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Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen
zum Neuen Testament · 2. Reihe
Herausgeber / Editor
Jörg Frey (Zürich)
Mitherausgeber/Associate Editors
Markus Bockmuehl (Oxford) · James A. Kelhoffer (Uppsala)
Tobias Nicklas (Regensburg) · Janet Spittler (Charlottesville, VA)
J. Ross Wagner (Durham, NC)
584
Sajan George Perepparambil
Jesus as the Way to the Father

in the Gospel of John
A Study of the Way Motif and John 14,6 in Its Context
Mohr Siebeck
Sajan George Perepparambil, Catholic priest, Manjummel Province of the Order of the
Discalced Carmelites (OCD); 2012 Mag. Theol. and 2018 Doctorate in Biblical Studies,
University of Vienna, Austria; currently professor of Bible at Jyotir Bhavan, Institute of
Theology and Spirituality, Kalamassery, Kerala.
orcid.org/0000-0003-1088-5781
ISBN 978-3-16-161925-0 / eISBN 978-3-16-161926-7

DOI 10.1628/978-3-16-161926-7
ISSN 0340-9570 / eISSN 2568-7484
(Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament, 2. Reihe)
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbiblio-
graphie; detailed bibliographic data are available at http://dnb.dnb.de.
© 2023 Mohr Siebeck Tübingen, Germany. www.mohrsiebeck.com

This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form (beyond that per-
mitted by copyright law) without the publisher’s written permission. This applies parti-
cularly to reproductions, translations and storage and processing in electronic systems.
The book was printed on non-aging paper by Laupp & Göbel in Gomaringen, and
bound by Buchbinderei Nädele in Nehren.
Printed in Germany.
In Loving Memory of My Parents
Perepparambil George and Annamkutty
Acknowledgements
The Gospel of John is like a magic pool in which an infant can paddle and an
elephant can swim. In my effort to understand the mysteries of this deeply
spiritual Gospel by means of a monograph, first and foremost, I thank God
for his providence and guidance in writing this work (cf. John 16,13). I grate-
fully remember my parents, Perepparambil George and Annamkutty, my
brother Xavier, my sister Sheena and family relatives. I cherish the memory
of my late but living mother who was an ardent lover and propagator of the
word of God. While I was writing this work, she advised me to ask God to
understand the hidden mysteries behind the word of God, citing Jer 33,3:
“Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things
that you have not known”. She taught me that with intellectual gymnastics
alone one cannot understand the mysteries of the word of God. To the honour
and loving memory of my parents, I dedicate this monograph.
This work is a slightly revised version of my doctoral dissertation, which I
defended successfully on 27th September 2018 at the Faculty of Catholic
Theology of the University of Vienna, Austria, obtaining a doctorate in the
field of Biblical Studies (Bibelwissenschaft) with Summa cum Laude. I am
greatly indebted to the supervisors (Doktorväter) of this dissertation, namely
o. Univ.-Prof. Dr. Roman Kühschelm (University of Vienna) and em. Univ.-
Prof. Dr. Martin Hasitschka SJ (University of Innsbruck). I thank sincerely
Prof. Roman Kühschelm for his painstaking efforts to read this dissertation
meticulously in order to give scholarly and critical corrections. In my attempt
to choose a topic, it was Prof. Martin Hasitschka SJ who encouraged me to
study John 14,6. I am heartily grateful to him for his goodwill to supervise
this dissertation, for reading it and for giving scholarly suggestions and cor-
rections. I am thankful to the examiners (Beurteiler) of this dissertation,
namely Univ.-Prof. Dr. Christoph Niemand (Linz) and ao. Univ.-Prof. Dr.
Martin Stowasser (Vienna) for their critical remarks and valuable sugges-
tions. I am also bound to thank Prof. Johannes Beutler SJ (Sankt Georgen,
Frankfurt), who provided me with a comfortable stay in Frankfurt for discus-
sions with him and is ever available to me to give his scholarly opinion. I
remember with gratitude Prof. Georg Fischer SJ (Innsbruck), Prof. Gerald
O’Collins SJ (Melbourne), late Prof. Larry W. Hurtado (Edinburgh) and late
Prof. Don Giancarlo Biguzzi (Urbanianum, Rome) for their suggestions and
VIII Acknowledgements
encouragement. I extend sincere thanks to my Old Testament professors of

the University of Vienna, namely Prof. Georg Braulik OSB, Prof. Ludger
Schwienhorst-Schönberger the Joseph-Ratzinger Prize laureate of 2021 and
Prof. Agnethe Siquans. I am grateful to Mr. Robert Szczypiorkovski, the
librarian of the theological faculty in Vienna for his support and friendship
and also to the librarians of Pontifical Biblical Institute (Biblicum), Rome. It
was the Austrian province of my Order (Order of Discalced Carmelites,
OCD) who provided me with all facilities and financial support for my stay
and study in Vienna. I thank sincerely the present Austrian provincial Fr.
Alexander Schellerer OCD, the former provincials, Fr. Roberto Maria Pirastu
OCD and Fr. Paul Weingartner OCD, all members of the Austrian province,
especially the Vienna community in which I lived, for their generosity, broth-
erly fraternity and support.
I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the French OCD community in Paris and
the Italian OCD community in Rome for providing me with the accommoda-
tion in my effort to learn French and Italian languages respectively. I owe a
debt of thanks to the late provincial of Manjummel Province, Fr. Datius Kan-
jiramukkil OCD who sent me to Austria for higher studies in Sacred Scrip-
ture, my present provincial, Fr. Thomas Marottikkaparambil OCD, the OCD
communities in Dilldorf and Siegburg and to the parishioners of St. Josef,
Essen-Ruhrhalbinsel, where I worked as assistant parish priest for four years,
for their support and encouragement. I am also grateful to my present superi-
or Fr. Wilson Srampickal OCD and all the members of Jyotir Bhavan (Insti-
tute of Theology and Spirituality), where I currently stay and teach Bible, for
their brotherly concern and support.
I thank the chief editor Prof. Dr. Jörg Frey (University of Zürich) and the
associate editors of WUNT II for accepting my dissertation into this prestig-
ious series. I would also like to thank the Mohr Siebeck team in Tübingen,
especially Katharina Gutekunst, Elena Müller, Tobias Stäbler, Markus Kirch-
ner, Jana Trispel and Josephine Krönke for their pleasant cooperation at the
various stages of preparing this manuscript for publication. I express my
gratitude to Gerd Frömgen (Essen) and Benedict Whyte (London) for check-
ing the English language. Finally, I remember with thanks Franz Kampmann
(Essen) and all those who have encouraged and helped me in various ways.
Sajan George (Paul) Perepparambil OCD

Jyotir Bhavan,
Institute of Theology and Spirituality,
Kalamassery, Kerala, INDIA.
01.03.2023
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements .................................................................................... VII

Abbreviations ......................................................................................... XVIII
General Introduction ................................................................... 1
Part One: A Study of Way Motif
Chapter I: Way Motif in Greek-Jewish Literature ......................33
1. “Way” in Classical Greek Literature ....................................................... 33

1.1 Various Terminologies ....................................................................... 33
1.2 Meaning and Usage of ĝ»ŦË ................................................................. 34
1.2.1 Literal Meaning and Usage of ĝ»ŦË ........................................... 34
1.2.2 Metaphorical Meaning and Usage of ĝ»ŦË .................................. 35
1.3 Conclusion.......................................................................................... 39
2. “Way” in the Hebrew Bible ......................................................................40

2.1 Important Nouns and Their Significance............................................. 41
2.1.1 ˂U'… .........................................................................................41
2.1.1.1 A Survey ........................................................................41
2.1.1.2 Theological Usage .........................................................44
2.1.2 [UDR… ......................................................................................... 56
2.1.3 KE\WLQ! and E\WLQ .............................................................................. 57
2.1.4 K/ VLP andO:OVP…........................................................................ 57
2.2 Important Verbs and Their Significance ............................................. 58
2.2.1 OK… ......................................................................................... 58
2.2.1.1 Secular Usage ................................................................ 59
2.2.1.2 Theological Usage ......................................................... 59
2.2.2 DF\ ............................................................................................. 64
2.2.3 KO >and GU\ ................................................................................ 65
X Table of Contents
2.2.4 OKQ ............................................................................................. 66

2.2.5 K[Q… ........................................................................................ 66
2.2.6 JKQ I ........................................................................................... 67
2.2.7 U' … ......................................................................................... 67
2.2.8 DZ% ............................................................................................. 68
2.2.8.1 Promise-Fulfilment ........................................................ 68
2.2.8.2 Coming of God/Saviour to His People ........................... 69
2.2.8.3 Coming of the People to God ......................................... 69
2.3 Conclusion.......................................................................................... 70
3. “Way” in the Septuagint ........................................................................... 72

3.1 Important Way-Lexemes .................................................................... 73
3.1.1 `1FQL… ..................................................................................... 73
3.1.1.1 In General ...................................................................... 73
3.1.1.2 In the Deutero-Canonical Books ....................................74
3.1.2 Other Way-Lexemes .................................................................. 75
3.2 Some Important Verbs of Journey ...................................................... 75
3.2.1 Verbs for “to and fro Movement” .............................................. 76
3.2.1.1 2QTGWQOCK and GȡȤȠȝĮȚ ................................................. 76
3.2.1.2 8$PCDCKPYand MCVCDCKPY… .......................................... 77
3.2.2 Verbs for “Leading”................................................................... 78
3.2.2.1 $IY… .......................................................................... 78
3.2.2.2 8(ZCIY… ........................................................................ 79
3.2.2.3 `1FJIGY… ...................................................................... 79
3.3 Conclusion.......................................................................................... 79
4. “Way” in the Dead Sea Scrolls................................................................. 80
5. “Way” in the Works of Philo and Josephus ..............................................85

5.1 Philo of Alexandria ............................................................................. 85
5.2 Josephus Flavius ................................................................................. 88
6. “Way” in the New Testament ...................................................................88

6.1 Synoptic Gospels ................................................................................ 89
6.2 Acts .................................................................................................... 90
6.3 Letters ................................................................................................ 92
6.4 Revelation .......................................................................................... 93
6.5 Conclusion.......................................................................................... 94
7. Journey Motif in the Gospel of John ......................................................... 94

7.1 Jesus’ Journeys in General .................................................................. 95
Table of Contents XI
7.1.1 Cosmic Journey ......................................................................... 95

7.1.1.1 Journey from the Father into this World ......................... 96
7.1.1.2 Departure from this World to the Father....................... 101
7.1.1.3 Return to the Believers ................................................. 103
7.1.2 Jesus’ Geographical Journey .................................................... 105
7.2 Jesus’ Cosmic Journey in John 13–14 ............................................... 107
7.3 Believers’ Journey to Jesus ............................................................... 111
7.4 Conclusion........................................................................................ 114
8. Contribution to the Study of Way in John 14,6........................................115

8.1 Prophetic Fulfilment of Future Salvation in Jesus as the Way........... 116
8.2 The Literary Background of Johannine Journey Language ............... 118
Part Two: A Study of John 14,6 in Its Context
Chapter II: John 14,6 in Its Literary Context............................ 123
1. Preliminary Observations ....................................................................... 123

1.1 Genre of the Farewell Discourse ....................................................... 123
1.2 Unity of the Farewell Discourse ....................................................... 127
1.3 Structure and Organization of John 13–14 ........................................ 129
2. Analysis of the Near and Immediate Context (John 13–14)..................... 138

2.1 The Preceding Near Context (John 13) ............................................. 139
2.1.1 The Backdrop of the Farewell Discourse (13,1–30) ................. 139
2.1.1.1 The Setting: The Cosmic Journey
and the Cosmic Conflict (vv. 1–3) ............................... 139
2.1.1.2 “The Way to Go” Prefigured (vv. 4–5) ......................... 141
2.1.1.3 Meaning of “the Way to Go” Explained (vv. 6–20) ...... 141
2.1.1.4 Judas’ Journey into Darkness (vv. 21–30) .................... 143
2.1.2 Announcement of Jesus’ Glorification (vv. 31–38) .................. 144
2.1.2.1 Glorification (vv. 31–32) ............................................. 145
2.1.2.2 Departure (v. 33) .......................................................... 146
2.1.2.3 Commandment of Love (vv. 34–35)............................. 146
2.1.2.4 Prediction of Peter’s Denial (vv. 36–38) ...................... 147
2.2 The Immediate Context: Exegesis of John 14,1–14........................... 147
2.2.1 Textual Criticism ..................................................................... 147
2.2.2 Structure .................................................................................. 151
2.2.3 Syntactical Analysis................................................................. 153
XII Table of Contents
2.2.4 Translation ............................................................................... 155

2.2.5 Interpretation: The Command to Believe
and Jesus’ Journey to the Father .............................................. 156
2.2.5.1 Command to Believe (v. 1) .......................................... 156
2.2.5.2 Jesus’ Going and Coming Again (vv. 2–3) ................... 158
2.2.5.3 Jesus as the Way to the Father (vv. 4–6) ...................... 163
2.2.5.4 Jesus’ Oneness with the Father (vv. 7–11) ................... 165
2.2.5.5 Fruits of Belief in Jesus (vv. 12–14)............................. 168
2.3 The Following Near Context (vv. 15–31) ......................................... 171
2.3.1 The Command to Love and the Trinitarian God’s Journey
to the Believers (vv. 15–24) ..................................................... 171
2.3.1.1 The Command to Love (v. 15) ..................................... 172
2.3.1.2 The Coming of the Paraclete/the Spirit of Truth
(vv. 16–17) .................................................................. 172
2.3.1.3 Coming of the Son (vv. 18–21) .................................... 173
2.3.1.4 The Coming of the Father with the Son (vv. 22–24) ..... 174
2.3.2 Recapitulation/Conclusion (vv. 25–31) .................................... 175
2.3.2.1 The Eschatological Gifts of Jesus (vv. 25–29)..............176
2.3.2.2 Cosmic Conflict and Cosmic Journey (vv. 30–31) ....... 178
2.4 Conclusion........................................................................................ 180
Chapter III: The Unity and Integrity of John 14,6 .................... 185
1. Vocabulary in v. 6b ................................................................................ 186
2. Relation between v. 6a and v. 6b ............................................................ 187
3. Relation between v. 6 and v. 7 ................................................................ 189
4. Thrust of John 14,4–7 ............................................................................. 190
5. John 14,6 as an GXIYGKXOK-Saying ............................................................ 192
6. Conclusion .............................................................................................192
Chapter IV: Possible Background of John 14,6

and Its Context ......................................................................... 194
1. Introductory Views ................................................................................. 194

