(Mt vii, 12; Lk vi, 31)
The last clause of Matthew may be his own addition, or perhaps a formula common among the Christians. It may have been a gloss, or may have been found by Matthew in his recension of Q. At all events, it is not like Matthew to have added it himself; his tendency toward condensation is too well known. Except for this addition the section is sufficiently alike in the two Gospels to admit its assignment simply to Q.
THE NARROW GATE
(Mt vii, 13-14; Lk xiii, 23-24)
With much resemblance in meaning there is here very little similarity in wording. Luke’s saying is much briefer, and is introduced by a question addressed to Jesus. It sounds almost like an abstract of the saying as it stands in Matthew—if only a precedent could be shown for Luke’s making such an abstract. One can hardly speak with any assurance; but considering the difference of setting, the fact that in Luke the verses we are here considering are part of a considerably longer speech, and the slight verbal resemblances, it may be best to assign Matthew’s version to Q, and Luke’s to somesource of his own, whether oral or written. If assignment to QMt and QLk is not impossible, it is certainly difficult.
THE TREE AND ITS FRUITS
(Mt vii, 16-18; Lk vi, 43-44)
For this saying Matthew has a doublet in xii, 33-35. Mt vii, 20, is also an exact reproduction of vii, 16, with the particle ἄραγε prefixed. If Matthew found this saying in two of his sources, it is impossible to say what the second of these was, for it apparently was not Mark. In Matthew’s second report of the same saying he has used the words “generation of vipers,” which he has in iii, 7, ascribed to John the Baptist. The fact that both speeches in which the phrase occurs have to do with trees, and the fact of the repetition, not only of the saying twice in Matthew, but of the same sentence twice in one report, may perhaps indicate that Matthew found the saying only in his version of Q, and is himself responsible for the repetition. Or the saying may have been recorded twice in Matthew’s version of Q, with the variations shown in Matthew’s two citations of it. Upon either hypothesis the form of Mt xii, 35, is much nearer to Lk vi, 45, than is Mt vii, 19-20, or vss. 16-18. The writer assigns the section to QMt and QLk.
WARNING AGAINST SELF-DECEPTION
(Mt vii, 21-23; Lk vi, 46; xiii, 26-27)
Of the first of these three verses in each Gospel, Harnack says it is “perhaps not derived from Q.” But the verse stands in substantially the same context in both Gospels—in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew and the Sermon on the Level Place in Luke. In spite of the difference introduced thruout the verse by Matthew’shaving it in the third person and Luke’s giving it in the second, a reminiscence of the same source may be found in the fact that κύριε is used by Matthew in the vocative, where a more strict construction would require the accusative. The last two verses of the section Matthew has combined with the first, whereas in Luke the context for them is quite different. Thru all three verses Luke seems to have the more primary form. Not only the second person of the verbs, and the direct address of Jesus to the crowd, but the words, “we have eaten and drunk in thy presence and thou hast taught in our streets” have an original sound, whereas Matthew’s form, “Many shall say to me in that day, Lord, we have preached in thy name and in thy name have cast out demons,” would seem rather to come from a time when many men had been preaching in the name of Jesus. Harnack says that the two sayings are “quite independent,” but that there is “a common source in the background.” This common source in the background might be the undifferentiated Q, and the immediate sources might be the two recensions of that document. The general character of the sayings, and the context, would encourage such an assignment. Since here as in many other places the version of Matthew seems to indicate adaptation to a later time, but since the Gospel of Matthew cannot be shown to be later than the Gospel of Luke, it seems fair to attribute the divergence between the two evangelists here to the different history thru which their two versions of their common source had passed before coming into their hands. The writer therefore assigns the section to QMt and QLk, tho not without admission that it might be as well to assign the section in one Gospel to Q and in the other to some entirely other source.
THE TWO HOUSES
(Mt vii, 24-27; Lk vi, 47-49)
Comparison of these sections shows a much slighter verbal agreement between them than might have been expected from their general agreement in idea. Even in idea the agreement is not extremely close. Matthew’s two houses are built, respectively, upon the rock and the sand; Luke’s are built, respectively, with and without a foundation, irrespective of the soil. If Matthew’s version be here regarded as the more primary, as is warranted by the fact of its greater simplicity (Matthew seems here also to be nearer to the Aramaic, as indicated by his recurrent use of καὶ at the beginning of a sentence), the reinterpretation and consequent re-wording shown in Luke’s version are altogether too great to be ascribed to the hand of Luke himself, working upon a source identical with Matthew’s version. Let anyone compare Luke’s treatment of the sayings of Jesus in Mark with the treatment of this saying, which would be required upon the hypothesis of an identical source before him and Matthew, and he will feel that that hypothesis cannot be maintained. And yet, in addition to the general similarity in the sections, there is one other thing that argues strongly for their inclusion in some form of Q, viz., their position, as conclusions, respectively, to the Sermon on the Mount, and the Sermon on the Plain. The writer therefore ascribes them to QMt and QLk.
THE CENTURION’S SON
(Mt viii, 5-10; Lk vii, 1-9)
This is the one narrative section almost universally assigned to Q. But in the first part of the story there is wide divergence. Matthew says the centurion himself came to Jesus. Luke not only says he did not come, butexplains why he sent messengers instead of coming himself. Burton alleges that Matthew’s omission of the item of the messengers is characteristic of him, with his tendency to condensation. But that the messengers were not in the original story, but were added by Luke (or his source) and not omitted by Matthew, is plain from the fact that the conversation, even in Luke, is based upon the supposition that the centurion had made his request in person. In Luke’s vss. 3-6, which contain the account of the sending of the messengers, there are at least five Lucan words (ἔντιμος, παραγενόμενοι, σπουδαίως, μακρὰν, ἀπέχοντος). These occur in the portion of the story unparalleled in Matthew. But there are also three such Lucan words in the two following verses, where the story of Luke runs quite closely parallel to that of Matthew (διὸ, ἠξίωσα, τασσόμενος). The changing of a detail, even an important detail, in the narrative part of such a section, especially when contrasted with general faithfulness to the source in that part containing the words of Jesus, would be characteristic of Luke. The humility and faith of the centurion are much enhanced by the change. Yet, as Jülicher remarks, Luke probably did not invent this item of his story; he may have imported it from an oral tradition, following Q in the remainder of the story. Even the presence of the “Lucan” words would not prove the Lucan invention of the sending of the messengers, since these words may have come from Luke’s special source for this item and not from himself, tho this latter supposition would tell against the assumption that this special source was an oral one. Of these Lucan words, ἔντιμος is used a second time by Luke (xiv, 8) in a passage not paralleled in Matthew; it is not used by him in Acts.Παραγενόμενοι is used once by Mark, three times by Matthew, eight times by Luke in his Gospel, and twenty times in the Book of Acts. Σπουδαίως is found here only in the Gospels, and not in Acts. Μακράν is used once by Matthew, once by Mark, twice by Luke in his Gospel, and three times in Acts. Ἀπέχοντες (in the intransitive sense) occurs twice in Matthew, once in Mark, three times in Luke’s Gospel, and not in Acts. Διὸ occurs once in Mark, once in Matthew, twice in Luke’s Gospel, and eight times in Acts. Ἀξιόω is found in Luke only among the Gospels, and twice in Acts. Τάσσω is found in some texts of Matthew in this passage, but has probably been assimilated from Luke. It is found in one other passage in Matthew, in this passage in Luke, not in Mark, and five times in Acts. These facts cannot be said to throw much light on whether Luke is here to be charged with the verses in which these words occur, or whether they may have stood in his source. But considering the extremely close agreement between Luke’s vss. 7b-9 and Matthew’s vss. 8b-10 (note especially the εἰπὲ λόγῳ, unparalleled elsewhere), the best conclusion may be that the story stood in Q, much as it now stands in Matthew, and that Luke, perhaps having heard this other version of the story, has himself altered the narrative part of it.
