Having shown that Psalm 80 is used in a few prominent passages in the Synoptic Gospels, I will now consider the role it plays in Jesus’ famous discourse on the true vine in John 15:1-8. The goal of this chapter is to show that Jesus alludes to Psalm 80 in his teaching on the true vine along with a couple other OT passages that employ the vine as a symbol for Israel. I will argue that Psalm 80 makes a unique contribution to the text that cannot be explained by appealing to any of the other passages.
In John 15:1-8, Jesus uses the image of the vine to teach his disciples about himself and the importance of their “abiding in” him and bearing fruit. He makes three allegorical identifications that form the foundation of the teaching: Jesus is the vine (v. 1a), his Father is the vinedresser (v. 1b), and the disciples are the branches (v. 5). I will argue that these three major building blocks of the image should be traced back to Psalm 80. Jesus’ focus in the passage is on warning the disciples away from fruitlessness and destruction (vv. 2a, 6) and urging them to remain connected to him as fruitful branches that glorify God (vv. 2b, 4-5, 8).
Possible OT Intertexts
Before arguing for an allusion to Psalm 80, I will consider the other texts that may be in play in John 15:1-8. Unlike the passages in Mark treated in the previous chapters, due to a lack of verbal overlap there is no scholarly consensus that a particular text or texts are alluded to in John 15:1-8.[1] Some see a Mandean background for the vine imagery, but an OT source is more likely.[2] It is also possible that John has taken the vine image from its use in the Synoptic Gospels, but the uses of the image are so different that it is best to look elsewhere.[3] The OT passages most often mentioned are Isaiah 5 and 27; Jer 2:21; Ezekiel 15, 17, and 19; Psalm 80; and Sir 24:17-21,[4] which are frequently but briefly cited to show that the image of a vine often represents Israel.[5] Sometimes, it is asserted that all of the passages portray Israel negatively as a fruitless vine deserving judgment, to which Jesus contrasts himself and his disciples as a fruitful, true vine.[6] This assertion is certainly debatable as far as Psalm 80 and Isaiah 27 are concerned. On the other hand, when commentators include analysis of these texts to determine which are the most relevant, a number of similarities stand out; yet none provides a full source for the teaching.
Jeremiah 2:21, for instance, may be the source for the “true vine” (ἡ ἄμπελος ἡ ἀληθινή) since it refers to Israel as “a choice vine, a completely faithful (אמת; ἀληθινήν LXX) seed.”[7] Isaiah 5:1-7 may provide the identification of God as the vinedresser,[8] and when taken together with Isaiah 27 may supply a possible background for the alternatives of burning or fruitfulness.[9] It must be noted, however, that God is not referred to as Father in his role of the vinedresser in Isaiah 5 as in John 15:1 and that the burning refers to the vine instead of the branches as in John 15:6. While it may be plausible to posit a combination of Isaiah 5 and 27, the burning in judgment for unfruitfulness is better explained from Ezekiel, and God’s blessing on the vineyard and his portrayal as vinedresser are better explained from Psalm 80.[10]
Taking Ezekiel 15, 17, and 19 together as a major source for John 15, Marianne Meye Thompson notes four points of connection:
First, in Ezekiel the vine is distinguished from branches (Ezek 15:2; 17:6–9; 19:10–14), as it is also in John (see also Ps 8:8–16 [sic]). Second, there are five references to κλῆμα for “branch” in Ezek 15, 17, 19; this is about as many instances as in the rest of the LXX, and John 15 is the only passage in the NT to use the word at all. Third, all three chapters of Ezekiel contain imagery of either withered or pruned branches that are to be burned in judgment by God. Fourth, and perhaps most interesting, Ezek 15:4 (LXX) speaks of throwing branches into the fire at the “yearly pruning” (τήν κατ’ ἐνιαυτὸν κάθαρσιν; not in the MT) and is the only biblical passage which uses the word “cleansing” (κάθαρσις) for this act. John 15:2 speaks of “cleansing” (καθαίρω) the branches of the vine, and of the branches being clean (καθαρός).[11]
Since the similarities are too great to be coincidental in this case, it is likely that John 15 draws on these passages. It does so, however, while creatively changing certain significant details. Thompson notes that the pruning that forms the lexical connection between Ezek 15:4 and John 15:2 has opposite meanings in the two passages: positive in John but negative in Ezekiel.[12] A still bigger difference is the portrayal in John 15 of a messianic individual as the vine rather than the nation. Rainer Borig points out that application to an individual is already present in Ezek 17:5-8 where the vine represents a member of the royal house (v. 13),[13] but this king is assessed very negatively by the prophet and brings destruction on the nation instead of salvation.
