He Has Given to the Son To Have Life in Himself 411 Of course, the verse speaks of the human “spirit” not “life” but, in the OT conception, it is one’s spirit that is the principle of life. Several OT texts illustrate this belief. Perhaps the most famous is Ezek 37,4-10, where God brings the dry bones to life by the infusion of a spirit. Also Job 34,14-15 says: “For if he (God) were to wish to withdraw and to withhold the spirit (LXX: pneu'ma) from it, all flesh will perish together”. In 2 Macc 7,22-23 the mother whose seven sons are martyred speaks to them saying: “...it was not I who gave you spirit and life (LXX: to; pneu'ma kai; th;n zwhvn). The Creator of the World will give you once again spirit and life (kai; to; pneu'ma kai; th;n zwh;n)”. In both these instances, to; pneu'ma kai; th;n zwhvn is hendiadys (11). Wis itself also clearly reflects this conception when it speaks of the pneu'ma given to the human being as a pneu'ma zwtikovn, a “life-giving spirit” (15,11). As a result, it can be seen that Wis 15,16-17 describes a situation which has a significant bearing on the meaning of John 5,26. In John 5,21, it had been said that the Son gives life to those he wishes. In v. 26, Jesus explains that the basis of this is the fact that the Father has life in himself (oJ path;r e[cei zwh;n ejn eJautw'/) and has granted to the Son the power to have life in himself (ou{tw" kai; tw'/ uiJw'/ e[dwken zwh;n e[cein ejn eJautw'/) (12). Wisdom speaks of the opposite situation and explains that the human cannot transfer life because the individual does not have life “in him/herself”; he/she has a spirit which is only “lent” to the individual (13). * ** To conclude, Wis 15,16-17 provides positive evidence of the contemporary Jewish conviction not only about how humans “have” life but also that, because of the way they possess life, they cannot give it to others. Thus the fact the Father has life in himself sets him apart from all humanity. Moreover the fact that the Father gives to the Son to have life in himself not only sets the Son apart and identifies him as divine also but provides the basis for his ability to give life to others. Thus, through the lens of Wis 15,16-18 we are able to understand more clearly one of the central assertions of the (11) See also 2 Macc 14,46 where God is referred to as Lord of life and spirit (despovzwn th'" zwh'" kai; tou' pneuvmato"). Other texts which speak of spirit as the principle of life include Ps 103,29-30 LXX [104 Heb]; 145,4 LXX [146 Heb]). See F. BAUMGÄRTEL, “pneuma”, TDNT, VI, 359-367; M.C. DE BOER, The Defeat of Death (JSNTSS 22; Sheffield ' 1988) 39-91, esp. 42-47. (12) It is also significant in this regard that in John 3,36 Jesus is said to have the Spirit “without measure”. (13) This view is consistent with that of Wis 15,8, but the intention in each is different. Wis 15,8 speaks of the foolish worker who makes a futile God from the same soil from which he himself had been born only a little time before, and who very soon returns to the same soil from which he was taken, “with the repayment of the debt of his soul” (to; th'" yuch'" ajpaithqei;" crevo"). While it is true that soul (yuchv) can be synonymous with spirit (pneu'ma) (cf the paralleism in v11), and while the impermanence of life is a topic both in v. 8 and vv. 16-17, v8 stresses the similarity between the dirt of which the idol is made and the dirt to which the mortal human has been drawn and will shortly return. What is absent in v. 8 is any discussion of the ability/inability to give life to the idol. It is this latter element of vv. 16-17 which is important for understanding the conceptual background of John 5,26.