“MANY SHALL COME FROM EAST AND WEST”
(Mt viii, 11-12; Lk xiii, 28-29)
In Matthew these words are interpolated into the story of the centurion’s son; in Luke they occur as part of an eschatological speech. They seem better in place with Luke than with Matthew. The sentence “There shall be weeping,” etc., is transposed by one evangelist or the other; as it is used in five other places by Matthew, andas he has probably imported into the story of the centurion the verses in which it occurs, it is probable that the transposition is due to him. There is sufficient divergence in wording between Matthew and Luke to warrant the assignment of the verses to QMt and QLk.
TWO MEN WHO WOULD FOLLOW JESUS
(Mt viii, 19-22; Lk ix, 57-60)
To these two sayings Matthew and Luke supply respectively their own introductions. In the first saying, after the introduction, thirty-one consecutive words are identical, except for Luke’s substitution of εἶπεν for the original λέγει which still appears in Matthew. In the second saying, after the introduction, the verbal resemblance is close, tho not so close as in the first saying. The second half of Luke’s vs. 60 has a late sound, and may be attributed either to Luke or his copy of Q. But the resemblance thruout is close enough to warrant the assignment of the section simply to Q.
“THE HARVEST IS GREAT”
(Mt ix, 37-38; Lk x, 2)
This saying occurs in Matthew’s sending out of the twelve and in Luke’s sending out of the seventy. Twenty-one consecutive words are identical except for the transposition of two words. It is assigned to Q.
“THE LABORER IS WORTHY OF HIS HIRE”
(Mt x, 10c; Lk x, 7b)
Mark and Q both contained accounts of the sending out of the disciples. This is one of the fragments preserved from Q by Matthew and Luke, but not found in Mark. It is identical except for the substitution ofμισθοῦ for τροφῆς. The change may be attributed to Luke or his recension of Q; in this case the change is so slight as to be easily chargeable to Luke; it may bespeak a time later than that indicated by Matthew’s form—a time when the traveling preachers received not only their food but some slight wage. It stood in Q.
“GREET THE HOUSE”
(Mt x, 11-13; Lk x, 5-8)
This is one of the best illustrations of the advantages of the hypothesis of the two recensions of Q. Matthew says “greet the house.” Luke preserves the Aramaic form of that greeting, which was “Peace to this house.” But that this, and not Matthew’s indefinite form, was what stood in the original Q is shown by the fact that Matthew adds, “If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is unworthy, let your peace return to you.”[97]Luke has here the phrase “son of peace,” similar to the phrases elsewhere found in his Gospel, “sons of light,” “sons of consolation,” “sons of this generation,” “sons of the resurrection.” These phrases have an Aramaic sound which we should expect to encounter in almost any of the Gospels sooner than in Luke’s. He certainly never would have invented them. The translation variants stamp the section as belonging to QMt and QLk.
“MORE TOLERABLE FOR SODOM”
(Mt x, 15; Lk x, 12)
The variations are slight. Ἀμὴν might be taken to indicate QMt, but it might also easily have been omitted by Luke because of its Aramaic tone. The section may be safely ascribed to Q.
“SHEEP AMONG WOLVES”
(Mt x, 16a; Lk x, 3)
Luke substitutes ἄρνας for Matthew’s πρόβατα, thus heightening the contrast. It may be assigned to Q.
HOW TO ACT UNDER PERSECUTION
(Mt x, 19-20; Lk xii, 11-12)
Although there is general similarity in idea, there is very little verbal resemblance here, perhaps not enough to warrant assignment to any common source, even in differing recensions. Yet the proximity of other Q material in both Gospels and the general character of the verses will perhaps make assignment to QMt and QLk more reasonable than any other.
THE DISCIPLE AND HIS TEACHER
(Mt x, 24-25; Lk vi, 40)
The agreement here is close for a part of the saying; but Matthew adds a clause about the servant and his lord, and a reference to the Beelzebul controversy. Whether attributed to Luke or his source, his addition of κατηρτισμένος may indicate the feeling that the statement as to the equality of the disciple and his teacher required some qualification. This would be more strongly felt, however, if Luke had preserved the word κύριος, which would refer more unmistakably to Jesus. In Luke this section occurs in the Sermon on the Plain; since Matthew has put much material in his corresponding Sermon on the Mount which is not in Luke’s Sermon on the Plain, even when he has had to bring this from many other connections, it is strange that he has left out of that sermon this saying, which stands in the corresponding discourse in Luke. This is one of the phenomena difficult of explanation uponthe simple hypothesis of Q; since upon that hypothesis Matthew should have found this saying in the same connection as that in which Luke found it, and why, so finding it, he not only took pains to add so much to it, but to transpose it upon the opposite principle to that which he has followed in the transposition of most other Q material, is not easy to explain. On these grounds the saying is ascribed to QMt and QLk.
EXHORTATION TO FEARLESS CONFESSION
(Mt x, 26-33; Lk xii, 2-9)
The agreements and variations in this section are precisely such as to indicate an ultimate common source, but immediate different sources. In Matthew’s vs. 27 and Luke’s vs. 3, with many of the same words retained, the meaning is directly reversed. On the other hand, φοβεῖσθε (φοβηθῆτε) with ἀπὸ is found here only in the New Testament, and not at all in the Septuagint. Unless this be ascribed to assimilation, it is a coincidence too marked to be explained except by the supposition of an ultimate common source. The same thing is to be said of the phrase ὁμολογήσει ἐν in Matthew’s vs. 32 and Luke’s vs. 8. Yet in the midst of the section there is a passage of twenty or twenty-five words in which there is practically no verbal coincidence, tho the idea is the same. Luke substitutes “have not anything else that they can do,” for Matthew’s phrase “can not kill the soul”; it has been suggested that this latter was not congenial to Luke’s Greek method of thot. Where Matthew mentions the price of sparrows as “two for a farthing,” Luke specifies it as “five for two farthings.” The section contains no narrative matter. A comparison of the deviations between Matthew and Luke here, with their agreements with each other insections where they are taking over the discourse material of Jesus from Mark, will show that these deviations are decidedly too great to be ascribed to the agency of either Matthew or Luke. The passage is therefore assigned to QMt and QLk.
