Oral tradition and literary dependency: variability and stability in the synoptic tradition and q

323 Pages·2003·16.172 MB·English

by  Terence C. Mournet

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Oral tradition and literary dependency: variability and
stability in the synoptic tradition and q
Mournet, Terence C.
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2
ORAL TRADITION AND LITERARY DEPENDENCY:
VARIABILITY AND STABILITY
IN THE SYNOPTIC TRADITION AND Q
by
Terence C. Mournet
A Thesis
Presented to the Faculty of Arts
for the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
A copyright of this thesis rests
with the author. No quotation
from it should be published
without his prior written consent
and information derived from it
should be acknowledged.
University of Durham
Department of Theology
Submitted
October 2003
~ 2 MAR 200~
DECLARATION
No part of this thesis has been submitted
for a degree in this or any other university.
It is entirely the work of the author.
The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from
it should be published without prior consent of the author, and information
derived from it should be properly acknowledged.
Copyright 2003 by Terence C. Moumet
AB§1l'IRAC1l'
ORAL TRADITION AND LITERARY DEPENDENCY: VARIABILITY
AND STABILITY IN THE SYNOPTIC TRADITION AND Q
Terence C. Moumet
Presented for the degree of Ph.D.
July 2003
Despite the almost universal recognition that the Jesus tradition was, from its
very beginning, oral tradition, scholars have continued to approach the question of
Synoptic interrelationships from a strictly literary perspective. This study is an
attempt to take seriously the Sitz im Leben within which the Synoptic Gospels were
written, and to examine the possible role that oral tradition might have in
determining, not only the scope of a Q text, but the way in which we envision the
development of the Synoptic tradition.
Previous attempts to take seriously the role of oral tradition in the formation
of the Synoptic Gospels are examined, exposing the need for a much more careful
analysis ofthe relationship between oral communication and written texts.
Following such an analysis, it is suggested that solutions to the Synoptic Problem
which do not take into serious account the possible influence of oral tradition in the
process of Gospel composition must be deemed less than adequate.
Seeking a way forward in the debate, we determined that a more thoroughly
thought-through model of how oral communication functions is needed. It is
proposed that the genre of folklore, while not replacing traditional literary
designations, provides us with another interpretive framework through which we
may gain new insight into the development ofthe Synoptic tradition. The
folkloristic characteristics of variability and stability are discussed, followed by the
presentation of recent work suggesting that these characteristics are prevalent in the
Synoptic tradition. We suggest that recent studies on Q and the Synoptic Problem
have not given adequate attention to the internal variability present within double
tradition pericopes. A methodology is developed which will allow us to examine
how the internal variability within selected double tradition pericopes might, to
some extent, reflect the process of tradition transmission which preceded the
tradition's inclusion in a Gospel text. A selection of double tradition pericopes are
examined, and the model of tradition transmission proposed by K. E. Bailey and J.
D. G. Dunn is evaluated. The study concludes that there is a sufficient convergence
of evidence to suggest that such a model is feasible for at least portions of the double
tradition.
ii
T ABJLE OF CONTENTS
ABBREVIATIONS V
LIST OF TABLES VI
LIST OF FIGURES VII
PREFACE VIII
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 10
CHAPTER 2 TEXTUAL DEPENDENCY AND THE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS 22
2.1 INTRODUCTION 22
2.2 THE PROBLEM OF LANGUAGE 22
2.2.1 "ORAL LITERATURE"- A NON SEQUITUR 22
2.2.2 EDITORIAL LANGUAGE AND THE JESUS TRADITION 26
2.3 ALTERNATIVE SOURCE HYPOTHESES 27
2.3.1 W.R.FARMER 28
2.3.2 E.P.SANDERS 34
2.4 TWO-SOURCE/FOUR-DOCUMENT HYPOTHESIS 45
2.4.1 THE WRITTEN TEXT OF Q 50
2.4.2 VERBATIM AGREEMENT AND Q AS A 'TEXT' 54
