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.
253
THE OLD TESTAMENT BACKGROUND “ LAST HOUR â€
OF THE
One might respond to this by contending that it did not matter
whether or not the readers recognized the Danielic origin of the
“ last hourâ€, since the author was not intending “to argue from the
OT or saw any need to set God’s action with and for this commu-
nity within any wider canvass†38. Yet, even if the author is directly
dependent only on some oral synoptic-Danielic tradition, it would
seem likely at least that the “wider canvass†of the synoptic dis-
course, and to some degree its Danielic background, would come
into view for the author and the readers.
* *
*
In conclusion, it is possible that 1 John 2,18 reflects not Daniel
as a written document but an oral tradition based on Daniel 7–12
that he inherited, which may have been in the form of a broader
tradition from which the synoptic eschatological discourse draws. In
the light of the above evidence of this essay, however, we believe the
burden of proof has been offered that 1 John 2,18 is an allusion to
the eschatological “hour†references in the OG of Daniel 8–12. To
sum up, for John, the end-time tribulation prophesied by Daniel 12
(Dan 12,1), as well as by Daniel 8 and 11, and by Jesus (Matt 24,21;
Mark 13,19) and 2 Thessalonians 2, had begun in the midst of the
church community to which he was writing. The “last hour†is one
of the telltale signs that at least part of the Antichrist expectation in
1 John 2,18 derives directly from Daniel and not only indirectly
through the synoptic discourse and 2 Thessalonians or an oral tradi-
tion deriving from those two sources. The very fact that part of 1
John 2,18 is a development in some way of the synoptic eschatolog-
ical discourse and 2 Thessalonians 2, both of which are dependent
on and likely indirectly mediate Daniel tradition to 1 John 2,18,
makes it at least plausible, and we think likely, that John may have
been spurred on to go back to Daniel itself and pick up on the
eschatological use of “hour†in Daniel 8–12 (OG).
Westminster Theological Seminary G.K. BEALE
Philadelphia, PA 19118, USA
LIEU, Theology of the Johannine Epistles, 87-88.
38
FOLLOW US