STRIFE AMONG RELATIVES
(Mt x, 34-36; Lk xii, 51-53)
Luke’s version seems more elaborated and less original than Matthew’s. Luke certainly would not have substituted the comparatively colorless word διαμερισμόν for μάχαιραν if this latter had stood in his source. Without the hypothesis of the two recensions this section would have to be assigned to totally different, perhaps oral, sources. διαμερίζω is used once by Mark, and Matthew and Luke have both copied it from him in that connection. Neither Matthew nor Mark uses the word again; Luke uses it in five other places in his Gospel, including the section now under consideration. As he uses it but twice in Acts, it seems more likely to have been found in his source than to have been here inserted by him. This would tell strongly against the supposition that Matthew and Luke are here working over an identical source; in other words, it would remove this section from simple undifferentiated Q. Only the general character of the material, its close resemblance in meaning in the two Gospels, and its proximity in each Gospel to other Q material, can justify its assignment to QMt and QLk—and then, even, with uncertainty.
CONDITIONS OF DISCIPLESHIP
(Mt x, 37-39; Lk xiv, 26-27; xvii, 33)
Luke’s statement is much stronger, and so presumably older, than Matthew’s. Wellhausen says Matthew hasbeen “refined out of Luke.” In Matthew, the two sayings about taking up the cross, and about finding and losing one’s life, follow each other; in Luke, at this place, they are separated by more than three chapters. But both Matthew and Luke give both of these sayings a second time, and the second time the two sayings are continuous in both, as they also are in Mark, from whom they are taken. The facts seem therefore to have been that Matthew and Luke each took both of these sayings from two sources; that in Mark the two sayings occurred together; that in Luke’s recension of Q (at least), they were separated; that they were probably separated in Matthew’s Q also, but he has combined them according to his habit, helped here by the recollection of the continuity of the two sayings in Mark. The substitution of “who seeks to find his soul” for the simpler form “who finds his soul” might easily be ascribed to Luke; it is in the interest of logicality. But it is quite unlike Luke to have added from oral tradition, or to have inserted from any other written source, so much matter of his own as is found in his vs. 26. The section is therefore assigned to QMt and QLk.
“HE THAT RECEIVETH YOU”
(Mt x, 40; Lk x, 16)
Luke has a doublet for this saying in Lk ix, 48, where the form is slightly more like Matthew’s than at this point; but ix, 48, appears to be taken from Mark, with reminiscence of Q. The saying is also given twice in the Fourth Gospel, and with the saying just considered constitutes the total of sayings occurring in all four Gospels. Luke has taken the saying once from Mark and once from Q. Considering Matthew’s partiality to doublets,the fact that he has the saying only once might be taken to indicate its absence from his recension of Q. The saying may therefore be assigned to QLk.
THE QUESTION OF THE BAPTIST AND JESUS’ ANSWER
(Mt xi, 2-19; Lk vii, 18-35)
With the exception of the introduction in Luke, this long section may safely be assigned to Q. The preceding narrative in Matthew has supplied a warrant for the statement of Jesus about his healings; Luke, not having led up to the conversation by a similar narrative, inserts the statement here that “in that hour he healed many sick,” etc. After the introductions, the verbal resemblance is extremely close, considering the length of the section. Of one hundred and ninety-nine words in Matthew and two hundred and three in Luke, about one hundred and sixty-eight are identical.
THE WOE UPON THE GALILEAN CITIES
(Mt xi, 20-24; Lk x, 13-15)
This section is practically identical in both Gospels, except for Matthew’s vs. 24 and the last half of vs. 23, which have no parallel in Luke. They are an elaboration upon the words that precede them, and may be ascribed to Matthew or an editor. The section may be assigned to Q.
“I THANK THEE, O FATHER”
(Mt xi, 25-27; Lk x, 21-22)
The introduction, again, has been supplied by each evangelist, tho it is not impossible that the introduction given in Matthew may have been taken from Q. After the introductions, twenty-nine consecutive words are identical. Again, after Luke’s insertion of a few transitional words, the saying, “All things are given to me of myFather,” runs almost, tho not quite, word for word in the two Gospels. The connecting words in Luke would seem to indicate that these two sayings were not consecutive in Q. It is not necessary to have recourse to the recensions here.
JESUS’ DEFENSE AGAINST THE PHARISEES
(Mt xii, 27-28; Lk xi, 19-20)
These verses occur in the midst of a narrative which Matthew and Luke have taken from Mark. Mark has no parallel for these verses, and the resemblance in Matthew and Luke is very close; the saying is in fact identical except for Luke’s use of δακτύλῳ for Matthew’s πνεύματι. The fact that in the succeeding verses Matthew follows Mark practically word for word, while Luke has a version entirely his own, may perhaps indicate that the narrative stood in both Mark and Q, Matthew having followed Mark thruout, except for the verses here considered, and Luke having followed chiefly Q, with an occasional deference to Mark. It may safely be assigned to Q.
“HE THAT IS NOT WITH ME”
(Mt xii, 30; Lk xi, 23)
A statement the exact reverse of this occurs in Mk ix, 40, in a different context. The words here are identical in the two Gospels, the order also being the same. It stood in Q.
JONAH AND THE NINEVITES
(Mt xii, 38-42; Lk xi, 29-32)
Each evangelist has supplied his own introduction. Matthew’s vs. 40 is probably an interpolation, or at least a late addition. Beginning with Matthew’s vs. 41 and Luke’s vs. 32 (the order of Luke’s verses has been reversed, perhaps by error of a scribe, since no motive appears forthe change), there are fifty-three words in Matthew, fifty-five in Luke, and fifty-three of them are identical. The verses are therefore universally assigned to Q.
A SPEECH ABOUT BACKSLIDING
(Mt xii, 43-45; Lk xi, 24-26)
The correspondence here also is very close; out of sixty-two words in Matthew and fifty-five in Luke, fifty-four are identical. Matthew’s surplus of eight words is accounted for by the addition of a clause not found in Luke, and probably a later addition in Matthew; it does not disturb the practical identity thruout the rest of the saying. It evidently stood in Q.
