The Fourth Gospel (FG) opens with the expression Ἐν ἀρχῇ which coheres exactly with the LXX of Genesis 1:1. The explicit lexical and thematic correspondence between the FG and Genesis has long been noted by scholars like C.K. Barret, D.A. Carson, Craig Keener, Andreas Köstenberger, Brandon Crowe, and Edward Klink III among others. I believe that the connection unpacks the author’s intention of taking the readers back to the original creation narrative to explain the new creation work of Jesus, the last Adam.
In this paper, I argue that there is a significant conceptual and verbal parallel between John 20:22 and Genesis 2:7 (LXX). The connection between the two passages reveals that the portrayal of Jesus as breathing (ἐμφυσάω) on the disciples is an escalated form of God’s divine activity in Genesis 2:7. The conferring of the Spirit in John 20 emphasizes the inauguration of the new era of salvation and the commissioning of the disciples to announce the life-giving message of Jesus I develop the thesis by comparing and contrasting John 20:22 and Genesis 2:7, looking more specifically into the use of ἐμφυσάω in the FG and the LXX. I also examine how the literature of Post-Biblical Judaism (Targums, Qumran texts, Philo, Josephus, et al.) alludes to and interprets Genesis 2:7.
I first analyze the context of John 20:22 and Genesis 2:7, highlighting the organic and progressive character of God’s redemptive storyline, which extends from creation to new creation and centers on Christ. Using G.K. Beale’s criteria for identifying typology, I demonstrate the close analogical correspondence between Genesis 2:7 and John 20:22 by highlighting their lexical parallels and the shared motif of creation. The allusion to Genesis 2:7 not only demonstrates a sort of retrospection but also illustrates how Christ ultimately fulfilled the reception and the communication of the promised eschatological life. Furthermore, in the resurrection, the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45), germinating the new creation. It is within this divine act of “in-breathing” that we see the eschatological fulfillment of Genesis 2:7. This typological fulfillment inaugurates a stage of new creation and brings to fruition all of God’s plan for humanity as envisioned in Adam.