Table of Contents XIII
2. Background of “Way” (14,4–6) and Its Context (14,2–3) .......................197
3. Background of “the Way and the Truth and the Life” ............................. 206
4. Background of John 14,6b ...................................................................... 209
5. Parallels Between the Contexts of Isa 40,3 and John 14,6 ......................213
6. Influence of Isaiah Quotations in John 12,38–41 upon John 14,7–14 ..... 216
6.1 A Brief Examination of John 12,38–41 ............................................. 216
6.2 Influence of John 12,38–41 upon John 14,7–14 and Its Context ....... 220
7. Conclusion .............................................................................................223
Chapter V: Important Motifs of John 14,6

in the Gospel Context............................................................... 226
1. “Truth” (CXNJSGKC) in the Gospel of John ................................................ 226

1.1 Grace and Truth in Jesus Christ (1,14.17) ......................................... 229
1.2 Doing the Truth (3,21) ...................................................................... 229
1.3 Worship in Spirit and Truth (4,23.24) ............................................... 230
1.4 Witness to the Truth (5,33) ............................................................... 230
1.5 Knowing and Saying the Truth (8,32.40.45.46; 16,7) ....................... 231
1.6 Truth and Life (8,44) ........................................................................ 231
1.7 Jesus as the Truth (14,6) ................................................................... 232
1.8 The Spirit of Truth (14,17; 15,26; 16,13) .......................................... 232
1.9 Sanctification in the Truth (17,17.19) ............................................... 233
1.10 Truth on Trial (18,37.38) ................................................................ 234
1.11 Conclusion...................................................................................... 235
2. “Life” (\YJ) in the Gospel of John ......................................................... 237

2.1 Light and Life (1,4; 8,12).................................................................. 239
2.2 Belief and Life (3,15–16.36) ............................................................. 240
2.3 The Living Water and the Life (4,14) ............................................... 241
2.4 Reaping for Eternal Life (4,36) ......................................................... 242
2.5 Jesus’ Authority over Life (5,24.26.29) ............................................ 243
2.6 Witnesses to Jesus and Life (5,39.40) ............................................... 244
2.7 The Bread of Life (6,27.33.35.40.47.48.51.53.54.63.68) .................. 245
2.8 Jesus’ Words and Life (6,63.68) ....................................................... 248
2.9 Gate/Shepherd and Life (10,10.28) ................................................... 249
XIV Table of Contents
2.10 Resurrection and Life (11,25) ......................................................... 250

2.11 Earthly Life ([WEJ) and Eternal Life (12,25) ................................... 251
2.12 Commandment and Eternal Life (12,50) ......................................... 251
2.13 Jesus as the Life (14,6) ................................................................... 252
2.14 Knowledge of God and Jesus and Eternal Life (17,2.3) .................. 252
2.15 Purpose of the Gospel and Life (20,31)........................................... 253
2.16 Conclusion...................................................................................... 254
3. Relation of Way with Truth and Life .......................................................255
4. “Father” in the Gospel of John .............................................................. 260

4.1 Jesus’ Relationship with the Father/God ........................................... 262
4.1.1 Jesus’ Exclusive Relationship with the Father.......................... 263
4.1.1.1 Jesus as the Only Son of the Father (1,14).................... 263
4.1.1.2 Jesus as the Exegete of the Father (1,18) ...................... 263
4.1.1.3 Jesus’ Authority from the Father over Everything
(3,35; 13,3a; 17,2) ........................................................ 264
4.1.1.4 God as Jesus’ Own Father and Jesus’ Equality
with God (John 5) ........................................................ 265
4.1.1.5 Jesus as the Son of Man with the Father’s Seal (6,27) .. 268
4.1.1.6 Jesus as the Only One Who Has Seen the Father (6,46)268
4.1.1.7 Jesus’ Relationship with “the Living Father” (6,57) ..... 269
4.1.1.8 Jesus’ Origin and Identity under Question (8,12–59) ... 269
4.1.1.9 Jesus’ Oneness with the Father as the Messiah
and the Son of God (John 10)....................................... 270
4.1.1.10 Jesus’ Prayer to the Father
(11,41–42; 12,27–28; 17,1–26) ................................... 271
4.1.1.11 The Father as the Provenance and Destination
of Jesus’ Journey ........................................................ 273
4.1.1.12 Jesus’ Relationship with the Father in Various Ways 273
4.1.2 Jesus’ Relationship with “God” (SGQL) ..................................... 274
4.2 Believers’ Relationship with the Father/God .................................... 274
4.2.1 In Terms of RCVJT… ................................................................ 275
4.2.2 In Terms of SGQL… ................................................................... 275
4.2.3 Significance of “No One Comes to the Father
Except through Me” ................................................................. 276
4.2.3.1 Significance of “No One” (QWXFGKL) ............................... 276
4.2.3.2 Significance of “Come to” (GTEQOCKRTQL) ................... 278
4.2.3.3 Significance of “the Father” (QBRCVJT) ......................... 279
4.2.3.4 Significance of “Except through Me” (GKXOJFK8GXOQW) . 289
4.3 Conclusion........................................................................................ 290
Table of Contents XV
Chapter VI: John 14,6 in the Context of “I Am”-Sayings ........ 293
1. Introductory Remarks ............................................................................. 293
2. Classification .........................................................................................295
3. Possible Sources and Background ofGXIYGKXOK-Sayings ......................... 296

3.1 Exodus 3,14 ...................................................................................... 297
3.2KZK\!\Q,D@ and D:K\Q,D@............................................................................. 298
3.3 “I”-Style Speeches in Wisdom Literature ......................................... 302
3.4 Synoptic Tradition and Johannine GXIY GKXOK… ................................... 303
4. 8(IYGKXOK without Images ....................................................................... 304

4.1 8(IYGKXOKAddressed to the Samaritan Woman (4,26) ...................... 305
4.2 8(IYGKXOK Addressed to the Disciples on the Waters (6,20) .............. 306
4.3 8(IYGKXOK Addressed to the Jews (8,18.24.28.58) ............................. 308
4.4 8(IYGKXOK before the Betrayal (13,19) ............................................... 311
4.5 8(IYGKXOK Addressed to Jesus’ Enemies (18,5.6.8)............................ 312
5. 8(IYGKXOK with Images ............................................................................ 314

5.1 Jesus as the Bread of Life (6,35.41.48.51) ........................................ 315
5.2 Jesus as the Light of the World (8,12)............................................... 317
5.3 Jesus as the Gate and the Good Shepherd (10,7.9.11.14) .................. 319
5.3.1 Context of the Shepherd Discourse .......................................... 320
5.3.1.1 Macro Context ............................................................. 320
5.3.1.2 Micro Context .............................................................. 321
5.3.2 Structure .................................................................................. 322
5.3.3 Interpretation ........................................................................... 324
5.3.3.1 The RCTQKOKC (vv. 1–6) ................................................ 325
5.3.3.2 Jesus as the Gate (vv. 7–10) ......................................... 328
5.3.3.3 Jesus as the Good Shepherd (vv. 11–18) ...................... 334
5.3.4 Conclusion ............................................................................... 335
5.4 Jesus as the Resurrection and the Life (11,25–26) ............................ 336
5.5 Jesus as the Vine (15,1.5) ................................................................. 338
6. John 14,6 in Relation to other GXIY GKXOK-Sayings ..................................... 340

6.1 In Relation to Absolute GXIY GKXOK-Sayings ......................................... 340
6.1.1 John 14,6 as a Revelatory Statement ........................................ 340
6.1.2 8(IYGKXOK as Expression of Jesus’ Oneness with the Father ..... 341
6.2 In Relation to GXIY GKXOK-Sayings with Images .................................... 342
6.2.1 Relation with the Context ........................................................ 342
XVI Table of Contents
6.2.2 Significance of Soteriology ...................................................... 342

6.2.3 Relation between Gate and Way .............................................. 343
6.2.4 Significance of Truth ............................................................... 345
6.2.5 Significance of Life ................................................................. 345
6.2.6 Significance of Exclusivism and Uniqueness ........................... 347
6.2.7 Significance of Inclusivism and Universality ........................... 348
6.2.8 Images and Their/Jesus’ Relationship with the Father.............. 349
7. Conclusion .............................................................................................349
Chapter VII: John 14,6 in Its Historical Context ...................... 352
1. Is Exclusivism of John 14,6 Caused by Expulsion from the Synagogue? . 352
2. Is John 14,6 an Anti-Judaistic and a Sectarian View? ............................357
3. Possible Historical Context for the Exclusive Claim in John 14,6 ..........363
3.1 An Appeal to the Context of Acts 4,12 ............................................. 363
3.2 Relation between Worship and Exclusivism ..................................... 366
3.3 Worship in the Gospel of John .......................................................... 369
3.4 Possibility for an Early High Christology ......................................... 374
4. Conclusion .............................................................................................377
Chapter VIII: John 14,6 in the Context of Today’s

Religious Pluralism .................................................................. 379
1. Universal Salvation in John .................................................................... 381

1.1 Universalism in John 14,6 and in Its Immediate Context .................. 381
1.2 Universalism in the Broad Context ................................................... 381
1.2.1 Significance of “the World” (MQUOQL) ....................................... 382
1.2.2 One Flock and One Shepherd (10,16) ...................................... 384
1.2.3 Gathering God’s Children (11,51–52) ...................................... 385
1.2.4 Salvation for the Gentiles (12,20–23.32; 19,19–20) .................385
2. Juxtaposition of Exclusivism and Universalism
in Acts 4,12; 1 Tim 2,3–5 ....................................................................... 386

Table of Contents XVII
3. The Catholic Church’s Approach to Other Religions .............................. 388
4. Conclusion .............................................................................................394
General Conclusion .................................................................. 396
Bibliography............................................................................................... 421
Index of References .................................................................................... 447
Index of Modern Authors ........................................................................... 460
Index of Subjects ........................................................................................ 467

Abbreviations
AB Anchor Bible
ABD D. N. Freedman et al. (ed.), The Anchor Bible Dictionary (New York
1992) I–VI.
ACJD Abhandlungen zum christlich-jüdischen Dialog
AnBib Analecta Biblica
ATR Anglican Theological Review
AYB Anchor Yale Bible
BBB Bonner Biblische Beiträge
BBR Bulletin for Biblical Research
BDAG W. Bauer et al. (ed.), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament
and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago 32000).
BDB F. Brown et al., The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexi-
con. With an Appendix Containing the Biblical Aramaic (Boston 1906,
Peabody 2005).
BDF F. Blass et al., A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other
Early Christian Literature (Chicago 1961).
BDS La Bible du Semeur
BECNT Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament
BETL Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium
BFC Bible en français courant
Bib Biblica
BInterp Biblical Interpretation
BIS Biblical Interpretation Series
BLit Bibel und Liturgie
BTB Biblical Theology Bulletin
BThZ Berliner Theologische Zeitschrift
BWANT Beiträge zur Wissenschaft vom Alten und Neuen Testament
BZ Biblische Zeitschrift
BZAW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft
BZNW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft
CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly
CIET Collection Institut d’Études Théologiques
CNT Commentaire du Nouveau Testament
CTQ Concordia Theological Quarterly
DCH Dictionary of Classical Hebrew
DSS Dead Sea Scrolls
DTh Deutsche Theologie
EDNT H. Balz and G. Schneider (ed.), Exegetical Dictionary of the New
Testament (Grand Rapids 1990–1992) I–III.
EThL Ephemerides Theologicae Lovaniensis
EÜ Einheitsübersetzung
EvQ Evangelical Quarterly
ExAud Ex Auditu
Abbreviations XIX
ExpTim Expository Times

FOTL Forms of the Old Testament Literature
FRLANT Forschungen zur Religion und Literatur des Alten und Neuen
Testaments
FzB Forschung zur Bibel
GNT5 B. Aland et al. (ed.), The Greek New Testament (Stuttgart 52014).
HALOT W. Baumgartner et al. (ed.), The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old
Testament (tr. M. E. J. Richardson) (Leiden 1994–2000) I–V; trans.
Hebräisches und aramäisches Lexikon zum Alten Testament (Leiden
1967–1996) I–V.
HBS Herders Biblische Studien
Hfa Hoffnung für Alle
HNT Handbuch zum Neuen Testament
HThKAT Herders Theologischer Kommentar zum Alten Testament
HThKNT Herders Theologischer Kommentar zum Neuen Testament
HUCA Hebrew Union College Annual
HUT Hermeneutische Untersuchungen zur Theologie
ICC International Critical Commentary
ITQ Irish Theological Quarterly
JAOS Journal of the American Oriental Society
JBL Journal of Biblical Literature
JES Journal of Ecumenical Studies
JETS Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
JQR Jewish Quarterly Review
JSHJ Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus
JSNT Journal for the Study of the New Testament
JSNTSS Journal for the Study of the New Testament, Supplement Series
JSOTSS Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, Supplement Series
JTI Journal of Theological Interpretation
JTISup Journal of Theological Interpretation Supplementary
LCL Loeb Classical Library
LNTS Library of New Testament Studies
LS Louvain Studies
LSJ H. G. Liddel and R. Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon. Revised and
Augmented throughout by H. S. Jones. With New Supplement (Oxford
1996).
m.Sukk Mishnah Sukkah
MNT Münchener Neues Testament
MThS Münchener Theologische Studien
N-A28 Nestle-Aland, Novum Testamentum Graece (Stuttgart 282012).
NAB New American Bible
NCBC The New Centuary Bible Commentary
Neot Neotestamentica
NGÜ Neue Genfer Übersetzung
NIB New Interpreter’s Bible
NICNT New International Commentary on the New Testament
NICOT New International Commentary on the Old Testament
NIDNTT C. Brown (ed.), The New International Dictionary of New Testament
Theology (Grand Rapids 1975–1978) I–III; trans. L. Coenen et al.
(ed.), Theologisches Begriffslexikon zum Neuen Testament (Wuppertal
1967, 1969, 1971) I–III.
NIDOTTE W. A. VanGemeren (ed.), New International Dictionary of Old Testa-
ment Theology and Exegesis (Grand Rapids 1997) I–IV.
XX Abbreviations
NIV New International Version

