John gives evidence of an idiom in the discussion with Nicodemus:
John 3: 2 - 3 (RSV):
[2] This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him."
[3] Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Defintion of Idiom: "An expression whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings of its constituent elements, as "kick the bucket" or "hang one's head"..."
There is no question as to Nicodemus understanding the WORDS he hears.
[4] Nicode'mus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"
I believe that the Origin of this idiom is from the Sumerian "Amargi", which literally means "Return to the Mother" and has the attribution of the first use of the meaning of "Freedom". Nicodemus, "...a Ruler of the Jews" is identified tentatively as a Roman. He understands the words but not the idiomatic meaning.
John4: 10 - 11 (RSV):
[10] Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, `Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water."
[11] The woman said to him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; where do you get that living water?
Here is another idiomatic phrase, "Living Water". It is Semitic in origin as well
Berakoth 28A:
"...shall he who is neither a sprinkler nor the son of a sprinkler say to a sprinkler son of a sprinkler, Your water is cave water22 and your ashes are oven ashes?"
Note for 22: "And not living water as required, v. Num. XIX, 27."
This passage is apparently from the early Rabbinical School(s) and is more evidence that the Story is manipulated for effect. "Jesus" doesn't know that the well is a Holy Site and the woman does not understand "Living Water" as an idiom in use by the Priesthood. Which brings us to the following:
John 6: 51 - 52 (RSV):
[51] I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh."
[52] The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
This has the earmarks of an idiom. "The Jews..." understand the words of the idiom but not the meaning this time and the meaning must be explained/redacted to fit the New Religion. BTW, notice that the understanding begins with the bread first, with the introduction of the drink after the explanation.
What would the idiom here be?
I offer one possibility that is explanatory but needs more information added to it before it reaches the Plausibility Stage:
Suetonius, 12 Caesars, "Nero":
"He [[Nero]] drove his tutor Seneca to suicide, although when the old man often pleaded to be allowed to retire and offered to give up his estates, he had sworn most solemnly that he did wrong to suspect him and that he would rather die than harm him. He sent poison to Burrus, prefect of the Guard, in place of a throat medicine which he had promised him. The old and wealthy freedmen who had helped him first to his adoption and later to the throne, and aided him by their advice, he killed by poison, administered partly in their food and partly in their drink..."
This becomes a Titus Story, as also seen in John 3:16. Titus loved Britannicus and ate from the plate that poisoned Britannicus, lying ill for some time.
What would the idiom be?
Thanx all,
CW