Abstract

This study reexamines the explicit temporal references in John 1:39, 4:6, 4:52, and 19:14 in dialogue with Adam Kubiś’s influential reassessment of time reckoning in the Fourth Gospel. Kubiś challenges the long-standing assumption that John employed a distinct Roman system of hourly reckoning, arguing that both Jewish and Greco-Roman societies generally divided daylight into twelve hours beginning at sunrise. While affirming the significance of Kubiś’s historical critique, this study contends that the removal of a distinct Roman system does not resolve the exegetical questions raised by the Johannine temporal notices. Instead, Kubiś’s work redirects attention from competing chronological systems to the literary, narrative, and communicative functions of time references within the Gospel. By examining the broader Greco-Roman context of the Fourth Gospel and analyzing each temporal reference within its literary setting, this study argues that Johannine temporal notices function not merely as chronological markers but as significant narrative devices that contribute to the Evangelist’s theological presentation of Jesus.