Amphoux, Christian-B. <br/><br/>
The identity and function of John the Witness (Jn 1:6) 

 -  2017.<br/>							 
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<br/><br/> The mention of the name “John,” in Jn 1:6, superimposes several meanings: John the Baptist is the most immediate and the most recognized. But the name refers more fundamentally to the last legitimate high priest of the temple of Jerusalem, Onias, deposed in 175 BCE. The name is also the signature of the Gospel’s author, or more exactly, its two authors of the same name mentioned by Papias in his testimony recorded by Eusebius of Caesarea in his Ecclesiastical History. Such are the many “witnesses” superimposed in only one name, who provide the opportunity to place in evidence one of the difficulties of the scholarly biblical literature.