A STUDY OF LITERARY PAIRS IN THE FOURTH GOSPEL (STRUCTURALISM, POETRY, PARALLELISM, REPETITION)

The purpose of this dissertation was to study the literary pairs in the Fourth Gospel. Literary pairs are the two member units that occur in clauses, sentences, and pericopae in the Fourth Gospel. Four areas were examined.;The second chapter examined the intent of literary pairs in the Fourth Gospel. Five areas were investigated: (1) the use of other devices in the Fourth Gospel, (2) a comparison of the Passion Narratives with regard to literary pairs, (3) the rhetorical nature of Synoptic parables, (4) the frequency of literary pairs in the Fourth Gospel, and (5) the placement of the literary pairs in the Fourth Gospel. The research revealed that many of the literary pairs in the Fourth Gospel probably are deliberate, rhetorical devices; other pairs probably are the product of a deliberate style of writing; and some of the literary pairs possibly stem from a common pre-Gospel tradition.;The third chapter tested the proposals of scholars concerning the composition of the Fourth Gospel. Various reconstructions and proposals of oral pericopae, sources, and redactions of the Fourth Gospel were examined for the inclusion of literary pairs. The research confirmed the existence of literary pairs in the three strata of composition. The chapter concluded with some suggestions concerning the significance of pairs within the scholarly reconstructions and proposals. The study has significance for the origin of literary pairs, the study of sources, and the unity of the composition of the Fourth Gospel.;Finally, the fourth chapter examined the significance of literary pairs for the interpretation of the Fourth Gospel. By examining the context and possible interpretations of selected passages in which literary pairs occur, the question was asked: how does the existence of the literary pair affect the interpretation of the passage. The research revealed that the significance of the pairs for interpreting the Gospel varied from passage to passage.;The first chapter analyzed the forms in which the literary pairs of the Fourth Gospel occur. The research confirmed the probability that pairs could be classified into four categories: parallelisms, repetitions, couplets, and dualistic vocabulary. However, the possibility of two other forms was acknowledged: paranomastic pairs, and personified pairs.