“BLESSED ARE THE EYES THAT SEE”
(Mt xiii, 16-17; Lk x, 23-24)
Luke has supplied his own introduction. Matthew has, as parallel to “the eyes that see,” “the ears that hear.” This may be a later addition in Matthew; or Luke, not caring so much for the Aramaic parallelism as Matthew does, may have omitted it. Luke has “kings” where Matthew has “righteous men”; δίκαιος is a favorite word with Matthew; on the other hand, Luke’s use of “kings” may indicate an apologetic intention upon Luke’s part. The saying may be assigned to Q, and the variations charged jointly to Matthew and Luke.
THE PARABLE OF THE YEAST
(Mt xiii, 33; Lk xiii, 20-21)
The introductions in the two Gospels are slightly different. After these, fourteen consecutive words are alike, the only deviation being Matthew’s use (as always) of τῶν οὐρανῶν where Luke has τοῦ θεοῦ. The parable stood in Q.
THE BLIND LEADING THE BLIND
(Mt xv, 14; Lk vi, 39)
This is another instance of a saying which occurs in Luke’s Sermon on the Plain but outside of Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount. Matthew has apparently inserted it in the midst of a discourse against the Pharisees, the rest of which he has taken from Mark. The sayings in Matthew and Luke are not identical. If the saying stood in Q, and Matthew removed it from its Lucan connection to its present position in his Gospel, this was certainly a very unusual procedure with him. The saying is given as a “parable” in Luke, and has the brevity of the parables that were given in Q, tho not their usual reference to the kingdom of God. It is hard to think of Matthew, with his fondness for these brief parables, deliberately omitting to call the saying by this name when it was so called in his source. On the whole, however, it seems best to assign the saying to Q, and to charge Matthew with its displacement.
A SAYING ABOUT FAITH
(Mt xvii, 20; Lk xvii, 6)
The parallel here is not close. But Matthew has a doublet in xxi, 21, and Mark a similar saying in xi, 22. The saying seems therefore to have been in both Mark and Q, and was taken by Matthew from both sources and by Luke from one. The connection of the saying in Luke indicates that he took it from Q; yet his saying is not the same as Matthew’s, in that he substitutes a sycamore tree for Matthew’s mountain, thus greatly weakening the comparison. The two sayings certainly cannot have been derived by Matthew and Luke from an identicalsource. It is only on the ground of their general logian character that they can be assigned to QMt and QLk.
A SAYING ABOUT OFFENSES
(Mt xviii, 7; Lk xvii, 1)
The comparison here is complicated by the fact that this saying apparently stood in both Mark and Q. It is closely, but in reverse order by the two later evangelists, connected with a saying taken from Mark. It may be assigned to Q.
THE STRAY SHEEP
(Mt xviii, 12-14; Lk xv, 4-7)
There seems here to be little or no literary relationship. The two passages appear to be rather different versions of the same parable, which have come down thru different channels. If it be assumed that Matthew’s version is from Q, there is not enough literary agreement between it and Luke’s to prove the latter to be from any recension of that document. Considering the larger content of Matthew’s recension, and his apparently greater unwillingness to make omissions from it, it might be safe to assign this to QMt, but to leave Luke’s source for his version unspecified. At the same time it is well to remember that the parables stand apparently half-way between the narratives and the sayings, as regards the willingness of the evangelists to deviate from the wording found before them. If enough may be allowed for this difference between parables and sayings, the divergence between the two Gospels in this section might not be considered too great to be accounted for by the known habits of Matthew and Luke, working on different recensions of an original Q; and so the passage might be assigned to QMt and QLk—but certainly not with any confidence.
ABOUT FORGIVENESS
(Mt xviii, 21-22; Lk xvii, 4)
These might be considered merely as variants of the same original saying. If the reference to Peter be taken, like some of the other references to him in Matthew, to be later than the saying itself, the insertion of this reference in Matthew, whether by Matthew or his source, may have changed the form of the saying from its original as preserved in Luke. But the very slight verbal agreement makes any specification of a common literary source hazardous.
REWARDS FOR DISCIPLESHIP
(Mt xix, 28; Lk xxii, 28-30)
The first part of this section varies greatly between Matthew and Luke; with strong similarity in idea, there is practically no verbal agreement. The last ten words are almost identical. Matthew inserts the section into a speech the rest of which is taken from Mark. Luke takes the same speech from Mark, without making this insertion. The verses occur with him in quite another context. His vs. 30ais more primary than anything in Matthew’s version. The first part of the section contains too little agreement to have been worked out of an identical source; the last part agrees so closely as to indicate an ultimate common source. We therefore assign the section to QMt and QLk.
AGAINST THE PHARISEES
(Mt xxiii, 4; Lk xi, 46)
The agreement is slight, but somewhat significant. φορτίον is used only thrice in the New Testament outside of this passage. This is the chief linguistic warrant for assigning the passage to QMt and QLk.
“WHOSO HUMBLES HIMSELF”
(Mt xxiii, 12; Lk xiv, 11)
This proverbial saying is used by Luke in this instance as the conclusion of a speech about taking the chief seats at a feast. He also uses it in xviii, 14, as the conclusion to his parable of the Publican and the Pharisee in the temple. Matthew also uses it in two very different contexts; here as part of a speech against the Pharisees, and in xviii, 4, with reference to a child as type of true greatness. Considering these various usages, the brevity of the saying, and its apparently proverbial character, it can scarcely be assigned to any form of Q, tho it certainly cannot be proved not to have been in that document.
AGAINST THE PHARISEES
(Mt xxiii, 13; Lk xi, 52)
It is possible to regard these rather as variants of the same saying than as workings over of the same source. Even in the divergences, however, some striking resemblances are to be noted. Matthew says κλείετε τὴν βασιλείαν; Luke says ἤρατε τὴν κλεῖδα. These words seem to betray a common literary source in the background. The idea conveyed by the two phrases is the same. Matthew says, “Ye shut up the kingdom of heaven before men”; Luke says, “Ye take away the key of knowledge” (of salvation, probably, as in Lk i, 77). The last part of the saying is still more unmistakably based upon an ultimate common source. Yet, as I have so often argued with reference to other and similar sections, to ascribe to either Matthew or Luke, working upon an identical source, the amount of re-working here involved, credits them with a degree of freedom in the treatment of Jesus’ sayings which finds no parallel intheir treatment of such sayings as they take them from the Gospel of Mark. We therefore assign the section to QMt and QLk. But such assignment cannot be insisted upon.
