Houd mij niet vast!; Een multi-dimensionale exegese van Johannes 20:17

Abstract

In this paper I have tried to reached two goals. The first one is to combine several exegetical methods within one guiding principle. The second goal was to use the resulting method for the interpretation of the words “Mh, mou a]ptou” in John 20:17a. The guiding principle which was used to combine the exegetical methods is inspired by a rule of thumb, which is used in the philosophy of science; “The most simple explanation, which can explain the most data is the best explanation.” The diachronic and synchronic methods of exegesis are then used as methods for dataretrieval. By using the methods in this way there is no need to make a choice between the two kinds of methods. In the end the interpretation which can explain all the found data in the most simple way can be chosen as the best interpretation of the sentence in John 20:17a. Before starting the research I formulated two hypotheses for the interpretation of the words Mh, mou a]ptou. The first was that it has to translated with: Don’t cling to me (any longer). This translation implicates that Mary already touches Jesus and he wanted her to let him go or he wanted her to go. The other hypothesis is that Jesus forbid Mary to touch him, because he just came out of the grave and had not yet been purified. The conclusion of the research is that the first explanation is the most likely. The syntactic and grammatical analysis pointed in that direction, although they are not conclusive. But the narrative analysis shows that the emphasis of this chapter lies on the coming to believe in the resurrection. Therefore the goal of Jesus words is to send Mary out to the brothers to tell them about the resurrection. The analysis of several intertextual relations is also not conclusive, but when there is a strong connection between the tradition behind the synoptic gospels and the tradition of the johannine writings (as I suppose) then the translation of the “Mh, mou a]ptou“ with “Don’t cling to me (any longer)” is the most likely. Because in the synoptic tradition it is known that the women grasps Jesus feet when they saw him. The overall conclusion is that the narrative analysis gives the most explicit clue about the chosen interpretation, but that interpretation can also account for the results in the other analysis. So according to the guiding rule that interpretation should be regarded is the best one possible at the moment.