Place Written: Ephesus or near

Writing Completed: c. 98 C.E.

5. When is John believed to have written his Gospel?

⁵ Although John’s writings themselves give no definite information on the matter, it is generally believed that John wrote his Gospel after his return from exile on the island of Patmos. (Rev. 1:9) The Roman emperor Nerva, 96-98 C.E., recalled many who had been exiled at the close of the reign of his predecessor, Domitian. After writing his Gospel, about 98 C.E., John is believed to have died peacefully at Ephesus in the third year of Emperor Trajan, 100 C.E.

6. What evidence indicates that the Gospel of John was written outside Palestine, at or near Ephesus?

⁶ As to Ephesus or its vicinity as the place of writing, the historian Eusebius (c. 260-342 C.E.) quotes Irenaeus as saying: “John, the disciple of the Lord, who had even rested on his breast, himself also gave forth the gospel, while he was living at Ephesus in Asia.”a That the book was written outside Palestine is supported by its many references to Jesus’ opponents by the general term, “the Jews,” rather than “Pharisees,” “chief priests,” and so forth. (John 1:19; 12:9) Also, the Sea of Galilee is explained by its Roman name, Sea of Tiberias. (6:1; 21:1) For the sake of the non-Jews, John gives helpful explanations of the Jewish festivals. (6:4; 7:2; 11:55) The place of his exile, Patmos, was near Ephesus, and his acquaintance with Ephesus, as well as with the other congregations of Asia Minor, is indicated by Revelation chapters 2 and 3.

7. Of what importance is the Papyrus Rylands 457?

⁷ Bearing on the authenticity of John’s Gospel are important manuscript finds of the 20th century. One of these is a fragment of John’s Gospel found in Egypt, now known as the Papyrus Rylands 457 (P⁵²), containing John 18:31-33, 37, 38, and preserved at the John Rylands Library, Manchester, England.b As to its bearing on the tradition of John’s writership at the end of the first century, the late Sir Frederic Kenyon said in his book The Bible and Modern Scholarship, 1949, page 21: “Small therefore as it is, it suffices to prove that a manuscript of this Gospel was circulating, presumably in provincial Egypt where it was found, about the period A.D. 130-150. Allowing even a minimum time for the circulation of the work from its place of origin, this would throw back the date of composition so near to the traditional date in the last decade of the first century that there is no longer any reason to question the validity of the tradition.”