Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 50:2 (Jun 2007)
Article: Directives In The New Testament: A Case Study Of John 1:38
Author: David A. Montgomery

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Directives In The New Testament: A Case Study Of John 1:38

David A. Montgomery

David Montgomery is an M. Div. student at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 2065 Half Day Road, Deerfield, IL 60015.

I. Introduction

Human discourse is complex and often difficult to understand. Consider the following example. One morning at breakfast, after pouring syrup on my pancakes, I set the bottle down next to my plate. Then I heard my wife say these words: “Are you finished with the syrup?” I was forced to decide what my wife was intending to communicate to me. Was she requesting from me information; that is, whether I was finished using the syrup? Or was she attempting to cause me to do something? Because I knew the full context of my wife’s words, I concluded correctly that she was asking me to pass her the syrup. In other words, by her question my wife was not asking me for information, but was, in an indirect manner, requesting me to do something.

Communication between my wife and me is even more complex, because we come from two different cultures. In my culture communication is mostly direct. In the culture in which my wife was raised, communication is more indirect. Because of this cultural difference in communication style, we too often misunderstand the intended meaning of each other’s statements.

When considering a record of human discourse, to interpret what the speaker is attempting to communicate a number of factors must be addressed, including the words spoken, nonverbal communication clues;1 the relationship between the speaker and the hearer(s);2 and the historical and cultural setting.3 Missiologists have long recognized the role of these factors in

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understanding cross-cultural communication.4 In the field of biblical interpretation, these factors must also be considered in determining the meaning of biblical texts where human discourse is recorded.

The NT contains many instances of indirect speech, that is, where the intended meaning of a statement differs from its direct meaning. For biblical interpreters from cultures where the style of communication is mostly direct, it is too easy to miss this indirect meaning and to instead interpret the statement in a direct manner.

A case in point is the discourse between Jesus and two disciples of John the Baptist recorded in John 1:35–41. In the preceding...

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