NJB New Jerusalem Bible
NKJ New King James Version
NLT New Living Translation
NovT Novum Testamentum
NovTSup Novum Testamentum, Supplements
NRSV New Revised Standard Version
NRT La Nouvelle Revue théologique
NSK.AT Neuer Stuttgarter Kommentar. Altes Testament
NTA.NF Neutestamentliche Abhandlungen. Neue Folge
NTS New Testament Studies
OBO Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis
ÖBS Österreichische Biblische Studien
OBT Overtures in Biblical Theology
OCT Oxford Classical Texts
ÖTK Ökumenischer Taschenbuchkommentar
OTL Old Testament Library
PHeid Heidelberg Coptic Papyrus
PzB Protokolle zur Bibel
RB Revue Biblique
RBL Review of Biblical Literature
ResQ Restoration Quarterly
RivBib Rivista Biblica
RSR Recherches de science religieuse
SBAB Stuttgarter Biblische Aufsatzbände
SBB Stuttgarter Biblische Beiträge
SBL Society of Biblical Literature
SBLDS Society of Biblical Literature, Dissertation Series
SBLMS Society of Biblical Literature, Monograph Series
SBS Stuttgarter Bibelstudien
SJT Scottish Journal of Theology
SNTS Society for New Testament Studies
SNTSMS Society for New Testament Studies. Monograph Series
SNTU Studien zum Neuen Testament und seiner Umwelt
SPIB Scripta Pontificii Instituti Biblici
ST Studia Theologica
StAns Studia Anselmiana
StANT Studien zum Alten und Neuen Testament
Str-B H. L. Strack and P. Billerbeck, Kommentar zum Neuen Testament aus
Talmud und Midrasch (Munich 21956) II.
SUNT Studien zur Umwelt des Neuen Testaments
TANZ Texte und Arbeiten zum neutestamentlichen Zeitalter
TB Theologische Bücherei
TBT Theologische Bibliothek Töpelmann
TDNT G. Kittel and G. Friedrich (ed.), Theological Dictionary of the New
Testament (tr. G. Bromiley) (Grand Rapids 1964–1976) I–IX; trans.
Theologisches Wörterbuch zum Neuen Testament (Stuttgart 1933–
1979) I–IX.
TDOT J. Botterweck et al. (ed.), Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament
(tr. D. E. Green and D. W. Stott) (Grand Rapids 1975–2015) I–XV;
trans. Theologisches Wörterbuch zum Alten Testament (Stuttgart 1973–
2015) I–X.
TENT Texts and Editions for New Testament Study
Abbreviations XXI
ThHKNT Theologischer Handkommentar zum Neuen Testament

ThKNT Theologischer Kommentar zum Neuen Testament
ThPh Theologie und Philosophie
ThR Theologische Rundschau
TLNT C. Spicq, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament (tr. J. D. Ernest)
(Peabody 1994) I–III; trans. Notes de lexicographie néo-testamentaire
(OBO 22.1–3; Fribourg 1978, 1982) I–III.
TLOT E. Jenni and C. Westermann (ed.), Theological Lexicon of the Old
Testament (tr. M. E. Biddle) (PEABODY 1997) I–III; trans.
Theologisches Handwörterbuch zum Alten Testament (Munich/Zurich
1971, 1976) I–II.
tr. translator(s)
trans. translation of
TWNT G. Kittel and G. Friedrich (ed.), Theologisches Wörterbuch zum Neuen
Testament (Stuttgart 1933–1979) I–IX.
TWOT R. L. Harris et al. (ed.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament
(Chicago 1980) I–II.
TynB Tyndale Bulletin
VT Vetus Testamentum
WBC Word Biblical Commentary
WMANT Wissenschaftliche Monographien zum Alten und Neuen Testament
WUNT Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament
ZAW Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft
ZNT Zeitschrift für Neues Testament
ZNW Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft
ZTK Zeitschrift für Theologie und Kirche
General Introduction
1. Relevance of the Subject

1. Relevance of the Subject
This monograph is an attempt to study John 14,6 in its context with a special
focus on the way motif. John 14,6 is one of the most impressive statements in
the Bible and one of the most important claims of Christianity.1 This claim is
among the most memorable and the most disputed texts of the New Testa-
ment. Hence, it is always “a hot potato” in scholarly and academic circles as
well as in theological discussions. In the context of today’s religiously plural-
istic culture and inter-religious dialogue, the exclusive claim in John 14,6 is
for many exegetes a “hard nut to crack” and for many theologians “a stum-
bling block” to dialogue.2 A proper interpretation of the text is, therefore, a
desideratum today.
1
J. Zumstein, L’Evangile selon Saint Jean 13–21 (CNT 4b; Geneva 2007), 68, consid-
ers John 14,6 as “la quintessence de la théologie joh” and says, “Dans cette declaration se
trouvent concéntres les fondements de la théologie, de la christologie et de la sotériologie
joh”. In the words of H. Gollwitzer, “Außer Christus kein Heil? (Johannes 14,6)”, Anti-
Judaismus im Neuen Testament. Exegetische und Systematische Beiträge, ed. W. P. Eckert
et al. (ACJD 2; München 1967), 171, “Der Vers stellt die konzentrierteste Formel und
damit zugleich den Höhepunkt aller christologischen Formulierung des Johannes-
Evangeliums dar, ja darüber hinaus: in seiner Position und seiner Negation gibt er die
zugespitzteste Formel für die ganze Christusbotschaft des Neuen Testaments”. According
to D. A. Carson, The Farewell Discourse and Final Prayer of Jesus. An Exposition of John
14–17 (Grand Rapids 1980), 27, John 14,6 is “one of the greatest utterances in Holy Scrip-
ture”. H. Ridderbos, The Gospel of John. A Theological Commentary (Grand Rapids 1997),
493, calls John 14,6 “the core statement of this entire Gospel”. R. Schnackenburg, The
Gospel According to St. John (New York 1982) III, 65, regards John 14,6b as “a culminat-
ing point in Johannine theology” and “a classical summary of the Johannine doctrine of
salvation that is based entirely on Jesus Christ”.
2
For interpreters like James H. Charlesworth and Laura Tack, John 14,6b is an insur-
mountable problem. The seriousness of the problem is deducible from Charlesworth’s
provoking and rash comment, “John 14,6b is a relic of the past. It is not the Word of God
for our time”. See J. H. Charlesworth, “The Gospel of John: Exclusivism Caused by a
Social Setting Different from that of Jesus (John 11,54 and 14,6)”, Anti-Judaism and the
Fourth Gospel. Papers of the Leuven Colloquium, 2000, ed. R. Bieringer et al. (Assen
2001), 510. For Laura Tack, John 14,6 is a stumbling block to her project of Jewish-
Christian dialogue. Laura’s interpretation sounds even childish when she accuses Jesus of
2 General Introduction
2. Status Quaestionis
2. Status Quaestionis
The following survey of scholarship on John 14,6 will present the important
available literature on John 14,6 (from 1920 onwards) and discuss their rele-
vant contents.3 In his article on QBFQL in TDNT (originally in TWNT, V), Wil-
helm Michaelis has paid some attention to the meaning of QBFQL in John 14,6.4
In his view, the RTQLVQPRCVGTCof 14,6b corresponds to the RTQL GXOCWVQP of
14,3.5 Michaelis does not consider the exclusivism of 14,6b as a polemic
directed against outsiders. He states, “If the saying polemically excludes
other attempts to reach God, it is primarily directed, not against the attempts
of others, but against other attempts by the disciples”.6 He believes that the
negative side of the statement (v. 6b) is less important than the positive side
(v. 6a), and that v. 6b is simply designed to support the claim of v. 6a.7
“Coming to the Father”, which could be understood as attaining fellowship
with God, is equivalent to knowing and seeing the Father (cf. 14,7–9).8 He
admits that QBFQL takes precedence over CXNJSGKC and \YJ, which are explanato-
ry concepts.9 Both terms, CXNJSGKC and \YJ, carry an eschatological reference
and might be regarded here as descriptions of the goal of salvation.10 He sug-
gests that in 14,6 there is an antithesis to the Torah since the Torah is called
way, truth and life, and the statements about the Torah are transferred to Je-
sus elsewhere in the Gospel, but he does not think that 14,6 is as a whole
his forgetfulness, “For a moment he seems to have forgotten that the way, the truth and the
life to which he refers are given to him from his relationship with the Father”. The empha-
sis is mine. Tack also finds problems with the text and even accuses the evangelist of his
shortcomings: “In John 14,6, the balance is out of balance. Perhaps under the influence of
a perceived external threat, the evangelist has overemphasized the person of Christ. In this
respect, John allowed himself to be more guided by the human shortcomings associated
with his own socio-historical situation, rather than opening the way to divine revelation”.
See L. Tack, John 14,6 in Light of Jewish-Christian Dialogue: Sharing Truth on the Way
to Life (WUNT II 557; Tübingen 2021) 355, 423. But my work will show that the problem
and the shortcomings are not with Jesus or the text or the evangelist but with the interpret-
er.
3
Only the important and original contributions to the study of John 14,6 will be men-
tioned here. The views of various commentators are not exposed here but will be dealt with
in the course of this study. The literature is presented here in chronological order.
4
W. Michaelis, “QBFQL”, TDNT, V, 78–84.
5
Michaelis, “QBFQL”, 80.
6
Michaelis, “QBFQL”, 80. But it is diificult to accept Michaelis’ view. See my criticism of
such views on p. 13, n. 126.
7
8
9
Michaelis, “QBFQL”, 81–82.
10
2. Status Quaestionis 3
directed against the Torah.11 Furthermore, he rejects the gnostic conception of

the heavenly journey of the soul as the background behind 14,2–6, since the
context does not support this view and the term QBFQL is not used elsewhere in
the Gospel in a gnostic sense (cf. 1,23; Isa 40,3).12 Neither does he believe
that the GXIY GKXOK of 14,6 is a conscious anti-thesis to the corresponding
claims of other entities in the world around the evangelist.13
In his book Je suis la route. Le thème de la route dans la Bible, André
Gros comprehensively discusses the theology and spirituality of the way in
the Bible.14 However, he does not pay considerable attention to the study of
John 14,6. He believes that in the Gospel of John Christ is truly the new Mo-
ses who leads the new exodus of the people of God.15 About John 14,6 Gros
remarks, “C’est là une affirmation lapidaire qui enserre tout le mystère pascal
du Christ”.16 He believes that among the three concepts of way, truth and life,
the concept of way takes precedence over the other two, which explicate and
qualify the way.17 He considers the nouns “truth” and “life” in accordance
with Hebrew grammar as adjectives, which qualify the noun “way”.18 Hence,
he translates 14,6a as “I am the true and the living way”.19
Most of the commentators and interpreters today rely on the work of Ig-
nace de la Potterie in their interpretation of John 14,6.20 At the very outset, it
should be noted that the focus of Potterie’s work is on truth, even though he
examines John 14,6 in its context. In the status quaestionis, he examines the
relationship among the concepts of way, truth and life in the past studies. In
this regard, he pays special attention to the interpretation by the church fa-
11
12
Michaelis, “QBFQL”, 82–84.
13
14
A. Gros, Je suis la route. Le thème de la route dans la Bible (Bruges 1961). This
work includes five chapters. In the first chapter, Gros presents the important vocabularies
for way and their various usages. The second chapter is concerned with the historical road
of the people of God, including the route and journey of the patriarchs and the exodus. In
the third chapter, the focus is on the progressive spiritualization of the way by paying
attention to the prophetical literature (Hosea, Isaiah and Jeremiah) and Psalms and on the
ritualization of the way by considering the feasts of Israel. The attention of the fourth
chapter is on the completion of the way in the person of Christ. Gros sees in Christ the new
Moses and the new Israel. According to him, the paschal mystery of Christ is the exodus of
Christ, and in the exodus of Christ our exodus is realized. The final chapter discusses the
new way of the Church in the light of the New Testament.
15
Gros, Je suis la route, 99.
16
17
Gros, Je suis la route, 103–104.
18
19
20
I. De la Potterie, “Je suis la voie, la vérité et la vie (Jn 14,6)”, NRTh 88 (1966), 907–
942. This study can be found as a part of his monumental work La vérité dans Saint Jean.
Le Christ et la vérité, L’Esprit et la vérité (AnBib 73; Rome 1977) I, 241–278.
thers, who are often influenced by Greek philosophy. Potterie thinks that John
14,2–3 is inspired by the exodus event, where God goes ahead to seek a place
for his people for camping (Deut 1,29–33).21 He believes that the focus in
14,6 is on the metaphor of way and that the other two terms (truth and life)
explain the way and, therefore, he regards the first MCK as epexegetical.22 He
rejects gnostic or Greek parallels as the literary background of John 14,6 and
insists that this verse should be understood in the sense present in the Jewish
tradition.23 For him, 14,6 is an instance of the originality and novelty of Jo-
hannine formulation.24 Truth and life are not considered as the goal of the
way.25 Jesus is the way because he is the truth and the life.26 Jesus is the way
to the Father because he gives the life of the Father by means of truth or in
the truth revealed by him and gives access to the knowledge of and commun-
ion with the Father.27
According to Helmut Gollwitzer, the three concepts of way, truth and life
refer to the direction, meaning and purpose of human life respectively.28
Christ is the way because he is one with the Father (10,30).29 Our “coming”
to God is made possible because of God’s coming to us.30 Gollwitzer beauti-
fully explains how Jesus becomes the way to the Father as follows:
die Wahrheit Gottes und das Leben Gottes gehören in den geschlossenen Kreis des Lebens
zwischen dem Vater und dem Sohn; hier gibt es keinen Zugang von außen für einen in
diesen Kreis einbrechen wollenden Menschen. Die Öffnung dieses Kreises geht nicht von
außen nach innen, sondern nur von innen nach außen. Nur dadurch, dass der geschlossene
Kreis des göttlichen Lebens zwischen Vater und Sohn sich nach außen öffnet und ein
Ausbruch nach außen geschieht, gibt es dann auch den ‘Weg’ zu dem Vater.31
For John, the coming to the Father is identical with the coming of the Father
to us in Jesus Christ.32 Gollwitzer holds that the exclusivism of the New Tes-
tament is inherited from Judaism.33
Frank Charles Fensham points out that there are two problems with regard
to the interpretation of John 14,6: a semantic problem in which we have to
discover the precise sphere of the meaning of way, truth and life and a gram-
21
De la Potterie, “Je suis la voie”, 915.
22
De la Potterie, “Je suis la voie”, 915–917.
23
De la Potterie, “Je suis la voie”, 917–926.
24
25
26
27
De la Potterie, “Je suis la voie”, 929, 933, 937.
28
Gollwitzer, “Außer Christus”, 172.
29
30
31
32
33
Gollwitzer, “Außer Christus”, 181–182.
matical problem in which we have to ascertain the precise function of the

