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, 28_a_) 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 the formula 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)