The Pericope Adulterae, the Gospel of John, and the Literacy of Jesus

Now available from Brill in the New Testament Tools Studies and Documents series:

Chris Keith, The Pericope Adulterae, the Gospel of John, and the Literacy of Jesus (NTTSD 38; Leiden: Brill, 2009). ISBN 978 90 04 17394 1

Cover: Hardback
Number of pages: xvi, 350 pp
List price: € 114.00 / US$ 169.00

Table of Contents
Foreword (Helen K. Bond)
Preface
Abbreviations
Introduction: The Most Popular Story in the Gospels
Chapter One: A History of Research on John 8.6, 8
Chapter Two: Speaking of Writing: καταγράφω and γράφω in Hellenistic, Jewish, and New Testament Contexts
Chapter Three: Writing and Gradations of Literacy
Chapter Four: Scribal Literacy in the New Testament World: The Scribes (and Pharisees) as Text-Brokers
Chapter Five: The Pericope Adulterae at John 7.53–8.11: The Location
Chapter Six: The Pericope Adulterae at John 7.53–8.11: The Preceding Context of John 7
Chapter Seven: The Pericope Adulterae at John 7.53–8.11: The Narrative
Chapter Eight: The Pericope Adulterae at John 7.53–8.11: The (Divine) Grapho-Literacy of Jesus
Chapter Nine: The Historical Context for the Insertion of the Pericope Adulterae into the Gospel of John: A Proposal
Conclusion: The Pericope Adulterae in the Early Church
Bibliography

Abstract:
"Although consistently overlooked or dismissed, John 8.6, 8 in the Pericope Adulterae is the only place in canonical or non-canonical Jesus tradition that portrays Jesus as writing. After establishing that John 8.6, 8 is indeed a claim that Jesus could write, this book offers a new interpretation and transmission history of the Pericope Adulterae. Not only did the pericope’s interpolator place the story in John’s Gospel in order to highlight the claim that Jesus could write, but he did so at John 7.53–8.11 as a result of carefully reading the Johannine narrative. The final chapter of the book proposes a plausible socio-historical context for the insertion of the story."

Chris tells me that a modified version of chapter five on the location of the pericope will appear in Novum Testamentum later this year. Congratulations Chris!