2.5 CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS 60
CHAPTER 3 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PROBLEM OF ORAL
TRADITION 62
3.1 INTRODUCTION 62
3.2 EARLY FORM-CRITICAL STUDIES 63
3.2.1 RUDOLF BULT MANN AND MARTIN DIBELIUS 63
3.2.2 BIRGER GERHARDSSON 70
3.2.3 SUMMARY 73
73
3.3 POST-1960 STUDIES ON ORAL TRADITION
3.3.1 EVOLUTION OF A DISCIPLINE 73
3.3.2 THE CONTRIBUTION OF ALBERT LORD 75
3.3.3 SUBSEQUENT STUDIES ON ORALITY 79
3.3.4 CHARLES LOHR (1961) 81
3.3.5 ERNEST ABEL (1971) 83
3.3.6 ALBERT LORD (1978) 87
3.3.7 WERNER KELBER (1983) 89
3.3.8 ]OANNA DEWEY (1989) 92
3.3.9 PAUL ACHTEMEIER ( 1990) 93
3.3.10 0IVIND ANDERSEN (1991) 95
3.3.11 KENNETH BAILEY (1991) 96
3.3.12 BARRY HENAUT (1993) 97
iii
3.3.13 RICHARD HORSLEY & JONATHAN DRAPER (1999) 102
3.3.14 J. D. G. DuNN (2000-2003) 104
3.4 CONCLUSION 105
CHAPTER 4 ORAL COMMUNICATION AND WRITTEN TEXTS 106
4.1 INTRODUCTION 106
4.1.1 HUMANS AS 'ORAL' COMMUNICATORS 108
4.1.2 CULTURAL PRIMACY OF 'ORAL' COMMUNICATION 109
4.1.3 ORIGINS OF WRITING 110
4.1.4 GREEK CONCEPT OF WRITTEN AND UNWRITTEN 112
4.1.5 JEWISH CONCEPT OF WRITTEN AND UNWRITTEN 115
4.1.6 INTERACTION BETWEEN TWO MEDIA 116
4.1. 7 LITERACY, TEXTS, AND EDUCATION 118
4.2 ORAL ORIGINS OF TRADITIONS AND TEXTS 122
4.2.1 ORAL ORIGINS OF TRADITION 122
4.2.2 PAPIAS 123
4.2.3 APOSTOLIC ACCESS TO ORAL ACCOUNTS 126
4.2.4 JEWISH ORAL ACCOUNTS 127
4.3 ORAL SOURCES FOR TEXTS 129
4.3.1 TEXTS COMPOSED FROM ORAL ACCOUNTS 129
4.3.2 DIDACHE'S ORAL ORIGINS 131
4.3 .3 OTHER EARLY CHRISTIAN LITERATURE 133
4.3.4 CONCLUSION 133
4.4 ORAL PERFORMANCE AND WRITTEN TEXTS 134
4.5 READING ALOUD 138
4.6 ANCIENT PERCEPTIONS OF ORAL TRADITIONS AND TEXTS 146
4.6.1 HEARING AS INSTRUMENT OF LEARNING 146
4.6.2 TEXTS AS 'HOLY WRITINGS' 149
4. 7 CONCLUSION 152
CHAPTER 5 CHARACTERISTICS OF ORAL COMMUNICATION 155
5.1 INTRODUCTION 155
5.2 TOWARDS A MODEL OF TRADITION TRANSMISSION 160
5.3 TWENTIETH-CENTURY STUDIES ON ORAL COMMUNICATION 162
5.3.1 THE QUESTION OF ANACHRONISM 163
5.3.2 THE 'ORAL MIND' OF ANTIQUITY AND ITS PHYSIOLOGICAL LEGACY 166
5.4 FOLKLORE STUDIES AND THE SYNOPTIC TRADITION 168
5.4.1 USE OF THE TERM 'FOLKLORE' 168
5.4.2 FOLKLORE AND THE QUESTION OF GENRE 170
5.4.3 CHARACTERISTICS OF ORAL TRADITION 176
5.4.4 REDUNDANCY 176
5.4.5 VARIABILITY: FLEXIBILITY AND STABILITY OF ORAL TRADITION 181
5.5 CONCLUSION 192
CHAPTER 6 STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF SYNOPTIC GOSPEL
PERICOPES 194
iv
6.1 KNTRODUJC'fDON 194
6.2 §TATDSTDCAIL METIHODS AND BIBLDCAL §CHOILARS!HHP 196
6.2.1 POTENTIAL ABUSE 197
6.2.2 STATISTICAL METHOD AND INFERENTIAL STATISTICS 198
6.3 VERBATIM AGREEMENT AND TIHIE SCOPE OF Q 199
6.4 VARIABILITY WITIHIN Tll-IE §YNOPTIC TRADnTnON 203
6.5 METHODOLOGY 206
6.5.1 SELECTION OF DOUBLE TRADITION PERICOPES 207
6.5.2 WORDS, MATT; WORDS, LUKE (W) 211
6.5.3 SHARED WORDS (SW, %SW) 212
6.5.4 AGREEMENT IN ORDER (OR, %OR) 212
6.5.5 VERBATIMAGREEMENT(VB, %VB) 213
6.5.6 PERCENTAGE OF PERICOPE (%MT, %LK) 213
6.5.7 PRESENTATION OF STATISTICAL DATA 214
6.6 GROUP 'A' PERICOPES 216
6.6.1 ALAND §55-0N MURDER AND WRATH 216
6.6.2 ALAND §58-0N RETALIATION 221
6.6.3 ALAND §62-THE LORD'S PRAYER 226
6.6.4 ALAND §85-THE CENTURION OF CAPERNAUM 231
6.6.5 ALAND § 1 02-DIVISIONS WITHIN HOUSEHOLDS 237
6.6.6 ALAND §279-THE PARABLE OF THE GREAT SUPPER 243
6. i GROUP 'B' PE RI COPES 251
6.7.1 ALAND §89-0N FOLLOWING JESUS 251
6.7.2 ALAND §107-JESUS CONCERNING JOHN 255
6.7.3 ALAND §109-JESUS' THANKSGIVING TO THE FATHER 260
6. 7.4 ALAND § 120-THE RETURN OF THE EVIL SPIRIT 263
6.7.5 ALAND §285-JESUS' LAMENT OVER JERUSALEM 267
6. 7.6 ALAND §297-THE GOOD SERVANT AND THE WICKED SERVANT 270
6.8 GROUP 'C' PERICOPES 274
6.8.1 ALAND §347-THE DEATH OF JESUS 274
6.8.2 ALAND §278-THE PARABLE OF THE WICKED HUSBANDMEN 281
6.9 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS 286
CHAPTER i CONCLUSION 295
BIBLIOGRAPHY 303
V
AB BREVIA' li'llON§
ABD Anchor Bible Dictionary
ABRL Anchor Bible Reference Library
AJT Asia Journal of Theology
ANET Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament. Edited
by J. B. Pritchard. 3d ed. Princeton, 1969
BETL Bibliotheca ephemeridum theologicarum lovaniensium
Bib Biblica
BSOAS Bulletin oft he School of Oriental and African Studies
cw
Classical World
ETR Etudes theologiques et religieuses
ExpTim Expository Times
