Speakers Besides Jesus in the Gospel of John

(avg. read time: 5–10 mins.)

How much dialogue of direct discourse (that is, where things are quoted and not simply summarized) in the Gospels is said by characters who are not Jesus? That is, in red-letter editions of the NT, how much of the dialogue (not simply written by the narrator or Scripture quotes provided by him) is not in red? I am not a biblical narrative critic by trade, and this is no full-blown piece of narrative criticism. It is simply a brief reflection and a reference resource that stemmed from a realization I had that there seemed to be an unusual amount of dialogue in the Gospel according to John in which Jesus was not a participant or at least not the speaker. That prompted me to compare John with the other Gospels to see if that initial impression was borne out.

Overall, though I have based this on verse portions more than word portions (and I think a word count analysis would still ultimately uphold the conclusion), John does indeed have more text, both in terms of the absolute amount of text and (more significantly) in terms of the amount relative to the length of the Gospel, devoted to dialogue by speakers who are not Jesus. What makes this point more significant in comparison to the other Gospels is that, while Luke features a comparable absolute amount of text devoted to non-Jesus speakers, this is disproportionately represented among the first three chapters before Jesus’s baptism. Furthermore, in most cases outside of the Gospel openings featuring non-Jesus speakers, Jesus is still “onstage,” with rare exceptions like the scene of Herod and others speculating about him (which in Matthew and Mark is followed with the recounting of John the Baptist’s execution). But John features multiple scenes of extended dialogue in which Jesus does not participate, even if he is the subject of the conversation. One can see this particularly in chs. 7, 9, and 11, which have no equivalents in the Synoptic Gospels. Interestingly, while John does feature speech from people who did not speak in the Synoptics, the increase in dialogue from speakers besides Jesus does not come from an increase in the number of speakers. In fact, John features far fewer speakers than Luke, and even fewer than Matthew.

One of the most significant increases John presents is the amount of dialogue attributed to the Pharisees, the Sanhedrin, and other Jewish leaders. This, in addition to some of the characters uniquely prominent in John, may represent the particular relationships of the author and the particular (likely personal) sources he used in contrast to the other Gospels. Similarly, Luke’s significantly larger number of speakers is a result of his combination of distinct sources with the common stock of stories with the other Synoptic authors, a stock which, for the most part, John does not appeal to.

In what follows, I present the speakers besides Jesus in the Gospels with the texts in which they speak. A prefatory note is necessary. While one could multiply the entities by, say, distinguishing every crowd from another crowd, or every angel from another angel, and it is tenable to do so, for the sake of simplicity, I simply treat such cases as categories, so that every unnamed angel is counted as one category, unless there is an explicit note to distinguish. After all, we are simply not in a position to know for sure that each vaguely referenced individual is so distinct. Truly, one could subdivide these references into yet more speakers. Here, I am trying to get a minimal count. Naturally, though, this will be complicated by the fact that we sometimes get references to groups and sometimes to subsets or individuals from the group. To address this, I simply count as one entry each case in which one individual speaks and distinguished those from instances in which they speak as part of a group. With that said, here are the references for anyone who is curious.

Matthew: 1) angel (1:20–21; 2:13, 20; 28:5–7); 2) Magi (2:2); 3) Jewish priests and teachers (2:5–6; 21:16, 23, 25–27, 31, 41; 26:5; 27:4, 6, 42–43, 63–64; 28:13–14); 4) Herod the Great (2:8); 5) John the Baptist (3:2, 7–13; 14:4); 6) God the Father (3:17; 17:5); 7) Satan (4:3, 6, 9); 8) leper (8:2); 9) centurion (8:6, 8–9); 10) Pharisees and teachers of the law (8:19; 9:3, 11; 12:2, 9, 24, 38; 15:2; 16:7, 14; 19:3, 7; 22:16–17, 36, 42); 11) a disciple (8:21); 12) the disciples (8:25, 27; 13:10, 36, 51; 14:15, 17, 33; 15:12, 23, 33, 34; 17:10, 19; 18:1; 19:10, 25; 21:20; 24:3; 26:8–9, 17, 22); 13) demoniacs (8:29, 31); 14) John’s disciples (9:14; 11:2 [John’s words]); 15) synagogue leader (9:18); 16) woman with an issue of blood (9:21); 17) blind men in Galilee (9:27, 28); 18) crowd (9:33; 21:9, 11, 15; 27:21, 22, 23, 25); 19) the people (12:23); 20) someone (12:47); 21) people of Nazareth (13:54–56); 22) Herod Antipas (14:2); 23) Herodias’s daughter (14:8); 24) Peter (14:28, 30; 15:15; 16:16, 22; 17:4, 25, 26; 18:21; 19:27; 26:33, 35, 70, 72, 74); 25) Canaanite woman (15:22, 25, 27); 26) a man with a demon-possessed son (17:15–16); 27) tax collectors (17:24); 28) rich man (19:16, 18, 20); 29) the mother of Zebedee’s sons (20:21); 30) James and John (20:22); 31) blind men near Jericho (20:30, 31, 33) 32) Jerusalemites (21:10); 33) Sadducees (22:24–27); 34) Judas (26:15, 25, 48); 35) false witnesses (26:61); 36) Caiaphas (26:62, 63, 65–66; 27:4); 37) Sanhedrin (26:66, 68); 38) female servant (26:69); 39) another female servant (26:71); 40) others (26:73); 41) Pontius Pilate (27:11, 13, 17, 21, 22, 23, 24, 65); 42) Pilate’s wife (27:19); 43) Roman soldiers (27:29); 44) those who passed by (27:40); 45) those standing there (27:47, 49); 46) the centurion and his soldiers (27:54)

