Hellen Mardaga 74 (iv) In the oratio obliqua: Jn 19,35. Especially articles from G.E. Steitz and A. Buttmann discuss the question whether it is possible for a person who speaks about himself in the third person, to refer to himself with ἐκεῖνος (‘ille’)23. G.E. Steitz defends that the evangelist identifies himself explicitly with the eyewitness in Jn 19,35. He was the one who also stood under the cross (19,26) together with Jesus’ mother24. A. Buttmann on the contrary defends that ἐκεῖνος in Jn 19,35 is nothing more than a resumption or continuation of the preceding αὐτοῦ25. What can we conclude from this overview with regard to the four dif- ferent interpretations of ἐκεῖνος in 19,35? Two observations can be made on the thesis that ἐκεῖνος in 19,35 refers to God or Christ: (i) The evangelist uses ἐκεῖνος not only as a reference to God, but grammars and dictionaries of the New Testament indicate that ἐκεῖνος generally denotes well known persons or objects such as John, the blind man and Moses, the paraclete, etc. Therefore the pronoun ἐκεῖνος in 19,35 can point to other characters outside God or Christ; (ii) The context of 19,35, i.e. 19,31-37, does not lend itself to using ἐκεῖνος as a reference to God or Christ. There is no passage within the pericope itself that could support this hypothesis. The theory that in 19,35 the evangelist is the eyewitness and talks about himself in the third person is not convincing. One can of course indicate some passages in the fourth gospel, such as 9,37, in which a character refers to himself in the third person. Jesus replies to the man born blind: καὶ ὁ λαλῶν μετὰ σοῦ ἐκεῖνός ἐστιν. The reader cannot but connect ἐκεῖνος to Jesus, all the more since ὁ λαλῶν μετὰ σοῦ follows the pronoun (comp. 4,26 Ἐγώ εἰμι, ὁ λαλῶν σοι). In 19,35 the situation is different, the identity of ἐκεῖνος cannot be deduced from the context. Moreover an additional participle that determines the identity of the speaker is missing. There is no indication of what is testified in the third person. The hypothesis of P.S. Minear (ἐκεῖνος= the soldier) is theological rather than grammatical. It is against this approach that M. Sabbe reacts. The soldier can be the witness but not the one who knows. Therefore Sabbe states that the pronoun is used in an opposition. Our overview on ἐκεῖνος in grammars and lexica indicates that usually ἐκεῖνος is not G.E. Steitz, Ueber den Gebrauch des Pronomen ἐκεῖνος im vierten Evangelium, zur 23 Entscheidung über die streitige Stelle 19,35, in TSK 32 (1859) 497-511; Id., Der classische und der johanneische Gebrauch von ἐκεῖνος. Zur Verständigung über Joh 9,37 und 19,35. Neu untersucht, in TSK 34 (1861) 267-310; A. Buttmann, Ueber den Gebrauch des Pron. ἐκεῖνος im vierten Evangelium, in TSK 33 (1860) 505-36. G.E. Steitz, Pronomen ἐκεῖνος, 502-504. 24 A. Buttmann, ἐκεῖνος im vierten Evangelium, 517-34. 25