Armin D. Baum, «Autobiografische Wir- und Er-Stellen in den neutestamentlichen Geschichtsbüchern im Kontext der antiken Literaturgeschichte», Vol. 88 (2007) 473-495
Read against the background of ancient literary practice (in Near Eastern and Greco-Roman historiography), the 'we' passages in the Acts of the Apostles (in Acts 13–28) and the statements about the beloved disciple in the Fourth Gospel (Joh 13,23; 19,26; 20,2; 21,7.20) should probably be interpreted as autobiographical remarks. Yet, unlike Greek and Roman historians the New Testament narrators wrote their books, including these autobiographical passages, anonymously. They appear to have done so because they wanted to claim personal presence at a few crucial points in the narrated history while at the same time intending to remain as invisible as possible. For the author of Acts the use of the first Person Plural provided the best opportunity to conceal his name without disappearing completely from his narrative. The fourth Evangelist decided to hide behind the anonymous figure of the beloved disciple whom he introduced in the third person; had he used the first person he would have been much more visible throughout his whole book.
Autobiografische Wir- und Er-Stellen 495
Zurückhaltung. Beide Autoren wollten zwar eine eigene Beteiligung
an den von ihnen geschilderten Ereignissen behaupten, bemühten sich
aber gleichzeitig darum, dies so unauffällig wie möglich zu tun. Für
Lukas bestand die zurückhaltendste Erzähltechnik darin, von den
(wenigen) Episoden, die er als einer der Reisebegleiter des Paulus
miterlebt hatte, anonym in der 1. Person Plural zu erzählen. Hätte er in
der 3. Person erzählt, hätte er, um seine Augenzeugenschaft
anzuzeigen, seinen Namen nennen müssen. Der vierte Evangelist
konnte möglichst weitgehend im Hintergrund seiner Erzählung
bleiben, wenn er in den (wenigen) Perikopen, in denen er von eigenen
individuellen Aktionen berichten wollte, die 3. Person wählte und
seinen Eigennamen verschwieg. Hätte er sich der 1. Person bedient,
wäre er in allen Kapiteln des Evangeliums zu sehen gewesen. Die
Frage, inwiefern der autobiografische Anspruch, den zwei der
neutestamentlichen Erzähler erheben, historisch zutrifft, ist nicht
Gegenstand der vorliegenden narrativen Analyse und muss
unabhängig davon beantwortet werden. Hier sollte lediglich gezeigt
werden, dass die beiden ganz unterschiedlichen autobiografischen
Erzähltechniken der neutestamentlichen Geschichtsbücher sich
gemeinsam sehr plausibel als Resultat auktorialer Zurückhaltung
interpretieren lassen.
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SUMMARY
Read against the background of ancient literary practice (in Near Eastern and
Greco-Roman historiography), the “we†passages in the Acts of the Apostles (in
Acts 13–28) and the statements about the beloved disciple in the Fourth Gospel
(Joh 13,23; 19,26; 20,2; 21,7.20) should probably be interpreted as
autobiographical remarks. Yet, unlike Greek and Roman historians the New
Testament narrators wrote their books, including these autobiographical passages,
anonymously. They appear to have done so because they wanted to claim
personal presence at a few crucial points in the narrated history while at the same
time intending to remain as invisible as possible. For the author of Acts the use of
the first Person Plural provided the best opportunity to conceal his name without
disappearing completely from his narrative. The fourth Evangelist decided to hide
behind the anonymous figure of the beloved disciple whom he introduced in the
third person; had he used the first person he would have been much more visible
throughout his whole book.