Geographic Provenance
Geographic Provenance
Four places are commonly proposed. Alexandria is championed by some, on the ground that John has certain affinities to Philo. These are considerably overstated (see e.g., the major commentaries on John 1:1), and in any case one must assume that Philo was read outside Alexandria.
Antioch has been put forward, on the ground that the fourth gospel has some affinities with the Syriac Odes of Solomon, presumed to come from this region, and with Ignatius, who served Antioch as its bishop. Again, however, the assumption that literary influence is possible only in the place of literary origin is seen to be unconvincing as soon as it is stated.
3. The view that the fourth gospel must have been written in Palestine because of its close familiarity with cultural and topographical details peculiar to the region entails the view, strange on its very surface, that any book about the historical Jesus must have been written in Palestine. Both then and now, authors have been known to move around.
4. The traditional view is that the fourth gospel was written in Ephesus. In large part this view depends on the weight given to the uniform but sometimes difficult patristic evidence. Eusebius (H.E. 3.1.1) says that Asia (i.e. Asia Minor, approximately the western third of modern Turkey) was allotted to John when the apostles were dispersed at the outbreak of the Jewish War (A.D. 66-70). Some of the allotments or assignments that Eusebius lists are likely legendary, but perhaps this one is reliable, since it agrees with other sources, for example, Ireneus (Adv. Haer. 3.1.2), who says that "John, the disciple of the Lord...published the gospel while living at Ephesus in Asia.” Some hold, however, that Ireneus confuses John the apostle with another John, the John who writes the Apocalypse (see discussion in chap. 24, below). The fact that the Montanists, who were largely based on Phrygia, not too far from Ephesus, used John is often taken
to support the case for Ephesian provenance; but again, John’s gospel could have been circulating in Phrygia half a century and more after it was written, regardless of where it was first published. What must be acknowledged is that no other location has the support of the church Fathers: rightly or wrongly, they point to Ephesus.