FF Foundations and Facets
HTR Harvard Theological Review
ICC International Critical Commentary
Int Interpretation
IRT Issues in Religion and Theology
JAF Journal ofA merican Folklore
JBL Journal ofB iblical Literature
JR Journal ofR eligion
JSNT Journal for the Study oft he New Testament
JSNTSup Journal for the Study of the New Testament: Supplement Series
JSOT Journal for the Study oft he Old Testament
JSOTSup Journal for the Study of the Old Testament: Supplement Series
JTS Journal of Theological Studies
LCL Loeb Classical Library
LSJ Liddell, H. G., R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon. 9th
ed. With revised supplement. Oxford, 1996
Neot N eotestamentica
NovT Novum Testamentum
NTS New Testament Studies
OrT Oral Tradition
Semeia Semeia
STRev Sewanee Theological Review
TAPA Transactions oft he American Philological Association
TSAJ Texte und Studien zum antiken Judentum
TynBul Tyndale Bulletin
TZ Theologische Zeitschrift
WUNT Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament
vi
LIST OF TABLES
TABLE 1. A LAND §55, SYNOPTIC TEXT ..................................................................... 216
TABLE 2. A LAND §55, STATISTICAL SUMMARY ........................................................ 217
TABLE 3. A LAND §58, SYNOPTIC TEXT ..................................................................... 221
TABLE 4. ALAND §58, STATISTICAL SUMMARY ........................................................ 221
TABLE 5. ALAND §62, SYNOPTIC TEXT ..................................................................... 226
TABLE 6. A LAND §62, STATISTICAL SUMMARY ........................................................ 227
TABLE 7. ALAND §85, SYNOPTIC TEXT ..................................................................... 231
TABLE 8. ALAND §85, STATISTICAL SUMMARY ........................................................ 232
TABLE 9. A LAND § 102, SYNOPTIC TEXT ................................................................... 23 7
TABLE 10. A LAND § 102, STATISTICAL SUMMARY .................................................... 23 7
TABLE 11. ALAND §279, SYNOPTIC TEXT ................................................................. 243
TABLE 12. ALAND §279, STATISTICAL SUMMARY .................................................... 244
TABLE 13. ALAND §89, SYNOPTIC TEXT ................................................................... 251
TABLE 14. ALAND §89, STATISTICAL SUMMARY ...................................................... 251
TABLE 15. ALAND § 107, SYNOPTIC TEXT ................................................................. 255
TABLE 16. ALAND §107, STATISTICAL SUMMARY .................................................... 256
TABLE 17. ALAND §109, SYNOPTIC TEXT ................................................................. 260
TABLE 18. ALAND §109, STATISTICAL SUMMARY .................................................... 260
TABLE 19. ALAND § 120, SYNOPTIC TEXT ................................................................. 263
TABLE 20. ALAND § 120, STATISTICAL SUMMARY .................................................... 263
TABLE 21. ALAND §285, SYNOPTIC TEXT ................................................................. 267
TABLE 22. ALAND §285, STATISTICAL SUMMARY .................................................... 267
TABLE 23. ALAND §297, SYNOPTIC TEXT ................................................................. 270
TABLE 24. A LAND §297, STATISTICAL SUMMARY .................................................... 270
TABLE 25. ALAND §347, SYNOPTIC TEXT ................................................................. 274
TABLE 26. ALAND §347, STATISTICAL SUMMARY .................................................... 275
TABLE 27. ALAND §278, SYNOPTIC TEXT ................................................................. 281
TABLE 28. ALAND §278, STATISTICAL SUMMARY .................................................... 282
TABLE 29. PERICOPES CONTAINING NON PARALLEL SECTIONS INSIDE BODY OF
PER! COPE ···································································· ···································· .. 288
TABLE 30. PER! COPES WITH NON PARALLEL SECTIONS AT START AND FINISH OF
PERICOPE .......................................................................................................... 288