Dr. theol. habil Jörg Frey ist Professor für Neues Testament an der Evangelisch-Theologischen Fakultät der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München.
Dr. theol. habil., Dipl. Ruben Zimmermann, geboren 1968, Diakoniewissenschaftler und ordinierter Pfarrer der Badischen Landeskirche, seit 2009 Professor für Neues Testament an der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.

The Gospel of John is well-known for its wealth and depth of figurative language, metaphors and symbols. These articles, written by some of the leading scholars in Johannine exegesis and particularly in the debate on Johannine imagery, utilize a broad variety of methods of interpretation. The authors provide an in-depth discussion of the variety of terms and forms of figurative speech and explore the conceptual and traditio-historical background of central motifs. Some of the most prominent Johannine images (lamb, king, bread, shepherd, vine, eating and drinking and others) are discussed with regard to their literary design and theological meaning. The collection aims at opening up paths in the tangled thicket of John's figurative world, it amply demonstrates the close relationship between the different metaphors and images in the Fourth Gospel and opens the view to the inter-relatedness of its theological themes.