The scope and structure of the logia

"A Q that begins with the Inaugural Sermon (Q 6.20-49) is a more coherent text than one that sets out as a narrative gospel but diverts into sayings gospel mode."

1. The scope of the logia

   In the page 'Pericopes wrongly assigned to Q' I argued that Luke took from Matthew some of the material usually allocated to Q. This included the following pericopes: Mt 3:7-12; 4:1-11; 8:5-13; 11:2-19; 20-23; 25-27; 12:22-32; 43-45; 22:1-10; 23:37-39; 24:45-51; 25:14-30. ^[1] The remaining double tradition material was by default assigned to the logia. The non-doublet sayings in this remaining material can be shown to be stylistically and theologically consistent with the source doublets presented on the previous page. We can therefore be confident that they belonged to the logia.
   However there are indications that the source also included a few other sayings rejected by either Matthew or Luke or both, in other words, not included in the Double Tradition ^[2] when they were editing it, but which were preserved by at least one synoptic author. Any such saying to be assigned to the logia must be stylistically and theologically coherent with the doublets template, it should not show significant signs of redaction, there should be plausible reasons why Luke or Matthew or both omitted it, and it should preferably be amongst the logia material in a least one gospel. ^[3] This gospel could be Mark. Thus for instance Mk 9:33-10:45 has variants of 8 sayings usually assigned to Q, framed by variants of 'Ruler/servant': 9:35b & 10:42-44. This sayings block, apart from the passion prediction in 10:32-34, ^[4] appears to be wholly based on 13 primitive sayings. All 13 are here taken to have been in the sayings source. Each of the five non-Q sayings from this block is marked with an asterisk in the section below.
   When editing Mark, Matthew retained more than Luke. Thus there is an a priori expectation that the same will have applied when editing the logia, and we should expect (against most Q scholars) to assign to the sayings source more  Sondergut from Matthew than from Luke.
   
   

2. Pericopes from outside the Double Tradition

   • Mt 5:30,29 ('Hand/eye') // Mt 18:8,9 // * Mk 9:43,47. We know for certain that Luke did not like these sayings because he declined to copy them from Mark. So if they had been in the logia, it is reasonable to suppose that Luke would not have copied them from there either. They were probably too barbarous for the most scholarly of the gospel writers.
   • Mt 7:6 ('Pearls/swine'). Luke probably rejected this as an anti-Gentile saying.
   • Mt 10:22 ('Hated/endure') was so unpalatable to Luke that when editing Mark he inserted: "But not a hair of your head will perish", so it is not too surprising that when editing the logia he could have omitted 'Hated/endure' altogether.
   • Mt 10:23 : "You will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of man comes." Luke would have rejected this as leaving no time for the mission to the Gentiles.
   • Mt 10:42 ('Cup of water') // * Mk 9:41. For the Lukan omission, c.f. the first argument above re 'Hand/eye'.
   • Mt 18:3 ('Be like a child') // * Mk 10:15. The former verse is tentatively attributed by Davies & Allison to a non-Markan source. ^[5] I suggest that both versions derive independently from the logia. The scholarly Luke probably disliked the idea of changing to be like a child.
   • Mt 22:14 ('Called/chosen'), like Mt 20:16 (logia), is located in Matthew's major section on judgement (chs. 19-25) because that is how he viewed the illustrations based on them. Luke probably rejected the focus on a "few" as incompatible with the worldwide mission to the Gentiles.
   • Mt 23:11 ('Ruler/servant') // * Mk 9:35b // * Mk 10:42-44. The shortened Matthean form seems to have been derived independently from the logia, for it is in a passage otherwise not derived from Mark. Both Markan versions were adapted by Luke (Lk 9:48b; 22:25-26), so he felt no need to copy the saying directly from the logia.
   • Mt 24:11: "Many false prophets will arise and lead many astray." This is a doublet with Mt 24:24 // Mk 13:22. Its presence in the logia is necessary to explain "them" in "... do not follow them" (Lk 17:23, logia).
   • Lk 11:27-28 ('Womb') may have been distasteful to Matthew, with his pro-male bias.
   • Lk 12:54-56 ('Weather signs'). The best uncial texts omit the parallel in Mt 16:2b-3, so Luke's text here is probably not strictly part of the double tradition. It may have been omitted by Matthew because he thought it inapplicable to people living much further to the north or north west.
   • Mk 9:1 ('Some standing...') follows three logia sayings and was probably also in the logia. Both Matthew and Luke rejected its raw logia form because they could see that this prophecy of Jesus had not been fulfilled, though both were prepared to accept the Markan form which hinted ("after six days" in 9:2) at a fulfilment in the Transfiguration.
   • * Mk 10:25 ('Eye of needle'). Matthew and Luke found its raw logia form too restrictive, though both were prepared to accept it when toned down by the Markan context (Mk 10:27).
   • Mk 12:17 ('Caesar/God'). Neither Matthew nor Luke took this directly from the logia, perhaps because they both accepted it within its Markan context. Luke may have understood its original anti-Roman implications ^[6] which Mark had cleverly negated through the added context.
   