three words and their relation to each other.34 When Jesus says, “I am the
way”, he implies, “I am the way of God, I am the way which leads to God; I
am not a human way, but a way which is not understood by mankind”.35
Fensham remarks, “The three concepts appear as predicate independently, but
are also connected as a unity. They are bound into a close unity by the subject
GXIY GKXOK without either sacrificing their sphere of meaning or giving up their
unity. It is thus impossible to fix the meaning of one concept, say way,
without considering truth and life”.36 The saying in 14,6 implies that in Jesus
Christ there is “a way of life, a genuineness and truthfulness as well as real
life, everlasting life, which gives all Christians an eschatological hope”.37
Margaret Pamment tries to examine the apparently contradictory meta-
phors of path and residence in the Gospel and shows how they are related to
each other, nevertheless.38 Since the sheep follow the shepherd through the
door to find the pasture, Jesus’ way of life makes him both a door and a shep-
herd.39 The daily experience of walking along a path makes the metaphor,
“Jesus’ life is the way” readily comprehensible.40 Since Jesus’ life is the way,
his disciples are those who follow his way of life (1,37–44; 8,12; 12,19.26;
18,15; 21,20.22) or draw back from it (6,66; 16,32).41 “I am the way” can
imply, “My life shows the way to God”.42 In the light of 14,2–3, it is possible
to suppose that the way in which Jesus directs his disciples leads to a perma-
nent dwelling with God.43
In the article “The Gospel of John as a Document of Faith in a Pluralistic
Culture”, one of the three concerns of Alan Culpepper is the issue of inter-
preting the exclusive claims of the Gospel like 14,6 in a pluralistic culture.44
He finds in John 1,9 the basis for the notion of “cosmic Christ” and believes
that John’s Logos allows Christians to affirm that the adherents of other reli-
gious traditions may come to know God through the work of the cosmic
34
F. C. Fensham, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life”, Neot 2 (1968), 81.
35
Fensham, “I am the Way”, 84.
36
37
38
M. Pamment, “Path and Residence Metaphors in the Fourth Gospel”, Theology 88
(1985), 118–124. Pamment misses the point when she thinks that path and residence are
contradictory metaphors because John uses a lot of metaphors and it is not his concern to
maintain the logical consistency between various elements of different metaphors.
39
Pamment, “Path and Residence”, 120.
40
41
42
43
44
R. A. Culpepper, “The Gospel of John as a Document of Faith in a Pluralistic Cul-
ture”, “What is John?” Readers and Readings of the Fourth Gospel, ed. F. F. Segovia
(Atlanta 1996), 121–127.
Christ.45 However, Culpepper goes beyond the boundaries of the Gospel

when he thinks that its exclusivist claims must be understood “in the context
of the opening claim that the revelation that came through Jesus Christ is the
same as that which is universally present in the Logos”.46 The Gospel may
allow us to think that the Logos can enlighten anyone at any time without
boundaries. But it does not hold a perspective that the revelation that came
through the historical Jesus is “the same” as that which is universally present
in the Logos. Moreover, it is difficult to explain in what respects the cosmic
Christ and the historical Jesus are both the same and different. But later, in
the article “Inclusivism and Exclusivism in the Fourth Gospel”, Culpepper
becomes aware of the inclusivism of the Gospel of John.47 He categorizes
both the inclusivism and the exclusivism of the Gospel into social and theo-
logical. Theological exclusivism is further divided into soteriological deter-
minism, Christological exclusivism and fideistic exclusivism. Theological
inclusivism is further divided into universal election and Logos Christology.
He considers 14,6 as the clearest expression of John’s Christological exclu-
sivism. He points out that the exclusivism of the Gospel should be balanced
by its inclusivism.
In the monograph ‘I Am’ in John’s Gospel, David Mark Ball examines sys-
tematically all forms of GXIY GKXOK-sayings in the Gospel and discusses their
literary function, background and theological implications.48 He analyses the
immediate literary context of 14,6 and follows Ignace de la Potterie in his
understanding of the relationship among the three concepts in 14,6.49 Jesus’
declaration to be the way, the truth and the life should be understood in the
light of where he is going and the way to get there.50 Truth and life are to be
regarded as another explanation of how Jesus is the way.51 Ball suggests that
the meaning of the phrase “the way of the Lord” in 1,23 may have a bearing
on the meaning of QBFQL in John 14.52 He detects various links between the
context of Isa 40,3 and that of John 1,23 and 14,6 and also makes allusions to
many way passages from Isa 42,16; 43,19; 48,17; 57,15; 62,10; Mal 2,8;
3,1.53 He believes that the uses of the term “way” in Isaiah provide a suffi-
cient basis to think that Jesus’ claim to be the way to the Father at least al-
45
Culpepper, “The Gospel of John as a Document of Faith”, 124.
46
Culpepper, “The Gospel of John as a Document of Faith”, 123.
47
A. Culpepper, “Inclusivism and Exclusivism in the Fourth Gospel”, Word, Theology
and Community in John, ed. J. Painter et al. (St. Louis 2002), 85–108.
48
D. M. Ball, ‘I Am’ in John’s Gospel. Literary Function, Background and Theological
Implications (JSNTSS 124; Sheffield 1996).
49
Ball, I Am, 119–126.
50
Ball, I Am, 126.
51
Ball, I Am, 126.
52
Ball, I Am, 232, n. 4.
53
Ball, I Am, 233–240.
ludes in part to Isaianic usage.54 According to Ball, the possibility of basing

Jesus’ self-identification as the way on Isaiah’s concept of “the way of the
Lord” is strengthened by the fact that the Qumran community was called “the
Way”.55 Finally, Ball also considers the possibility that the way, the truth and
the life may refer to the Torah in the Old Testament (cf. Deut 8,6; Ps
119,15.30.37).56 The weakness of Ball’s positions is that he points out too
many texts as the background for the designation of Jesus as the way in
14,6a. It seems that the addition, “the truth and the life” confounds him and
he is not able to stick to one view. Moreover, he keeps silent about the back-
ground of 14,6b.
In his article, Reinhold Mayer considers the expulsion from the synagogue
as the historical context for the Gospel of John as a whole.57 He does not
examine 14,6 in its context but notices that the concepts of way, truth and life
in the Old Testament are identified with the Torah.58 He believes that the
Johannine Jesus can claim to be the way, the truth and the life because he is
the personified Word of God.59
In the monograph Ich bin es, Christian Cebulj examines John 14,6 in the
immediate context of 14,1–11, which he divides into three units, vv. 1–4, vv.
5–7, vv. 7–11.60 It is not made clear whether he regards v. 7 as a transition.
He considers vv. 4–11 as “eine Art Kompendium johanneischer Theologie”.61
He thinks that the concepts of truth and life explain the way metaphor and
believes that vv. 7–11 form an exposition of v. 6.62 In his view, the troubling
of the hearts of the disciples should be understood as the troubling of the faith
identity of the Johannine circle.63 Cebulj considers 14,6 as an expression that
originated in the context of “the stigmatized situation” of the Johannine circle
as a result of their conflict with the Jews and their expulsion from the syna-
gogue.64 He writes, “Mit dem GXIY GKXOK-Wort vom Weg zeigt E, daß der joh
54
Ball, I Am, 237.
55
Ball, I Am, 237.
56
Ball, I Am, 240.
57
R. Mayer, “‘Ich bin der Weg, die Wahrheit und das Leben’. Ein Versuch über das
Johannes-Evangelium aus Anlass der neu erwachten Debatte zur Judenmission”, Johannes
Aenigmaticus. Studien zum Johannesevangelium für Herbert Leroy, ed. S. Schreiber and A.
Stimpfle (Regensburg 2000), 184–185.
58
Mayer, “Ich bin der Weg”, 190–192.
59
Mayer, “Ich bin der Weg”, 192–194.
60
C. Cebulj, Ich bin es. Studien zur Identitätsbildung im Johannesevangelium (SBB 44;
Stuttgart 2000), 219–234.
61
Cebulj, Ich bin es, 221.
62
63
64
Kreis nicht in seiner stigmatisierten Lage verharren muß, sondern in Jesus

