G.K. Beale, «The Old Testament Background of the «Last Hour» in 1 John 2,18», Vol. 92 (2011) 231-254
This article argues that the «last hour» in 1 John 2,18 is best understood against the Old Testament background of Daniel 8,12. In particular, the only eschatological uses of «hour» (w#ra) in all of the Greek Old Testament occur in the «Old Greek» of Dan 8,17.19; 11,35.40; 12,1. There the «hour» (w#ra) refers to the specific eschatological time when the opponent of God’s people will attempt to deceive them. John sees Daniel’s prophecy as beginning to be fulfilled in the deceptive work of the Antichrist(s) who has come among the churches to which he is writing.
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THE OLD TESTAMENT BACKGROUND “ LAST HOUR â€
OF THE
plausible satisfying account of the effect of the intertextual relation
made upon the readers (Hays’ seventh “testâ€).
5. Historical Plausibility
It is plausible that the author intended to make reference to
Daniel’s latter-day tribulation, since this was a significant notion
repeatedly developed in other New Testament and early Christian
traditions, as we have seen (the idea of such an end-time trial was
also an important motif in second temple Judaism, though often
not in direct connection to Danielic influence). Therefore, Jewish-
Christian readers and some Gentiles would seem to have been in a
position to be familiar with Daniel, particularly with the general
Jewish expectation of tribulation and with the other relevant
Danielic New Testament expectations. Therefore, such an allusion
in 1 John 2,18 would not have seemed to be a bolt of lightning
from nowhere for these reader/hearers. New Gentile converts
would have become familiar with such themes and texts over time
through ongoing instruction from the Greek Old Testament, which
was the formal Bible of the first-century church. As this happened,
they presumably would have grown to recognize and appreciate the
Daniel allusion in 1 John 2,18 on subsequent readings.
6. History of Interpretation
There is apparently no evidence in the history of the interpre-
tation of 1 John 2,18 that anyone has specifically seen allusion to
the eschatological uses of wra in Daniel. On the other hand, we
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have seen that a number of early Christian and Jewish texts have
been offered by commentators as a general background, many of
which are from the end-time opponent tradition of Daniel 7–12 and
from texts containing various eschatological expressions (“latter
days â€, “last dayâ€, and “hourâ€), some of which have been observed
to be found in references in Daniel 2 and 8–12. Recall, for ex-
ample, Brown, who included the end-time “hour†of Dan 8,17.19
as most prominent among the broad background of Old Testament
and Jewish texts containing eschatological phrases. Thus, this
broad background of 1 John 2,18 proposed by others, which is
often linked to Daniel, should make it less surprising that allusion
to the eschatological hour of Daniel 8–12 might also be present. In
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