   
   

3. The structure of the logia

   The logia was approximately two-thirds of the size of the hypothetical Q as usually reconstructed. The logia had four main sections each divided into two equal-sized subsections. Its 72 sayings consist of 36 parallel pairs. The 36 links are indicated in tabular form on the next page of this web site.

   Each of the four tables shown below represents a (major) section. In each section, the two subsections are separated by a blank line. The author of Luke-Acts has given us unmistakable hints about some of its structural features. Lk 10:1 hints at the 72 sayings arranged in pairs. ^[7]  Lk 9:28 hints at the eight subsections. ^[8]  The Sermon on the Plain makes use of written sayings taken exclusively from section A of the logia.
   

   Parentheses around a Markan text indicate that the Markan version is sufficiently different from that of Matthew/Luke that its common origin as a single saying attributed to Jesus is not immediately obvious. For this reason any such saying would not have been eligible for membership of a doublet.
   
   
   

   A: Entering the Kingdom

   
   

   Mark	Matthew	Luke	id	Saying	internal links
   -----	5:3-8,11-12	6:20-23	A1	Beatitudes	the earth
   9:50a	5:13bc	14:34-35	A2	Salt	the earth; influencing others
   4:21	5:15	11:33	A3	Lighting a lamp	influencing others
   13:31	5:18	16:17	A4	Law	God's law persists
   -----	5:25-26	12:58-59	A5	Your accuser	God's law persists
   9:43,47	5:30,29	-----	A6	Hand/eye	separation
   10:11	5:32	16:18	A7	Divorce	separation
   -----	5:39-42,44-48	6:27-30,32-36	A8	Love enemies	-
   -----	15:14	6:39	A9	Blind guide	guidance
   -----	10:24-25	6:40	A10	Teacher/disciple	guidance
   10:15	18:3	-----	A11	Be like a child	entering the k of G
   10:25	-----	-----	A12	Eye of needle	entering the k of G; hyperbole
   -----	7:3-5	6:41-42	A13	Speck/log	criticizing others; hyperbole
   4:24	7:1-2	6:37-8	A14	Judge/measure	criticizing others; do not...
   -----	7:6	-----	A15	Pearls/swine	do not...
   -----	7:13-14	13:24	A16	Two gates	-
   -----	7:15-20	6:43-44	A17	Good tree	good & evil
   -----	12:34-35	6:45	A18	Good treasure	good & evil
   11:24	7:7-11	11:9-13	A19	Asking/receiving	good & evil
   -----	7:12	6:31	A20	Golden rule	do
   -----	7:21-23	6:46;13:26-27	A21	Disowned	do; everyone
   -----	7:24-27	6:47-49	A22	Rock/sand	do; everyone

   
   
   

   B: The Mission of the Kingdom

   
   

   Mark	Matthew	Luke	id	Saying	internal links
   (1:16-20)	8:19-22	9:57-60	B1	Following Jesus	discipleship
   9:41	10:42	-----	B2	Cup of water	discipleship
   (4:26-29)	9:37-38	10:2	B3	Harvest	framed with B14; send out; worker
   1:15b; 6:8-11	10:5b-15	10:4-12	B4	Mission instructions	framed with B7; send out; worker; sheep
   -----	10:16	10:3	B5	Sheep/wolves	send out; sheep
   13:13	10:22	-----	B6	Hated/endure	all
   (13:10)	10:23	-----	B7	Through all Israel	all
   13:9,11	10:17-20	12:11-12	B8	Formal defence	don't worry
   4:22; 8:38	10:26-33	12:2-9	B9	Nothing hidden	don't be afraid
   (13:12)	10:34-35	12:51,53	B10	Division	family
   8:34	10:37-38	14:26-27	B11	My disciple?	Whoever ...; family
   8:35	10:39	17:33	B12	Save/lose	Whoever
   9:37b	10:40	10:16	B13	Welcome	Whoever; me
   9:40	12:30	11:23	B14	For/against	Whoever; me

   
   
   

   C: The coming Kingdom

   
   

   Mark	Matthew	Luke	id	Saying	internal links
   11:25	6:7,9-13	11:2-4	C1	Kingdom come!	"many" is not enough
   -----	22:14	-----	C2	Called/chosen	"many" is not enough
   -----	6:22-23	11:34-35	C3	Eye as lamp	-
   12:17	-----	-----	C4	Caesar/God	ruler
   8:12	12:39-42	11:16,29-32	C5	Request for a sign	ruler(s) & prophet(s)
   -----	13:16-17	10:23-24	C6	What you see	ruler(s) & prophet(s); blessed; hear
   (3:31-35)	-----	11:27-28	C7	Womb	blessed; hear
   -----	18:15,21-22	17:3-4	C8	Forgiveness	sin
   9:42	18:6-7	17:1-2	C9	Millstone	sin
   9:35b;10:42b-44	23:11	-----	C10	Ruler/servant	high/low status
   -----	23:12	14:11; 18:14b	C11	Humble exalted	high/low status
   9:1	-----	-----	C12	Some standing ...	sky to earth
   -----	-----	12:54-56	C13	Weather signs	earth & sky
   4:30-32	13:31-33	13:18-21	C14	Mustard/yeast	earth to sky; man&woman
   -----	18:12-13	15:4-9	C15	Sheep/coin	numbers; one; man&woman
   -----	6:24	16:13	C16	Two masters	numbers; one
   11:23	17:20	17:6	C17	Mulberry tree	-
   (10:17-22)	6:19-21	12:33-34	C18	Treasure in heaven	possessions
   -----	6:25-33	12:22-31	C19	Food & clothing	possessions; will be given
   4:25	25:29	12:48b	C20	More given	will be given
   (10:29-30)	19:28	22:28-30	C21	Thrones	rewards at the coming
   10:31	20:16	13:30	C22	Last/first	rewards at the coming

