EQ 85.

4 (2013), 338-351
Jesus's Thirst at the Cross: Irony and
Intertextuality in John 19:28
B r i a n T a b b
Brian Tabb serves as Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies and Assistant Dean at
Bethlehem College and Seminary, Minneapolis.
Keywords: fulfillment; intertextuality; irony; John 19:28; Psalm 69:21; thirst.
C. K. Barrett contends that John uses the Old Testament 'in a novel manner, col-
lecting its sense rather than quoting'.' Jesus's saying 'I thirst' represents a par-
ticularly challenging example of the Fourth Gospel's 'novel' use of Scripture. The
interpretive crux of John 19:28 is well known: Jesus's penultimate word ftom the
cross, Lip) ('I thirst'), is introduced as 'Scripture' (f) YQa(j)r)) and yet does not
neatly match any antecedent text.^ As Brawley puts it, interpreters are faced with
'the paradox of an absent complement'.^ Because of this problem of source, the
recent major studies by Menken and Schuchard of John's use of the Old Testa-
ment do not discuss John 19:28.'' This omission is unfortunate, because the ref-
erence to the fulfillment or accomplishment of Scripture' in John 19:28 comes
at the narrative climax of the Gospel.
This article seeks to address three primary questions about John 19:28. First,
what 'Scripture' is fulfilled? Second, why does John employ the unique fulfill-
ment formula iva TEXEICDBTI ('in order that... would be accomplished')? Third,
what is the nature of Jesus's 'thirst'? While others have identified Psalm 69:21
[68:22 LXX] as John's likely Old Testament source,^ this study aims to make a
fresh contribution to scholarship on John 19:28 in several ways. Gareful thought
is given to the terminology and criteria used in assessing John's use of Scrip-
ture." Additionally, I will consider the context of Psalm 69, of which John was
well-aware (cf. 2:17; 15:25), as well as the wider narrative context of the Fourth
C. K. Barrett, 'The Old Testament in the Fourth Gospel',/TS 48 (1947), 155-69 (citing
156).
According to C. Brov^m, 'In the NT it [YPOI(|)T)) is used exclusively of Holy Scripture'
('Scripture, Writing', in NIDNTT, 3:490).
R. L. Brawley, 'An Absent Complement and Intertextuality in lohn 19:28-29',/Bi 112
(1993), 427-43 (citing443).
M. J. J. Menken, Old Testament Quotations in the Fourth Gospel: Studies in Textual
Form (Kampen, the Netherlands: Kok Pharos, 1996); B. G. Schuchard, Scripture within
Scripture: The Interrelationship of Form and Function in the Explicit Old Testament
Citations in the Gospel of John (SBLDS 133; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1992).
In this article, references to the LXX or Septuagint are to A. Rahlfs and R. Hanhart
(eds.), Septuaginta (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2006, rev. ed.).
In this regard, I intend to build upon my earlier article, 'lohannine Fulfillment:
Continuity and Escalation', BB 21 (2011): 495-505.
Jesus's Thirst at the Cross EQ 339
Gospel, with particular attention to the way John employs 'thirst' language else-
where. Finally, I hope to show that the reference to Jesus's thirst at the cross is
fundamentally ironic, when interpreted in light of the context of Psalm 68 [69]
and John's portrait of Jesus as the source of living water.
I. What 'Scripture' is fulfilled in John 19:28?
1. Syntax of John 19:28
Me t a Toixo elcb ' Ir|oo t i iir) ji vxa TEiXeoTai, 'iva TeX.8LC6f| f) YQa(j)f),
Xyev iop).
The narrative of the Fourth Gospel takes a turn at 19:16-18, when Pilate or-
ders Jesus to be crucified. The evangelist then records the debate between tbe
cbief priests and Pilate over the inscription at the cross (w. 19-22), the division
of Jesus's garments by the soldiers (w. 23-24), the exchange between Jesus and
bis mother and the beloved disciple (w. 25-27), and Jesus's last words and his
death (w. 28-30).^ The Greek syntax of verse 28 is challenging and may be liter-
ally translated, 'After tbis, Jesus, knowing that all things had been accomplished,
in order that the Scripture would be accomplished, said,^ "I thirst'".^
Scholars debate whether the 'iva purpose clause'" is syntactically dependent
on the preceding verb xsxkearai or on the/o/towmg verb XeyEi. The primary ar-
guments for taking 'iva with what precedes are as follows. First, the conjunction
'iva normally introduces a final clause related to a preceding verb in John (and in
the New Testament generally). Second, w. 28-30 are closely linked to the previ-
ous scene in w. 23-27 by way of tbe temporal prepositional pbrase \isxa xotiio.
Third, if the iva clause indicates the purpose of all things having been accom-
plished, then the reference may be to general scriptural fulfillment, which thus
alleviates the problem of source."
7 For the relationship between John 19:28-30 and the wine incidents in the Synoptic
account of the crucifixion, see R. E. Brown, The Gospel according to John [2 vols., AB
29-29A; Garden Gity: Douhleday, 1966-70), 2:927.
8 The verh XyEL is rendered 'said' as it is a historical present in a stereotyped idiom.
Cf. D. B. Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New
Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996), 526-32.
9 Unless otherwise noted, all scriptural translations in this paper are my own.
10 iva TEXEICOO i} yQdt^'] is omitted in the original version of P66, but the strength of
other witnesses and the challenging syntax suggest that this clause is likely original.
11 For this interpretation, see G. Bampfylde, 'lohn xix 28: A Case for a Different
Translation', NovTU (1969), 247-61, esp. 253; R. Bergmeier, 'TETELESTAI (Joh 19:30)',
ZNW79 (1988), 282-90, esp. 285-86; D. E. Garland, 'The Fulfillment Quotations in
John's Account of the Crucifixion', in Perspectives on John (ed. R. B. Sloan and M. G.
