Salut et prophéties messianiques dans le septième chant de la Paraphrase de Nonnos

In the seventh chapter of the Paraphrase of St. John’s Gospel, Nonnus of Panopolis deals with the theme of disbelief through the controversy between Christ and the group of Jews/Pharisees about the interpretation of the messianic promises in the Scriptures and about Christ’s messianity. The cause of the dispute, according to Nonnus, is the anger, aroused by envy, of Jews. Therefore, the poet represents the opposition through emotions (for example, anger). He uses emotions as markers to polarize non-believers and believers. All his exegetic work is founded on such polarization. Nonnus interprets Jn 7 emphasizing the dichometis, ‘discord’, as an outcome of the human ignorance in the face of divine wisdom. The Scriptures constantly reveal divine wisdom, but arrogance prevents human beings from recognizing it. The ground for challenge is the Book/Law with its prophecies about the Messianic advent. In this paper, I will present Nonnus’ careful and original exegesis of the main theological questions that are raised in this section of the John Gospel: • the Jesuan interpretation of the two coordinates of space (kosmos) and of time (kairos) of Messianic revelation; • the difference between Jewish and Christian Messianic dogmatics, especially with respect to the need for signs/miracles; • the interpretation of Jn 7:38 about the source of living water (is it Jesus or the believer?); the particular characterization of Nicodemus, a righteous man among the unrighteous Pharisees.