Since the blossoming of the linguistic theories in the Johannine scholarship, interest in the figurative language of John‘s Gospel has increased. In this study on John 20:22, the statement ―Jesus breathed on them‖, that is, on his disciples, is addressed as a metaphor evoking the theme of creation. It is argued that this metaphor is essential in the understanding of the ideo-theological framework of the author of the Fourth Gospel. It plays a key function in the network of Johannine metaphors. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.