Muhammad, Menahem, and the Paraclete: new light on Ibn Ishaq's (d. 150/767) Arabic version of John 15: 23?16: 1

Biblical proof-texts for the prophethood of Mu ammad play a prominent role in early Muslim interest in the Bible. This study re-examines the earliest known attempt by Muslims to find such a biblical proof-text in the New Testament - the Arabic version of Jesus's sermon on the "advocate/comforter" (Gk. parákletos) in John 15: 23-16 found in Ibn Is aq's Kitab al-Maghazi. Key to understanding Ibn Is aq's adaptation of the Johannine text, this study argues, is the Christian Palestinian Aramaic Gospel behind it as well as the climate of Late Antique apocalypticism and messianism out of which Ibn Is aq's distinctively Islamic version emerged. This study concludes with an interpretation of Quran 61: 6, which appears to claim that Jesus prophesied a future prophet named A mad.