Parsons; Lewiston, NY: Mellen, 1993), 229-50, esp. 239-42. L. Morris claims that a
decision between taking the purpose clause with what precedes or follows is 'not
certain' and posits that John may have in mind a reference to both; The Gospel
according to John (NICNT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995, rev. ed.), 719. For a similar
view, see R. E. Brovm, The Death oftheMessiah [2 vols.; New York: Douhleday, 1994),
2:1072-73.
34Q EQ Brian Tabb
However, the majority of commentators, grammarians, and English transla-
tions righdy understand the 'iva clause to be dependent on ^yei for the follow-
ing reasons.'^ First, Xeyei is the main verb of the sentence, and it is natural to
see the 'iva clause as syntactically dependent on the main verb as is the adver-
bial participle el. Second, it is awkward to take va rsktuQf] as dependent
on the cognate verb xexe^LEoTat.'^ Third, John's references to r\ yQa<^i-] in fulfill-
ment formulas elsewhere usually call to mind a specific Scriptural text rather
than a general Scriptural idea.''' Finally, several other times in John's Gospel, a
'iva clause precedes the main verb for the purpose of emphasis (cf. 1:31; 14:31;
19:31).'^ Most importantly, the final clause clearly precedes the main verb just
three verses later in John 19:31: 'so that ('iva) the bodies would not remain on the
cross on the Sabbath ... the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and
that they might be taken away'.'" I conclude that the 'iva clause in 19:28 is syntac-
tically dependent on the following verb Xyei and is front-loaded to accentuate
Jesus's conscious scriptural fulfillment at the cross.
2. Clarification on Fulfillment Terminology
Before discussing the appeal to Scripture in John 19:28, it is important to of-
fer a brief clarification of the terms 'quotation', 'allusion' and 'echo', which are
all employed for describing scriptural references in the New Testament. Build-
ing upon the work of Beetham, a citation or quotation of Scripture is defined as
'an intentional, explicit, verbatim or near verbatim citation of a former text'.'' A
12 E.g. C. K. Barrett, The Gospel according to St John: An Introduction with Commentary
and Notes on the Greek Text (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1978, 2nd ed.), 553; G. R.
Beasley-Murray, John (WBC 36; Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1999, 2nd ed.), 316; D.
A. Carson, The Gospel according to John (PNTC; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991),
619; A. I. Kstenberger, John (BECNT; Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004), 550;
J. R. Michaels, The Gospel of John (NICNT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010), 960; I.
H. Moulton and N. Turner, A Grammar of New Testament Greek: Syntax (Vol. 3;
Edinburgh: T &T Clark, 1963), 344; BDF 478.
13 Bampfylde's claim that 'there is a significant difference in meaning between the two
verbs TEXW and xeXeico' is unconvincing ('lohn xix 28', 249-50). Cf. the discussion of
xeX and xeXeiio in L&N, 13.126; 68.22; BDAG, 996-98.
14 Cf. lohn 12:38; 13:18; 15:25; 19:24, 36. 7:38 and 17:12 are possible exceptions. A
number of scriptural allusions have been proposed for 7:38, though lesus's words
'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water' is likely a composite reference to the
scriptural expectation tied to the Tabernacles feast. For discussion and bibliography,
see A. I. Kstenberger, 'John', in Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old
Testament (ed. G. K. Beale and D. A. Carson; Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007),
415-512, esp. 454. There is no specific Old Testament text mentioned in 17:12 which
is ftilfilled, iough the antecedent text is probably Psalm 41:9 [40:10 LXX], applied to
ludas in John 13:18 (cf. John 6:70).
15 So L.T Witkamp, 'Jesus'sThirst in John 19:28-30: Literal or Figurative?',/BL 115 (1996),
489-510, esp. 494; Moulton and Turner, Syntax, 344; BDF 478.
16 Cf. G. Delling, 'XEXEICO', TDNT, 8:79-84, esp. 82 n. 16; D. J. Moo, The Old Testament in
the Gospel Passion Narratives (Sheffield: The Almond Press, 1983), 275-78.
17 C. A. Beetham, Echoes of Scripture in the Letter of Paul to the Colossians (BIS 96;
Jesus's Thirst at the Cross EQ 341
formal quotation of Scripture is accompanied by an introductory formula. For
example, in 19:24 John writes, 'Therefore they said to one another, "Let us not
tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be," in order to fulfill the Scripture
(iva r\ yQa<\>r\ jtXriQwGfi) [which says], "They divided my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots"', which agrees verbatim with Ps. 21:19 LXX
[22:19 MT] (ienegioavxo x Ljixi |XOD avxot xdi im xv i)xaxia|iv \iov eaXov
xXfiQov). An informal quotation lacks an introductory formula, though exhibits
clear dependence on an antecedent text. For example, in John 12:13 the crowd
cries out, 'Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord, even
the king of Israel,' which matches the wording of Ps. 117:25-26 LXX [118:25-26
MT] (eijXoYimvo QxofiEvo v v| iaxi xtigou). An allusion is an indirect,
apparently intentional reference by the author to a text able to be perceived by
the intended audience.'^ For example, in John 1:51 Jesus tells Nathanael, 'Truly,
truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascend-
ing and descending on the Son of Man.' Though Jesus is clearly not giving an
exphcit quotation of Scripture, his reference to the angels of God ascending and
descending (xal xo yyekov xoii Geoi avaaivovxac >cal xaxaaivovxac) in-
dicates an indirect, but intentional reference to Jacob's dream in Gen. 28:12 (xal
oi ayYe^ioi xoij Geoij aveaivov xal xaxeaivov ht ai)xf)).'^ Finally, an echo is
defined as a subtle reference to one or more specific texts that may or may not
be consciously intended by the author and is not necessarily clearly recognized
by the intended audience. For example, in light of the chapter's Passover setting
(cf. 19:14), John's surprising mention of a hyssop branch (iioajxa)) in 19:29 may
be interpreted as an echo of Exod. 12:22, where Moses instructs the elders to dip
a bunch of hyssop (8O|ir|v vaainov) in the blood of the Passover lamb.
