Sources of the Synoptic GospelsPatton, Carl S. (Carl Safford)
Religion
Sources of the Synoptic Gospels
Patton, Carl S. (Carl Safford)
Bible. Gospels -- Criticism, interpretation, etc.
Matthew's beatitude is in the third person, Luke's in the second. Matthew
adds "in spirit." If the beatitude stood alone, the changes in it are not
too great to be attributed to Matthew, and the "in spirit" is what might
be expected. But taking it in close connection with much material that
could not have stood alike in Matthew's source and in Luke's it is better
to assign it to QMt and QLk.
"BLESSED ARE THEY THAT MOURN"
(Mt v, 5; Lk vi, 21_b_)
The wording is not at all similar, μακάριοι being the only word in common.
Yet the two beatitudes sound like two versions of the same one. κλαίω is a
Lucan word, used eleven times by Luke in his Gospel, against twice by
Matthew and three times by Mark. γελάω is used twice in Luke's Gospel, and
not elsewhere in the New Testament. Both of these occurrences are in
Luke's "Sermon on the Level Place." These facts, with the context,
indicate a source in Luke's hands partly like, and partly unlike, the
source in Matthew's. The verse is therefore assigned to QMt and QLk.
"BLESSED ARE THEY THAT HUNGER"
(Mt v, 6; Lk vi, 21_a_)
Matthew's version is again in the third person and Luke's in the second.
Luke understands the hunger to be literal. Matthew "spiritualizes" by
adding τὴν δικαιοσύνην. Luke adds νῦν, to point the contrast between his
beatitude and the corresponding woe, which Matthew does not have. In spite
of these differences, out of ten words in Matthew's form and six in
Luke's, five words are identical (except for a deviation in personal
ending). Except for the context the verse might be assigned simply to Q;
but it is better ascribed to QMt and QLk.
"BLESSED ARE THE PERSECUTED"
(Mt v, 11-12; Lk vi, 22-23)
The verbal similarity is close only in a few places; notably in the ὁ
μισθὸς ὑμῶν πολὺς ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς (τῷ οὐρανῷ). Out of thirty-five words
in Matthew and fifty-one in Luke, only twelve are identical. Two
considerations prevent the assignment of these verses to two totally
different sources. The first is their contiguity to so much Q material.
The second is the presence in them of two translation variants.[94] The
second of these two verses, at least, therefore goes back to two different
recensions or translations of one original Aramaic document--QMt and QLk.
A SAYING ABOUT SALT
(Mt v, 13; Lk xiv, 34)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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