AGAINST THE PHARISEES
(Mt xxiii, 23-26; Lk xi, 39-42)
There is thruout this section a varying degree of verbal agreement. The sections are very differently placed, Matthew putting them among the Jerusalem sayings, Luke early in the ministry. What is conclusive evidence for some form of Q, indeed for the two recensions, is the translation variant in vss. 26 and 41.[98]The section is thus not merely assigned, but we may say is demonstrated to belong, to QMt and QLk.
A WOE UPON THE SCRIBES
(Mt xxiii, 29-31; Lk xi, 47-48)
There is so little verbal agreement here as to raise the question whether we have not merely two different traditions of the same saying. What inclines us to cling to the assignment to QMt and QLk is the fact that these words are preceded and followed in both Gospels by passages which have much more close verbal agreement with each other than is found in this section. The verses are assigned to Q by all five of the investigators quoted at the beginning of this chapter. But anyone who will compare the slight verbal agreement thruout these verses with the verbal identity shown in other passages assigned to Q will wonder why these scholars have not availed themselves of the hypothesis of the two recensions. For upon the basis of their treatment of other passages, bothfrom Q and from Mark, the divergences in this passage are altogether too great to be assigned directly to Matthew or Luke.
“I SEND UNTO YOU PROPHETS”
(Mt xxiii, 34-36; Lk xi, 49-51)
The assignment of this section to simple Q, and the ascription of all divergences to one or the other of the evangelists, would be easier if it could be shown that either evangelist shows a uniform tendency in the divergences. But such is not the case. Luke seems more primary, and nearer to the source, when he quotes the words of the passage from “The Wisdom of God”; for no evangelist, finding the words ascribed to Jesus in his source, would take them away from him and ascribe them to anyone else. But Matthew, or his source, may merely have interpreted the words “The Wisdom of God” to refer to Jesus. Luke is later than Matthew, where he substitutes “apostles” for Matthew’s “scribes”; but Matthew is secondary to Luke where he has σταυρώσετε, in apparent reminiscence of the death of Jesus. He is also secondary in his vs. 34, which seems to reflect the persecutions of the Christians. But Luke again is secondary in omitting Matthew’s mistaken identification of Zachariah as the son of Barachiah. The use of verbs in the second person in Luke and in the third person in Matthew is accounted for by the quotation in the one Gospel and the direct address in the other. ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς and ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου may be translation variants. Careful comparison of the verbal similarities indicates unmistakably a common literary source lying in the background; but a source much worked over before reaching Matthew and Luke.
THE LAMENT OVER JERUSALEM
(Mt xxiii, 37-39; Lk xiii, 34-35)
Tho placed so differently by Matthew and Luke, this section has the greatest verbal agreement. Out of fifty-six words in Matthew and fifty-three in Luke, fifty are identical. Luke omits the repetition of one verb, omits “desolate” and substitutes two particles of his own for four of Matthew’s. Harnack’s explanation of Luke’s omission of “desolate”[99]on the ground that the meaning is the same without it does not seem conclusive. It is better to assume that it was added by Matthew in deference to Jer xxii, 5. The wording of the section shows so little deviation between the two Gospels that it may be assigned simply to Q.
THE DAY OF THE SON OF MAN
(Mt xxiv, 26-27; Lk xvii, 23-24)
There is slight verbal resemblance here, but enough to indicate unmistakably a literary relationship. QMt and QLk are much more likely than simple Q.
THE BODY AND THE EAGLES
(Mt xxiv, 28; Lk xvii, 37)
In Matthew, but not in Luke, these words form the conclusion to the words just considered. The substitution of σῶμα for πτῶμα sounds like an oral variation; but it may be Luke’s way of avoiding a word which he nowhere uses. The wording is otherwise so close as to warrant assignment to simple Q.
THE DAYS OF NOAH
(Mt xxiv, 37-39; Lk xvii, 26-27)
Luke, or his recension of Q, says here, as elsewhere, “the days of the Son of man,” where Matthew says “theparousia of the Son of man.” The reason for this deviation is not obvious, unless the variation was in the source. We therefore assign the passage to the two recensions.
THE ONE TAKEN, THE OTHER LEFT
(Mt xxiv, 40-41; Lk xvii, 34-35)
In Matthew, but not in Luke, these words are immediately connected with those just discussed. Luke, or his source, wishes to indicate that the parousia may be in the night, and so adds the words νυκτὶ and κλίνης. But the arrangement of the verses is in the same order in both Gospels, and there is strong similarity, especially in vss. 41 and 35. We consider assignment to QMt and QLk to account most nearly for all the facts.
THE WATCHING SERVANT
(Mt xxiv, 43-44; Lk xii, 39-40)
The verbal coincidence here is great. The last fourteen words are exactly alike in both Gospels, even to their order. It should be assigned to simple Q.
THE TRUE AND FALSE SERVANT
(Mt xxiv, 45-51; Lk xii, 42-46)
The connection of these sections with the one just considered is the same in both Gospels. The verbal agreement is equally striking. Out of one hundred and ten words in Matthew and one hundred and two in Luke, eighty-two are identical; twenty-six of these occur consecutively and with no deviation in order. The section may be assigned to Q.
RESULTS OF THE PRECEDING INVESTIGATION
This investigation yields about one hundred and ninety Q verses (in some instances only parts of verses) in Matthew, paralleled by about one hundred and eighty Qverses in Luke. The difference in the number of verses has no significance, being due chiefly to the verses not being similarly divided in the two Gospels. Of this total, ninety-eight in Matthew and ninety-four in Luke are ascribed simply to Q. This does not mean, as has been said before, that Matthew and Luke both had a document Q, and in addition Matthew had a document QMt and Luke another document QLk; but merely that Matthew and Luke had two recensions of Q, each of which had passed thru a history of its own, and had become in many ways differentiated from the other; and that in certain parts of each recension such differentiation had not occurred, so that these sections of the two recensions may still be referred to under the symbol Q. Of the two recensions, therefore, so far as these reappear in parallels in Matthew and Luke, about half in each differs so widely from the same half in the other that it is altogether unreasonable to attribute the difference to either or both of the evangelists.
If it be asked, why we should attempt to attribute to any form of Q this material which is too seriously dissimilar to have been drawn directly by the evangelists from an identical source—why we do not simply assign this to totally separate sources, and restrict Q to the sections which are practically identical in the two Gospels—the answer is: this material in the two gospels seems to betray not merely an oral but a literary affinity; it is of the same general character as that which is assigned directly to Q; and almost without exception, in one gospel or the other or in both, it is inextricably mingled with this.
