Figury retoryczne pytań w pierwszej części Męki Pańskiej w Ewangelii św. Jana (J 18,1 – 27)

There is a general agreement among the exegetes that the language of the Fourth Gospel is very simple. But surprising is the accusation against St. John regarding his knowledge of the rhetoric: „John did not know many of the rhetorical techniques described by Aristotle, Cicero, and other later rhetoricians” (Ellis).The purpose of this article is to challenge this opinion by presentation of the rhetorical questions, present in the first part of the Passion Narrative according to St. John. As it turns out, each one of nine questions encountered during the reading of Jn 18,1–27 represents a concrete rhetoric question (usually of the category interrogatio/ἐρώτημα, but twice also of the category quaesitum/πύσμα) and each one of them performs a definite function in the text. Therefore, in spite of the simplicity of St. John’s narration, the Evangelist displays quite great literary craftsmanship and demonstrates a very good knowledge of the classical rhetoric andthe ability of its application.