einen Weg hat, auf dem CXNJSGKCund \YJ zu finden sind”.65
For James Hamilton Charlesworth, John 14,6 is an embarrassment.66 As
his introductory words suggest, this is due to his intense desire to please the
persons of other religions, especially the Jews. He thinks that the exclusive
claim in 14,6 is to initiate or to inflame hatred against Jews and misrepre-
sentative of the fundamental message of Jesus.67 He thinks that 14,6a is di-
rected to those in the community and 14,6b to those outside the community.68
He believes that 14,6b is an anti-Jewish and sectarian statement and argues
that 14,6b is a redactional expansion to 14,6a.69 Therefore, for him, John
14,6b is a relic of the past and not the Word of God for our time.70 It is, in
fact, his desires that dictate to him what is to be found in the text. I will later
critically evaluate Charlesworth’s arguments and make a response to them.71
The main concern of John Ashton in his article “Riddles and Mysteries.
The Way, the Truth and the Life” is to examine the riddles in the Gospel in
the light of Jesus’ return to the Father, exposed in John 8,21–24 and 13,31–
14,6.72 Ashton believes that the Johannine motif of the way originates in the
Jewish wisdom tradition.73
Michael Theobald thinks that the saying in John 14,6 originally had an in-
dependent existence of its own.74 He notices that it is shaped by an inclusio
and has a chiastic structure.75 In his view, the semantic emphasis in 14,6a is
on the term QBFQL and in 14,6b on “through me”.76 He believes that the saying
in 14,6 in “the original form” (Urgestalt) was like this, “I am the way. No one
comes to the Father except through me”.77 If Jesus were only the way and not
the truth and the life, i.e., the destination, he would become “superfluous”
(überflüssig) when the destination (the Father) was reached.78 Since this orig-
inal form did not satisfactorily represent the evangelist’s Christological per-
65
66
Charlesworth, “The Gospel of John: Exclusivism”, 493–513.
67
Charlesworth, “The Gospel of John: Exclusivism”, 493.
68
69
Charlesworth, “The Gospel of John: Exclusivism”, 494–513.
70
71
See pp. 185–193, 352–353.
72
J. Ashton, “Riddles and Mysteries. The Way, the Truth and the Life”, Jesus in Jo-
hannine Tradition, ed. R. T. Fortna and T. Thatcher (Louisville 2001), 333–342.
73
Ashton, “Riddles and Mysteries”, 340. For a critical review of Ashton’s positions, see
Tack, John 14,6 in Light of Jewish-Christian Dialogue, 109–110.
74
M. Theobald, Herrenworte im Johannesevangelium (HBS 34; Freiburg 2002), 305.
75
Theobald, Herrenworte, 307.
76
77
Theobald, Herrenworte, 311–312.
78
spective, he had to add “truth and life”.79 Theobald also examines the back-
ground of the way motif in the Old Testament, the writings of Philo and in
the New Testament and its reception by the evangelist.80 He writes, “Jesus
und der Weg sind derart identisch, dass die Begegnung mit dem
gegenwärtigen Christus im Glauben jetzt schon die Begehung jenes mit ihm
eröffneten Weges bedeutet”.81 In his view, the conception of Jesus as the way
cannot be understood in the future-oriented eschatological sense apart from
the concepts of truth and life.82
Reginald Ernest Oscar White believes that Jesus’ claim in 14,6 should be
interpreted in the light of Christ’s universal and eternal mediation in creation
(1,1–5) and in revelation (1,18; 5,19; 7,16; 8,28; 9,4; 12,49; I4,10.24.31,
etc.).83 Behind 14,6 there lies John’s dominant thought that Jesus stands
between God and the human being (1,18).84 He believes that the universal
Christ may mediate divine light and power wherever people seek in sincerity
and truth (cf. 4,23–24).85 He thinks that John understood Jesus’ words in 14,6
“not as denying there could be any valid religious experience outside the
Christian creed, church and commitment, but as affirming the far larger, more
wonderful truth that all glimpses of divine reality come only through Christ,
the way to God, the truth of God, and the life of God, the light that lighteneth
every soul that is willing to learn”.86
Angelo Colacrai notices the antecedents of “the way and the truth and the
life” in the Old Testament usage, especially in “the way of truth” and “the
way of life”.87 According to him, “Gv 14,6 e un insieme descrittivo di Gesu
come salvatore del mondo in quanto Maestro e Signore”.88 Jesus is true be-
cause he is the image and the resemblance of the Father in his words and
works.89 Being God-man, Jesus presents himself as a synthesis of heaven and
earth.90 In John 14,6b, Jesus draws attention to the Father as an eschatological
point of arrival but contemporarily presents himself as a unique way for the
disciples to reach God.91
79
80
81
82
83
R. E. O. White, “No One Comes to the Father but by Me”, ExpTim 113 (2002), 117.
84
White, “No One Comes to the Father”, 117.
85
86
87
A. Colacrai, “Gesu Cristo Salvatore e Signore Via Verita e Vita, Secondo Gv 14,6”,
Studia Missionalia 52 (2003), 117–168.
88
Colacrai, “GesuCristo Salvatore e Signore”, 137.
89
90
91
Craig R. Koester has made a good attempt to deal with the problem of ex-
clusivism associated with 14,6.92 He presupposes humanity’s separation from
God and thinks that the primary concern of the evangelist is to show how
people can come to know God.93 The purpose of Jesus’ coming into the world
is that people come to God, know him and believe in him.94 The claim “No
one comes to the Father” assumes humanity’s estrangement from God
through sin.95 Since this is a fundamental human problem, not only the Jews
who oppose him, but also his inner circle of disciples are unable to go where
Jesus goes (7,34; 13,33).96 The phrase “except through me” introduces the
possibility of relationship with God in spite of human estrangement from
God.97 Before Jesus speaks of being the way, he speaks of going the way
through his death and resurrection.98
Koester says, “To call Jesus ‘the way’ is to call him ‘the Crucified and
Risen One’”.99 He believes that “the promise of the way, which is mentioned
in Isaiah, finds its realization in Jesus’ death for the sake of others”.100 The
statement “I am the way” implies that Jesus reveals God through his death
and resurrection.101 Jesus is the way because he went the way of the cross and
resurrection to reveal God’s love for a world that was separated from him.102
Therefore, “it would be exclusivistic to say that Jesus is the way for some but
not all, for it would mean that Jesus reveals God’s love only for some but not
for all”.103 He rejects the view of some scholars that Johannine Christianity is
a kind of introverted sect on the basis of the Gospel’s persistent emphasis on
sending (cf. 17,18; 20,21–22) and the community’s openness to include the
Jews, the Samaritans and the Greeks alike.104
92
C. R. Koester, “Jesus as the Way to the Father in Johannine Theology (John 14,6)”,
Theology and Christology in the Fourth Gospel. Essays by the Members of the SNTS Jo-
hannine Writings Seminar, ed. G. Van Belle et al. (BETL 184; Leuven 2005), 117–133. Cf.
idem, “Jesus the Way, the Cross and the World According to the Gospel of John”, Word &
World 21 (2001), 360–369; idem, Symbolism in the Fourth Gospel. Meaning, Mystery,
Community (Minneapolis 22003), 287–299; idem, The Word of Life. A Theology of John’s
Gospel (Grand Rapids 2008), 209–214.
93
Koester, “Jesus as the Way”, 117.
94
95
Koester, “Jesus as the Way”, 122–123.
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
Under the title “Joh 14,6 und ein Absolutheitsanspruch des Christen-
tums?”, Hartwig Thyen, in his Studien zum Corpus Iohanneum, briefly exam-
ines the reactions of a few authors towards the absolute claim of 14,6 in the
context of the Jewish-Christian dialogue.105 Thyen admits that the claim of
14,6 is regarded not only as the absolute claim of Jesus or the Johannine
community but also as that of the whole Christianity.106 He views, “Das
Johannesevangelium ist jener Wirt, ohne den der christlich-jüdische Dialog
bisher seine Rechnung gemacht hat”.107
In his theological approach to 14,6, John R. Franke evaluates the
uniqueness of Jesus in the context of the contemporary religiously pluralistic
culture. He explains the uniqueness of Jesus on the basis of the fact that we
learn about love by looking at Jesus.108 He says, “Jesus Christ is the living
embodiment of God’s gracious character as the One who loves. This love is
not an abstract notion or a set of feelings, but is rather characterized by the
action of God in the person of Jesus Christ”.109 Hence, commitment to Jesus
as the way implies that we do not presume to know the nature of divine love
ahead of time.110 “Our understanding of true love, the love of God, is shaped
by the particular way in which God loves in and through Jesus Christ”.111
Consequently, the affirmation of Jesus as the way means to acknowledge that
he shows us who God is and how God acts in the world, and the unique
nature and character of the divine mission.112 Denial of the uniqueness of
Jesus would compromise the redemption accomplished through his life and
death as well as the way of life he models for us to follow.113
In his monograph Nur Ich bin die Wahrheit, Peter G. Kirchschläger tries to
interpret 14,6 in the immediate literary context of vv. 5–11 in dialogue with
modern commentators and interpreters.114 As a working hypothesis of his
thesis, he suggests that the cult and the temple of Artemis in Ephesus at the
end of the first centuary, emperor worship and the Jewish community in dias-
pora constitute the socio-historical context of the Gospel.115 But he does not
105
H. Thyen, Studien zum Corpus Iohanneum (WUNT 214; Tübingen 2007), 635–637.
106
Thyen, Studien zum Corpus Iohanneum, 635.
107
Thyen, Studien zum Corpus Iohanneum, 635.
108
J. R. Franke, “Still the Way, the Truth and the Life”, Christianity Today 53 (2009),
28, 27–31.
109
Franke “Still the Way”, 28.
110
111
112
113
114
P. G. Kirchschläger, Nur Ich bin die Wahrheit. Der Absolutheitsanspruch des
johanneischen Christus und das Gespräch zwischen den Religionen (HBS 63; Freiburg
2010), 199–228.
115
See Kirchschläger, Nur Ich bin die Wahrheit, 39–45.
make use of this socio-historical context to interpret 14,6. Jesus is the truth
and the life because the way of God is the way of truth and life.116
According to the tradition-critical study of Johannes Beutler, the tradition
behind 14,6 is Ps 43,3, where God’s light and truth “lead” (QBFJIGY) the wor-
shipper to the sanctuary.117 He also refers to the midrash on Ps 43,3 in which
the light and truth of God are interpreted as Elijah and the Messiah. The
theme of life appears in Ps 42,3.9, where the worshipper thirsts for the living
God (42,3) and prays to the God of life (42,9).118
Ma. Lucia C. Natividad, in her theological and pastoral approach to 14,6,
follows basically the interpretations of Ignace de la Potterie, Raymond Brown
and Rudolf Schnackenburg.119 Jesus’ claim that he is “the way, the truth and
the life” reflects and defines his relationship with humanity.120 She thinks that
way should be understood in a strictly eschatological sense.121 John presents
Jesus as the revelation of the Father and as such he is “the way”.122 She tries
to understand 14,6 in the light of John’s prologue (1,14.18) and views that
Jesus is the only way to the Father because he alone is at the same time flesh
among all people and the Word with the Father.123
In 2017, Laura Tack published in an article the important findings of her
doctoral dissertation, which was completed at the Faculty of Theology and
Religious Studies of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in 2015.124 Her work
is centred on the interpretation of John 14,6. Tack sees John’s high
Christology at the heart of the anti-Judaism of the Gospel and consequently
regards John 14,6 as an anti-Judaistic text.125 Her view, “Niet de hele wereld,
maar enkel de christenen zijn de geadresseerden van Joh 14,6” (“Not the
whole world, but only the Christians are the addressees of John 14,6”), is
116
Kirchschläger, Nur Ich bin die Wahrheit, 211–212.
117
J. Beutler, Do not Be Afraid. The First Farewell Discourse in John’s Gospel (Frank-
furt am Main 2011), 41. This work is the English translation of Beutler’s Habt keine Angst.
Die erste johanneische Abschiedsrede (Joh 14) (SBS 116; Stuttgat 1984). The English
translation is preferred in this work since it is an updated version.
118
For a critical evaluation of Beutler’s views, see pp. 194–195.
119
Ma. L. C. Natividad, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14,6)”, Asian Per-
spectives in the Arts and Humanities 2 (2012), 75–92.
120
Natividad, “I am the Way”, 78.
121
122
123
124
Her findings in this article were evaluated in my dissertation before I submitted it in
2018. See L. Tack, “Onderweg met de dialogerende Jezus. Enkele hermeneutische
richtlijnen bij het Jezuswoord in Joh 14,6”, Tijdschrift voor Theologie 57 (2017), 116–133.
Cf. L. Tack, Weg van de Waarheid? Een historisch-kritisch en hermeneutisch onderzoek
van Joh 14,6 in het licht van de joods-christelijke dialoog (Dissertation, Katholieke Uni-
versiteit Leuven 2015).
125
Tack, “Onderweg”, 119.
problematic and contradicts very clearly the universal scope of salvation

highlighted in the Gospel.126
Very recently, Laura Tack has published her monograph John 14,6 in
Light of Jewish-Christian Dialogue: Sharing Truth on the Way to Life.127 It is
the English translation of the revised version of her doctoral dissertation.128 In
the introduction, Tack discusses the relevance of the topic, research ques-
tions, methodology and the structure of the monograph. The main part of the
work is divided into five chapters.129 While the first three chapters deal with
the exegesis of John 14,6, the last two chapters are hermeneutical in nature.
The first chapter examines John 14,6 in the literary context of John 13,31–
14,31. Here the author examines the relation of John 14,6 with the main mo-
tives of the text unit, namely the complementarity of the future-oriented and
realized eschatology and the theme of the mutual indwelling of the Father and
the Son. In her view, John 14,6 signifies a turning point from a realized es-
chatology towards a future-oriented eschatology and from a mutual indwell-
ing limited to the unity of the Father and the Son towards a concept of mutual
indwelling that also includes the believing community.
In the second chapter, she examines the background of John 14,6 and
shows how the concepts of way, truth and life connect this verse to the rest of
John’s Gospel. She finds in Philo’s Quod Deus immutabilis sit 142–143.159–
161 and De posteritate Caini 102 the best parallels to explain how John uses
the term way. In these passages, Philo presents wisdom and the Logos respec-
tively as the equivalent of the way to God and also emphasizes the unique-
ness of these mediators. As a working hypothesis, Tack proposes that the
੒įȩȢ in John 14,6 stands for the way to the Father and is as such an expres-
sion of the relationship between the Father and the Son. According to Tack,
John 14,6b manifests an incomplete soteriology since the role of the Father
does not come to the fore in the salvation process. She thinks that ਕȜ੾șİȚĮ
and ȗȦȒ do not belong exclusively to Jesus. She understands truth on a con-
ceptual level as the loving unity of being between the Father and the Son.
126
Tack, “Onderweg”, 130. The English translation is mine. It should be specially noted
that Jesus does not say QWXFGKL GXZ WBOYP but ratherQWXFGKL referring to everyone. For a discus-
sion on the meaning of QWXFGKL in John 14,6 and the universal scope of salvation in John, see
pp. 276–278 and pp. 381–386 respectively.
127
See p. 2, n. 2. Laura Tack and I began our dissertations almost simultaneously and
worked independently. To my surprise, we had absolutely different approaches and conse-
quently varying conclusions. In many respects, our monographs may complement each
other and the readers may profit from both.
128
This dissertation was translated from Dutch. Unfortunately, the translation has sev-
eral English grammar mistakes and, in some instances, the language looks wooden and
stiff.
129
The following presentation of her work is primarily based on the introductions and
conclusions of each chapter and the general conclusion.
Truth is totally a relational concept, one which forms the pre-requisite for
salvation. Life stands for the life that the Johannine Jesus shares with the
Father and vice versa. The gift of life originates from the loving unity of the
Father and the Son.
In the third chapter, she explains the relation between the concepts of the
way, the truth and the life. She understands the conjunction țĮ઀, which con-
nects the three concepts, in an epexegetical way. Jesus is the way in the sense
that he is the truth, i.e., a part of the Father’s and the Son’s loving unity of
being, and he is the way in the sense that he is the life, i.e., that which consti-
tutes the Father’s and the Son’s loving unity of being. She interprets the “I
am”-saying in John 14,6 as a metaphorical expression. As a metaphorical
expression, John 14,6a carries within it two semantic tensions. On the one
hand, there is a mutual tension between the three central concepts of the verse
(way, truth, life) and, on the other hand, also between the “I am” and these
concepts. According to Tack, the way is and is not like the truth, and the way
is and is not like the life. In other words, the way is like the truth and the life
because it expresses the relational component of these two Johannine con-
cepts. The metaphorical tension reveals that Jesus’ identity is largely deter-
mined by relationship, not only to a human being, but above all, to the Father
and, in the future, to the Spirit.
The fourth chapter is divided into three sections. The first section deals
with the case study on the reception of John 14,6 in Nostra Aetate (1965) and
Dominus Iesus (2000). The second section describes the stumbling blocks
encountered in the interpretation of John 14,6 from the perspective of the
Jewish-Christian dialogue. These stumbling blocks are caused either by the
prejudices of the interpreter or by the formulation of the evangelist. Tack
accuses the evangelist that he has explicitly neglected the role of the Father
and the Spirit in the formulation of “I am”-sayings. In her view, the evange-
list is responsible for the anti-Jewish potential in the ambiguous wording of
John 14,6. The third section focuses on the solutions that have been proposed
since the second half of the twentieth century for the problems posed by John
14,6 in the inter-religious and the Jewish-Christian dialogue. As important
parameters for interpretation, she suggests that an adequate hermeneutical
approach must simultaneously be aware of the historical situatedness of the
Gospel and focus on the content of the literary text and the context of the
Fourth Gospel itself.
In the fifth and last chapter, Tack adopts the approach of the normativity of
the future as a hermeneutical framework. This approach was developed by
Reimund Bieringer in the mid-1990s. As a revelatory text, the biblical text
has three temporal dimensions of the past, the present, and the future. These
dimensions are based on the three facets of the text: “the world behind the
text”, “the world of the text” and “the world before the text”. These facets can
be represented by three images of window, mirror and icon respectively. Tack
studies John 13,31–14,31 under “three worlds” of the text as window, mirror
and icon. According to her, reading the text as a window reveals that 14,6a is
aimed at strengthening the identity ad intra, and v. 6b is meant to demarcate
the community’s identity ad extra. As a mirror, the text bears witness firstly
to what it means to be Jesus’ disciple and secondly to Jesus, the Father and
the Spirit, each of whom is focused on the disciples’ future. As an icon, the
text gives a future vision. According to this vision, the house of the Father is
the destination; Jesus is the way that leads to this house, and the Spirit is the
guide that leads the faithful to this destination. The many dwellings highlight
the inclusive vision of the future, which calls upon readers to love one anoth-
er already in the present. The general conclusion brings together the main
results of her research.
The greatest merit of the work of Laura Tack is that she has made an ex-
cellent research on secondary literature and has presented very systematically
the status quaestionis with regard to the interpretation of John 14,6. Moreo-
ver, she has ventured to make new avenues for the interpretation of John 14,6
by relying on a theory of metaphor and an approach of the normativity of the
future, even though their legitimacy and utility are questionable. At the same
time, the work has many limitations.
The greatest weakness of Tack’s work is that she has approached the text
with a very explicit and specific agenda. This is clear from the very title of
her work: John 14,6 in Light of Jewish-Christian Dialogue. Certainly, no
interpretation is absolutely objective. However, the interpreter should try to
approach the text neutrally or with minimum agenda as far as possible. Tack
has already decided how the text should speak in favour of her agenda, name-
ly the demands of Jewish-Christian dialogue. Tack’s work is written as a part
of a project which sees John 14,6 as a stumbling block to Jewish-Christian
dialogue and aims at removing such blocks to dialogue. The lens of her agen-
da is discernible throughout her work. E.g., she states, “This exclusive con-
nection between Jesus and the terms belonging to the predicate of the ‘I am’-
saying becomes a stumbling block in Jewish-Christian dialogue if one ex-
plains the historical background of the terms in the predicate exclusively
from the Old Testament or the Jewish tradition in a broad sense”.130 In fact,
nobody can challenge the indebtedness of the Fourth Evangelist to the Old
Testament, which is his first and primary reference book. But Tack cannot
accept the Old Testament background of “I am”-sayings mainly because that
can cause stumbling blocks to her project and will not suit her agenda of
130
Another example is: “For Origen, the ‘I am’-sayings clearly express the divinity of
the Johannine Christ in a prototypical way. This observation is not problematic in itself,
but it certainly is when it is thrown into the debate with Judaism”. It implies that for Tack
the divinity of Christ is not problematic in itself, but it is certainly problematic in Jewish-
Christian dialogue. See Tack, John 14,6 in Light of Jewish-Christian Dialogue, 343, 347.
Jewish-Christian dialogue. Any attempt to understand John in the light of the