3. The Scriptural Source of John 19:28
No known antecedent text corresponds precisely to i\|)(ji) in John 19:28, though
scholars have posited several possible Old Testament sources, including Psalms
22:15 [21:16 LXX],^ 42:2 [41:3 LXX],^' and 69:21 [68:22 LXX].^^ Alternatively,
Leiden: Brill, 2008), 17. Beetham for the purposes of his study of Golossians defines
a quotation of Scripture as being six or more words in length, which may be more
suitable for Paul's use of Scripture than for lohn's, whose direct appeals to Scripture
are often only a few words (see, for example, Jn. 15:25 and 19:37).
18 This definition of allusion is informed by the discussion in Beetham, Echoes, 17-20.
Beetham's definition is necessarily modified to allow for more than one antecedent
text, a common feature of John's use of Scripture.
19 M. I. J. Menken calls Jn. 1:51 an 'unmarked quotation'; 'Genesis in John's Gospel and
1 John', in Genesis in the New Testament (ed. M. J. J. Menken and S. Moyise; LNTS 466:
London: Bloomsbury, 2012), 83-98, citing 83.
20 E.g. Brown, Death, 2:1073-74.
21 E.g. Michaels,/o^n, 961.
22 E.g. H. N. Ridderbos, The Gospel according to John: A Theological Commentary (trans.
John Vriend: Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 616-17: Witkamp, 'Jesus's Thirst', 503:
Brawley, 'Absent Complement', 437-43.
342 EQ Brian Tabb
Bampfylde contends that the Scripture fulfillment in 19:28 refers to Jesus's giving
of the Spirit (picking up the reference to Zech. 14:8 in John 7:37) and has nothing
to do with Jesus's thirst.^^ Freed offers yet another interpretation, calling John
19:28 'one of the clearest examples of the writer's creative use of his Synoptic
sources'.^"* While Psalm 22:15 is attractive as a source for John 19:28 because the
same psalm is quoted just four verses earlier in John, the fundamental difficulty
with positing a reference to Psalm 22:15 here is that there is no verbal agreement
between the two texts. As Hays argues, 'The volume of an echo is determined
primarily by the degree of explicit repetition of words or syntactical patterns'.^^
It is most likely that John 19:28 is a formal allusion to Psalm 68:22 LXX [69:22
M T] , 'They gave me poison for food, and/ or my thirst (B'L xfiv itpav \iav; 'Hnb)
they gave me sour wine (|oc; aan) to drink'. By formal allusion, I mean a ref-
erence to Scripture that is apparently intentional, explicit, and introduced by
an introductory formula but lacks verbatim agreement vdth a single anteced-
ent text. So while there is not precise verbal agreement between John 19:28 and
Psalm 68:22 LXX, this is likely the source intended for at least three reasons. First,
M atthew 27:48 and Mark 15:36 allude to Psalm 68:22 LXX at the corresponding
point in their account of Jesus's death, when they record that a bystander re-
sponds to Jesus's loud cry of dereliction by giving Jesus sour wine to drink (oo
... JioT^o)). Second, though the verbal form bv^ finds no precise match in the
LXX, the noun 'thirst' (iiliav) in Psalm 68:22 LXX is verbally similar, and only
here in the Old Testament is thirst mentioned in connection with 'sour wine'
(oo) as in John 19:29.2 Finally, Psalm 68 LXX [69 MT] is directly cited twice
earlier in the Fourth Gospel. In John 2:17, the evangelist cites Ps. 68:10 LXX [69:10
MT] to explain Jesus's 'zeal' for his Father's house. " And in John 15:25, Jesus
quotes either Ps. 68:5 LXX [69:5 MT] or Ps. 34:19 LXX [35:19 MT] to clarify that
the Jews' hatred of him fulfills the divine purpose.^' The association of Psalm 68
LXX with the cruciflxion by the other evangelists, the verbal simflarities between
John 19:28-29 and Ps. 68:22 LXX, and the 'recurrence' of Ps. 68 LXX in the Fourth
23 Bampfylde, 'John xix 28', 253.
24 E. D. Freed, Old Testament Quotations in the Gospel of John (NovTSup 11; Leiden:
Brill, 1965), 105. For a critique of Freed's interpretation, see Blown, John, 2:928, and
C. A. Evans, 'On the Quotation Formulas in the Fourth Gospel', BZ26 (1982), 79-83.
25 R. B. Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul (New Haven: Yale University Press,
1989), 30. Brawley similarly stresses the volume of allusions to Psalm 69 and extends
beyond the 'phraseological plane' to note connections between the form, genre, and
story line of the two texts, in 'Absent Complement', 437.
26 See also M. M. Thompson, '"They Bear Witness to Me": The Psalms in the Passion
Narrative of the Gospel of lohn', in The Word Leaps the Gap: Essays on Scripture and
Theology in Honor of Richard B. Hays (ed. I. R. Wagner et. al. ; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
2008), 267-84, esp. 277.
27 John 2:17 follows the LXX, but changes the aorist verb (xazi^ayv) to a future
28 Both Pss. 34:19 and 68:5 LXX contain the phrase oL JUOOVT (is OCQEV, which is
close to lohn 15:25 (e|ioiiov (le OCOQEOV).
