De opstanding van Lazarus (Johannes 10:40–12:11): Bijbelse echo’s in <i>Lazarus is dead</i> (2011) van Richard Beard

Abstract

This article discusses the relationship between the modern novel of Beard and John’s storiesabout Lazarus and Jesus, and wants to give answers to three questions: (1) how is the Lazarusstory in John interpreted by Beard?; (2) what meaning does John’s story have within its ownliterary and cultural setting?; (3) what similarities and differences are there between Beard’sinterpretation and the original meaning of the Johannine story? Questions 1 and 2 require anintratextual analysis, which focuses on the structure and meaning lines in each of the two texts.Then follows an intertextual analysis which in this article is particularly aimed at comparingthe contents of the concepts/ death/ and/ live/ in the Fourth Gospel with the ways in whichthese concepts are semantically coloured in Beard’s book. Studying echoes from the Bible inmodern literary contexts can explain how the rich potential of meaning of biblical texts isbeing unlocked in new texts, time and time again, but can also help us to read the Bible withnew eyes through the lens of modern culture.

Keywords

• Lazarus
• Lazarus is dead
• Richard Beard