Old Testament is likely to be a better option available to us than to under-
stand him in the light of modern theoretical constructs. Her interpretation of
John 14,6 in the light of Jewish-Christian dialogue has become, in fact, an
interpretation for the sake of pleasing her counterparts (in dialogue) at the
expense of the intended meaning of the the author or the meaning understood
by the original readers. Hence, some of her findings are conditioned and col-
oured by her subjectivity.
On account of her subjectivity (agenda), Tack has made serious but unnec-
essary and unacceptable accusations against Johannine Jesus, the evangelist
and the revelation of the Gospel itself. She accuses Johannine Jesus of his
forgetfulness and regards John 14,6 as his pretentious and harsh claim.131 She
blames the evangelist for the anti-Judaistic potential of John 14,6: “The evan-
gelist can thus be held responsible for this anti-Jewish potential which is
expressed by the ambiguous wording of John 14,6 and which brings the read-
er on the wrong track”.132 She thinks that in John 14,6 the evangelist has
unbalanced the delicate balance between unity and diversity in the relation-
ship between the Son and the Father and focused one-sidedly on the Son.133
Therefore, according to Tack, the Father and the Spirit are sidelined in 14,6,
and Christology in this verse is problematic.134 In short, she finds “the prob-
lems situated on the level of the Gospel text itself”.135 But as far as John 14,6
is concerned, the shortcomings are not with the evangelist but with Tack’s
limited way of understanding and interpretation. By making a series of accu-
sations against the Gospel of John, she does not allow the text to be itself and
to speak in its own voice. The words of Sandra M. Schneiders are worth men-
tioning here: “Allowing the text to be itself, to speak in its own voice, is the
primary purpose of biblical scholarship, that is, of exegesis and criticism”.136
It is better to let John speak for himself than to accuse him. Had Tack ap-
proached the text without any agenda, she would not have made these accusa-
tions against the Gospel of John.137
131
Tack, John 14,6 in Light of Jewish-Christian Dialogue, 355–356, 411.
132
Tack, John 14,6 in Light of Jewish-Christian Dialogue, 364, 440.
133
Tack finds fault with the evangelist thus, “In this respect, John allowed himself to be
more guided by the human shortcomings associated with his own socio-historical situation,
rather than opening the way to divine revelation”. See Tack, John 14,6 in Light of Jewish-
Christian Dialogue, 364, 423–424.
134
Tack affirms, “Indeed, the one-sided emphasis on the actions of the ‘Son of God’ in
this verse disregards the role of the Father. This blind spot is the heart of christological
anti-Judaism”. See Tack, John 14,6 in Light of Jewish-Christian Dialogue, 342, 380.
135
Tack, John 14,6 in Light of Jewish-Christian Dialogue, 380.
136
S. M. Schneiders, “Biblical Spirituality”, Int 56 (2002), 136.
137
There is a saying, “Do not cut the person to fit the coat, but rather cut the coat to fit
the person”. In a way, Tack’s accusations against the Gospel appear to be attempts to cut
the Gospel to fit her agenda.
The Gospel of John was not written in the light of the demands of Jewish-
Christian dialogue (cf. John 20,31). “Jewish-Christian dialogue” was not a
concern of the evangelist. It is a later development. Therefore, we may ques-
tion whether it is appropriate to interpret John 14,6 in order to meet the
(modern) demands of Jewish-Christian dialogue since it is more likely to
bring out prejudiced and biased results. By bringing into the text the prob-
lems and demands of Jewish-Christian dialogue, Tack has not allowed the
text to be itself. She has dictated how the text should be and thus turned her
interpretation of John 14,6 into an eisegesis rather than into an exegesis.
Another related defect of Tack’s work is that she has tried to solve the
problem of Jewish-Christian dialogue at the level of the text itself. It is worth
questioning whether we can settle the problems of Jewish-Christian dialogue
at the level of the text, i.e., exegetically. In academic circles, usually, the
modern discipline of inter-religious dialogue comes under the area of system-
atic and practical theology. The appalling spectre of emerging anti-Semitism
in Europe today is a modern problem. It is to be confronted and solved at the
level of systematic and pastoral theology. Therefore, Andreas Dettwiler
makes a distinction between historical exegetical analysis of John 14,6 and
systematic theological responsibility: “eine Unterscheidung zwischen einer
historisch-exegetischen Analyse des Satzes 14,6 und seiner systematisch-
theologischen Verantwortung”.138 He proposes that the problem of exclusiv-
ism in 14,6 must be handled from a systematic theological perspective.139 It
seems that Tack has blurred the line between the exegetical view and the
systematic-pastoral theological perspective. The Catholic Church has taken
many measures to deal with the Christological exclusivism of the Christian
faith. Tack has paid attention only to the reception-history of John 14,6 in
Nostra Aetate and Dominus Iesus. She has failed to take into account com-
prehensively the Church’s current approach to the salvation of other religious
believers.140
Tack has devoted more than forty pages of her dissertation to purely theo-
retical discussions.141 She has heavily as well as very confidently relied on
external (non-biblical) and even modern philosophical theories of metaphor
in order to interpret the “I am”-saying in John 14,6. We may question wheth-
138
A. Dettwiler, Die Gegenwart des Erhöhten. Eine exegetische Studie zu den
johanneischen Abschiedsreden (Joh 13,31–16,33) unter Berücksichtigung ihres Relecture-
Charakters (FRLANT 169; Göttingen 1995), 166.
139
“Damit ist zum Problem des Exklusivitätsanspruchs allerdings noch nicht alles
gesagt, was vor allem in theologisch-systematischer Hinsicht gesagt werden muss”. See
Dettwiler, Die Gegenwart des Erhöhten, 166.
140
My monograph will pay special attention to the Church’s approach to other religions
in the light of the Christological exclusivism of the Christian faith.
141
See Tack, John 14,6 in Light of Jewish-Christian Dialogue, 286–305, 314–315, 381–
403.
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Cimbex she finds a similar arrangement, but there are ten chambers,
and no aorta.
The dorsal vessel is connected with the roof of the body by some
short muscles, and is usually much surrounded by fat-body into
which tracheae penetrate; by these various means it is kept in
position, though only loosely attached; beneath it there is a delicate,
incomplete or fenestrate, membrane, delimiting a sort of space
called the pericardial chamber or sinus; connected with this
membrane are some very delicate muscles, the alary muscles,
extending inwards from the body wall (b, Fig. 72): the curtain formed
by these muscles and the fenestrate membrane is called the
pericardial diaphragm or septum. The alary muscles are not directly
connected with the heart.
Fig. 72.—Dorsal vessel (c), and alary muscles (b), of Gryllotalpa (after
Graber); a, aorta. N.B.—The ventral aspect is here dorsal, and
nearly the whole of the body is removed to show these parts.
Fig. 73.—Diagram of transverse section of pericardial sinus of

Oedipoda coerulescens. (After Graber, Arch. Mikr. Anat. ix.) H,
heart; s, septum; m, muscles—the upper suspensory, the lower
alary.
It has been thought by some that delicate vessels exist beyond the
aorta through which the fluid is distributed in definite channels, but
this does not appear to be really the case, although the fluid may
frequently be seen to move in definite lines at some distance from
the heart.
There is still much uncertainty as to some of the details of the action

of the heart, and more especially as to the influence of the alary
muscles. The effect of the contraction of these must be to increase
the area of the pericardial chamber by rendering its floor or septum
less arched, as shown in our diagram (Fig. 73), representing a
transverse section through the pericardial chamber, H being the
dorsal vessel with m its suspensory muscles, and s its septum, with
m the alary muscles. The contraction of these latter would draw the
septum into the position of the dotted line, thus increasing the area
of the sinus above; but as this floor or septum is a fenestrated
structure, its contraction allows fluid to pass through it to the
chamber above; thus this arrangement may be looked on as a
means of keeping up a supply of fluid to the dorsal vessel, the
perforated septum, when it contracts, exerting pressure on the
tissues below; these are saturated with fluid, which passes through
the apertures to the enlarged pericardial chamber.
Some misconception has prevailed, too, as to the function of the

pericardial chamber. This space frequently contains a large quantity
of fat-body—pericardial tissue—together with tracheae, and this has
given rise to the idea that it might be lung-like in function; but, as
Miall and Denny[58] have pointed out, this is erroneous; the tissues in
Insects have their own ample supplies of air. It has also been
supposed that the alary muscles cause the contraction of the heart,
but this is not directly the case, for they are not attached to it, and it
pulsates after they have been severed. It has been suggested that
the contractions of this vessel are regulated by small ganglia placed
on, or in, its substance. However this may be, these contractions
vary enormously according to the condition of the Insect; they may
be as many, it is said, as 100 or more in a minute, or they may be
very slow and feeble, if not altogether absent, without the death of
the Insect ensuing.
The expulsion of the blood from the front of the dorsal vessel seems
to be due to the rhythm of the contraction of the vessel as well as to
its mechanical structure. Bataillon says,[59] confirming an
observation of Réaumur, that at the period when the silkworm is
about to change to the chrysalis condition, the circulation undergoes
periodical changes, the fluid moving during some intervals of about
ten minutes' duration in a reversed direction, while at other times the
blood is expelled in front and backwards simultaneously, owing
apparently to a rhythmical change in the mode of contraction of the
dorsal vessel.
As the dorsal vessel consists of a number of distinct chambers, it

has been suggested that there is normally one of these for each
segment of the body; and it appears that the total number is
sometimes thirteen, which is frequently that of the segments of the
body without the head. The number of chambers differs, however,
greatly, as we have previously stated, and cannot be considered to
support the idea of an original segmental arrangement of the
chambers. The dorsal vessel, though in the adult a single organ,
arises in the embryo from two lateral, widely separated parts which
only in a subsequent stage of the embryonic development coalesce
in the median line.
Fat-Body.
In discussing the tracheae we remarked on the importance of their

function and on their abundant presence in the body. Equally
conspicuous, and perhaps scarcely less important in function, is the
fat-body, which on opening some Insects, especially such as are in
the larval stage, at once attracts attention. It consists of masses of
various size and indefinite form distributed throughout the body,
loosely connected together, and more or less surrounding and
concealing the different organs. The colour varies according to the
species of Insect. This fat-body is much connected with fine tracheal
twigs, so that an organisation extending throughout the body is thus
formed. It may be looked on as a store of nutritious matter which
may be added to or drawn on with great rapidity; and it is no doubt
on this that many of the internal parasites, so common in the earlier
stages of Insects' lives, subsist before attacking the more permanent
tissues of their hosts. There is some reason to suppose that the fat-
body may have some potency in determining the hunger of the
Insect, for some parasitised larvae eat incessantly.
The matter extracted from the food taken into the stomach of the
Insect, after undergoing some elaboration—on which point very little
is known—finds its way into the body-cavity of the creature, and as it
is not confined in any special vessels the fat-body has as unlimited a
supply of the nutritive fluid as the other organs: if nutriment be
present in much greater quantity than is required for the purposes of
immediate activity, metamorphosis or reproduction, it is no doubt
taken up by the fat-body which thus maintains, as it were, an
independent feeble life, subject to the demands of the higher parts of
the organisation. It undoubtedly is very important in metamorphosis,
indeed it is possible that one of the advantages of the larval state
may be found in the fact that it facilitates, by means of the fat-body,
the storage in the organisation of large quantities of material in a
comparatively short period of time.
A considerable quantity of fat tissue is found in the pericardial sinus,

where it is frequently of somewhat peculiar form, and is spoken of as
pericardial cells, or pericardial tissue. Some large cells, frequently of
pale yellow colour, and containing no fat, are called oenocytes by
Wielowiejski. They are connected with the general fat-body, but are
not entirely mingled with it; several kinds have been already
distinguished, and they are probably generally present. The
phagocytes, or leucocytes, the cells that institute the process of
histolysis in the metamorphosis of Muscidae, are a form of blood
cell; though these cells are amoeboid some writers derive them from
the fat-body. The cells in the blood have no doubt generally an
intimate relation with the fat-body, but very little accurate information
has been obtained as to these important physiological points, though
Graber has inaugurated their study.[60]
Organs of Sex.
The continuation of the species is effected in Insects by means of

