In this thesis we will explore the question of Jesus' revelation as a central motif of the Johannine Christology from the perspectives of literary criticism, Jewish apocalypticism and Graeco-Roman dramatic literature. In particular, we will attempt to solve the riddle of the visions developed in John 12.20-36, by answering the fragmentary theory of the text, the claim for the divergent christologies, the question of realised eschatology with or without future eschatology, and the claim that the Johannine community its symbolic world creates is 'sectarian'. A special attention will be paid to the Son of man as presented in the pericope under discussion as well as in the Fourth Gospel as a whole. The thesis will be summarised as follows: 1. Over against the fragment theory, the concentric arrangement of Jesus' saying formed predominantly in parallelism shows a deliberate literary design of the author. Set at the end of the earthly ministry of Jesus, John 12.20-36 is a culminating point of the revelatory process of Jesus. 2. The overall conceptual framework to understand John 12.20-36, and thus the Fourth Gospel as a whole, is the apocalyptic idea of the divine mysteries concerning the .end time. The revelation is centred on Jesus the Son of man, identified as the human-like figure of Dan 7, which culminates in his cross as his glorification/lifting-up. The vision of the revealed mysteries in Jesus on the cross embraces the eschatological Messiah, the restoration of Israel and of the Temple, salvation, the vindication of the righteous and the condemnation of the evil, and the Gentiles' pilgrimage, which is comparable to contemporary Jewish apocalyptic writings. 3. The cross of Jesus as the focus of the apocalyptic vision of the end time lies behind the apparently divergent christologies (the Son of man, the Davidic Messiah, divine Wisdom), which are integrated in the text in such a manner that it is impossible for each to be understood in isolation. The combination of these is already found in the Jewish apocalyptic-eschatological hope. The fact that the lifting-up and glorification of the Son of man is given precedence to the Davidic Kingly Messiah deprives a political and military aspect of the popular Jewish expectation. 4. At the same time, the revelatory pattern of the Johannine Jesus is not only explicable in Jewish apocalyptic terms, but it has to be understand in view of the anagnorisis, a popular Graeco-Roman dramatic convention. Within the main plot of the Fourth Gospel Jesus is depicted as the divine homecoming hero-king, as in Homer's Odyssey, whose messianic identity is closed to many and disclosed to those who receive him with faith (and hospitality). This pattern is relevant for most of the Johannine Son of man sayings as well. In this plot development John 12.20-36 is situated in a climactic place where the Jewish crowd fails to recognise Jesus who points to the decisive moment of his revelation on the cross. 5. The Johannine Eschatology is Jesus centred, and its realised aspect is strongly emphasised, because the eschatological terminology is overwhelmingly applied to him. Thus Jesus on the cross is the embodiment of the eschaton. At the same time, the post-Easter period, the time of the church, is open toward its future culmination because of the mission perspective. 6. The revelation of Jesus as the core of the divine mysteries concerning the end-time centres on the cross, which is presented as both the judgement and the salvation of the world. The Johannine understanding of the cross is expressed within the framework of the vindication/exaltation of the suffering righteous. It is implied that Jesus' death and resurrection inaugurates the new, eschatological covenant for the new people of God embracing both Jews and Gentiles. 7. John 12.20-36 envisages an apocalyptic vision of the end-time judgement and salvation, in which the new covenant people is created as a new people of God. The basis of the new 'children of the Light' is no longer the Law as in the old covenant but the faith in Jesus the Light (and to love each other as a new law). This faith is not individualistic but geared towards community building, which includes the believers from the Gentiles. The community itself is the result of the cross of Jesus. The purpose of Jesus' death for 'bearing much fruit' and gathering of 'all' (nations) to his own house is to be accomplished in the community through its mission to the world, despite the probable persecutions.

This thesis is an assessment of the character of textual transmission reflected in the pre-fourth century Greek manuscripts of the Gospel of John. Since John is the most attested New Testament book among the early papyri, has the highest number of papyri that share overlapping text, and is the best attested Christian text in the second century, it serves well as a case study into the level of fluidity and stability of the New Testament text in its earliest period of transmission. The transmission of New Testament writings in this period has been characterized by a number of scholars as error-prone, free, wild and chaotic. This thesis is an inquiry into the validity of this characterization. I contend that our earliest extant manuscripts should serve as the most relevant evidence for addressing this issue, both for the period in which they were copied and for inferences about the preceding period for which we lack manuscript evidence. My treatment of the earliest Greek manuscripts of John primarily involves a fresh and full assessment of the level of fluidity and stability exhibited in the 14 smaller fragments (P5, P22, P28, P39, P52, P90, P95, P106, P107, P108, P109, P119, P121, 0162) by identifying on the basis of internal evidence the character of variants and unique readings attested. Additionally, I compare the number, character and significance of the singular/sub-singular readings of each early fragmentary manuscript with those in the same portion of text in the major majuscule manuscripts up through the seventh century that share complete overlap. The unique readings of P66 and P75 are added to this comparison where they fully overlap with the smaller fragments. Since P45 and P66 have been particularly identified with a “free” manner of transmission, I include an extended discussion in my introductory section in which I engage with research on the character of transmission exhibited in these two witnesses. My analysis of these early manuscripts based on the internal evidence of readings allows for a more in-depth and accurate characterization of the freedom and/or care exhibited. The comparison of singular and sub-singular readings with those of the later majuscules facilitates a diachronic comparison of the number and nature of readings most likely to have been generated at the time in which each respective manuscript was transcribed. This latter step allows us to test, by way of these passages, whether or not the manuscript tradition can be fairly characterized as freer and more prone to corruption in the second and third centuries than in subsequent centuries. From these data, and in conjunction with observations made on any relevant physical features of the manuscripts themselves, I conclude that the copying of John during the second and third centuries was characterized largely by stability and by continuity with the later period. These conclusions serve the broader purpose of providing a window on the character of New Testament textual transmission in the earliest centuries.

This work is a textual study of the Gospel of John as it is preserved in the catena compiled by Nicetas of Heraclea. In part 1, a stemma is drawn up based on an examination of full transcriptions of all known witnesses: Gregory-Aland 249 317 333 423 430 743 869. Though some scholars have stated that G-A 841 886 1178 2188 contain the catena as well, closer examination shows they contain other works. The manuscripts of Nicetas are related as follows: 1) 249 333 423 are descendants of a common ancestor, β; 2) 333 was the exemplar for 423; 3) 317 869 are descended from a common ancestor, γ; 4) 430 is an independent witness with an idiosyncratic text; 5) 743 has a high degree of majority text contamination and an unclear relationship with the other witnesses. The second part of the study consists of a reconstruction of Nicetas’s text of John with a full apparatus.

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