Le Paraclet dans le corpus johannique

The series Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft (BZNW) is one of the oldest and most highly regarded international scholarly book series in the field of New Testament studies. Since 1923 it has been a forum for seminal works focusing on Early Christianity and related fields. The series is grounded in a historical-critical approach and also explores new methodological approaches that advance our understanding of the New Testament and its world.

The Greek term paraklêtos ("paraclete") appears four times in the Gospel of John (Jn 14, 16.26; 15, 26; 16, 7) and once in the First Epistle (1 Jn 2, 1). In the Gospel, its meaning is enigmatic. After a status quaestionis, a detailed analysis of paraklêtos in ancient literature reveals two different degrees of lexicalization: a) an embryonic stage conveying the idea of movement associated with a mandate, to be found in the Gospel (common usage in the Greek language); b) the meaning of "intercesseur", associated with a stereotyped triangular semantic structure, to be found in the Epistle (Jewish tradition). This term demands a moral qualification, supplied by the adjective "righteous" in 1 Jn and by the title "the Spirit of truth" in Jn; an evolution from the Epistle to the Gospel has taken place. The latter uses a term with a minimal semantic value to include it in the mission theme, by means of a recurrent prepositional strategy linked to the preverb para.

Auteur

David Pastorelli, Marc Bloch University, Strasbourg, France.

Texte du rabat
The Greek term paraklêtos ( paraclete ) appears four times in the Gospel of John (Jn 14, 16.26; 15, 26; 16, 7) and once in the First Epistle (1 Jn 2, 1). In the Gospel, its meaning is enigmatic. After a status quaestionis, a detailed analysis of paraklêtos in ancient literature reveals two different degrees of lexicalization: a) an embryonic stage conveying the idea of movement associated with a mandate, to be found in the Gospel (common usage in the Greek language); b) the meaning of intercesseur , associated with a stereotyped triangular semantic structure, to be found in the Epistle (Jewish tradition). This term demands a moral qualification, supplied by the adjective righteous in 1 Jn and by the title the Spirit of truth in Jn; an evolution from the Epistle to the Gospel has taken place. The latter uses a term with a minimal semantic value to include it in the mission theme, by means of a recurrent prepositional strategy linked to the preverb para.

Résumé

"This is a thorough and insightful study [...]"
Peter J. Williams in: Journal for the Study of the New Testament 30-5/2008

Contenu

1: État de la question. Problématique et thèse; 2: Le terme paraklêtos dans la littérature antique. Etude sémantique; 3: Jésus, Paraclet auprès du Père (1 Jn 2, 1-2); 4: Le Paraclet et le monde (Jn 16, 7.8-11); 5: Le Paraclet: l Esprit qui communique la vérité (Jn 16, 12-15); 6: Le témoignage du Paraclet et des disciples (Jn 15, 26-27); 7: Un autre Paraclet: l Esprit de vérité (Jn 14, 16-17); 8: Le Paraclet, l Esprit Saint, celui qui enseigne et fait rappel (Jn 14, 25-26); 9: Conclusion; Liste des abréviations; Bibliographie