two sexes, each endowed with special reproductive organs. It has
been stated that there are three sexes in some Insects—male,
female, and neuter; but this is not correct, as the so-called neuters
are truly sexed individuals,—generally females,—though, as a rule,
they are not occupied with the direct physiological processes for
continuing the species.
The offspring is usually produced in the shape of eggs, which are

formed in ovaries. These organs consist of egg-tubes, a cluster of
which is placed on each side of the body, and is suspended,
according to Leydig[61] and others, to the tissue connected with the
heart by means of the thread-like terminations of the tubes.
Fig. 74.—Sex organs of female of Scolia interrupta (after Dufour); a,

egg-tubes; b, oviducts; c, poison glands; d, duct of accessory
gland (or spermatheca); e, external terminal parts of body.
The number of egg-tubes varies greatly in different Insects; there

may be only one to each ovary (Campodea), but usually the number
is greater, and in the queen-bee it is increased to about 180. In the
Queens of the Termitidae, or white ants, the ovaries take on an
extraordinary development; they fill the whole of the greatly
distended hind-body. Three thousand egg-tubes, each containing
many hundred eggs, may be found in a Queen Termite, so that, as
has been said by Hagen,[62] an offspring of millions in number is
probable. There is considerable variety in the arrangements for the
growth of the eggs in the egg-tubes. Speaking concisely, the tubes
may be considered to be centres of attraction for nutritive material, of
which they frequently contain considerable stores. Next to the
terminal thread, of which we have already spoken, there is a greater
or smaller enlargement of the tube, called the terminal chamber; and
there may also be nutriment chambers, in addition to the dilatations
which form the egg-chambers proper. Korschelt[63] distinguishes
three principal forms of egg-tubes, viz. (1) there are no special
nutriment chambers, a condition shown in Figure 74; (2) nutriment
chambers alternate with the egg-chambers, as shown in our Figure
of an egg-tube of Dytiscus marginalis; (3) the terminal chamber
takes on an unusual development, acting as a large nutriment
chamber, there being no other special nutriment chambers. This
condition is found in Rhizotrogus solstitialis. The arrangements as to
successive or simultaneous production of the eggs in the tubes
seem to differ in different Insects. In some forms, such as the white
ants, the process of egg-formation (oogenesis) attains a rapidity that
is almost incredible, and is continued, it is said, for periods of many
months. There is no point in which Insects differ more than in that of
the number of eggs produced by one female. The egg-tubes are
connected with a duct for the conveyance of the eggs to the exterior,
and the arrangements of the tubes with regard to the oviduct also
vary much. An interesting condition is found in Machilis (see Fig. 94,
p. 188), where the seven egg-tubes are not arranged in a bunch, but
open at a distance from one another into the elongated duct. The
two oviducts usually unite into one chamber, called the azygos
portion or the uterus, near their termination. There are a few Insects
(Ephemeridae) in which the two oviducts do not unite, but have a
pair of orifices at the extremity of the body. Hatchett-Jackson has
recently shown[64] that in Vanessa io of the Order Lepidoptera, the
paired larval oviducts are solid, and are fixed ventrally so as to
represent an Ephemeridean stage; that the azygos system of ducts
and appended structures develop separately from the original
oviducts, and that they pass through stages represented in other
Orders of Insects to the stage peculiar to the Lepidoptera. Machilis,
according to Oudemans, is a complete connecting link between the
Insects with single and those with paired orifices.
There are in different Insects more than one kind of diverticula and
accessory glands in connexion with the oviducts or uterus; a
receptaculum seminis, also called spermatheca, is common. In the
Lepidoptera there is added a remarkable structure, the bursa
copulatrix, which is a pouch connected by a tubular isthmus with the
common portion of the oviduct, but having at the same time a
separate external orifice, so that there are two sexual orifices, the
opening of the bursa copulatrix being the lower or more anterior. The
organ called by Dufour in his various contributions glande sébifique,
is now considered to be, in some cases at any rate, a spermatheca.
The special functions of the accessory glands are still very obscure.
Fig. 75.—Egg-tube of Dytiscus marginalis; e.c, egg-chamber; n.c,

nutriment chamber; t.c, terminal chamber; t.t, terminal thread.
(After Korschelt.)
The ovaries of the female are replaced in the male by a pair of

testes, organs exhibiting much variety of form. The structure may
consist of an extremely long and fine convoluted tube, packed into a
small space and covered with a capsule; or there may be several
shorter tubes. As another extreme may be mentioned the existence
of a number of small follicles opening into a common tube, several of
these small bodies forming together a testis. As a rule each testis
has its own capsule, but cases occur—very frequently in the
Lepidoptera—in which the two testes are enclosed in a common
capsule; so that there then appears to be only one testis. The
secretion of each testis is conveyed outwards by means of a slender
tube, the vas deferens, and there are always two such tubes, even
when the two testes are placed in one capsule. The vasa deferentia
differ greatly in their length in different Insects, and are in some
cases many times the length of the body; they open into a common
duct, the ductus ejaculatorius. Usually at some part of the vas
deferens there exists a reservoir in the form of a sac or dilatation,
called the vesicula seminalis. There are in the male, as well as in the
female, frequently diverticula, or glands, in connexion with the sexual
passages; these sometimes exhibit very remarkable forms, as in the
common cockroach, but their functions are quite obscure. There is,
as we have already remarked, extreme variety in the details of the
structure of the internal reproductive apparatus in the male, and
there are a few cases in which the vasa deferentia do not unite
behind, but terminate in a pair of separate orifices. The genus
Machilis is as remarkable in the form of the sexual glands and ducts
of the male as we have already mentioned it to be in the
corresponding parts of the female.
Fig. 76.—Tenthredo cincta. a, a, testes; b, b, vasa deferentia; c, c,

vesiculæ seminales; d, extremity of body with copulatory
armature. (After Dufour.)
Although the internal sexual organs are only fully developed in the
imago or terminal stage of the individual life, yet in reality their
rudiments appear very early, and may be detected from the embryo
state onwards through the other preparatory stages.
The spermatozoa of a considerable number of Insects, especially of

Coleoptera, have been examined by Ballowitz;[65] they exhibit great
variety; usually they are of extremely elongate form, thread-like, with
curious sagittate or simply pointed heads, and are of a fibrillar
structure, breaking up at various parts into finer threads.
External Sexual Organs.—The terminal segments of the body are

usually very highly modified in connexion with the external sexual
organs, and this modification occurs in such a great variety of forms
as to render it impossible to give any general account thereof, or of
the organs themselves. Some of these segments—or parts of the
segments, for it may be dorsal plates or ventral plates, or both—may
be withdrawn into the interior, and changed in shape, or may be
doubled over, so that the true termination of the body may be
concealed. The comparative anatomy of all these parts is especially
complex in the males, and has been as yet but little elucidated, and
as the various terms made use of by descriptive entomologists are of
an unsatisfactory nature we may be excused from enumerating
them. We may, however, mention that when a terminal chamber is
found, with which both the alimentary canal and the sexual organs
are connected, it is called a cloaca, as in other animals.
Parthenogenesis.
There are undoubted cases in Insects of the occurrence of

parthenogenesis, that is, the production of young by a female without
concurrence of a male. This phenomenon is usually limited to a
small number of generations, as in the case of the Aphididae, or
even to a single generation, as occurs in the alternation of
generations of many Cynipidae, a parthenogenetic alternating with a
sexual generation. There are, however, a few species of Insects of
which no male is known (in Tenthredinidae, Cynipidae, Coccidae),
and these must be looked on as perpetually parthenogenetic. It is a
curious fact that the result of parthenogenesis in some species is the
production of only one sex, which in some Insects is female, in
others male; the phenomenon in the former case is called by
Taschenberg[66] Thelyotoky, in the latter case Arrhenotoky;
Deuterotoky being applied to the cases in which two sexes are
produced. In some forms of parthenogenesis the young are
produced alive instead of in the form of eggs. A very rare kind of
parthenogenesis, called paedogenesis, has been found to exist in
two or three species of Diptera, young being produced by the
immature Insect, either larva or pupa.
Glands.
Insects are provided with a variety of glands, some of which we have

alluded to in describing the alimentary canal and the organs of sex;
but in addition to these there are others in connexion with the outer
integument; they may be either single cells, as described by Miall in
Dicranota larva,[67] or groups of cells, isolated in tubes, or pouches.
The minute structure of Insect glands has been to some extent
described by Leydig;[68] they appear to be essentially of a simple
nature, but their special functions are very problematic, it being
difficult to obtain sufficient of their products for satisfactory
examination.
CHAPTER V
DEVELOPMENT
EMBRYOLOGY–EGGS–MICROPYLES–FORMATION OF EMBRYO–VENTRAL
PLATE–ECTODERM AND ENDODERM–SEGMENTATION–LATER STAGES–
DIRECT OBSERVATION OF EMBRYO–METAMORPHOSIS–COMPLETE AND
INCOMPLETE–INSTAR–HYPERMETAMORPHOSIS–METAMORPHOSIS OF
INTERNAL ORGANS–INTEGUMENT–METAMORPHOSIS OF BLOWFLY–
HISTOLYSIS–IMAGINAL DISCS–PHYSIOLOGY OF METAMORPHOSIS–
ECDYSIS.
The processes for the maintenance of the life of the individual are in
Insects of less proportional importance in comparison with those for
the maintenance of the species than they are in Vertebrates. The
generations of Insects are numerous, and the individuals produced
in each generation are still more profuse. The individuals have as a
rule only a short life; several successive generations may indeed
make their appearances and disappear in the course of a single
year.
Although eggs are laid by the great majority of Insects, a few species
nevertheless increase their numbers by the production of living
young, in a shape more or less closely similar to that of the parent.
This is well known to take place in the Aphididae or green-fly Insects,
whose rapid increase in numbers is such a plague to the farmer and
gardener. These and some other cases are, however, exceptional,
and only emphasise the fact that Insects are pre-eminently
oviparous. Leydig, indeed, has found in the same Aphis, and even in
the same ovary, an egg-tube producing eggs while a neighbouring
tube is producing viviparous individuals.[69] In the Diptera pupipara
the young are produced one at a time, and are born in the pupal
stage of their development, the earlier larval state being undergone
in the body of the parent: thus a single large egg is laid, which is
really a pupa.
The eggs are usually of rather large size in comparison with the
parent, and are produced in numbers varying according to the
species from a few—15 or even less in some fossorial Hymenoptera
—to many thousands in the social Insects: somewhere between 50
and 100 may perhaps be taken as an average number for one
female to produce. The whole number is frequently deposited with
rapidity, and the parent then dies at once. Some of the migratory
locusts are known to deposit batches of eggs after considerable
intervals of time and change of locality. The social Insects present
extraordinary anomalies as to the production of the eggs and the
prolongation of the life of the female parent, who is in such cases
called a queen.
The living matter contained in the egg of an Insect is protected by

three external coats: (1) a delicate interior oolemm; (2) a stronger,
usually shell-like, covering called the chorion; (3) a layer of material
added to the exterior of the egg from glands, at or near the time
when it is deposited, and of very various character, sometimes
forming a coat on each egg and sometimes a common covering or
capsule for a number of eggs. The egg-shell proper, or chorion, is
frequently covered in whole or part with a complex minute sculpture,
of a symmetrical character, and in some cases this is very highly
developed, forming an ornamentation of much delicacy; hence some
Insects' eggs are objects of admirable appearance, though the
microscope is of course necessary to reveal their charms. One of the
families of butterflies, the Lycaenidae, is remarkable for the complex
forms displayed by the ornamentation of the chorion (see Fig. 78, B).
Fig. 77.—Upper or micropylar aspect of egg of Vanessa cardui. (After

Scudder.)
The egg-shell at one pole of the egg is perforated by one or more

minute orifices for the admission to the interior of the spermatozoon,
and it is the rule that the shell hereabouts is symmetrically sculptured
(see Fig. 77), even when it is unornamented elsewhere: the
apertures in question are called micropyles. They are sometimes
protected by a micropyle apparatus, consisting of raised processes,
or porches: these are developed to an extraordinary extent in some
eggs, especially in those of Hemiptera-Heteroptera (see Fig. 78, C).
Some of these peculiar structures have been described and figured
by Leuckart.[70] The purpose they serve is quite obscure.
Fig. 78.—Eggs of Insects: A, blowfly (after Henking); B, butterfly,

