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.
252 G.K. BEALE
addition, such a Daniel allusion in 1 John 2,18 is pointed to by
some who have specifically proposed that the Gospel of John’s use
of “hour†and “last day†is the most particular background 32. Such
a background in John’s Gospel is an attractive proposal since the
Gospel’s use of wra has itself also been observed to have been
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formulated under the influence of the Danielic use of the hour 33.
This connection between the Fourth Gospel’s use of wra with that
â„¢
of 1 John would be enhanced even more if the two were written by
the same author 34. Even if one merely held that 1 John was written
by someone in the Johannine circle or community, the connection
would still be an attractive option. Likewise, there has been obser-
vation that many of the uses of wra in John’s Apocalypse derive
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also from the Old Greek of Daniel 35. If John’s gospel, the Synoptic
apocalypse, Revelation, 2 Thessalonians, and other early Christian
and Jewish texts can make allusion to Daniel 36, especially some-
times to the Danielic “hour†37, why would it be unusual to see 1
John 2,18 doing the same thing?
So, e.g., tentatively, BROWN, Johannine Epistles, 331-332.
32
On which see FERRARO, L’‘Ora’ di Cristo nel Quarto Vangelo, 71-81,
33
FREY, Die johanneische Eschatologie,III, 381-391, and BEUTLER, Judaism and
the Jews in the Gospel of John, 119-125. Most recently, see S. MIHALIOS,
“ The Danielic Eschatological Hour in the Johannine Literature†(Ph.D. diss.,
Wheaton College Graduate School 2008), forthcoming with the same title in
Library of New Testament Studies 436 (London – New York 2011).
E.g., see C.G. KRUSE, The Letters of John (Grand Rapids, MI 2000)
34
9-15.
The Book of Revelation also uses wra under the influence of Daniel’s
â„¢
35
(OG) eschatological use of wra (Rev 3,10; 14,7), as well as that of Dan 4,17a
â„¢
(OG), which is employed by Rev 17,12 and 18,10.17.19 in a typological
manner with regard respectively to the time leading up to the last judgment
and to the time of the final judgment itself (on which see G. K. BEALE, “A
Reconsideration of the Text of Daniel in the Apocalypse,†Biblica 67 (1986),
539-543, and idem., The Book of Revelation (NIGTC ; Grand Rapids, MI
1999) 289-292, 750-754, 878-880, 906-908, 913-915). In particular, the use in
Rev 14,7 is significant since it is implicitly related to the demise of the
“ beast †(see 14,8-11), whose picture in Rev 13,1-11 is constructed from a series
of allusions to the eschatological portrayal in Daniel 7 (on the last point see
BEALE, Revelation, 728-730).
With respect more broadly to the use of Daniel in Judaism and in Reve-
36
lation, see BEALE, Use of Daniel.
Here with respect only to wra.
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37
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