codex Sinaiticus, written in the middle of the fourth century, contains the earliest complete copy of the Christian New Testament, on the Codex Sinaiticus project’s own description. (8) John is in that book. It is still a copy.

Two King James passages are missing from the SBL Greek New Testament this site uses as its critical text. John 5:4John 5:4 · King James VersionFor an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.John 5:4 · King James VersionOpen the Source, the angel who troubles the pool, is marked omitted, and the page shows the Textus Receptus wording. John 8:1John 8:1 · King James VersionJesus went unto the mount of Olives.John 8:1 · King James VersionOpen the Source through John 8:11John 8:11 · King James VersionShe said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.John 8:11 · King James VersionOpen the Source, the woman accused of adultery, are marked the same way. John 7:53John 7:53 · King James VersionAnd every man went unto his own house.John 7:53 · King James VersionOpen the Source has no Greek words in that index either. The King James Version prints the whole passage, from every man going to his own house through Jesus’ words to the woman. The difference is a textual fact. It is on the verse pages. It is not a blank where the rest of the Gospel used to be. John 8:12John 8:12 · King James VersionThen spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.John 8:12 · King James VersionOpen the Source, “I am the light of the world,” is in the critical text.

Further Reading

Who Wrote the Gospel of John? stays on the beloved disciple, Irenaeus, the Muratorian fragment, and Eusebius’s second John. Who Wrote Matthew, Mark, and Luke? is the other three. Is the Bible True? is P52, Sinaiticus, and what “true” does and does not mean. Was Jesus a Real Person? is the crucifixion under Pilate. The Resurrection of Jesus is the claim of John 20.