Thruout this discussion the distinction between narrative material and sayings-material, and the differencein treatment accorded to these two kinds of material by Matthew and Luke, must be constantly borne in mind. The amount of literary divergence that may be fairly assigned to the initiative of Matthew or Luke in their use of a document of sayings is hard to define. But Sir John Hawkins is surely wrong when he says[100]that Matthew and Luke need not be expected to adhere more closely to Q than they do to Mark. For in the sayings of Jesus which they find in Mark, Matthew and Luke do generally adhere very closely. It is in the narrative portions of Mark that they permit themselves liberties. But there is little or no narrative in Q; the only certain instance of narrative being that of the healing of the centurion’s son; and in this instance it is significant that the deviations between Matthew and Luke are in the narrative and not in the logian portions. Speaking of each document as a whole, it should be clear that Q would be followed with very much greater fidelity than Mark by both Matthew and Luke.
Now the translation variants are proof positive of two Greek translations of the original Aramaic Q, these two translations having been made from two texts of the original which betray some divergences or corruptions. Tho these two Greek translations were thus made from two Aramaic copies, nevertheless in about half of the matter which Matthew and Luke agree in taking from these translations no substantial differences had crept in; but half, also, shows deviations too great to be ascribed to Matthew and Luke. If all the matter common to Matthew and Luke were identical, or nearly so, no need would arise for QMt and QLk. If it were all as dissimilar as half of it is, no place would be left for Q of any sort.The distinction between Matthew’s and Luke’s recensions of Q best accounts alike for the agreements and the divergences.
In the preceding examination the number of Q (including QMt and QLk) verses ascribed to Matthew and Luke respectively is substantially the same as the number ascribed to them by Harnack and Hawkins in Tables II and III (pp. 110-11 and 116-17). This agreement merely indicates that Harnack and Hawkins have confined their Q material pretty closely to the sections which show the greatest verbal agreement. The difference between the position reached in these pages and that reached by Harnack and Hawkins is that the present writer feels that those two scholars cannot be justified in ascribing such wide divergences to the literary activity of the evangelists themselves, and that they have hampered themselves by not taking advantage of the fact of the recensions, as guaranteed to us by the translation variants.
Q IN THE SINGLE TRADITION OF MATTHEW (QMt)
Thus far, examination has been made of only such material as is somewhat closely duplicated in Matthew and Luke. Examination will now be made of the sayings that are found in Matthew, unduplicated in Luke, to see whether any of these may also be assigned, with any great probability, to Q. In this unduplicated material no data are at hand for distinguishing QMt from simple Q; but since QMt is the symbol for the copy of Q used by Matthew, that symbol will be employed here instead of Q.
The criteria for distinguishing Q material in Matthew unduplicated by Luke are the general character of the material, chiefly its eschatological use of the phrase “the kingdom of heaven,” its Jewish coloring, its antipathy to the Pharisees, the absence of indications of Matthean invention, and the proximity to and connection with other material heretofore attributed to Q or QMt. This last item is not so important in Matthew, on account of his habit of transposing his Q material; yet within limits it is a valuable criterion.
Examination will be made of all passages in which there is reason to suspect the possible presence of Q material. This having been done in the case of the Gospel of Matthew, a similar examination will be made of the Gospel of Luke. The results of these two examinations will give us data for the comparison of Q as used by Matthew and Q as used by Luke. We shall then be ableto say whether the differences between what we have called QMt and what we have called QLk are too great for the assumption that they are different recensions of the same ground-document. Matter already assigned to Q (or QMt or QLk) will not be examined again. As the sayings reported in each Gospel are examined, in cases where the material is rejected from QMt or QLk, suggestions will be made as to possible or probable sources.
TWO BEATITUDES
(Mt v, 4-5)
Many manuscripts invert the order of these beatitudes. Vs. 4ais a quotation from Ps xxxvii, 11. Vs. 5 sounds like a reminiscence of Ps cxxvi, 5, and Isa lxi, 2. The tendency to apply prophecy to Jesus is especially strong in Matthew; but whether this should be charged to him or his source remains to be determined. The משח of the Hebrew, or the ἔχρισεν of the Greek, of Isa lxi, 1, would forcibly suggest such application in this case. Of the Judaistic and the universalistic tendencies found side by side in Matthew it is probable that the Judaistic are earlier, and therefore that they belonged in the source; the universalistic, naturally assumed to be later, will be more easily attributed to Matthew. Aside from this it is hardly to be assumed that Matthew invented any beatitudes on his own account. From both these considerations it is reasonable to conclude that these two beatitudes were added to Q before it reached Matthew.
FOUR MORE BEATITUDES
(Mt v, 7-10)
For vs. 7 there is no close Old Testament exemplar, tho Joel ii, 13, has been suggested. The suggestion is themore plausible since the same verse would also have served as an indirect source of the next beatitude in vs. 8. There is no reason for crediting Matthew with the manufacture of either of these beatitudes. Vs. 8 may be reminiscent of Ps xxiv, 4; li, 10; lxxiii, 1, as well as of the verse in Joel. “They shall see God” is probably used here in an eschatological sense. An expression combining the ideas and in part the wording of vss. 8 and 9 is found in Heb xii, 14: Εἰρήνην διώκετε ... οὗ χωρὶς οὐδεὶς ὄψεται τὸν κύριον. If this is not a reminiscence of these beatitudes in Matthew, it at least embodies a similar tradition. The δικαιοσύνης of vs. 10 is peculiar to Matthew among the Gospels. From its Judaistic coloring it is to be ascribed to Matthew’s Q rather than to the evangelist himself. If I Peter iii, 14, be allowed to be a direct reference to this beatitude, this will heighten the probability that all these beatitudes were added to Q before its use by Matthew. It is not impossible that Matthew found in Q only the beatitudes now standing in Luke, and that he added these others (also making correction in those now duplicated in Luke), not inventing these himself, but possibly taking them from an oral tradition, or from a separate written source. But this theory seems to the writer to be much more complicated and less probable than the one here advocated. It is quite out of the question that Luke should have found these six beatitudes in his Q and should have omitted them. Yet the beatitudes common to Matthew and Luke are by all scholars attributed to Q. Harnack is undoubtedly correct in saying, “The beatitudes certainly circulated in various recensions from the beginning.”[101]The process of alteration and accretion would begin long before the days of Matthew.
“YE ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD”
(Mt v, 14)
In the Johannine tradition this saying has become “I am the light of the world.” Like the saying, “Ye are the salt of the earth” (in Mt v, 13), it emphasizes, as against Luke’s version, the direct address of the beatitudes and the conjoined sayings to the disciples. It probably stood in Matthew’s Q.
“LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE”
(Mt v, 16)
The intervening vs. 15 is found in Luke. With that verse omitted, the connection between vss. 14 and 16 is improved. I Peter ii, 12, is a reminiscence, or almost a direct quotation, of vs. 16. Of vss. 13a, 14, and 16 it should be observed that, while they are unduplicated in Luke, they change the character of all the words in their context from the character which those words have, so far as they are duplicated, in Luke; for they make of them no longer general remarks, but words of extremely earnest exhortation addressed directly to the disciples. It is extremely unlikely that Matthew should have found the sayings in Q as mere general remarks, and should himself have given them this character of pointed exhortation by inserting the words, “Ye are the salt of the earth,” “Ye are the light of the world,” etc. But it is equally improbable that Luke should have found these pointed words in his recension of Q, and should by their omission have degraded the sayings to the rank of mere general observations. The best way to save these sayings for Q is by the hypothesis of the recensions.
VARIOUS SAYINGS FROM THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
(Mt v, 17, 19-24, 27-28)
Concerning the section v, 17-48, Hawkins says, “I would place this section by itself as one which we may regard as more likely to have formed part of Q than any other which is to be found in a single Gospel.”[102]Yet it is to be noted that in the section of which Hawkins makes this statement there are eleven verses (vss. 18, 25, 26, 32, 39, 40, 42, 44-47) which are not “found in a single Gospel,” but which have very close parallels in Luke, and would on this latter consideration be assigned to Q. This fact heightens the probability that the unduplicated verses should also be assigned to some form of that document. Only those verses are considered here which have no parallel in Luke.
Thruout these verses there is a strong Judaistic coloring. They may be compared in this respect with such other New Testament passages as Rom iii, 31; x, 4; Jas ii, 10; II Pet ii, 14. The words, “till heaven and earth pass away” at the beginning of vs. 18 do not quite agree with the words “until all things be fulfilled” at the end of the verse; the latter words have been suggested by Schmiedel as being a gloss. If, with the two verses that follow them, they be not such a gloss, they are, says Schmiedel,[103]not from the final editor, who does not care for Jewish legalism, but from some earlier editor. In other words, universally attributed as the section is to Q, these words were not in Luke’s version of that document, and it is inconceivable that Matthew should have added them. They are part of the accretion that took place in Matthew’s recension of Q before it reached Matthew. Harnack, however, maintainsthat there is no inconsistency in attributing the words to Jesus himself. Vs. 20 illustrates the unchronological placing of the sayings, since it implies that the break with the pharisees has already occurred. In vss. 21 and 22 is the word ἔνοχος, occurring four times; Matthew uses it in one other passage where he has taken it from Mark, who uses it twice; but Luke consistently avoids it, both in his Gospel and in Acts. Unchronological in their setting are also the words in vss. 23-24; they were evidently spoken in Jerusalem, not in Galilee. They would not have been added from an oral tradition, much less invented, in times as late as those of the final editor of the Gospel.
A SAYING ABOUT OFFENSES
(Mt v, 29-30)
For this saying there is a doublet in Mt xviii, 8-9, taken from Mk ix, 43-48. Mark may in this passage also have been following Q. That this saying should have been absent from Luke’s recension of Q, while present in that of both Matthew and Mark, and that it should also, as Dr. Stanton maintains, have been absent from Luke’s copy of Mark, seems rather too much of a coincidence. But the saying is like several others which Luke omits because of their strong tincture of asceticism, or because the instructions in them might be understood in too literal a way. Whether it was or was not in Luke’s recension of Q, its character and connection seem to indicate its presence in Matthew’s recension of that document.
THE COMMANDMENT ABOUT DIVORCE
(Mt v, 31)
Like vss. 21, 27, 33, 38, and 43 of this same chapter, this verse quotes an Old Testament commandment, asintroductory to the teaching of Jesus upon the subject of that command. Since much of the teaching of Jesus upon these items is duplicated in Luke, but this quotation of the Old Testament commandment is omitted by him each time, the quotation will be ascribed either to Matthew or his source. The fact that it is his source, and not the final editor (who for convenience is all along here called Matthew), who is responsible for the Judaistic coloring of the Gospel, the universalistic tendency being attributed to Matthew, inclines us to assign all these verses in quotation of the commandments to QMt.
ABOUT OATHS
(Mt v, 33-37)
This passage has also a strong Judaistic coloring. It is reminiscent of Ps xlviii, 3. Most students assign it simply to Q. If it stood in Luke’s recension of that document, the same non-Jewish bias which is observable in many of his omissions of Marcan material would account for his omission of the saying. It is neither possible nor necessary to prove that these verses were not in Luke’s recension. But considering their character and their context, it is much more likely that Matthew took them from his recension of Q than from any other source known to us.
THE SECOND MILE
(Mt v, 41)
This sounds like a secondary accretion. It adds little or nothing to the force of the injunction, and rather interrupts the connection between vss. 40 and 42. It may have been added by Matthew from some source of his own; but more probably stood in Matthew’s Q.
ANOTHER OLD TESTAMENT COMMANDMENT
(Mt v, 43)
In this verse and the five others which quote the commandments, the word ἐρρέθη occurs; it is not used by Mark or Luke, and by Matthew is used only in these verses. So far as this may be said to throw any light upon the origin of these verses, it would indicate their presence in Matthew’s recension of Q, rather than their invention or addition by Matthew.
ABOUT ALMS-GIVING
(Mt vi, 1-4)
Dr. Robinson, in hisStudy of the Gospels,[104]maintains, quite correctly, that Matthew’s chap. vi breaks the connection in his Sermon on the Mount. If it is omitted, the connection is not only better, but is the same as that of Luke’s in his Sermon on the Plain. He also considers that Mt vi, 7-15, breaks the connection between the verses that immediately precede and immediately follow them. He therefore concludes that Mt vi, 1-5, 16-18, at one time had a separate existence of its own. This is not impossible. The disarrangement by the insertion of chap. vi is indeed obvious. Bacon, in hisSermon on the Mount, and Votaw, in his article under the same title in Hastings’Dictionary of the Bible, bring out the same composite character of the Sermon as Matthew has it. But much of this material which Matthew has inserted in his Sermon on the Mount is duplicated word for word in other connections in Luke, and so is uniformly accredited to Q. This creates a presumption that the rest of this interpolated material, especially where it is obviously homogeneous in character with the Q material generally,was taken by Matthew from his recension of Q. It is not contended that none of this material which Matthew has here inserted and which is nowhere duplicated in Luke was in Luke’s recension; it is only contended that since Matthew’s recension and Luke’s recension are demonstrated to have been different from each other in certain passages, it is fair to press the argument from this difference to its reasonable limit, and assume that much if not most of this logian matter peculiar to Matthew stood before him in his source. In the case of the verses now before us, however, it seems extremely improbable that Luke with his interest in alms-giving (see Lk xi, 41; xii, 33) should have found them in his source and have omitted them.