Mark: 1) John the Baptist (1:7–8; 6:18); 2) God the Father (1:11; 9:7); 3) unclean spirits (1:24; 3:11); 4) the people (1:27; 2:12, 18; 5:35; 6:14–15; 7:37; 9:26; 10:49; 11:5; 14:4–5); 5) disciples (1:37; 4:38, 41; 5:31; 6:35–36, 37, 38; 8:4, 5, 16, 19, 20; 8:28; 9:11, 28; 10:26; 11:21; 13:1; 14:12, 19); 6) leper (1:40); 7) Pharisees and teachers of the law (2:7, 16, 24; 3:22, 30; 7:5; 10:2, 4; 12:14–15, 16 [and the Herodians], 28, 32–33); 8) Jesus’s family (3:21); 9) crowd (3:32; 15:13, 14); 10) Gerasene demoniac (5:7, 9, 12); 11) Jairus (5:23); 12) the woman with an issue of blood (5:28); 13) the people of Nazareth (6:2–3); 14) Herod Antipas (6:16, 22–23); 15) Herodias’s daughter (6:24, 25); 16) Herodias (6:24); 17) Syrophoenician woman (7:28); 18) blind man at Bethsaida (8:24); 19) Peter (8:29; 9:5; 10:28; 14:29, 31, 68, 71); 20) man with a demon-possessed son (9:17–18, 21–22, 24); 21) John (9:38); 22) rich man (10:17, 20); 23) James and John (10:35, 37, 39); 24) Bartimaeus (10:47, 48, 51); 25) chief priests, teachers of the law, and elders (11:28, 31–33; 14:2; 15:31); 26) Sadducees (12:19–23); 27) Peter, James, John, and Andrew (13:4); 28) Judas (14:44, 45); 29) false witnesses (14:58); 30) Caiaphas (14:60, 61, 63); 31) Sanhedrin (14:65); 32) female servant (14:67, 69); 33) those standing near (14:70; 15:35, 36); 34) Pontius Pilate (15:2, 4, 9, 12, 14); 35) Roman soldiers (15:18); 36) those who passed by (15:29–30); 37) the centurion (15:39); 38) Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome (16:3); 39) young man/angel (16:6–7)