Jesus's Thirst at the Cross EQ 343
Gospel make this the most likely Scriptural source for oiipd) in 19:28.^^
Psalm 68:22 LXX offers a literal rendering of 69:22 MT, and so it is inconse-
quential what version John alludes to. However, Obermann is probably right to
conclude on the basis of John's use of Psalm 68 LXX in 2:17 and 15:25 that the
LXX is a more likely source for 19:28-29.^
4. The Context of Psalm 69 68 LXX]
Psalm 69 is cited ftequently by New Testament authors^' and is associated with
the Davidic tradition in both the MT and LXX (xw Aaui; Tilb).^^ The multiple
appeals to this psalm in the Fourth Gospel (2:17; 15:25; 19:28) strongly suggest
that the evangelist appeals to the Old Testament with an awareness of the con-
text ('den Bekanntheitsgrad des Psalms').^^ Verses 1-28 of the psalm constitute
an individual lament that moves from a personal plea 'Save me, O God' (v. 1) to
a series of imprecadons on the psalmist's enemies (w. 22-28).^" Verse 29 serves
as a transition in the psalm, concluding the lament and leading into a hymn of
praise. The hymn of w. 29-36 includes personal, communal, and cosmic praise
for God's present care and his anticipated eschatological deliverance of Zion.^^
The psalmist repeatedly returns to his 'reproaches' throughout the lament
section. He is shamed and dishonored and bears reproach because of his iden-
tification with Yahweh (note especially w. 6-9). So he confesses that Yahweh
'knows' his reproach and his enemies as well as the heartbreak and despair that
he consequendy finds himself in (v. 20). Verse 21 [68:22 LXX], alluded to in John
19:28-29, illustrates the grievous nature of his shame and persecution at the
hands of his enemies. The psalmist's 'throat is parched' from constandy crying
out to Yahweh in prayer (v. 3) and his tearful fasting has become his reproach,
but his hunger and thirst is met not with pity from ftiends but with his foes'
hostile offer of sour wine to drink and poison for food (v. 21). His enemies have
29 'Recurrence' is the third criterion proposed by Hays for discerning the presence and
meaning of scriptural echoes, in Echoes, 30.
30 A. Obermann, Die christologische Erfllung der Schrift im Johannesevangelium: eine
Untersuchung zur johanneischen Hermeneutik anhand der Schriftzitate (WUNT
2/83; Tbingen: I. C. B. Mohr, 1996), 351.
31 The UBS" lists six New Testament quotations of Psalm 69 and fourteen allusions and
verbal parallels.
32 Cf. M. Daly-Denton, David in the Fourth Gospel: The Johannine Reception of the
Psalms (Leiden: Brill, 2000).
33 Obermann, Die christologische Erfllung, 350.
34 References in the next two paragraphs are to the versification in English translations,
which differs by one verse from the LXX and MT. Psalm 69 is understood to be an
individual psalm given the numerous first person references throughout. However, as
I. Goldingay points out, 'the suppliant is not merely a private individual but someone
who in some sense represents a community', given the references in v. 6 to 'those who
hope in you' and 'those who seek you'; Psalms (3 vols; Baker Commentary on the Old
Testament Wisdom and Psalms 19A-C; Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006-2008), 2:338.
35 For the structure of Psalm 69, see the analysis ofW. A. VanGemeren, Psalms (REBC 5;
Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008), 526.
344 EQ Bdan Tabb
set his table with nothing but bitterness and reproach, and so he prays in verse
22 that their 'table' would be turned on them, such that those offering him bit-
ter food and drink might taste divine indignation in return. However, like Psalm
22, Psalm 69 moves from lament to praise as God's salvation comes into focus
(29-36).
5. Psalm 68:22 LXX in John 19:28
In John's account, though the Jews, Pilate, and the soldiers are ignorant of or
opposed to God's will, Jesus knows that he is accomplishing his Father's will as
disclosed in Scripture. The participle EL ('knowing') in 19:28 recalls three
earlier usages of the exact same form in John's narrative. John 13:1 records that
Jesus loved his own unto the end (etc xXo), knowing (EIW) that his hour had
come.^^ Similarly, two verses later John records that Jesus 'knowing (ELW) that
the Father had given all things into his hands ... arose from the table' to wash
the feet of his disciples. Further, at Jesus's arrest the evangelist records, 'Then
Jesus, knowing (sL) all that was to happen to him, came forward and asked
tbem, "Whom are you looking for?"' (18:4). These four occurrences of ELCU are
each understood as adverbial participles of cause, indicating the reason or mo-
tivation for Jesus's actions of loving his disciples E' L xeko (13:1), washing their
feet (13:3-5), putting himself forward before his captors (18:4), and appealing
to Scripture at the cross (19:28).^' Each of these instances highlights Jesus's full
knowledge of his Father's will and plan as it pertains to his hour of suffering and
deatb. In 19:28, the combination of the causal participle eL and the iva pur-
pose clause suggests that Jesus is consciously aware that his suffering and death
are taking place according to the plan and purpose of God.
Brawley contends that 'the incident as a whole corresponds to scripture', as
'Jesus repeats rather precisely the experience of the poet in Psalm 69', who is
given 'poison for food and sour wine (o|o) for his thirst (iipav)' (v. 21, refer-
ences to Ps. 68:22 LXX).^^ But how exactly does Jesus's thirst and reception of sour
wine at the cross 'fulfill' Scripture? TertuUian cites Psalm 69:21 as an example of
an Old Testament prediction in which 'the Spirit Himself of Christ was already
singing' [Adv.Jud.ch. 10 [A/VF3.165]). But it is unlikely that the formal allusion
in John 19:28 is an appeal to prediction, as if the psalmist wrote primarily of a fu-
ture sufferer who would be consumed by zeal for God's bouse, be hated because
of bis relationsbip to God, and be offered sour wine to assuage bis thirst.^^ The
36 The close connection between 13:1 and Jesus's death in 19:28-30 is also noted by G. R.
Koester, The Word of Life: A Theology of John's Gospel (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008),
111.
37 See the discussion of the adverbial participle of cause in Wallace, Greek Grammar,
631-32.
38 Brawley, 'Absent Complement', 437.
39 For further discussion of the nature of scriptural fulfillment in the Fourth Gospel, see
my 'Johannine Fulfillment', 495-505.
