Thanks, John, for your thoughts; the adding of detail is an inference scholars have often made to account for John's details. However, when Matthew and Luke make use of Mark, they more often than not omit details--names, places, mundane references--while adding units of material. If John operated as did the other gospel writers, the prevalence of nonsymbolic, illustrative details in John and Mark suggest proximity to first-hand memory, and many of John's details are not expanded upon symbolically. They are simply referenced and left at that.
Yes, ropes were cheaper, but the spike through the heel of the crucifixion victim in Jerusalem, Jehohanan, was NOT a rope. And, there is no archaeological evidence of rope-crucifixion victims in Jerusalem, so assuming cheaper must have been the case--versus the Johannine presentation of nails and a spear thrust--is total conjecture. Further, when Jesus showed his disciples his hands and his feet in Luke 24:20, was he showing them his rope burns? Go ahead and believe it, but both Luke and John present a memory of nails--attested by the archaeological discovery of a nail-pierced crucifixion victim in Jerusalem--and that is a material fact. I did publish an essay along these lines in Vol. 2 of the John, Jesus, and History Project, but I believe the argument is non-compelling overall. With appreciation, thanks for sharing.
Thanks, John, for your thoughts; the adding of detail is an inference scholars have often made to account for John's details. However, when Matthew and Luke make use of Mark, they more often than not omit details--names, places, mundane references--while adding units of material. If John operated as did the other gospel writers, the prevalence of nonsymbolic, illustrative details in John and Mark suggest proximity to first-hand memory, and many of John's details are not expanded upon symbolically. They are simply referenced and left at that.
Yes, ropes were cheaper, but the spike through the heel of the crucifixion victim in Jerusalem, Jehohanan, was NOT a rope. And, there is no archaeological evidence of rope-crucifixion victims in Jerusalem, so assuming cheaper must have been the case--versus the Johannine presentation of nails and a spear thrust--is total conjecture. Further, when Jesus showed his disciples his hands and his feet in Luke 24:20, was he showing them his rope burns? Go ahead and believe it, but both Luke and John present a memory of nails--attested by the archaeological discovery of a nail-pierced crucifixion victim in Jerusalem--and that is a material fact. I did publish an essay along these lines in Vol. 2 of the John, Jesus, and History Project, but I believe the argument is non-compelling overall. With appreciation, thanks for sharing.