Sources of the Synoptic Gospels Part 21

MARY AND MARTHA

(Lk x, 38-42)

Mr. Streeter[113] suggests a reason why this incident may have been omitted by Matthew even if it stood in Q. But I can see no reason for a.s.suming it to have stood in the latter source. It has great affinity with much other Lucan material which should not be a.s.signed to Q, and is apparently from a special source.

THE PARABLE OF THE FRIEND ON A JOURNEY

(Lk xi, 5-8)

This parable is brief enough to have stood in Q. But it does not, apparently, relate to the kingdom of G.o.d, as the undoubted Q parables do.

It is also similar in motive to other Lucan parables a.s.signed to a special source.

THE MOTHER OF JESUS PRAISED

(Lk xi, 27-28)

Wellhausen considers this a variant of Lk viii, 19-21, which latter is taken from Mark (iii, 31-35). The parallelism is not very close, to say the least. While a case may be made out for the occurrence of this section in Q, as is apparently done by Mr. Streeter, it seems better to us to a.s.sign it to a special source of Luke's.

"IF THINE WHOLE BODY IS LIGHT"

(Lk xi, 36)

If this saying were genuine, it would naturally be a.s.signed to QLk. But the text is not well attested, and it is perhaps better to regard it as a gloss.

THE PARABLE OF THE FOOLISH RICH MAN

(Lk xii, 13-21)

Wernle remarks concerning this section that anyone with a sense for _Herrenworte_ will recognize at once that vss. 15 and 21 are from Luke and not from Jesus. Vs. 21 is omitted in some ma.n.u.scripts. The parable is from a special source.

AN EXHORTATION TO WATCHFULNESS

(Lk xii, 35-38)

This might almost be considered as a variant of Matthew's parable of the Ten Virgins. It stands in close connection here with Q material. No more probable source can be suggested for it than Luke's recension of Q.

"TO WHOM MUCH IS GIVEN"

(Lk xii, 47-48)

This section, consisting entirely of sayings, and occurring between two blocks of Q material, is almost universally ascribed to a special source, simply because it is not paralleled in Matthew. But it is quite h.o.m.ogeneous with Q. It is, indeed, unlikely that Matthew would have omitted it if it had stood in his recension of Q; but no better source can be posited for it than QLk. Of fifteen occurrences of d??? in the New Testament, eight are found in Luke's Gospel and in Acts. The three occurrences in Acts are not indicative, as they are accounted for by the subject-matter; the five in the Gospel are, except in this pa.s.sage, paralleled in Matthew and Mark. While the word is therefore in a sense a "Lucan" word, there is nothing to indicate that it was not in the source Luke used.

"I CAME TO CAST FIRE UPON THE EARTH"

(Lk xii, 49-50)

These two verses have a very primary sound. The difficulty of them is much against their invention by Luke or anyone in his time. But if Luke derived them from any written source, they are exactly such sayings as would have found a place in his recension of Q.

THE GALILEANS SLAIN BY HEROD

(Lk xiii, 1-5)

This saying was evidently spoken in Jerusalem, but Luke has placed it during the journey thither. We may perhaps detect here the beginnings of a Jerusalem tradition.

THE PARABLE OF THE FIG TREE

(Lk xiii, 6-9)

Like the preceding, the parable is given as part of the conversation on the Samaritan journey. But it seems to be Luke's version of the story told by Mark of the cursing of the fig tree; and this latter Mark places in Jerusalem. This may be taken as another hint of the origin of this section in a Jerusalem tradition.

"GO TELL THAT FOX"

(Lk xiii, 31-33)

Mr. Streeter[114] remarks of this section that it is so "un-Lucan in its rough vigor that it is certainly original"; in other words, that it certainly stood in Luke's source. This source Mr. Streeter maintains is Q, not only for this brief section, but for the solid block of Lk ix, 51-xiii, 59 (with the possible exception of the two parables of the Good Samaritan, the Rich Fool, and perhaps the story of Martha). The pa.s.sage, xiii, 1-17, he suggests may have been interpolated into Q before Q came to Luke.

The primary character of the section now under consideration cannot be doubted. The fact that Luke has apparently left his Q material by itself, instead of mingling it with his Marcan and other matter, would argue for Mr. Streeter's position. Yet Luke has not altogether followed this general rule of his; and he has made some very notable transpositions of Marcan material. This saying, also, is not quite like most of the sayings that are by common agreement to be ascribed to Q. It is neither a general rule of conduct, like the sayings in the Sermon on the Mount, nor has it to do with the kingdom of G.o.d, like the brief parables of Q. If Luke inserted it from another source, his reason for inserting it in just this place may have been the fact of its closing with the word "Jerusalem." Yet the lament over Jerusalem which immediately follows is evidently wrongly placed by Luke, in the midst of his Perean journey. We are inclined to a.s.sign these verses, tho with some uncertainty, to a special source. The words were apparently spoken neither on the Perean journey (a.s.suming such a journey to have taken place) nor at its close in Jerusalem, but in Galilee.

THE HEALING OF THE DROPSICAL MAN

(Lk xiv, 1-6)

The only saying in this section is that paralleled in Lk xiii, 15-16, and duplicated in Mt xii, 11. The incident is somewhat similar to that recorded in Mk iii, 1-6; and it is noticeable that Matthew, in taking over that incident from Mark, inserts in the midst of it this saying of Jesus about the ox or a.s.s falling into the pit on the Sabbath. If the saying occurred in Q, Matthew has thus taken it out of its original context and made it a part of a Marcan story; but he would hardly have done this if it already, in his copy of Q, const.i.tuted part of another and equally good story. In view of the general character of Q as a collection of "sayings,"

with as little mixture of incident as possible, it seems better to say that this saying about the ox or a.s.s falling into the pit occurred once in Q, unconnected, and that Luke found it again in the story before us, in some other source.

ABOUT TAKING THE LESS HONORABLE SEATS AT TABLE

(Lk xiv, 7-11)

This saying may have been manufactured upon the basis of Mk xii, 39 ("they love the chief seats at feasts," etc). Vs. 11 is the oft-repeated formula discussed on p. 182. While this and the following section are not impossible for QLk, it seems better to a.s.sign them both to one of Luke's special sources.

WHOM TO INVITE TO A FEAST

(Lk xiv, 12-14)

This saying of Jesus seems out of place at a dinner to which he had been invited. The saying itself is not unlike Q. Observing that this saying and the two just preceding are placed by Luke at feasts given for Jesus, but that they contain sayings of Jesus either placed elsewhere by Matthew or not given by him at all, Mr. Streeter is inclined to a.s.sign the setting of these sayings in each case to Luke, and the sayings to Q. This would seem more justifiable if it were not plain that Luke had, besides his recension of Q and Mark, at least two or three other sources. One cannot be categorical on such a matter, and it is possible that this section with the two preceding should be a.s.signed to QLk.