Jesus's Thirst at the Cross EQ 345
writer's confession in verse 5 that God knows his wrongdoing and folly makes it
improbable that this psalm is a forward-looking Messianic prophecy. It is prefer-
able to see the reference to Psalm 69 in John 19:28 as typological, with Jesus as
the Davidic righteous sufferer par excellence.''
II. Wbat is tbe significance of tbe fulfillment formula
in Jobn 19:28?
John uses the distinctive fulfillment formula 'iva [r\ yga^r]] KXr\Q(X)Qr] six times to
draw attendon to the fulfillment of Scripture (12:38; 13:18; 15:25; 17:12; 19:24,
36) . The unique citation formula Iva xeXeicuefi fi YQa<|)Tl in 19:28 may be a stylis-
tic variation of John's typical introductory formula 'iva [f) YQactJ'l Ji>iT|QCef|. Most
English translations suggest this interpretation by rendering both iva xeXeia)6f|
and 'iva jtXiiQCG'fi with some variation of 'to fulfill' (e.g. NRSV, NIV, ESV, NET,
KJV). Some manuscripts (S D^ 9 565 / " ^ it) read jiXTiQwef) instead of xeXEiajefi in
19:28, which is likely an attempt to conform this text to die more common cita-
tion formula.'" The NJB is a notable exception, rendering 'iva XEXEI(JC)0| r\ yQa(\>r],
'so that the Scripture shotild be completely fulfilled'.
However, the use of xEXEto in 19:28 appears to have significance beyond sty-
listic variation. Elsewhere in John, XEXELCO typically stresses the completion of
an activity.''^ Jesus intends to 'complete' his Father's work(s) (4:34; 5:36; 17:4), and
he prays that his disciples 'may be brought to completion as one' (17:23)."' John
13:1 records that Jesus loved his own EI XXO, which highlights either the qual-
ity or the full duration of Jesus's love. Further, the citation formula 'iva XE^EICJI] f)
YQacfifi in 19:28 is bracketed by xexXEoxai (w. 28,30 ) . This repetidon of the xXo
word group in John 19:28, 30 (xExAEOxaL... XEXELCUOTI ... xexXEOxai) underscores
for readers that Jesus's death is indeed, in Hengel's words, 'the climax of the en-
tire Gospel'."'' According to the evangelist, Jesus declares his thirst in order con-
40 G. K. Beale defines typology as 'the study of analogical correspondences among
revealed truths about persons, events, institutions, and other things within the
historical framework of God's special revelation, which, from a retrospective view,
are of a prophetic nature and are escalated in their meaning'. Handbook on the
New Testament Use of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012), 14,
emphasis removed. Davidic typology in John 19:28 is noted also by D. A. Carson,
'John and the Johannine Epistles', in It Is Written: Scripture Citing Scripture: Essays
in Honour of Barnabas Lindars (ed. D. A. Carson, et. al.; Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1988), 245-64, esp. 249.
41 Cf. Michaels, 7o/zn, 961 n. 58.
42 The glosses listed in BDAG 996, 'XEXEICO', 1 are complete, bring to an end, finish, or
accomplish.
43 Brown's translation of (Loiv XEXEXEI(|JVOL EI v, in John 2:771.
44 M. Hengel, 'The Old Testament in the Fourth Gospel' in The Gospels and the Scriptures
of Israel (JSNTSup. 104, ed. C. A. Evans andW. R. Stegner; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic
Press, 1994), 380-95, citing 393. Obermann concludes similarly, 'Gegenber JIXIIQI
ist daher bei XEXEICJ das Moment des Zieles tmd endgltigen Hhepunktes betont'
{Die christologische Erfllung, 88).
346 EQ Bnan Tabb
sciously and willingly to bring the Scripture - Psalm 69 specifically but in some
respects the entirety of the Old Testament - to its xXo as a witness to him.''^
Matthew and Mark do not record Jesus's last words, and Luke records his last
words as 'Father, into your hands I commend my spirit' (Luke 23:46). But in John,
Jesus's final recorded word is xsxXeoxai, which sounds a note of triumph and
completion. Jesus's words in 17:4 shed light on this final cry, as he prays, 'I glori-
fied you on earth, having accomplished (x8X.eiu)oa) the work that you gave me
to do' (cf. 4:34; 5:36). Thus, Jesus's final word x8xX.8OxaL means that Jesus has
accomplished his Father's work and carried out his will, and John highlights this
through the concentration of Old Testament references in the crucifixion scene
(cf. 19:24, 3&-37). As Brown writes, 'John relates the finishing of Jesus's work and
life to the completion of God's preordained plan given in Scripture'.'"^
III. Is Jesus's thirst physical or spiritual?
Interpreters have long debated whether Jesus's penultimate word from the cross,
'I thirst', should be taken as referring to his physical or spiritual thirst. The pri-
mary argument for understanding his thirst as physical is that w. 29-30 record
that the soldiers (the implied plural subject of jtQoofiv8Yxav, from v. 24)"^ offered
a sponge full of'sour wine' (oo) and Jesus 'took the sour wine' (e>.aev x6 oo).
Additionally, Jesus 'repeats rather precisely the experience of the poet in Psalm
69',''' who receives from his enemies 'poison for food' and 'sour wine to drink'. In-
terpreting Jesus's thirst as primarily physical accentuates his human experience
of want, and would be analogous to the narrator's note in John 4:6 concerning
Jesus's weariness (xExojtiaxc) from his journey.
However, it is unlikely that ia[)) in John 19:28 mainly refers to Jesus's physi-
cal thirst, because of the Fourth Gospel's previous usage of l^|)cD and the pat-
tern of Johannine symbolism, where physical images such as hunger for bread
and thirst for water take on 'transcendent significance'."^ Jesus's saying, 'I thirst',
recalls five previous references to thirst in the Fourth Gospel. 'Thirst' features
prominently in Jesus's conversation with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well:
Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst (ia]jf)O8i)
45 Again, Obermann writes, '...die Schrift kommt als Ganze zu ihrem TXO im
umfassenden Sinn von "Ziel" und "Ende". Mit der Verwirklichung (dem 'Zum-Ziel-
Kommen') des Heilswillens Gottes kommen auch die Verheiungen der Schrift zu
ihrem Ziel im Sinne einer Vollendung....Gottes Werk ist vollendet' [Die christologische
Erllung, 355-56).