Sirach 24:17-21 may provide another intertext as Wisdom compares herself in the first person to a fruitful vine and invites the listener to “eat your fill of my fruits” (v. 19). The most significant similarity to John 15 is the first person use of the vine imagery, not to mention the parallel in John 4:13-14.[14] Ben Witherington considers this the most relevant of the possible intertexts and uses it as the basis for interpreting Jesus as the vine from a Wisdom perspective.[15] While this is not impossible, the use of the imagery is very different with regard to the relationship between Wisdom and her followers, on the one hand, and Jesus and his disciples, on the other. A. T. Hanson rightly observes that the passage at first glance “is striking, but in John the disciples are part of the vine,” rather than those who eat and drink from it.[16] Consequently, I do not find the passage to be of much relevance for John 15.[17]
Thus, the frequent use of the vine image in the OT undoubtedly provides an important context for understanding Jesus’ teaching. Jeremiah 2:21 and Ezekiel 15, 17, and 19 provide some key features of the discourse on the vine in John 15, specifically, the important term “true vine,” the use of κλῆμα, the focus on burning as judgment for fruitlessness, and the prominence of pruning the vine. There is too little evidence to conclude that the other texts considered above are actually in play in John 15.[18]
Before showing how Psalm 80 fills in other major features of the discourse, one further note is in order. It is interesting that if the Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel passages are viewed as the major influences on John 15, the predominately negative tone in these texts necessitates the conclusion that Jesus is contrasting himself with Israel as vine. Whereas Israel fails to produce fruit and is consequently punished, he is the true and fruitful vine. In this case, John 15 is not interpreting the passages as prophecies fulfilled in Jesus but as foils for Jesus’ teaching about himself.[19] We will see below that the case is different with Psalm 80.
Allusion to Psalm 80
Of all the NT passages treated in this study, it is in John 15 that most scholars have seen the influence of Psalm 80.[20] There are three types of evidence that argue for an allusion to Psalm 80 here: (1) it can account for the identifications of the Son, the Father, and the disciples in the vine image; (2) it possesses some features in common with the Ezekiel passages that are in play; and (3) it provides a more direct use of the OT than other options. I believe that this evidence shows that not only is Psalm 80 alluded to in John 15, but it is the most influential allusion in the passage. Before addressing these issues, I will say a brief word about the most common evidence cited for the involvement of Psalm 80 in John 15, which I find unconvincing.
Commentators frequently point to a connection between the vine and the son of man in Psalm 80 as the source for Jesus’ use of the image in John 15. C. H. Dodd,[21] who has been followed by many,[22] suggests that both the vine (vv. 9-17) and the son of man (v. 18) in Psalm 80 are symbols for the people of God and that the two are strongly connected in the LXX by the inclusion of a second υἱὸν ἀνθρώπου in v. 16b paralleling αὐτην ἣν ἐφύτευσεν ἡ δεξιά σου (“that which your right hand planted”), which clearly refers to the vine in v. 15. Since Jesus refers to himself as the Son of Man elsewhere in John, it is assumed that the same identification has led to the vine image through Psalm 80. The fact is, however, that “Son of Man” does not appear in John 15 and there is no other reason to believe that this self-designation of Jesus is in view. While the suggestion that the identification of the two figures played a role in John’s use of the vine is certainly possible and attractive, there is no evidence for it from John 15 itself. Raymond Brown concludes, “Whether this reading came about by accident or by theological reflection, one can see how it might have led to symbolizing Jesus, the Son of Man, as the vine. Yet the connection is highly speculative.”[23] Thus, I set this suggestion aside.
Three Main Allegorical Identifications
Jesus begins the discourse on the vine by allegorically identifying himself with the vine (v. 1a and 5a), his Father with the vinegrower (v. 1b), and his disciples with the branches (implicitly in vv. 2-4, explicitly in v. 5a). These identifications are the building blocks for the whole teaching, and each of them can be attributed to Psalm 80 itself or Jewish interpretation of Psalm 80.
The Son Is the Vine
Jesus does not say explicitly that he is the vine by virtue of his sonship, but this is implicit in that he follows “I am the true vine” with “and my Father is the vinegrower.” This Father/Son relationship is the strongest link to Psalm 80. No other vine/vineyard passage in the OT mentions a son, but Psalm 80 makes a strong connection between the vine and the son in vv. 15-16.[24] The psalmist asks God to visit the vine, the shoot his right hand planted...