Thecla (after Scudder); C, Hemipteron (Reduviid).
Formation of Embryo.
The mature, but unfertilised, egg is filled with matter that should
ultimately become the future individual, and in the process of
attaining this end is the seat of a most remarkable series of changes,
which in some Insects are passed through with extreme rapidity. The
egg-contents consist of a comparatively structureless matrix of a
protoplasmic nature and of yolk, both of which are distributed
throughout the egg in an approximately even manner. The yolk,
however, is by no means of a simple nature, but consists, even in a
single egg, of two or three kinds of spherular or granular
constituents; and these vary much in their appearance and
arrangement in the early stages of the development of an egg, the
yolk of the same egg being either of a homogeneously granular
nature, or consisting of granules and larger masses, as well as of
particles of fatty matter; these latter when seen through the
microscope looking sometimes like shining, nearly colourless,
globules.
Fig. 79.—Showing the two extruded polar bodies P1, P2 now nearly
fused and reincluded, and the formation of the spindle by junction
of the male and female pronuclei. (After Henking.)
The nature of the matrix—which term we may apply to both the

protoplasm and yolk as distinguished from the minute formative
portions of the egg—and the changes that take place in it have been
to some extent studied, and Kowalewsky, Dohrn,[71] Woodworth,[72]
and others have given some particulars about them. The early
changes in the formative parts of the mature egg have been
observed by Henking in several Insects, and particularly in
Pyrrhocoris, his observations being of considerable interest. When
the egg is in the ovary and before it is quite mature,—at the time, in
fact, when it is receiving nutriment from ovarian cells,—it contains a
germinal vesicle including a germinal spot, but when the egg is
mature the germinal vesicle has disappeared, and there exists in its
place at one portion of the periphery of the egg-contents a cluster of
minute bodies called chromosomes by Henking, whom we shall
follow in briefly describing their changes. The group divides into two,
each of which is arranged in a rod or spindle-like manner, and may
then be called a directive rod or spindle. The outer of these two
groups travels quite to the periphery of the egg, and there with some
adjacent matter is extruded quite outside the egg-contents (not
outside the egg-coverings), being in its augmented form called a
polar or directive body. While this is going on the second directive
spindle itself divides into two groups, the outer of which is then
extruded in the manner we have already described in the case of the
first polar body, thus completing the extrusion of two directive bodies.
The essential parts of the bodies that are successively formed during
these processes are the aggregates, called chromosomes; the
number of these chromosomes appears to be constant in each
species; their movements and dispositions are of a very interesting
character, the systems they form in the course of their development
having polar and equatorial arrangements. These we cannot further
allude to, but may mention that the extrusion of the directive bodies
is only temporary, they being again included within the periphery of
the egg by the growth and extension of adjacent parts which meet
over and thus enclose the bodies.
The arrangements and movements we have briefly alluded to have

been limited to the unfertilised condition of the egg (we should rather
say, the fertilising element has taken no part in them), and have as
their result the union of the chromosomes existing after the extrusion
of the two polar bodies, into a small body called the female
pronucleus or egg-nucleus (Eikern), while the position of the
movements has been an extremely minute portion of the egg near to
its outer surface or periphery. The introduction of a sperm, or male,
element to the egg through the micropyle gives rise to the formation
of another minute body placed more in the interior of the egg, and
called the sperm-nucleus. The egg-nucleus, travelling more into the
interior of the egg, meets the sperm-nucleus; the two amalgamate,
forming a nucleus or body that goes through a series of changes
resulting in its division into two daughter-bodies. These two again
divide, and by repetitions of such division a large number of nuclei
are formed which become arranged in a continuous manner so as to
form an envelope enclosing a considerable part (if not quite the
whole) of the egg-mass. This envelope is called the blastoderm, and
together with its contents will form the embryo. We must merely
allude to the fact that it has been considered that some of the nuclei
forming the blastoderm arise directly from the egg-mass by a
process of amalgamation, and if this prove to be correct it may be
admitted that some portions of the embryo are not entirely the result
of division or segmentation of combined germ and sperm-nuclei.
Wheeler states[73] that some of the nuclei formed by the first
differentiation go to form the vitellophags scattered throughout the
yolk. We should also remark that, according to Henking, the
blastoderm when completed shows at one part a thickening,
immediately under which (i.e. included in the area the blastoderm
encloses) are the two polar bodies, which, as we have seen, were
formed by the germinating body at an earlier stage of its activity. Fig.
79 represents a stage in the development of Pyrrhocoris, showing
the interior of the egg after a body has been formed by the union of
the sperm and egg-nuclei; this body is about to undergo division or
segmentation, and the equatorial arrangement where this will take
place is seen. The two polar bodies P1, P2, after having been
excluded, are nearly reincluded in the egg.
The Ventral Plate.
The next important change after the formation of the blastoderm is

the partial detachment of a part of its periphery to become placed in
the interior of the other and larger portion. The way in which this
takes place will be gathered from the accompanying diagrammatic
figures taken from Graber: a thickened portion (a b) of the
blastoderm becomes indrawn so as to leave a fold (c d) at each point
of its withdrawal, and these folds afterwards grow and meet so as to
enclose the thickened portion. The outer envelope, formed in part by
the original blastoderm and in part by the new growth, is called the
serosa (e f), the inner layer (g) of the conjoined new folds being
termed the amnion: the part withdrawn to the interior and covered by
the serosa and amnion is called the ventral plate, or germinal band
(Keimstreif), and becomes developed into the future animal. The
details of the withdrawal of the ventral plate to the interior are very
different in the various Insects that have been investigated.
Fig. 80.—Stages of the enclosure of the ventral plate: A, a, b, ventral plate;
B, c, d, folds of the blastoderm that form the commencement of the
amnion and serosa; C, e, f, part of the serosa; g, amnion.
One of the earliest stages in the development is a differentiation of a

portion of the ventral plate into layers from which the future parts of the
organisation will be derived. This separation of endoderm from ectoderm
takes place by a sort of invagination, analogous with that by which the
ventral plate itself is formed. A longitudinal depression running along the
middle of the ventral plate appears, and forms a groove or channel, which
becomes obliterated as to its outer face by the meeting together of the
two margins of the groove (except on the anterior part, which remains
open). The more internal layer of the periphery of this closed canal is the
origin of the endoderm and its derivatives. Subsequently the ventral plate
and its derivatives grow so as to form the ventral part and the internal
organs of the Insect, the dorsal part being completed much later by
growths that differ much in different Insects; Graber, who has specially
investigated this matter, informing us[74] that an astonishing
multifariousness is displayed. It would appear that the various modes of
this development do not coincide with the divisions into Orders and
Families adopted by any systematists.
We should observe that the terms ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm

will probably be no longer applied to the layers of the embryo when
embryologists shall have decided as to the nature of the derived layers,
and shall have agreed as to names for them. According to the
nomenclature of Graber[75] the blastoderm differentiates into Ectoblast
and Endoblast; this latter undergoing a further differentiation into
Coeloblast and Myoblast. This talented embryologist gives the following
table of the relations of the embryonic layers and their nomenclature, the
first term of each group being the one he proposed to use:—
Nussbaum considers[76] that "there are four layers in the cockroach-
embryo, viz. (1) epiblast, from which the integument and nervous system
are developed; (2) somatic layer of mesoblast, mainly converted into the
muscles of the body-wall; (3) splanchnic layer of mesoblast, yielding the
muscular coat of the alimentary canal; and (4) hypoblast, yielding the
epithelium of the mesenteron."
Fig. 81.—Early stages of the segmentation of a beetle (Lina): A,

segmentation not visible, 1 day; B, segmentation of head visible; C,
segmentation still more advanced, 2¼ days; PC, procephalic lobes; g1,
g2, g3, segments bearing appendages of the head; th, thorax; th1, th2,
th3, segments of the thorax; a1, a2, anterior abdominal.
Turning our attention to the origin of the segmentation, that is so marked

a feature of Insect structure, we find that evidence of division or
arrangement of the body into segments appears very early, as shown in
our Figure of some of the early stages of development of Lina (a beetle),
Fig. 81. In A the segmentation of the ectoderm has not commenced, but
the procephalic lobes (P C) are seen; in B the three head segments are
distinct, while in C the thoracic segmentation has occurred, and that of
the abdomen has commenced. Graber considers that in this species the
abdomen consists of ten segmental lobes, and a terminal piece or telson.
According to Graber[77] this is not a primitive condition, but is preceded by
a division into three or four parts, corresponding with the divisions that will
afterwards be head, thorax, and abdomen. This primary segmentation, he
says, takes place in the Hypoblast (Endoderm) layer of the ventral plate;
this layer being, in an early stage of the development of a common
grasshopper (Stenobothrus variabilis), divided into four sections, two of
which go to form the head, while the others become thorax and abdomen
respectively. In Lina the primary segmentation is, Graber says, into three
instead of four parts. Graber's opinion on the primary segmentation does
not appear to be generally accepted, and Wheeler, who has studied[78]
the embryology of another Orthopteron, considers it will prove to be
incorrect. When the secondary segmentation occurs the anterior of the
two cephalic divisions remains intact, while the second divides into the
three parts that afterwards bear the mouth parts as appendages. The
thoracic mass subsequently segments into three parts, and still later the
hind part of the ventral plate undergoes a similar differentiation so as to
form the abdominal segments; what the exact number of these may be is,
however, by no means easy to decide, the division being but vague,
especially posteriorly, and not occurring all at once, but progressing from
before backwards.
The investigations that have been made in reference to the segmentation

of the ventral plate do not at present justify us in asserting that all Insects
are formed from the same number of embryonic segments. The matter is
summarised by Lowne, to the effect that posterior to the procephalic lobes
there are three head segments and three thoracic segments, and a
number of abdominal segments, "rarely less than nine or more than
eleven." It will be seen by referring to Figure 81 that the segmentation
appears, not simultaneously, but progressively from the head backwards;
this of course greatly increases the difficulty of determining by means of a
section the real number of segments.
Fig. 82.—Embryo of a moth (Zygaena) at the fifth day (after Graber): am,
amnion; s, serosa; p, procephalic lobes; st, stomodaeum; pr,
proctodaeum; g1, g2, g3, the mouth parts or head appendages; th1, th2,
th3, appendages of the thoracic segments; a1-a10, abdominal
segments; s.g, salivary gland.
The later stages in the development of Insects are already proved to be

so various that it would be impossible to attempt to follow them in detail;
but in Fig. 82 we represent a median section of the embryo of Zygaena
filipendula at the fifth day. It shows well some of the more important of the
general features of the development at a stage subsequent to those
represented in Fig. 81, A, B, C. The very distinct stomodaeum (st) and
proctodaeum (pr) are seen as inflexions of the external wall of the body;
the segmentation and the development of the ventral parts of the embryo
are well advanced, while the dorsal part of the embryo is still quite
incomplete.
The method of investigation by which embryologists chiefly carry on their

researches is that of dividing the egg after proper preparation, into a large
number of thin sections, which are afterwards examined in detail, so as to
allow the arrangement to be completely inferred and described. Valuable
as this method is, it is nevertheless clear that it should, if possible, be
supplemented by direct observation of the processes as they take place
in the living egg: this method was formerly used, and by its aid we may
still hope to obtain exact knowledge as to the arrangements and
rearrangements of particles by which the structures develop. Such
questions as whether the whole formative power in the egg is absolutely
confined to one or two small centres to which the whole of the other egg
contents are merely, as it were, passive accessories, or whether an egg is
a combination in which some portion of the powers of rearrangement is
possessed by other particles, as well as the chromosomes, in virtue of
their own nature or of their position at an early period in the whole, can
scarcely be settled without the aid of direct observation of the processes
during life.
The importance of the yolk is recognised by most of the recent writers.

Nussbaum states (loc. cit.) that "scattered yolk-cells associate themselves
with the mesoblast cells, so that the constituents of the mesoblast have a
twofold origin." Wheeler finds[79] that amoeboid cells—he styles them

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Jesus As the Way to the Father in

The John Also Called Mark: Reception and Transformation

John 4:1-42 Among the Biblical Well Encounters:

The Testament of Lazarus: The Pre-Christian Gospel of

Paroimia and Parr■sia in the Gospel of John: A

The Gnostic John the Baptizer; selections from the

The role of context in SME internationalization – A

Origen's References to Heracleon: A Quotation-

Interpreting the Gospel of John in Antioch and

Jesus as the Way to the Father

ISBN 978-3-16-161925-0 / eISBN 978-3-16-161926-7

© 2023 Mohr Siebeck Tübingen, Germany. www.mohrsiebeck.com

encouragement. I extend sincere thanks to my Old Testament professors of

Sajan George (Paul) Perepparambil OCD

Acknowledgements .................................................................................... VII

General Introduction ................................................................... 1

Part One: A Study of Way Motif

Chapter I: Way Motif in Greek-Jewish Literature ......................33

1. “Way” in Classical Greek Literature ....................................................... 33

2. “Way” in the Hebrew Bible ......................................................................40

2.2.4 OKQ ............................................................................................. 66

3. “Way” in the Septuagint ........................................................................... 72

4. “Way” in the Dead Sea Scrolls................................................................. 80

5. “Way” in the Works of Philo and Josephus ..............................................85

6. “Way” in the New Testament ...................................................................88

7. Journey Motif in the Gospel of John ......................................................... 94

7.1.1 Cosmic Journey ......................................................................... 95

8. Contribution to the Study of Way in John 14,6........................................115

Part Two: A Study of John 14,6 in Its Context

Chapter II: John 14,6 in Its Literary Context............................ 123

1. Preliminary Observations ....................................................................... 123

2. Analysis of the Near and Immediate Context (John 13–14)..................... 138

2.2.4 Translation ............................................................................... 155

1. Vocabulary in v. 6b ................................................................................ 186

2. Relation between v. 6a and v. 6b ............................................................ 187

3. Relation between v. 6 and v. 7 ................................................................ 189

4. Thrust of John 14,4–7 ............................................................................. 190

5. John 14,6 as an GXIYGKXOK-Saying ............................................................ 192

Chapter IV: Possible Background of John 14,6

1. Introductory Views ................................................................................. 194

2. Background of “Way” (14,4–6) and Its Context (14,2–3) .......................197

4. Background of John 14,6b ...................................................................... 209

Chapter V: Important Motifs of John 14,6

1. “Truth” (CXNJSGKC) in the Gospel of John ................................................ 226

2. “Life” (\YJ) in the Gospel of John ......................................................... 237

2.10 Resurrection and Life (11,25) ......................................................... 250

3. Relation of Way with Truth and Life .......................................................255

4. “Father” in the Gospel of John .............................................................. 260

Chapter VI: John 14,6 in the Context of “I Am”-Sayings ........ 293

1. Introductory Remarks ............................................................................. 293

3. Possible Sources and Background ofGXIYGKXOK-Sayings ......................... 296

4. 8(IYGKXOK without Images ....................................................................... 304

5. 8(IYGKXOK with Images ............................................................................ 314

6. John 14,6 in Relation to other GXIY GKXOK-Sayings ..................................... 340

6.2.2 Significance of Soteriology ...................................................... 342

Chapter VII: John 14,6 in Its Historical Context ...................... 352

1. Is Exclusivism of John 14,6 Caused by Expulsion from the Synagogue? . 352

2. Is John 14,6 an Anti-Judaistic and a Sectarian View? ............................357

5. John 14,6 as an GXIYGKXOK-Saying ............................................................ 192

1. “Truth” (CXNJSGKC) in the Gospel of John ................................................ 226

2. “Life” (\YJ) in the Gospel of John ......................................................... 237

3. Possible Sources and Background ofGXIYGKXOK-Sayings ......................... 296

4. 8(IYGKXOK without Images ....................................................................... 304

5. 8(IYGKXOK with Images ............................................................................ 314

6. John 14,6 in Relation to other GXIY GKXOK-Sayings ..................................... 340