46 Bmvm, John, 2:908.
47 Only in Luke 23:36 is it explicit that the soldiers offer the sour wine at the cross. In
John, the anonymous 'they' of 19:29 could be the soldiers (19:23-24) or the four
women at the cross (19:25), though the former is more likely. Gf. Michaels,/ofzn, 963.
48 Brawley, 'Absent Gomplement', 437. He notes on page 439 that the allusion to Psalm
69:21 likely recalls more than thirst and vinegar.
49 See G. R. Koester, Symbolism in the Fourth Gospel: Meaning, Mystery, Community
(2nd ed.: Minneapolis: Fortress, 2003), 4-8.
Jesus's Thirst at the Cross EQ 347
again, but whoever drinks of the water that I wifl give him will surely never
become thirsty [oil iir\ ii|)T)oei eL xv alva). The water that I will give him
will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." The woman
said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may not become thirsty (|if)
iap)) or have to come here to draw water" (John 4:13-15).
In John 6:35, Jesus responds to the crowd's request, 'Sir, always give us this
bread [from heaven]', by disclosing his own identity ('I am the bread of life') and
promising, 'whoever comes to me shall surely not hunger, and whoever believes
in me shall surely never thirsf (oii |IT| oiopfioei JIJIOXE).
The fifth reference to thirst comes in Jesus's declaration at the Feast of
Tabernacles:^"
On the last day of the feast, the greatest day, Jesus stood up and shouted
out, 'If anyone thirsts (v xi Lijj), let him come to me, and let the one
who believes in me drink. Just as the Scripture says, "From within him will
flow rivers of living water".' Now he said this concerning the Spirit, whom
those who believed in him were to receive, for the Spirit had not yet been
given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (John 7:37-39).
This text has long been an interpretive crux. Most interpreters and English
translations follow the 'traditional' (Eastern) interpretation, which places a
full stop after v. 37 and understands the believer to be the source of living wa-
ter in V. 38.^' However, there is much to commend the so-called 'Ghristological'
(Western) interpretation, reflected in my translation, which takes Jesus as the
antecedent of the pronoun aiixoii and thus the source of living water.^^ This in-
terpretation accords with John's teaching elsewhere (e.g. 4:10) and makes good
sense in light of Jesus's preceding invitation to the one who comes 'to me' and
believes 'in me'. Koester suggests that John's ambiguity and symbolism allows for
the Ghristological interpretation to be the primary meaning, with a secondary
application to the believer.^'
In John 4:13-15, 6:35, and 7:37-38, Jesus uses symbols (bread, water) to dis-
close some aspect of his identity and cafl others who have evident need (hun-
ger, thirst) to respond appropriately to Jesus's self-revelation (come, believe,
drink) .^'' These three texts make clear that physical desires for water and bread
50 For background on this feast and its importance for understanding Jesus's statement
in 7:37-38, see Koester, Symbolism, 192-200.
51 Cf. G. D. Fee, 'Once More - John 7:37-39' in To What End Exegesis? Essays Textual,
Exegetical, and Theological (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001), 83-87; Morris, John,
374-78; NRSV, ESV, NIV
52 For a clear articulation of this view, see G. M. Brge, The Anointed Gommunity: The
Holy Spirit in the Johannine Tradition (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987), 88-93.
53 Koester, Symbolism, 14.
54 Koester writes, 'The fundamental structure of lohannine symbolism is twofold. The
primary level of meaning concerns Christ; the secondary level concerns discipleship'
{Symbolism, 13).
348 EQ Brian Tabb
are emblematic of humanity's deeper spiritual need.^^ A similar usage for 'thirst'
language can be identified in the Old Testament.^^ For example, the psalmist
declares that his soul thirsts for God (Pss. 42:2; 63:1), and Yahweh proclaims in
Isaiah 55:1, 'Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters'. Even in Psalm 69,
the suppliant notes that his 'throat is parched' ftom crying out for divine deliver-
ance, and the reference to poison and vinegar in v. 21 is likely metaphorical."
In John 4:10, Jesus says to the woman, 'If you knew the gift of God, and who
it is that is saying to you, "Give me a drink", you would have asked him, and he
would have given you living water'. She initially interprets Jesus's mention of liv-
ing water literally (as flowing or spring water), noting his lack of a bucket, and
thus misunderstands his words. Similarly, the soldiers in 19:29 respond to Je-
sus's saying, 'I thirst', by giving him o^o, likely the same drink {poska, wine vin-
egar diluted with water) that they themselves are likely drinking,^" all the while
impervious to the deeper significance of Jesus's thirst. They take iijj) literally
and so 'judge according to appearance' but do not judge 'with right judgment'
(7:24).^^ In contrast, the disciple at the cross responds rightly by apprehending
the spiritual significance of Jesus's completion of Scripture and bearing witness
that others might believe and find life (19:35; cf. 20:31).
Jesus's physical thirst serves as an emblem of his thirst to drink 'the cup' the
Father gave him (18:11). In the Old Testament, Yahweh's 'cup' typically refers to
'the cup of his wrath' (Isa. 51:17; cf. Ps. 75:8; Isa. 51:22; Jer. 25:15, 28; 51:7; Hab.
2:16). Here in John, the cup signifies 'the bitterness of the suffering and death he
must endure' in his mission to lay down his life for his own in loving obedience
to the Father (cf. 10:14-18; 14:31).^ Because Jesus 'knew that he had come ftom
God and was going back to God' (John 13:3), his thirst at the cross suggests fur-
ther his earnest desire to return to his Father.^'
55 R. A. Culpepper viTrites, '|W)ater and food are for him primarily symbolic of higher
realities'; Anatomy of the Fourth Gospel (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1983), 110. Cf.