ABOUT PRAYER
(Mt vi, 5-8)
This sounds like a “midrash” on the Lord’s Prayer. There are several Matthean words in the passage. Μισθός is used ten times by Matthew as against once by Mark and thrice in Luke’s Gospel. Βατταλογέω is found here only in the New Testament, and not in the Septuagint. Πολυλογία is found here only in the New Testament. Εἰσακούω is an infrequent word in the New Testament, being used only in this passage, in Luke’s chap. i, once in Acts, and twice in the Epistles. Ἀποδίδωμι is used eighteen times by Matthew; seven of these uses are found in the section xviii, 25-34, and three in the unduplicated verses vi, 4, 6, 18. It is used once by Mark and eight times by Luke in his Gospel. These facts are hardly enough to establish any verdict as to the origin of the section now in question, tho they would rather look toward Matthew’s derivation of it, with its corresponding sections vi, 1-4, and vi, 16-18, from some writtensource. Such being the case, Matthew’s recension of Q will certainly fit the requirements better than any other known document.
ABOUT FASTING
(Mt vi, 16-18)
If the Lord’s Prayer, which Luke gives in another and better connection, be omitted from Matthew’s chap. vi, we shall have here three consecutive sections which have very striking literary resemblances; they are the sections on alms-giving, on prayer, and on fasting. That these should have found no echo in the Gospel of Luke, if they stood in his source, is strange; especially considering his peculiar interest in alms-giving and prayer. As to the literary affinities among these three sections, the use of μισθὸς, four times, has been noted. The phrase ἀπέχουσιν τὸν μισθὸν αὐτῶν occurs three times; the longer phrase ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ, καὶ ὁ πατήρ σου ὁ βλέπων ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ ἀποδώσει σοι, three times.[105]Quite without these recurrences of the same formulae, the form and sentiment of the three sections are so markedly the same as to suggest that they were originally consecutive, and that they have been taken from one written source. No more probable source can be suggested than QMt.
PEARLS BEFORE SWINE
(Mt vii, 6)
Schmiedel has suggested that this fragment may “indicate a time when the eucharist had been so long celebrated as materially to influence the general tradition of the doctrines of Jesus.” A passage somewhat similar in tone is that occurring in the story of the Canaanitishwoman: “it is not proper to take the bread of the children and give it to the dogs.” Matthew takes this story from Mark; but, significantly, he has omitted one sentence of Mark’s which tones down the Jewish particularism of the passage, “let the children first be fed.” He also inserts in that story the sentence, not in Mark, “I am not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” which corresponds somewhat closely with this statement concerning the command of Jesus to his disciples, also peculiar to Matthew, “Into the way of the nations do not go, and into a city of the Samaritans do not enter; but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” It is only fair to admit that these instances, in which Matthew heightens, once by insertion and once by omission, the Jewish coloring in a story taken from Mark, tell against the theory generally advocated by the writer, that the Judaistic features of Matthew’s Gospel are referable to his source, and the universalistic features to Matthew himself. But, on the other hand, this vs. 6 has no discernible connection in its present context, and no reason suggests itself for Matthew’s insertion of it, except his desire to retain what was in his source. This source may have been a special one, perhaps even an oral one; but considering the Judaistic character of so many sayings attributed to Matthew’s Q, that recension would also fit this saying.
THE FALSE PROPHETS
(Mt vii, 15)
The mention of “the” false prophets, as a class to be avoided, has a late sound. It is not found elsewhere in the Gospels except in the “little apocalypse” and in Luke vi, 26. It is not necessarily as late as Matthew, and may fairly be assigned to his recension of Q.
A SAYING ABOUT TREES
(Mt vii, 19)
In an earlier place this saying is attributed by both Matthew and Luke to John the Baptist. In that earlier connection it evidently was taken from Q. It probably did not occur twice in that document, but was inserted here by Matthew from memory, being suggested naturally by the context. It offers no new Q material.
“BY THEIR FRUITS”
(Mt vii, 20)
This verse is a repetition, with the particle ἄραγε prefixed, of vs. 16. Vs. 18 is also a repetition in the form of a declarative sentence of what is said in vs. 17 in the form of a question. The whole speech is considerably longer than the corresponding speech in Lk vi, 43-44. These repetitions and duplications suggest a good deal of re-working; but not the sort of re-working that would be done by Matthew, whose tendency is to condense instead of to expand. Vs. 20 may be a gloss, tho I am not aware of any manuscript authority against it. There is no new Q material here.
AN OFT-REPEATED FORMULA
(Mt vii, 28a)
This formula must be considered, as it is also found in five other places in Matthew (xi, 1; xiii, 53; xix, 1; xxvi, 1). The first six words of the formula are precisely alike in all five instances, καὶ ἐγένετο ὅτε ἐτέλεσεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς. In two instances these words are followed by the words τοὺς λόγους τούτους; in one instance by the words πάντας τοὺς λόγους τούτους; in another instance by the words τὰς παραβολὰς ταύτας. In these four instances theformula not only follows a group of sayings, but is followed by a narrative section; and so apparently marks the transition from one of Matthew’s sources to another. In the fifth instance, however, the closing words of the formula are διατάσσων τοῖς δώδεκα μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ; and in this instance the formula does not mark a transition from Q to Mark, but is followed as it is preceded by Q material. It is generally argued that since the formula does not occur in either Mark or Luke, and since the construction ἐγένετο ὅτε does not occur in Matthew outside of these five passages, but is found twenty-two times in Luke, the formula was each time taken by Matthew from his source. This source must have been Matthew’s recension of Q, since the formula is always found with Q material. Considering Matthew’s tendency to repeat himself, all that need be affirmed is that in at least one of the five instances Matthew did find the formula in Q. It certainly could not have occurred five times, or even three or four times, in Luke’s source, and have been each time omitted by him.
THE CONCLUSION OF THE STORY OF THE CENTURION’S SERVANT
(Mt viii, 13)
Harnack thinks this verse of Matthew’s and the corresponding verse in Luke (Lk vii, 10) were not in Q, tho the rest of the story was. But the deviation here is no greater than it is in the earlier part of the story, in the item of the messengers. Matthew has separated this conclusion of the story from the body of it by his insertion of Jesus’ saying, “Many shall come from the east and west,” which Luke gives in another context (Lk xiii, 28-29). Luke’s conclusion evidently belongs with his versionof the story, for it contains the reference to the messengers who do not appear in Matthew’s version. Some manuscripts give the conclusion to the story in Matthew in words almost identical with Luke’s. If this deviation in manuscripts suggests that the verse in Matthew may be a gloss, this suggestion may be held to be strengthened by the assumption that if Matthew himself had inserted this concluding verse he would hardly have cut it off from the rest of the story by the saying “Many shall come,” etc. Chiefly on the ground of the alternative reading in א, and the ease with which a gloss would be suggested to a scribe who had the Lucan narrative also before him, the writer inclines to the opinion that the verse is a later addition.