   
   
   

   D: The Hindrances to the Kingdom

   
   

   Mark	Matthew	Luke	id	Saying	internal links
   -----	23:13	11:52	D1	Hinder entrance	woe to Pharisees
   -----	23:25-26	11:39-41	D2	Clean cup	woe to Pharisees; blind
   -----	23:23-24	11:42	D3	Tithe mint	woe to Pharisees; blind
   12:38-39	23:6-7a	11:43	D4	Seats/greetings	woe to Pharisees
   -----	23:27	11:44	D5	Unmarked graves	woe to Pharisees
   -----	23:4	11:46	D6	Burdens	woe to Pharisees
   -----	23:29-36	11:47-51	D7	Memorials	woe to Pharisees; prophets
   13:22	24:11	-----	D8	False prophets	prophets
   13:21	24:26	17:23	D9	Look he is ...	"they" refers back to D8
   -----	24:27	17:24	D10	Lightning	visible from afar
   -----	24:28	17:37	D11	Vultures	visible from afar
   -----	24:37-39	17:26-27,30	D12	In the days of Noah	sudden coming
   -----	24:40-41	17:34-35	D13	Taken/left	sudden coming
   13:33-37	24:42-44	12:39-40	D14	Watch/thief	sudden coming

   
   
   

4. More about the structure

   
   The first saying in each section indicates that section's overall theme:
   A Who can enter the kingdom (Mt 5:3)
   B Proclaiming the kingdom (Lk 9:60) ^[9]
   C The coming kingdom (Lk 11:2c)
   D Those who hinder entrance to the kingdom (Mt 23:13) ^[10]
   
   The gap in the middle of each displayed section is to highlight the fact that each appears to be subdivided into two equal halves, though the divisions are not equally apparent in all the sections. The first half of A opens with a saying about the poor; the second half opens with a saying about the rich. (The author of Mathew's gospel may have recognized this division, for sayings from the first half of A only appear in what we know as chapter 5, and sayings from the second half of A only appear separately in what we know as chapter 7.) The first half of C opens with an expression of hope for the coming kingdom; the second half opens with a confident prediction of its coming. The first half of B comes to a climax in 'Through all Israel'. But it is in section D where the division is clearest: the first half being woes, and the second half looking forward to the coming of the Son of Man.
   
   

5. The order of the sayings

   The order in the logia.

   The proposed order of the sayings indicated above has been determined by a combination of criteria.
   • In section A the sayings generally follow the order in Mt 5-7 and Lk 6:20-49. Matthew and Luke agree in placing 'Beatitudes' and 'Rock/sand' at the beginning and end of their respective sermons, which is probably a reflection of their original positions in A.
   • The order in C is determined primarily by the parallels with A.
   • The order in B is based mainly on Matthew, for Matthew has kept together what appears to be mission material (mainly in Mt 10) better than Luke.
   • In D, the order of the woes in the logia follows the order in Luke with one exception, which will be explained below. The mention of prophets in Mt 24:11 provides a link between the last woe and the signs of Jesus' coming.
   
   

   Matthew's rearrangement of the sayings.

   
   Matthew has kept the sayings, except for those in section C, in substantially the same order.
   Matthew retained the logia's four sections. A became the Sermon on the Mount, B became the discourse on mission (9:36-10:42), C was developed into the parables of the kingdom (13:1-52), D became the discourse on judgement (23-25). To mirror the five books of Moses, Matthew added a fifth discourse (Mt 17:24-18:35) concerning the Church (18:17, c.f. 16:18).
   Matthew wanted to keep the positions of section A's opening and closing pericopes, so when he enlarged this section to make his Sermon, he did it partly by taking five sayings from C and placing them all in the middle, which came to be known as chapter 6.
   

   Luke's rearrangement of the sayings.

   
   Luke has rearranged the sayings more extensively, c.f. the hint about order in Lk 1:3.
   The only logia sayings in the Sermon on the Plain are from A. With regard to the seven woes, Luke displaced the first (Lk 11:52) so that the dinner scene (Lk 11:37f.) would start with the more appropriate saying about cups and dishes.

Notes