Olegs Andrejevs, «Reexamining Q2: Son of God Christology in Q’s Redactional Layer.», Vol. 97 (2016) 62-78
This essay analyzes three important Christological texts in the reconstructed synoptic sayings source Q: 4,1-13 (the temptation legend), 6,20b-49 (the Q sermon) and 10,21-22 (the thanksgiving of Jesus). According to the current consensus in Q studies, these texts belong to three different compositional strata and reflect different theological concerns. I coordinate them in the document’s redactional layer (Q2), demonstrating their compatibility on literary-critical and traditionhistorical grounds. My hypothesis is that these texts provide the necessary Christological framework for Q2’s depiction of Jesus as the messianic Son of Man and Lord by stressing his identity as God’s unique Son.
76 oLeGS ANdreJeVS
to 6,37 is particularly instructive. While 6,36 contains a command to
imitate the Father, in 6,37-38 the admonition not to judge is grounded
in the example of Jesus who is subsequently presented as o` dida,skaloj
(6,40) and ku,rioj (6,46). The sermon’s Imitatio Dei section (6,35c-d;
6,29-36) therefore is framed with material focused on the imitation of
the Son of Man and Lord Jesus (6,20b-28; 6,37-49), with the climactic
parable of the two houses depicting what is at stake (6,47-49). This
arrangement of the sermon does not seem coincidental and strongly
reflects the Q2 author’s depiction of the transfer of authority (outlined
in 4,1-13; 10,21-22; 13,34-35) from yHWH to his Son Jesus.
In the light of this Christological arrangement and focus, one is led
to question the assessment of the Q sermon as sapiential 42. Not only
does that assessment fail to withstand the above listed literary-critical
and Christological considerations, but it also falters on form-critical
grounds. Beginning with the admonition not to judge, Q 6,37-42 func-
tions as an accusation speech directed against a group member who is
addressed as u`pokrita, in 6,42 43. Here, even those scholars who are
otherwise convinced that 6,20b-49 is sapiential in form have frequent-
ly conceded that 6,42, along with some immediately adjacent material,
fall outside that alleged pattern 44. Accusations, of course, do not
typically exist in a vacuum, which leads Fitzmyer to correctly identify
Luke 6,37-42 as a separate sub-section in the Sermon on the plain 45.
And while Fitzmyer does not identify the form of that subsection as a
trial speech, the comparable speeches in the Tanakh and the Lxx
allow one to further develop his observations 46. examples of trial
42
KLoppeNBorG, Formation, 189.
43
The inner-community setting of 6,37-42 has been recognized by r. pIper,
Wisdom in the Q-tradition. The Aphoristic Teaching of Jesus (Cambridge 1989)
42-43.
44
JACoBSoN, First Gospel, 103-104; KLoppeNBorG, Formation, 185; pIper,
Wisdom, 43.
45
FITzMyer, Luke I–IX, 641-643. Luke 6,37-42 follows the sequence of
Q 6,37-42, rendering Fitzmyer’s observation entirely applicable to the third
section of the Q sermon. Q 6,37-42 was subsequently also identified as a compo-
sitional unit in pIper, Wisdom, 36-44.
46
Accusations/accusation speeches belong to the trial genres in old Testa-
ment literature. For definitions see: G.W. CoATS, Exodus 1–18 (FoTL; Grand
rapids, MI 1999) 156, 173-174; S.J. de VrIeS, 1 and 2 Chronicles (FoTL; Grand
rapids, MI 1989) 436; M.A. SWeeNey, Isaiah 1–39 (FoTL; Grand rapids, MI
1996) 512, 541-542. related forms include: (a) reproof speeches; (b) accusatory
questions. For definitions see: M.H. FLoyd, Minor Prophets (FoTL; Grand
rapids, MI 2000) II, 648; de VrIeS, 1 and 2 Chronicles, 427.