Koester, Word of Life, 143-44; R. A. Culpepper, 'The Theology of the lohannine Passion
Narrative: lohn 19:16b-30', ATeof 31 (1997), 21-37, esp. 32.
56 Cf. also lQHa 12:11, where the 'drink of knowledge' is vnthheld from those who thirst,
and they are given vinegar to drink that they may see their error.
57 M. E. Tte takes the offer of poison and vinegar as metaphorical representations of
betrayal coming from those who should be sympathetic friends; Psalms 51-100 (WBC
20; Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2005), 199.
58 See C. S. Keener, The Gospel of John: A Commentary [2 vols.; Peabody: Hendrickson,
2003), 2:1147, who follows Blinzler on this point.
59 Michaels also perceives in the soldiers' response characteristic lohannine
misunderstanding [lohn, 963). Though he does not discuss lohn 19:29, see the helpful
exposition of this motif by D. A. Carson, 'Understanding Misunderstandings in the
Fourth Gospel' TynB 33 (1982), 59-91.
60 Ridderbos, John, 578. The cup symbolism is further developed in Matthew 26:39 par.
61 R. Schnackenburg after appealing to lohn 4:34 and 18:11 writes, 'Hunger and thirst
become images for lesus's desire to fulfil the Father's will to the end'; The Gospel
according to Saint John (trans. D. Smith and G. A. Kon; 3 vols; New York: Crossroad,
1968), 3:283.
Jesus's Thirst at the Cross EQ 349
IV. Irony and Intertextuality in John 19:28
Paul Duke claims that 'all irony (1) is a double-layered or two-storied pbenom-
enon, (2) presents some kind of opposition between tbe two levels, and (3)
contains an element of "innocence" or unawareness'.^^ As Culpepper notes, 'So
tboroughly ironical is the evangelist's view of Jesus's death that each step along
the via dolorosa discloses fresh ironies'.'^^ John 18:28-19:16 is a clear example of
sustained narrative irony. Though Jesus is arrested and put on trial for his life,
'the apparent judge and accusers are in fact judged and condemned by the One
thought to be on trial'.^ The scene concludes with the chief priests rejecting Je-
sus's kingship and apparently Yahweh's kingship as well, as they blaspbemously
assert, 'We have no king but Caesar' (19:15).'^^ In this scene, the Jewish lead-
ers and Pilate are unable to grasp the nature of Jesus's kingship (cf. 18:36-37),
though disciples 'judge with right judgment' (cf. 7:24) and affirm with Nathanael
that Jesus indeed is 'the Son of God' and 'the King of Israel' (1:49). Thus O'Day
observes, 'An analysis of the ironic interplay between Jesus and bis interlocutors
in the Fourth Gospel suggests that in irony John found the perfect vehicle for his
theology of revelation'.^'^
The narrative irony continues in 19:19-22 as the Jews dispute the wording
of the titulus placed at the cross. Pilate stands by what he wrote on the trilin-
gual sign, 'Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews' (20), and he retorts, 'What
I have written, I have written' (22). The five-fold repetition of Ye<j)co in this
scene is striking, as this term up to this point in the Fourth Gospel refers ex-
clusively to what is written in Scripture (cf. 1:45; 2:17; 5:46; 6:31, 45; 8:17; 10:34;
12:14, 16; 15:25). While Pilate likely intends to mock or intimidate the Jews by
saying that this humiliated, crucified man is the 'King of the Jews', his notice at
the cross ironically becomes in John's narrative 'a world-wide proclamation of
enthronement'.'^''
There is some debate over wbetber Jesus's tbirst in 19:28 is appropriately
called irony. In his definitive study of irony in John, Duke minimizes the irony in
62 P D. Duke, Irony in the Fourth Gospel (Atlanta: John Knox, 1985), 13. In this definition.
Duke is indebted to D. C. Muecke, The Compass of Irony (London: Methuen, 1969),
19-20.
63 Culpepper, Anaiomy, 174.
64 Duke, Irony, 127. Cf. Jesus's words to his opponents in John 9:39.
65 In the Old Testament, Yahweh is Israel's true king (cf. 1 Sam. 8:7; Isa. 6:5; 41:21; 43:15;
44:6; 52:7). This point is explicated in the Greater Hallel in the Passover haggadah,
'From everlasting to everlasting though art God; Beside thee we have no king,
redeemer, or savior, ... We have no king but thee' [b. Pesach 118a, cited hy Keener,
John, 2: U32).
66 G. O'Day, 'Narrative Mode and Theological Claim: A Study in the Fourth Gospel', JBL
106: 657-68, citing 664.
67 Brown, John, 2:919. As W. Garter notes, 'At the very moment of Pilate's apparent
triumph the narrative ironically sets his actions in a larger context of God's purposes
that Pilate cannot see, and in which he will not do well'; Pontius Pilate: Portraits of a
Roman Governor (Gollegeville: Liturgical Press, 2003), 151.
3 5 Q EQ Brian Tabb
19:28, while Culpepper calls it an example of'profound irony', t hough he does not
dwell on t he point.'^" Nevertheless, all t hree of Duke's above criteria for irony are
observed. First, Jesus's t hirst is 'double-layered', as he is no doubt actually thirsty
yet is concerned with drinking t he Father's cup (18:11) and so bringing Scripture
to complet ion (19:28). Second, t here is t ension between t he 'plain meaning' of
physical t hirst and t he deeper spiritual realities of t hirst in t he Fourth Gospel.
Third, t he soldiers who offer Jesus oo in verse 29 are unaware of t he profound
significance of Jesus's t hirst . Conversely, t hose who int erpret Jesus's t hirst in light
of Scripture (Ps. 68:22 LXX) and t he wider context of John 'judge with right judg-
ment ' (cf. 7:24) and discern further significance in his saying.