Luke: 1) Gabriel (1:13–17, 19–20, 28, 30–33, 35–37); 2) Zechariah (1:18, 63, 68–79); 3) Elizabeth (1:25, 42–45, 60); 4) Mary (1:34, 38, 46–55; 2:48); 5) Elizabeth’s neighbors and relatives (1:61, 66); 6) angel (2:10–12); 7) angels (2:14; 24:5–6); 8) shepherds (2:15); 9) Simeon (2:29–32, 34–35); 10) John the Baptist (3:7–9, 11, 13, 14, 16–17; 7:19); 11) crowd (3:10; 18:37; 23:18, 21); 12) tax collectors (3:12); 13) soldiers (3:14; 23:37); 14) God the Father (3:22; 9:35); 15) Satan (4:3, 6–7, 9–11); 16) people of Nazareth (4:22); 17) unclean spirit (4:34); 18) the people (4:36; 5:26; 11:15; 19:7; 20:16); 19) demons (4:41); 20) Simon Peter (5:5, 8; 8:45; 9:20, 33; 12:41; 18:28; 22:33, 35, 38, 49, 57, 58, 60); 21) leper (5:12; 17:13); 22) Pharisees and teachers of the law (5:21, 30, 33; 6:2; 10:25, 27, 29, 37; 11:45; 13:14, 31; 15:2; 19:39; 20:39); 23) Jewish elders (7:5); 24) centurion (7:6–8); 25) people of Nain (7:16); 26) John’s disciples (7:20); 27) Simon the Pharisee (7:39, 40, 43); 28) Simon’s guests (7:49); 29) someone speaking for Jesus’s family (8:20); 30) disciples (8:24, 25; 9:12, 13, 19; 10:17; 17:5, 37; 18:26?; 19:34, 38; 21:7; 22:9); 31) demoniac (8:28, 30); 32) someone from the house of Jairus (8:49); 33) Herod Antipas (9:9); 34) father of a demon-possessed son (9:38–40); 35) John (9:49); 36) James and John (9:54); 37) a would-be disciple (9:57); 38) another would-be disciple (9:59); 39) yet another would-be disciple (9:61); 40) Martha (10:40); 41) a woman in a crowd (11:27); 42) someone in a crowd (12:13); 43) someone (13:23); 44) one who sat at a table with him (14:15); 45) ten lepers (17:13); 46) rich man (18:18, 21); 47) blind man (18:38, 39, 41); 48) Zacchaeus (19:8); 49) the colt’s owners (19:33); 50) chief priests, teachers of the law, and elders (20:2, 5–7); 51) spies (20:21–22, 24); 52) Sadducees (20:28–33); 53) servant girl (22:56); 54) someone else (22:58); 55) someone else (22:59); 56) guards (22:64); 57) Sanhedrin (22:67, 70, 71; 23:2, 5); 58) Pontius Pilate (23:3, 4, 14–16, 22); 59) people who stood watching (23:35); 60) a criminal (23:39); 61) the other criminal (23:40–42); 62) the centurion (23:47); 63) Cleopas and his fellow disciple (24:18, 19–24, 29, 32, 34)

John: 1) John the Baptist (1:15, 20, 21, 23, 26–27, 29–34, 36; 3:27–30); 2) priests [and Levites] (1:21, 22; 19:6, 21); 3) Pharisees and teachers of the law (1:25; 7:45, 52; 8:4–5, 13, 19; 9:16–17, 19, 24, 26, 28–29, 34, 40; 12:19); 4) two disciples (1:38); 5) Andrew (1:41; 6:9); 6) Philip (1:45, 46; 6:7; 14:8); 7) Nathanael (1:46, 48, 49); 8) Mary (2:3, 5); 9) master of the banquet (2:10); 10) the Jews (2:18, 20; 5:10, 12; 6:52; 7:11, 15, 35; 8:22, 25, 33, 39, 41, 48, 52–53, 57; 10:20–21, 24, 33; 11:34; 18:30, 31, 40; 19:7, 12, 14, 15); 11) Nicodemus (3:2, 4; 7:51); 12) John’s disciples (3:26); 13) Samaritan woman (4:9, 11–12, 15, 17, 19–20, 25, 29, 39); 14) disciples (4:31, 33; 6:60; 9:2; 11:8, 12; 16:17–18, 29–30; 20:25; 21:5); 15) Samaritans (4:42); 16) royal official (4:49, 52); 17) the lame man (5:7, 11); 18) the crowds (6:14, 25, 28, 30–31, 34, 42, 52; 7:12, 20, 31, 40–42, 47–49; 10:4; 11:56; 12:13, 34); 19) Simon Peter (6:68–69; 13:6, 8, 9, 24, 36, 37; 18:17, 25; 21:3, 15, 16, 17, 21); 20) Jesus’s brothers (7:3–4); 21) the people of Jerusalem (7:25–27); 22) guards (7:46); 23) woman (8:11); 24) the blind man’s neighbors (9:8, 9, 10, 12); 25) blind man (9:9, 11, 12, 15, 17, 25, 27, 30–33, 36, 38); 26) blind man’s parents (9:20–21, 23); 27) Mary and Martha (11:3); 28) Thomas (11:16; 14:5; 20:25); 29) Martha (11:21–22, 24, 27, 28); 30) Mary (11:32); 31) Sanhedrin (11:47–48); 32) Caiaphas (11:49–50); 33) Judas Iscariot (12:5); 34) Greeks (12:21); 35) God the Father (12:28); 36) the disciple Jesus loved (13:25; 21:7); 37) Judas (14:22); 38) soldiers and officials (18:5, 7, 22, 25); 39) servant girl (18:17); 40) a servant of the high priest (18:26); 41) Pontius Pilate (18:29, 31, 33, 35, 37, 38–39; 19:4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 14, 15, 22); 42) soldiers (19:3, 24); 43) Mary Magdalene (20:2, 13, 15, 16, 18); 44) angels (20:13)