Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 62:4 (Dec 2019)
Article: Phonology, Fish, And The Form Τουτων: A New Approach To An Old Crux In John 21:15
Author: Stephen J. Smith

JETS 62:4 (December 2019) p. 739

Phonology, Fish, And The Form Τουτων:
A New Approach To An Old Crux In John 21:15

Stephen J. Smith*

* Stephen J. Smith is Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies and Christian Ministries at Belhaven University, 1500 Peachtree St., Jackson, MS 39202. He may be contacted at [email protected].

Abstract: The apparent ambiguity of the pronoun τούτων in Jesus’s question to Peter, Σίμων Ἰωάννου, ἀγαπᾷς με πλέον τούτων; (John 21:15) has resulted in a standing debate over its referent in Johannine scholarship. The majority believe that the other disciples in the preceding story (vv. 1–14) are the referent, while a minority think that Jesus had in view the fish and fishing equipment in that same story. This article proposes that awareness of ancient conventions of literary composition, according to which authors frequently exploited a text’s sound to effectively communicate or highlight their message, presents a new understanding of τούτων that resolves the debate over its referent. The pronoun’s phonology may reveal what its seemingly ambiguous morphology has hitherto concealed, that the referent of τούτων is the fish and fishing gear, not the other disciples as most have suggested.

Key words: John 21:15, “more than these,” orality, aurality, sound patterns, sound mapping, ancient media culture, John’s Gospel

An unresolved crux in Johannine scholarship concerns the intended referent of the pronoun τούτων (“[than] these”) in John 21:15, where Jesus asks Peter, Σίμων Ἰωάννου, ἀγαπᾷς με πλέον τούτων; (“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”). Interpreters believe that this pronoun is ambiguous because it is both the masculine and neuter plural form of the demonstrative pronoun, and there is a plausible masculine (i.e. the other disciples) and neuter (i.e. the fish and fishing gear) referent in the preceding story (John 21:1–14). The pronoun’s supposed lack of clarity has resulted in a standing debate in the literature over its referent. Most take the other disciples as its antecedent, while a minority opt for the fish and fishing equipment instead.1Besides these two main views, a few have concluded

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