In John 7:37, Jesus cries out in t he t emple on t he climactic day of t he Feast
of Booths, 'If anyone t hirst s (v xi ii|)), let him come to me, and let t he one
who believes in me drink', and in 4:14 Jesus declares t hat t he water he provides
will satisfy one's thirst forever and will well up unt o et ernal life. However, at his
final Passover he says, '/t hirst '. This striking st at ement at t he cross is indeed pro-
found irony, as t he giver and source of living water now thirsts at t he cross. Jesus
is brought to t he point of t hirst in his deat h so t hat he might satisfy believers'
spiritual t hirst for God t hrough his gift of t he Spirit, promised in 7:39. Follow-
ing his resurrection, Jesus breat hes on his disciples and says, 'Receive t he Holy
Spirit' (20:22). However, in John 19:30 t he phrase reaQcjjxEv xo 3xvEi|ia may
mean more t han t hat Jesus 'gave up t he ghost' (KJV; NRSV: 'gave up his spirit)
and handed over 'his spirit' as in his life force in deat h. The phrase, formally
t ranslat ed 'he handed over t he spirit', could signal t hat at t he cross Jesus prolep-
tically hands over t he Spirit.^^ This is suggested further by t he remarkable fiow
of water from Jesus's side in 19:34, since water is clearly int erpret ed as a symbol
of t he Spirit in 7:37-39.^" As Brge writes, 'It is t hrough t he deat h of Jesus t hat
t he Spirit is given'.'' Jesus's condit ion of t hirst indeed reects his full experience
of t he human condition, but it has further significance. His t hirst signifies his
longing to bring his Father's will to its appoint ed end, which involves dying vi-
cariously for his own and giving t he Spirit to t hose who believe (cf. 7:39, 10:11).
It also entails his desire to finish his work and so depart and be glorified in his
Father's presence (17:4-5).
The present at ion of Jesus's final moment s at t he cross in John 19:26-34 is
explicidy linked with his first miracle at Cana (2:1-11) in several ways. Jesus's
mot her is ment ioned in t he Fourth Gospel only at t he wedding at Cana and at
t he cross, and bot h times Jesus addresses her with t he curt greeting, 'Woman'
(yivat, 2:4; 19:26). Jesus tells his mot her at t he wedding, 'My hour has not yet
come' (2:4), but in his passion Jesus announces, 'The hour has come' for him
68 Duke, Irony, 51; Culpepper,/l/xafomy, 195.
69 As argued by Brge, Anointed Community, 133-35. Cf Brown, John, 2:951.
70 For water as a symbol of t he spirit in lohn, see Koester, Symbolism, 192-202. Cf L. P
Jones, The Symbol of Water in the Gospel of John (JSNTSup 145; Sheffield: Sheffield
Academic Press, 1997).
71 Bviige, Anointed Community, 135.
Jesus's Thirst at the Cross EQ 351
to be glorified (12:23; 17:1). At Gana, John highlights the QXI of Jesus's signs by
which he revealed his glory (2:11); at the cross, John records the xXo of Jesus's
ministry (19:28-30), as he is 'glorified' in his death (12:23). At Gana, Jesus turns
water into wine (2:9-10); at the cross, water and blood pour from Jesus's side
(19:34).^^ At Gana, Jesus provides the best wine in abundance (2:10); at the cross,
Jesus 'thirsts' and is given the sour wine (19:28-30).'^
Therefore, John's 'novel' use of Scripture in 19:28 entails much more than a
proof-text of the Messiah's anticipated suffering. Jesus's penultimate word from
the cross 'I thirst' evokes the lament of the righteous suppliant in Psalm 69 who
bears reproach for his identification with the God of Israel and calls out for sal-
vation. However, when the thirst and sour wine of Psalm 68:22 LXX are consid-
ered in light of John's portrayal of Jesus as the giver of living water and provider
of the best wine (2:10; 4:14), the meaning of this Old Testament allusion is re-
calibrated in an ironic and profoundly significant way. Jesus does not cry out for
salvation as the psalmist does (Ps. 69:2, 'Save me, O God!'); rather, he becomes
'the Savior of the world' hy his vicarious death for his own (John 4:42; 10:15).
Jesus thereby fulfills the hope of Ps. 69:35 that 'God will save Zion' in a most un-
expected way. He willingly drinks the Father's cup of judgment (18:11) and it is
precisely in his death that he provides the gift of the Spirit (19:30) to slake believ-
ers' thirst (7:37-39).'^
Ahstract
This article addresses three primary questions about John 19:28: (1) What Scrip-
ture is 'fulfilled'? (2) Why does John employ the unique fulfillment formula iva
x8X.8i)6f| f) YQa(t)fi? (3) What is the nature of Jesus's 'thirst'? The author under-
stands 19:28 as a 'formal allusion' to Psalm 69:21 [68:22 LXX]. In light of the con-
text of Psalm 69 and the previous usage of'thirst' language in the Fourth Gospel,
Jesus's penultimate saying in John is profoundly ironic, as the giver of living wa-
ter and the best wine thirsts and drinks sour wine at the cross. The fulfillment
formula in 19:28 signals that Jesus's conscious aim in his death was the comple-
tion of Scripture, which includes giving the Spirit to those who believe (7:37-39).
Jesus's physical thirst is emblematic of his thirst to drink 'the cup' the Father has
given him (18:11) and to depart to his Father.
72 The connection between wine (John 2:10) and blood (19:34) is strengthened by the
familiar symbolism of the Lord's Supper (Matt. 26:27-29 par.) and by Jesus's earlier
reference to drinking his blood in John 6:54.
73 This final point is noted by Gulpepper, Anatomy, 195.
74 An earlier version of this article was presented at the ETS Annual Meeting (Atlanta,
2010).