The Function of Narrative Comments in the Gospel of John: A Literary and Linguistic Analysis(Interpreting Johannine Literature)

Scholars have long noted that comments by the author or editor, often referred to as “narrative asides” or “parentheses,” are frequent in the Fourth Gospel. The Function of Narrative Comments in the Gospel of John:A Literary and Linguistic Analysis is a comprehensive guide to this significant feature. In the vein of Gilbert Van Belle’s Les Parenthèses dans L’Évangile de Jean (1985), Lamb provides a detailed analysis of the terminology, definition, and categorization of these comments, and interacts extensively with existing scholarship. He looks at the role of the comments in the Gospel’s composition, assesses their function using insights from literary theory, dramatic theory, and sociolinguistics, and makes comparisons with OT historical writings, the Synoptic Gospels, and the works of Herodotus and Thucydides. He concludes that the narrative comments are an integral part of the text, which reflect the authority of the author, and that they have significant implications for our exegesis of the Gospel.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Chapter 1: Survey Of Literature Chapter 2: Terminology, Definitions, and Categorization Chapter 3: An Annotated List of Narrative Comments in the Gospel of John Chapter 4: The Process of Composition Chapter 5: Whose Comments: The Narrator’s or the Author’s? Chapter 6: Towards a Comparative Study Conclusions: The Function of Narrative Comments in the Gospel of John

About the Author :
David A. Lamb is an honorary research fellow in Biblical Studies at the University of Manchester, UK, and a former visiting scholar in Linguistics at Bangor University, UK.

Review :
David Lamb brings his considerable literary and linguistic skills to this thorough re-examination of the narrative “asides” or comments in John’s Gospel. Asking fresh questions and challenging previous assumptions about their number, nature and functions, Lamb’s up to date, clear, careful and comprehensive study makes a convincing case that they are integral to the narrative rather than some secondary feature. All readers intrigued by this aspect of the Gospel will find Lamb’s work an indispensable aid in their thinking about its significance. At the close of his introduction, the author modestly states that he hopes to have added to others’ work and provided a “useful overview” of this area of study. This is modest indeed in the light of the range of the literature consulted, including in the field of linguistics, together with the clarity and insight with which each argument is assessed and relevant texts are drawn in and analysed. In sum, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in the fascinating topic of how John wrote his Gospel and also in its broader implications for New Testament study. For decades there has been no new monograph on the narrative comments in John, perhaps because they were assumed to be insignificant, perhaps because there was no clear path forward. David Lamb has waded into these murky waters, systematically questioned longstanding assumptions, proposed clear distinctions and definitions, and studied the comments in the other gospels, historical writings in the Hebrew Scriptures and a sample of Greco-Roman literature, then analyzed how the various types of comments function in John. In the process, this volume sets a new milestone in Johannine scholarship, and the comments emerge as a vital element in the rhetoric of the Gospel. The Fourth Gospel's narrative is interspersed with comments, short and long, including translations, observations about Jesus's knowledge, scriptural citations, and assessments of the story. Described in various ways, e.g., as "parentheses," "asides," and "footnotes," they have been diversely assessed, as editorial remarks, secondary intrusions, observations of a usually trusted narrator. What counts as part of the collection is itself debated. David Lamb deftly sifts through the gospel's evidence and an array of relevant scholarship that uses modern literary theory. With a selective review of similar comments, he offers his own judicious framework for classifying and analyzing these comments, finding in them primarily the voice of an author who guides readers/hearers through the story with care. Anyone interested in Johannine literary dynamics will find Lamb's work a valuable resource. David Lamb brings his characteristic thoroughness and precision of language to bear on a long-debated feature of John’s Gospel: the so-called “asides” or “interruptions.” Rather than comments to dismiss or redactional seams to explore, Lamb encourages us to recognize their essential function as integral to not just what John’s story is but also how that story is told.