The Gospel of John and the
Mediterranean Diaspora
Raimo Hakola
raimo.hakola@helsinki.fi
Theological faculty
Department of Biblical Studies
Introduction
 What things should be considered, if John is located in a
Diaspora setting?
 Thesis:
 Societal
structures in Diaspora were much more complex
than is often assumed in many Johannine studies
 Criticisms of the persecution scenario:
 Adele
Reinhartz 1998, 2001
 Raimo
Hakola, Identity Matters: John the Jews and
Jewisness (Brill, 2005)
 cf.
also Hakola, “The Johannine Community as Jewish
Christians? Some Problems in Current Scholarly
Consensus.”
 Hakola
and Reinhartz, “John's Pharisees.”
The Johannine community as a persecuted
minority in Diaspora
 Martyn 2003, 75-75 n. 99:
 “Now
I am on the verge of being compelled to conclude that
in John’s milieu Jewish leaders do in fact exercise some kind
of authority even over those who have been
excommunicated. I can only suggest that this authority
exercised over excommunicates was of a very peculiar sort,
carried out in light of what the Jewish leaders in John’s city
must have viewed as extremely provocative activity on the
part of Jewish-Christian evangelists. This line of thought
obviously presupposes that within their own section of the
city the Jewish leaders had considerable de facto power”
(italics original).
The Johannine community as a persecuted
minority in Diaspora
 Martyn 2003, 76 n. 100:
 “There
are a few hints in the Gospel that would seem to
indicate the presence in John’s city of a distinct Jewish
quarter. If so, one would think immeaditely of Rome, Antioch
and Alexandria.”
Diaspora Jews in written sources
 Tacitus Hist. V 1–5. (Translation from LCL):
 “the
Jews are extremely loyal toward one another, and
always ready to show compassion, but toward every other
people they feel only hate and enmity.”
 Acts 10:28 (NRSV)
 “It
is unlawful for a Jew to associate with or to visit a Gentile”
(Acts 10:28).
 Rutgers 1995, 43-49
 Judaism
and Hellenistic culture are mutually exclusive, a
<<<< a Hegelian view of history
Diaspora Jews and the study of ancient
material culture
 White 1998, 32-33:
 “Here, too, traditional assumptions have been significantly
revised in the light of the social interaction of these
synagogue communities with their local environments.
What has become increasingly clear is that traditional
assumptions of the static nature of Diaspora Judaism,
whether in relation to the later development of the rabbinic
tradition or in relation to the emergence of the Christian
movement, must be discarded. Instead, we see a diverse
and socially active Jewish life in the Diaspora, where the
competing social and cultural pressures of self-definition
and assimilation are held in a creative tension by local
congregations.” (Cf. also Kraabel 1979, 1981, 1982)
Jewish Neighborhoods in Diaspora
 Alexandria
 Josephus,
War. 2.495; Apion 2:33–36; Philo, Flacc. 55
 Trastevere in Rome
 Antioch
 Jews
were spread all over the city
 Barclay 1996, 229-330.
 “residency
in a Jewish district of a town did not mean, of
course, that all such Jews had minimal links with non-Jews.
Such were the crowded conditions in an immigrant quarter
like Trastevere in Rome that Jews could not help
encountering people of other nationalities in every turn. But
common residency did make it possible for those who
wished to minimize social contacts with ‘outsiders.’”
Jewish self-government in Diaspora?
 Jewish politeumata?
 Zuckerman
1985/88, 171–185; Lüderitz 1994, 183–225.
 two inscriptions from the city of Berenice in Cyrenaica
 Zuckerman 1985/88, 184:
 “The
concept of the politeuma of aliens as an ‘independent
political unit’ which could secure for its members any rights
whatsoever belongs to the realm of historiographic legend,
which can claim the support of quite a number of learned
authorities but not a single source.”
Jewish privileges in Diaspora?
 Josephus’

Jews are allowed to live according to their own laws and
customs
 Rajak 2001, 301–333.
 in
normal case there was no need to the special legislation
for the Jews, the main concessions concerned the practice
of religion
 Pucci Ben Zeev 1998
 “The
Jews, like most peoples living under the Roman
government, were allowed to use their own juridical
framework to a certain extent — an extent which was
determined not only by Roman intervention but also by the
interests of the Jews themselves.” (437-438)
Jewish privileges in Diaspora?
 Pucci Ben Zeev 1998
 “The
rights given to the Jews therefore may not be regarded
as proof of a special consideration for Jewish needs, but
rather an application of common principles of Roman policy.”
 Collins 2000, 115:
 “Despite
the strong tradition that Jews could live in
accordance with their own laws, the papyri record only
Jewish litigation before Gentile courts. Jewish law could
serve as civil law in disputes between Jews, but it was never
the highest court of appeal. Ultimate authority lay with the
Ptolemaic king and the Roman prefect.”
Diaspora synagogues
 Cohen 1999, 140–74.
 the
Gentiles could interact with Jewish communities in a
variety of ways—from admiring some aspects of the faith of
the Jews to full conversion.
 White 1990, 92.
 “In
many early Diaspora communities the boundaries
between Jew and gentile were less rigid and allowed for
access to the assembly and worship.”
Diaspora synagogues
 Synagogue Mosaic, Dura-Europos, 3rd Century CE
(Source: Wikipedia Commons)
Diaspora synagogues
 Synagogue communities as private associations
 Many different synagogue communities for example in the
city of Rome
 No
central government
Conclusions
 The evidence of the material culture should be taken into
account in the reconstructions of the history of the
Johannine community.
 Synagogue communities were open, diverse and nonhierarchical.
 The strict distinction between Jewish and Greco-Roman
cultural stimuli is not viable in the Diaspora context.
The Gospel of John and the
Mediterranean Diaspora
Raimo Hakola
raimo.hakola@helsinki.fi
After the meeting, PP:s available at:
http://www.helsinki.fi/teol/hyel/rimi/project
Theological faculty
Department of Biblical Studies