Testament studies., 56 (4). pp. 513-535. Further information on publisher's website:
Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-pro t purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. Far from being the banality suggested by commentators, John's use of the vocabulary of 'goodness' for Jesus (ἀγαθός and καλός) is christologically significant.It points to Jesus' unity with God. The Johannine treatment of Jesus' 'goodness' and interpretation of the Shema contrasts with and complements the Synoptic treatment of these themes in the rich man pericope (Mark .- parr.).Keywords: John's gospel, monotheism, goodness, rich man, Shema, Christology, commandmentsIt is the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, a bustling festival where the Jews are gathered to dwell in booths for eight days, remembering God's gift of shelter in the wilderness (Lev .), and looking forward to his eschatological manifestation of his kingship on all the earth (Zech ). Before Jesus' appearance on the scene, the crowds are already muttering about him: οἱ μϵν ϵ ῎λϵγον ὅτι ἀγαθός ϵ̓ στιν, ἄλλοι [δϵ̀] ϵ ῎λϵγον ׁ οὔ, ἀλλὰ πλανᾷ τὸν ὄχλον ('Some people were saying, "He is good"; others were saying, "No, he is leading the people διὰ τοῦτο οὖν μᾶλλον ϵ̓ ζήτουν αὐτὸν οἱ ᾽Iουδαῖοι ἀποκτϵῖναι, ὅτι οὐ μόνον ϵ ῎λυϵν τὸ σάββατον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πατϵρα ἴδιον ϵ ῎λϵγϵν τὸν θϵὸν ἴσον ϵ̔ αυτὸν ποιῶν τῷ θϵῷ.The Jews started seeking to kill him, because he was not only breaking the Sabbath, but also saying that God was his own father, making himself as great as God. (John .) John . then verbally repeats the first part of this verse, ϵ̓ ζήτουν αὐτὸν οἱ ᾽Iουδαῖοι ἀποκτϵῖναι ('the Jews were seeking to kill him'). The repetition raises expectations of a claim about Jesus that will be of the magnitude of John .-that he was 'making himself as great as God' and thus, from a hostile perspective, challenging monotheism. It is in the light of this, Martyn argues, that John . seems rather bland. However, like Schnackenburg and Barrett, Martyn does find that on closer inspection 'He is leading the people astray' is more significant than at first appears. The language of 'leading astray' can be traced through later accounts of the legal basis for Jesus' death (Just. Mart. Dial. , ; Sanh. a), to show that at least by the second century Jews were claiming that Jesus was put to death as one who tried to 'lead [Israel] astray', like the prophet or dreamer mentioned in Deut .-: there the same verb (πλανᾶν) is used for one who urges people to 'go worship other gods, gods we have not known' (Deut .-). That pas...