The Good and Evil Serpent (95 page)

Syntax
. The syntax is attractive and impressive, as we have already seen. The simile is followed by a purpose clause, which signifies the necessary result of the comparison. The clause is a result clause: “in order that [
] all [
] who are believing [
] in him may have eternal life [
].”

Attribution
. John 3:14–15 is attributed to Jesus. As Johann Philipp Gabler stressed, we must “distinguish whether the Apostle [or Evangelist] is speaking his own words or those of others.”
¹⁰⁶
It is clear that the Evangelist wanted to stress that the interpretation of Numbers 21 was authoritative; it was not his own creation. It was divinely sanctioned. The Fourth Evangelist attributes the claim to the only One-from-above, Jesus. Jesus is informing “a ruler of the Jews” that the Son of Man must be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent.

Setting
. Verses 14 and 15 are placed at a crucial point in the narrative. Jesus has been conversing with Nicodemus and the two verses contain the closure of that pivotally significant dialogue;
¹⁰⁷
that is, it comes both as the climax of Jesus’ words to this Pharisee and at the close of the first revelatory discourse of Jesus—a pattern of thought that characterizes and distinguishes the Fourth Gospel. And 3:14–15 immediately precedes one of the most stunning passages in the New Testament, which bears repeating since it concludes the thought: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him would not perish but have eternal life” (3:16; KJV). It is in this narrative context that the Fourth Evangelist turned to Numbers 21 to explain that Jesus must be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent. A penetrating analysis of the Greek syntax helps clarify that serpent symbolism discloses the point that Jesus is the one who brings “eternal life” (3:14).

Poetry and
Parallelismus Membrorum
. As we have seen, the Greek (and the English) sentence employs the adverb as a conjunction to begin a sentence. “As” does not indicate only a comparison between the verb “lift up” or the noun “Son of Man.” The full sentence needs to be observed. By looking at the full sentence, we should ask if the Evangelist has emphasized a major Christological point by using a simile that compares the Son of Man with the serpent. To reverse the order of the clauses makes the point perhaps more apparent to those who have memorized the verse:

The Son of Man must be lifted up

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness.

Often lost or unobserved by New Testament critics is the poetic structure of John 3:14–15. The thought is structured harmoniously in parallel lines of thought so that each word is then echoed by a following word
(parallelismus membrorum).
¹⁰⁸
Because repetition (or echoing) of thought or sound is the heart of all poetry, so parallelism is the hallmark of poetry in biblical Hebrew and was observed and given a technical name by R. Lowth in 1753 and 1778.
¹⁰⁹
Only two psalms will be cited for clarification of the poetic attractiveness of
parallelismus membrorum
.

The first is from Psalm 145:13–14. Here is my translation:

Your kingdom is a kingdom for all eternity,
And your dominion is for all generations.

The Lord upholds all who fall,
And raises up all bowed down.

The thought in line
(stichos)
one reappears in the second line.
¹¹⁰
The fourfold repetition of “all,” often not represented in translations, helps to clarify the parallel thoughts. That is, each is a universalistic statement; it is good for all places, times, and persons.

The second passage is from Psalm 8:

[Ps 8:5(4)]

The poetry is crafted so that lines of thought are in parallel lines; the poetic form is synonymous parallelism
(parallelismus membrorum)
. The first two beats in each line are synonymous: the “man” in the first line is synonymous with “the son of man” in the second line. The two beats at the end of each line are also synonymous: God is “mindful” of the human and does “care” for him.

The Fourth Evangelist, as M. Hengel demonstrated,
¹¹¹
knew well the “Old Testament” and its literary forms. It is not a surprise, therefore, to find poetic forms appearing in the Fourth Gospel, especially in the words of Jesus. As D. N. Freedman has shown, poetry is central to the biblical message; prose and poetry can be, and must be, distinguished.
¹¹²
The Fourth Evangelist chose
parallelismus membrorum
to emphasize the divine words directed by Jesus to Nicodemus. The poetic form is synonymous. Note the poetic structure of John 3:14–15, following the Greek order:

The parallelism is so clear as to need no discussion. It is also synonymous. “And as Moses lifted up” is synonymously parallel to “so it is necessary to be lifted up.” Most important, “the serpent in the wilderness” is synonymously parallel to “the Son of Man.” The poetic structure of the passage is carefully structured to clarify the virtual identity of “the serpent” to “the Son of Man.”

The passage reflects careful thought and composition. Observe how the Evangelist has constructed his simile:

The two parallel columns raise the question of the appropriate parallel to “Moses.” The passive voice “be lifted up” in the Fourth Gospel needs no ruling noun to specify who is the one who has caused or allowed the lifting up, but the attentive reader is stimulated to ask: “Who is the actor?”

Could the passive verb “be lifted up” be a divine passive? When a passive voice is employed in the New Testament and the antecedent actor is not clear, the actor is often “God.” Thus, in Mark 16:6, “he has been raised”
¹¹³
means that God raised Jesus from the dead. God is the actor. That meaning was most likely a common theme of the early Christian preachers and prophets; it makes excellent sense here in the Fourth Gospel, if we take “he was lifted up” (
) to denote not only crucifixion but also, as its literal meaning indicates, “to be exalted.”
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God has exalted Jesus and raised him “above.” This exegesis rings harmoniously with the opening play on the double meaning of
anôthen
(
): “again” and “above,” since Jesus has informed the ruler of the Judeans,
¹¹⁵
Nicodemus, that he must be born “from above.” Nicodemus misunderstands; that is, one of the great teachers of the Judeans is one who is characterized by misunderstanding.
¹¹⁶
Nicodemus thinks Jesus means he must be born “again;” that is, to enter again into his mother’s womb. The use of one adverb, which signifies not only “again” but also “above,” makes sense within the context of John 3:12–15; note the structure of thought:
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